Chapter 6 Snow Sasa Kaori Chapter 2

The first thing I had to do was comfort Miwako and go to the room to lie down.After she realized that Hodaka Makoto was in an abnormal situation, she picked up the hem of the wedding dress and ran down the "virgin aisle" that should have been solemnly walked.Witnessing the death of her husband who was supposed to exchange love vows with her a few minutes later, she couldn't even make a sound, and even her walking movements became stiff, and there must have been a mental shock that others could not imagine.Possibly affected by this shock, she did not answer anyone who spoke to her, as if she could not hear at all.In the case of no one's support, even the basic standing and walking can't be done.

Together with the god Lin Guihong who was the first to help her, I took her back to the room.That was the room carefully prepared by the hotel, where Miwako and Hotaka Makoto should have spent their wedding night tonight. "I'm going to call the doctor. Before that, Mihezi will ask you to take care of me!" After letting Mihezi sit down on the stool, Shen Lin Guihong said.give it to me!I answer. After he left, I undressed Miwako and let her lie down on the bed.She trembled slightly, her eyes focused on a certain place, and she let out scattered breathing sounds from her mouth, and she didn't look like she could speak.But when I took her right hand, she also held mine tightly.The bride's palms were already covered with sweat.

I sat by the bed and held her hand tightly, wondering when God Lin Guihong would bring the doctor.The doctor should check on Makoto Hodaka as soon as he arrives at the hotel, and I hope he can come here as soon as he is done.I reckon the doctor can't save Hodaka Makoto, and everyone present at that time should know this.Obviously, the living are more important than the dead. After a while, Miwako muttered, "Huh? What did you say?" I tried to ask her, but got no answer. I listened carefully, and even though her lips were barely parted, I could tell she was asking 'why, why'.I couldn't help holding her hand even tighter.

After nearly twenty minutes had passed like this, there was a knock on the door.I let go of her hand and opened the door.Shenlin Guihong and a middle-aged man in a white coat appeared at the door. "Where's the patient?" the doctor-looking man asked. "Here." I lead him to the bed. After the old doctor took Mei Hezi's pulse, he immediately injected her with a sedative.She was trembling slightly just now, but fell asleep after a while. "I'm here to accompany her." Shen Lin Guihong said. After sending the doctor away, I turned to him. "Do you want me to come too?"

"No need, I'm enough alone. You should have a lot of things to deal with. The scene downstairs is quite chaotic." "That's for sure." "Hodaka," he said, his expression unchanged. "It seems to have died just like that." I nodded, and my face didn't change. Maybe he said this a little suddenly, and I didn't know what expression to respond to. "What was the cause of death?" "I don't know about that." Shen Lin Guihong took a chair and sat down beside the bed, staring at his sister intently, as if he didn't care about Hodaka Makoto's death.

I first took the elevator to the fourth floor, but on the way to the church, I saw many policemen in uniform standing there. "I'm sorry, there's been some accident here, and there's no traffic," said a young police officer rudely.I went back the same way without saying a word. I took the elevator again and went down to the third floor, only to find that there was no one there.About an hour ago, the place was full of people in evening gowns, but now it is empty. "Hey, Ms. Yukisa!" A voice came from beside me, and I turned my head to see that Eri Nishiguchi was walking towards me with a stiff expression. "I was just going to call you."

"Where did everyone go?" "it's here." Eri Nishiguchi led me to the guest lounge, but I couldn't hear any sound when I approached the room, and the door was tightly closed. Eri Nishiguchi opened the door, and I walked in behind her.The rest room was full of people who came to the wedding banquet. Everyone was saddened, and weeping could be heard from time to time. Those people were probably Hodaka's relatives.Unexpectedly, after the man died, there were still people crying for him.There was no other sound, only the smoke of the smoker's puff, which was white in the air.

