Chapter 28 Section 8

Yokohama's city hall is built on the boulevard facing the coast, and it is a hall second to none in the prefecture.Various performances are also rich and colorful, and can accommodate 2,000 spectators.Most of the performances of the Takayanagi Dance Troupe in Kanagawa are held in this hall. Before entering the arena, Kaga chose to spend time in the nearby Yamashita Park. Today's weather is not good, with dark clouds, and it's so cold that people can't stand their necks.However, there are still many young men and women who bring their families to the park to play. At six o'clock, Kaga went to the hall and started queuing up, and there was already a long queue there.Sure enough, the Gaoliu Ballet is very popular, and today's tickets should be sold out.Looking at the audience, most of them are young women, followed by middle-aged women or mothers with little girls, and there are very few two men together, and the man came to watch alone, Kaga looked like he was the only one .

Kaga's seat is the third from the right in the middle of the seats on the first floor, next to the entrance. Kaga thought that the two seats on the far right were unoccupied, and when the performance was about to start, two young women rushed to the back seat down.One of them said, "It's too far to the side to see clearly." Kaga suggested to them that if he didn't mind switching with them, they gave suspicious looks as expected. "Actually, I am the person in charge of this hall." Kaga said helplessly, "I want to investigate the sound effects and vision of the seats at the far end."

This lie really worked, and they quickly agreed to change seats. In fact, it was more beneficial for them to sit in the middle. The performance started at 6:35, five minutes later than the scheduled time, the conductor walked out amidst applause, he gracefully picked up the baton, and the gorgeous prelude began to play. Then the curtain rose and the feast of the stage play began. Immediately, Kaga stood up. After he walked out, the female staff standing in the corridor looked at him curiously.Seeing him continue to walk backstage, she grabbed his wrist. "Guests, entry is prohibited here."

"I can go in." Kaga showed her the police ID, and the staff immediately let go with a look of timidity.This series of cases in the dance troupe is very clear even to non-related personnel. Stepping into the backstage, you can immediately feel the same tense atmosphere as in Tokyo.The actors who are wearing clothes all have expressions as if they are about to set foot on the battlefield. A few actors noticed Kaga, but they didn't find it unusual. Recently, they had gotten used to living under the supervision of the police. Kaga walked a few steps inside, and there was an actor's lounge inside, because most of the people had participated in the prologue, so there was almost no one there.

Kaga walked to the room where "Takayanagi Akiko Asaoka Mio" was written on the door, looked around, and knocked lightly on the door. "Here we come." It was Akiko's voice. Seeing that it was Kaga, Akiko's eyes with mascara showed a look of fear.However, he immediately relaxed and asked, "What's your business?" His posture was still stiff. "You don't have to stand up." Kaga said and walked into the room, Akiko sat facing the mirror, and Kaga stood behind her, and the two looked at each other through the mirror. "Ready?" "Well, it's my turn now."

She emphasized the word 'immediately'. Indeed, the prologue is not long, and it will end soon. "I want to ask you a few questions." Kaga said, "I think you should be able to answer them easily." "What's the question, I want you to make a long story short." "First," Kaga looked at Akiko in the mirror, "What request did Kazama ask you?" Her eyeliner-enlarged eyes opened further, and then she shook her head slightly, "What are you talking about?"—with a visibly trembling voice. "Is it money? Or something else?"

Kaga ignored her and continued to ask.And she was still shaking her head. "I don't understand what you want to say at all." "It's impossible!" Kaga said. "You must know, no, you probably know everything, don't you? You told me everything. The dance in New York A sad love song for writers and students of painting." Akiko took a long breath and let it out slowly.His gaze was still on Kaga. He went on. "You told me the story of Yasuko Mori and Kazuhiro Aoki. It should be roughly true, except that the most important part has been falsified, which is the name of the main character. The dancer who fell in love with the painting student was actually Is it you? But when Oda answered the police officer's question about Aoki's assassination, he answered that Aoki's girlfriend was Yasuko Mori. Why? Because he didn't want to ruin you, a promising future international dancer, in front of John Thomas The image! Fortunately, because no one knows about your relationship with Aoki, this lie has not been exposed for the time being."

"Nonsense." "No, this is the truth." Kaga continued, "That's why Toshiyuki Kazama wanted to come to you. That night, the night Kazama was killed, you were in the dance troupe." "No, that night I was..." "Please tell the truth," Kaga interrupted her, "What exactly does Kazama ask you to do? It shouldn't be about money, right? What he asks you to do is to go to New York with him—that's right Bar?" Akiko obviously swallowed, unable to speak.Keep staring at your own face in the mirror. "It was the painting left by Aoki who told me that Aoki's girlfriend is you." Kaga said quietly, "That painting is so beautiful, if you just look at it, it shows a dancer dancing on the streets of New York Dance. At first we thought it was Yasuko Mori. Of course, we also heard that Aoki’s lover was Yasuko, but the dancer’s back was indeed somewhat similar to Yasuko. However, we forgot the most important thing. You're only doing weight loss for the norm, she should have been in shape four years ago before the brutal diet."

