Chapter 27 Chapter Twenty Seven

March 14th is not a special day for those with families.I didn't get up until close to noon like usual on Saturdays, and ate a simple brunch of toast and coffee by myself.Yumiko and Sonomi are definitely enjoying tea time with the kindergarten mothers, which is their standard weekend pastime. It was past three o'clock in the afternoon when the mother and daughter came back, and I was watching TV in the living room.Yumiko said that she bought a cake and asked me if I wanted to eat it, and I said I don't want to eat it now. About an hour later, my cell phone on the table rang.It was from Xingu.

"Have you changed your date plans for today?" he asked. "No, roughly the same." "Then, just proceed as planned, you're going to have a drink with us tonight, is that okay?" Sorry, I whispered this when the phone rang at home this time. "Did your phone ring?" Shintani said, "It's Furuzaki. He's next to me now." I looked at Yumiko in surprise.She has answered the phone. "We are really going to drink in Shinjuku tonight. It is a long-term war of resistance that will definitely not return all night. In this way, you should be able to spend the night with her. But relatively, we will also use your topic as an appetizer to have a good time. This point It's a small thing, just bear with it."

"Understood, sorry." "It's really not an example this time." After Xin Gu finished speaking, he hung up the phone. Yumiko came over and handed over the extension. "Mr. Guzaki called you, and he said your cell phone is busy." "I was talking on the phone with Xinya just now, and he invited me out for a drink tonight, Guzaki probably did it for this." "Hmm---" Yumiko put the extension on the table without much interest, and went back to the kitchen. I called out the call history of the extension and called back directly.Guzaki picked it up immediately.

"It was Xingu who made a strange request, so I called just now." He said, his tone remained flat. "Tonight, everyone agreed to drink, but you won't come. Even though you don't come, you have to come, isn't that right?" "That's it, please." I realized Yumiko and whispered slightly. Guzaki pondered. "I don't know the details, but there are always many difficulties when you get older. In short, I wish you success." "Sorry." I said and hung up the phone.Arimiko is washing the dishes, so I don't know if she has ears to listen to us.

After six o'clock in the evening, I started to get dressed. I don't think I'm dressed up in a particularly fashionable way. "Ouch, you are very well dressed tonight!" Yumiko criticized. "can you?" "Yes, you always dress sloppily when you meet those people." "We're going to a store opened by a friend in Xingu. Wouldn't it be impolite to dress too sloppily?" I prevaricated like this in desperation. "Well—but then again, those people are really good people, no matter how many years have passed, they still value friendship so much."

I looked at Yumiko who folded her arms and said that. "Why did you say that suddenly?" "There's no particular reason, I just feel that way, is it weird?" She rolled her eyes and looked back at me. "No, no." I said, averting my eyes. I walked out of the apartment and stopped a taxi. I went to the company first, and then took a taxi to Tokyo Station.I went to the company because I wanted to put the gift for Qiuye in the company's locker. The thought of seeing Akiba soon makes me happy, and at the same time, Yumiko's attitude also makes me worry about it. Maybe I am guilty of guilt, but I always feel that she seems to have noticed something.

Knowing that even so, there is nothing I can do, I still feel deeply disturbed, the weakness and cunning still entangled in my heart, and I am eager to delay the major differences in life as far as possible. I took the train from Tokyo Station and got off at Yokohama.The coffee shop and cake shop next to the station is where we agreed to meet. Akiba was sitting near the door reading a library book, with iced tea on the table. "Hi!" I said, and sat down on the opposite seat, she smiled and closed the book. "Sure enough, there are a lot of couples." After she said this, I looked around and found that other tables were indeed occupied by couples.

"It's great, I can spend it with you too, otherwise it's so lonely alone." Qiuye's attitude is obviously different from that on Christmas Eve and Valentine's Day, when she would not speak so frankly. "I'm happy too." I said. After leaving the store, she immediately took my hand, which has never happened before. "Are you shy?" "No, that's not it." "It's always been a dream of mine to walk like this." She hugged my arm and pressed close to her. We took a taxi to Yamashita Park, where the classical hotel Akiha booked was over there.

Arriving at a hotel that looks like a Western-style building in the Meiji era, we first registered for housing, but did not enter the room, and went directly to the French restaurant located in the hotel.It was a very spacious restaurant overlooking the night view of the port. After toasting with champagne, the two of us drank a bottle of white wine and a bottle of red wine while eating, while listening to the performance of the grand piano.Before serving dessert, I took out the gift I had stashed in my suit pocket. It is a platinum pendant designed with the English letter "a".Qiu Ye's eyes were bright, and she immediately hung it on her neck. The "a" glittered on the front of the shirt.

