Pathway to Japanese Literature

The Disappearance of the Platinum Block

Since the culprit of the Crimson Diamond Case turned out to be Tsukahara Toshio-kun's uncle, dear readers who had hoped for a villain's capture may have been disappointed, but what I will now relate is how Toshio-kun's detective prowess brilliantly rounded up in one fell swoop the jewelry thief gang that had been ransacking various parts of Tokyo for years.

One midnight in October.
To be precise, since it was around 2 AM, it might be more accurate to call it early morning.
I, who had managed to doze off, was awakened by violent knocking on the door of our office-cum-laboratory.

“Toshio! Toshio!”

In a woman’s voice, someone kept calling Toshio-kun urgently.
I,

“Toshio-kun”

With that, I woke Toshio-kun, who was sleeping in the neighboring bed, and—

"I know—that's Mrs. Kimura's voice."

With that, Toshio-kun hurriedly put on his Western-style clothes and went to open the door.

This Mrs. Kimura was not a blood relative, but rather the wife of Kimura Eikichi—a man who operated a small precious metal workshop situated about a block from Toshio-kun's residence. As Toshio-kun frequently visited them, they shared an exceptionally close relationship.

“Toshio! It’s terrible!
A thief just broke into the house and stole the precious platinum block.
Please hurry over!”

Mrs. Kimura said, pale-faced.

“Where was it stolen from?”

“The factory.”

“Now, please calm down and tell me what happened.”
“I’ll get ready while you do.”

With that, Toshio-kun began examining the contents of his detective bag.

According to Mrs. Kimura’s breathless account, a messenger from the Tsukumura Count’s family had come yesterday, requesting that their heirloom platinum block be crafted into a bracelet with engravings by the morning of the day after tomorrow.

Since this platinum block had been targeted by thieves many times before, they had been instructed to take thorough precautions, so Mrs. Kimura’s husband, Mr. Kimura, had worked until midnight alongside his assistant, a man named Takeuchi, after which Takeuchi alone had been planning to work through the night to finish the job.

However, just as Mr. Kimura had gotten into bed and begun dozing off, an unusual noise came from the factory. He immediately jumped up and opened the factory door to check. Inside was pitch black, but there was a strange smell—both sweet and sour—that stung his nose. Startled, he turned on the light only to discover, to his shock, that his assistant Mr. Takeuchi had collapsed unconscious beneath the workbench, and the platinum block was gone.

“I immediately thought to call the police, but given the late hour and thinking you’d find the culprit faster than them, I came to ask you instead.”

Mrs. Kimura said, peering into Toshio’s face.

“Auntie, you don’t need to worry. I’ll definitely get the platinum block back for you.”

Ten minutes later, we arrived at the Kimuras’ house. By that time, the assistant Mr. Takeuchi had regained consciousness and was able to speak calmly.

According to Mr. Takeuchi’s account, about forty minutes after Mr. Kimura had left the factory, someone suddenly broke the glass from outside. When he looked up in surprise, a foul-smelling cold wind came whooshing through the broken pane, causing him to lose consciousness on the spot. After being tended to by Mr. Kimura and regaining his senses, he claimed that was when he first learned the platinum block had disappeared.

Toshio-kun had evidently taken a dislike to this man Takeuchi, having often told me before that he was "a disagreeable fellow," but even now as he listened to Mr. Takeuchi's testimony, Toshio-kun kept watching him with occasional glowering looks—which made me think he might be suspecting Mr. Takeuchi.

After hearing Mr. Takeuchi's account, Toshio-kun went to the factory with Mr. Kimura.
A foul smell hit us.
The factory stood adjacent to the living room, about a foot lower than it, with an earthen floor forming a roughly eight-tatami-mat-sized room enclosed by walls on three sides, separated from the living room by a door.
The window on the north side had two glass panes fitted into it, with iron bars attached to the outside.
About two shaku away from the window stood a workbench densely packed with various bottles and crafting tools, while shelves lining all three walls were filled with an array of bottles and chemical apparatuses.

Toshio-kun took out a magnifying glass from his detective bag and first examined the floor.
However, he apparently found no footprints or other clues at all, and soon began earnestly examining the glass fragments that had fallen inside the window, measuring the size of the broken opening.
Then he opened the glass door and examined the iron bars.
Sure enough, two of them had been cut with a file and bent left and right.

