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Kapitel 75

"Save—my son?"

Kyogoku-do's voice echoed throughout the prayer room.

"Your son is—Kubo Junko, right?"

※

"Kubo-Jun-Kou, this is the place."

The mailbox has a name written on it.

Aoki stood in front of the Kubo family's house. And,

Aoki was now filled with certainty.

Kubo is the perpetrator of the Musashino serial dismemberment murders.

Last night, when Aoki returned, the body—though only the hands—was almost certainly identified as Kusumoto Yoriko. Upon receiving Aoki's call, Kusumoto Kimie, who was under protection at the local police station, was immediately summoned for confirmation.

Can you really tell if a mother is mentally unstable just by looking at her hands?

Aoki raised a question. Kinoshita replied:

"Well, of course we couldn't just let her see the body, nor did we tell her that her daughter had been dismembered, since her mental state is really unstable. So we tried every possible way to find out her daughter's physical characteristics. Junzhi kept talking about burns, burns. It seems that when Laizi was seven years old, she accidentally burned her left elbow. After asking about the location and size in detail, it was confirmed that there was indeed one. It was a very old, very small scar, and the location was so small that it was hard to find unless you looked closely. I admired her for remembering it, and she replied that she could never forget such a thing."

Kinoshita added, "Fortunately, fingerprints were also successfully obtained from items that Raiko used before his death, and they are currently being compared."

Even without such forensic examination, it's obvious that the hand belongs to Lai Zi.

Because on that right wrist, there was the knotted cord that Kanako had tied for Raiko, as mentioned by Chuzenji.

An emergency search meeting was then convened.

Aoki mentioned Kubo at the meeting.

Aoki originally intended to explain as objectively as possible, but undeniably, his tone became increasingly fervent during the explanation. He felt that this was actually a good thing.

Just as a person always wants to back away when pushed, most of the investigators reacted with indifference and skepticism to Aoki's earnest explanation.

However, this approach is actually more effective in uncovering the truth. If everyone shares the same opinion, the investigation will only proceed in one direction, potentially distorting the facts.

If the wrong person is arrested in the chaos, then the agreement with Chuzenji Temple cannot be fulfilled.

Since there were no other suspects on the investigation trail, Kubo was the only real suspect. It was ultimately decided to investigate Kubo, and Aoki was put in charge of the task. This was Oshima's wise decision.

His partner is Kinoshita, and Kiba will return to work in a few days.

Aoki is determined to resolve the incident before Kiba returns.

The investigation meeting ended after 1 a.m. Common sense dictates that the search usually begins the following morning. But Aoki couldn't wait, because Raiko had died while they were waiting. Aoki wanted to at least know what the enemy looked like.

Fortunately, I got my hands on Kubo's photos right away.

With a "let's give it a try" attitude, Aoki first called the editorial department of *Gin-sei Literature* at the Cultural Arts Publishing House, thinking he'd give up if it didn't work. Surprisingly, the call went through immediately. The editors, working on their deadlines, seemed busier than detectives investigating murder cases. But his hopes were quickly dashed, as the responsible editor had already gone home, and the others didn't know where the photos were. They said they'd ask the editor to look for them first thing the next morning. Aoki asked how early "first thing" was, and the reply was that the editor's work hours were usually around 11:00 AM. Upon hearing this, Aoki immediately and politely declined the offer, saying he didn't have time to wait until then.

Then he called the editorial department of "Modern Literature" at Xitansha. He heard from Sekiguchi that Kubo's work should be published in the next issue. The editor in charge answered the phone personally.

Tell the other party your identity and purpose, and also mention the name of the checkpoint.

"Even parents can be used if you can use them"—this is Kiba's motto.

However, Aoki remembered it should have been "a person standing" (note). Perhaps "a person who can be used" would also make sense.

Note: This is a Japanese idiom. The original text is “立つていゐ者は亲ごも使ぇ”, which means that even if the person standing next to you is your parent, you should still be asked to do something. It is used to describe an urgent matter.

The editor, who identified herself as Koizumi, was a woman. Upon hearing that she would be spending the night at the editorial office, Aoki immediately set off.

It turns out that working women have also been working through the night recently.

It was late at night, and there were indeed few people in the editing room. With fewer people around, the originally cluttered room seemed quite spacious.

The woman sitting in Koizumi's seat appeared to be quite far away.

Even from a distance, you can tell she is a very slender woman.

Koizumi seemed busy talking to someone and didn't notice Aoki and the others. Just as Aoki was about to call out, Kinoshita accidentally knocked over a pile of magazines at the entrance.

