Chapter 31 Section 4

"Foretelling again? So they asked the police officer Shunsuke Kusanagi, an expert on spooky events?" Yu Chuan, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, said sarcastically.He completely flattened the seat and crossed his long legs.Wearing a black Armani shirt and black sunglasses, he doesn't look like a physicist in any way. "It's not a matter of calling me out. The police station under my jurisdiction received the report. I'm a little curious, so I want to investigate." Kusanagi said as he drove the car. "How did the police station judge?" "There is no judgement. If you insist that there is, it will be explained as pure accident. The case is basically defined as suicide."

"Any doubts about suicide?" "No. Judging from the results of the autopsy, there is nothing suspicious." "Didn't you say that compared with homicide, the method of tightening the neck is different?" "Of course. But there's nothing wrong with that." "Then put it aside and leave it alone. Aren't you in charge of homicide cases? So many people are killed every day, you still have time to go for a ride here." "I've thought about it too, but I just can't let it go." "It's your business whether you can't let it go. Don't drag me into it. I still have to grade the bad reports submitted by the students."

"Don't say that, the reason why I am interested in this matter is not because I was influenced by you. You often say that analyzing some mysterious things from a scientific point of view often yields unexpected truths." "Being able to hear words like science and truth from your mouth really makes me look forward to the 21st century. I really didn't expect it." The Nissan Sunny driven by Kusanagi arrived at the site - a complex of high-rise apartments built along the main road. "Where should we start the investigation?" After getting out of the car, Kusanagi looked around at the two buildings.The room where Tomoyuko Seto committed suicide is in the brown building on the left side of the front, and her lover lives in the white building on the right. There is also the girl who foresaw Tomoyuko's suicide here.

"Whichever you want, do whatever you like. I just want to wait for you in the car." "Okay, then let's start with the foresight girl." Kusanagi walked forward holding Yukawa's arm. Room 705 lived in a family named Iizuka.Kusanagi used the calling phone at the door on the first floor to identify himself, and a voice came from inside: "Please come in." The automatic door opened at the same time. "It seems that we are allowed to meet the prophetic girl." Yu Chuan said in the elevator. "I said, can you take off your sunglasses? Even me, a criminal policeman, is trying to establish an image of being friendly to the people. How decent are you dressed like this?"

"I think if she is really a foreseeing girl, she should have the ability to see through human nature." Tang Chuan took off his sunglasses and put on his usual gold-rimmed glasses. They came to Room 705 and were taken to a living room with 20 tatami mats.A piano sits in one corner of the living room, and sofas surround a marble table.Both Yukawa and Kusanagi sat on the sofa. The woman who brought them in was Tomoko Iizuka. There was also a husband and daughter at home, a family of three.According to her, her husband works as a chef in a famous restaurant in Tokyo. "We are here today not because there is another problem, but just to confirm some things. I am really sorry to disturb you in your busy schedule." Kusanagi lowered his head again.

"It seems that I am talking too much, I just don't take that matter to heart... My husband also criticized me, saying that telling the police about the sample selection will affect your work instead." "What's the matter? Anything can be a clue. It would be great if you could tell the police everything you know. Besides, I heard that your daughter is usually at home." "Yes, it's there now. She was born with a bad heart. Usually she's either in the hospital or at home." "I see. Can we see her then?" "It's okay, but I hope you don't say anything too exciting. As I said just now, she is very weak, and a little thing may induce her to get sick."

"Understood, we will be more careful." "Besides, I have one more thing to ask you." "What's up?" "I hope you don't tell the media about my daughter. If they know that she has the ability to predict, they will play it up and it will affect our family's life." "Of course, if the media finds out about the girl's special abilities, they will definitely flock to her." "Don't worry, we will definitely not tell the media, we promise." "Then please, this way please." Guided by Tomoko Iizuka, Kusanagi and the others came to a room at the end of the corridor.First, Tomoko entered the room alone, and after a while, the door opened, and she said, "Come in."

This is a Western-style room with eight tatami mats. The patterned paper on the wall is very cute. There is a wooden bed by the window, and a girl about 10 years old is lying on it.With the help of her mother, she sat up with her upper body.Her hair was long and dyed a tawny color, and her skin was very fair. "Hi." She greeted them. "Hi." Kusanagi replied.Yu Chuan just stood by the door and nodded.Kusanagi suddenly remembered that Yukawa was most afraid of dealing with children. "I heard that you saw a terrible thing?" Kusanagi asked standing by the table.

The girl looked up at him and nodded slightly. "When did you see it?" "This Tuesday night, but it seems to be past 12 o'clock, so it can also be said to be Wednesday." So it looks like the time is late at night in the transition from Tuesday to Wednesday, 3 days before the incident. "What do you see?" "In the middle of the night, I woke up suddenly and wanted to look at the stars, so I opened the curtains. Then I saw a woman in the opposite room doing something terrible." "which room?" "That's the room." The girl opened the curtain next to her and pointed out the window.

Kusanagi bent over to sleep, looked in the direction of her slender fingers, and saw a window with green curtains. "What's the terrible thing you're talking about?" "She tied a rope to something like a horizontal bar, tied a knot at one end of the rope, stuck her head in..." She stopped at this point. "and then?" Urged by Kusanagi, the girl bent down. "I saw her jump out of something like a chair." Kusanagi looked back at Yukawa, but there was no change in Yukawa's expression, only one eyebrow moved. "What happened next?" Kusanagi continued to ask.

"Later... I don't know." "Not sure?" "Ah, what this child means is that she was frightened and passed out. We only heard the child say this the next morning." Tomoko Iizuka explained to her daughter from the side. "Really? Then how did you deal with it?" "We were surprised when we heard that, and immediately ran over to see the opposite room. If what our daughter said is true, we must call the police immediately." "what's the result?" Hearing Kusanagi's question, Tomoko Iizuka breathed out lightly and shook his head. "Based on what we've seen, there's no way something like that could have happened in that room." "You mean you didn't see the hanged body, do you?" "Yes. Not only that, but the woman in that room appeared on the balcony very energetically, as if she was on the phone, and I saw her laughing." Kusanagi asked the girl again: "Did you see that woman too?" The girl nodded. "Is it the same person you saw the night before?" "I think it is." "Huh," Kusanagi folded his arms and smiled at the little girl, "It's really unbelievable." "We guessed that the child might have had a nightmare. She often does this, telling us what happened in the dream as if it were real." "But that doesn't look like a dream." The girl said softly, and she couldn't tell from her voice that she was sure it wasn't a dream.Maybe because she saw that the woman was still alive the next day, she herself suspected that the suicide she saw was not true. Is it a dream?Can reality and dreams be so consistent?If it wasn't a dream, what was she seeing? Kusanagi looked at Yukawa again: "You don't have anything to ask?" Tang Chuan leaned against the door, thought for a while, and said, "Can you see the woman's face and clothes clearly?" "I see clearly, she is wearing red clothes." The girl replied. "I see." Yukawa nodded, looked at Kusanagi, "Is there any question?" "No." The physicist replied flatly. Then, the three of them left the girl and returned to the living room.Kusanagi asked Tomoko Iizuka a few more questions about Naoki Sugawara, but she could hardly answer them because there was basically no contact between the two families. After thanking her, Kusanagi and Yukawa left the room together.