Chapter 26 fourth quarter

"are you tired?" Banba asked while leaning on the railing of the Doton Bridge, and Atsuko replied a little. "There are quite a lot of people, but the road feels quite narrow, right? So it always gives people a particularly crowded feeling." Atsuko nodded.Then she stared blankly at the river under the bridge. "How long have you been in Osaka?" Banba said as if nothing had happened.Houzi was taken aback, and turned to look at the policeman's face, his expression was very calm. "Have you been here for a while?" "why……?" "You want to ask, why do I know, right? I felt it the first time I saw you. There is a smell on you, and I am quite confident in my sense of smell."

As he spoke, the policeman tapped his nose with his index finger. Houzi held on to the railing, looking into the distance. "Stayed until I was in elementary school." She said, "My father used to be a building materials wholesaler. Although he was always in Wakayama, he said it was the same business anyway, so he moved to Osaka. At that time, he would often bring me here. " "What about the store now?" Hearing the policeman's question, Houzi pursed his lips and laughed. "It was not bad at the beginning, but later those in the same industry gradually sold at a lower price than ours and shipped faster than ours. Although my father tried hard, he still couldn't compete with them. My father always I was puzzled, and it was a little weird to think they could sell it so cheaply."

If you sell it at that price, you will definitely lose money - Houzi remembers that his father used to get very drunk back then, but he kept saying this in his mouth. "Later, our family was heavily in debt. My mother persuaded my father to sell the store and go back to Wakayama together. But my father refused, saying that this was his last battle, and he bought a lot of new building materials that had just been released at that time. Someone preached to him that selling that thing would definitely make a lot of money. So he used the storefront as a guarantee and borrowed some money from that person."

Houzi still vaguely remembered what happened at that time.I heard that my father used the storefront as a guarantee to borrow money to turn over funds, but my mother crazily objected.The mother even took out a kitchen knife from the kitchen and put it on her neck. ——Honey, I beg you, just listen to my advice.If you insist on not listening, I will die for you. ——Idiot, you can make a lot of money selling this thing. The father snatched the kitchen knife from the mother.Mother curled up on the tatami, crying loudly. "As a result, my father's last-ditch effort ended in failure. The new type of building material was flawed, and even the manufacturer went bankrupt. Naturally, the store fell into the hands of others..."

Houzi paused, swallowed, "My father hanged himself because of this." Fanba didn't say anything, just stared blankly at her side face.Seeing that the other party remained silent, Houzi secretly rejoiced in his heart. "Later, my mother raised me as a tailor. My mother always told me that Osaka is a terrible city. If you do business there, people will become involuntary as if they were possessed by something. .” "Is that why you hate Osaka?" Banba asked politely.Houzi looked back into his eyes and replied clearly, "Yes." "So that's what happened."

The detective narrowed his eyes as if looking at something dazzling, and then turned his body to passers-by, "You once lived in Osaka, but you said you hated Osaka. So I feel a little puzzled and plan to bother you for a day, Find out what's going on here. Walk around the street, and maybe you'll find out what's going on in your mind—it's because something like this happened before." After finishing speaking, he turned around and looked at the river again, "But I like Osaka very much. Of course, there are indeed many evils hidden here. Because of work, I have long been tired of seeing the corruption and evil in Osaka, but this It also has advantages that can only be found here. Although it’s just my guess, I think your husband should also see its advantages. Isn’t it?”

While listening to his story, Houzi stared blankly at the huge Gulick neon light on the riverside. He probably didn't put much thought into designing the light. He just expanded Gulick's marathon runner's logo to cover the entire wall.If Tokyoites saw it, they might say it was too old-fashioned.But although it is indeed a bit old-fashioned, its expressiveness is also very sufficient.This is the way people in Osaka do things. "Mr. Interpol." Houzi looked down at the river under the bridge again, and called Fanba. "What's up?" the detective asked.The voice sounded extremely lazy.

"I……" Atsuko turned her face to Banba, who was looking at her with a calm expression. "I... I... killed him." Houzi felt as if something surged into her heart, and then gradually receded.My heart beat faster and my breathing became disordered. However, the detective's expression remained unchanged, with a serene smile on his face, he kept staring at her face, as if he was waiting for her to calm down. "Ok." This is the first sentence after Banba heard it.After he finished speaking, the smile on the corner of his mouth remained unchanged. "As expected... you already knew."

Atsuko adjusted his breath and said.To be honest, she can't even stand still now. "I'm not sure either." The criminal policeman said, "I let you go shopping with me for a day today, and I have gradually become more confident in my thoughts." Atsuko nodded.Although she knew that the crimes she had committed would be exposed sooner or later, it could be regarded as a kind of redemption for her that the criminal policeman in front of her was in charge of the case. "Actually, I came here the day before yesterday. When my husband called me the night before yesterday, I decided to come."

