Chapter 44 Forty-three, grandpa

In the evening, when I opened the garbage bag in the yard to grab something for Meixiang for dinner, the sound of an engine came from the entrance.I walked over, only to find that the postman's motorcycle had gone far away.Careful not to let the wriggling fly in my hand fly away, I looked into the letterbox.There are two postcards inside.One is the notice of the first anniversary of Sumida's death.Yes, after the end of the summer vacation, Sumida will be dead for a whole year. Another postcard was sent by Mr. S's mother.The recipient's name is me.On the postcard, it was written in slender, polite blue handwriting that the case of Mr. S has finally come to light, and Mr. S will rest in peace in heaven.At the end, it was written in smaller characters that she would be moving soon.

I went back to my room with the two postcards in my hand.The clock hanging on the wall in the corridor still reads 8:15.The battery died a long time ago, but no one cares about it.Speaking of which, on the day Mr. S died, Dad looked at the corridor with an incredulous expression during dinner, which may be because he saw this clock.He thought the hands of the watch that had stopped moved again.For it happened to be just after eight o'clock then. Up the stairs, I went back to the bedroom. "Sorry, it's a little late." The right hand that was bitten by Daji in the oak forest a week ago has not recovered yet, so it takes more time than usual to catch flies.

"It's okay, brother, so many things have happened recently." Mei Xiang's tone seems to be a bit grown-up. Yesterday, I playfully put on makeup for Mei Xiang, and drew a thin line on her eyes with a red pen.Maybe it's because of this, Meixiang started to have some weird thoughts, and deliberately spoke in an adult tone.In fact, a week ago, I wanted to do makeup for Meixiang, and when I was looking for a red pen in the trash can, I saw Mr. S's composition and "The Neighborhood We Live in", so a series of these things happened.It wasn't until yesterday that I thought about putting makeup on Meixiang.

I looked down at the Mei Xiang in the bottle.Mei Xiang munched on the fly, her appearance seemed to be more disciplined and elegant than before.Maybe I should get her another bottle.Now this bottle has a huge yellow tulip printed in the middle of the cap, which looks so cute and childish.Mei Xiang would get tired of it soon, and most importantly, this bottle was too conspicuous outside.When Iwamura-sensei saw this bottle by the entrance of his house, he remembered that I had also taken an identical one. It must be because the bottle is too conspicuous. "Yeah, gotta check that!" I stood in front of the bookshelf, took out the "Insects" from the whole set of illustrated books, and opened the pages.

"Check what?" Mei Xiang asked vaguely while chewing on the fly.I looked at the illustration book and replied: "That old grandpa." It's not fried ants, crickets, golden pipa—nor.But a little close.It should be on these pages— "Ah, here! It's this!" I raised my voice.Mei Xiang hurriedly asked, "What?" "It's called the Stove Horse Cricket! Well, it is said that I used to see it often next to the stove. Oh..." There are both photos and text, and the illustrated book explains the insect in detail.I read it carefully.According to the illustrated book, this insect is similar to the grasshopper and is also called the toilet cricket.It has no wings, so it cannot make sounds.They are nocturnal and omnivorous, but they prefer to eat animal matter.

"What is animal matter? Do you mean small bugs?" I still can't figure it out for a while.But just try to find some at first, and you will know what grandpa likes to eat after a long time. I put the illustrated book back on the bookshelf, and walked to the window with the fluttering curtains. "Grandpa, are you hungry?" "Huh? Ah, it's okay. Don't think about me so much." The bottle was on the window sill, and the old man replied from inside the bottle.That bottle is the empty jam jar I used to hold Mr. S. "It's really embarrassing to have such a beautiful house for me, but also to provide me with food."

As the old man spoke, he twitched his long tentacles.Grandpa's voice was the same as Mr. S's voice at that time.taller than when alive. "But, it's okay not to eat well—" "Oh, you, sometimes you have a good heart. Then I'll ask you to get me something to eat starting tomorrow. Aren't you going out to find food for Xiao Meixiang too? Just get me something by the way." "Okay then. I'll get you something to eat tomorrow morning too." As soon as I finished speaking, the old man smiled happily, his round eyes like glass beads were shining.

I think everything will be fine. I found out that the old man was at noon that day.I was looking for lunch for Meixiang in the yard, and I accidentally found the old man squatting next to the soil pine root and staring at me.I greeted my grandfather, and my grandfather also said to me: "Hello." The arched waist, brown skin, and the characteristics of being a human being have been well preserved.Grandpa was reincarnated like this.Same as Mika, Mr. S, Granny So, and Sumida. "Every day there are stories about grandpa on TV." I said to the old grandpa in the bottle. "Oh? Really? What did you say?"

"They said everything was done by you, Grandpa." After the grandfather died in the oak forest, how did the police start the search?Since I haven't seen Officers Tanio and Takenashi again, I can't ask them in person.But watching the continuous reports on TV every day, I generally understand the general situation of the matter.Originally, the police did not announce the truth of all the cases, so the TV news reports were mixed with some media's own conjectures and reasoning.Even so, I feel that the content of the news report and the opinion of the police are generally consistent.

It was the old man who killed many kittens and puppies in some places in N town, broke the legs of the corpses, and stuffed soap in his mouth.The motive for this behavior is as yet unknown.Moreover, the grandfather also smuggled the body of Mr. S who was nearby to his home, and stuffed soap in his mouth.Whether the grandfather killed Mr. S, or Mr. S committed suicide, and the grandfather just transported the body away, the real situation of all this is still unknown.After that, the old man also killed "the cat raised by the flour mill in the nearby commercial street", that is, the so-called mother-in-law. Like the kittens and dogs before, he broke his legs and stuffed soap in his mouth.In the end, he hacked to death "Mr. S's dog" with a kitchen knife in the oak forest, and did the same thing to the dog's body.The grandfather felt that he had committed a serious crime, so he cut his neck with the knife he used to kill "Mr. S's dog" and committed suicide.

Basically that's it. "So that's the case, it really will be exposed. As expected of the Japanese police." The old man expressed such emotion. "You really can't do bad things." "Isn't it incorrect to say that he committed suicide before being arrested? Because, isn't it better in a bottle than in a detention center?" When I asked him this question, the old man yelled, "That's needless to say!" He jumped up on his hind legs, and his round head hit the bottle cap with a bang.Both Meixiang and I laughed, and the old man smiled shyly too.The bottle containing the old man bathed in the sunset on the window sill, showing an orange-red light.