Chapter 52 chapter 2

On the imitation red brick wall, there are nostalgic famous movie posters.The store is dimly lit, with small tables, and it feels like a popular coffee shop in the past.This store is located five minutes away from Shimokitazawa Station, and Zhelang and the others sat at the innermost table. When you open the wooden door, the small bell makes a clanging sound, which is also full of nostalgic style. Risako was five minutes late, and she strode over in leather pants.She stopped halfway, probably because she had spotted Zhe Lang's companion.Mizuki didn't dress up like a man. Although she wore pants on her lower body, she wore a women's sports jacket on her upper body.That jacket seems to have been borrowed from Saeki Kari.

"Mizuki..." Risako opened her eyes wide in surprise, and rushed over in three steps at a time. "Where have you been running all this time?" "I'm sorry to make you worry so much. And to trouble you." Risako sat down across from them. "What's going on here?" She asked Zhe Lang in a questioning tone. "You can order something first." The waitress was beside her. Before the royal milk tea she ordered was served, Zhe Lang explained how things had evolved so far.Risako kept her brow furrowed as he spoke, and she frowned twice, when she heard that Hayata's help could not be obtained, and when Tokura wanted to rape Mizuki.

"Is that so..., so the victim's family is extorting money from the perpetrator. It's really unexpected." "But thanks to them, the police investigation is not going well, which is a real dilemma." Risako tilted her head and said, "Hayata probably won't help us." The waitress brought the royal milk tea.Risako took a sip, then looked at Mizuki, and said, "I had an intuition that Mizuki might be the victim. Although you said that you had an argument with Togura because of Ms. Kari, you grabbed him by the neck in anger , but I always feel that something is wrong. Because even if you are a man in your heart, you are not the kind of person who will take the initiative to provoke." She looked at Mizuki who lowered her head and continued: "If you say that you were almost raped and died If I kill him, I might still believe it."

"Hipura doesn't want to talk about that. She doesn't want to talk about her being attacked and being treated by Tokura as a sexual object." "I know that. So what I want to say is not that Mizuki's lies are clumsy." Risako held the teacup in both hands and straightened her back. "Then, what are you looking for me to do?" "I want you to tell us one thing. Or should I say, I want to confirm one thing with you." Zhe Lang stared straight at Risako. "The day before you moved out of the house, did you have a guest come to the house? You take out the Royal Copenhagen teacup and entertain that guest."

Zhelang felt Risako stop breathing for a moment.She lowered her eyes first, then raised her eyes to look into Zhe Lang's eyes. "So what? It's just friends coming to play." "Which friend? You can call him from here now, do you have a mobile phone?" Risako was expressionless, with an expression of thinking about how to answer, and used his eyes to test how much Zhe Lang had seen through. "If it's not a friend, who do you think it is?" "If I guess right, will you tell me exactly?" "I can think about it." "There shouldn't be time for you to think about it, right? Are you planning to see Nakao die?"

She looked astonished, as if someone suddenly clapped her hands in front of her.She blinked twice. Zhelang breathed slowly and said, "The guest is Ritsuko Takashiro, right?" Zhelang saw that the tense expression on Risako's face gradually relaxed. Keeping secrets must be a burden for her. "When you received the set of Royal Copenhagen teacups, you said that you would wait until upper-class guests came to the house. There was no one like that except Ritsuko Takashiro. Also, that explains why you were Say those words. Because you heard from her the cruel agreement made between him and Nakao."

"What do you mean by cruel agreement?" Mizuki asked. "I've roughly guessed it," said Zhe Lang, "but I want to hear Lisako say it himself." Risako picked up the spoon on the small plate and put it into the cup, using the spoon to scoop up the film floating on the surface of the milk tea. "Miss Ritsuko originally came to see you, but because you went out, she told me instead." "So that's how it is." Since she has been visiting, she shouldn't be avoiding Zhe Lang. "In that case, I should have the right to know." "Yes. But based on my own judgment, I decided to keep it from you. Because I don't think you will do what she wants even if I tell you."

"She wants you to stop looking for Nakao." Hearing this, Zhe Lang nodded. "That's right. She thinks that if she tells me the inside story, I should slap my hand." "Would you slap your hands on that?" "I don't know. If things go my way, I don't think they'll pull the handle." Risako smiled slightly; touched a lonely smile. "Nakao has cancer, pancreatic cancer. He knows it himself, or should I say, he knows it best." Zhe Lang and Mei Yue exchanged glances, she just nodded sadly. "Can't be cured?" "Seems."

"Is that so?" Zhe Lang took a deep breath in order to suppress a certain emotion welling up from the depths of his heart. "Risako, do you have any cigarettes with you?" She silently opened the purse and put the cigarettes and lighter on the table.He picked up one of the lighters and inhaled deeply into his lungs.Looking at the smoke, he imagined Nakao's face; a thin face. "Miss Ritsuko originally made up her mind to accompany him through the last journey of her life, but she couldn't do so. Because she learned a very amazing thing from Nakao." "Nakao told her that he killed a horse?"

Risako nodded. "She doesn't know the details of the household registration exchange and so on. Nakao seems to only tell her that there was a man who was entangled with a female publicist he knew, and he killed the man." "So Nakao proposed a divorce, isn't it?" "That's right. He said that it would be a matter of time before he was arrested by the police, and it would be better to draw a line before that. Of course, Miss Ritsuko refused for a while, but she was persuaded in the end." "Because you are concerned about the children." "Their husband and wife do not want their children to become the children of murderers."

