Half a month has passed by without doing anything, and the calendar has torn to half of October.
When we first met, we heard from Suzue that Fukumura had told her that he would be traveling elsewhere for about a month. When Fukumura left Saofengkan, he had already decided to grab a piece of pine, so this statement can also be regarded as an expression of escape.
Fukumura’s whereabouts are still unknown, but we have expectations that Fukumura will most likely come to this town again. We have asked the landlady to contact the bureau immediately if Fukumura shows up, but there is still no news at all. Regarding Fukumura's resume, we soon had research information. I asked the Muppet Troupe from Osaka who happened to be on tour here. There was indeed a puppeteer named Fukumura who was in their troupe five years ago. Fukumura was a puppet maker. The second child, he joined the puppet troupe called "Spring Horse" since he was a child, and worked as a leg trainer for a long time. Once on a tour in Tokyo, during a performance, I accidentally lost a puppet's leg. Originally it was a trivial matter and the leader didn't pay much attention to it, but he insisted on resigning and left the next day without the permission of the group leader.
"This is a bit strange. There has never been a fire backstage, and I have never heard of anyone being burned. If there was a fire injury, it must have happened after leaving the group." The master's words were like those of the proprietress of Shaofeng Pavilion. It doesn’t match what he said, so why did Fukumura lie to the proprietress? Although this is still a question, our top priority is still to trace Fukumura's whereabouts.
After leaving the troupe, where did he live in Tokyo? It seems that I have never been back to Osaka.
Later, in order to inquire about Fukumura’s news, we went to the Saofukan twice. Because it was during the day, we didn’t see Suzue both times. Also, I once left my job and went to Liuxuanduan alone. But there was no Suzue's face in the window, only the red light shining through the curtains of Suzue's room on the second floor, dyeing the platycodon flowers on the balcony red. No, even if we meet, apart from the same situation as that night, what else can I do for her? I am a criminal police officer, and as long as I track down the suspect in the murder case, Jinichiro Fukumura, I have fulfilled my duty - I said to myself, and left the lamp in the howling cold wind.
Of course, I also have interests in Fukumura beyond my official duties.
According to the work he is engaged in, he can only appear in front of others (also in front of the audience) when he is wearing black clothes. However, in the rest of his life, he may still have clothes like night covering his body! From the snippets of Suzue's conversation, I also felt that in the room, the man could only lock himself in a black turban and sit silently. I really hope to see his true face in Lushan, which is wrapped in darkness.
However, another ten days passed by in a blank space, and almost a month had passed since the day of the incident. Even at the moment when Detective Hishida's mouth revealed the discouraging words "It seems there is no hope", so suddenly, Jinichiro Fukumura appeared in front of us, and he appeared in a way that we didn't expect...
Everything is similar to the time at Ichinson. The difference was that the night before, there was not a storm, but a fire, which caused the entire Liuxuanduan to be in a commotion, so the discovery was delayed until dawn, and the place where he lay was also unexpected. combine.
Jinichiro Fukumura fell dead at the same place where he was suspected of killing the Ichiken pine. He stretched his clenched hand toward the ditch, leaving rope marks on his neck. He also held a broken platycodon flower in his hand, with the same color.
"Four
The fire on the first day broke out around 8pm not far from the archway in District 1. It was later learned that the fire was caused by careless use of fire in the largest brothel in Liuxuanduan. Thanks to good winds, the fire was under control before midnight, but seven brothels on the right side of the street were still burned to the ground.
It was in this chaos that the murder occurred.
The corpse's right hand was wrapped in a bandage, and its appearance was similar to what the proprietress of the Shaofeng Pavilion said. Inviting the proprietress to the scene to see, it was confirmed that it was indeed Fukumura.
I stood there stunned. The suspected person Fukumura turned out to be the victim of the murder. Also, his body looked exactly like a Japanese pine tree. In addition, Fukumura’s hand was also holding a platycodon flower.
However, what surprised me more than the flowers was the hand holding the flowers. I took off the bandage and saw a white, intact hand. .
There was no burn at all, perhaps because it had been bandaged for a long time and not exposed to the outside air. It was as white as if it had been cut off from the dark wrist. The five fingers, as slender as a woman's, unexpectedly resembled white platycodon flowers.
