Geister-Hutong

Kapitel 21

As soon as they stepped out the gate, Kuniyoshi went to the parking lot a little further ahead to get his car. Yuriko waited in front of the gate, when the lady of the house chased after them from inside, "Oh, where's the police officer?"

"I just went over there... Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Just now, I suddenly remembered something, so I thought I'd tell you. Anyway, it's nothing serious..."

"What is it?"

"When did this happen? I only realized it after seeing Junko's clothes. I knew she had come back after a date with that man. When I put her clothes in the closet, I saw a lot of white powder on them, and a small amount on the cuffs and other places. It must have been there."

"White powder?"

"I think it's probably chalk dust, but Junko's job wouldn't involve getting that kind of powder on her, so I think she must have gotten it on a date with some man. —So, it suddenly occurred to me that the man was probably a teacher or something at the school. Well then, that's all I wanted to say. Please pass this on to the officer." With that, the lady turned and went home.

Guoyou drove out from around the corner and pulled up to the gate. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Get in. -- What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing." Yuriko sat in the passenger seat.

"Where are you going? If you're going home, I'll take you."

"Could you send me to the 'Tokyo Secretarial Service Company'?"

"Junko Mizuguchi's company?"

"I want to see if my sister has gone to work."

"Okay. Let's go." The car sped off.

Yuriko stared motionlessly ahead of the car.

Chalk dust—the teacher.

What the lady said reminded Yuriko of someone who resembled Junko Mizuguchi.

The girl who gave off the same impression as Junko Mizuguchi was none other than her older sister, Ayako.

"Where's Professor Anton?" Zhu Mei asked a female office worker who happened to be passing by, peeking into the office from the doorway.

"Hey? Professor Anton? He was just here. -- Ah, he went to answer the phone. Look."

The incoming call was answered at the far end of the office, around the corner. There stood Anton's tall, strong figure.

"Thank you." Zhu Mei walked towards An Dong, lost in thought. The teacher's "tall, strong back" seemed just like the culprit in this case—knowing about my family situation, having a wife, and an unhappy marriage… "No way!" Zhu Mei muttered to herself. Right, there's the issue of the key. I don't think I gave the key to Teacher An Dong.

"—Yes, right. On the right. Is that okay? Got it? —Okay, see you at twelve. Wait for me." Zhu Mei, standing nearby, overheard Anton's conversation on the phone and figured it was about arranging a meeting. Hanging up, Anton turned and returned to his seat.

"Teacher, wait—" Tamami stopped mid-sentence. Because when Anton saw Tamami, he was clearly taken aback. However, it only lasted a moment.

"What's wrong?" Anton regained his usual composed expression.

Zhu Mei was speechless for a moment.

"Um—I'm here to pick up the course schedule materials for this session."

“Ah, yes. Here you go.” Anton returned to his seat and took a roll of photocopies from his drawer. “Distribute these. They should last until next week.”

"Until next week?"

“Yes. Please help me.” Anton began tidying up the things on the table.

Zhu Mei's gaze suddenly stopped on Anton's collar and she said, "Hey, teacher, that badge, didn't you lose it?"

"Huh? Oh, this one? It came out by itself again."

"That's great."

This was a medal-like thing given by the Education Committee. Joo-mi still clearly remembers the look of disappointment on Anton's face when he said he had lost it a while ago.

Are you going back today?

"I have things to do this afternoon. —How's your detective game going, sister?"

"Hmm, it seems like they're doing something."

Tell her to be careful. Goodbye.

"goodbye."

After watching Anton walk quickly away, Zhu Mei strolled out of the office and headed towards the classroom. As she walked, she wondered, "What am I even bothered about?" Anton was a good teacher, a person of high moral character, but the look of surprise on his face just now made him seem like a completely different person. It was as if she had met a completely different person. During the fire… Mr. Anton was the first to arrive. And… "How could this happen!" Zhu Mei shook her head, thinking, "I guess I've been influenced by my sister." Tap tap tap, friends in sportswear walked down the corridor.

"Hi Jumi."

Is there sports this afternoon?

"Um."

What are you doing now?

"Basketball."

"Same. A shooting test?"

"Not yet."

"Let me hit it."

"That's great! Zhu Mei, will you join?"

2005-3-14 15:59:00

"Of course. Three out of five times."

"Come on! I want to win twice too."

"Overestimating yourself. It's not like playing marbles."

"Stop talking, hey!"

Zhu Mei jokingly imitated a boxing move, "Hey!"

“Terrible! Watch this!” her companion was saying when there was a loud crash. “Oh no!” she exclaimed, hurriedly picking up the house keys from the door.

