The woman who bought the local newspaper / Kiyoharu Matsumoto

Chapter 1

Yoshiko Shioda sent an advance payment to koshin newspaper and registered to subscribe to koshin daily newspaper. The newspaper office is in K City, and it takes about four hours by express train from Tokyo. Newspapers that appear to be influential in the county. Of course, there are no such local newspaper outlets in Tokyo. If you want to see it, you can only send it by post to the head office as a direct subscriber.

On February 21, the money was remitted by registered number. At that time, along with the money, there was a letter. She wrote in her letter.

- I would like to subscribe to your newspaper. The same letter sent the subscription fee. I heard that the novel "Legend of the Wild Thief" serialized in your newspaper is very interesting, and I plan to read it. Please start with the newspaper of the nineteenth....

Yoshiko Shioda once read koshin Daily. It was in a secluded restaurant in front of the K-city railway station, and the waitress put it on the simple dinner table before the noodles that Yoshiko had asked for were served. Sure enough, it was like a local newspaper, a rustic lead-lettered page, and vulgar news. The third edition features what happened in the area: the burning of five homes due to fire, the embezzlement of 60,000 yen by officials at the village office, the establishment of a branch of the newly built elementary school, the death of the mother of a member of the prefectural council, and so on.

The second half of the two pages is a serial historical novel. The illustration depicts two samurai slashing and killing each other. The author's name was Ryuji Sugimoto, and she had never heard of that name. Yoshiko was halfway through reading when the noodles came and she put down the newspaper.

But Yoshiko wrote the name of the newspaper and the address of the newspaper in the book, and the name of the novel "Legend of the Wild Thief" was remembered at that time. Under the inscription is written (fifty-four times). The date of the newspaper is eighteenth. Yes, it was February 18.

It was already two o'clock in the afternoon, and Yoshiko left the restaurant and walked out into the street. The town is in the middle of the basin, and the warm sunshine that is rare in winter melts into the refreshing air of the highlands. At the southern end of the basin, there are gentle mountains. Above this, the snow-white top of Mt. Fuji is exposed, and it becomes unusually blurry due to the sunlight.

On the front of the street is the snow-covered Mount Kai komagata. The sun's rays shine obliquely on the snow-capped mountains. Due to the relationship between the layers and the illumination of light, the snow-capped mountains form a refractive brightness ladder from the darkest part to the brightest part.

On the right side of the mountain, the low mountains in the vicinity with a dry yellow tone appear in the field of vision. You can't see that canyon. But she was going to make a plan in that place. The direction of this mountain range inspires Yoshiko, and there seems to be something mysterious in it.

Yoshiko before returning to the station. At this time, many people gathered in the square of the station. Several white flags with written words fluttered in the wind over the black crowd. It reads "Welcome x × Minister Back home". Yoshiko knew: The new cabinet was formed a month ago, and the new minister written on the flag was a person from this area.

At this time, the crowd began to clamor and there was a commotion. There are also people who shout long live. There was a constant round of applause. People walking in the distance also came and squeezed inside.

The minister went to a higher place and began to speak. The winter sun shone on his bald top, and he wore a large white rose on his chest. The people fell silent, and applause erupted from time to time.

Yoshiko watched all this. But not Yoshiko alone. A man standing next to her also watched the scene. It wasn't like he was listening to a speech, but he had to stand there because he was blocked by the crowd.

Yoshiko peeked into the man's face. Broad forehead, sharp eyes, high nose bridge. She once thought it was a clever forehead, a trustworthy eye, a flattering nose, but now that memory is gone. What has not changed is that I have been bound by him, both past and present.

The speech was over. The minister finally stepped off the podium. The crowd began to disperse and the place was vacated. Yoshiko walked over, and the man, along with another, followed.

The registered remittance sent to the Koshin newspaper finally caught up with the mail sent by the post office at three o'clock. Yoshiko put the thin receipt in her bag and took fifty minutes from Chitose Osan by train to Shibuya's shop.

In front of the store hangs a neon sign in the Lubiken wine bar. Yoshiko walked in through the back door.

"You're early." She greeted her boss, friends, and waiters one by one. Then run into the dressing room to put on makeup.

At this time, the store began to open. The fat lady boss had just finished her hair at the beauty salon and walked into the store amid everyone's admiration.

"Today is February 21st, Saturday, everyone have to do a good job!" The boss realized the return of the lady boss and lectured the waitresses. Saying that A's clothes should be a new one and so on, made the child's face turn red.

Yoshiko listened stupidly and thought, let's quit this job.

It was as if she saw a boat breaking the waves. Lately, day or night, this scene has always appeared in front of me. Every time I put my hand on my chest, I felt an irrepressible heartbeat.

Chapter II

The "Koshin Daily" arrived in four or five days. Three days' worth of newspapers at a time. It also contains a printed postcard with the words "Subscribe to you, thank you" respectfully.

As registered, it is sent from the nineteenth. Yoshiko opened the newspaper and turned it to the social page: thieves attacked a house, died due to landslides, agricultural cooperatives broke the law, and the election of town council members began. It's all boring reporting. Then there's a big photo of the Minister of ×× in front of the K City railway station.

