Chapter 66 Chapter Thirty-Five

Dangerous places, people in front of the TV, phantom people The door opened slightly inward.The male waiter held the plate with both hands, and walked into the room with a slight salute.I hid in the shadow of the vase in the hallway and waited for him to come out, while I considered what to do next.I could slip in by rubbing shoulders with the valet. Who is in room 208?If this chain of events went as it did last time (and is going on), the door should be unlocked.I can also leave the room aside and follow the valet.In that case, it should be possible to find the place where he belongs. My heart oscillates between the two.But finally decided to follow the male waiter. There may be some danger lurking in room 208, and it will be a danger with fatal consequences.I do remember that hard knock on the door and that flash of violence as white as a knife.I must tread carefully.First of all, keep an eye on the male biography to see where he goes.Then it's not too late to come back here.But how to return it?I reached into my trouser pockets and searched.Inside was a wallet, a handkerchief, and a short ballpoint pen.I took out the ballpoint pen and drew a line on the palm of my hand to make sure the oil came out.Just use it to mark the wall, I think.In this way, you can follow it back, it should be possible, presumably.

The door opened and the waiter walked out.When he came out he was empty-handed.The whole plate was left in the room.He closed the door, straightened his posture, played "The Thieves Magpie" again, and quickly returned to the original path with both hands empty.I left the vase shadow and followed.Whenever there is a fork in the road, I use a ballpoint pen to mark a small blue X on the cream-colored wall.The male waiter never looked back.Its way of walking is somewhat unique.It seems to be performing standard footwork for the "World Hotel Men's Footwork Competition", as if to say that the hotel male waiter should walk like this.He raised his face and closed his forehead, straightened his chest and back, waved his arms rhythmically to the melody of "The Thief Magpie" and strode forward along the corridor.He turned many corners and went up and down few steps of stairs.The light is stronger and weaker depending on the location.Numerous wall pits form various shadows.In order not to notice it, I kept a proper distance and walked behind.It's not that hard to track him down.Even if you don't see the corner for a while, you can still follow it with the sound of the whistle.The male waiter walked out of the corridor and into the spacious hall like a big fish swimming upstream before a quiet pool of tourists.It was the noisy hall where Noboru Watatani had been seen on TV.But the hall was completely silent at this moment, only a small group of people could be seen sitting in front of the big-screen TV.The TV is showing NHK programs.As soon as the whistling man entered the hall, he stopped his whistle as if afraid of disturbing others, went straight across the hall, and disappeared through the staff-only door.

I pretended to pass the time.Pacing up and down the hall.After that, I sat on several empty sofas, looked at the ceiling, and confirmed the quality of the carpet under my feet.Then go to the public phone and put in coins.But the phone was as dead as the room.I picked up the phone in the library and tried to press the 208 key, but it was also dead silent. So I sat on a chair a little further away and casually observed the people in front of the TV.All 12 people, 9 men and 3 women.Most of them are in their 30s or 40s, only two of them look in their fifties.A man in a suit and leather shoes, with a conservative tie.Except for the difference in height and weight, there are no characteristic elements that can be regarded as characteristics.The women are all thirty-five or sixteen, and the clothes of the three are similar.The make-up is also quite meticulous, Yan Ran came back from a high school reunion.But judging from the fact that the five seats are not connected, it seems that they don't know each other.It seems that the people here have nothing to do with each other, they just gather together and watch TV silently.There was no exchange of opinions, no winks, no nods of approval.

I sat a little away from them and watched the news for a while.Nothing interesting news.A certain road was opened, and the governor cut the ribbon for it; harmful substances were found in children’s crayons sold in the market, and they were being recycled; due to heavy snow in Asahikawa, a tourist bus collided with a truck due to poor visibility and icy roads, the truck driver died, and a group on the way to the hot springs Several tourists were injured.Announcers, in circumflex tones, hand out low-score cards and generally read such messages one by one.I think of the TV at Honda's house, which is always tuned to the NHK channel.

