Chapter 4 | Contents | Chapter 6
No matter how sleepy I was, breakfast was to be provided at the fixed time, as per the hospital regulations. Today’s breakfast was natto and dried horse mackerel. My mind was on Osanai-san’s message card as I moved my chopsticks.
Osanai-san had written that something was seriously wrong. Indeed, something strange was going on.
I’d been run over by a car coming from downstream, and it had fled to the north. It was a straight road, with no intersections, and no points to make a U-turn. The embankment road would first come into contact with a normal road in approximately nine kilometers, where the culprit would finally be able to escape from that straight road.
The road’s structure should not have changed from what it was three years ago. Thus the perpetrator’s car must have been caught on the surveillance camera of the Nanatsuya Town Store that Osanai-san and I had visited at night.
Yet Osanai-san said that it was not shown in the video footage. Could the “camera” in her message refer to something other than the one I had in mind? That didn’t seem possible.
So the car that hit me had disappeared–
But I was not surprised by this unusual situation. I was stumped and dumbfounded, and I couldn’t pull myself to believe Osanai-san’s message, but it was not because the car had not been caught on the security camera.
It was because this was not the first time it happened.
The nurse with very short hair brought my breakfast tray away, and before long, I heard a knock on the door. As soon as I replied, a rough voice flew in.
“Good morning. How are you holding up today?”
Mabuchi-san seemed to be in great spirits as well. Today’s rehabilitation started.
I’d heard that rehabilitation is tough, with some describing it as a hellish experience, but mine was focused on the hip joint and knee joint. I wouldn’t say that it was a piece of cake, but it was at a level where I could endure the pain and exhaustion. In fact, since I could only stay in bed all day, this period of time where I got to move my body was one that I looked forward to.
Mabuchi-san had big fingers which were directly proportional to his large frame, but his guidance and assistance in rehabilitation were very delicate. Whenever I moved my joints in accordance to the instructions given, he would praise me in an almost exaggerated manner.
“Good, good job. If you can move like that, you’ll be able to walk with no problems. I’m looking forward to your recovery.”
However, Miyamuro-sensei had said that it would take six months for me to fully recover. Until then, would this lifestyle of lying in bed and doing rehabilitation continue on?
I noticed that there was a plaster on the back of Mabuchi-san’s right hand. It was a square, relatively large plaster, and it was not there the day before. While moving my leg according to his instructions, I asked out of curiosity.
“Did you injure your hand?”
Mabuchi-san laughed in an embarrassed manner and hit the plaster with his left hand.
“Yeah, sort of. I got scratched by a cat.”
The fact that he’d given me the reason before being asked about it caught my attention, and I was curious about the plaster that seemed big for a cat scratch. I could have let the matter go, but I asked an unnecessary question.
“Was it perhaps a cat that was standing on two legs?”
Mabuchi-san sank into silence. I couldn’t even get off the bed, and the physiotherapist had a big frame, like that of a wrestler. The silence felt uncomfortable.
However, he immediately returned to his cheerful self.
“It was just a cat.”
We then focused on the rehabilitation. Eventually, the program for today ended, and Mabuchi-san left the room saying, “Get well soon.”
As a replacement, the cleaner came into the room with an “Excuse me.” It was the same aging man as the one who came into my room every day, and since he was so dexterous, I thought I would only see him in a posture of leaning forward as he mopped the floor.
But the man sticking his mop under my bed suddenly raised his body. I could see “Yamasato” written on his name tag.
In his hand was some dekopon skin. It must have fallen to the ground without me noticing when I was having breakfast the day before. He looked at me expressionlessly and asked.
“Did you eat that today?”
I answered honestly.
“No, I ate it yesterday at breakfast.”
Upon hearing my response, Yamasato-san grimaced with regret.
“I am so sorry.”
I wondered why he was saying that, and realized that he was apologizing for not cleaning up trash that had been dropped yesterday, before the day was over.
“No, it’s fine.”
Rather than being dissatisfied, I was in fact ashamed that I’d dropped that dekopon skin on the floor. I did not exchange any words with Yamasato-san beyond that, and he continued with his cleaning as per usual.
When he was done he said, “Excuse me” as he exited the room. Rather than being directed at me, that apology probably came out because he couldn’t forgive himself for his negligence.