I felt that what was hidden in the black turban was not his face, but his white hand. He was a man who saw through his talent just because of a small mistake of his fingers and resolutely abandoned his hometown and life. Come to think of it, when he left the Spring Horse Seat, he made up his mind that he would never use this hand again in this life. In fact, at this moment, he could no longer manipulate the puppet's hands and declared his death. Does the bandage Fukumura put on himself also have this kind of burial meaning? After hearing the lonely man described by Suzue, I felt that Fukumura was such a person. No, maybe Fukumura couldn't believe the fact that he had to leave the puppets because of his own mistakes, so he used a lie - that is, he was hurt due to an accident, and also altered his memory. Perhaps, that bandage is a man who has thrown away his life, and it is unknown whether he uses that kind of lie as a last resort to comfort himself.
In short, Fukumura's hand was not disabled, and at least the mystery of how Fukumura strangled Ichinson was solved. However, in the end, Fukumura was killed in the same way as Ichikenmatsu - what on earth was going on?
Also, that platycodon flower...
Fukumura's capture of it linked this case to the Sofukan and Suzue's room.
"No, I didn't know he came back to Tokyo. Everyone was in a mess last night, and neither Masako nor Suzue had any guests."
Visited Shaofengkan again and asked the proprietress Fukumura
"Have you been here last night?" she answered without thinking.
Needless to say, we also met Suzue, but just like last time, she was still hiding in a corner by the closet. No matter what Detective Hishida asked, she just kept shaking her head.
During this period, Suzue never once cast her eyes on me. Was she avoiding me on purpose? Or had she simply forgotten about me? I really don't understand.
When I walked out of the room, I looked back and saw that she still had her face turned sideways and her eyes were on the tatami.
I don’t know what happened, but I couldn’t tie my shoelaces properly. When I stepped out of the Shofukan, Detective Hishida’s back had already turned the corner of the alley and was about to disappear. I quickly pulled up my legs and prepared to catch up. That's when it happened. Something passed my face and fell to the ground. I didn't feel like standing still and looked at my feet. The shoes just hit it on the edge of the puddle. The thing that was trampled flat in the mud, although it lost its original shape, was clearly a platycodon flower.
I couldn't help but raise my head. I'm under Suzue's window. But half of the place was curtained, and there was no one there.
I took another step, and another one came.
Behind the curtain, Suzue must be hiding. She deliberately threw flowers at me. I stopped there and looked up.
Suzue still had something to hide, and she also wanted to tell me something.
I picked up a piece from the puddle and the white petals that were not stained with mud.
I think that is the white language that Suzue desperately wants to tell someone, but can't say it.
five
Detective Hishida still hasn't changed his view that Fukumura is the murderer of Ichizenmatsu. According to Detective Hishita's judgment: Fukumura, who had returned to Rokugenduan after such a long time, still had 500 yuan that he had barely spent. Those who knew this killed Fukumura for the money. This is because no money can be found on Fukumura’s body.
We did not believe the testimony of the landlady, Masako, and Suzue, saying that Fukumura did not come to Shofukan that night. Fukumura came to Rokugenduan just to see the Suzue of Sofukan. When we investigated the last case, we already knew that Fukumura never went to prostitutes other than Shofukan. The three women who said "I don't know" in unison also looked the same as Ichikenmatsu did that time.
Not quite the same, which makes people suspicious.
And the platycodon flower held by the white hand was the evidence that Fukumura had been to Suzue's room.
Detective Hishida determined that Fukumura was killed at Sofukan. That night, in the chaos of the fire, it was believable that there were no other visitors except Fukumura. This proves that it was one of the three women at Shaofeng Pavilion who did it. .
Of course, strangling a grown man is not something a woman can do. Did the landlady and Masako collude to seize the five hundred yuan? The thing was done in Suzue's room, so Suzue must have seen it from beginning to end? No, a grown man resisted desperately, and so did the two women. He couldn't succeed, so maybe under the order of the landlady, Suzue also helped. They asked Suzue to keep the secret strictly, and then took advantage of the chaos of the fire to carry the body behind and throw it by the river.
Suzue's tightly pursed lips seemed to be more nervous than Ichikenmatsu's at that time, so I also agree with Detective Hishida's opinion.
However, the landlady and the others had no idea how to dispose of the body, so they had no choice but to move to the scene of the murder at Ichinsomatsu. The problem was, this time, why was the body holding a platycodon flower in its hand?
It can't be a simple coincidence, it seems to have someone's intention. There is no doubt that this flower does connect the two cases somewhere.
The next night, I invited that friend again and went to the Shaofengkan dressed as a guest. I really want to hear the white words Suzue throws at me again.
