Chapter 7 Chapter Six

After helping a middle-aged man who looked like an office worker complete the housing procedures, Naomi looked at the hotel gate, where the doorman was leading a woman into the hotel.The woman was wearing dark glasses and was using a cane in her right hand.That wary demeanor is typical of the visually impaired. Shangmei couldn't help frowning slightly.Because there is a concierge boy next to him, but he is a counterfeit disguised by the Sekine detective.Sure enough, after Guan Gen took the luggage from the woman, he pushed the woman's back and urged her to leave quickly.I have no idea how disturbing it is to be pushed on the back of a blind person.

Seeing this scene, the foreman Sugishita immediately ran forward, greeted the fake concierge boy, took the luggage, and asked him to leave the woman.Then Sugishita took the woman's hand, let her hold his arm, and walked slowly.Seeing the reassuring smile on the corner of the woman's mouth, Naomi also breathed a sigh of relief. Sugishita guided her to the counter.Because she was wearing dark sunglasses, she couldn't see her face clearly, but her skin looked like she was about sixty years old, with a slender figure and a correct posture. A dark gray suit further accentuated her elegant temperament.A silk scarf was wrapped around the neck, and half of the hair that was casually tied behind the head was already gray.

"This is Ms. Katagiri. The room has been reserved." Sugishita said to Kawamoto, a young counter clerk. "Ms. Katagiri, hello. Please wait a moment." Just when Kawamoto was about to start the housing procedures. "Please wait a moment." The blind lady gently raised her left hand.The voice is a little hoarse, but the tone is quite soft. "What's the matter?" Kawamoto asked. After slowly looking around, the old woman stretched out her left hand to Naomi.This hand is wearing a white glove. "Excuse me, can I ask this person to help me with the formalities?"

ah?Shangmei exclaimed softly.As a result, the old woman laughed. "It's a lady? That's even better. I want to trouble you to go through the formalities for me." Kawamoto stopped what he was doing with a puzzled expression.Shangmei was also confused. "I'm sorry, it's not that I don't like you." The old woman apologized to Kawamoto in a calm tone. "I just believe in fate and intuition. Can you agree to the wayward request of an old man like me?" Kawamoto blinked and looked at Naomi.Shangmei nodded and said to the old woman: "No problem, let me go through the formalities for you."

"Sorry." The old woman touched the edge of the counter and moved in front of Shangmei. "Miss, what's your name?" "My name is Yamagishi." "Miss Yamagishi, I will remember." "What about the accommodation registration form? If you want, let me write it for you?" "I can write it myself. Just tell me where to write it, and I can put my name and address." "Then could you please write it on the back of the accommodation registration form?" "Okay." The old woman hung the handle of her cane on the counter.

"This is the accommodation registration form." Shangmei took the old woman's right hand and put the accommodation registration form in her hand.She touched it with both hands to confirm the size of the paper.Seeing her put the list in front of her, Naomi went on to say, "This is a ballpoint pen. The cap is off, please handle it carefully." Putting the ballpoint pen in her right hand. "Just name and address. Where's the phone number?" "Please write it down if it's convenient." The old lady nodded and started writing with her right hand while confirming the location of the registration form with her left hand.Her back was straight and she didn't lower her head.The face with sunglasses turned to Naomi.Even so, she did not write beyond the scope of the list. The name, address, and phone number were all neatly written horizontally.My name is Yoko Katagiri.Naomi was a little surprised when she found out that her address was in Kobe, because the tone of the old lady's speech did not have a Kansai accent.

"Okay, is this okay?" "Very good. Please wait a moment." Naomi began to operate the terminal, and Yoko Katagiri made an appointment three days ago, hoping to live in a single room where smoking is allowed.This surprised Shangmei again, because most female customers of this age hope to live in non-smoking rooms. "I kept you waiting. Ms. Katagiri, you are going to stay in a single room for one night from today, right?" "That's right, sorry to trouble you." "Then we have prepared Room 1215, and the key card will be handed over to the concierge boy."

Naomi winked at Sugashita and handed him the key card.Like before, Sugishita let the old woman hold his arm and walked slowly.As long as you give it to him, you'll be fine.Sugishita will also tell her how to use the key card. Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, Shangmei felt that there was someone behind her.Looking back, it was Nitta.Nitta looked into the distance and landed on Katagiri Yoko's back. "Is the meeting of your detectives over?" But Nitta didn't answer Naomi's question, and still looked at Katagiri Yoko. "Are you curious about that guest? People with poor eyesight will also come to the hotel."