Yoshiko opened the newspaper for the twentieth day. Nothing special about it. Looking at the twenty-first day, it is also an ordinary report. She threw them into the corner of the closet, intending to wrap things for them in the future.

Since then, newspapers have been delivered every day. Because she was a monthly subscriber, on the belt of kraft paper, the name and address of Yoshiko Shioda were printed in a transcription plate.

Yoshiko goes to the apartment's mailbox every morning to pick up the newspaper. Uncover the brown band on the bed. Because I didn't come back until twelve o'clock in the night, I got up late in the morning. Lying in the quilt, unfolding the newspaper, reading every corner, there was no news of particular interest. Yoshiko was disappointed and threw it to the pillow.

This went on for many days, each time disappointed. But before lifting the brown band, she was holding out hope. This hope has been going on for more than a decade, but nothing has changed.

On the fifteenth day, something finally changed. That's when newspapers were delivered fifteen times in a row. The change was not a news report, but an unexpected postcard. He is signed by Takaharu Sugimoto. Yoshiko's impression seemed to have seen the name of the sender somewhere. It's not very real, but it's a bit of a vague memory.

Yoshiko flipped the postcard over, and on the reverse side was a clumsy word. After reading the letter, she understood immediately.

------------------------------------------------------- Please pay more attention in the future. Greetings to you....

Ryuji Sugimoto is the author of the novel in the newspaper wrapped in this brown envelope. When Yoshiko registered for a subscription, she used the excuse that she wanted to read the serial novels published in the newspaper. Probably the newspaper people told the author about this. The author, Ryuji Sugimoto, seemed very moved and sent a thank-you note to the new reader.

Suddenly, a superfluous postcard came. It was a small change, but what she was expecting was something else. She had no intention of reading the novel at all, and it must have been as clumsy as the words on the postcard anyway.

Newspapers arrived on time every day. Because I've paid for it, it's a matter of course. Yoshiko also stopped lying in bed every morning and intently reading the newspaper. Still nothing. I really don't know how long this disappointment will continue.

It was easy to get to the morning of almost a month after registration.

Newspapers still use the rustic lead characters and publish many reports about the countryside: the chairman of the agricultural cooperative escaped; the bus fell off the cliff and the passengers were injured; a mountain fire occurred, burning an area of nearly 100 acres; and the bodies of a man and a woman martyred were found in Linyun Gorge...

Yoshiko read the report on martyrdom. It is in the mountain forest of Linyun Gorge, and the discoverer is the forest keeper of the Afforestation Bureau. The body had decayed, about a month or so after death, and was semi-white in the shape of bone. Unidentified. This kind of thing is not uncommon. In particular, this fairyland-like canyon formed by the blue water of the strange peaks is a good place for suicide or martyrdom.

Yoshiko folded the newspaper, lay down on the pillow, pulled the quilt to her chin, and looked at the ceiling. The building of this apartment is old. The darkened ceiling began to decay. Yoshiko kept staring blankly.

The newspaper the next day appeared to have dutifully reported on the identity of the martyr. The man is thirty-five years old and is a security officer at a store in Tokyo, and the woman is a sales clerk at the same store, twenty-two years old. The man has a wife. This kind of thing happens a lot. Yoshiko raised her eyes, and there was no expression on her face, which could be said to be a kind of peace of mind that did not show it. So, the news is not interesting. At this time, the ship sailing in the sea clearly appeared in front of her eyes.

Two or three days later, the sales department of the "Jiaxin Newspaper" sent a postcard that read: "The pre-order newspaper has expired, and I hope you will continue to subscribe." ”

It's a newspaper that does business.

Yoshiko wrote back: "The novel is no longer interesting, and I do not plan to continue to subscribe." ”

I sent this postcard on my way to work. When she threw it into the mailbox and turned to leave, Yoshiko suddenly thought: The author of "Legend of the Wild Thief" must be disappointed. She regretted that she shouldn't have written those words.

Chapter III

Ryuji Sugimoto read a postcard from a reader transferred from Koshin Newspaper and was very unhappy. Moreover, it was this female reader who, a month ago, had subscribed to this newspaper precisely because her novel was interesting. Today, I transferred such a postcard from the newspaper, and I remember that I also wrote a simple thank-you letter. But now, she says the novel is boring, so she stops subscribing to newspapers.

Ryuji Sugimoto was angry: "What the hell is a woman, so capricious." ”

"Legend of the Wild Thief" was written by a literary and art news agency that operated the novel business of the local newspaper. I heard that it was going to be published in local newspapers, so although it was a novel that was mainly entertainment, it also made a lot of efforts to do it, and it was definitely not shoddy. He was confident in that. So when he learned that there was a Tokyo reader who wanted to read the novel, he was so happy that he wrote a thank-you note.

However, the same reader added: "There is no point, so I will not subscribe to the newspaper." Ryuji smiled bitterly, a little angry, as if he felt that he had been toyed with. After that, he thought again. The reader first said, "Because the novel is interesting, I want to read it," and then said, "The novel is not interesting," and thus stopped subscribing. In comparison, the latter is even more controversial. As a result, the clues of thinking gradually develop into interesting aspects, and there are successive scenes of characters carrying out various activities. Even he himself became pleased by his interest in it.

