Read Online After Dark by Haruki Murakami - Free Book Online
Authors: Haruki Murakami
Tags: Fiction
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expecting some kind of occurrence. But there is no one on this side. Only her image is left in the Skylark’s restroom mirror.
The room begins to darken. In the deepening darkness, “I Can’t Go for That” continues to play.
6
T he Hotel Alphaville office. Kaoru sits at the computer looking grumpy. The liquid crystal monitor shows videos taken by the security camera at the front entrance. The image is clear. The time of day is displayed in a corner of the screen. Checking her penciled notes against the time on the monitor, Kaoru uses the mouse to make the image fast-forward and stop. The procedure does not seem to be going well. Now and then she looks at the ceiling and sighs.
Komugi and Korogi walk in.
“Whatcha doin’, Kaoru?” Komugi asks.
“Whoa, you sure don’t look happy!” Korogi adds.
“Security-camera DVD,” Kaoru answers, glaring at the screen. “If I check right around that time, we can probably tell who beat her up.”
“But we had all kinds of customers coming and going then. Think we can tell which one did it?” Komugi says.
Kaoru’s thick fingers tap clumsily at the keys. “All the other customers were couples, but that guy came alone and waited for the woman in the room. He picked up the key to 404 at 10:52, and she got delivered on the motorcycle ten minutes later. We know that much from Sasaki at the reception desk.”
“So all you have to do is look at the frames from ten fifty-two,” says Komugi.
“Yeah, but it’s not as easy as it sounds,” says Kaoru. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing with these digital gizmos.”
“Muscles don’t help much, do they?” says Komugi.
“You got it.”
With an earnest expression, Korogi says, “I think maybe Kaoru was born at the wrong time.”
“Yeah,” says Komugi. “By like two thousand years.”
“Right on,” says Korogi.
“Think you’ve got me all figured out, huh?” says Kaoru. “Can you guys do this stuff?”
“No way!” they chime in together.
Kaoru types the time she wants in the search column and clicks her mouse, but she can’t bring up the correct frames. She seems to be performing operations in the wrong sequence. She clucks in frustration. She picks up the manual and flips through it, but can’t make sense of it, gives up, and throws it on the desk.
“What the hell am I doing wrong? This ought to bring up the exact frames I want, but it doesn’t. I wish to hell Takahashi were here. He’d get it in a split second.”
“But still, Kaoru, even if you find out what the guy looks like, what good’s it gonna do? You can’t report him to the cops,” Komugi says.
“I don’t go anywhere near the cops if I can help it,” says Kaoru. “Not to boast or anything.”
“So what’re you gonna do?”
“I’ll think about that when the time comes,” says Kaoru. “It’s just the way I’m made: I can’t stand by and let a son-of-a-bitch like that pull shit like that. He thinks ’cause he’s stronger he can beat up a woman, strip her of everything she’s got, and walk away. And on top of it he doesn’t pay his damn hotel bill. That’s a man for you—a real scumball.”
“Somebody oughta catch that fuckin’ psycho and beat him half to death,” says Korogi.
“Right on,” says Kaoru with a vigorous nod. “But he’d never be stupid enough to show his face here again. Not for a while, at least. And who’s got time to go looking for him?”
“So what’re ya gonna do?” Komugi asks.
“Like I said, I’ll think about that when the time comes.”
All but punching the mouse in desperation, Kaoru double-clicks on a random icon, and a few seconds later the screen for 10:48 appears on the monitor.
“At last.”
Komugi: “If at first you don’t succeed…”
Korogi: “Betcha scared the computer.”
The three of them stare at the screen in silence, holding their breath. A young couple come in at 10:50. Students, probably. Both are obviously tense. They stand in front of the
The room begins to darken. In the deepening darkness, “I Can’t Go for That” continues to play.
6
T he Hotel Alphaville office. Kaoru sits at the computer looking grumpy. The liquid crystal monitor shows videos taken by the security camera at the front entrance. The image is clear. The time of day is displayed in a corner of the screen. Checking her penciled notes against the time on the monitor, Kaoru uses the mouse to make the image fast-forward and stop. The procedure does not seem to be going well. Now and then she looks at the ceiling and sighs.
Komugi and Korogi walk in.
“Whatcha doin’, Kaoru?” Komugi asks.
“Whoa, you sure don’t look happy!” Korogi adds.
“Security-camera DVD,” Kaoru answers, glaring at the screen. “If I check right around that time, we can probably tell who beat her up.”
“But we had all kinds of customers coming and going then. Think we can tell which one did it?” Komugi says.
Kaoru’s thick fingers tap clumsily at the keys. “All the other customers were couples, but that guy came alone and waited for the woman in the room. He picked up the key to 404 at 10:52, and she got delivered on the motorcycle ten minutes later. We know that much from Sasaki at the reception desk.”
“So all you have to do is look at the frames from ten fifty-two,” says Komugi.
“Yeah, but it’s not as easy as it sounds,” says Kaoru. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing with these digital gizmos.”
“Muscles don’t help much, do they?” says Komugi.
“You got it.”
With an earnest expression, Korogi says, “I think maybe Kaoru was born at the wrong time.”
“Yeah,” says Komugi. “By like two thousand years.”
“Right on,” says Korogi.
“Think you’ve got me all figured out, huh?” says Kaoru. “Can you guys do this stuff?”
“No way!” they chime in together.
Kaoru types the time she wants in the search column and clicks her mouse, but she can’t bring up the correct frames. She seems to be performing operations in the wrong sequence. She clucks in frustration. She picks up the manual and flips through it, but can’t make sense of it, gives up, and throws it on the desk.
“What the hell am I doing wrong? This ought to bring up the exact frames I want, but it doesn’t. I wish to hell Takahashi were here. He’d get it in a split second.”
“But still, Kaoru, even if you find out what the guy looks like, what good’s it gonna do? You can’t report him to the cops,” Komugi says.
“I don’t go anywhere near the cops if I can help it,” says Kaoru. “Not to boast or anything.”
“So what’re you gonna do?”
“I’ll think about that when the time comes,” says Kaoru. “It’s just the way I’m made: I can’t stand by and let a son-of-a-bitch like that pull shit like that. He thinks ’cause he’s stronger he can beat up a woman, strip her of everything she’s got, and walk away. And on top of it he doesn’t pay his damn hotel bill. That’s a man for you—a real scumball.”
“Somebody oughta catch that fuckin’ psycho and beat him half to death,” says Korogi.
“Right on,” says Kaoru with a vigorous nod. “But he’d never be stupid enough to show his face here again. Not for a while, at least. And who’s got time to go looking for him?”
“So what’re ya gonna do?” Komugi asks.
“Like I said, I’ll think about that when the time comes.”
All but punching the mouse in desperation, Kaoru double-clicks on a random icon, and a few seconds later the screen for 10:48 appears on the monitor.
“At last.”
Komugi: “If at first you don’t succeed…”
Korogi: “Betcha scared the computer.”
The three of them stare at the screen in silence, holding their breath. A young couple come in at 10:50. Students, probably. Both are obviously tense. They stand in front of the
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