At this time, Nitta finally turned his attention to Naomi.His eyes were full of vigilance. "I think so. We police also encounter the visually impaired." "Since that's the case, don't keep staring at people like this." "I just watch it because I'm curious about something." "So what are you curious about?" "gloves." "gloves?" "That woman wears white gloves. Both hands." "I know. What's the problem?" "In my experience," continued Nitta, "the visually impaired don't wear gloves very much. For them, touch is as important a source of information as hearing. Gloves only hinder the recognition of touch. In addition, they often Worried about touching something wet by misjudgment. Once the glove is wet, it is difficult to dry and feels uncomfortable."

After listening to the detective's explanation, Naomi kept blinking her eyes.He was quite right, indeed. "However," Shangmei said, "maybe the guest has some special circumstances, such as a wound or mole on his hand, and wants to cover it up." "Of course there is this possibility. I don't think there is something wrong with her, but I just think it's a bit strange. Because suspicion is the job of the criminal police." "Then Mr. Nitta, what are you doubting about that guest?" "Well, I know almost nothing about her, and I've noticed that she doesn't behave like a blind person, so I wonder if that's true at all."

Nitta spoke obliquely, and Naomi looked at him from the front. "You mean, the guest pretended to be blind? Why did he do that?" "God knows." Nitta tilted his head. "I don't know that, so I want to pay attention to this person. After all, no one will pretend to be a visually impaired person without purpose." "I think you're thinking too much." Nitta curled his lips. "It's better than being ill-considered." Just as Naomi glared at him angrily, the phone rang nearby.Kawamoto quickly picked up the phone, but called after a few words: "Miss Yamagishi." "Mr. Sugishita from the concierge called. He said that the guest just now wanted you to come." "Call me." Shang Mei and Xin Tian, ​​who was staring at her with deep interest, exchanged a glance, then turned his back to him, and picked up the phone and put it to his ear. "I'm Yamagishi, what's wrong?" "Sorry. The guest just now said that he wants to change rooms." "Any questions?" "I don't know too well. The guest said she didn't know what to say." Sugishita said vaguely. "Understood, I'll go over now, you and the guests will wait for me." "OK." Naomi hung up the phone and said to Kawamoto: "Look for a room on the twelfth floor that can be checked in immediately. After you find it, send me the room number and other information by text message." "Okay." Kawamoto's answer came from behind, and Naomi picked up the universal key card. When I left the counter and walked towards the elevator, I heard footsteps behind me. "I'll go too." Xintian walked side by side with her. "It's the old lady just now. I came here as an undercover agent to investigate the weird guests." Shangmei sighed: "It's up to you." The elevator door opened, and the two entered together.Nitta pressed the button for the twelfth floor. "Is it common for guests to complain about changing rooms?" "It happens often. Like yesterday, there was a non-smoking room, but the guest said it smelled like smoke, so we helped him change to a luxury suite." "Huh? So I wanted to live in a high-end room at a cheap price, so I could use this trick. That's the purpose of that old lady, right?" Since Nitta's tone was very serious, Naomi couldn't help but widen her eyes.When facing a disabled person, most people will not doubt his heart.Because people always think that if the body is disabled, the spirit will be extraordinarily beautiful.But this criminal policeman is different. He thinks that people with disabilities are not necessarily cheaters.No, he simply doubted whether the other party was really a disabled person. Shangmei thought, this can be seen as a distorted mentality of this person; but on the contrary, it can also be said that he does not judge people by their appearance and has a fair attitude.Perhaps this is the qualification necessary to be a policeman, and it is also the advantage of this person. "Is there something on my face?" "No... the case you are investigating, is it possible that the suspect is also a woman?" "This possibility is not ruled out." After answering this, Nitta frowned regretfully.Because it is tantamount to admitting that the possibility of women is very low. The elevator goes to the twelfth floor.As soon as the door opened, Shangmei walked out first. The door of Room 1215 was open, and Sugishita was standing by the door.The reason why he looked surprised when he saw Naomi must be because he saw that Nitta was following her. Katagiri Yaoko sat on the single bed, still wearing sunglasses and gloves. "Miss Yamagishi is here." Sugishita said to Yaoko Katagiri. The old woman who had her head down looked up with a smile.Judging from her expression, she didn't seem to be angry, and Naomi was more relieved. "Keeping you waiting. Is there something wrong with this room?" Katagiri Yaoko looked a little embarrassed and shook her