What are you going to do?

"I'll give it to the teacher for safekeeping. Isn't that what we always do? Wait for me, Zhumei." With that, she ran off.

Zhu Mei stood there blankly for a long time. That's right! Why didn't I notice? During gym class, the locker keys were all given to the homeroom teacher to keep in a drawer. Because carrying the house key was inconvenient, they were all put in there together later. —That means all the keys were in there. "Teacher Anton..." Where did he go? Zhu Mei chased after him down the hallway.

Normally, Joo-mi wouldn't run around blindly, because she wanted to avoid wasting her energy. But now, she couldn't care less. Joo-mi rushed to the school gate, but Anton was nowhere to be seen. So she went back to the office, grabbed a female employee, and asked:

"Oh, about what happened just now... about what happened just now..."

"What's the matter?"

"I can't breathe... Just now, I saw... Professor Anton... answer the phone... right?"

"yes."

"Who answered that call and transferred it to him?"

"It's me."

Who is the other party?

"I don't know, how would I know about something like that?"

"What kind of person, a man? A woman?"

"It's...it's a woman. She seems very young and very docile."

A gentle voice. A young girl. —Anton's wife, being a teacher, had a crisp, strong voice. So that means… "Oh no!" Zhu Mei rushed to the outside phone.

"I haven't been here today."

"Yeah."

As expected, Ayako didn't come to work. So where could she have gone? Even for Ayako, who rarely went out, Yuriko, knowing her well enough, couldn't guess where she was. Since there was no other way, Yuriko decided to simply go back to the Katase family home.

Yuriko and Kunitomo parted ways in front of the building. But she still didn't tell Kunitomo what Junko's mother had said. Why? —Why? Even Yuriko herself wasn't quite sure. Perhaps she was worried about Ayako. But if she was truly worried, she should have told Kunitomo and asked him to investigate Ando's situation. But Yuriko didn't do that. Was she afraid Ayako would be hurt? Or was she determined to uncover the culprit's tendency to act as a detective? Even Yuriko herself didn't understand.

Once outside, Yuriko was overwhelmed by a sudden sense of loneliness and helplessness. She suddenly longed to see Nogami Sachiyo. It wasn't far from here to her father's workplace, "K Construction." So Yuriko decided to go there.

It's already 1:30, and lunch break is over.

Yuriko took the subway to the area beneath "K Construction" and emerged at 1:40 PM. Passing through that underground street again, she no longer felt the usual fear. Just as she reached the exit near "K Construction," she heard someone call out, "Miss." Yuriko turned around and saw that gentle, smiling face. "Ah, 'King'." The one greeting her was the leader of the homeless, standing there in his unchanged clothing.

Where are you going?

"No... there's nowhere in particular I want to go."

"If that's the case, why did you specifically come here?"

"It's just... I always want to meet someone. Being able to meet the 'King' made me feel much more relaxed for some reason."

"Want to go over there? We have new companions joining us, let me introduce you," said the "King".

Yuriko was a little confused, but she nodded in agreement nonetheless. "Okay, fine." Although she was also concerned about what onlookers would think, she figured this was more interesting than anything else—that was just Yuriko's personality.

In a corner of that lounge, several homeless people were gathered together.

"The 'King' has arrived."

"Ah, don't worry about it, please continue. — Drinking is fine, but don't drink to the point of harming your health." The "King" asked, "What's wrong with the newcomer?"

"Got to the toilet. Now, back."

“Is that so? —Miss, please sit on that bench over there.”

Where is everyone?

"We only sit when there are no passersby. We don't want to bother ordinary people."

"Oh dear, that must have been very kind of you."

"That's how it should be. Because we don't want to live belonging to any particular place. But continuing like this isn't easy either. — Ah, here we are. Our new partner."

Turning around, Yuriko's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh my! Section Chief!"

With a slightly flushed face and humming a cheerful tune, it was Uematsu who walked over.

2005-3-14 16:06:00

Chapter Thirteen: A Battle of One Against Eight

Zhu Mei looked around to make sure no one was there, called out "Okay," and lightly leaped into the courtyard. This was Andong's home.

Having lived here for a while, Zhu Mei knew the place like the back of her hand; she knew exactly which window locks were broken. Using this knowledge, Zhu Mei gently pulled on the window. —The window opened easily.

Of course, Anton and Kiko were probably not home. Tamami's decisive action, given her shrewd calculations, suggested she had a high probability of success. Sneaking in through the window proved far more difficult than Tamami had anticipated. After much effort, she finally managed to slip inside and close the window, thus completing her mission.