For me, such news is too realistic and at the same time unrealistic.My heart goes out to the thirty-seven-year-old truck driver who died in the accident.No one wants to struggle to death in Asahikawa, where the snow is falling heavily.But I don't know the driver personally, and the driver doesn't know me personally.My sympathy for him, therefore, was not personal, but general sympathy for the sudden disaster.For me, this generality is both realistic and unrealistic.I take my eyes off the TV screen and look around the empty hall again.But there was nothing in it that could be a clue.There is no sign of hotel personnel, and the small bar is not yet open.The only thing hanging on the wall is a huge oil painting with a certain mountain peak.

When I looked back, the TV screen greatly pushed out the impressionable man's face.It was Noboru Watatani's face.I leaned from my chair and listened.What happened to Noboru Watatani!But I missed the first part of the message.After a while the photo disappeared, and the male announcer returned to the screen.He is wearing a tie, wearing a coat, holding a microphone, standing in front of a building. "He has been sent to the Affiliated Hospital of Tokyo Women's University and received treatment in the general treatment room. The situation is only known that the skull has collapsed severely and he is completely unconscious. Regarding the question of whether life is in danger, the hospital only repeatedly answered the details at this stage without comment. It is estimated that the specific condition will take some time to be published---reported from the front of the main entrance of Tokyo Women's University Hospital."

The screen switches back to the studio announcer.Facing the camera, he read aloud the manuscript he had just received: "Rep. Noboru Watatani was seriously injured by gangsters. According to the information just received, the incident happened at 11:30 this morning. When meeting with people in the office of a certain building in the district, a young man suddenly broke in and hit him on the head with a baseball bat... (the building where Noboru Watani's office is located was shown on the screen)...causing serious injuries. The man pretended to be a visitor Guest, bring a baseball bat into the office in a long slide for drawing, and call Mr. Wataya without a word... )...Because of the sudden incident, Representative Miyatani and the people around him had no room to resist. After confirming that Representative Miyatani was completely unconscious, the man left the scene with a club in his hand. According to eyewitnesses, the prisoner was wearing a short navy blue coat and his head Wearing a ski wool cap of the same color and a pair of dark sunglasses, about 175 cm tall, with a mole on his right cheek, about 30 years old. The police are looking for the criminal. But after he ran out, the man mixed into the nearby crowd and has not yet been investigated. Tomorrow's whereabouts." (Screen: The police are checking the scene. A bustling street in Akasaka.)

baseball bat?mole?I bite my lip. "Noboshi Wataya is a well-known cutting-edge economist and political commentator. He was elected as a member of the House of Representatives this spring by inheriting his uncle XX Wataya's territory. Since then, he has been highly praised as a powerful young politician and debater. Although he is a new member That is to say, high hopes are placed in the future. The police are searching for possibilities in terms of political background and personal grievances. To repeat, Member of the House of Representatives Noboru Watatani was seriously injured by a gangster with a baseball this afternoon and has been sent to the hospital. The details of his condition are yet to come. I don't know. Continue to report the news..."

It looks like someone turned off the power to the TV.The announcer's voice stopped abruptly, and silence surrounded the surroundings.People relaxed their postures a little as if waking up from a dream.It seems that people gathered in front of the TV for the news of Noboru Watatani.No one got up after the TV was turned off, no one sighed, no one opened their tongues, and no one even cleared their throats. Who beat Noboru Watatani?The prisoner's physical features were exactly the same as mine—a navy blue parka, a navy blue beanie, sunglasses, a mole on his face, and his height, age, and baseball bat.But I kept the baseball bat in the bottom of the well, and it was gone.If it was the baseball bat that struck Miyatani Nobo's skull, someone took it from the well and used it to hit Miyatani Nobo's head.

A woman occasionally glances at me.She was thin, with high cheekbones and white earrings in the center of her long ears.She looked back at me for a long time, and she didn't move away after meeting my eyes, and her expression didn't change.Then, a bald-headed man next to her followed her gaze and looked at me.The man's back looks like the owner of the laundry shop in front of the station.One by one people turned their faces to me, as if they had just noticed that I was there.When they saw it, I couldn't help but realize that I was wearing a navy blue short coat, wearing a navy blue wool cap, 175 cm tall and just over 30 years old.And I have a mole on my right cheek.They seem to know that I am Watatani Noboru's brother-in-law and that I don't like him (or even hate him) for some reason.This can be seen from their line of sight.I didn't know what to do, and gripped the arm of the chair tightly.I didn't hit Noboru Watatani with a baseball bat.I'm not that kind of guy, and I've run out of baseball bats.But they can't believe my words.They believe what they say on TV.

