Detective Yamamoto and the Mermaid Part 1

SATURDAY

“Do you handle muggings?” asked the irritated man, directly addressing the detective. Satoshi felt a little put out. The man had barged right past him and made his way directly to the detective's office. It wasn't official, but Satoshi had sort of fallen into the habit of subtly screening potential clients. He rarely, if ever, turned anyone away from the detective's office, but the perceived breach of implied protocol made him start to consider doing so more often.

“You've been robbed?” asked the detective, looking up at the unexpected interloper in her office. The man certainly looked like he had been the victim of a mugging. He had the look of a man whose shoulder had recently received a chip on it and he certainly looked bedraggled enough to have been mugged. His entire outfit from his shirt to his shoes had a subtle griminess and were suffused with wrinkles as if he had donned all of clothes straight out of the wash and had worn them until they dried.

“Yes I've been robbed!” exclaimed the man. Detective Yamamoto shot Satoshi a furtive glance. Satoshi returned an equally wary look.

“Have you tried contacting the police?” asked the detective. “They might be better equipped to help you with something like this.” The man produced a look that told her precisely what he thought of that idea.

“I already tried the police. They laughed me out of the station,” the man groused. Detective Yamamoto and Satoshi simultaneously raised their eyebrows. Now they were getting somewhere, but if the police turned this guy away, and laughed at him for his trouble, then surely there must have been a credible reason. Before the detective could ask for further elaboration, the man spoke up again. “Aren't you the detective that takes any case and always solves them?” There was a subtle threat implied in that question that Detective Yamamoto was keenly aware of.

“I wouldn't say any case, or always solves them,” she replied noncommittally. “But I suppose I can at least hear you out. First things first: what was stolen?”

“My wallet,” replied the man, now seemingly mollified that the detective had humored him.

“And can you describe the mugger?” It was now the man's turn to look furtive. Satoshi and the detective divined simultaneously that this might have been the sticking point for the police. No doubt he was about to say something improbable, like his evil twin had robbed him.

“I can,” said the man after a pregnant pause. Detective Yamamoto tilted her head slightly as she extended the silence, awaiting further elaboration. Satoshi had seen her do this on occasion. As far as he could puzzle it out, she did it in hopes that a prolonged silence would make people talk and elaborate without verbal prompting. Unfortunately, Satoshi was also subject to the discomfort of prolonged silence. He cleared his throat.

“Would you describe the mugger?” Satoshi asked. The man gave a defeated sigh.

“She was a mermaid,” he said, now lowering his head and squeezing his eyes shut, no doubt preparing for the ridicule he expected. One moment passed, and then another before he looked up and saw Detective Yamamoto with a pensive look on her face. “Detective?” the man asked. Detective Yamamoto cleared her throat.

“I recognize that this might sound insensitive, but were you drinking before you got mugged?” she asked, taking special care to phrase the question as charitably as possible.

“Well, I did have a few drinks,” the man admitted with faint embarrassment. He must have noticed some subtle change in the detective's facial expression, as he raised his voice. “I wasn't that drunk! I wouldn't have just fallen off a pier and even if I did, then explain why my wallet's gone!” The detective raised her hands in a conciliatory gesture to forestall a prolonged outburst. The man settled down, but did so uneasily.

“Is it possible that you might have drunkenly fallen into the water?” the detective asked. The man considered the question, and it seemed to Satoshi that he was coming to a conclusion he would rather avoid.

“Maybe,” he admitted finally.

“Maybe,” echoed the detective. “Maybe it wasn't a mermaid, but if it was, we'll get to the bottom of it.” The man seemed slightly reassured.

