"Tuk-tuk-tuk."
"..."
"Tuk-tuk-tuk."
"..."
"Is there anyone? It's me, Katsumi Uehara!"
Tokyo, Toriyamachi 5-chome 37, in front of the door of an ordinary one-family house with a courtyard, a man who pressed the doorbell multiple times held a gift in his hand, frowned slightly, and started knocking on the door repeatedly. The right hand holding the gift box couldn't help but tighten the rope.
"Young man, don't disturb the people this early in the morning. This family hasn't been back for almost three months. Even if you knock on the door, no one will answer you."
Suddenly, the eldest sister in the next building impatiently opened the window, stuck her head out of the window, looked down from the second floor, and stared unkindly at the young man who was disturbing his dream.
"...I'm sorry, sister, I haven't contacted them for a long time, and I disturbed you." Uehara Katsumi turned his head, with a hint of apology on his face at the right time, and said with a hint of hope in his heart: "Have they moved? "
Perhaps the sound of "Sister" cheered her up. The eldest sister, who was waving a paper fan, suddenly said in a much kinder tone: "I don't know, I haven't seen any moving vehicles coming. My child, you are here." Looking for a relative?"
"No, I'm just delivering something to someone. I'm sorry to bother you, sister." Uehara Katsumi, whose smile was obviously stagnant, clenched his right fist tighter and tighter——
boom!
Under the horrified gaze of the woman, Uehara Katsumi casually threw the gift box on the ground. After sizing up the surrounding walls and iron gates, he flipped it in. His skillful movements made it difficult not to doubt him. Is a repeat offender.
After landing, he walked through the courtyard and found a key in the secret space under the flower bed. Katsuki Uehara walked to the brown-red door and opened it without any hesitation——
"Squeak~"
The sound of the wooden door turning was particularly harsh in the man's ears. The entrance hall, living room and dining room, which showed no signs of mess, gradually came into view as he entered. There was dust visible to the naked eye everywhere.
Uehara Katsumi casually touched it on the cabinet, and his fingers were immediately stained by thick filth.
Obviously, this house has not been lived in for a long time, but he did not find a reminder for the utility bill in the mailbox at the door, which means——
Katsuki Uehara strolled into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. There were several plates of fish and pork that were obviously stinky inside the machine that was still running.
The disgusting smell continued to flow into Uehara Katsuki's nasal cavity along the path of the refrigerator door. The latter raised his left hand to cover his nose with the back of his hand. He carefully looked through the contents inside with his right hand, but found nothing much.
Living room, bedroom.
The expressionless Katsuki Uehara kept accelerating, but he was still unable to find an answer that could convince him. The clothes of a family hanging on the balcony completely shattered the last trace of fantasy in his heart.
"..."
Sitting slumped on the dusty sofa, Uehara Katsumi stared at the family photos placed beside the TV cabinet with his dull eyes, speechless for a long time.
"Ring ring ring!"
Suddenly, a rapid ringing sound came from the corner of the living room. Uehara Katsumi's eyes lit up when he was awakened. He hurriedly got up and picked up the phone's receiver: "This is Oikawa——"
"Uehara Police Department."
On the other end of the phone, a slightly hoarse voice shattered his joy: "I am Oikawa's boss."
"..."
"Unfortunately, before we received any news from Oikawa and realized something was wrong, all his family members were killed."
"Do you know who I am and you are monitoring this place?"
"Uehara Police Department, I... I'm sorry."
"His choice to play for you was the second wrong decision he made in his life."
"...I can provide the address if you need it."
"explain."
Metropolitan Police Department, Office of the Chief of the Criminal Division.
Kuroda Biewei, who put down his cell phone, had a rare look of melancholy on his face and shook his head silently.
"He knows?"
On the side, Toshiro Odagiri, who was still sorting out the transcript information of the first interrogation after staying up all night, glanced at him, his serious and unsmiling face showing a bit of fatigue.
"Um."
Pushing up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, Kuroda Hei closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He immediately put aside the negative emotions in his mind and turned back into a cold policeman: "What else can you do to call me over?" Is it something, Odagiri?"