I don’t know whether it’s because the reconstruction work after the fire was delayed, or because another accident occurred, but the power outage in the Liuxuanduan area is still dark.
Normally, at this time, neon lights would blend together in a variety of colors, steaming like smoke, but this night, everything was pitch black. Without the lights, the entire street seemed to have disappeared, and I felt as if I was in a dream. Even so, not a single brothel is closed. Every household lit candles at the door and windows, and under the swaying shadows of the lamps, the faces of the girls were still displayed there. There were far fewer pedestrians, and the pale female faces and their coquettish cries seemed to have lost some of their former liveliness. The smell of putrefaction and burning embers from the fire was blown by the wind and enveloped the streets. The lights looked like water lights drifting away on a dark river, or like the wavering light of pity in a cemetery.
Suzue seemed to recognize me immediately after taking off my glasses. She was applying lipstick evenly against the window glass, and the little finger on her lips suddenly stopped.
This time, it was thanks to that friend's words that Suzue and I entered the room as if nothing was wrong.
In the light of the candle, Suzue's small and exquisite body emerged like light ink. Looking at it, it is clearly right in front of you, but if you reach out and touch it, it seems that it will disappear suddenly. Even the shadow on the tatami was thicker than her own.
"Sleep?"
The exact same voice as the one a month ago.
"No... Tonight, I came to hear A-Ling tell me the truth. A-Ling, you know how Brother A-Jin was killed, right? You know, but you refuse to tell me, right? ?Tell me, Brother Ajin came to your place the night before yesterday, right? "
Suzue looked at me steadily for a while, then shook her head silently. At first, I thought it meant no, but Suzue still looked at me with wide eyes and silently repeated the same action. She knew it, but she couldn't say anything. She was telling me this silently.
The conversation was temporarily interrupted.
"The fire the day before yesterday caused a huge disturbance, wasn't it? Are you afraid?"
Suzue shook her head again and said: "It's so beautiful! You can also see it from this window. The red flames rushed up, and the sky turned red, just like fireworks, with sparks and fire powder flying all over the sky... I have never seen it in my hometown. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Speaking of this, Suzue suddenly remembered that
Yes, take something out of the cupboard. The candlelight wasn't bright enough to see what it was. Unexpectedly, Suzue blew out the candlelight with a cry, and in the sudden darkness, tiny flakes of dust-like fire suddenly appeared from Suzue's fingers.
It turned out that the fireworks she was talking about last time were left behind by Fukumura. The cigarette smoke on the thread was like a fire flower connected by dark twigs, dancing on Suzue's fingers as if trembling in the wind. However, it was only a moment. Soon, the last light dissipated, and then it was pitch black again.
Suzue did not light the candle immediately and hid quietly in the dark night. Just when I was about to say something, the pink fragrance passed by my nose, and Suzue's murmur sounded like she was talking to herself from an unexpected distance.
"There's a bell ringing!"
I didn't know whether she was talking alone or asking me, so I remained silent. There could be no bells ringing at this time, because when I entered the archway at Liuxuanduan, the bell of Lingyun Temple had just struck eight o'clock. Did Suzue hear something wrong? Maybe I misheard what Suzue said - all I heard was the sound of "Caged Bird" being sold on the street outside.
"What a sad song. Everyone in the factory sang this too."
Suzue said as she lit a candle. In the twilight, Suzue took out the puppet at some point and hugged it to her chest. "I...are just like this puppet."
He was mumbling something to himself again. Whether in the factory or in this brothel, she was not allowed to have her own will, just like that puppet. However, Suzue is not a complete puppet. Even though she was in a birdcage, she still wanted to be able to tell me the truth.
"A-Ling, yesterday morning, you threw flowers from this window, right? What does that mean?"
Suzue remained silent, lit another firework, got up and walked to the window. I also walked over.
There are scattered pedestrians in the dark alley. When one of them came under the window, Suzue threw down the fireworks on his hand. The flower of light swayed for a moment, dragging down a phantom-like line and disappearing into the dark night.
The figure stopped and raised his head.
"It's funny. It's the same for everyone."
Suzue left the window and smiled slightly on her lips. I don't understand what Suzue wants to say. However, I also felt that Suzue might be using such nonsensical words to reveal clues to me that she could not tell. Thinking about it now, she was not only providing clues, she was basically telling the truth of the matter. But that night, it was like darkness covering everything, everything was pitch black and it was impossible to distinguish the shape.