That painting looks exactly like you, Kaga added. Akiko was silent, and it could be seen that she was clenching her teeth tightly. "Thinking of this, I thought you were the one who killed Kazama." After Kaga finished speaking, Akiko showed a surprised expression. "We thought Ye Liuzi was protecting you, but it still doesn't make sense. Why did Ye Liuzi make such a big sacrifice? Don't you want to lose the most valuable female number one in the regiment? No, that's not the case." Having said that, he began to stare at Akiko's face. "The answer is very simple. In fact, I should have discovered it earlier. There are so many clues, but I have missed them all. But I can say with confidence now that I knew that night in Gaoliu's office. Here, what happened."

Then he bowed deeply to Akiko in the mirror, and said, "Please tell the truth." "If you keep silent, the pain of many people will not be erased, everyone will live with scars, and I will continue to pursue these people until the last moment, it will be an endless marathon for anyone. " Please, Kaga said. Both of them fell into a dull silence, and the music of "Beauty Sleeping in the Woods" was already on the stage. "I thought at first." She finally spoke, "At first I wanted to wait until today's performance is over, and then I'll think about these things slowly. But Yasuko will be like that, and Mr. Kaga, you believe that Aoki's lover is her, so I can't help but I hope this matter can pass like this... Sure enough, the wishful thinking is too good."

Kaga raised his head, Akiko glanced at him, then glanced at the clock in front of the mirror "As you said, I am Aoki's lover." She began to talk about things in New York. "The love story of Yasuko Mori that I told you last time is actually your own, right?" Akiko nodded. In retrospect, the pained expression on her face when she described this story at that time can be explained. "You were the one who stabbed him, right?" But Akiko showed a look of defense, and said: "It was an accident. On the day we were going to return to China, he asked me to come out to see me for the last time, but he had another purpose. He threatened me with a knife and killed me. Imprisoned in a hotel room. Then begged me to stay with him. But I couldn't let go of the ballet, crying and begging him to forgive me once. He realized that I would not listen to reason, and suddenly rushed up to strangle me. I struggled Zhong picked up a knife next to it...by the time I regained consciousness, I had already stabbed it." "Does Oda know about this?" "Well, I told my mother and Oda-sensei. Then Oda-sensei said he would stay and wait and see. When the police found Thomas, he prevaricated by using Yasuko's name for the same reason as Mr. Kaga's reasoning. But Oda thought that this lie would be exposed immediately, because if Aoki is saved, then the truth can be found out from his own mouth, and if he is not saved, his girlfriend should be suspected, and Yasuko will definitely not cooperate at this time of." "But fortunately, this lie has not been exposed." "Aoki lied for us and didn't say my name. He must be thinking about my future as a dancer. A few days later, Oda went to see Aoki and asked him why he didn't mention me. He said he hadn't mentioned me until now. still love me deeply." Akiko sighed at this point, "What a nice man, it would be great if we met through other relationships." Said softly. "When Oda said goodbye to him, he asked him to say Yasuko Mori if anyone asked his lover's name. He said he had no intention of answering at all." All men are like this, Kaga thought. "That's the case that happened in New York four years ago." Akiko nodded. "It's also the culprit in this case." "That's true." "please tell me." Akiko swallowed. "As Mr. Kaga said, I was in the dance company that night, preparing for training." Her clear tone was full of determination, "I went to the office before changing clothes, and suddenly I heard someone knocking on the window. That person was outside the window. Of course, I didn't know him at all at that time. I was taken aback and asked What's the matter with him. Then the man said something about Aoki loudly. As soon as I heard the name Aoki, I was worried that others would hear me, so I opened the window. He crawled in with a big face. Then... just like what you said Imagine, he wanted me to go to New York with him." "Go see Aoki?" "Yes, that person - Kazama said, Aoki sent a letter, the general meaning of the letter is 'I want you to deal with my painting, I am anxiously waiting for my call' and then I called him He told me on the phone that he wanted to commit suicide. He said that he had been tortured physically and mentally, and he no longer had the determination to live. Kazama wanted Aoki to rekindle hope in life, and promised to bring I will meet him in New York. So just let me go together, and it’s okay to meet him...you can come back as soon as you see him." "But you refused." Well, she nodded. "I can't do this kind of thing. First of all, the performance is coming soon, even if there is no performance..." "How did he say?" "If I don't want to go with him, he will make the matter between me and Aoki public. I have no choice but to agree. Then he said that he would call and said, 'I will call Aoki now and let him listen to you. voice'. But just as he was about to make a call, I still thought I couldn't go to New York, and knocked the man down before the call was connected, and put the receiver away. Then he got very angry and wanted to run up and grab him. When I was almost caught by him..." "He fell down suddenly—did he?" "Ok……" "Did Ye Liuzi hit him on the head?" "..." "I'm afraid not?" Akiko lowered her head, as if she couldn't speak any more. "I understand," Kaga said, "I'll just listen to what you said about this point first, and then I'll ask other people. It should be the same as I expected. Having said that, to Yagyu Are you the one who poisoned you too?" No, Akiko replied, hesitated for a while and did not speak. "Isn't it you, then there is only one person left who knows what happened four years ago, and that is Jingzi Gao Liu. Does she know all the truth?" "No, I didn't say anything to my mom. She just didn't want someone to look into what happened four years ago." "But she might feel it vaguely." She seemed to be talking to herself. "It doesn't matter, let's talk about it later, you are almost going to play soon." As he said, the bustle outside began, as if the prologue had come to an end. "Thank you, come on and jump." Saying that, Kaga left the room.