“Thank you detective,” said the man. A beat passed during which the detective hoped the man would leave, go about his business, and check back later. Instead the man sat down in the chair in front of the detective's desk. “I'll be waiting here.”

~~~

“Do you really believe he was mugged by a mermaid?” Satoshi asked as he and the detective began the walk down to the waterfront. Somehow he doubted the detective believed the story, but she thought ghosts were real, so it couldn't be discounted out of hand.

“Of course not,” scoffed the detective. “However, I do believe he might have lost his wallet down by the pier.” Satoshi stroked his chin.

“I guess that makes sense,” he mused. “So what's the play then?”

“Well, of course we have to go search for it.” When Satoshi's slightly baffled look indicated to the detective that he wasn't following her line of thought she elaborated. “We'll have to do some diving.”

“Diving?” Satoshi repeated incredulously. Frankly, he found it ridiculous that he and the detective would have to go diving to retrieve a mere wallet.

“Not scuba diving, just simple stuff,” said the detective, as though this would entirely reassure him. Detective Yamamoto punctuated her statement by stopping and standing in front of what Satoshi realized was a dive shop.

Unlike most of the establishments Satoshi got dragged to as a result of assisting Detective Yamamoto, this dive shop didn't appear decrepit and on the verge of collapse. Sure it looked worn, but it was also evident that great care was taken to maintain the place. It made sense, after all. This store mainly served tourists, and if there's one thing that makes a tourist balk, it's anything that's less than utterly inviting. As the detective and Satoshi walked through the doorway, a voice called out to greet them.

“Welcome, welcome!” said the old man standing behind the register off to one side. “How can I help you two today?” He was a gruff-looking old man, almost like the stereotype of the old, weathered fisherman. He had a gray beard, but it failed to hide a warm smile. He wore faded khaki shorts and a vibrant floral print shirt, the type of which that spoke of tropical weather and easy island living.

“Hello,” said the detective. “We're here to rent some diving gear.”

“Alright, alright,” replied the man. “What do you think you'll need?” The detective counted off on her fingers as she listed the equipment.

“Two masks, two snorkels, two sets of fins. Anything else?” The detective asked, turning and directing the question to Satoshi.

“Wet suits maybe?” Satoshi said uncertainly. “You seem to know more about diving than I do.”

“Didn't you bring your own swim suit?” Detective Yamamoto produced a startlingly skimpy bikini from a pocket. Satoshi boggled for a second.

“I didn't think I would need it this morning.” Detective Yamamoto turned back to the old man.

“I guess we'll need one wet suit for my assistant,” she said.

“Sounds good,” said the old man, tapping the keys on the cash register and producing the total price for all the rental equipment. Detective Yamamoto turned to Satoshi expectantly, who sighed and moved to grab his wallet. After a slightly bigger payment than Satoshi expected to make today, the old man handed over all of the equipment.

“Changing rooms are right down the hall,” said the old man. “There are storage lockers for rent too.” Despite already dropping a chunk of change on the equipment, Satoshi opted to rent a locker as well. It would be the crowning irony if he and the detective were to find the client's wallet only for Satoshi's own to go missing.

Satoshi, seeing how as he had paid for it, opted to get changed first. Squeezing into the wet suit wasn't exactly a pleasant experience, and neither was the prospect of trying to walk while wearing the flippers. He decided he would just carry them until they got to the water. When he emerged from the dressing room, Detective Yamamoto stifled a laugh when she saw him. She tried to pass it off as a coughing fit.

“My turn,” said the detective, quickly excusing herself into the changing room. Moments later, in a fraction of the time it took Satoshi, Detective Yamamoto emerged, bikini-clad, wearing both the snorkeling mask and flippers.

“Ready detective?” Satoshi asked, taking pains to make sure that his gaze remained above the neckline, lest things become awkward.

“Ready!” declared the detective, taking high steps to accommodate the flippers. “Let's go!” Detective Yamamoto advanced at a surprising rate given her flippers and Satoshi had to break out into a jog to keep up.

~~~

Satoshi stood at the edge of the water with flippers in hand. He was still considering whether to put them on now or wait a bit longer.

“Detective, are you sure this is a good idea?” he asked, despite having already paid for the equipment rental and changed into the borrowed wet suit. The detective replied indistinctly due to the mouth piece of the snorkel. After a moment, she removed it.

“Of course it's a good idea!” said the detective cheerfully. Satoshi noticed that she seemed to be in a better mood than normal. If Satoshi indulged the impulse to gamble, he would wager that the detective just wanted an excuse to wear her swimsuit and go for a swim at the beach. It was a nice swimsuit, inasmuch as Satoshi was willing to let his eyes linger on it. It was a vivid orange two piece with a simple white floral print. Satoshi might have liked to see it on someone else. Airi came to mind.

“If you say so,” said Satoshi, not fully believing it. “Where do we begin?” Detective Yamamoto pulled the diving mask down over her eyes.