Then Toshio-kun examined the threshold, took out a flashlight, and shone it outside.
The ground was thickly covered with grass, and glass fragments had fallen on top of it.
Toshio-kun—apparently struck by some thought—stared intently at the fragments for a while.

“Quite the clever thief.”

Toshio-kun said mockingly.
When Toshio-kun spoke in that manner, it always carried the opposite meaning.
In other words, when he said "clever thief," it could just as well be taken to mean "idiotic thief."

Then, Toshio-kun carefully examined each item on the workbench and inside the drawers attached to it.
Next, he examined the items on the shelves with equal fervor, removing the lids from anything resembling a box to inspect their contents.
As if the platinum block were hidden somewhere in the factory—so to speak—he searched with desperate intensity.
Finally, upon seeing a teapot and teacup set on a tray atop the lower shelf on the western side, Toshio-kun asked Mr. Kimura.

“Who drinks this tea?”

“That would be me.”

At that moment, Mr. Takeuchi, who had entered the factory, said.
The way he spoke carried a tone that seemed to mock Toshio-kun, and I felt somewhat angry.

Toshio-kun removed the teapot’s lid and examined it.

“Well, since it’s tea meant for Mr. Takeuchi to drink, it does have quite an appetizing color.”

Toshio-kun wasn’t about to back down either.
He had spoken with considerable sarcasm.

After finishing his inspection of the factory, Toshio-kun came to the living room and said to Mr. Kimura.

“That concludes the factory inspection.”

“Were there any clues?”

Mr. Kimura peered into Toshio-kun’s face and asked.

“There’s still an important examination left, so I can’t say anything definitive until that’s done.”

“What is that?”

“The body examinations of Mr. Kimura and Mr. Takeuchi.”

“What?! Do you think we took it?”

“I don’t suspect anything, but we must be thorough beyond measure in the examination.”

“But there’s no reason I would steal it, and Takeuchi has been here half a year—he comes with guaranteed honesty. This examination seems unnecessary.”

Toshio-kun retorted irritably.

“If you refuse the body search, I’ll withdraw from this case entirely.”
“Let the police handle it then.”

Both Mr. Kimura and Mr. Takeuchi reluctantly underwent body searches conducted by Toshio-kun.
Mr. Takeuchi in particular made a face of displeasure.
Then Toshio-kun, with deliberate spite, checked each and every one of Mr. Takeuchi’s suit pockets with exaggerated thoroughness.
However, the platinum block did not emerge from either Mr. Kimura or Mr. Takeuchi.

“Now that I’ve finished inspecting your exteriors, next comes examining your insides.”

“What?”

At this, Mr. Kimura looked shocked.

“What do you mean by ‘internal examination’?”

“The platinum block can be swallowed if broken into small pieces.”
“That’s why it can be hidden inside the body.”

Mr. Kimura made a look of disbelief but,

“So, are you going to cut open our bellies to check?”

he said half-jokingly.

“Mr. Kimura!”

Toshio-kun said with a serious face.

“Let’s dispense with the jokes,” Toshio-kun said with a serious face. “The reason I want to examine your bodies internally is because it’s absolutely necessary. We’ll now go to Dr. Okajima’s clinic in Surugadai to have both of you examined by X-ray, so please prepare a car immediately.”

Because Toshio-kun’s words were so brisk and clear, Mr. Kimura said nothing and sent his wife hurrying to the nearby car shop. On Toshio-kun’s orders, I called Dr. Okajima. It was still before dawn, but Dr. Okajima kindly responded that we could come anytime. Dr. Okajima was a medical doctor who had taught and doted on Toshio-kun like his own child when the latter studied medicine under him—a man who, when it came to Toshio-kun, would entertain any request, no matter how challenging. Therefore, Toshio-kun had the car prepared without first inquiring about Dr. Okajima’s availability.

Before long, the car arrived, so the four of us sped through the sparsely populated streets of dawn toward Surugadai.
The four of us were all rather quiet, but Mr. Takeuchi in particular made a face as if he'd bitten into something bitter.