I slowly bowed and left the table, and walked straight to the corridor where I came.It is advisable to evacuate this place as soon as possible.I am not welcome by anyone here.After walking for a while and looking back, several got up and followed.I quickened my pace and walked straight across the hall, toward the corridor.Must return to room 208.Very thirsty. At any rate, when passing through the hall and entering the corridor, all the lighting in the hall quietly disappeared, the dark heavy curtain fell to the ground as if cut off by an axe, and the surroundings were surrounded by darkness without warning.Someone screamed behind him.The sound seemed to be much closer than before, and the reverberation contained a core of hatred as hard as stone. I am walking in the dark.Touching the wall with his hands, he moved carefully.I must get as far away from them as possible.But I bumped into the small coffee table, knocked down something that was probably a vase, and rolled on the ground with a loud grunt.Taking advantage of the situation, I crawled on the carpet with all four limbs, stood up hastily, touched Gu Bi and continued to move forward.At this time, the hem of my coat was pulled back suddenly as if scratching on a nail.For a moment I don't know why.Then I realized that someone was pulling my coat.I took off my coat decisively and walked through the darkness like rolling.I turned my hand around the corner, staggered up the stairs, and turned another corner.A lot of things bumped into my face and shoulders on the way.He stepped on the empty stairs and fell on his face.But I don't feel any pain, I only feel a ghost deep in the eye socket from time to time.Can't be caught here! There was no light anywhere, not even the backup emergency lighting in case of a power outage.After wandering around in the darkness, where I couldn't tell the left and the right, I was finally able to stop to catch my breath and listen back.heard nothing.I can only smell my own violent heartbeat.I gasped and squatted down.They presumably stopped following.What's more, if you drive forward in the dark, you may only get more and more trapped in the lost way.I leaned my back against the wall to calm my mind somewhat. But who turned off the lights?It's hard to think it happened by accident.It was when I stepped into the hallway and was followed by someone--it went off at exactly that moment.I guess someone tried to save me from danger.I took off my beanie, wiped the sweat off my face with a handkerchief, and put the hat back on.Every joint in the body started to ache suddenly, but it was not injured.I glanced at the luminous hands of the watch, and then I remembered that the watch had stopped, at 11:30.That was when I went down the well, and it was also when Noboru Watatani beat someone unconscious with a baseball bat at the Akaban office. Maybe I really hit Noboru Watatani with a club? Being in the dark, I can't help feeling that this is a theoretical possibility that cannot be ruled out.It is not known that I actually beat Noboru Watatani seriously with a club on the actual ground.Maybe the dictator alone didn't realize it.It is possible that the deep hatred in my heart just walked there without knowing it and hit it quickly.No, not walking!I think.To go to Akasaka, you have to take the Odakyu Line tram, and then transfer to the subway in Shinjuku.How can this be done without knowing it?impossible! ---Unless there exists another me. If Noboru Watatani is really dead, or paralyzed for life, it means that Ushikawa did have foresight.After all, he changed courts with an absolutely rare opportunity.I can't help but admire his animal sense of smell.There seemed to be Ushikawa's voice in his ears: "I'm not bragging, Mr. Okada, I have a good nose, and I can tell when I smell it." "Mr. Okada!" Someone called me right next to me. My heart felt as if it had been shot into my throat by a spring.I can't tell where the sound is coming from.I stiffened and looked around in the dark.Of course nothing was seen. "Mr. Okada," came another bass voice, "don't be afraid, I'm here to help you. We met here once before, remember?" The voice seemed to have been heard.It's the "faceless man".But out of caution, I didn't answer right away. The man said: "Racing against time to leave here, they will definitely come here when the light is on. You can take a shortcut and come with me!" The man turns on the penlight.Although the light is small, it is enough to illuminate the feet. "This way." The man urged in a low voice.I stood up from the ground and hurriedly followed behind him. "Surely you turned off the lights?" I asked his back. He didn't answer --- didn't deny. "Thanks, it's the hour of the day," I said. "They're all dangerous," the man said. "I'm