Summary

The novel begins with a description of a missing person who has not been heard from in over seven years. The man (Niki Junpei) disappeared one day with no word to his colleagues or wife, and speculation was given as to his whereabouts. Guesses that he left for another woman were unsupported by the fact that someone saw him at the bus station alone, with just his insect collecting gear. A colleague suggested his hobby of insect-collecting was a sign of his suppression of a homosexual origin, or of kleptomania, an Oedipus complex, or some other preoccupation. Another possibility was that of suicide, as he had a supply of potassium cyanide in his collecting kit. Despite the police inquiry, no results came about and after seven years of no news, he was pronounced dead.

The next chapter initially begins with the same description of...