Upon hearing the sound, almost everyone in the room looked in the direction of Aoki and the others.

"Ah, Mr. Aoki! And Mr. Kinoshita."

The voice sounded very familiar.

The person Koizumi was having a lively conversation with turned out to be Atsuko Chuzenji. It was then that Aoki remembered that, although they worked in different departments, she was also an employee of this publishing house. It just so happened that she also worked this late—

Aoki generally held a favorable impression of Kiba's friends, but he held a particularly strong liking for this lively woman. They had met during the previous incident. In the tense atmosphere of the scene, her smile inexplicably brought Aoki a sense of calm. When they met again at Lake Sagami, Aoki was eager to greet her.

"Thank you for assisting us with the case so late at night. The situation is urgent and cannot be delayed—my surname is Aoki. This is Detective Kinoshita."

Aoki handed Koizumi his business card, and after a formal greeting, told Atsuko that he had been at Kyogoku-do Bookstore not long ago. Perhaps because he hadn't given a reason, Atsuko's face showed an expression of disbelief.

Koizumi has already prepared the photos.

Upon seeing the photos, Aoki's first impression of Kubo Shunko was that he was ethereal and otherworldly, like a movie star. Aoki always felt that people who could take such photos probably didn't have a private life.

Atsuko said:

“Mr. Aoki—I was just discussing this with Ms. Koizumi. May I ask—Mr. Kubo…? No, if there are any secrets or human rights issues regarding the investigation, then I won’t ask.”

This is essentially the kind of problem. Aoki noticed this during his presentation at the meeting: when Chuzenji explained, corroborating evidence seemed to magically appear one after another, without any contradictions, leading him to believe that the culprit was none other than Kubo. However, when it came to his own explanation, he felt there was absolutely no physical evidence. Although Chuzenji himself repeatedly emphasized that this was merely his personal reasoning, Aoki still felt that Kubo's claim of being the culprit was plausible, likely due to Chuzenji's deliberately mysterious rhetoric. Therefore, it's unwise to hastily conclude that Kubo is a suspect without knowing the full story, even if the suspect is Chuzenji's sister.

Atsuko said:

“In that case, I understand. In fact, I’ve heard some strange rumors, and the person in those rumors seems to be Mr. Kubo. Ms. Koizumi and I are discussing this right now.”

"rumor?"

I would like to hear the details.

"Recently, I've been gathering information near the crime scenes where the bodies of the dismemberment murders were found, investigating what rumors might circulate in the vicinity. Simply put, I'm investigating how quickly bad or strange rumors can spread."

"That sounds interesting."

It's really interesting, especially since it's related to the dismemberment incident.

"But the investigation results were strange. The rumors circulating around the site where the dismemberment body was found were completely unrelated to the case. Investigations in other places also revealed that no one knew about these rumors."

"What kind of rumor is it?"

"It's a rumor about a ghost in a dress carrying a box."

"You mean the box?"

"Yes. It mainly circulates among children to middle school students, and its credibility is almost zero. The content is basically about a male ghost wearing a formal suit and carrying a box wandering around the town. Some say his formal suit is black, others say it's mourning clothes, or even morning suit. There are many kinds, but they are all generally this kind of very formal clothing. However, because it is a rumor, it is not explained in detail. Other things said include that his hands can glow, his face is pale, he can move forward without walking, and he seems to walk but can never be caught, etc. Among these strange rumors, only the clothing is common. As for why he is a ghost, no one mentions it, so it is a bit inexplicable—in short, it is a ghost that carefully carries a box, which is more common than the clothing. Almost everyone mentions that the ghost carefully carries a paulownia wood box that looks like it is used to store hanging scrolls."

"A paulownia wood...box!"

Aoki couldn't help but shout. He glanced at Kinoshita, who also looked back at Aoki in surprise.

The discovery of the box was not made public. Police also asked the finder and the family of the location to keep it confidential. No crowds gathered before the police arrived. Perhaps because the body wasn't directly exposed, the confidentiality order, usually taken for granted, unusually proved effective in this case. Such rumors usually spread quickly, but so far no newspapers or magazines have reported on it, and Aoki and Kinoshita hadn't heard any such rumors during their investigation.

The only rumors Aoki heard were about trains dumping corpses.