As I was jostled in the car, I thought about various things.
As Toshio-kun had said, there had to be a reason sufficient enough to warrant conducting an examination using X-rays.
Then perhaps either Mr. Kimura or Mr. Takeuchi had swallowed the platinum.
I felt even the car’s movement frustratingly slow, so eager was I to see Dr. Okajima’s examination in action.

Mysterious Tea

Dear readers, have you ever witnessed an X-ray examination of the body's interior? To conduct one, you have the person stand on the examination platform, illuminate them from behind with X-rays, and observe by placing a barium platinocyanide plate in front.

Barium platinocyanide emits fluorescence when struck by X-rays.
X-rays pass easily through clothing and muscles but have difficulty penetrating metal and bone, so these appear as shadows on the plate.
Therefore, if either Mr. Kimura or Mr. Takeuchi had swallowed the platinum, its shadow would surely have been visible.
However, even when Dr. Okajima conducted the examination with great diligence, no shadow resembling platinum appeared on either of their bodies.

“Toshio-kun! Neither of you has swallowed it.”

Dr. Okajima stated with a serious expression.

“Thank you very much. That puts my mind at ease.”

Toshio-kun answered with a relieved smile. Since my expectations had been completely off, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat disappointed.

Then Toshio-kun said to the two men who were getting ready, “Mr. Kimura, Mr. Takeuchi—you’ve done well.” Mr. Kimura wore a smiling face, while Mr. Takeuchi had a sullen expression, as if to say, “See? I told you so.”

“Alright, now that my investigation plan is finalized, I’ll rush out to check potential leads.”
“I’ll take the car, so you two please return by train.”

The moment he finished speaking, Toshio-kun said goodbye to Dr. Okajima, grabbed my hand as if dragging me along, and pulled me outside.

“Brother, we need to hurry! We’ll buy bread on the way and then head to Mr. Kimura’s house—tell the driver to go at full speed.”

If we were going to Mr. Kimura’s house anyway, I thought it would have been better to bring those two along with us—this too must stem from Toshio-kun’s dislike of Mr. Takeuchi.

After buying bread at a shop in Awajicho that had just opened, we raced through the sparsely populated morning streets in the automobile at full speed.
Toshio-kun seemed entirely preoccupied with the destination ahead, leaning forward and hardly speaking a word.
I could finally no longer bear it,

“Hey, Toshio-kun!”

When I called out, he turned toward me as if snapping back to his senses, gave a slight smile, and leaned back against the car seat.

“What are you going to do with buying bread and all?”
I asked.
“I’ll eat breakfast at Auntie Kimura’s place.”

“Huh! Breakfast?”

“That’s right—Auntie’s house has delicious tea. Even Mr. Takeuchi’s happily drinking it, isn’t he?”

I recalled that there had been a teapot for Mr. Takeuchi’s tea in Mr. Kimura’s workshop earlier.

“May I join you for breakfast?”

“No—as soon as we arrive at our destination, I’ll have you run an errand to Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters.”

“Huh? Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters? So you’ve got a lead on the culprit?”

“I still don’t know anything for certain. But there might just be a major bust.”

Toshio-kun said with his eyes shining.

After a while, I asked again.

“When you said there was solid reasoning behind getting those X-rays done earlier—were you actually serious about that?”

“Dead serious!”

“What reasoning?”

“I can’t say that right now.”

“But neither of them had swallowed the platinum, right?”

“I knew that from the start!”

“Huh?”

I was surprised. If he had known from the start that neither of them had swallowed the platinum, why would he have gone through the trouble of involving Dr. Okajima? No matter how I tried to reason it out, I couldn’t make sense of it.

Before long, the automobile returned to the Kimuras' place.
Auntie, having heard the noise, came running outside.

“Toshio, how did it go?”

Auntie asked.

“Neither of them has swallowed the platinum. I had some business on the way and came ahead—they’ll arrive later.”

We left the car waiting and went into the house.
“Auntie, where is Mr. Takeuchi’s boarding house?”
“It’s on the second floor of a greengrocer named Kato at 10 Shinbori-chō, Shiba Ward.”

“Could I trouble you for one envelope?”

When Auntie brought the envelope, Toshio-kun scribbled something in his notebook with a pencil, then tore out that page and put it into the envelope.