After Yamasato-san left, it was the usual nurse’s turn to enter. I sure was having a roaring business today. This time, she pushed in a big wagon. Towels, sheets and all sorts of other things loaded onto it, but a blue plastic bucket had the strongest presence. I was wondering what was about to happen, when the nurse spoke.
“Today’s bed bath will include hair washing.”
Hair washing!
So I would have my hair washed even when I couldn’t get off the bed? The sentiment of wanting to dance surged through me before the question of how that would be done came to mind. Strangely enough, now that I’d been told I would be having my hair washed, I felt as though I’d been enduring an itch on my hair for a long time.
The nurse deftly placed a towel under my head. I also cooperated by tilting my head and slowly rolling around as instructed. The towel felt stiff, so there might be some waterproof object held between its folds.
The next thing brought out by the nurse was a strange instrument that looked like a gigantic washbowl. It was made of rubber and round like a swim ring, but its bottom was closed. I was wondering what it would be used for, when the nurse placed my head on that tool’s brim. It was apparently a washbasin that could be used on a bed.
My neck was then wrapped in the towel, probably to prevent water from seeping into my lapel. It was tightly wrapped, and for a moment I found it difficult to breathe. I thought of putting in a word of protest, but the nurse noticed my pain and loosened the towel.
“Right, let’s begin.”
It seemed to be a system where hot water in one bucket would be used to wash my hair, and that used water would then flow through some sort of rubber pipe to be deposited into another bucket. The nurse’s hair washing was not as skilled as that of a barber’s, and her method of pressing and scrubbing my scalp was honestly quite painful, but I didn’t feel like complaining at all. Being able to have my hair washed while I laid sideways was something that I wouldn’t even dream of.
“Thank you.”
Those words naturally came to my mouth.
After my hair was washed, the usual bed bath followed. My damp hair, along with the parts of my skin that were wiped by the wet towel became faintly warm at first, but eventually cooled by the loss of heat from evaporation. Pushing the heavy-looking wagon, the nurse left the room.
– The room became quiet.
While there was someone in the room or something for me to do, I could forget the past.
But now I was alone, my consciousness leapt back to the past again. Like trying to scratch off a scab, I recalled the events of three years ago, about the video that didn’t show something that should be shown. After popping today’s chocolate bonbon – vanilla-flavored – into my mouth, I opened my notebook and picked up my pen.
The day after we obtained the security camera footage from Asoya-san, we rendevzoused in school. In the end, that was the only location we could think of where the two of us could meet.
As I thought, there were clubs doing their activities in school on Saturday. The Soccer Club was running around the athletic grounds, and I could intermittently hear some high-pitched creaking sounds coming from the gymnasium. Some people were either repeatedly dashing about while wearing rubber-soled shoes, or scraping something as part of a game.
The school building was also unlocked. We’d decided to meet in class 3-4 based on the optimistic assumption that no one would enter. I was the first to reach the classroom, and Osanai-san arrived before a minute had passed. Like yesterday, she was carrying her large black bag on her shoulders. She retrieved a notebook computer and an AC adapter from that bag, then chose a seat close to an electrical outlet.
We’d managed to obtain the footage through Osanai-san’s connections and negotiating ability, but now it was my turn to take the spotlight. There must be some clue in that video, and finding it would be… well, not exactly difficult, in my opinion.
Osanai-san dispassionately proceeded with the preparations.
“The battery is sufficiently full, so I don’t think we need to plug it in.”
“Let’s begin, then.”
Osanai-san sat in front of the notebook, and I stood next to her, with my hands on the desk and my face close to the monitor.
She booted up the computer and clicked on the file titled, “6.7.17:00”. In almost no time at all, the video appeared on the screen. It had no sound, but had a time display that read “17:00” at the bottom of the window and showed the convenience store’s car park in the foreground, with the T-junction and the road that follows from that point in the background. It was at exactly the same angle as the video that Asoya-san had shown us in the office of Nanatsuya Town Store.
In the video, the traffic light at the embankment road was on red, and four cars were waiting for the signal to change. The traffic volume was not very high, although we still didn’t know if that was because it was still early for the evening rush hour, or if that was simply by chance.
While the camera captured cars entering the embankment road from diagonally in front, allowing us to view the license plates and even the face outlines of the drivers, it crucially only showed the rear ends of vehicles exiting the embankment road. It was difficult to say that the camera had the best angle, but it was enough to identify the cars. I gave a suggestion.