"Then why is the novel not interesting?" He felt strange. It was precisely because he was confident that his work would be popular, so this wayward reader made him feel very unhappy.

Although Takaharu Sugimoto is far from being a popular writer, he often writes for some entertainment magazines and is a capable writer. He often prides himself on mastering the tricks that make the article pleasing to the reader. The novels serialized in the "Koshin Daily" now are by no means clumsy articles, they are by no means, they are very easy to write, and the pen is smooth.

"I always feel uncomfortable."

He didn't get rid of this boredom for two days. From the third day onwards, this atmosphere was a little indifferent, but it was still like a piece of dregs, settling down in the bottom of my heart. This piece of sediment often floods. It is more reprehensible than the painstaking work being inappropriately belittled by insiders. Because of his novel, even if the newspaper sold one less copy, he felt unhappy, not to mention that this was a fact in front of him. To put it more seriously, he felt that he had lost face at the newspaper.

Ryuji Sugimoto shook his head, left the table, and went out for a walk. It is a familiar road, and the area around Musashino retains its legacy. Opposite the leaf-lipped mixed woods, the water of J Pond gleams in the winter sun.

He sat down in the dry grass and looked at the pool. A foreigner trains a large dog by the pool. The dog ran to pick up the stick thrown by his master, ran back to his master, and trained repeatedly.

He watched intently. When people concentrate on some kind of monotonous, repetitive movement, sudden thoughts often flash by. At this moment, a question suddenly arose in Sugimoto's mind.

"The female reader subscribed to the newspaper halfway through because my novel was interesting. Where did she know that before? "Koshin Daily is published in Y Prefecture, not in Tokyo. Of course it won't be known in Tokyo. So, where did this Tokyoite, who called herself Yoshiko Shioda, live in Y Prefecture? Or I saw the newspaper when I went to Y Prefecture from Tokyo.

His eyes moved with the movement of the dog, while his brain was thinking intently. Assuming this is the case, this reader is so attracted to this interesting novel that he deliberately and enthusiastically registers a direct subscription with the newspaper from Tokyo, but in less than a month refuses to renew it on the grounds of "no interest". Besides, the novel itself is indeed interesting.

odd! She didn't seem to be a newspaper she ordered to read novels. It was just a casual excuse, in fact, I wanted to see something else. That is, what to look for in the newspaper. After finding it, there is no need to read the newspaper.

Ryuji Sugimoto got up from the grass and walked quickly towards home. All sorts of ideas float through my mind like a fluffy algae.

He returned home and pulled out from the interstitial a postcard of Yoshiko Shioda, who had been transferred from the newspaper.

It's a pretty smooth passage for women. But why is it specifically required to be sent from the nineteenth day of the first two days of the registration date? The fastest news report is the day before it was published. There is no late publication of the Newspaper, so to look at it from the nineteenth day means to know what happens after the eighteenth. He figured it out.

The newspaper brought him newspapers every day. He put the bound book on the table, and from February 19 onwards, read it carefully. The social version is the mainstay, but for the sake of prudence, the guide advertising column has not been spared.

He limited the matter to a connection to Tokyo somewhere in Y Prefecture. Day by day, he read it, picking out such memories from the daily news. Until the end of February, there seemed to be no such news. Enter March. There were no such reports by the fifth day, and there were still no such reports by the tenth. Thirteenth, fourteenth. Finally, in the newspaper on the sixteenth, he saw the report that recorded the following.

At about 2 p.m. on March 15, the staff of the Afforestation Bureau found the bodies of a man and a woman who had been martyred in the forest of Linyunxia Mountain. The body was decomposed and half white in the shape of bone. Approximately one month after death. The man wears a gray coat and a navy blue suit. He is about thirty-seven or eight years old. The woman was dressed in a brown coat with a wide checkered pattern, a women's suit of the same color, and was about twenty-two or three years old. The relic consists of only a women's handbag containing cosmetics. Among them is a round-trip ticket from Shinjuku to K Station, which shows that it is a Tokyo native.

The next day's newspaper stool carried their identities.

----------------- The man has a family. It seems to be the end of a tragic sexual love...

"That's it." Ryuji Sugimoto couldn't help but speak up. There is no other story in Tokyo related to Y Prefecture. Yoshiko Shioda probably stopped subscribing after seeing the news. She must have made a special subscription to the local newspaper to read the news. Because the central newspaper issued in Tokyo will certainly not publish this news.

"Wait a minute." Many more thoughts came to his mind. Yoshiko Shioda designated that newspapers be sent from February 19. The body was found on March 15, after death in January. In this way, it is also reasonable to assume that the death occurred before February 18. Coincides in time. She knew about the love affair between the man and the woman, waiting for the newspaper report about the discovery of the body, what was going on? ”

Ryuji Sugimoto suddenly became interested in the woman Yoshiko Shioda.

Chapter IV

Three weeks later, a private detective agency commissioned by Ryuji Sugimoto wrote back to him.