A few men who didn't look like visitors stood against the wall, seemingly watching these people.They were probably cops, I guessed from the look in their eyes, their attitude, and the general vibe. Eri Nishiguchi approached one of the men and whispered something to him. The man nodded and looked at me, then walked towards me. "Are you... Ms. Yukizasa?" the man with middle-parted hair who was about fifty years old asked me.Although he is not tall, his body is as wide and thick as a wall.Correspondingly, his face is also very large, and his sharp eyes are slightly squinted. I have something to ask you, the man said, and I nodded silently.

The man took me outside, followed by a young man with the dark skin of a professional athlete. I sat down with two policemen on a sofa in the hallway that doubled as the foyer.The man with the hair parted in the middle claimed to be Watanabe from the Metropolitan Police Department's Search Section 1, and the black-faced man was called Kimura. They asked my identity first.In fact, if Eri Nishiguchi brought me here, the police must already know who I am, but I introduced it again. Then, the Watanabe Police Department asked me where I was until just now, and I replied that I have been with the bride all the time.The police department nodded sharply.

"The bride must have been shocked a lot, are you resting now?" "yes." "Are you in a state where you can speak?" "Well," I tilted my head, "I feel a bit reluctant now." I felt my face tense up.What are these men asking of Miwako in that state? "That's it, then I'll talk to Ms. Yukizasa first." The police department said to Criminal Kimura.It seems that as long as they get the doctor's permission, they are still going to question Miwako today. Police Department Watanabe turned to me again and said: "You know about Hotaka's death, right?"