“Shouldn’t be skip to the six-minute mark? Fujidera-kun said that the accident occurred at 17:06.”
But Osanai-san did not agree.
“When I jumped down from the embankment road and checked my watch, it was 17:08. If we don’t know which time is correct, I don’t think we should skip ahead.”
While it was a reason I could agree with, the possibility of the culprit being there at exactly 5pm was zero. Osanai-san sped up the video. The cars traveling on the road appeared and disappeared in an instant, but it wasn’t so fast that we would miss any of them.
A few minutes passed like this. Not many cars entered the convenience store parking area. Cars could not enter from the normal road, so this convenience store’s location was not really fortunate. That said, there was a fair amount of people going into the parking area, either by bicycle or on foot.
The number at the bottom of the window turned to 17:06, then 17:08. Hisaka-kun had been run over nine kilometers downstream a short while ago if Fujidera-kun’s watch was correct, or just now if Osanai-san’s watch was correct. The sky-blue wagon car stopped for a moment before fleeing the scene, when it almost ran into Osanai-san, causing her to jump off the embankment road, fall into the pool of water and drop her vocabulary book.
How long would it take for the sky-blue car to show up on the screen? I tried doing some calculations in my head.
“If the car drove away at 80 kilometers per hour, it should appear in about seven minutes.”
On the other hand, if the culprit had slowed down to 60 kilometers per hour immediately after fleeing the scene, which was suspect when they’d just driven away recklessly, they would reach the camera’s angle in nine minutes. Osanai-san and I continued looking at the monitor. Cars appeared and disappeared one after another.
The time display number went to 12, then to 13. In the video, vehicles that were not sky-blue in color or wagon cars came and went. The number increased to 14, and 15. 17:15. If the accident happened at 17:08, it wouldn’t be strange for the car to arrive soon. As I looked on slightly agitatedly, the number went up to 16, then 17. The only vehicles to appear were regular passenger cars. There were some wagon car, but they were the wrong color. Some blue cars passed through, but none of them were wagon cars.
When the number went to 19, I muttered.
“…It’s late.”
The number changed again to 20.
I did some mental calculations again. If the car was going at only 45 kilometers per hour, it would pass in front of the camera at a little past 17:20. However, on the embankment road where it is easy to pick up speed, traveling at 45 kilometers per hour would probably be on the slow side. Did the culprit turn over a new leaf after Hisaka-kun, and start striving towards driving safely?
The number changed again. It kept increasing while I thought that it was too slow to be possible, and eventually reached 28.
Even if the hit-and-run occurred at 17:08, twenty minutes had already passed. If the car moved nine kilometers in twenty minutes, its speed had to be maintained at roughly 27 kilometers per hour. The traffic volume captured by the camera was not that large, but cars still passed by endlessly. If a car was traveling at 27 kilometers per hour on that road, the cars behind it would be lined up like a long snake.
Osanai-san had not said a word, but when the minute number in the window increased to 38, she stopped the video.
“…There’s no way it would take thirty minutes to travel nine kilometers.”
“I agree.”
At that moment, it struck me. Was Osanai-san already aware that the car in question wouldn’t show up on the video?
“You watched it by yourself last night, right?”
Osanai-san did not try to hide it.
“Yup.”
“Did you watch it till the end?”
“I did. I also watched footage from another angle.”
Blue cars had come by, and so had some wagon cars. However…
“But a blue wagon car wasn’t shown on either video. Is that correct?”
Osanai-san did not affirm my query, but murmured.
“Something is seriously wrong.”
“Perhaps we missed it.”
“That shouldn’t be possible… I think.”
Unexpectedly, she wasn’t very articulate on that point.
Of course, it was difficult to think that me, of all people, would strain my eyes and pay rapt attention to the monitor without a complaint, and still completely overlook the car we were searching for. If I had in fact missed it, there was only one possibility.
“If so, the car wasn’t sky-blue in color.”
Osanai-san immediately answered.
“It was blue. I saw it.”
Regarding the car’s color, it wasn’t only Osanai-san, but Hisaka-kun and Fujidera-kun had also given testimony that it was a blueish color. To be precise, Hisaka-kun had said that it was sky-blue, and Fujidera-kun had said that it was light aqua. They’d delivered that testimony to the police, who probably made a statement to the press, so the newspapers had naturally written that it was a “blue car”.
Osanai-san continued.
“But I have no confidence if it was a wagon car.”
