Chapter 32 Section 6

Two days later in the afternoon, Zhelang was driving on the Tomei Expressway.He hasn't driven a car for a long time.He was driving at a speed slightly above the speed limit, and a large trailer appeared in front of him.He turned on the turn signal, entered the overtaking lane, passed the trailer, and then returned to the original lane.He hadn't liked driving fast since before.Christmas songs from a Mariah Carey concert came on the radio. He held the steering wheel, looked straight ahead, and smiled.Risako, who was sitting in the passenger seat, saw his smile. "what are you laughing at?"

"No, it's not a big deal. It's just that I didn't expect such a ride on Christmas Eve." "Especially with me?" "Don't talk in that tone. You didn't expect it to turn out like this, did you?" "Yes." She said from the seat next to her. The two are heading to Shizuoka.They were worried that there would be traffic jams on the road at the end of the year, but there were unexpectedly few vehicles.According to this situation, there is no problem going back and forth on the same day.Neither had plans to spend the night in Shizuoka. "Is it under the Yoshida Interchange?"

"Yes. After getting off the interchange, there is a T-junction, turn right there." Risako said while looking at the map.She drives more often than Geron, and the directions are correct. Saeki Kari's hometown is in Shizuoka, and Zhe Lang looks forward to going there to find out her true identity. When living in Waseda's apartment, Saeki Kari seems to call herself "Koru".And the young man who lived next door said she looked like a man no matter what. "Although the other party is short and slender, he doesn't look like a woman. That being said, I haven't seen his face clearly. Just from his hairstyle, the way he feels, and the sound of his room, I think the other party is a man " He added: "The other party's clothes are also 100% men's clothing."

It is plausible that young people are obsessed with thinking that the next-door neighbor is a man.On his first visit, Gellan used the phrase "the guy next door" twice.This is a word that is not used by women, so Zhe Lang wants to go back to the apartment again. That day, after Zhelang returned home, he explained the whole story to Risako.She also had an unexpected expression on her face, and proposed two possibilities. "One is that 'Saeki Kari' and 'Saeki Kaoru' are two completely different people. But for some reason, they play the same person." "Impossible." Zhe Lang immediately retorted.He also thought about this possibility at first.

"On Kaori Saeki's resident certificate, it is recorded that she moved from Waseda Tsurumaki. It is a fact that Kaori lived there." "Maybe Ms. Kari has just registered as a resident, but the person actually living there is another man who calls himself Kaoru. It's not impossible." "Why do you want to do this?" "I don't know that." Another idea is to assume that Kari and Kaoru are the same person. "Miss Kari may have dressed as a man while living there for some reason. Because Kari is a woman's name, she calls herself Kaoru."

This is also one of the hypotheses put forward by Zhelang. "I may be long-winded when I say this, but what do you think her purpose is?" As if he couldn't figure it out, Risako just shook his head silently.When the reasoning of the two of them frequently went to a dead end, the conclusion reached was to go to Saeki Kaori's hometown. The two set off early in the morning, but it was already afternoon when they got off the Yoshida Interchange.I saw an American restaurant along the way, so Zhelang proposed to have lunch first, but Risako said that he should find Kaori's hometown first.

This didn't take much time.Because the location has been confirmed on the map in advance, and the streets of Shizuoka are not as intricate as those in Tokyo.Turning from the avenue along the coastline to a small road, there is a small shopping street, where Saeki Kari's hometown is, and the large signboard that says "Saeki Knife Shop" becomes a striking sign. Although the signboard is big, the storefront does not know if it is four meters wide.Zhe Lang and the others opened the aluminum-framed glass door and walked into the store.There are two display cases on the front, inside which are dimly lit kitchen knives lined up.It seems that the store also sells table knives and woodworking tools, but the main products are cooking knives.The sashimi knives adorning the inner cabinet are scary and make your legs go weak.There is a small workbench in one corner of the store.

There was no one in the store, but it seemed that they heard a hanging bell ringing when the glass door was opened, and immediately a petite woman about fifty years old in a Japanese-style apron came out from inside. When she saw Zhe Lang and the others, she showed a confused expression and didn't even say "welcome".Probably 80% of the people who come to this kind of store are regular customers, and Zhe Lang and the others don't look like customers. "Hello, what's the matter?" She asked with a puzzled look on her face. "Are you Saeki Kari's mother?"

