Avis de décès 2 Destinée

Chapitre 4

“The murderer has already escaped while we were at it.” Nakaoka took out his wallet from his jacket pocket, took out three 10,000 yen bills and placed them on the table. “This is for you.”

"teacher--"

"It's a loan, not a gift. You'll have to pay it back after you start working."

"Thank you." Yuriko lowered her head.

"There are also corresponding conditions."

What is it?

"Finding the murderer is a good thing, but we can't risk our lives. It would be very dangerous to investigate too deeply."

"It's settled."

"Don't get your hopes up too high," Nakaoka said with a smile.

“Lending money to students is not something a teacher should be proud of,” Yuriko changed the subject.

Ayako remained hesitant at the university gate. For the past three days, she had walked here and then turned back each day. "I haven't done anything wrong," she told herself, resolving to walk into the school with her head held high and her spirits up tomorrow. But once she arrived here with that thought, her resolve wavered again. Tomorrow, let's start tomorrow. Today… she had a bit of a headache, and… "Coward! Useless!" she muttered to herself as she dragged her heavy steps back to the station.

Ayako believed her father was innocent. However, she lacked the courage of Yuriko to disregard the opinions of those around her, and she was not as pitiful as Tamami, who garnered sympathy from those around her to the point that someone even did her homework for her.

As Ayako boarded the train, she could only sigh repeatedly, feeling utterly inadequate. Despite being the eldest daughter, she couldn't muster the strength needed for this... Even though she understood it in her heart, she simply couldn't do it. Her innate introversion and timidity were something that couldn't be changed at Ayako's age.

It was probably her two younger sisters, especially the overly strong-willed Yuriko, who reinforced Ayako's personality traits. After their mother's death, the determined Yuriko took on her mother's responsibilities. Thanks to this, Ayako was able to live a carefree and leisurely life until this incident occurred. What should she do? Ayako was completely at a loss.

With her father gone, the Sasaka family had no income whatsoever. As the eldest daughter, it seemed necessary for her to drop out of university and start working, at least to ensure her two younger sisters graduated high school. Ayako had considered this, but hadn't yet taken any action. As the days dragged on, she hoped, "Perhaps Father will return during this time, perhaps some miracle will happen and everything will be resolved satisfactorily."

"—What's wrong? How's university?" Anton came out of his house and ran into Ayako.

"Oh, teacher... is today a holiday?"

"Yes, today is the school's anniversary. Zhu Mei went out. —How are you?"

“This…” Ayako hesitated, unsure of where to begin, and finally remained silent.

Anton seemed to sense Ayako's mood and patted her on the shoulder, saying, "I was just about to go out for lunch. Want to come along?"

The two walked to a noodle shop near the station, where Anton ordered fried pork cutlet rice. "Is the same thing okay? -- Then, two servings, please."

: 2005-3-14 14:10:00

Ayako lowered her head and remained silent.

Anton slowly sipped his tea and continued, "You've all really worked hard during this huge upheaval."

"I'm so sorry for causing you so much trouble..."

"Don't take this to heart. You had no choice but to wait until you found your father."

"That's exactly right."

"Going to university is a little daunting, isn't it? -- I understand, but you still need to cheer up. Want a beer?"

"No... I won't drink it."

"Is that so? Well then, let's eat first and cheer up." As soon as the tonkatsu rice was served, Anton wolfed it down, but Ayako didn't touch it.

"—What's wrong? Why aren't you eating?"

"This..." Ayako said in a barely audible voice, "I... don't want to eat it. Although I like tonkatsu, tonkatsu rice is just..."

"If that's the case, then it would have been better to just say it like that."

"I'm sorry... just now..." Ayako wiped away her tears, "I can't always be like this..." In short, Ayako's personality is that of a sentimental person.

"Hey, don't cry. It looks like I made you cry."

"I'm sorry!" Ayako said, tears streaming down her face again. Her tear ducts were slightly more developed, giving her a somewhat ancient beauty-like appearance.

Anton couldn't help but laugh and said, "You and your two sisters are really completely different."

"The sisters are all very strong."

“No, a gentle and shy girl like you is a rare treasure in this world.” Anton placed his strong hand on Ayako’s shoulder.

Ayako felt a surge of heat in her chest, and she raised her tear-filled eyes to gaze intently at Anton…

"What are you doing? I'm very busy," Zhu Mei muttered unhappily.

"Didn't I say I had something important to say?!" Yuriko glared at her fiercely.