"Can I wear it to work?" she asked mischievously. "It doesn't matter, but it's not something valuable enough to show off." "That kind of thing is not important, I just want to wear the things you gave me in a fair manner, purely for self-satisfaction." She has been wearing that chain since then, and she looks a little proud when she taps the pendant with her fingertips from time to time. After dinner, I invited her to the hotel's prestigious bar, but Akiba turned her head away. "If I want to drink, I want to go to 'Butterfly's Nest'! Is that okay?"

"Nothing is impossible." "That's the decision, it's more comfortable there." She put her arm around me again. Leaving the hotel, we walked towards Chinatown.The first time I went to the "Butterfly's Nest", I also walked through this park at the foot of the mountain. Regarding Dongbaile's murder, that night was the first time she told me the details.I hesitated to bring it up, and finally decided not to. Taeko Hamasaki, Mrs. Color, rarely stood at the counter washing glasses.Seeing us, she stopped for a moment, showing a look of surprise, but a smile returned to her mouth after a while. "This is really a rare visitor. The two of you will come together. Oh, by the way, today is White Valentine's Day." "Look at this, he gave it to you." Qiu Ye sat on the high stool in front of the bar while twisting up the pendant to show her. "Not bad." Mrs. Cai looked at me and nodded slightly. Akiba said that she was still the same, and ordered a cocktail from the white-haired bartender, and I drank gin and tonic. After quickly drinking the first cocktail, Akiba said to his wife, "There are a little more than two weeks left." Madam's face was full of confusion, so Akiba said again: "I mean the date when the statute of limitations is established, the statute of limitations that someone eagerly expects is established, and the date when the statute of limitations is established when you can let go of the burden." Fortunately, there were no other guests. If there were outsiders present, it would definitely be horrifying to see a few people at the bar freeze like ice on the spot. The second glass of cocktail was also quickly drank by Qiu Ye. "Where is the prisoner? What are you doing now? Do you have the nerve to live a happy life where you have done such inhumane things?" "Akiba, what's wrong with you?" She turned to me, smiling like all the muscles on her face were relaxed. "But I don't care, it doesn't matter what, because I am very happy, because I can be with the one I love." She leaned over and hugged my neck. "Troublesome." I smiled wryly at my wife and the bartender. "She seems drunk." "Seems." "I'll take her back. Checkout." "I'm not drunk." Qiu Ye raised her face. "I still want to drink, don't make up your own mind." "But—" As soon as I opened my mouth, a new guest came in, and at the same time I felt my wife gasp.I looked towards the guests, and couldn't help exclaiming in a low voice, Makiko Kugimiya was walking towards us with a stiff expression. "Long time no see, Miss Hamasaki." Makiko Kugimiya sat down on the third stool next door and nodded to me. "I'm sorry last time." "Both each other," I responded, confused.Why did he have to meet her on this kind of night in this kind of situation. Akiha left me and turned abruptly to face Makiko Kugimiya. "Hello, Miss Kugimiya." "Hello." "It's a pity, there are only seventeen days left, and then the statute of limitations expires, and everything is over." Qiu Ye said provocatively. "The time limit for prosecution determined by the law has nothing to do with me. I will never give up until I find out the truth." Makiko Kugimiya said in a resolute tone, and then ordered a dark beer to the bartender. Akiba slid down the high stool and approached Makiko Kugimiya. Her footsteps were a little unsteady, and I hurriedly supported her. "Qiuye, we should go." Akiba shook off my hand on her shoulder. "Miss Kugimiya, I want to tell you some good news, even the police don't know it! For fifteen years, this matter has been kept a secret." "Then I'd be interested to hear about it." Makiko Kugimiya waved her hand towards the wine glass. "I don't know what aspect it is about?" "Simple. It's about doors and windows." "Doors and windows?" "When the body was found, there was a French window open. So everyone thought that the prisoner escaped from there, but it didn't. That's impossible." "why?" "Because," Qiu Ye continued after looking around at the faces of all the people present, "Actually, the floor-to-ceiling windows are all locked and locked from the inside of the house, so no one can open them from the outside, and no one can get out." Then she fell into my arms like a wind-up doll. The body of the drunken Akiba was heavier than expected, I let her lie flat on the bench, and covered her with a coat. "What's going on?" Kugimiya Makiko asked. I stand and look back. "What do you mean?" "What she said just now, she said that all the French windows are locked." I shake my head. "I don't understand what's going on at all. I didn't expect that she would say that suddenly." Kugimiya Makiko stared at the lady at the bar. "What about you? You must know something about what she said?" Mrs. Color