Chapter 15 Section 1

August 14, 2004 (Saturday) The weather forecast said that the next few days will continue to be sunny without rain.Although the weather anchor jokingly said that this is the best weather for washing clothes, but if I remember correctly, he has said the same thing for almost half a month.If things go on like this, don't say that people's livelihood is running out of water, and there may be fires.It looks like I have to be careful with candles too. I took the cod roe left over from yesterday and put the rice into my mouth.After eating, I opened my mouth to practice vocalization. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one..."

Great, the sound is back to normal. For ease of movement, I changed into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.Take the rubber ball you just bought yesterday in your hand.There are two towels tied around the waist. Although I usually wear leather shoes when I go to the office, I specially changed into a pair of sneakers this morning.After walking out of the room, I found that today's weather was just like the weather forecast, and it had been sunny since early in the morning. The assembly point of the patrol team that specializes in dealing with wild dogs is in the parking lot next to the apartment where I live, so it is only two steps away.Four women and a man formed a circle right next to my car.They are mainly neighbors nearby, so they are all familiar faces.I showed a business smile and said good morning to everyone one by one.

Maybe it was because the meeting point was too close, so I made a "mistake" of not leaving early.Because it looked like I was the last to arrive.After I joined the circle, one of the women lowered her head as if to call for attention. "Morning, everyone. Thank you for sacrificing your holidays to help, let us work hard today!" The woman is very young, probably in her early twenties... no, maybe a little more.Could she be Keiko Watanabe?Slightly dyed, blown out hair, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, at first glance gives a lively impression, but the expression on the face is very quiet, the makeup is also very conservative, and I don’t feel too strong a self style.

However, it seemed that she was the leader of the patrol.She looked first at me, then at the other man. "There are still men coming to help today. Uh...excuse me, what is your name?" "Ah, my name is Enohara." Enohara, with his heavy glasses and hair parted in the middle, looks like a nice guy.From the outside, it should be a civil servant. As I thought about it, I introduced myself with a smile after Enohara: "My surname is Konya, please give me your advice." The other three ladies also reported their names one by one.One of them appears to be Enohara's wife.And the last one who introduced himself was the team leader.

"My last name is Watanabe." Kiriko Sakura is twenty-four years old, so Keiko Watanabe should be the same age too!The Watanabe in front of me is indeed very suitable for the person I am looking for in terms of appearance. Watanabe explained the current situation without being humble: "Another little girl in grade four who was playing outside was attacked yesterday. She rushed into a friend's house immediately, so she was not injured, but it is said that she was quite frightened. Although parents will send out notices asking the children Try not to go out, but it is better to ask adults to strengthen the garrison in the open space by the river embankment and the school playground. It seems to be getting hotter and hotter, so please pay more attention to your physical condition. In addition, there are still There is a notice issued by the health department. Especially those who joined today, please remember a little bit - when you find a wild dog, please do not stimulate it casually. Only when you have seen a child being attacked, do you drive the dog away , Otherwise, basically, please don’t act rashly, just contact the health center immediately and let them handle it. Next, assign the scope of work.”

After speaking, his eyes circled around the five people. "Since there are six of us, two on the river, two on the school, and two on patrol. Anyone want to volunteer?" A woman raised her hand timidly. "Can I be in charge of the school? Because it's closer to my home." "Okay. Hey... can I ask a man to be in charge of patrolling the riverside?" She looked at Enohara and me.My wishful thinking is that if I can team up with Watanabe, it will be beneficial to my investigation.Seeing that she is very used to giving orders and being the boss, she should choose the hardest patrol!So I volunteered to raise my hand:

"Ah, then I'll be in charge of patrolling." Hearing what I said, Enohara also breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Then I'll be in charge of the river." "Then you and Mrs. Zun will be at the riverside... Then I will be in charge of patrolling, and Mrs. Xincun will be in charge of learning to bite. Is this okay?" Everyone agrees.So Watanabe nodded. "I'll check with everyone again. It's a medium-sized dog that looks a bit like a Shiba Inu. After you find it, unless you've been attacked, you just need to notify the health center. Also, please don't use this."

She handed out green armbands to everyone."Nan Primary School Parents' Association" was written in white letters on it.A supposedly maverick and cynical detective wearing a PTA armband... I don't care!But if Banping finds out, he might be pissed to death. Seeing that everyone put on the armbands, Watanabe clapped his hands. "Then, everyone, please be careful." This area is a purely residential area, so the roads are very narrow.And because the streets are neatly divided, there are very few forks.Although the field of vision is very wide, once attacked by dogs, there is no place to hide, because both sides of the road are blocked by walls next to each other.I am patrolling under the leadership of Watanabe.It may be that she has patrolled several times, and she has a very good appearance when leading the way.