"These rumors, such as—seeing a ghost means you'll die three years later, or a living arm will emerge from the box and chase you to the ends of the earth—are practically ghost stories, no different from the Red Cloak (note). It's just that the appearance of the rumored ghost is very similar to that of Mr. Kubo, which is why I came to discuss this. And then I happened to hear that the work Mr. Kubo is going to publish this time is also a story about a man obsessed with boxes—Ms. Koizumi, is it okay to say this? Anyway, it's going to be released tomorrow. The title is <Girl in a Box>, it's a somewhat disgusting story. As soon as I heard this, I knew it was true. I think Mr. Kubo must be the truth about the ghost."

Note: This is an urban legend that was popular in the early Showa era. It is said that a strange man wearing a red cloak would appear in various places, kidnapping and killing children.

Aoki said with a hint of excitement:

"Excuse me, does Mr. Kubo always wear formal attire?"

Koizumi replied:

"Although I've only met the teacher three times—ah, four if you include the award ceremony. She wore formal attire at the ceremony, but that's not always the case. However, the teacher is a very well-dressed person and always makes sure she looks neat and tidy. So, the impression she gives to others is probably not much different from when she's wearing formal attire."

It looks very formal, probably because of the gloves.

Regardless of the clothing, as long as it's neatly dressed and gloves are worn, it naturally looks formal. The so-called "glowing hands" probably also originate from white gloves—

"Anyway, the teacher always wears clothes like this when she comes to the publishing house, and Atsushi probably thinks so too, right?"

Atsuko agreed.

"Miss Atsuko—is that ghost really centered around the locations where dismembered bodies were found?"

"It's not centered around that location, but only in the vicinity of the discovery site. It's just that the rumors have gradually spread, and the various discovery sites are quite close to each other, so rumors attract more rumors, and now it's widely circulated. But I've been gathering information from the very beginning as the event unfolds, so I know very well—"

Atsuko started gathering material from Lake Sagami.

"The body has appeared three times in total, right? I remember the first one was found in Shibakubo. There were already rumors of ghosts in Shibakubo back then. However, I also went to Yanagisawa, which is opposite the Tanashi Station, for an interview, and I had never heard of this. But when the next body was found in Yanagisawa, I went there again. By then, there were already rumors that so-and-so had seen it, and the children were talking about it."

If this is true, it should be used as testimony. The police, by excessively concealing information about the box, lost a crucial eyewitness. Of course, they would ask about the man with the box during the search—but they wouldn't ask a child, at least not Aoki. Therefore, many witnesses didn't connect the box to the dismemberment incident. The man with the box had long since vanished from their memories—

Kubo usually neither hides nor conceals himself, but walks proudly down the street with the box containing the corpse, which is why children spread ghost stories about him because of his creepy image.

"Ms. Atsuko, do you still remember all the children you interviewed?"

"Well, I do remember the school they attended, but—does that have anything to do with the incident?"

"It's very relevant. One last question: have similar rumors ever circulated near Lake Sagami?"

"So, there really aren't any such rumors around Lake Sagami."

Thank you.

I looked at Kubo's original manuscript as a reference. The neat characters, as if drawn with a ruler, filled every single cell. Then I asked for the address; Kubo's residence was in Kokubunji. Roughly speaking—or perhaps not entirely unrelated—it seemed to be the central point of the events outside of Lake Sagami.

Surprisingly, the case may be solved soon.

He asked Koizumi for the latest issue of the magazine containing Kubo's work.

Aoki kept thinking about the approaching morning. As soon as morning arrived, Aoki decided to head to Kubo's place. Kinoshita looked very sleepy.

A little worried. But not worried about the possibility that Kubo wasn't the culprit, but rather worried that if he went to find Kubo without being fully prepared, Kubo might escape. Kinoshita advised Aoki to discuss it with Oshima, but Aoki couldn't wait for Oshima to return. Anyway, he wasn't going to search Oshima's room; he was just going to ask him questions as a reference. It was nothing out of the ordinary.

So Aoki went to Kubo's house.

I had heard that Kokubunji had many villas, and that recently many people fleeing the war had moved here, causing a rapid increase in population. So, based on his impressions, Aoki imagined that Kubo lived in a very elegant Western-style house, but the reality was quite different from his imagination.

It was a house converted from a garage, resembling a box.

It is far from the station, but geographically it is relatively close to places like Xiaoping and Xiaojinjing.

The surrounding area was desolate, and there were no other houses nearby. It stood proudly isolated. It was the perfect place to commit murder.

Beside the large, rusty iron gate was a simple door. To the left of the door was a brand-new mailbox with Kubo Jun's name on it. Aoki was now staring at the name.

Chuzenji and the others should have arrived at Mihako-no-Kami by now. That strange cult leader named Terada should be sparring with Chuzenji, who seems to be the embodiment of theory, right now.