That night, Suzue used a certain behavior to reveal the truth to me in an instant.
Suzue moved her hand to the candle flame. I thought she was cold, trying to keep herself warm like this. Unexpectedly, she suddenly stretched her hand into the flame. Then the flame split into two parts from one finger, and shot up from between the two fingers.
I quickly grabbed her hand away and the two of them fell on the tatami together. The burning pain made Suzue's throat convulse, and then she stared blankly at the flames like a madman.
"what are you doing!"
Suzue brushed my hand away impatiently, covered her face with her sleeves, and collapsed on the tatami. Although there is no sound, it may be crying. And no matter what I asked after that, she never answered again.
However, when I was about to say goodbye and leave, Suzue stretched out her hand and grabbed my trouser leg, which was already standing up. The strength was not like that of a child at all. I turned around and she still had her face turned sideways.
"I originally planned not to say anything, but I'd better say it!
The words suddenly became serious. That's right
The way he talks to a detective.
I'm going to sit down and listen.
"No, it's better like this. Turn your back. I beg you, no matter what I say, please don't ask anything and go out after listening. Do you promise me?"
I became a little nervous and nodded. Suzue's usual tongue-in-cheek tone turned serious.
"Promise?"
"OK."
I nodded vigorously.
"Then let me tell you. The one who killed Yiqiansong was Brother Ajin. That night, Brother Ajin heard the conversation in Sister Achang's room. With five hundred yuan, he can rescue me, he said .Also, after a month, the money can be sent, he said, took my belt and went out. The night before yesterday, Brother Ajin came to my place. The fire just happened... "I will kill Brother A Jin." I almost turned my head.
"You promised. I have told the truth. Please don't ask anything and leave this room."
I still want to turn around.
"No, no, you promised. In a room like this, so dirty, so messy, and so full of lies, you still have to abide by what you promised. Get out!"
Suddenly, Suzue said something almost angrily.
I seemed to be struck by a thunderclap, and I was stunned. Suzue's confession and her scream-like words were really too sudden. I couldn't turn around or take a step forward.
I killed him - just saying that, the case is still shrouded in mystery. How could Suzue's small and exquisite body be able to kill Fukumura? Also, Fukumura is also holding a platycodon flower in his hand. What does this mean?
However, to me at this time, none of this mattered. All I know is that Suzue's confession is a real cry.
I was just a police officer who heard the suspect reveal the truth. But at the same time, he is also a sad twenty-five-year-old who wants to keep his promise to the girl who desperately tells the truth.
Let's run away - I tried desperately to feel Suzue's face hiding in the darkness behind me, but at the same time I thought of this sentence. What is the reason for this? "Sister, let's run away," was what I wanted to scream to Sachiko twenty years ago in the strong wind on the earth embankment with flying leaves. I wanted to shout, but didn't. In fact, even if she shouted out, Sachiko could only wave her hands!
Let's run away - maybe I don't want to shout to Suzue, but to Sachiko from twenty years ago. Anyway, Suzue could only smile. So what if I escape - I said that with a smile, that's all.
She became a dead flower that was played with by men and smelled rotten before it bloomed. At the end, she screamed in grief that she had killed a man. How could such a sixteen-year-old girl have any escape route?
The candlelight carved my shadow on the paper door, looking so sad and helpless.
"Please get out."
I took a step forward as if pushed by the voice coming from me again, then turned my back and closed the paper door. All I could do was to close the paper door as long as possible.
The paper door rang three times and rattled.
I never dreamed that that would be the last sound I left for Suzue's ears.
"six
Suzue threw herself into the paper door frame and died before dawn the next day. The room looked exactly the same as when I left it the night before. Because of the power outage, no customers would come to the door after I left. Thinking about it this way, I finally felt better.
A police officer untied Suzue's body and put her down with his arms around her from behind.
Then I remembered something from that posture. Detective Hishida seemed to be thoughtful, but he couldn't think of what it was on the spot.
In the right hand of the corpse, there is another Platycodon flower! The leaves of the potted flowers on the balcony have begun to wither. Come to think of it, Suzue must have sown seeds at different times in each pot with her delicate hands. After blooming, it withers, and new flowers appear. It lasts about a month, relying on the short life of each flower, and this is probably the last one among them. Maybe Suzue just wanted to die before the last flower withered.
However, just like Fukumura, what surprised me more than the flower itself was the hand holding it.
