In that case, the unsolved riddle of what had taken place in Vienna in 1938 would be buried in darkness. Then again, perhaps Killing Commendatore itself was the hidden key. The idea struck me all of a sudden. Were that true, it would explain why, at the end of his life, Tomohiko’s living spirit had returned to his mountaintop to confirm the painting’s existence.
I swiveled around to look in the backseat. Just maybe, the Commendatore was sitting there. But the seat was empty.
“Is something wrong?” Masahiko said, glancing behind him.
“No, nothing at all,” I said.
When the light turned green, he stepped on the accelerator.
49
FILLED WITH JUST AS MANY DEATHS
On our way to check in on his father, we stopped at a roadside restaurant so that Masahiko could use the toilet. We were shown to a table next to the window, where we ordered coffee. As it was already noon, I ordered a roast beef sandwich, too. Masahiko asked for the same thing. Then he headed for the men’s room. While he was gone I stared blankly out the window. The parking lot was packed with cars. Most had come with families. The number of minivans really stood out. All minivans look identical to me. Like cans of tasteless biscuits. There was an observation deck at the end of the lot where people were using small digital cameras and cell phones to snap photos of Mt. Fuji, which towered right in front of them. It’s dumb, I know, but I’ve never really gotten comfortable with phones taking pictures. I’m even less cool with cameras making phone calls.
While I was sitting there looking at nothing in particular, a white Subaru Forester turned off the road and into the lot. I don’t know much about cars (and the Subaru Forester is hardly distinctive), but I could tell at a glance that it was the model the man with the white Subaru Forester had been driving. It trolled up and down the rows before finally nosing into an empty space. Sure enough, the logo on the spare-tire cover read SUBARU FORESTER. It appeared to be the same model as the car I had seen in the little seaside town in Miyagi Prefecture. I couldn’t make out the license plate, but the more I looked, the more I was sure it was the same car I had seen that spring. Not just the same model. I mean the exact same car.
My visual memory is sharper than most—and more durable. As a result, I could tell that the stains and other markings were strikingly similar to those of that car as I remembered it. I could hardly breathe. But just when I was straining to identify the driver as he stepped out, a large tour bus pulled into the lot and blocked my view. Unable to move past the jam of cars, it just sat there. I jumped up and hurried out of the restaurant. I rushed around the bus, which had stopped dead in its tracks, and approached the spot where the white Subaru Forester was parked. But the car was empty. Its driver had gone off somewhere. He might be in the restaurant, or perhaps was taking pictures on the observation deck. I scanned the area but couldn’t spot the man with the white Subaru Forester anywhere. Of course, the driver could have been someone else.
I checked the license plate. Sure enough, it read “Miyagi Prefecture.” On the rear bumper was a sticker with a picture of a marlin on it. It was the same car, no question. That man had come here. A chill ran down my spine. I decided to search for him. I wanted to see his face one more time. To figure out why I couldn’t finish his portrait. Perhaps I had overlooked something basic about him. First, though, I memorized the license plate number. It might prove useful. Then again, it might be of no use at all.
I walked around the parking lot, keeping an eye out for someone who resembled him. I checked the observation deck. But the man with the white Subaru Forester was nowhere to be seen. A man of middle age, deeply tanned, with a salt-and-pepper crew cut. On the tall side. When last seen, wearing a battered black leather jacket and a Yonex golf cap. I had whipped off a quick sketch on my memo pad and shown it to the young woman sitting across from me. “You’re really good at drawing!” she had enthused.
Once I was sure no one matching his description was outside, I looked inside the restaurant. I circled the place, but he was nowhere to be seen. The seats were almost full. Masahiko was back at our table, drinking his coffee. The sandwiches hadn’t shown up yet.
“Where’d you disappear to?” he asked me.
“I thought I saw someone I knew. So I went outside to check.”
“Did you find them?”
“No. Probably a case of mistaken identity,” I said.
After that, I kept a close eye on the white Subaru Forester outside. Yet if the man in question did come back, what should I do? Go out and talk to him? Tell him I was sure I had bumped into him twice this past spring in a small coastal town in Miyagi? Is that so? Well, I don’t remember you, he’d probably shoot back.
Well then, why are you following me? I would ask. What are you talking about? he would reply. Why the hell would I be tailing someone I don’t even know? End of conversation.
In any event, the driver of the white Subaru Forester never went back to his car. It just sat there in the lot, short and squat, silently awaiting its owner’s return. We finished our sandwiches and coffee, but he still hadn’t shown.
“We’d better be going,” Masahiko said, glancing at his watch. “We don’t have a whole lot of time.” He picked up his Ray-Bans from the table.
We stood, paid the bill, and walked out. Then we climbed into the Volvo and drove out of the jammed parking lot. I wanted to wait for the man with the white Subaru Forester to return, but meeting Masahiko’s father had to be my top priority. The Commendatore had driven home that message with absolute clarity: My friends will be invited somewhere. You must not decline that invitation.
I was left with the fact that the man with the white Subaru Forester had shown up once again. He had known where to find me and had made it clear that he was there. His intent was obvious. His appearance could be no accident. Nor, of course, was the tour bus that had hidden him from view.
* * *
—
To reach the facility where Tomohiko Amada was being cared for, we had to leave the Izu Skyline and drive down a long, winding road. The area had recently been turned into a summer retreat for city folk: we passed stylish coffee shops, fancy inns built to resemble log cabins, stands selling local produce, and small museums aimed at passing tourists. Each time we went around a curve, I gripped the door handle and thought of the man with the white Subaru Forester. Something was blocking me from finishing his portrait. A key element, something that made him who he was, had escaped me. A missing piece of the puzzle, as it were. This was new for me. I always gathered together everything I knew I would need before I started a portrait. In the case of the man with the white Subaru Forester, though, I had not been able to do that. Probably the man himself was standing in my way. He didn’t like having his portrait painted, for whatever reason. In fact, he seemed dead set against it.