"I heard." I replied, "I was shocked because it was so sudden." The Police Department nodded, as if to say 'that's for sure'. "Actually, there are still a few doubts about the cause of Hodaka's death. So we need to conduct such an investigation. Although it may make you feel a little uncomfortable, please forgive me." The tone is very humble, but the ending sentence has that kind of The unique deterrent power of criminal police.Sounds like an announcement: We're going to investigate without hesitation! "What is suspicious about you?" I asked. "Well, we'll talk about it later." The police department said bluntly, as if he didn't have the heart to answer my question, "You should have attended the wedding ceremony, right?" "yes." "Then did you witness the scene where Hodaka fell to the ground?" "If you're talking about the moment when you fell to the ground, I didn't see it. Because I sat in the front seat, I didn't find out what happened until everyone was in a commotion." "Oh, it's not just you, many people haven't seen it. They say it's very rude to stare at the groom entering the venue at the wedding." I wanted to tell him that it's rude to stare at other people whenever and wherever, but I didn't say it out of trouble. "However, there were still a few people who saw the moment when Hotaka fell to the ground. According to those people, Hotaka suddenly showed a painful expression, as if he was suffering from some kind of illness. Then he fell to the ground immediately and couldn't get up." "Illness onset..." "Some people also revealed that he was holding his throat before he fell down." "Hey..." I didn't know what to comment, so I kept silent. Police Department Watanabe leaned forward slightly and looked straight at me. "I heard that although you attended the wedding as a related person of the bride's party, you are not unrelated to Hotaka, right? It seems that you used to be his editor in charge?" "For a short time it was, and formally," I replied, speaking defensively for some reason. "Have you ever heard that Hotaka suffers from any disease? Like heart, or respiratory system?" "never heard of that." "Then do you know that Hotaka has standing medicines around him?" the police department asked. I don't know, I wanted to answer like this, but I swallowed it back immediately.Because telling an incoherent lie is tantamount to digging your own grave. "He often takes medicine for rhinitis, because he gets a runny nose when he is nervous." "Medicine for rhinitis? Is it a pill?" "It's a capsule." "Then did Hotaka take it today?" "I think I should take it." Because the tone was too sure, the criminal police became interested. "Oh? Why do you think so?" "Kamibayashi Miwako gave me the medicine and asked me to hand it over to Hotaka." "Please wait a moment." Police Department Watanabe spread his palms in front of me as a stop sign, and his eyes shifted to the hands of Detective Kimura.That action seemed to tell him: Now is the key testimony, record it carefully! "Did Miwako bring those rhinitis medicines?" "Yes, in order to prepare for the trip, the medicines of the two of them are put together, and Miwako will take care of them." "Oh~, then when and where did she give you the medicine?" "Some time before the wedding, about half past eleven, the location was in the bride's lounge." "Where did Kamibayashi Miwako put the medicine?" "In her handbag." The area of ​​the bridal lounge was about eight stacks. At half past eleven, Miwako was still standing in front of the mirror wearing a gorgeous wedding dress.To be honest, I'm really jealous of her beauty, I really wish I was born so lovable.However, as Makoto Hodaka's bride, I don't envy her at all. Instead, I think this will be the beginning of her misfortune.It is precisely because there are gray dark clouds looming ahead of the road, while Miwako's face is full of innocence at this time, and she doesn't know it at all. I can't help but feel a little heartache for her. At that time, Miwako's daily clothes and luggage were piled up in a corner of the room, and the handbag was also there.Miwako asked me to help her get the bag, and I handed it to her. Besides me, Eri Nishiguchi was also there.Miwako opened the bag in front of us, and took out the medicine bottle and jar.After putting a capsule into the medicine jar, she handed it to me and said, please give it to Hotaka.Although I took it, I was afraid that I would lose it if I kept it with me, so I immediately handed it over to Eri Nishiguchi. After a while, everyone left the bridal lounge one after another, and Xikou and I also came out.Not long after, I met Naoyuki Suruga again, so I told Eri Nishiguchi to hand over the medicine jar to him for safekeeping. After hearing the above statement, although Police Department Watanabe couldn't help nodding, he also looked at me with wide eyes and doubts. "Why not just give it to Hotaka, but to Suruga?" "Because Suruga is the personal secretary in charge of daily affairs around Hotaka, and I have to stay with Kamibayashi Miwako..." "So that's how it is." The police department glanced at Kimura, probably meaning that you should write down every detail! I noticed that the police didn't ask me who Suruga Naoyuki was. In other words, they had already interrogated Suruga, so they should have heard that we gave him the pills.Even so, this police officer Watanabe pretended to be hearing about rhinitis pills for the first time. I was more discouraged than angry. "Excuse me..." At this point, I tried to ask, "Is there something wrong with that medicine?" "It's not right, what do you mean?" The police department's squinting eyes turned towards me again, with an unfathomable light shining in their eyes. "Did Hotaka become like that because of that medicine?" "Are you talking about rhinitis medicine?" "No, that's not what I meant—" I didn't continue, and glanced at the policeman's expression again. Their eyes