“Brother, please take this to Detective Oda at Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters. Since he was certainly on night duty last night—and depending on how things go—I may not return until around ten o’clock, so wait for me at home.”

When I stood up, Toshio said to Auntie:

“Auntie, I’m hungry—let me eat the bread I bought at the factory.
Is there any cold tea?”

“There is.
The tea I boiled earlier has already cooled.”

At Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters, Detective Oda was indeed present.

Detective Oda and Toshio-kun were the best of friends, and Toshio-kun called Detective Oda “Uncle P.”
P was said to be the first letter of the English word “Police.”
Though Detective Oda apparently disliked this nickname “Uncle P,” he never grew angry at anything Toshio-kun said because he had often had Toshio-kun assist him and achieved results.

Detective Oda—that is, "Uncle P"—upon hearing it was a letter from Toshio-kun, promptly opened and read it, whereupon his face suddenly brightened.

“Very well. Tell Toshio-kun that we’ll handle everything here.”

Detective Oda said.

As I waited alone in Toshio-kun’s office-cum-laboratory, feeling rather lonely, Mr. Kimura came to visit a little past nine o’clock.
Mr. Kimura appeared disheartened by the loss of the precious platinum block, his face bearing an exceptionally listless expression quite unlike his usual self.

“Mr. Ohno, if the platinum block doesn’t return by tomorrow morning, what should I do?”

Mr. Kimura said to me with a deeply worried expression.

“Oh, please don’t worry.”
“Toshio-kun will surely retrieve it for you.”

“But since Toshio was only paying attention to me and Takeuchi, making us go through that futile X-ray examination, the culprit must have escaped far away during that time.”

I was at a loss for how to comfort Mr. Kimura and remained silent, deep in thought.

Just then, Toshio-kun returned with sweat beading on his forehead.

“Mr. Kimura, thank you for coming.
I must apologize for earlier.
What happened to Mr. Takeuchi?”

“Takeuchi returned with us, but soon after, he said he was tired and went back to his boarding house to sleep for a while.”

“Was Mr. Takeuchi angry?”

“But Toshio, you went through all that elaborate procedure, you know.
This was my first time ever being put through an X-ray.”

“It’s not good to have those things done too often.”

Toshio-kun said sarcastically.

“So, Toshio—have you already identified the culprit?”

“I’ve figured it out.”

“Huh?”

The two of us exchanged looks and shouted simultaneously.

“Who’s the culprit?”

Mr. Kimura demanded heatedly.

“Now now—no need to fret.”
“Before I explain that—there’s some tea I want to serve you.”

“Tea, you say?”
“This is no time for tea!”
“Please let me hear the culprit’s name quickly.”

Without responding to that, Toshio took a flask from the medicine shelf, tilted it, and poured the liquid inside into a beaker.
Then he cut a thin platinum wire into small pieces and brought them before Mr. Kimura’s eyes.

“Mr. Kimura, this tea is rather special—it performs an unusual trick.”
“Watch closely—I’ll drop this into it now.”

As Toshio-kun said this and dropped a small piece of platinum wire into the liquid, the platinum emitted a faint hiss and dissolved in an instant.

“Aqua regia [(a mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid)]?”

Mr. Kimura exclaimed in surprise.

“That’s right. But Mr. Takeuchi’s drinking tea is this one.”

“Huh? What? So Takeuchi’s teapot had aqua regia in it? The platinum was dissolved there? This is terrible!”

No sooner had he shouted this than Mr. Kimura rushed out in a flurry without looking back.

“Brother, let’s go to Mr. Kimura’s house too.”

When we arrived in front of Mr. Kimura’s house, Mr. Kimura came running out from inside.

“Toshio! Takeuchi took the teapot home! Do something quickly!”

“Mr. Kimura, there’s no need to panic. Brother—call a car.”

Toshio said calmly.

Chemistry Laboratory

The three of us got into the car I had called and hurried to Mr. Takeuchi’s boarding house in Shibaku Shinbori-cho—I would refer to him simply as Takeuchi from then on. Though the late autumn sunshine warmed the air and set the roadside trees aglow in vibrant hues, Mr. Kimura—his mind clearly racing ahead—spoke scarcely a word.