filled the cup with oolong tea and began to sip. Her movements were slow, but it seemed to me that her fingertips were trembling slightly. "I don't know the same thing. I think she is just talking nonsense because she is drunk. You don't need to take it to heart." "Don't take it to heart? For such an important news? Isn't the common saying that one speaks the truth after drinking?" "Who knows." Madam said, holding a cup of oolong tea and turning her face away. "Then let me ask you, is what she said just now true? When you found my sister's body that day, were the doors and windows of the house locked?" "I've said that many times, both to the police and to you." "Please say it again." Madam sighed and put the glass on the bar. "One of the French windows facing the courtyard in the living room was unlocked at the time, that's a fact." "How dare you swear to God?" Makiko Kugimiya was aggressive. Madam clenched her jaw as she agreed. "I swear to God." Makiko Kugimiya slid off the stool and strode out.Seeing her approaching Qiuye, I panicked. "What do you want?" I stood in front of her. "It goes without saying, of course I'm asking about the context of that incident just now." "She's sleeping, she's drunk, it's useless even if you wake her up, she can't answer you sanely." "If you don't call it, how do you know it's impossible?" "Now, even if you try to ask something, it's meaningless, right? That's what a drunk said. Anyway, it's necessary to ask her again when she's not drinking. If that's the case, isn't it the same if you wait until then?" Makiko Kugimiya glared at me hard, she didn't look convinced, but she bit her lip and nodded slowly. "Well, you're right, maybe there's really no need to be anxious here and now. Besides, I think what she said is true." "Is it because of the saying that one speaks the truth after drinking?" "That's one of the reasons, but the main reason is because I think that's why she came here tonight. She came to this store specifically to tell me about that." I can't understand what Makiko Kugimiya is saying.Probably because my face was full of confusion, she smiled. "She suggested you come here?" "That's right." "Before, she took the initiative to contact me, and she asked me if I would come to 'Butterfly's Nest'. I said, as long as I was free, I would go every day, so she said, then we may meet soon, and then put the phone Bye." "Akiba, she..." I turned around and looked down at Akiba.She was snoring regularly. "She came here to talk about the incident just now, otherwise, on the night of White Valentine's Day, she would not have come to such an ominous shop with her lover." Ominous history?Maybe I was offended by this word, I saw from the corner of my eyes that Madam's face became tense for a moment. Makiko Kugimiya continued: "The news is true. On the day of the incident, all the doors and windows of Nakanishi's house were locked from the inside, no one could get in, and no one could get out. Ms. Akiba was stating the facts." .” "If that's the truth, why didn't she say something so important until today?" "Because it's important, I didn't say it before, because it would change the structure of the incident. It means that my sister was not killed by an alien intruder, but died at the hands of someone in the house. Ms. Akiba must hide this fact." "Then why does she say it now? Isn't that contradictory." "Why didn't I talk about it until now... It's really strange, but if you think about it that way, it makes sense—it might be a declaration of victory." "Declaration of victory?" "As she said just now, there are only seventeen days left before the statute of limitations expires. In fact, the police did nothing. Only the Awara criminal police continued to investigate with one possibility in mind, but they didn't find any decent results. Top Mostly just to meet the lover of the most important person and inquire about that person's recent situation." Makiko Kugimiya looked at my face. "Perhaps she felt that victory was far away. That's why she showed me the last trump card that had been hidden for many years. That trump card was that Naka Nishi's house was in a secret room that day! I can't do anything about that kind of thing, even if I call the police, it's useless. When the police go to confirm, Ms. Akiba just needs to pretend that there is no such thing and deny it. She can say what she said in the "Butterfly Nest" bar It was all gibberish, and then it was over, and the police couldn't confirm anything, so I said it was a declaration of victory. And at the same time—" She pushed me away, and moved closer to Akiba.She looked down at the sleeping Qiuye and continued: "It can be regarded as the declaration of the real murderer. Because when the body was found, this person was the only one in the house." I intervene again between Akiha and Makiko Kugimiya. "She was just joking, and that's not true at all." "Just kidding? Miss Akiba? Why would she do such a thing?" "She's amusing you, because you seem to think that Qiuye is the criminal, so she played a little prank on the spur of the moment, it must be so." Makiko Kugimiya relaxed the corners of her mouth and turned her face slightly to stare at me. Her eyes seemed to be looking at some