Chapter 13 Section 13

"Everyone, please mourn the dead." Hearing the host's instructions, Hiromi Wakayama closed her eyes.Music immediately rang out in the arena.When Hiromi heard the music, she couldn't help being surprised: the music was "The Long and Winding Road" by The Beatles.It can roughly be translated as "a long and rough road".Yoshitaka Mashiba likes the Beatles, and often plays their CDs while driving, and this is his favorite among them.The melodious and soothing melody echoes with sadness and sorrow.Even though it was Ayane who chose to play the song, Hiromi developed a hatred for her.The atmosphere in the music is really suitable for this occasion, and she can't help but recall every bit of being with Yixiao.She felt a heat in her heart, and the tears she thought she had dried up were about to ooze out from her tightly closed eyelids again.

Hiromi knew in her heart that she couldn't cry on the spot.If she was crying like a woman who had no direct relationship with the deceased, people around her would definitely become suspicious.More importantly, she never wanted Ayane to see her crying again. After the silence, the flower-laying ceremony begins, and those who come to the funeral offer flowers to the altar one by one.Yixiao didn't believe in any religion during his lifetime, so it seems that this kind of ceremony was also decided by Ayane.She herself is standing under the altar at this moment, nodding to the people who offer flowers one by one.

Yixiao's body was transported by the police station to the funeral home yesterday.Tatsuhiko Inokai first arranged for today's flower presentation ceremony.An all-night wake is scheduled to be held tonight, and a more grand company funeral will be held tomorrow. It's Hiromi's turn to present flowers.She took flowers from a female staff member and placed them on the altar.She looked up at the portrait, clasped her hands together.In the photo, Yixiao has dark skin and a smile on his face. She told herself to hold back her tears, but at this moment, she felt nausea, which was morning sickness.She couldn't help covering her mouth with clasped hands.

She suppressed the nausea in her heart and left the altar.Looking up again, I was startled.Ayane stood right in front of her.Ayane suppressed her grief and stared at Hiromi. Hiromi nodded to her and was about to walk past her. "Hiromi," Ayane called out to stop her, "Are you okay?" "Well, I'm fine." Ayane nodded, said "Really", and turned her face back to the altar. Hiromi left the venue.She was looking forward to leaving here as soon as possible. Just as she was walking towards the exit, someone patted her on the shoulder from behind.She looked back and saw Yukiko Inokai standing behind her. "Ah... hello." She greeted hurriedly.

"It's really hard work for you. I guess the police asked you a lot of questions?" Yukiko's face was full of sympathy, but curiosity was revealed in her eyes. "Well, it's okay." "I really don't know what the police are doing. They haven't found out the clues of the murderer until now." "yes." "Our family also said that if it is not resolved as soon as possible, it will affect the company. Mrs. Ayane also said that she will not go home until the truth is revealed. It is no wonder that it makes people feel nervous."

"Yes." Hongmei could only nod noncommittally. Someone yelled "Hello", and when he turned around, he saw Zhukai Dayan walking towards him. "What are you doing? Let me know that food and drink are ready in the next room." "Really? Hiromi, let's go together." "Sorry, I still won't go." "Why? Are you waiting for Mrs. Ayane? There are so many people here, it probably won't end in a while." "No, I'll take my leave today." "Really. Just stay with me for a while." Zhu Jian said "Hello" and said with a frown, "Why do you keep pestering him? He has other things to do."

Hearing his words, Hiromi's heart tightened.She raised her head to look at the pig feed, only to see that he immediately looked away from his stern eyes. "I'm sorry, let's talk about it another day... I'll take my leave first." Hiromi nodded to the couple, bowed her head and walked away. Tatsuhiko Inokai must have known about Yoshitaka and Hiromi's relationship.It probably wasn't Ayane who told him, maybe it was the police.It seems that he hasn't told Yukiko yet, but it's impossible for him to have a good impression of Hiromi. What will happen to her in the future? Thinking of these, a wave of uneasiness hit her heart again.It is estimated that the relationship between herself and Yoshitaka will be known by more and more people around her in the future, so Hiromi will no longer be able to stay by Ayane's side.