were keenly observed, as if they were saying: Listen to what this woman has to say.After they asked so much about the capsules, I'm sure they must have doubts about the ingredients in the capsules.But they always pretended not to know, trying to get as many words as possible from the other side, definitely in order to maintain the usual search style.There is no way, I can only act in accordance with their policies. "No, that's not what I meant—" I didn't continue, and glanced at the policeman's expression again. Their eyes were keenly observed, as if they were saying: Listen to what this woman has to say.After they asked so much about the capsules, I'm sure they must have doubts about the ingredients in the capsules.But they always pretended not to know, trying to get as many words as possible from the other side, definitely in order to maintain the usual search style.There is no way, I can only act in accordance with their policies. "You mean, what Hodaka took was not rhinitis medicine?" I asked, "In other words, something like poison was put in the capsule?" "Hey..." Police Department Watanabe raised his mouth slightly, "Your conjecture is very interesting, why do you think so?" "Because you have been obsessed with rhinitis medicine." The police department smiled after hearing my words, it was a sly smile. "We just want to know as objectively as possible what happened to Hodaka before he fell to the ground. After all, it is not yet the stage to discuss whether he was poisoned." Now that the search department has been mobilized, the police definitely suspect that there is a possibility of homicide, but I didn't say anything. This is probably their usual way of doing things. "Miss Yukisa," Watanabe Police Department said solemnly, "You think so, there must be other grounds, right?" "in accordance with?" "Well, or it can be said to be a guess." The young detective next to the police department put on a hound-like nervous posture. Seeing his expression, I realized that these two people really wanted to ask this question.They must have considered the possibility of me making a fuss about the pills. "No," I answered, "without any grounds as you claim." Although Criminal Kimura expressed disappointment in the application, Police Department Watanabe just nodded with a smile on the corner of his mouth.Based on his experience, it should be expected that things will not go so smoothly. The reserve police department asked me if any unusual things had happened around Hotaka Makoto and Kamibayashi Miwako recently, and I replied that there seemed to be nothing that left a deep impression on me.This was originally an opportunity to talk about Junko Namioka, but I was sure that Suruga Naoyuki should also avoid talking about him, so I didn't say anything. As a result, our group was interrogated by them until nearly 5 o'clock in the evening.No matter how big the guest lounge is, once there are more than 200 people sitting in it, the feeling of depression will definitely double.Even those visitors who remained silent in consideration of the presence of Hotaka's relatives began to complain one after another, and some of them contradicted the police officer.The men's roars and the women's hysterical shouts followed one after another.If it was disbanded in half an hour at night, it would very likely cause a riot. After the police repeatedly confirmed where you live tonight and how to contact them, you can finally leave the hotel.I wanted to check on Miwako's situation again, but when I came to the room, I found that there was no one there.When I went to the front desk to inquire, I learned that the Shenlin brothers and sisters had gone home, and it was unknown whether the police had interrogated them. I got into a taxi in front of the hotel and told the driver, "Go to Ginza." On the Mitsukoshi side of Ginza, I got out of the car, and the hour hand of Wako was pointing at 6:03.I went into a store two buildings away from Mitsukoshi.The first floor is a coffee shop, and the second floor is a western restaurant. I went upstairs. Although it was dinner time on a holiday, half of the seats in the store were still empty.Looking around, I saw Naoyuki Suruga at the innermost dining table overlooking Harumi Avenue.Although he took off his shirt for fear of attracting others' attention, his white shirt and white tie look very conspicuous from a distance. When Suruga saw me, he moved the wipes on the table aside.Judging from the plate in front of him, he seemed to have eaten curry or something.Now he is drinking coffee and hasn't eaten a meal since morning, so of course he will be hungry. Deciding to meet here is a matter before leaving the lounge.He walked over as quietly as a cat, and whispered in my ear: "Six o'clock, the store next to Mitsukoshi", which has been used as a place for business meetings many times. Although I was also hungry, I ordered a glass of orange juice first.The nerves of the stomach have become completely dull. The two of us didn't talk when we first came up, and we didn't even look at each other's faces.After Suruga drank the coffee in his hand, he finally spoke his first words. "The situation has become serious." After finishing speaking, he let out a long sigh. I raised my head and met his eyes for the first time, Suruga's eyes were bloodshot. "What did you say to the police?" "I don't remember anymore. After all, I was invited by them for questioning without knowing it. I just told the truth about what I saw." Suruga picked up the Marlboro cigarette case on the table and smoked a cigarette. root out.There were already six cigarette butts in the ashtray. "But," I said, "you didn't mention Namioka Junko, did you?" With one hand, Suruga extinguished the lit match and threw it into the ashtray. "Of course!" "I didn't mention her either." "I guessed you would do that." Suruga looked relieved. "Then the cause of death was—" When I