——The investigation report on the situation of Yoshiko Shioda that you have commissioned is as follows:

Yoshiko Shioda is originally from × Village, × County, H County. He currently lives in Crimson Sho Apartment, No.×× 1, Osan Town, Setagaya District. According to the copy of the household registration of his place of origin, he was the wife of Hayao Shioda. According to the apartment manager, she rented the room alone three years ago and is a peaceful person. I heard that her husband, who had recently been detained in the Soviet Union, was about to return home. She served as a host in The Lubiken bar in Shibuya.

Chapter V

Yoshiko Shioda and four or five companions pick up the guests. Someone was heard shouting, "Yoshiko! The guest named you too. ”

She got up and walked over to that room. A slightly chubby man of forty-two or three years old with long hair sat there. Yoshiko was not impressed with him at all, and was a guest of Lubiken for the first time.

"You're Yoshiko?" Yoshiko Shioda, right? The man asked with a smile.

Yoshiko did not change her name in this shop, and still uses the name Yoshiko. When she was asked for her name, she looked at the guest's face again, and the table lamp covered with a pink umbrella glowed in dim indirect illumination. Yoshiko was completely unimpressed by the red light on this face.

"Yes. Who are you? Yoshiko sat down next to the guests.

"Ah, I am..." The man took a business card from his pocket with a dirty corner and handed it to Yoshiko. Yoshiko took a look at the lamp, which was printed with the words "Ryuji Sugimoto". She couldn't help but say "Ah".

"Yes, I'm the author of your favorite novel, The Legend of the Wild Thief." Ryuji Sugimoto saw the other person's expression and said with a smile on his face. "Thank you. This was told to me by the Newspaper. I also sent you a thank-you note. Yesterday, when I went to run an errand near your residence, I took the liberty of stopping by to visit my apartment, but you were not at home. I heard you were working here, and it came suddenly this evening. I want to meet you and thank you. ”

Yoshiko thought, "What's going on here?" Are you so interested that you make a special trip? I hadn't seriously read "The Legend of the Wild Thief" at all. There are such smug novelists.

"Ah! Is it sir. Thank you so much. You came here on purpose, and I really don't dare to do it. I read your novel and it was interesting. Yoshiko approached Sugimoto and smiled kindly.

"Thank you." Ryuji Sugimoto smiled happily as he seemed to look around a little shyly and praised, "Good place." ”

Then, cowering at Yoshiko's face, she said to herself, "What a beauty." ”

"Oh, don't say that, sir. I'm glad to see you, so I'll talk about it tonight. Yoshiko poured beer while smiling and sending Akiwa to Sugimoto. This man thought he was still reading his novel. For a reader to be so grateful that he came to meet, it can be seen that he is not a popular writer. Yoshiko thought, or maybe she was interested in female readers.

It seems that Sugimoto Ryuji is not very good at drinking, and when a bottle of beer goes down, his eyelids are full of red. Ke Fangzi could drink, plus two or three waitresses, and there were seven or eight wine bottles and dishes on the table.

Ryuji Sugimoto was called "Sir, sir" by the waitresses, and seemed to be very comfortable in his heart, and stayed for an hour or so before leaving.

As soon as he left, Yoshiko cried out "Ah" and found a coffee-colored envelope under the cushion he had sat on.

"It was the guest just now."

She hurried to the door, and was gone.

"It doesn't matter, I will definitely come back later, let's collect it for him first."

Yoshiko told the waitress next to her and put the envelope in her kimono. After that, I forgot about it.

When she remembered it again, she was back at the apartment after work. As she changed her clothes and untied, the coffee-colored envelope fell to the ground.

Ah, it turned out to be this. She remembered. Pick it up. There was no writing on the front or back of the envelope, nor was it sealed, and it could be seen that it was like newspaper. So she was relieved and wanted to take a look.

Inside was a stacked newspaper clipping, half the size of a quarter of a newspaper. Yoshiko opened the newspaper clippings and was taken aback. It was cut from Koshin Daily that × x Minister x gave a speech in front of the K station.

Several white flags fluttered above the pitch-black crowd. The minister's figure was above the crowd. It was the scene that Yoshiko had seen with her own eyes, and the photos were exactly the same as the facts.

Yoshiko looked into the air, and her hand holding the newspaper trembled a little. The chest, which was tied only with a belt, was so loosely open.

Is this accidental? Perhaps, Ryuji Sugimoto deliberately threw it there to show himself? She was confused. My feet were tired, and I didn't even bother to lay the mat and sat down on the floor. Ryuji Sugimoto may know something. Yoshiko began to think that he had dropped the envelope and walked away with some purpose. It's an intuition. Not by accident, by no means by accident.

Takaya Sugimoto, who was once considered an honest popular novelist by Yoshiko, suddenly became a different person.

Two days later, Ryuji Sugimoto came to the shop again and named Yoshiko.

"Hello, sir."

Yoshiko smiled and sat down beside him. A smile that deals with buying and selling, which seems very unnatural.

Takaharu Sugimoto also replied with a smile, which was the kind of smile that came from the heart.

"Sir, you forgot about this last time."

Yoshiko stood up, took the brown envelope from her handbag, and handed it to Sugimoto. The smile did not disappear from the corners of the mouth: but the eyes carefully watched the other person's expression.