When the car reached our destination, Mr. Kimura practically leapt from the vehicle and dashed into the greengrocer’s where Takeuchi had been lodging. As I moved to follow, Toshio seized my arm firmly and spoke.

“Brother, there’s no need to get out. Takeuchi’s already gone.”
“Just wait—Mr. Kimura will come back pale-faced any moment now.”

After a while, Mr. Kimura indeed came out with a deathly pale face.

“Toshio—what should we do? When I asked the greengrocer’s wife, she said Takeuchi suddenly announced he was moving out this morning and left with his luggage without saying where he was going.”

“Mr. Kimura, there’s no need to worry—I know exactly where Takeuchi went, so we can definitely recover the platinum block. Now then, let’s head to the Metropolitan Police Department in this car.”

“The Metropolitan Police Department?”

Mr. Kimura said, his eyes widening.

“That’s right—depending on how things went, Takeuchi might already be in custody.”

For the first time, a look of relief surfaced on Mr. Kimura's face.

When the car approached Shiba Park, Mr. Kimura asked Toshio:

“Toshio, how did you discover that the platinum was dissolved in aqua regia inside the teapot?”

“Ah, that matter. Then I’ll explain the sequence of my detective work from here on.”
“First, there were no human footprints on the factory floor that appeared to have come from outside.”

"Then there were those glass shards. If it had been broken from the outside, there should have been many more fragments inside, but upon closer inspection, there were actually more fragments scattered on the lawn outside than those that had fallen inside. Therefore, I knew that the glass had been broken from the inside.

If it was broken from the inside, the one who broke it could only be Takeuchi. So Takeuchi must have stolen the platinum block—but where on earth could he have hidden it?—I frantically opened drawers and checked vessels on shelves."

However, I couldn’t find it anywhere, and when I finally opened the teapot lid as a last resort—thinking it couldn’t possibly be there—a strange smell wafted out. With a start, I realized: “The smell of anesthetic in the room was meant to mask the odor of the liquid inside this teapot. The platinum block is hidden inside this teapot.”

Though I had thought this, if I’d mentioned it then, Takeuchi might have done something drastic. So I asked Mr. Kimura, “Whose tea is this?” Then, before Mr. Kimura could respond, Takeuchi answered first. “That’s how I became certain Takeuchi was the culprit and had them take X-rays.”

“Huh?”

Mr. Kimura asked with a suspicious look.

"If the platinum block was in the teapot, there was no need to use X-rays, was there?"

"That may be so... Oh, we've already arrived at the Metropolitan Police Department. We'll discuss that in detail later."

No sooner had he said this than Toshio opened the car door and briskly stepped out.

At the Metropolitan Police Department, there was Detective Oda—whom Toshio called "Detective P"—who welcomed us with a smile. Toshio and Detective Oda spoke privately in hushed tones for some time. When they finished, it happened to be lunchtime, so we were treated to udon noodles together with Detective Oda. Mr. Kimura remained dazed, but Toshio cheerfully chattered away.

Just as we finished eating, Detective Oda’s subordinate Officer Hatano came in panting in his police uniform, but hesitated for a moment upon seeing us.
Then Detective Oda said,

“Officer Hatano, these people are all insiders here. Go ahead and speak freely,” Detective Oda said.

“In accordance with your orders, while keeping watch on the greengrocer’s in Shinbori-chō, Takeuchi returned carrying a teapot. However, after about thirty minutes had passed, a rickshaw arrived, and Takeuchi boarded it with a trunk and that teapot.”
“The rickshaw headed briskly toward Shinagawa, and I followed after it on foot.”

It then passed Shinagawa, went through Ōi-chō, and reached Ōmori’s △△.
The considerable distance left me thoroughly exhausted, but finally the rickshaw stopped in front of a Western-style house standing alone amidst fields. Takeuchi carried the trunk and teapot into the house and sent the rickshaw back.
I observed the house for a while, but it seemed there was no one inside.

When I inquired around the neighborhood, no one knew who lived there, but they said that come nightfall, five or six men would gather in a room on the lower floor of the Western-style house and engage in what appeared to be chemical experiments.
“So for the time being, I called Shinagawa Police Station and had two uniformed officers keep watch on the house, then have returned here for now.”