"But," Meiyue murmured beside her, "even if divorced, the blood relationship still exists. Will the world still use the label of a murderer's child on their children? I think it is impossible for Gongfu not to Get that." "Miss Ritsuko said that Nakao told her that these things will be properly resolved." "What do these things mean?" "Nakao doesn't seem to have told her either." "Nakao does not intend to let 'Nakao Kosuke' die." Hearing what Zhelang said, Risako and Mizuki showed surprise expressions.He looked at them back and forth, and continued, "That guy was probably planning to die as someone who killed Togura. That way, the police wouldn't be able to find out who the murderer really was. The murder would end there, but there wouldn't be Nakao Kosuke’s name. At the same time, Togura Yasuko and Kaede had no choice but to give up, thinking that Mitsuru Kanzaki was dead.” "Is Gongfu planning to make himself an unknown corpse?" Mei Yue asked, her voice trembling. "I think so. When the police find a body like this, they rely on the missing persons list to identify the body. But Nakao will not be on the list because no one will call the police to find him." "That's right, because Miss Ritsuko has no reason to call the police." Risako said while nodding. "Because he didn't have to worry about where his divorced ex-husband went. On the other hand, if they hadn't divorced, it would be strange that she didn't call the police to find her husband. And she couldn't explain to her daughter that their father Why would it disappear." "It turns out that the real purpose of the divorce is this." Meiyue said, "Maybe Gongfu will think of these things..." Zhe Lang extinguished the cigarette with long ash in the ashtray.Risako reached for the cigarette case as if receiving a baton.The three fell into their own contemplation for a long time. After a while, Risako said, "That's all that Ritsuko-san told me. She seems to think that if you tell the inside story, you'll stop." "But you didn't tell me. Not only that, you even left a note asking me to find Nakao." "Because I think this is too tragic. After listening to Ms. Ritsuko, I know that Nakao is going to seek death, and I think she probably knows it too. Obviously, my friend wants to find fault, can I ignore it? Anyway, you will not give up looking for him, and I I also think you shouldn't give up. I think it's better not to tell you. I can't tell you such a sad thing." Is that why you moved out of your home?Zhe Lang wanted to ask, but held back.Because she moved out for more than one reason. "Let's go find Gongfu." Mei Yue suddenly muttered. "Just like Risako said, we can't ignore our friends knowing that they want to find fault. Even if we don't want us to go to him, it's the same. Then, we should think about other ways." "Of course I intend to go to him. Besides, in the present state, there is no way that guy will go according to plan. We must tell him that." "What do you mean?" Risako asked. "Nakao thought that even if he died, the police would not be able to find out his identity. But it is not the case." Risako thought for a while and said, "It's because of Hayata." "He will probably immediately think that the nameless corpse is Nakao. Of course, I don't think he will tell the police. If he does, the police will also suspect his source of information. And Hayata probably wants to hide the relationship between us. relationship. But he knew about Yoshie Togura’s plan, so he should tell the police about this part. But he should write a report before telling the police.” "In this way, the police will investigate Tokura Yoshie and the others. Although they don't know Mitsuru Kanzaki's real name, they know his phone number. And the police will find out the identity of the corpse from the number..." "I didn't expect the winger to become our enemy." Mizuki said. "We can't blame Hayata, he just followed his way of life." How many years have passed since the finals? ——Hayata's last words still ring in my ears. "There's one thing I don't understand," Risako said. "What's up?" "I know that Nakao intends to be discovered by the police as an unknown corpse. But how can the police think that he is the murderer of Togura?" "He probably intends to leave a suicide note." Mei Yue replied, "This is the most convenient way." "No, I don't think he would use a suicide note. The police want evidence. They want something that only the perpetrator has." "Is there such a thing?" Mizuki was lost in thought. "Only one thing." Zhe Lang said, "the car." "Togura's van?" Mitsuki patted the table lightly. "The police should also know that the box car of the Kadomatsu Iron Works has been missing since the night Togura was killed. If he died in that car, the police will certainly think that car is related to the murder." "So, Gongfu said that the box car is the key, and it must not be found by the police..." "Where was the van parked after the murder?" "I don't know. Gong Fu only told me to put the car in a safe place." "It cannot be a paid parking lot. If it is left for a long time, it will be suspicious." "It won't be parking on the side of the road, because I don't know who will call the police. If you park in each parking lot in turn, it may be safe to some extent, but..." Zhe Lang said here, and found an important key. "Wait, the murder happened late at night, right? Nakao had to hide the car quickly, but at that time, parking places are limited." All three were silent, they were thinking. "Most likely," Risako said after pondering, "my own parking lot." "It's possible. That night I drove the Volvo and parked next to the rental apartment. This way, his parking lot was vacant." "No, he shouldn't be able to do that. Maybe the neighbors will be suspicious if they hear an unfamiliar van in the parking lot. But if the garage has a rolling door, it's a different story. Wait, speaking of Iron rolling door..." A photo appeared in front of Zhe Lang. "maybe……" "Maybe what?" Risako asked. "There is only one possibility. Nakao can be used freely, and there is a garage with iron rolling doors." "Where?" "The villa of the Takashiro family, he showed me the photos before. I remember he said it was on the coast of Miura." "But Nakao probably doesn't want to cause trouble for the Takashiro family. Isn't it dangerous to hide the car in such a place?" Risako retorted. "Of course, he intends to drive the car away when he wants to die. But maybe before that, he will hide the car there first." Zhe Lang glanced at his watch.