Hearing Zhe Lang's question, the other party's expression changed.Her expression was stiff and she blinked frequently. "You are?" "We are from Tokyo, and my surname is Sugai." Before the two of them came here, they decided to borrow his surname. "Xu Bei..." She uneasily looked at the two of them in turn.Risako made a call in the name of Sugai before, I don't know if she remembers it. "The thing is, we've been looking for Ling Qianjin for a while, but we can't find her, so it's very troublesome. Do you know where she is?"

"What is your relationship with my daughter?" "We are her friends, colleagues who work in the same place." There was a slight look of warning in her mother's eyes.Zhe Lang noticed that she might know that Xiangli was engaged in a special industry. "I have something to see Kaori, can you tell me where she is?" Risako interjected. "Even if you say that, we don't know where she is." "Didn't she contact you?" Zhe Lang asked tentatively. "There is no contact. I haven't even made a phone call in the past few years."

"Really?" "Really, I didn't lie to you." Xiangli's mother shook her head. There was a faint movement from inside, and someone stepped on sandals and came out.A man in a short-sleeved white robe emerged from the door curtain.He was about sixty-five or six years old, tall and heavy, with a thick chest and a crew cut of hair that was mostly gray. "What are you arguing about?" He muttered and walked towards the workbench.He has a kitchen knife in his hand. "Are you Miss Xiangli's father?" Zhe Lang said, but the other party did not answer, and began to prepare for work on the workbench.Zhelang continued to his profile: "You have been to Waseda Tsurumaki's apartment, right? I saw you once." Her father stopped what he was doing for a while, and then started working again. "I don't know someone named Xiangli, she's not here." "Isn't it strange that you don't know your daughter?" Hearing what Zhe Lang said, her father stopped what he was doing again.He still turned his face to Zhe Lang and the others, and said, "This family has no daughters, and has never had a daughter since before." "What's the meaning?" "Stop talking! Don't meddle in other people's business! Stop talking there, get out! Get out!" Zhe Lang glanced at Xiangli's mother.She watched the development of the situation worriedly, and when she met his eyes, she lowered her head in panic. "Miss Xiangli might be involved in a murder case." Zhe Lang said to her father, "If we don't find out where she is quickly, it might lead to tragedy." "It's so noisy! Didn't I say that there is no one named Xiangli? Even if irrelevant people are involved in something, it's none of my business. You are in the way, get out!" He waved the kitchen knife in his hand , the tip of the knife reflects the light of the fluorescent lamp. "So, is Mr. Kaoru there?" "What did you say?!" Her father rolled his eyes, his face flushed red. "I said, if it's Mr. Saeki Kaoru, you should know who he is. You saw him in Waseda Tsurumaki's apartment. No, it should be said that you had a fight with him?" "What nonsense are you talking about?!" His father put down the kitchen knife, left the workbench, and came towards Zhelang. Zhe Lang decided to let him punch him.A punch wouldn't count for much if he'd opened up his heart by punching himself. But his father didn't punch them, he kept telling them to get out, and pushed the bodies of Zhelang and Risako.His strength was unexpectedly great, and Zhe Lang, who was not on guard, was pushed out of the shop. After her father also walked out the door, he said, "Lock the door!" and then slammed the door shut with a "bang". "Mr. Saeki, anyway, please listen to us." "Don't come here! Get out of here!" He made a movement like chasing flies, and walked away quickly.Zhe Lang hesitated and wondered whether he should chase him or not, but in the end he still didn't catch up.According to the current situation, no matter what he asked, it was impossible for him to answer. "Let's re-draw the strategy, there is still a little time anyway." "yes." The two walked to the car, and Zhe Lang took out the keys.When he was about to insert the key into the car door, Risako said, "Wait a minute, do you want to stop by that shop for lunch?" With her chin, she pointed to the nearby ramen shop, the signboard was covered with dust. "There are obviously more shops on the road just now. Besides, you don't need to come here to eat ramen, right?" "It's not like that, you look behind." Zhe Lang looked back, Xiangli's mother was standing alone in front of Zueki's knife shop, looking at Zhe Lang and the others. There are no