“Let's start in the shallows,” she said. Suiting her action to the word, she started flopping her feet and moving down the beach and into the water. Satoshi followed a moment later after securing his own snorkel, goggles, and flippers.

The water, once he set foot into it, felt quite cold; warmer than it might have been at any other time of the year, but still quite cold. He swore on impulse. Detective Yamamoto continued treading deeper into the shallow water before springing forward and beginning to swim face down with the snorkel in the air. Despite dreading the chill of the water, Satoshi followed her lead.

Through the lenses of the goggles, the seafloor appeared crystal clear. Satoshi had seldom swam before, but he understood the basic principles behind the snorkel well enough not to inadvertently drown himself.

Swimming face down, Satoshi continued scanning the seafloor. By and large, it was free of anything that would strike Satoshi as out of place. There were little seashells mingled among the sand and silt. There were strands of seaweed that poked up from the ground and waved and drifted in the currents. However, nowhere was there anything that so much as resembled a wallet or indicated the existence of a mermaid. A glint of movement caught the corner of Satoshi's eye. When he looked in that direction, he saw Detective Yamamoto waving to get his attention, and then pointing up towards the surface of the water. Detective Yamamoto surfaced, followed shortly after by Satoshi.

“I think we should split up,” said the detective once she removed the snorkel's mouthpiece from her mouth. “We can cover more ground that way.” Satoshi nodded. It made sense to him. “I'll keep looking around here, you look over by the pier.” Satoshi nodded again, indicating his agreement.

Once again, Detective Yamamoto put her snorkel back in her mouth and dipped beneath the surface of the water. Satoshi swam a ways above the water before slipping below the surface again. Over near the pier, the topology of the ground was different. There was less vegetation, and whatever there was was clumped and gathered around the structural pillars that supported the pier. There was also a considerable amount of garbage and other detritus that had settled or gotten caught among the structure.

As Satoshi swam closer to the pier's supports, he noticed for the first time that there was something of a noticeable current in the water, and that it roiled turbulently through the support pillars, carrying little bits of junk with it. He mentally noted that he should take extra care when swimming around here as he continued searching for the lost wallet.

While kicking slowly along, Satoshi noticed something beneath the pier. In between two of the structural pillars, there was a large deformation, as if all the junk being carried along by the currents had settled in one place and formed a heap. Most curiously, there seemed to be almost a cave of sorts, as though all the rubbish enclosed a small open area.

Now drifting under the pier, Satoshi clung to the side of one of the pillars to steady himself. He couldn't be sure from just under the surface of the water, but the wallet might have ended up in this pile. To be certain, however, Satoshi would have to risk swimming down to get a closer look. Considering that he and the detective were here to find the wallet, Satoshi resolved himself at least to try. Drawing in a deep breath, Satoshi ducked totally under the water and swam down to the pile.

Now getting a closer look, it seemed to Satoshi that there was something that could feasibly resemble a wallet. Feeling excited, Satoshi descended more rapidly in a bid to confirm if this was the thing he was looking for, so he and the detective could get out of the water. Having slid down the pillar to the point where the wood of the pier met the concrete foundation, Satoshi kicked off it and swam down further still to the rubbish pile.

As he swam away from the pillar, instantly, he became away of his mistake. Away from the structural certainty of the pier, the tide became more difficult to navigate, and near the trash was where the tide was roughest.

Stay calm, Satoshi told himself. Everything will be fine if I stay calm.

This sentiment, while nice and comforting, proved merely to be wishful thinking. Satoshi reached out to grasp the wallet, but as he did so, his hand wasn't there to stabilize himself in the current. He managed to just brush the wallet with the tip of his fingers, causing it to shift slightly, before the current began to drag him away. To his horror, the current now ran downwards, pushing Satoshi further down until he was resting on the seafloor.

 Naturally, he began to panic. He had been holding his breath for a while, certainly longer than he had ever consciously done before, and longer than he thought he could manage. He didn't have much time to consider this feat of physical fitness as the current shifted again. Satoshi, caught unaware, didn't see the structural pillar and clipped his head on it. His vision flared as though someone had set off a camera's flashbulb in his face and then everything began to fade. He tried valiantly to remain cognizant, but he could only focus on a small trail of bubbles representing the last of his breath floating towards the surface. As his vision began to fade entirely, he thought he saw a pair of hands reaching towards him, like a psychopomp coming to carry him off to the afterlife.