"Okay, okay. Don't look at me like that."

"Then be more sensible. —Where's your eldest sister?"

"You notified her, didn't you?"

"How annoying, they're so unpunctual."

It was getting dark outside. Yuriko gathered her older and younger sisters and went to the only coffee shop in front of the station where they could "drink" coffee.

Just as the two were complaining, Ayako walked in.

"I'm sorry, have you been waiting long?"

"Big sister, did you go to university today?"

Ayako was surprised and replied, "Yes, I went. Really?"

"The eldest sister's lie was exposed immediately."

"I said I wasn't lying!" Ayako didn't change her mind when she arrived at the university gates this time and went inside.

"Okay, okay. Let's not talk about this anymore, I have something to say."

"Before we go, may I ask a question?" Zhu Mei asked, "Who's paying for this?"

"I'll pay."

"Then I'm relieved."

"You're such a money-grubber."

"How can we support our family if we don't have someone like that?"

“Alright, let’s get to the point.” Yuriko said, sipping her coffee. “Dad is wanted as a murder suspect, our house burned down, and we have no income or a place to live. Just sighing won’t solve anything. We have to do something with our own hands, no matter what.”

"What are you going to do?" Ayako asked anxiously. Anyway, Yuriko often did some surprising things.

"We will use our own strength to prove Dad's innocence."

"How do we do it?"

"Find the real culprit."

“How could such a thing be possible!” Ayako exclaimed in surprise. “We are—still students.”

"But we're completely different from kindergarten and elementary school students; we're adults now. Or does my older sister think it doesn't matter if Dad is treated as a murderer?"

“The root is not like that at all…”

"Alright, it's decided then."

Ayako's shoulders slumped in dejection, giving up the argument. She was always like this; once Yuriko spoke firmly, she was left with no room for rebuttal. Who was the older sister here, anyway?

"But what about the specific implementation plan?" Zhu Mei was a realist.

“There are a few suspicious points in this whole incident. I’ve written them down, everyone take a look.” Yuriko opened her notebook.

First, why was Junko Mizuguchi's body placed in our closet? How was it moved there, and when?

Wasn't it that night?

"But I checked the doors and windows. If someone had picked the lock, it would have made a noise, and I would most likely have been woken up. Especially since they took advantage of the fact that Dad wasn't home."

"So, what are you trying to say?"

"Was the murderer a lock-picking expert? -- But I find it a bit strange. Junko Mizuguchi was an ordinary office worker, yet she was associating with a lock-picking expert. Isn't that utterly baffling?"

"That makes sense." Zhu Mei nodded. "So what?"

"Could the murderer have a key to our house?"

"But only the three of us and Dad have the key."

“Keys can be duplicated. —Hey, has any of us lost a key?” Yuriko glanced at Ayako and Tamami, then at her. “Who found it and returned it? Or was it turned in to some lost and found? —Well, let’s just tell the truth to prove our innocence.” What a sharp detective.

"Big sister?"

"I don't think...that kind of thing ever happened to me."

"It's vague, forget it!"

"Who remembers things from so long ago?"

"It shouldn't have been that long ago. The need to make the key to cooperate with the criminal plan and the idea of committing the crime should have happened after Junko Mizuguchi became pregnant."

"Yuriko, your voice is too loud—"

"What are you saying? This isn't a place where you need to worry about saving face."

“I never lost it,” Tamami said.

“Alright, let’s leave that aside for now and move on.” Yuriko said, her gaze falling back on the notebook. “Secondly, why would the culprit set fire to our house? If it was simply to conceal Junko Mizuguchi’s identity, there would be no need to burn down someone else’s house.”

“Yes, yes.” Zhu Mei nodded repeatedly.

"Did the murderer want to kill us all?" Ayako asked, her face pale.

"impossible!"

"Imagine it. — I think maybe the murderer didn't know that Dad wasn't home."

"What's the meaning?"

"In other words, the murderer wanted to frame Dad. So, of course, it had to be someone who knew Dad well and had access to our house key. However, what he didn't know was when Dad was away on business trips and where Dad's room was."

How did you find out about these things?

"Imagine—no, reason. He deliberately hid Junko Mizuguchi's body in our house and then set it on fire. Of course, he wanted to frame Dad for the murder, right? If that's the case, he wouldn't have chosen to do it when Dad wasn't around, would he?"

"In other words, the murderer believed that Dad was home that day..."

"He must have thought that his father was sleeping in another room."

"But if Father also burned to death, how can we frame...him?"