afraid they're more dangerous than you think." "Watani Noboru was seriously injured?" I asked. "That's what they said on the TV." The Faceless Man weighed his words carefully. "But I didn't do it. I went down the well by myself then." "Since you said that, it must be so." The man said as a matter of course.He opened the door and carefully stepped up the stairs step by step with a flashlight.I followed behind him.The stairs are very long.I couldn't tell whether I was going up or down the stairs halfway.After all, is this really a staircase? "However, did anyone prove that you were at the bottom of the well?" the man asked without looking back. I am silent.There is simply no such person. "Then it would be best to run away without saying a word. They consider you a prisoner." "Who is that group, exactly?" The man went up to the top of the stairs and turned right. After walking for a while, he opened the door and went down to the corridor. He stood still and listened for a while. "Come on, grab my shirt." So I grabbed the bottom of his jacket. The Faceless Man said, "They watch TV all the time. Of course you're not welcome here. They like your wife's brother very much." "You know who I am, don't you?" "of course I know." "Then, do you know where Kumiko is?" The man was silent.I grasped the hem of his jacket as if playing a game, turned a dark corner, walked quickly up a short flight of stairs, opened a small secret door, walked up a passage with a low ceiling that seemed to be a shortcut, and down to another corridor.The road led by the Faceless Man is very strange and complicated, and it feels like he is turning around in the cabin in a trance. "I tell you, I don't know everything that goes on here. It's a big place. I'm mainly in charge of the lobby. There's a lot I don't know." "Know the boy who whistles?" "I don't know." The man replied immediately, "There is not a single waiter here. It doesn't matter whether the whistle is whistled or not. If you see a waiter somewhere, it is not a waiter, but pretending to be a waiter." what. Forgot to ask you, you want to go to room 208, don't you?" "Yes. Where am I going to meet a woman." The man didn't say anything about it.He didn't ask who the other party was or what was the matter.He marched down the hallway with practiced steps, and I was pulled by a tugboat through the dark and complicated channel. Soon, the man suddenly stopped in front of a door without saying hello.I bumped into his body from behind and nearly fell.When the collision happened, the physical sensation of the opponent was surprisingly light, almost like bumping into an empty shell.But the other party immediately stood up again and shined the flashlight on the room number on the door.208 appeared above. "The door is open," the man said. "Bring this flashlight. I can walk back in the dark. Lock it after passing through, and don't open it when you come. Do something quickly, and return to the original place when you are done. This place is dangerous. You are an intruder." Or, I am the only one who can be counted as an accomplice. Please remember!" "Who are you?" The Faceless Man handed something a flashlight into my hand. "I am a illusory person." After saying that, the man faced me with his faceless face motionless in the darkness, waiting for my words.However, I couldn't find the exact words at this time.After a while, the man disappeared from my sight without a sound.He was still here just now, but the next instant he was swallowed up by the darkness.I took a flashlight and shone there, but the white wall was floating in the darkness. As the man said, the door of Room 208 was not locked.The knob made a soundless turn in my hand.To be on the safe side, I turned off the flashlight, walked quietly into the room with light steps, and peeped at the movement in the dark.But still as calm as last time.Can't feel any movement.There is only the low sound of the ice cubes "chucking" in the ice cylinder.I flipped on the flashlight switch and locked the door behind me.The sound of dry metal was particularly loud in the room.On the coffee table in the middle of the room is an unopened bottle of Catty Sark, new glasses, and new ice slips with ice cubes.The silver plate next to the vase eagerly reflects the light of the flashlight.And the smell of pollen seemed to echo this, and suddenly became stronger.I felt the air thicken and the gravity around me increased.With my back against the door, I turned on the flashlight and looked around for a long time. This place is dangerous, you are an intruder.I'm the only one who counts as an accomplice.Do you remember? " "Don't shine on me," a woman's voice came from deep in the room, "Don't shine on me with that, can you guarantee it?" "Promise," I said.