"Oh, I forgot it here." I also thought, I don't know where it was lost. Ah, thank you. ”

He took the letter and wrapped it in his pocket, still smiling, but looking at Yoshiko with thin eyes. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and then he immediately looked away and stayed on the bubbling glass.

Yoshiko felt restless. She wanted to make a try. Although this experiment is dangerous, it is not easy to understand and not willing.

"What is this? Something important? ”

"Where, is the photo in the newspaper. Photo of the Minister's speech in K City. Ryuji Sugimoto explained, revealing his white teeth. Among these listeners, I noticed a person who was an acquaintance, that is, the man who died in Linyunxia. ”

"Ah!" The two waitresses with Yoshiko cried out.

"This guy is seeing clearly. Beside him were two women, like his companions, standing slightly away from the crowd. This proves that it was the day of his love death. However, since it is a love death, it is enough to die with a woman, so that there is still one more woman. I always felt strange, wanted to take a closer look at the faces of these two women, but I was too small to see clearly. Therefore, I wanted to send this clip to the newspaper and ask them to enlarge it from the negatives and send it to me. Seems redundant. However, I want to investigate and give it a try. ”

"Well, like a detective."

The two waitresses next to him laughed together. Yoshiko suffocated.

Chapter VI

From this time on, Yoshiko learned Ryuji Sugimoto's true intentions. Ryuji Sugimoto was lying. There were no people in that picture like he said. Because I had looked at this picture very carefully. Whether it's Shoda Misaki, Fukuda Umeko, or herself, there is none in the photo.

Ryuji Sugimoto said that there was nothing in the photo. This led her to make a clear judgment: he was testing himself! He claimed to be a friend of Soda's, which must have been false.

I was tempted by someone, which is not a great threat. The terrible thing was that he seemed to smell a little bit of that thing. The development of this sense of smell is daunting.

When Ryuji Sugimoto did the following experiment casually, the terrifying shadow left a deeper imprint on her mind.

A week later, he came to the store again, still naming Yoshiko.

"The last photo didn't work out." He said. An innocent smile appeared on his face.

"I heard the newspaper threw away the negatives. What a shame. From that photo, you're going to grab an interesting clue, but... ”

"Yeah, what a shame." Yoshiko said and drank the beer from her glass. His play is annoying.

Ryuji Sugimoto changed the subject.

"Yeah. Speaking of photography, I will now take a general image. Just let people print it out today, see? ”

"Show me."

The one who made fun of him was the waitress with Yoshiko.

He took two or three pictures out of his pocket and placed them next to the plate on the table. "That's it."

"Oh, I don't like it. It's all about this pair. The waitress said with a picture in her hand.

"Yeah, it's a nice picture with a background." Ryuji Sugimoto laughed alone.

"It's a unique hobby to take pictures of a pair of lovers. Yoshiko, you can also take a look. ”

A waitress handed over a photo.

Ever since Ryuji Sugimoto pulled the photo out of her pocket, she had a premonition, an ominous premonition. Her nerves were highly tense and she was trembling slightly. From the moment she got the picture and her eyes fell on it, she felt that the anticipation had become a reality.

The photo shows the backs of a man and a woman strolling along a country road. Like the Area around Musashino, the mixed woods of early spring overlap with deep, light colors from far to near. An ordinary, ordinary photo. Yoshiko's eyes widened suddenly, and what attracted her was the character's costume. The man wears a light tunic and dark pants. The wide plaid pattern of the woman's coat was particularly clear. Although it is a black-and-white photograph, what Yoshiko's eyes see is clearly a gray top with colored Soda Saji, a Tibetan blue suit, a Fukuda plum coffee plaid coat, and a women's suit of the same color.

The hell is coming. When Yoshiko understood this, her heart didn't beat too hard. She stared down at the photo. It can be said that she was actually watching Takaharu Sugimoto. Yoshiko realized that the pupils in his thin eyes were glowing and scattered sparks in space.

"Wow, wow." As if resisting the pressure, Yoshiko looked up and casually returned the photo to its owner.

"It's a good work." Ryuji Sugimoto said. He stared at Yoshiko's face, though it was only a short second or two. The glowing gaze was exactly the same as she realized when she looked at the picture.

Ryuji Sugimoto still smelled it. He might know soon. A fierce wind blew in Yoshiko's heart. That night, she didn't sleep until four o'clock in the morning.

Since then, Yoshiko Shioda and Ryuji Imoto have quickly become intimate. When he did not come, Yoshiko called him, and sometimes wrote letters, unlike the formal temptation letters written by the waitresses to the guests because of the relationship between the sale and purchase, and its sentences were full of hospitality.

Whoever watched. They all think that this is the relationship between a specially cared for guest and a good waitress.

Compared to the number of times Takaharu Sugimoto came to Rubicen to play, their relationship developed so fast that Yoshiko actually started dating him.

"Sir, can you take me somewhere to play these days?" I'm ready to take a day off. ”

Ryuji Sugimoto smiled happily, wrinkles piling up on his nose.

"Okay, if I can be with Yoshiko, I'll definitely go." Where to go? ”

"Yeah. Or find a secluded place. How about Oyto? Go out early in the morning. ”

"Oyto?" Okay. ”

"Just walk around, sir."

"What?"

