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I didn't know who sent me the DVD. What I did know for sure was that my wife had been taken away by another man. What it meant was the collapse of my family. The family I'd built so steadily up until now. But now it was about to be torn apart by people I didn't even know. I wondered if the DVD was even sent by them. I couldn't help but think that they were enjoying making a fool of me. Rather than feeling frustrated, I only grew more annoyed with the men who were doing whatever they wanted to my wife.
And then I realized that I'd been forced into this situation. I wanted to hit those men with my own hands. They knew she had a husband, but they knew no bounds. I was angry at myself for assuming my wife couldn't possibly cheat and doing nothing.
That weekend, I didn't go back to my wife's house. Instead, I went to work on my day off to get more done. I took paid leave on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"I can't wait for Tuesdays every week." I couldn't get the man's words out of my head. This situation was the cause of my current worries and suffering. And this man's words about looking forward to playing with someone else's wife. It felt like my heart was being ripped out.
On Tuesday, I returned to my home in Fukuoka City, without telling my wife, of course. I was sure she was at work, but after seeing all that footage, I didn't know what to trust. Some of it was filmed inside the house. I acted without any thought, solely determined to capture the scene. I took a taxi to the station where my wife usually picked me up, and from there, I took a taxi to a nearby neighborhood. I got off nearby and started walking toward home.
I found myself walking slowly, as if to gauge the situation. Why did I have to gauge the situation just to get back to my own house? Anything could happen. But if I didn't do anything, I'd lose everything. I was simply filled with the desire to release everything that had been building up inside me and destroy the current situation. I made up my mind and started walking.
My house came into view. I approached it. There was no car at the front door. No one there? I unlocked the front door and went inside. The room was quiet. I realized that I had come all the way here with my heart pounding. No one was home. I took off my shoes and sat on the sofa in the living room. Was she at work? Or maybe somewhere else?
I decided to call my wife and let her know I'd be home tonight. I picked up my cell phone, found her call history, and called her. I told her I'd be home tonight and we'd talk. I was sure she'd be conscious of me if I told her I'd taken the day off work. The phone rang several times, and then my wife answered.
"Hello," she said. Her voice was cheerful, just like my wife always was.
"Oh, it's me," I said.
"What's the matter? Is something wrong?" she asked.
"I'll be home tonight, so make dinner," I said.
"Oh, so you're off tomorrow?" she asked.
"No, I'm going back to Kitakyushu today," I replied.
"Okay, I get it. I'll make dinner then," she said.
I hung up the phone. I decided to return at night, so I left the house to kill time until then.
That night, I headed home again just after 8 o'clock. She usually picked me up at the station. I wondered if she'd be surprised if I suddenly came home. I arrived home and opened the front door.
"I'm home," I said as I headed to the living room, but the lights were off. Maybe she hadn't come home yet? I called out to my daughter Mana, who must be on the second floor.
"Hey, Mana, where's Mom?" I asked.
Mana came out of her room. "Mom's not here yet. Actually, I thought it was Mom, but it's Dad. Aren't you at work today?" she asked.
"I'm at work, but I had to run something around here," I said.
Had she not come home yet? I felt bad for lying to my daughter. It had nothing to do with the children. But the shock of finding out the truth would be immeasurable.
Time passed. The clock struck 11 o'clock. I tried calling Noriko. I called several times, but she didn't answer. I could feel my impatience growing. I asked Mana, and she said Noriko was usually home by 9 o'clock at the latest. There should be a call log. I waited for Noriko to call. It was 11:30, approaching midnight, but the call still didn't come through. I called her several times, but it just rang and rang. Had she not gone to work today? As usual on Tuesdays…
Come to think of it, I didn't even know the address of my wife's company. While I was away on a business trip, my wife changed jobs, and I hadn't even asked her where she worked. Little by little, I realized how much I'd neglected my home life. That's right, Akasaka-san, she must know. Thinking this, I called Akasaka. Calling so late at night was rude. But she was the only one I could rely on. After several rings, Akasaka answered the phone.
"Hello, sorry to call so late," I said.
Akasaka responded in a surprised tone. "What's wrong?"
I briefly explained the situation. "Um, my wife hasn't come home yet, and I couldn't find her company's contact information, so I called you because you were the only one I could rely on…"
"What? She hasn't come home yet? She should have finished by now," Akasaka said.
"Did my wife work today?" I asked.
"Yes, I left earlier, but I don't think she'd be working this late. I'll call her company just to be sure," she said.
With that, Akasaka called her company. A few minutes later, my cell phone rang.
"Hello, how was it?" I asked.
"As expected, no one at work answered," Akasaka said.
