Chapter 46 Section five
After getting off at Kashii Station, he walked for a while along the road Mrs. Hayashida told him, and he immediately saw the hotel he was looking for.After hearing the word hotel, Onitsuke originally imagined that it should be a Japanese-style hatagoya, so he was surprised when he saw the uninspired, square-shaped concrete building like sugar cubes.Whether it is the left and right windows on the wall or the stone steps at the entrance, they all resemble the residential forms that the Japanese who settled in Manchuria and the North Branch in the Taisho era liked to build.Gui Guan thought to himself: The owner of this place should have returned from the mainland, and in order to remember the past, he built this kind of unremarkable house.
After getting the photos, it is useless to stay here for a long time.Onitsuki plans to take the "Chaofeng" or "Heiwa" back to Tokyo, so it is expected to rest here until the evening.It would be the most appropriate method to call Kayoko's female friend to the room and talk about it while looking at the photos.
Oniguan Police Department was taken to the north-facing room on the second floor. He took a shower, ordered takeaway from an outside restaurant for lunch, and invited the hotel owner's daughter to his room.The dried fish shop she married was only nearby, and she would go back to her mother's house every day, so as soon as the ghost invited her, she came over without hesitation.
"This, is that what you said you wanted to see Kayoko's photo?"
Five short stature women in their thirties were holding a photo album.The woman exposed her arms below the shoulders. This picture should give people a cool impression, but her arms are fleshy and fat, which makes the viewer feel more and more stuffy.
"That's right, it's about inheritance, so no matter what, I want to see what that young lady looks like."
Onigiri Police Department lied casually with a smile on his face.With a square jaw and a calm and solemn appearance, he always gives the impression that people who meet him are difficult to get along with, but when he smiles, a soft expression will appear on his face, revealing his kind nature.Seeing this smile, the fat housewife quickly let go of her defenses.
"This... Kayoko and I used to be best friends. We sat together when we were in school, and we even read together when we were studying, but that was before graduation. I got married like ordinary people, became a housewife, and Kayoko—"
At this time, the tram of the West Japan Railway passed directly under the window, making a loud noise, and at the same time the whole building began to shake violently, and the vases on the alcove also made a sound of collision with this shaking.The daughter of the hotel continued to talk with an expression of not having anything to do with herself, but Guiguan couldn't hear what she said at all.Soon the noise gradually subsided, and a mournful siren sounded from far ahead.Compared with Tokyo and Osaka, although they are all private railways, the sound of sirens always has a rustic feeling of the countryside.
When the tram disappeared into the distance, she finished speaking, so she turned the photo book spread out on the table upside down and pushed it in front of Oniguan.
"Here, this is a picture when I first entered the high school for girls."
The photo she pointed to was the same as the one Mrs. Lintian showed him before, and it was also a bunch of small faces lined up together.The only difference is that there are no male students in the photos.
She flipped through the photo book page after page.The two seem to have had a close friendship in the past, and Kayoko's photo is posted on every page of the album.Sometimes it is a full-body photo, sometimes it is a half-length photo, there is a serious solo photo, and there is a group photo with a female student who may be the daughter of the farm, and the three of them are smiling.As the years go by, the school years get higher and higher, their younger sisters have long hair, and their breasts gradually become fuller. They will start to tilt their heads to make a soft look, or show a pretentious look, showing off to their heart's content With their own femininity.This photobook shows how a girl transforms from a chrysalis into a butterfly. Even from the perspective of science textbooks, it is full of interest.
The slightly fat woman turned the page again.
"Here, this is Kayoko wearing makeup for the first time after graduating from a girls' school. It was the time when the Great East Asian War was at its fiercest, so the school had very strict regulations. When we were in school, even if we put on lotion, we would be banned. After scolding, we were able to wear makeup generously after graduation. I was so happy at the time. At that time, Kayoko also put on makeup and became so beautiful..."
The Onitsuki Police Department opened its eyes wide and stared at Kayoko's face.Indeed, her appearance was different from her schoolgirl days when she didn't see any changes. With lipstick on and eyebrows drawn, she was as beautiful as a different person.In the previous pages she was just a girl, but in this photo she is already a mature woman.But it wasn't her beauty that attracted Guiguan's attention, but he remembered that he seemed to have seen the face of the person in the photo somewhere.It wasn't the kind of person who caught a glimpse on the national railway or passed by on the street. In his memory, he had seen this person up close.However, he couldn't remember when and where he saw her at all.
If Kayoko is the president's concubine, then he must have met her after this case happened.However, the idea of the president having a concubine came to his mind when Onitsuki was interrogating Hayashida's house. Before that, he hadn't even thought about it, so even if he had met Kayoko, When he saw her, in his eyes, she must not be the president's little wife, but a completely different identity.
"Are there any other pictures?"
"Did you say Kayoko's? Not anymore."
She shook her head: "Actually, she went to Tokyo after graduation, and our relationship has become more and more distant. Now she doesn't even tell me where she lives."
"Isn't she in Osaka?" Onitsuke Police Department asked in surprise.
"It's not Osaka, it's Tokyo's women's university." This unexpected statement made the Onimuki Police Department extremely puzzled.
"Well, Kayoko has entered the English department. I am best at mathematics, and Kayoko speaks English very fluently, and she also likes to read. Although her family's life is not well-off, she said that no matter how hard it is , she will fight until graduation."
Onigiri Police Department forgot to answer, just kept staring at Kayoko's photo.After Kayoko entered a women's university, she turned into a prostitute, and this fallen angel, because of a wealthy son-in-law, his fate changed 180 degrees.This kind of life journey made him feel that he saw the epitome of the sad life of young women who were abandoned in the chaotic post-war society and walked through this era alone.
He remembered that the proprietress of "Dianmen of Dreams" could speak Yayoi's English very well.Looking back now, it is not surprising that she is good at conversational English as she majored in English at Women's University.
Suddenly, the photo of Kayoko seemed to smile in his eyes.She appeared to have parted lips and dimpled cheeks.Onikitsu remembered seeing Kayoko's smiling face, by the way, on the desk in the office.At that time, I was flipping through a very thick roster...
By the way, I remembered!That's what he saw when he was investigating the roster in order to obtain information on Donghe Textile's management.In addition to the directors, the roster also includes the appearance of the director's wife.Kayoko must be among them... Onika continued to stare at that photo, digging into his own memory.Whose wife...whose wife...
Suddenly the fog in his mind lifted.Clearly remembered the name of the director's wife on the roster, Kayoko is not the president's concubine.Kayoko Takizawa is the executive wife Fumie Hishinuma.
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