head slightly. "Sorry, this room is a bit out of place for me. Can I see another room?" "Is there anything that dissatisfies you?" "Well, it's really hard to talk about it, because it's too noisy. If it's just a little noisy, I can bear it, but this room is really..." "Too noisy?... Is there any noise that disturbs you?" Shangmei listened with pricked ears.The sound insulation equipment is well done.Although the road is right in front of you, you can hardly hear the noise of the cars. "It's not a voice. That's not what I meant." Katagiri Yaoko shook her hand, as if there was something hard to say. "What's going on? Please don't be too polite, just say it. We also want to solve the problem as much as possible." The old woman lowered her head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said something inexplicable. Anyway, it's only one night, I'll bear it and pass it." "No, you don't need to be patient at all. Then, what kind of room do you want to change? I will prepare it for you immediately." Katagiri Yaozi raised her head again, and after she seemed to be hesitating and pondering, she said: "Then, let me be frank. But don't feel uncomfortable. I have no intention of obstructing business, nor is it to embarrass you. It should be no problem to change this room to someone else. It's just not suitable for me. Kind of people." After Shangmei and Sugishita looked at each other, Shangmei asked the old woman, "What does this mean?" "It's like this. There are many people in this room. They are not bad people. So they won't cause trouble to the tenants. But these people's minds feel heavy for people like me. It's really uncomfortable." Naomi finally understood what Yoko Katagiri was talking about.Nitta seemed to be aware of the same, and immediately asked behind Naomi, "Does it mean there is a ghost?" Shangmi was a little scared because she didn't know that Nitta was standing so close. "It's not...a ghost. But it's easier to understand it this way. It's just that I don't like the word ghost." Katagiri Yaoko said embarrassedly: "I'm really sorry. To you, this kind of thing may just be a matter of finding trouble. .” "No, there is absolutely no such thing──" Saying this, the phone in Naomi's coat vibrated. "Sorry, there is a text message coming in, it should be related to this matter, can I take a look at the text message?" "Okay, please. Sorry to trouble you." Naomi took out her mobile phone and looked, it was indeed a text message from Kawamoto.After cleaning, there are four rooms available for immediate occupancy on this floor. "Ms. Katagiri." Naomi called her. "There are several rooms ready on this floor. Could you please take a look and choose the one you like." "Choose? Let me choose?" The old woman pressed her right chest with her hand. "Yes. Please choose a room. If we choose by ourselves, if it doesn't meet your expectations, I'm afraid it will bring you unnecessary trouble." "Is that so? But I seem to be picky. I'm really sorry." "Don't say that, it's our job to meet customers' expectations. Could you please take a look?" "Thank you. I'll go and see then." "thank you." Naomi gestured to Sugishita with her eyes.So Sugishita went up to say hello and touched her hand.Katagiri Yoko stood up with crutches to support her body, and held Sugishita's arm as before. As she walked into the hallway, Naomi said: "Ms. Katagiri, do you have any requirements for the type of room? Now this room is a single room. If you want to live in another type of room, we can show you first." Katagiri Yaoko shook her head vigorously. "It doesn't matter what type it is. But it's better to have a single room as much as possible." "I see. Let me show you the nearest room 1219 first." Shangmei walked to the second door in front and opened it with the universal key card.After opening the door, wait for Sugishita to come with Katatong Yaozi.Nitta also followed the two of them. Sugishita took her into the room. "What do you think?" Shangmei asked, "The type of room is exactly the same as Room 1215 just now." Katagiri stood still, and slowly turned his head as if he was observing the room with his eyes.However, her eyes are closed. Finally she smiled and nodded. "It's very quiet here. No one seems to be here. Then I'll live in this room." "Is this room okay?" "No problem. I'm really sorry to trouble you." "Don't say that. Then, I will ask someone to bring the key over immediately. The next thing is left to the porter. If there is anything else, please don't hesitate to ask." Naomi whispered to Sugishita, "Please", and then said to Katagiri Yaoko, "Then I'm sorry." Then she walked out of the room. On the way to the elevator hall, Nitta also walked side by side. "It really surprised me to say that there is a ghost. Although there are many rumors about the hotel having a ghost, I didn't expect that someone would use this to find trouble." "It's too impolite to say that it's a fault. It's a serious problem for her." "Do you believe in that sort of thing?" After Naomi pressed the elevator button, she turned to Nitta and said: "It feels like this is different for everyone. Regardless of whether she has psychic abilities or