I thought for a moment. The information that the culprit’s vehicle was a wagon car had not been published in the newspapers, but had been told to me by Hisaka-kun and Fujidera-kun. Was it possible that they were both mistaken?
“…No, it’s definitely a wagon.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because the car that was heading straight for him was flat in front, Hisaka-kun did this.”
I put up the boxing guard that Hisaka-kun had shown me before.
“He took a defensive stance that covered his face and chest. As a result, he suffered internal bleeding in his arm after getting struck by the car, but didn’t get such a big injury in his legs. If he’d gotten hit by a vehicle that wasn’t a wagon car, his legs would have been hit first, and he wouldn’t have gotten away with such a light injury.”
But not one blue light wagon car was shown on the video footage. We couldn’t even find an ordinary private vehicle with a white license plate that was a blue wagon.
– Why was it that something that should have been caught on camera did not appear?
Osanai-san had assured me that the car that ran into Hisaka-kun could only go upstream, and would have to pass the T-junction in front of the convenience store. But the facts ran contrary to that.
“Basically, it wasn’t captured by the camera, as I thought. If so…
I started, and Osanai-san nodded.
“I know what you’re trying to say. I know that the embankment road is a straight road that cannot be escaped from, but it’s natural for you to doubt that. I don’t mind. Or rather…”
She looked at the monitor again, then pursed her lips, as if she’d spotted her mortal enemy in the laptop computer.
“But when confronted with such a result, I also think that I might be mistaken.”
I was a little surprised by that statement.
“I don’t think you were mistaken.”
Osanai-san probably hadn’t expected that, for she peered intently at me.
“What do you think, then?”
“I think both your observation and the video’s result are the truth.”
“But they contradict each other.”
“That’s why…”
I grinned.
“There should be a hidden byroad. A secret path that one car can pass through is quite interesting. Let’s look for it.”
“Take care.”
“…Are you not coming?”
I asked, and Osanai-san pointed at herself.
“Eh? Me too?”
“I thought we’d be going together.”
It was apparently something she hadn’t considered. Seemingly deliberating my suggestion, she nodded a few times while looking at the monitor before finally smiling a little.
“Yup. I’ll go.”
“Ah, what about your computer?”
“I’ll collect it later. I know a good hiding spot which can’t be found.”
Osanai-san flipped the monitor down, told me to wait for a moment, then left the classroom in a small trot. Saying that her hiding spot couldn’t be found made me want to look for it, but solving the mystery of the embankment road came first.
A car disappeared from a long stretch of road… that was the very definition of a closed room, and there was definitely a hole in that enormous, nine-kilometer-long closed room.
Left alone in that classroom, I couldn’t suppress my laughter. I would be the one to find that hole.
We stood on the embankment road after descending from Togou Bridge via the dog-leg stairs.
I hadn’t noticed while I was in school, but today’s weather was not very good. Then again, while we were in the rainy season, it didn’t seem like it would rain soon. Since direct sunlight was being blocked, you could even call it a perfect day for conducting an investigation. First, we headed south, with the location where Hisaka-kun got run over as our destination.
Osanai-san was carrying a small tote bag. She hadn’t been carrying it earlier, so it had probably been stored in her laptop bag in its folded form. Now, she was crouching down on the pavement and staring at the asphalt. Thanks to the lack of rainfall since the accident, the skid marks had remained in their original state. A car would pass us every now and then.
Seemingly having nothing more to gain from the skid marks, Osanai-san stood up, a glum expression on her face.
We moved slightly upstream. There was nothing left at that spot, but Osanai-san stopped and looked down at the slope facing the city. The berm below that had grass growing on it no longer held any pockets of water.
“I picked up your vocabulary book over there.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, I haven’t asked up till now, but did you get injured?”
Osanai-san placed a hand on her lips and let out a chuckle.
“Come to think of it, you’re right. You haven’t asked about it, and I haven’t spoken about it. How terrible.”
Did that apply to me, or Osanai-san? Or perhaps she was referring to the both of us.
“It was painful when I fell, but I didn’t get any injuries.”
“That’s good to hear.”
We studied the spot where Osanai-san had fallen for a few moments, but as expected, there was nothing that particularly caught our eye. I looked downstream, the opposite direction to where the convenience store was located.
“What’s in that direction?”
Osanai-san immediately answered, apparently having done the research.