“Good work.”
“Well then, it seems we can’t make them hand it over unless it’s nighttime after all. You should get some proper rest.”

Detective Oda said.

When Officer Hatano left, Detective Oda said to Toshio.

“Toshio, as you’ve just heard, we’ll assemble here at seven tonight and plan to arrive there around eight. In the meantime, would you all rather go home and come back later, or endure waiting here—though it’ll be quite a stretch?”

When Toshio asked Mr. Kimura about his plans, Mr. Kimura declared he wouldn’t return home until they recovered the platinum from Takeuchi, so we three resolved to remain at the Metropolitan Police Department and wait approximately six hours.

Waiting was quite a taxing task.
It was precisely at times like these that the clock's hands seemed to move more slowly than usual.
When four o'clock finally arrived, Toshio suddenly turned to me and spoke.

“Brother, I need to go take care of something now, so please keep Mr. Kimura company.”
“I’ll be back by six without fail.”

The moment he finished speaking, Toshio left us two—still staring dumbfounded—and hurried off with quick strides.

The tedious hours finally came to an end, and it turned six o'clock.
Just as the surroundings grew slightly dim, the lights came on.
Then, right on schedule, Toshio entered our room with a smile.

“Brother, when I met Detective P just now, he said since we’ll need you to be very active tonight, you should stuff yourself with rice and save up your strength.”

When we finished our meal, the clock struck seven.
Detective Oda sent several skilled detectives ahead to take up positions, and the three of us departed later by car together with Detective Oda.

When we arrived in Omori, the surroundings were already pitch dark.
In a room that appeared to be a laboratory within a Western-style house amidst the fields, seven or eight men had gathered and were busily engaged in what looked like chemical experiments.
Under Detective Oda’s orders, Toshio, Mr. Kimura, and I stood in the shade of a tree and peered into the laboratory, where Takeuchi was also present.

Before long, Takeuchi took out the teapot with a triumphant look and handed it to a man who appeared to be the boss.
The boss took off the teapot's lid and sniffed its contents, but his expression immediately darkened as his face twisted in anger.
No sooner had he raised the teapot high than he splashed its contents straight at Takeuchi.
"...It was not Takeuchi but Mr. Kimura who let out an 'Ah!'"
Because the voice was so loud, the men inside all turned toward us.

At that instant, Toshio took out a police whistle and blew a sharp "Peeee!"
Then the laboratory lights snapped off, and both inside and outside the house were plunged into complete darkness.

As for what happened next, I leave that to your imagination, dear readers.
Some of the villains were captured inside the house, while others were apprehended by waiting officers after fierce struggles during their attempted escapes.
I too joined the fray and helped subdue one of the rogues, only to discover upon closer inspection that it was none other than Takeuchi.

Approximately thirty minutes later, a total of eight villains were loaded into the police transport vehicle.
Detective Oda looked pleased,

“Thank you very much, Toshio. Inside here is a master thief of precious metals that the Metropolitan Police have been searching for these past few years. I’ll come by properly to thank you later. You all take that car over there and head back.”

With that, he boarded the police transport vehicle and departed.

Mr. Kimura didn’t look very happy, as the “tea” containing the dissolved platinum had been spilled.
Before long, Toshio pulled Mr. Kimura over to the car and,

“There we go, Mr. Kimura. I’ve returned the platinum block as promised.”

As he said this, he handed a gleaming white lump into Mr. Kimura’s hand.

“Ah!”

As he spoke, Mr. Kimura clutched at it while taking hold,

“H-how did this…?”

“The reason we went for the X-ray examination was to swap this out,” Toshio explained.

“If we hadn’t done that, we couldn’t have gotten Takeuchi out. I returned ahead of the others from Dr. Okajima’s house, met Auntie, pretended to eat breakfast, and swapped the real contents of the teapot with ordinary tea. Then I transferred the real solution to another jar, took it to Yamamoto Laboratory in Asakusa to have them reduce it, and went to retrieve it from the Metropolitan Police Department at four.”

“Just now, the thief boss found that teapot contained only ordinary tea, so he thought Takeuchi had swapped it and angrily threw it at him.
“...Come on, let’s hurry back and make Auntie happy.””