The Woman in Green and The Hidden Episode

An old woman is murdered next door. A businessman remembers a mandolin playing during the night, but his wife urges him to say nothing. As a detective gathers evidence, small discrepancies lead him toward a secret closer to home.

In the second mystery, a Japanese painter in London glimpses a woman who resembles the lover who disappeared with his savings. Following her to Margate, he encounters an obliging policeman, a dying landowner and a green dress that seems to belong to two different women.

Matsumoto Tai’s stories combine everyday observations with unsettling questions about trust, loyalty and what can really be proved. Their settings range from Tokyo’s expanding suburbs to English railway stations and seaside hotels.