"Don't you hate Osaka? But you came anyway?" "I was also forced to be helpless." In that phone call at that time, she had indeed refused. —Don't say that.I have a rare day off here. ——Then why don’t you just come back? — This is impossible.Actually, I want you to bring the real estate certificate of the apartment. --deed?Why? ——I have something to confirm.Let's talk about specific things after we meet. Yoichi then hung up the phone.In desperation, Atsuko had no choice but to visit Osaka in the evening of the next day. "After that, the two of you met in the store?"

the detective asked.Atsuko nodded slowly. "After meeting me, he immediately said, let me give him the real estate certificate." Houzi turned his gaze to the river again.Reflecting the neon lights, the surface of the river is sparkling, and Yoichi's face is superimposed on this colorful decoration. "You should take it out quickly." Yoichi's words had a commanding tone, but there was also a flattering feeling in it. "What are you going to do with it?" Houzi asked.What Yoichi wanted to do with it, in fact, she already had a rough idea in her heart. "What do you care what I do with it, it won't harm you anyway." "I don't want it. You're going to sell it, aren't you?" "I need money urgently right now." "As expected..." "What really happened?" "You're going to do business with it, aren't you?" "Just borrow it temporarily. After the matter is over, I will buy an apartment here. You should move in and live together, right?" "If you are short of money, you can go to Big Brother and the others for help? Brother Yiyan told me, let me advise you to go to him." "I don't like being treated like a child by them all day. No matter what, I have to rely on my own strength to survive this crisis. I hope you can help me." "Is it necessary to sell the house?" "This is the ambition of a businessman. Just understand me. Give me the real estate certificate." Yang Yi frowned depressedly, and stretched out his right hand.Houzi picked up the bag and hid it behind her back.Just then, she saw the fruit knife on the table. "Okay, give it to me quickly." Yoichi grabbed Atsuko's shoulder, and Atsuko stretched out his hand to the fruit knife.Although Yoichi was a little surprised, there was no trace of fear on his face. "What are you doing? It's dangerous." In Houzi's mind, the ominous memory of many years ago emerged.It was that incident that broke up her family and took away her life's happiness. "The Osaka accent you spoke just now." "Osaka dialect?" "Give it to me quickly... even the tone..." "Well... so what. Living here all the time, it will definitely be affected." Houzi held the knife tightly with both hands, and slowly pressed the blade against his neck, just like his mother did back then. "I beg you." Houzi begged, "Listen to me. If this goes on, sooner or later you will be unable to extricate yourself." Yoichi finally showed his wavering.But it was only for a short moment, and then he immediately approached. "What are you talking about? Don't be stupid again. Now, give me the knife and the real estate certificate." He grabbed her wrist, but she held on to the knife tightly.Back then, it was because my mother let my father take away the kitchen knife so easily that the family was ruined in the end.Houzi felt that if he let go of the knife now, the tragedy would definitely happen again. "Let go." "Don't let go." The two twisted together and fell to the ground.Hearing a moan of "woo", Yoichi's body began to convulse uncontrollably.After Houzi came back to his senses, he was already lying on the ground motionless. On the chest, there was the knife. "After that, I panicked completely. I wiped off my fingerprints as much as possible, and left the store in a hurry. I took the last Shinkansen and returned to Tokyo." After finishing speaking in one breath, Atsuko sighed heavily.The detective had been leaning against the railing before, and after listening to her, he wiped the underside of his nose with his finger. "After hearing what you said just now, the doubts in my heart have also been solved." "doubt?" "Yes, in this way, it becomes clear why you would kill your beloved." Banba then touched his nose again. "Mr. Interpol, you," Houzi said in a calm tone, "Why did you know that I was the murderer?" The detective flicked his nose with his fingertips, "It smells." "When the corpse was investigated, there was a very fragrant smell in the hair. It was not the smell of shampoo, but the smell of perfume. So I knew at that time that the murderer was a woman. And this woman still loved the victim deeply in her heart. .” "Deeply in love with the victim...why?" "Because only the hair exudes that fragrance. At the beginning, I kept thinking, why is there only the smell of the perfume left on the hair? The fragrance is only transferred to the victim's hair, which really feels a bit strange. Strange. After thinking about it carefully, the only possibility is that the murderer once hugged the victim in this way." The criminal police made a gesture like holding a baby. "The murderer killed the victim by accident. Before leaving the murder scene, the murderer should have picked up the victim in this way. The victim was picked up and then put back on the ground, so he lay down on the ground." After hearing Banba's narration, Atsuko looked down at the ground, and then closed his eyes again.Everything is as he said. Lifting Yoichi who was motionless, Atsuko hugged his face tightly to her chest.She wept until her tears dried up. "From the moment I smelled the perfume on your body, I was convinced that my reasoning was not wrong. But I still couldn't understand why such a good person would kill his husband." Atsuko recalled that when they first met, the detective had once praised the smell of perfume on his body.It turned out that from that moment on, he had already found out the truth. Houzi slowly opened his eyes, and in a short moment, the night was approaching.The street scene took on a different look, and the faces of pedestrians on the road were different from those in the daytime. "The night in Osaka is about to start next." The detective said suddenly.Looking at Houzi's face, he whispered, "Let's go." Houzi nodded, and looked around again.The streets were still crowded with people, and then disappeared again. "Okay, let's go..." She also whispered.