not, since the guest feels that the room is not suitable for her, it is right to provide her with other rooms." "That's right. However, this also shows that the old lady is not trying to ask for a room upgrade." "It's a pity that the detective's intuition failed." The elevator door opened, but no one was inside. "It's hard to say whether your intuition has failed." After entering the elevator, Nitta said. "What do you mean by that?" "During your conversation, I must have interrupted. I said, 'Does it mean there is a ghost?' She actually replied that it was not a ghost. At that moment, I had another question." "What's wrong with this answer?" "It's not the content of her answer that is the problem. It's that I asked the question suddenly, but she didn't show any surprise at all, which surprised me. Before that, I didn't say a word. She asked the porter to call You come, so she shouldn't think that there is anyone else besides you. In that case, if she suddenly hears a voice she hasn't heard before, she should ask "Who are you?" before answering. But she didn't ask. Why? Because she knew I was there. That is, she could see me. Her eyes looked like they were closed, but they were probably slightly open." After hearing Nitta's accusation, Naomi suddenly fell silent.She thinks this view is indeed very sharp. But she immediately thought of how to refute.She looked back at the detective and said: "Perhaps Ms. Katagiri did notice your existence. But I don't think it's because of the eyesight. People with disabilities like that, their other senses will be particularly sharp. Just by listening to footsteps, you can easily detect it, except There must be someone else besides me." Nitta smiled. "In this case, when she heard footsteps, she should ask: 'Besides Ms. Yamagishi, there seems to be someone else here. Who is it?' Just by the sound of footsteps, it is impossible to tell whether it is the counter staff or the porter staff. And it may be Guests coming from the same direction." The elevator reached the first floor and the door opened.A young man and woman were waiting outside the door.Nitta quickly pressed the "ON" button and said to Shangmei: "Please first." Naomi saluted the young couple and stepped out of the elevator.Nitta watched them come in, quickly walked out of the elevator, and bowed to the two of them until the elevator door closed.The angle of bowing is completely in accordance with Shangmei's instructions. "You can do it if you are willing to do it." Shangmei said. "I'm looking more and more like a counter clerk?" "The series of movements just now were done very well, and the temperament has come out." "Thank you for your compliment. But no matter how similar your temperament is, if you keep silent, you can't convey it to people who can't see it." Nitta seems to want to continue talking about Yoko Katagiri. "Is it any good for Ms. Katagiri to pretend she can't see?" "I don't know that. That's why I find it strange. If there is no purpose, no one would do such a thing. I want to know her purpose." "Maybe it has something to do with the case?" "I don't know." Nitta tilted his head. "Anyway, if you see someone suspicious, you have to investigate. That's the purpose of my stay here." Naomi lowered her head, then raised it again to stare at him after a while. "I see. You are free to doubt who you are. But you have to promise me one thing. As long as there is no evidence that Ms. Katagiri is involved in the crime, you must not make Ms. Katagiri unhappy. Suppose... I mean Assuming, assuming that Ms. Katagiri is disguised as a visually impaired person, it is not against the law. For our hotel, she is still a very important customer, and this has not changed." "But she caused trouble for you and the porter." "That level is not troublesome. There are many more difficult customers. So, please promise me this matter, please." Shangmei bowed her head. "Please look up. Well, I promise you. In fact, you don't need to tell me, so far I haven't thought about her. I just pay attention to her and observe it." "I beg of you, it's also unpleasant to observe this behavior." "I know. You're right if you don't believe me anyway." Nitta was a little displeased, scratching his nose and striding away. ※※※ Katagiri Yaoko called the counter at around six o'clock in the evening.The regular working hours of this fashionable beauty are over, but Nitta is still staying at the counter, so she has no choice but to accompany her.The young counter staff who answered the phone said, "Ms. Katagiri from Room 1219, I want to find Ms. Yamagishi." He handed the phone to Naomi. "Hi, I'm Yamagishi. How can I help you?" "Sorry, I actually want to talk to you about dinner. I heard that the French restaurant in this hotel is very good, but is it okay for a person like me to go alone? Because I went to other restaurants before, and they said they must You need someone to accompany you." Naomi put the microphone to her ear and nodded. "Of course. I remember the restaurant also has a Braille menu." "It's really nice." "Have you made a reservation at the restaurant?" "No, I haven't made an appointment yet." "Then, let me call and make