kind of incredible creature. "For the past fifteen years, I have been on the side of the victim's family. Although I just said that the statute of limitations of the legal decision has nothing to do with me, I am actually in great pain. Can you understand that pain?" "That... I think I understand it, although it may not be enough." "Yeah, you're an adult too! Most adults can probably understand it, at least they can imagine it. Ordinary normal people don't go to pastime to embrace the painful family members of victims, no matter how bad-hearted and gloating. No. Because there is no point in entertaining family members, seeing that the statute of limitations is approaching, if there are still people who will entertain family members, then only the real murderer can do it, don't you think?" Her question made me speechless. Although the only sentence in my mind was "Akiba is not the real murderer", I couldn't say it. Makiko Kugimiya turned around abruptly, opened her purse, and approached the bar. "It's been many years since I came to this store, but tonight is the first time I've had such a harvest, and it's not in vain that I've been drinking bad wine for so many years." "You don't have to pay tonight because you haven't had anything to drink," said the lady. "That's true." Makiko Kugimiya nodded, closed her purse, and turned around again. "When she wakes up, tell her for me that the heart is timeless." "Anyway... I'll pass it on for you." Although I didn't want to say that to Qiu Ye, I still answered. Makiko Kugimiya strode towards the store door and left with a loud bang. I let out a long breath and sat down on the chair next to me. Mrs. Color came out from the bar and sat next to me. "Don't take what that person said to heart. She saw that the statute of limitations was approaching, so she was rushed. In the end, she was even haunted by ridiculous delusions." "I don't care about Ms. Kugimiya, but I'm curious about what Akiba said. Why did she say that?" She shook her head. "I don't know, maybe it's just a small prank as you said. It's impossible to entertain the victim's family on a normal occasion, but being regarded as a prisoner must have made Akiba protest against Miss Kugimiya. At last The main thing is that she is so drunk that she cannot use normal judgment at all." "Ms. Hamasaki." I stared into my wife's eyes and said, "Is what Akiha said false?" She blinked, but didn't avoid my gaze.After licking her lips, she looked at me intently and nodded. "It's false. One of the French windows was unlocked, and the prisoner escaped from there. I was there at the time, so everything I said is true. Think about it, Qiu Ye passed out at the time, and whether the French windows were locked. How did she May know the details." There was a certain degree of persuasiveness in what Madame said, a certain degree because I didn't quite believe her in my heart.Because the statement that Akiba fainted at the time was also from her testimony. However, I don't want to continue discussing this issue anymore. My mood is like going down the stairs with my eyes blindfolded. I feel uneasy that if I step out casually, I may fall down endlessly. "Can you call me a car?" I said. Qiu Ye was still asleep in the taxi. When I arrived at the hotel, I forced her to wake her up to help her walk, and the doorman rushed over to help me. The double room in the classic hotel is an elegant room with antique furniture and supplies, and the harbor can be seen from the wooden window.I let Qiuye lie flat on the bed, started to drink the Coke taken out of the refrigerator, and looked at her sleeping face while thinking about what she said. The floor-to-ceiling windows were all locked, and all the inside of the house was locked—why would Akiba say that?is that trueIf it is true, as Makiko Kugimiya said, Akiba is tantamount to admitting that he is a criminal.Rao is that the statute of limitations is imminent, and no one will do that kind of thing.Because the time limit is approaching, they are becoming more cautious. This is the normal reaction of ordinary people.Although Makiko Kugimiya described it as a declaration of victory, judging by Akiha's personality, it is hard to imagine. Staring at Qiuye's sleeping face, I suddenly thought of something.She once said that she was not good at saying "I'm sorry". Regarding the inside story, she said that she would be able to tell it on March 31. In my impression, I read in a certain book that people who escaped from crime actually longed to be arrested deep down. It is said that it was because of the harsh conscience and the fear of being arrested at some time, which made people in a state of mental tension all the time. Maybe──Akiba wants to apologize?I thought to myself.She wants to say: I'm sorry, I'm sorry for killing you, but she can't say it, so it's painful?Is it possible that this kind of thought made her reveal that Zhongxi's house was in a secret room at that time? I love such a woman, even if I have a wife and a daughter, but I don't hesitate to abandon them, and I plan to stay with that woman. My palms start to sweat even with the cold glass in my hands.I poured the rest of the Coke into the glass, and the foam made a sound like the tide.