“Ishigami had first seen the Engineer about ten days ago. He wasn’t used to life along the river yet, still drawing an imaginary line between himself and the blue vinyl sheets. Yet here he stayed, not knowing how to live on his own without a home.”

Ishigami’s routine walk from his apartment to his school, described in the first chapter, is full of important clues about the mystery plot to follow. The most crucial detail is the tent city of unhoused people, where he notes several figures that he has offhandedly and irreverently nicknamed. Ishigami’s focus on “the Engineer” in this scene contrasts with the man’s missing presence in later descriptions of the tent city, hinting at the novel’s conclusion.

“This man was a curse on her and her daughter. She had to get him off her daughter. She had to be rid of him. If she let go now she might never get another chance.”

This passage illustrates Yasuko’s fear and desperation as she struggles against the violent Togashi, making it clear that her motives for killing him are primarily self-defense and the need to protect her daughter. Earlier in this scene, her reflection that the police never helped her against Togashi in the past indicates that the traditional social structures in Japan have left her with no other options to ensure her survival.

“Murder is murder. Everything else is just details.”

Having killed Togashi, Yasuko considered turning herself in, but Misato objects, saying that Togashi’s death is not her fault and she should not be punished for it. This bleak statement is Yasuko’s response, and the line succinctly summarizes one view of justice and morality depicted in the novel and contributes to the theme of