Suzue's little hand was burned to death. There were wax drops on the hands that were ulcerated into purple. "It seems to have been burned with candle fire," the police officer said. In the candle holder on the coffee table, the wick sank to the bottom.
I thought of the flames rising from between Suzue's fingers the night before. At that time, her eyes were as empty as a madman...and Fukumura's white hands appeared from under the bandage. Fukumura falsely claimed that his hand was burned by fire under the bandage, and Suzue burned her hand with fire before she died. Is there some connection between these two things?
The landlady and Sister Achang confessed to moving the body of Fukumura, whom Suzue killed in her room, to the river ditch. Both of them said it was to cover up for Suzue. This may be true for Masako, but the boss lady may have confessed like this just because she was afraid that she would have to take responsibility for causing trouble for her people. There was no suicide note, but the five hundred yuan was dug out of the soil in a flower pot. In this case, the conclusion is that Suzue killed Fukumura because she wanted to get the money.
There is only one question left, how can a sixteen-year-old girl strangle a grown man?
In the evening, I explained the circumstances of the two private visits to Suzue at the time of the Ichizenmatsu case and last night, without any concealment. The reason why I haven't said it yet is because in addition to professional concerns, my move has a greater personal emotional component.
After I finished speaking, Detective Hishida asked me: "Could it be that the landlady and Masako forced Suzue to make that false confession?"
"No, I believe what Suzue said is true.
Reality. "
Yes, that sincere voice was forced out by others.
"Well, actually I'm still guessing whether the boss lady and Masako killed Suzue too in order to make Suzue take the blame..."
"How could that little girl hang Fukumura?"
Detective Hishida crossed his arms over his chest and thought for a moment before saying something unexpected.
"Brother Yabashi, maybe this case is the death of Kuroi and the puppet! I'm thinking that Fukumura might have had thoughts of suicide before. But it would be too lonely to die alone, so I hope to have Suzue as my companion. Although Suzue said that she had never slept with him, but some kind of love still existed. However, this love also made Fukumura hope to save Suzue from his current situation. I believe that Fukumura was driven by these two emotions. , came here to meet Suzue. Later, Fukumura caused a big disaster for Suzue, and was forced to commit suicide. When he came back the night of the fire, he should have made up his mind to commit suicide. But once he wanted to do it, he still had to commit suicide. He couldn't die alone, so he thought of a bet, which was to let Suzue kill him."
"......"
"I want to die, but I can't. So please kill me..." He asked Suzue. Of course, Suzue couldn't do it. Fukumura wrapped a rope around his neck and forced Suzue to hold it. On both ends, he will control Suzue's hands and let her strangle herself."
"W-why is this?"
"The bet is on Suzue's mood afterwards. Will Suzue's young conscience feel uncomfortable about actions for which she must be responsible? Or choose the freedom of five hundred dollars... Suzue's choice was to die out of conscience. Of course, here, I'm afraid she also has some nostalgia for Fukumura. I think as soon as Fukumura died, she also had the idea of sacrifice for love. We did not tell Suzue It was a lie to reveal that Fukumura was burned. Therefore, she also burned her own hands before she died. Don’t stories of love and death in dramas often have this kind of sentimentality? Let Fukumura’s hand hold platycodon, and take one for yourself. , also in this category. Suzue said that Fukumura often performed some puppet shows for her, and many of them were stories about love and death, so Suzue must know a lot about all kinds of love and death. Two people who died at different times , in order not to get lost on the road to hell, let the hands holding each other become the same. The platycodon flower became the rope that connected the two people..."
"Hey, don't look so ugly. Didn't you say that Suzue told you last night that she looked like a puppet? The above is just a story imagined from this sentence. And this morning, that person The police officer took Suzue down, and the two of them looked exactly like black clothes and puppets." Note: I don't know if Detective Hishida's imagination is right or wrong. But I also feel that it doesn’t matter now. My eyes started to tingle. No matter what the reason is, a girl who doesn't know what happiness is hastily let her immature life wither away.
To hide my tears, I took off my glasses
Pretending to have eye pain, he covered his eyes.
Hisita took one look and asked, "Have you fallen in love with her?"
"No."
My answer is not a lie. It is true that I have never had feelings for Suzue towards a woman. I just wanted to use Suzue to save another girl that I failed to save twenty years ago, but I tasted failure again.
In front of Detective Hishida, who stared at me with exploratory eyes, I could only stand with my head lowered in silence.