"Look at you, it's like this right away. This time go and play casually. In order not to cause misunderstandings, is it possible to ask a girlfriend who has a good relationship with my husband to go with me? You see....... ”

Ryuji Sugimoto heard this, narrowed his eyes, and looked into the distance.

"It's not that there are no girlfriends."

"That's fine. I also want to get to know it. What do you think? All right? ”

"Hmm_."

"How do you seem to be reluctant?"

"Because there is a third party participating, there is no point."

"You really are. Sir, the two of us will go again in the future. ”

"Really?"

"I can't get caught up in that kind of thing all at once. Ah, understand? ”

Yoshiko pulled Ryuji's hand over and scratched his palm with her fingers.

"All right. No way, I'll talk about it next time. "He gave in." If so, then make an appointment here for a date and time. ”

"Well, wait a minute."

Yoshiko stood up and went to the office to borrow a schedule.

Chapter VII

Ryuji Sugimoto made a special appointment with the female editor of the magazine with whom he was close. There is no specific reason. Probably the female editor Fujiko Tasaka felt relieved to travel with this gentleman, and easily agreed to it.

Ryuji Sugimoto, Yoshiko Shioda, and Fujiko Tasaka arrived in Izu's Ito in the morning. It was planned to climb the mountain to Shuzenji Temple and travel back to the three islands.

This is where some kind of action begins. Ryuji Sugimoto's nerves were extremely nervous, waiting for danger to come. He tried not to let the nervousness show.

Yoshiko, on the other hand, looked like she was doing nothing. One hand holds a nylon scarf bag, which is probably a box lunch inside. It was indeed as if he had come on an outing, full of spring breeze. The two women were talking harmoniously.

The car drove out of The town of Ito and continued to climb up the mountain road. The higher up, the smaller and lower the town of Ito appears, and the sea of spring with the purple color of Sagami Bay is revealed. Its end merges with the sky.

"Oh, that's great." The female editor innocently exclaimed.

The sea is out of sight. The car gasped as it crossed the peaks of the heavenly city. There were not many passengers in the car, most of them tired of the lonely mountains and scenery, bathed in the warm sunlight coming in through the windows, and closed their eyes to recuperate.

"Hey, get off here." Yoshiko said.

The car was parked in the middle of the mountains. After the three people got out of the car, it shook its white body again and gradually disappeared into the mountains. There are only four or five farmhouses near the station, with undulating mountains on either side.

Yoshiko proposes to play in this nearby mountain first, and then sit down at work or go to Shuzenji Temple in a car after work or after work.

"Try it down this road." Yoshiko pointed to a winding path deep into the forest and said casually, her forehead covered with sweat.

The path was wet everywhere due to the moisture of the spring water. It's still early in the cherry blossom season, but the plum blossoms are already withering. Suffocating silence oppresses the eardrums. Out of nowhere, shotguns rang out.

There is a bush of lush bushes. Only this place is like opening a hole in the forest, and the sun is shining brightly on the grass.

"Just rest here." Yoshiko said. Fujiko Tasaka agreed.

Ryuji Sugimoto looked around for a moment, and he thought, Now that he has entered the depths of the mountain forest. People rarely come here. He imagined the scene in the linyunxia mountain forest.

"Sir, sit down." Yoshiko said. She unwrapped the bag and enthusiastically spread the nylon towel on the floor.

The two women put on handkerchiefs and stuck their feet together on the grass.

"Hungry." The female editor said.

"Eat?" Yoshiko asked.

Both men took out their own meals. Fujiko Tasaka took out a sandwich, and Yoshiko took out sushi (Note: A japanese dim sum unique.) Rice is seasoned with vinegar and salt, then mixed or rolled with fish, vegetables, or seaweed. At the same time, place three bottles of orange juice on the grass.

Fujiko Tasaka put a sandwich in her mouth and said to Yoshiko and Ryuji Sugimoto, "Please eat it." ”

"Thank you."

Yoshiko unceremoniously took a sandwich.

"I bring sushi, I usually eat this, I'm tired of eating it, if you don't want to give up, please."

She handed the small lunch box to Fujiko Tasaka and Ryuji Sugimoto.

"Okay, let's swap."

Without hesitation, Fujiko Tasaka pressed the lunch box, grabbed the sushi with two fingers, and sent it to her mouth. It was too late, it was too soon, and the sushi fell off the fingers and fell to the grass.

"Danger! Tasaka! Ryuji Sugimoto slapped her finger and stood up. The color on the face has changed. "There's poison in there!"

Fujiko Tasaka was stunned and looked at him.

Ryuji Sugimoto stared at Yoshiko Shioda's fading white face. Yoshiko did not avoid his sight, but looked directly at him with a terrible look. There seemed to be fire in her eyes.

"Fangzi, it was you who killed two people in Linyun Gorge with your own hands." It's you who disguise it as a martyrdom. ”

Yoshiko didn't answer, just her lips clenched and trembling. The raised eyebrows make the face scary.