tried to continue, Suruga stopped me because a waitress brought my orange juice. After she walked away, I approached him and said, "Do you know the cause of Hotaka's death?" "The criminal police didn't say anything about this, probably because they haven't found out yet. Only after an autopsy will we know." "But you should be able to guess how much?" I asked him. "You too!" Suruga shot back. I took a sip of orange juice through a straw. "They asked me about the medicine several times." "I guess so." Suruga nodded, his eyes wandered around, as if he was on guard against the criminal police watching him. "I was also asked, but it's inevitable in this situation." "You told them?" "No, the police first brought it up. It seems that the waiter in the hotel has been asked." "Waiter?" "The police investigated what Hodaka had eaten before he fell to the ground at the beginning, because judging from the appearance of the body, the possibility of poisoning was still very high. Soon a waiter provided clues and sent a medicine canister to The groom's lounge, and said that I asked him to pass it on." "So the criminal police came to you for questioning, and you told them that the medicine jar was given to you by Miss Xiguchi. This is all true." "You were with Nishiguchi at that time, so you were also investigated in the end." "It seems to be like this." I finally understood the cause and effect of this matter, "The police must think that the medicine that Miwako is carrying contains poisonous capsules." "That depends on the ingredients in the remaining capsules. If one of them were found to be poisonous, it would certainly be concluded that Hotaka took the same poison. But if there is nothing wrong with the ingredients in the remaining capsules—of course I'm just saying There is such a possibility—then even if the poison is detected in the body after the autopsy, it should not be possible to know its source." The cloud of smoke that Suruga exhaled from his mouth drifted to the surface of the glass window, and then slowly dissipated.At that moment, the night suddenly became hazy. It's strange to say that I have never had such a secret conversation with this man so far, and the only bond that connects the two of us is that Hotaka who has a strong desire for self-expression.And that Hotaka is no longer in this world. Oh yeah, that man is dead.I was so excited I wanted to scream, but I had to hold back the urge for now, and it wouldn't be too late to let it out when I got back to the apartment and locked the door and shut the windows and was all alone. "Hello," I said, leaning closer to Suruga again. "Ok?" "Is it really Namioka Junko who mixed the drug...?" I asked in a low voice. Suruga's face flickered with panic for an instant, then he scanned the surroundings and nodded slightly. "That's probably what happened." "It's the capsule in the bottle, and it's filled with poison." "This possibility is very high." Suruga took a breath. "I originally thought that the plan to replace the Hodaka rhinitis medicine bottle had failed, but unexpectedly, the poisonous capsules were successfully inserted." "It was Miwako who put the capsule in the jar, so the poisonous capsule should have been in the bottle before then. When did Namioka Junko mix it in the bottle?" "It must have been put in before yesterday, and it must have been sneaked into the house." Suruga stubbed out the shortened cigarette butt in the ashtray, "Hodaka's home is like his own home to him, for sure Know where the rhinitis medicine bottle is placed. The rest is just a matter of timing to sneak in. Although Hodaka is always in the room, there will always be times when he deserts, and the chances of doing it are surprisingly many." "For her, she has fulfilled her long-cherished wish of dying with her sweetheart brilliantly." "Yeah, but Hotaka did it to herself. Looking back, women are really scary creatures." This corny line, I didn't make any comment, and it doesn't help to say it now. Is there a contradiction in the story so far?I thought about it again in my head, and it didn't seem like a big deal. "Then next," I looked at Suruga, "we'll wait until they find the body of Junko Namioka." "About this, I hope you can understand a few things, and that's why I asked you to come here." He said solemnly. "What's up?" "First of all, I hope you pretend to be completely ignorant of this matter, including Namioka Junko's suicide at Hotaka's house, and Hotaka and I carrying the corpse." "I know that." "Also, since the situation has changed, I will disclose the relationship between Namioka Junko and Hotaka to the police, otherwise she cannot reasonably explain the poisoning of Hotaka." "Too." "So this matter should also reach the ears of Mihezi. For her, this is tantamount to a double blow." I gradually understood what Suruga wanted to express. "I get it, and by then, I'll try to keep her from panicking." "Please. Because I don't want another victim to appear." Suruga picked up another cigarette, and the way he breathed out the smoke immediately after that seemed a little more calm than before. "What are you going to do from now on?" I asked him. "I don't know, I can only take one step at a time." Suruga replied looking out the window. After saying goodbye to him in front of the coffee shop, I took a taxi back to Tsukishima's apartment.I turned back to check several times to see if there was a car following me, but I didn't feel any sign of the police following me. Once in my room, I threw off my rigid wedding outfit and stood in front of the full-length mirror in my underwear.Put your hands on your hips, straighten your chest, and stare at your own reflection in the mirror. Suddenly there was a surge of power in my body, but I didn't know how to release it, I just clenched my fists. I am resurrected!The Yukisa Kaori whose soul was killed by Hodaka Makoto was born again today! I did it, I killed him—