Hiromi herself gradually felt that it was best not to get close to Mashiba's house in the future, and she couldn't believe that Ayane would sincerely forgive her. She especially remembered the look in Ayane's eyes just now, she regretted that she had covered her mouth when presenting flowers.Ayane must have known at a glance that she was suffering from morning sickness, and it was because of this that she asked her if her health was important. If she was just the late husband's mistress, maybe Ayane would have grown up a lot and didn't care about it, but now she is pregnant with a posthumous child, what do you want her to do?

It seems that Ayane has indeed noticed Hiromi's pregnancy before, but the mere awareness and the fact in front of her eyes are completely different. She told the female detective named Utsumi about her pregnancy a few days ago, after that, Ayane never asked Hiromi about her pregnancy again.Of course, Hiromi couldn't take the initiative to bring it up, so Hiromi couldn't understand Ayane's opinion on this matter at all. What should I do? Thinking of this, Hiromi will feel darkness in front of her eyes. She also knew that the child should be aborted, because even if it was born, she would not have the confidence to raise the child happily.The child's father is dead, not only that, Hongmei herself will also face the crisis of unemployment.No, if she gave birth to the child, it is estimated that Ayane will really not take care of her work anymore.

No matter how she thought about it, she had no other choice, but she couldn't make up her mind for a long time.Even she didn't know whether it was because his love for Yixiao remained in his heart, making her unwilling to give up the only "inheritance" he left her, or because a woman's instinct to have a child made her She is so lost. But in any case, there was not much time to think about it now, and she felt that she had to make a decision within two weeks at the latest. Just as she walked out of the funeral home and was about to take a taxi, someone called her "Miss Ruoshan".