Ryuji Sugimoto became stuttered due to excitement, and he said to Yoshiko, "You asked Shoda Anda Uzumaki and Fukuda Umeko to go to Linyun Gorge on February 18. Poisoned both of them in the way he had just done, and escaped on his own. Leaving behind a pair of corpses that appear to have died of martyrdom, no one will pay attention to the murderer, and the place is exactly the famous place of love death. It's not surprising that people will say, ah, it's love death again. Your intention is to put this matter to rest. ”

Sugi's throat squirmed and he swallowed a mouthful of spit.

Chapter VIII

Yoshiko Shioda did not open her mouth. The female editor's eyes widened. It's really on the verge of erupting.

Gunshots rang out in the distance.

"You've achieved your goal, but there's only one thing left in your mind." Takaharu Sugimoto continued. "That's what happened to the two people who died. Because you ran back after watching the two of them fall, you want to know the result. Otherwise, you are not at ease. What do you think? Right? Most of the murderers have a mentality and want to see the situation at the crime scene afterwards. You read the newspaper instead of going to the scene. You probably want to know the police's judgment that he killed or killed. But the newspapers published in Tokyo may not publish such trivialities in such places, so you subscribe to the local newspapers in the prefecture where Linyunxia is located. This is very clever. However, you make two mistakes. When you signed up for a subscription, you thought you had to appeal to the newspaper, so you wrote that you wanted to see my book", "The Legend of the Wild Thief". Because you are afraid of arousing suspicion, you have written these words redundantly. From this point on, it aroused my suspicions, and another mistake was that you let the newspaper be delivered from the nineteenth. I'll just base this launch on the eighteenth day of the previous day. An investigation, sure enough, that day you rested. I'd like to elaborate on that, but it's probably not necessary for you. Through various imaginations, I think you must have taken the train from Shinjuku at 12:25. The train arrived at K station at 3:10 o'clock, and then prepared to go to Linyun Gorge, when the minister of ×× gave a speech in front of K station. The scene was photographed and published in the newspaper. I thought you must have seen it, so I decided to test you with this picture. ”

Ryuji Sugimoto Mataryo bite spit taste.

"I commissioned somewhere to investigate your relationship with Soda Misaki. I know that there is a connection between you and Sho Tin for a long time. And Shoda and Fukuda Plum are also related. To describe them as martyrdom is not to be doubted. My confidence in my own reasoning is getting stronger and stronger. I deliberately dropped the press photos of the ×× Minister for you to see. He also lied a little. I believe this will make you suspicious. I want you to know that I am testing you, and that is not enough, because I learned of the clothing of the deceased from the news reports, so I asked a young friend to put on similar clothes, take a picture, and show it to you. You probably know I'm testing you. You must be afraid of me, feel fear. Later, it's time to wait for you to come on a date. Sure enough, as expected, you quickly became close to me. Didn't you trick me into coming here today? You asked me to bring a girlfriend because my corpse alone can't be a love death. If Sakata and I ate this sushi, this sushi with potassium cyanide or some other poison, I would choke on the spot. You will quietly leave here, come three, return one, and leave the two martyred corpses in this Oyto Mountain. People will be shocked: cough, other people's things are not clear, I really don't know that those two people have reached the relationship of martyrdom and death. Maybe my wife would kick my ashes into the closet. ”

Suddenly, a burst of laughter erupted. Yoshiko Shioda opened her mouth wide and smiled back and forth.

"Sir." The laughter stopped abruptly, and Yoshiko said sternly, "I am really worthy of being a novelist, and I have made it up too much." Are you saying there's poison in this sushi? ”

"Yes." The novelist answered.

"Really? If so, I'll eat all the sushi in this lunchbox, and you'll see if it's dead or alive. If potassium cyanide is used, it can kill in three or four minutes. If you eat other poisons, you will feel pain. Even if I feel uncomfortable, you don't have to worry. ”

Yoshiko Shioda stupidly took the lunch box from Fujiko Tasaka's hand and took the sushi and brought it to her mouth.

Ryuji Sugimoto held his breath and watched the scene, making no sound, just watching with his eyes.

There are seven or eight sushi cut into the shape of a garden. Yoshiko chewed them one by one and swallowed them. She ate it all up at an alarming rate. Of course, this is a deliberate gamble.

"How's it going? Have you eaten them all? Thanks to you, I have eaten so much. Please wait there and see if I am dead or uncomfortable. ”

With that, she lay down straight on the grass.

The warm sun illuminated her face. She closed her eyes. The yellow warbler was crying. It took a long time. Ryuji Sugimoto and Fujiko Tasaka sat next to each other without saying a word. It took a little longer.

Yoshiko Shioda seemed to be asleep, and her body did not move. But, out of the corner of her eye, a line of tears flowed. Ryuji Sugimoto was about to shout. Just then, she snapped and jumped up, as if bouncing up.

"Ah, it's been ten minutes." She squinted at Takaharu Sugimoto and said, "If it was potassium cyanide, I would have swallowed my breath a long time ago." Other poisons should also react a little. But I'm still bouncing around like this. Well, now you should know the absurdity of your own wild thoughts. Don't say anything too unreasonable. ”

When she finished, she quickly wrapped the empty lunch box and bottle in a nylon towel and stood up from the grass.

"I'm back, goodbye."

After Shioda finished speaking, she strode along the road in the direction of coming. Without any change of firm steps, her back soon disappeared into the woods where the foliage crisscrossed each other.