"I see, I understand. Thank you," I replied.
She'd never missed a day at home before. I wondered if something had happened. Should I call the police? Looking at the display on my cell phone, I pressed 110 and stared at the call button. At that moment, my wife called. I answered immediately.
"Where are you? Is something wrong?" I asked, my own angry voice echoing in the quiet room.
"I'm sorry. I'll explain the situation, so for now, nothing has happened…" Noriko said.
"So where, what…" I started.
"Beep, beep." The call cut off.
Surely something had happened? Explain the situation? What did that mean? I called back, but there wasn't even a ringtone. Maybe the phone was turned off. Mana came down from her room after hearing the yelling on the phone.
"Mom, did something happen?" she asked with worried eyes.
My wife was clearly hiding something, and I couldn't tell this to my daughter. "Mom said she had some trouble at work, so she's staying at a nearby hotel," I said.
My daughter was in high school, too. A simple lie was easily seen through. I decided to end the conversation for now. "School's tomorrow, so you should go to bed early," I told Mana, sending her back to her room. School was on summer vacation, but Mana coached her juniors in their club activities every day. I didn't know what would happen if she found out what was going on. Fortunately, both my daughter and son seemed to be mad at me. That was my only relief.
I'd had enough. So I called the police. I went to the police station and explained the situation. Of course, I couldn't tell them about the DVD. I told them that my wife wouldn't be coming home that night and that she'd contacted me to explain the situation. That's all I could say. My wife herself said nothing had happened. Would they take me seriously in that state?
It was late at night, and the police station was deserted. I wrote down the necessary information, including my wife's phone number. I took a photo of my wife, as she had said on the phone, and stamped it with my seal.
Something was different. The peaceful, quiet atmosphere of the police station. The atmosphere, proceeding steadily like paperwork, seemed strange. Looking back, I guess that just showed how anxious I was. Still, I took the necessary steps and requested a search. It was all I could do at the time.
After completing all the necessary procedures, I waited for the officer to respond. After a while, the officer who answered the phone said, "We'll register your name on our computer. Your wife called and told us she was safe and would like to explain the situation, so there won't be a large-scale investigation. First, I'd like you to search for any places you think she might be missing. I know you're worried, but if your wife has expressed her intention to disappear, we can't investigate."
I had expected this, but when I heard his answer, I didn't know what to do. "But even though she says nothing has happened, she hasn't actually come home. It's possible that something has happened!" My voice echoed in the quiet room, feeling hollow.
"Of course, I understand your concern. However, the police receive nearly 100,000 missing person reports each year. We immediately investigate cases that could pose a serious threat to life, but the reality is that we only find people through patrols and police questioning. That's as far as the police go. There are other options, like hiring a private detective agency, but…" the officer said.
I found myself unable to respond. If my wife had been "forced" to make that phone call, things might have been different. However, given what had happened so far, my wife… Was it simply that I didn't trust my wife, or that I just didn't want to accept that she was drifting away from me? I knew there was nothing more I could do.
I got up and left the police station. I wondered if talking about the DVD would make them take action, thinking back on everything that had happened. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the police weren't taking any action. I worked, raised our children every day, and spent weekends with them. What good would it do to present that DVD as evidence? Surely they'd just think it was an adult video my wife starred in because she liked it. How could bringing an adult DVD with my wife in it be considered criminal?
The more I thought about it, the more unrealistic my current situation seemed, and the more I realized that everything was going according to my wife's and those unknown men's wishes, without me being able to do anything about it. I felt angry, taking paid leave from work and coming home only to find myself spinning my wheels, and I felt deeply powerless. A husband who could do nothing while his wife was being seduced, a man who was doing whatever he wanted with her, and his wife, presumably, staying with that man. I couldn't even fathom the reality of this situation happening right now.
Still, I couldn't help but take action. It was almost 2 a.m., but I called Akasaka and asked for the location and phone number of my wife's company. No one answered when Akasaka called earlier. But that didn't mean there was no one there. There was nothing I could do but check with my own eyes.
Knowing the chances of her being there were slim, I headed to her company. As I drove to her office in a taxi, I wondered: What does my wife think of me? She looked so happy on our recent trip. Is she waiting for me to break the current situation? To be rescued from this tangled mess of threads? More than my wife's wishes, I wanted to believe this. To hide my own weaknesses, which were increasingly revealed.
What to do… the police would be unreliable. I didn't know what time she'd be home. They were sure I'd seen the DVD. Was she afraid to face me because I'd suddenly said I was leaving? If that were the case, then… If I started thinking negatively, there was no end to it. If that were the case… maybe I should call a private investigator…
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