After seeing the other party clearly, Hiromi's mood became even more depressed: the detective surnamed Kusanagi was coming towards her. "I've been looking for you everywhere, are you going back?" "Well, I'm feeling a little tired." The detective should have known that she was pregnant, and in that case, she felt it necessary to express to him that she hoped that they would not add any more physical burden to herself. "I'm sorry to bother you when you are tired. Could you please answer a few questions for me? It won't take you too long." Hiromi gave up trying not to show the unhappiness in her heart as much as possible, and said, "Now?" "Sorry to trouble you." "Must I go to the police station?" "No, let's find a place where we can have a good talk." After that, he reached out and stopped a taxi without waiting for Hongmei to agree. Kusanagi asks the driver to drive near the apartment where Hiromi lives.It seems that if it can be over in a short time, Hongmei can be regarded as letting go of a hanging heart. He saw a home-cooked restaurant on the road, so he got off in front of the restaurant.There were not many people in the store, so the two came to the innermost table and sat down facing each other. Hiromi asked for a glass of milk, because she saw that black tea and coffee were included in the self-catering section of the menu, and guessed that Kusanagi ordered cocoa for the same reason. "This kind of place is generally non-smoking. For you, this environment is acceptable?" Kusanagi said with a smile on his face. Perhaps he was trying to show her that he already knew she was pregnant, but to Hiromi who was distressed because she couldn't make up her mind to abort the child, these words were so ironic. "Excuse me... what can you do for me?" She lowered her head and asked. "I'm sorry, you must be very tired, so I won't say any more meaningless words." Kusanagi leaned forward and said, "I want to ask you about nothing else, but about Mr. Mashiba Yoshitaka Relationships with women before death." Hongmei raised her head involuntarily: "What do you mean by that?" "Just take it literally. What I mean is, did Mr. Mashiba date other women besides you?" Hiromi straightened her back and blinked.This question was so unexpected that she felt a little overwhelmed for a while. "Why do you ask this?" "What do you mean?" "Did you find out that he has other women?" Her voice shrilled involuntarily. Kusanagi smiled wryly, waved his hands lightly and said, "There is no basis yet. I just came to you to inquire because of the possibility." "I don't know. How did you bother to ask this?" After hearing this, Cao Zhu regained his seriousness and crossed his fingers on the table. "As you know, Mr. Mashiba died of poisoning. Judging from the situation at the time, if it wasn't someone who entered Mashiba's house that day, it would have been impossible for him to poison him. Therefore, you were the first to be suspected." "I already said I didn't do anything..." "We understand your feelings. Then, if you are not the murderer, who has entered his house? So far we have not found any suspected persons from his work and private circle before his death, so we began to suspect that it was Mr. Zhenchai A character who doesn't want people to know about their relationship." Hiromi finally understood what the detective in front of him wanted to say.But she wasn't going to nod, because the idea was just too ridiculous. "Mr. Interpol, you seem to have misunderstood him. Although he is really self-willed in what he says and does, and he also associates with people like me, so it's no wonder you think so, but he is by no means a playboy, and he treats me well. It’s not just a joke.” She felt that her tone was strong enough, but Kusanagi's expression remained unmoved. "That is to say, you think he should have no other women, do you?" "yes." "And do you know anything about his former girlfriend?" "Are you asking about the women he has dated before? Well, I know that he seems to have had a few, but I haven't heard him talk about it in detail." "Do you remember anything? For example, your occupation, where you met, etc. It doesn't matter how trivial it is." Hongmei had no choice but to search hard in her memory.She remembered that Yixiao had indeed missed a few words about the women he had dated with her before, and there were a few words that she still had a little impression of. "I heard him mention that he had been in a relationship with someone who was involved with publishing." "Related to publishing? Editing or something?" "No, no, I remember it was the person who wrote the book." "A novelist, then?" Hiromi tilted her head and said, "I'm not sure about that. I just remember hearing him say that every time a book is published, the other party forces him to talk about his impressions after reading it. He's in trouble. I asked him what book it was, But he put it off. Because he hates people asking him about his previous relationships with women, so I stopped asking." "Is there anything else?" "He said that he has no interest in bar girls and entertainers. So when he goes to a blind date party, he will feel disappointed because the organizer has hired too many models." "But didn't he and his wife meet at a blind date party?" "It seems to be." She lowered her eyes as she said. "Then, did Mr. Mashiba still keep in touch with his former contacts?" "I don't think so, as far as I know." Hiromi rolled his eyes and looked at the detective, "Do you think that there is such a partner who wants to kill him?" "We think it's very possible, so I hope you can try your best to think about it. After all, men are not as thoughtful as women in terms of love, and sometimes they will inadvertently mention their past partners." "Even if you say so, I will..." Hiromi reached out and took the cup filled with milk to her eyes. After taking a sip, she regretted that she should have ordered black tea just now, because she had to worry about not turning the corners of her mouth white when drinking this thing. Inadvertently, she remembered something, she raised her head, and Kusanagi quickly asked her "what's the matter". "Although he likes to drink coffee, he also knows a lot about black tea. I asked him about this, and he said that it was influenced by his ex-girlfriend. I heard that woman likes drinking black tea very much, and even the shop where she buys black tea Fixed. I remember he was talking about a black tea specialty store over the Nihonbashi.” Kusanagi was ready to record, and asked, "What is the name of that store?" "Sorry, I don't remember that, maybe I didn't ask at the time." "Black tea specialty store." Kusanagi closed the handbook and pouted. "That's all I remember. Sorry, I couldn't help you." "No, you told me so much, it's really a big gain for me. In fact, we once asked his wife the same question, but she said that she had never heard these things from Mr. Zhenchai. Maybe, Mr. Zhenchai thought Love you more than his wife." The words of the criminal policeman in front of her made Hiromi feel a little anxious.Although she didn't know whether the other party wanted to comfort her or ease the atmosphere, if he thought that this would make her feel better, he would be very wrong. "Excuse me, have you finished asking your questions? I kind of want to go back." "Thank you very much for helping us when you were tired. If you remember anything, please contact us in time." "Okay, I'll call you when the time comes." "I'll take you back." "No need, we'll be there in just two steps." Hiromi stood up as she spoke, ignoring the bill on the table, and not in the mood to say "Thanks for the hospitality".