The female corpse wrapped in the closet

Chapter 24

"I want to stay here forever."

"Fool," Yuriko said with a smile.

"Because I'm not wearing any clothes."

"Oh, right. I'm going to get my clothes. —Mr. Kuniyoshi."

"What's up?"

"Please take this murderer out of here. The ladies need to change their clothes."

"Ah, yes. But I didn't see that shot of you from the photoshoot. Could you please do it again if possible?"

Yuriko picked up a cushion from the sofa and threw it at Kuniyoshi.

Several police officers stormed into the hotel and took Anton away. Yuriko and Ayako looked back at the opulent room and exclaimed again, "Wow, that's wonderful!"

"Hey, you guys." Kuniyu pushed open the door and came in. "We should at least thank the hotel. They helped us get the lighting system working smoothly. —Just now, we got word that Anto Kiko has turned herself in."

"Confess?"

"She knew about her husband's crimes. Then, fearing that it would be revealed by Kanda Hatsue, she killed her."

"So, it was Professor Anton who killed Junko Mizuguchi—"

"Katase Noriko was also murdered by him. The handbag was in the closet in his house."

"His wife knows about this, right?"

"Moreover, she almost killed Zhu Meijun after she discovered the truth."

"Kill Tamami?" Yuriko and Ayako jumped up.

"Where's Zhu Mei? Is she alright?"

As the door opened, Tamami jumped in, shouting, "The heroine has arrived!"

"Jumi! -- Oh dear, that scared me to death." Saying this, the two of them patted their chests, finally relieved.

"Hehe... I'm about to become famous overnight. Look here." Zhu Mei pointed to the bandage wrapped around her neck.

"What happened?"

"She grabbed me by the neck. But in the end, the lady started crying, and I was fine."

"You're really something! You might die!" Yuriko stepped forward and hugged Tamami tightly. Ayako started crying again, but this time it was tears of joy.

2005-3-14 16:14:00

“But… how could you do something so foolish!” Yuriko said.

In the living room of the Katase family home.

Guoyou shook his head and said, "However, let me be frank. There's still no news of your father..."

"You're kidding me, there's no way this could happen!" Zhu Mei slammed her hand on the table and said.

“We have investigated this matter. However, Mrs. Anton’s side also said the same thing. It doesn’t seem like they are lying.”

"So, if Dad comes back, what are you going to do?"

“Yes. Anyway, Anton believes that Mr. Sasamoto is still alive. He moved Junko Mizuguchi’s body into your house and set fire to create a false impression, but Mr. Sasamoto was not home. This troubled him a lot, but then Mr. Sasamoto was wanted for not returning home. As far as Anton is concerned, he shouldn’t want to do anything to harm your father.”

"It was during this time that Mrs. Anton discovered Anton's criminal activities."

"Because of your constant investigations, she became very uneasy, so she played a trick on you, having homeless people attack you to distract her. Then, during Katase Noriko's funeral, Kanda Hatsue called the Ando family. Just then, Kiko went out, and she rushed to the Katase house. As soon as Miss Ayako went out, she felt something must have happened and followed her. —Because she had originally planned to attend the funeral, she was wearing a black armband when she left the house."

Does she know Kanda Hatsue's apartment address?

"She overheard Kanda Hatsue saying she knew about Mizuguchi Junko, so she investigated Kanda Hatsue's residence. Then, Kanda Hatsue specifically called Ayako, making her feel that there was something extremely important going on. So, she took advantage of Ayako's confusion to kill Kanda Hatsue. Afterwards, she realized that the black veil was missing, so she went back to retrieve it. Despite the many dangers, she cleverly escaped."

After a moment of silence, Ayako said somewhat awkwardly, "But Mrs. Anton loves Mr. Anton very much..."

“She was really angry when she yelled at Ayako-neechan to get out. And doesn’t she feel it’s dangerous for her to stay next to the teacher?” Tamami said.

“It definitely doesn’t matter what,” Yuriko said.

“Because I loved her husband too,” Ayako said.

Yuriko thought, "My older sister has suffered such misfortune, yet nothing has changed. Although that's a good thing, it's still..."

"Speaking of which—" Zhu Mei sighed, "Where did Daddy go?"

2005-3-14 16:15:00

end

The three walked toward their home, which had been burned to ruins.

A clear sky and warm sunshine.

"—Dad, he's no longer alive, is he?" Zhu Mei said.

"Perhaps it was consumed by the flames of love with that person named Nagata Yoko."

“Impossible!” Ayako said decisively, “He must still be alive!”

"But isn't it strange that there's been no news at all?"

That's true.

"What should we do if he never comes?" Zhu Mei asked.

“Then we can only rely on our own efforts; there’s no other way,” Yuriko said.

“I dropped out of college to work.”

"Hey, is everything alright?"

"No problem! My photocopying skills are top-notch!"

"An unreliable female employee," Yuriko thought.

"What if Yuriko-neechan became a model?"

"What are you doing?"

"Your naked body in the bathroom is so alluring, Guoyou is full of praise for it."

"He saw it, that bastard!" Yuriko said, her face flushed with embarrassment and anger.

"He's a really nice person," Tamami whistled. "It's just that detectives don't earn much, so they can't live a very comfortable life."

"Idiot, he's really not my boyfriend."

"That's not what you really think, is it?"

"What?! You—"

"Ouch! I oppose violence!"

"Hey, stop it!" someone said to them.

The three looked at each other, then turned to look in the direction of the sound.

"--dad!"

"Oh, what a wonderful place to reunite!" Zuo Zuo, dressed in a suit, smiled brightly as she put down her large backpack.

The three sisters stood there, stunned, for a long time before they came to their senses.

"Hello, what's wrong? Is that Dad?"

"Dad...where did you go?" Yuriko finally spoke.

"I'm sorry. Actually, I went to Southeast Asia with a woman."

"Southeast Asia?"

"Then we all fell ill with fever. We were unconscious for a long time. — Now we've finally recovered and are back. I tried calling on the way back, but I couldn't get through. What happened?"

The three looked at each other for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"Hey, what's going on? I don't understand if you guys are just laughing!" Sasamoto also laughed, caught up in their laughter. "Okay, let's go home first. There's bound to be a lot going on." With that, she walked away quickly. The three of them continued laughing uncontrollably.

"Yuriko!" Hearing the voice, she saw Atsuko running towards her. "Ugh—I can't stand you guys anymore, really!"

"I laughed so hard that tears came out."

"I laughed until I cried too..." Ayako said, wiping away her tears.

"Atsuko, what's wrong?"

“Look at this!” Atsuko said, taking out a small box.

"What is this?"

"Oh, it was the little package that was delivered to my house during my mother's funeral."

"Ah, I forgot!" Yuriko suddenly woke up.

"I don't know what happened, it just fell under the magazine rack."

"So, it's always been there?"

"It seems so. I suddenly found it while tidying up just now. — Come and take a look inside ."

What was taken out of the box was a golden lighter.

“It’s Daddy’s,” Yuriko said.

“I see!” Atsuko nodded. “I think it’s not just that. There’s also a letter, in English.”

"English?"

“It came from abroad. It seems like they forgot it at a hotel somewhere. It was delivered from the hotel,” Atsuko said excitedly. “Oh, your father went abroad.”

"Yes... I think so," Yuriko said vaguely.

"Let's call the police right away—" Atsuko stopped abruptly mid-sentence, seeing Sasakimoto had already returned. "This…"

"Yes, he's back," Yuriko said apologetically.

Sasamoto looked at the three of them with a suspicious expression and asked, "Our house is gone. Hey, what happened?"