Chapter IX

A suicide note sent by Yoshiko Shioda to Takaharu Sugimoto.

Mr:

The sins I have committed, as you said, have nothing to correct. It was indeed me who killed those two people in Linyun Gorge. Why kill them, that doesn't seem to be covered in your reasoning, so let me explain at the end.

My husband was captured as a soldier in Manchuria a year before the end of the war. At that time, it was less than half a year after marriage. I loved my husband and heard that at the end of the war, most of the officers and men of Manchuria were taken to Siberia, and it was very sad. However, I believe that as long as he is alive, he will come back one day, and I have been waiting for this day.

The husband always doesn't come back. I've been to Maizuru more than once or twice to greet him, but I've always come back alone. My husband's body has always been healthy, and I believe that one day he will come back, and I am waiting for him alone for a long time. I've changed jobs. It is difficult for a woman to live a comfortable life. My last occupation was as a receptionist, in the Angel bar behind West Ginza.

The profession of a waitress is supported by clothes. I am a man without foreign aid, and I have worked hard to make these clothes. One day, I took out what little I had saved and went to the store to buy clothes. Buy only the appearance of the past, the cheapest clothing. If you buy this, you'll go home right away. But suddenly I wanted to buy a pair of gloves with lace, so I went to the cheap goods store. I looked at a lot of gloves and only bought a pair to put in a shopping bag. Then I went down to a hug, and was about to go out when I was politely stopped by a man. He was a security officer at this store. He said he wanted to look at my shopping bag. He took me to an unnoticed place and took out two pairs of gloves from his bag. One pair is wrapped in wrapping paper, and one pair does not have a store's proof of purchase. I was taken aback. This lightweight thing must have fallen off the sales counter into my shopping bag.

I defended, but the security officer didn't listen at all and put my address and name in the notebook. I was terrified, I was being used as a pickpocket. The man laughed darkly alone. Anyway, I was let go home that day.

But that doesn't end there. Something even more terrible followed. One day, the man came to my apartment. It was just before work. He said that this time the matter was silent according to his opinion. I was very happy, even though it was not on my own volition, and I was relieved to be freed from the shame of this misunderstanding. Because I worry every day. What if you let the people in the bar or apartment know about it. Thinking about this, I simply did not have the courage to live.

You can imagine how the man's actions would change once he caught on a woman like me. I was too cowardly and lacked courage. I lost my resistance to his impositions. The savage, Akatsuki Shoda, has been pestering me ever since. Not only did he need my body, but sometimes even pocket money swept away. Came to the shop, paid for it, and he just finished drinking and left. So I had a lover.

I hate my husband, why not come back sooner. If I came back, I wouldn't have encountered such bad luck. Maybe the opposite, sorry for the husband, is exactly me. I really think so.

Zhuang Tian is a very despicable person, and he can't compare with his husband. Moreover, there are many mistresses. Umeko Fukuda is one of them. He also shamelessly brought Fukuda Umeko to meet me, mostly to incite my jealousy and induce love. I actually fell into this trap to some extent, what kind of psychology was it?

During this time, my husband, who had not heard from him for a long time, wrote to me, saying that he was going to return to China recently. I'm so happy that I'm finally going to get out of the way. But when I think of Shoda, I can't help but be annoyed. I intend to wait for my husband to come back and tell him everything and leave it at his disposal. However, before that, he had to break up with Shoda. I told him about it, and when I asked to break off the relationship, instead of agreeing, he instead aroused lust for me. My murderous intent toward him was caused by this.

The method of killing, as you reasoned. When I suggested that Futian Meiyu go to Linyun Gorge with me, Zhuangtian was happy about this strange outing. Presumably taking two mistresses on an outing would satisfy his perverted pride.

I made an appointment to take the express train from Shinjuku at 12:25, but I deliberately took the ordinary train that had been distributed at 11:32 before this, because I did not want acquaintances to see the three of us together on the train. The train arrived at K station at 2:53 p.m., only ten minutes earlier than the train they were taking. During this time, I ate noodles at the restaurant in front of the station and read the Koshin Daily newspaper, which published your novel. When they met Chuang Tian, who had disembarked from the train, the minister ×× in front of the station was giving a speech.

In the Linyunxia mountain forest, I gave Homemade Cakes with potassium cyanide to Zhuang Tian and Meizi to eat. The two men fell down in the blink of an eye. Later, I packed up the rest of the cake and went home. In this way, the martyrdom corpses were left. It all went well.

I was relieved. This will allow you to settle down and wait for your husband's return. The only thing to worry about is to know the judgment of the oath, and finally whether to regard the bodies of these two people as martyrdom or whether he killed them. So I subscribed to the Koshin Daily that I saw at the restaurant. Use your novel as a reason to subscribe. The results make you suspicious.

I still need a husband anyway. Therefore, this time I plan to get rid of you and kill Shoda by the same method.

However, it was recognized again. You wonder what the sushi in the box is famous for. Actually, I put the poison in the orange juice. I think that when you finish eating sushi and feel thirsty, let you drink the orange juice in one gulp.

That orange juice, I brought back again. I'm not going to waste it, it's going to be drunk....