other customers in the ramen shop.Zhe Lang and the others sat in the seats farthest from the kitchen, staring at the glass door at the entrance.The clerk came to order, and they ordered two bowls of miso ramen. Shortly thereafter, Kari's mother was standing behind the glass door.She opened the door hesitantly, nodded towards the kitchen, and walked towards Zhe Lang and the others. "We've been waiting for you for a long time." Risako got up after speaking, and sat next to Zhelang instead.So Xiangli's mother sat down opposite them.The clerk came over right away, but she said, "I don't need it." "Is it okay in the store?" Zhe Lang asked. "Well, I locked the door." "No, that's not what I meant. If Mr. Saeki knew you were meeting us, wouldn't you be scolded?" "Oh," the expression on her face finally softened. "Probably whine a little bit, but it's no big deal. He's probably worried too." "You know Miss Kari is missing in Tokyo, right?" "yes." "Who did you listen to?" "Who did you listen to..." She bowed her head in silence for a moment, worried that people in the kitchen would hear her, and whispered, "The police have been here." Zhelang and Risako glanced at each other. "Is it the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department...the police in Tokyo?" Zhe Lang asked thinking of Mochizuki detective's face. "No, it was the local police who came to my house. He wanted me to tell him where Kari lived. I heard that she was no longer in Tokyo." "He didn't say why he was looking for Miss Xiangli?" "He only said that the Tokyo side asked them about a certain murder... They don't know the details." Zhe Lang thought to himself that what the police officer said might not be an excuse.It is likely that he was asked by the Metropolitan Police Department to ask for some routine records and visited Saeki's knife shop. In any case, it appears that the investigative unit is indeed after Kerry as well. The clerk delivered two bowls of miso ramen, and Zhe Lang ate some with disposable chopsticks.I didn't have any expectations for this ramen, but I didn't expect it to be delicious. "The only ones looking for Miss Xiangli are the police besides us?" "You are the only ones who came to my house looking for someone. However, there was a phone call a few days ago..." "Oh, that call," Risako smiled, "it should be me." "No, it was a man calling. Um... I remember him saying he was a newspaper reporter." Zhe Lang was eating noodles and put down his chopsticks.He glanced at Risako again, and she looked at him too.Her eyes said: It's Hayata. "Why did that person look for Miss Xiangli?" Zhe Lang asked. "He seemed to say he wanted to interview her. I thought it was a strange call and hung up right away." Hayata also finds out that Kaori is missing.He complied with the declaration to Zhelang and is investigating the murder from other channels. "Why is Mr. Saeki so angry with Miss Kasari?" Risako asked.She doesn't seem to plan to eat ramen anymore, there is still half a bowl left. "Well, uh, it's a bit hard to say." Xiangli's mother tilted her head in embarrassment, as if she didn't know how to explain. Zhe Lang thought to himself, it is best not to speak casually, so he kept silent.Soon, she looked at Risako and said, "Excuse me, did you just say that you and Kari are colleagues?" "Yes." Risako replied. "What kind of a place is that? Uh, like?" "It's a hotel, a bar." Zhe Lang interrupted, "They are female publicists." "Female PR..." She seemed surprised. "But it's not an undecent shop, they are just chatting with customers at most." She didn't seem to be listening to Zhelang, and looked at Risako again. "Speaking of female public relations, everyone is a woman, right?" "yes." Hearing what she said, Kari's mother covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes wandering around in a daze.There was something obviously wrong with her appearance. "This is really strange." She murmured, "I always feel that the police and the caller are talking about other people. But didn't you just say the child's name? Kaoru. So I think you should know something." "Is Kaoru her real name?" Zhe Lang asked. "No, her real name is Kari. But, we all call her Kaoru..." Zhe Lang explored the pocket of the coat that was placed aside, and took out a photo from it.It was a photo sent by Hiromi a while ago. "This person is Miss Kari, right?" But when she saw the photo, she opened her eyes wide and shook her head. "No. This person is not Kari, I don't know this person at all." "But……" "Kari probably," her mother continued after swallowing a mouthful of saliva, "I don't think that child looks like a woman anymore."