an appointment for you. What time is dinner?" "Well, about seven o'clock." "Can I order Ms. Katagiri alone?" "Yes, I'm alone." "Then, I will tell the restaurant about the situation first. Then, I will pick you up at your room when it is almost seven o'clock. Because the location of the restaurant is a bit difficult to find." "It would be a great favor for me to be able to do that. That's my trouble." "Please don't worry. See you before seven o'clock." As soon as the phone was hung up, Nitta immediately appeared in front of him. "That old lady, what did you say this time?" "It's not a big deal, just ask me to discuss the meal." Naomi only gave a rough idea, but as expected, Nitta showed a surprised expression again. "Blind old woman going to a French restaurant alone? It's getting more and more curious." "Since you are so curious, why don't you just pretend to be a guest and enter the restaurant?" "This is not acceptable. I have already shown my face as a counter staff. Besides, there are other investigators in the restaurant disguised as customers to watch. Let them do it." "Don't offend the guests..." "Unhappy, right? I know. You're annoying." Nitta took out his mobile phone, intending to report Katagiri Yoko's matter to his boss. At 6:45, Chaumet left the counter and went to room 1219.She checked the time in front of the door and waited until six fifty before knocking on the door.After hearing a "coming", the door opened after a while.Katagiri Yoko was standing at the door wearing sunglasses and a suit. "Am I coming too early?" "No, I was thinking about leaving soon." She walked out of the room slowly, wearing a silver watch in her left hand while holding a cane.At first glance, it looks like an ordinary watch, but upon closer inspection, it can be seen that it is a watch for the blind.The glass cover can be opened, and the time can be known by touching the protruding numbers on the watch. The problem is, she still has gloves on her hands.Can you tell the time with gloves on?Or, will she take off her gloves when the time comes? "What's wrong? Is the elevator there?" Katagiri Yoko asked. "Ah... I'm sorry. Please hold my hand." Shangmei put her right hand on her arm. The French restaurant is on the top floor.The situation of Yoko Katagiri had already been told to the restaurant when making the reservation.As soon as Shangmei and the others arrived, the familiar restaurant manager greeted them with a smile.Following the guidance of the restaurant manager, she took Katatong Yaozi to sit by the window.The restaurant arranged this seat, of course, not to let her enjoy the night view that the restaurant is proud of, but to consider that the corner seat is relatively quiet.Other tables had been set with plates and napkins, knives, forks, glasses and even flowers.But on this table, nothing is placed. Restaurant managers said they have adequately trained restaurant staff on how to handle visually impaired guests.Facing this kind of customers, it is very important to explain in detail the location of the dishes on the plate while introducing the contents of the dishes. "Then, I'm sorry. If you need anything, please feel free to tell the restaurant staff directly." Naomi said to Katagiri Yoko. "Thank you very much, you helped me a lot." "You're welcome." Shangmei greeted the restaurant manager with her eyes, and then left the table.But after walking out of the restaurant, he was suddenly curious again, so he hid aside to watch Yaozi Katatong's situation. Shang Mei was curious about the gloves.Wasn't she going to take off her gloves when she ate? At this time, a young waiter was standing next to her, just passing the menu to her.She still wears gloves.The menu was open, but she didn't seem to intend to touch it. When the waiter explained, she nodded in response.It seems that the order has been finished. After the waiter took the menu from her hand, he saluted and left. Naomi hurried to catch up with the waiter.Before he was about to enter the kitchen, he called out to him: "Excuse me, can I take a moment of your time?" The young waiter turned around in astonishment: "What's the matter?" "Can I have a look at the menu?" "Is it this one?" Shangmei opened the menu that he took over, and there were small raised dots regularly arranged on it, without any text, only the number attached to the front.In other words, most people can't understand it. "Ms. Katagiri, did you order from here?" "No. Because this menu only has à la carte and set meals, I explained the special dishes to her verbally. In the end, she said that she wanted the set meal recommended by the chef." "uh-huh." "Any questions?" "No, nothing. Sorry to interrupt your work." Shangmei returned the menu to the waiter, turned around and left. At this time, the eyes of Yaozi Piantong just met.No, it should be said that the four eyes meet.Because Yaoko Katagiri, who took off her sunglasses, seemed to turn away in a hurry. Could it be that she has been watching the waiter and Shangmei talking just now? Impossible──Shangmei looked away from the old woman and walked towards the restaurant door with her head down.A gloomy mood began to spread in my heart.