"Wada is dead. I plan to support Matsumoto Kiyonaga in his position as section chief. Have you ever thought about returning to your job to help me?"
Putting down the ballpoint pen in his hand, Odagiri Toshiro turned around in his chair, looked at his old friend, and said, "It just so happens that you also need an identity that can be seen publicly."
"Who do you want to check?"
"Check them all, I want to capture everyone involved in Uno Tadayoshi's channel. After all, you have been in a coma for so long. Although there are people in the police supporting you, you cannot take Uno Tadayoshi's position.
"The first class is different. After Matsumoto Kiyonaga took over as the section chief, the position of the first class administrator became vacant."
"I am parachuted into the position of the manager of Section 1? Aren't you afraid that others will say that you eat alone?" Kuroda Biewei was obviously a little surprised.
In this regard, Odagiri Toshiro's tone was very indifferent: "When have I ever been afraid of this?"
……………………………………………………
Cemetery.
After being guided by the staff to the six tombstones, Katsuki Uehara politely thanked him.
"You're welcome, Mr. Uehara, please pay attention to the precautions I mentioned before when sweeping the grave."
"Yeah, I understand."
After the staff left, Katsuki Uehara turned his eyes to the six tombstones in front of him and took a deep breath between bared teeth.
Familiar names appeared in front of him like a fleeting glance, accompanied by the voices, faces, and smiles of his lifetime, from adults to children.
Until, the last tombstone.
"You killed your sister's family."
Uehara Katsumi said softly after staring at the tombstone for a long time, rubbing his slightly sore eyes, and placing flowers in front of the tomb.
The silent fallen leaves quietly drifted to his feet in the wind. After saying these words, Uehara fell into a deathly silence.
Perhaps because he was tired from standing, Uehara Katsumi stamped his feet, then sat down on the floor with his knees bent, unscrewed the cap of the mineral water bottle, raised his head and took a sip.
"Of course, according to your logic, I should also be involved."
The tip of his tongue licked his moist lips. After a while, Katsuki Uehara, who tightened the lid, said another sentence. At the same time, he looked down at the water bottle in his hand: "Damn it, I bought another bottle of fake wine, you idiot."
"If you want to drink real wine, I have it here, but I don't know if you can drink it."
"?"
Uehara Katsumi was obviously not surprised at all when he heard the voice, and he didn't even bother to turn his head: "Have you known about this for a long time, Sato?"
"I gave you the mobile phone, what do you think?"
Miwako Sato, who was carrying a plastic bag, was not wearing a professional suit today, but a simple white shirt and jeans, with a pair of white shoes at her feet: "Didn't you guess this result a long time ago, but you just never wanted to I have to face it, so I don’t even have the courage to contact and confirm.”
Facing the woman who walked up to him and sat on the floor with her knees bent, Uehara Katsumi smiled to himself: "Really? I'm sorry to disappoint you."
"You know, I have attended many personal funerals, and they are all people who had a great influence on me when I was growing up." Miwako Sato, who placed two bottles of wine on the ground, ignored his low mood: "Of course, you almost did too."
"Can you drink?" Katsuki Uehara's eyes fell on the bottle in front of him, and he started to drink without politeness.
"Won't."
Sato Miwako opened the lid, smiled and raised her hand to collect the loose hair in front of her forehead: "So when I asked for leave for you, I also asked for a leave for myself."
"idiot."
Katsuki Uehara closed his eyes, raised his head and blew directly into the bottle——
"Cough cough cough cough!!!"
The sudden heavy drinking undoubtedly caused him to cough violently, causing tears to flow from the corners of his eyes: "What kind of wine did you buy? Why does it taste so spicy? It makes my throat uncomfortable."
"Of course you will feel uncomfortable if you drink so hard and drink so much. You will choke on tears."
Miwako took out a pack of tissues from her pocket and handed it to the man and said softly: "It won't happen if you slow down..."
Set up a small bowl~
(End of chapter)