Tokyo Mystery Writers

Chapter 26 The Unspoken White Language

The story depicted by Maijo Kyosuke this time takes place in the geisha district called "Rokugen-tsuen" in Showa 3 (1928).

Ever since Ichizensong died in the stinking ditch of the red-light district, clutching a bellflower in his hand.

The entire Flower Street was gripped by an atmosphere of fear and unease.

The protagonist of the story, "I," is a young police officer who wears thick round glasses and is very insecure about his appearance.

I joined Detective Hishida as the person in charge of the Ichisen-matsu case and began investigating the case.

Ichikatsu was a well-known figure on the red-light district of "Six Pavilions," where he frequented brothels and was known for his lavish spending.

Given that Ichisen's purse had gone missing, Detective Hishida and I suspected that the money was the culprit.

The investigation also revealed that on the day he died, Ichikatsu visited a brothel called "Shofu-kan".

"Shofukan" was an extremely dilapidated brothel with appalling hygiene. When Detective Hishida and I arrived there, the proprietress was extremely rude.

But when they heard we were police officers, they turned to a fawning expression.

The entire "Shofukan" had only two maids responsible for receiving guests. The woman who received Ichisen on the day of the incident was named Changzi.

At the same time, the girl who was receiving guests in the room next to Changzi's was named Suzue.

Suzue's room reeked of a foul odor. Although she looked quite young, she wore a faded purple dress that was a size too big for her, and her face always had a panicked expression, making her seem rather pitiful.

The guest Suzue received that day was named Fukumura, a puppeteer.

Fukumura gave Suzue a lot of dolls, which were piled up in Suzue's room like corpses, looking gloomy and strange.

Detective Hishida and I learned that Ichisenmatsu had 500 yen with him that day, which was a large sum of money in the second year of Showa (1934).

Fukumura and Ichisensho happened to leave "Shofukan" one after the other, and the five hundred dollars that Ichisensho was carrying also disappeared!

Detective Hishida and I naturally believed that Fukumura was the real culprit who murdered Ichikenmatsu!

The most important piece of evidence was not the purse, but rather what Detective Hishida discovered: in Suzue's room, there was a cup with very murky water inside.

That was the simple vase that Suzue used to hold bellflowers. After Fukumura left, the bellflowers disappeared.

I followed Detective Hishida out of "Shofukan" and looked up to see Suzue's balcony, where many bellflowers were growing.

I looked at the bellflowers on the second floor and felt that those flowers might be Suzue's only solace in living in the rotten room.

This is my second encounter with bellflowers.

The third time we met, I wasn't a police officer, but a guest.

It was a bit strange to say I was a guest, so I simply took off my thick round glasses and fooled the proprietress into entering Suzue's room.

Because I want to talk to Suzue alone about the details of the case that day, especially the bellflower that Ichisen was holding.

Suzue didn't seem surprised by my arrival and immediately started undressing. Although I paid her, I wouldn't have sex with Suzue.

Ultimately, I felt sorry for this girl because she reminded me of someone I had met before.

When I was little, I often played with my neighbor's older sister, Sachiko.

Unfortunately, Sachiko came from a poor background. She had rough hands like a man, and when she reached a certain age, her parents sold her to a traveling merchant.

Even after many years, the scene of Sachiko leaving the earthen embankment remains vivid in my mind.

I chased after her, and she just smiled and waved at me. I knew she had been sold to a sad place, but there was nothing I could do.

I don't know what happened to Sachiko afterward, but that smile, the last portrait of Sachiko, is deeply imprinted in my heart.

Therefore, when faced with Suzue, who is about the same age as Sachiko, I always hope to pull her out of the mire and make up for the regret of not being able to protect Sachiko.

Suzue and I talked a lot in the room. I learned that she was sold here for some reason and had no idea about the future because the redemption fee was 500 yuan, and the longer she stayed, the more she would owe.

I expressed my pity for her, but whenever I mentioned bellflowers, Suzue would ask me if I wanted to sleep, which I refused. Instead, she said I was just as strange as Fukumura.

Every time Fukumura comes here, he does nothing but fidget with paper, set off fireworks, or perform puppet shows for her.

But then she said that she was different from Fukumura, but she didn't explain exactly how she was different before falling asleep.

I looked at her innocent sleeping face and listened to her peaceful breathing.

Thinking that Fukumura might have killed Ichisenmatsu and stolen 500 yen because he wanted to pull Suzue out of her misery because of her innocent sleeping face, he realized that Fukumura might have killed Ichisenmatsu.

After all, that was five hundred yen. Unless you robbed someone, no ordinary person could come up with that amount of money in the second year of Showa.

As the morning bell rang and I was about to leave my room, Suzue suddenly called out to me.

I turned around and saw Suzue looking hesitant.

But when I asked her what was wrong, she shook her head and turned her face away.

I didn't know what Suzue wanted to say, and I couldn't bear to look at her pitiful appearance any longer, so I turned and left.

Time flies, and more than half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

The suspect identified by the police, Fukumura, has yet to be apprehended.

In order to investigate where Fukumura went, I went to "Shofukan" twice more.

I didn't see Suzue on either of my two visits because I went during the day.

Although I once went to "Shofukan" by myself.

But all I could see was the red light shining from the second-floor window, which turned the bellflowers on the balcony red.

About a month had passed since Ichizane's death when news of Fukumura arrived unexpectedly.

But by then, he was already a corpse, lying in the same ditch as Yiqiansong, holding a pure white bellflower in his hand!

I was quite surprised to see the bellflower, so I went to visit "Shofukan" again with Detective Hishida.

As expected, I saw Suzue again, but I don't know if she was deliberately avoiding me or had completely forgotten me? She didn't look at me even once.

The investigation yielded no results, and we still don't know who killed Fukumura.

When I left "Shofukan", my shoelaces came undone. I tied them and was about to leave when...

But then I noticed something brush past my face and fall at my feet.

I lifted my foot, and although the thing was flattened by my foot, I could still clearly see that it was a bellflower.

I looked up at the building and found myself right below Suzue's window, but her curtains were drawn and there was no one in sight.

I took a step forward, and then another one fell down.

It was obvious without even thinking that Suzue, who was hiding behind the curtains, had deliberately thrown these flowers at me.

Perhaps I'm just too dense, but I only thought that Suzue wanted to tell me the truth about the case.

But they completely failed to understand Suzue's inarticulate white language...

Jiang Liu Meili was deeply moved by Mai Shiro Kyosuke's poignant writing, and naturally stopped mentioning what happened in the hot spring.

Looking at the two remaining pages of manuscript in his hand, he found it hard to bear reading them.

Because I clearly remember that Maijo Kyosuke once said at the dinner table that this story was based on the seventh girl of the Yaoya.

Therefore, the final outcome is bound to be bitter and regrettable.