Although it was my original wish to catch the dog, today it is not so simple. I have to confirm whether Keiko Watanabe is Keiko Matsunaka, and ask Tongzi for information.When I was worrying about not knowing where to start, Watanabe was very considerate and took the initiative to speak. "What is that ball for?" She's asking about the orange rubber ball I've been holding in my right hand.I showed it to her with a big smile on my face. "It's for wild dogs." "Do you want to take it and throw it?" "No, if you see wild dogs..." I raised my slender arms above my head and swung them down again.

"Just throw it hard to the ground. Because the ball will bounce high, the dog's attention will be attracted to the ball, and we can take the opportunity to escape! And it's a little safer than empty-handed." "Oh I got it." Watanabe showed a high degree of admiration, but it was mostly a polite response.Then he said suspiciously: "...does it really work?" I showed a wry smile. "I've tried it before, and it's quite effective." "before?" "When I was a child, there used to be stray dogs near my house like now."

My eyes fell on the rubber ball. "It was a very vicious dog. The neighbor's child was bitten in more than a dozen places and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. There were also many vivid rumors in the school. I was really scared at the time. But the child is a child after all. Children, I forgot all about it in a few days, and I still ran to the park to play. I remember it was also summer at that time." At that time, there were no adults in the park, only five or six children.We played softball with rubber balls and plastic bats.I'm a pitcher, so I have a rubber ball in my hand. "Because we never dreamed that we would be attacked, so when we saw the dog, we were frightened and panicked. Some climbed to the top of the slide. In short, everyone found a place to take refuge. However, there were still some people. too late to escape" "Is that person Mr. Konya?" "No, it's my sister. At that time, the school told us not to run around if we were attacked by a stray dog, because the more you run, the more it will stimulate it, and the dog will chase after it when it gets excited. My sister should also know True, but it doesn't really work at all." Maybe the school also issued the same announcement this time, because Watanabe's tone suddenly became a little hesitant: "Is it useless? But that's what I told the kids too!" In this way, she is not a member of the committee, but a member of the parent association!If this Watanabe is the Keiko Watanabe I'm looking for, then she already has a child in elementary school at the age of twenty-four or five? However, this is not so unusual.I smiled ambiguously. "Uh, well... because the dog is rushing over very fast, if you don't run away, you will definitely die. That's what I thought! So my sister also ran desperately at that time, but she was still a child after all. There is no speed as fast as a dog." At that time, Xiao Zi and her friend were playing with sand in the sand, and I was only a second-grade student in elementary school, and I slipped down the slide where I took refuge. "At that time, my mind was blank. I only knew that dogs like to play with balls. I thought that this might work! I rushed to the dog and threw the ball at it. I didn't expect it to be effective. My sister finally He escaped." "how about you?" "Me? I'm fine!" I laughed.Watanabe also smiled.And it's no longer just the polite smile just now. "You must be terrified!" "Yes! But..." I added in a low voice: "Because it sounds easier to understand." "……What did you say?" Maybe I didn't hear clearly!Watanabe asked in confusion.And I just smiled ambiguously and shook my head. "It's nothing... By the way, I've been wanting to ask since I saw the leaflet yesterday, was Mrs. Watanabe's surname Matsunaka?" "Yes, that's right." Watanabe answered without hesitation.It seems that it is the right choice to start from trivial daily chores. "That's right. Then you used to go to Shanbei High School too, right?" "yes." This is really hard to find, and it takes no effort to get it!I couldn't help but let out a genuine smile. "Really? When I saw you for the first time this morning, I was thinking, there is no such a coincidence in the world, right? I didn't expect it to happen!" "May I ask what's going on..." It's no wonder that Watanabe finally showed a look of wariness on his face.From now on, I just need to bring out my innate honest and honest appearance to the fullest. Unexpectedly, the mobile phone rang at this juncture, and it was still my mobile phone. Can't tell the time too!I couldn't help but spit.I said sorry to Watanabe and pressed the call button. It's half flat. "Ah, Minister. The door of the office can't be opened. Even if you don't have the energy, you can't just skip work if you skip work!" I try to answer in a pleasant voice: "Ah—about this matter, I'm so sorry, I'll go straight to the scene today. If Mr. Handa doesn't mind, can you please start working directly, leave the door locked, and leave it alone." "... Is there anyone next to you?" "Okay, then it's settled." "Whatever! Then I'll go straight away! Do you need to go back to the office after the work is done?" "If Mr. Handa's business exceeds the off-duty time, it doesn't matter if you can go home directly. I will go back to the office." "...Minister, the way you speak on the phone is so professional!" "Thank you for the compliment." "But nothing like a detective." "goodbye." Hang up the phone.