Free A Quiet Place by Seicho Matsumoto

again. I’m sure that your wife will return for their sake.”
    With these words of comfort, the housekeeper and maid showed him out.
    Asai exited the Tachibana’s main gate and stood for a moment at the top of the hill, looking down. The street just below him was lined on both sides by wide-roofed mansions and was completely dark. Way down below that,the lights of the bustling city stretched out before him. Everything looked peaceful from up here.
    Eiko wasn’t coming back. She’d been turned to ash and was waiting at the local temple for the engraver to finish her memorial stone. Then she’d be laid to rest beneath it.
    Who was responsible? Where was the man whose charm had tempted her all the way to her death? And how had this man managed to get close to Eiko in the first place? Asai hadn’t the faintest idea, and had no clue as to the mystery man’s identity.
    He kept walking southwards, up the slope. The Hotel Midori’s gaudy neon sign flashed against the night sky. He imagined the flaming red lights were designed to stimulate sexual appetite, luring men and women to a den of mind-numbing pleasure.
    In just five minutes Asai was at the hotel’s gate. The exterior was pretty similar to that of the Tachibana, and the concept more or less the same – the tiny pebbles and the plants glowed in the darkness from the light of low stone lanterns.
    While he was hesitating outside, a man and a woman hurried past him through the gate. They were young, and didn’t speak as they crunched their way along the pebble path. Asai waited a couple of minutes, then followed them inside. To his left, what looked a lot like a roadside tea house was the only place that was brightly lit. From that direction he heard a woman’s voice.
    â€œ Irrashaimase – welcome.”
    A maid had stepped out to greet him, and he realized at once that this must be the hotel’s reception.
    â€œWill someone be joining you later?”
    The same question as at the Tachibana.
    He guessed there must be about ten maids working at this hotel. Assuming there were about the same number at the previous hotel, then he’d end up showing his wife’s picture to over twenty people. He could ask them to keep it among themselves, as it was such a personal matter, but he knew this would be futile. The story was going to spread. Each maid who promised faithfully to keep it secret was bound to leak it to one or two other people. As long as he didn’t give his real name, then it wouldn’t be too terrible if they discussed his story. But sneaking around and flashing Eiko’s photo about like this was a really low thing to do. He felt wretched. And he might not have any luck at this hotel, either. If they hadn’t seen her here, would he then have to move on to the next one? And then another, and another, until he’d visited all the hotels, inns and hostels in the neighbourhood?
    The Midori’s head housekeeper listened sympathetically to his heartbreaking tale. She took the photo, but when she still hadn’t returned after forty minutes, he imagined how the conversation might be going.
    â€œHis wife ran off with another man. Left two children at home! The husband’s going crazy searching for her. Wants her to come home for the sake of the kids. He’s got no shame. Lost all self-respect, poor thing. Hey, this is her. He brought her photo. Wants to know if she came here with her lover. Have you seen her? It’s okay if you have; just tell him. I feel sorry for him.”
    Each maid’s expression when she was handed Eiko’s picture would be slightly different, but by the end they’d all pretty much be close to pity.
    When the housekeeper finally returned, she was accompanied by a younger, shorter maid who knelt nervously on the tatami behind her.
    â€œI’ve asked everybody, but they all say she’s never been to our hotel. No one has ever seen her here