“Inaba Bridge, which is less than one kilometer away.”
“Is it an underpass?”
I asked using the term I’d just learned.
“No, it’s a junction with traffic lights, and it intersects with a normal road.”
“So you can get to a normal road even if you go downstream. Are there any surveillance cameras on the way?”
Osanai-san lightly shook her head.
“There’s a conspicuous camera at the traffic junction, but I can’t get my hands on the footage…”
Frustrating as it was, if the camera was installed on the traffic light, it most likely belonged to the police. There was no way we could obtain such data. That said, given that we’d already denied the possibility of the culprit making a U-turn, it was meaningless information at present.
We turned around and looked upstream. Our inspection of the nine-kilometer stretch until the point where the embankment road meets the normal road would now begin. We returned by the way we came and pressed forward.
The pavement ended under Togou Bridge. There was no road shoulder whatsoever, and there was no way to walk on the crest. We had no choice but to descend to either the river-side or city-side berm. We were prohibited from walking on the berms by our school, but let’s forget about that today. If we could catch the culprit who ran over my classmate, it would be worth the price of breaking such a minor rule.
“Which berm did you walk on the day of the accident, Osanai-san? City-side or river-side?”
Actually, “city-side” and “river-side” were terms that I’d unilaterally coined – I believe the correct terms are “exposed face” and “landward face” – but Osanai-san did not get confused.
“River-side. You can see if the city-side berm links to any normal roads from the map.”
She had a point, but there could still be some unexpected exits.
To verify with certainty that this closed room, the embankment road, had no escape routes, it was necessary for us to thoroughly check through the berms of both sides. There were two of us now, so naturally, we should split up.
“Right. I’ll walk along the river-side berm, so how about you take the city-side berm? We’ll contact each other by phone if we find anything.”
Seemingly not having any objections, Osanai-san nodded.
Osanai-san walked towards the staircase built on the embankment’s slope and went down to the city-side berm. As for me, I crossed to the other side of the road while carefully looking out for cars, then descended to the river-side berm. I immediately received a message from Osanai-san.
“Ready?”
Imitating her, I gave a short reply.
“Let’s go.”
Thus the two of us walked on separately, in the opposite direction that Hisaka-kun had taken on the day of his accident.
The city-side slope had only grass growing on it, but the river-facing side was completely made up of concrete, with no gaps in between. If Osanai-san had fallen on this side, it would have been a lot different from falling onto grass, and she wouldn’t have come out of it with just a scratch.
Cars went back and forth above my head. On the other side of the road, Osanai-san should be moving towards the convenience store as well.
Since the slope was quite steep, I couldn’t imagine it would be possible for a car to use it to descend. Forcing a car down such a slope could cause it to flip and lead to a big accident. Osanai-san had said something along those lines, and I was now beginning to realize how true it was.
I turned my eyes to look at the Inaba River flowing beside me.
The river was swelling. Cloudy water was slowly running downstream, but the river was wider than usual, and the riverbed was filled to the halfway point. Conversely, even with the water level rising so high, the embankment still had enough room, and I didn’t feel any danger of the water reaching me while I was walking on the berm. Even so, I couldn’t deny being a little fearful after seeing the flow of such a large amount of water.
After crossing the Togou River (an underpass!), I continued walking for ten to twenty minutes. Since there were obviously no buildings on top of the river, I was treated to a great view. The clouds of early summer were wide, and I could see a mountain range in the distance.
There was one thing I’d learned. The embankment road was narrow, and it felt especially so when there was no footpath. It wouldn’t be easy for a car to park at the side of the road, let alone make a U-turn. If the culprit had stopped their car on this road, the police would have definitely found it during their pursuit after the accident.
My mobile phone vibrated. It was an incoming call from Osanai-san.
“Hello.”
“Did you find anything?”
“No. If the culprit’s car slid down the slope on this side, some grass would have flaked off. But there are no such marks here.”
“I see. As for this side, it’s exactly as you said. It’s impossible for a car to go down this slope.”
“Right?”
“I wasn’t doubting you, but should I say I’m sorry for doubting you?”
A brief pause followed.
“…I didn’t call to hear that.”
I was certain that she’d called because there was no change in the situation and she had nothing else to do, but she apparently had some business with me.
“I wanted to thank you one more time.”
I had no idea what Osanai-san was talking about. Keeping silent, I let her continue. Her tone of voice seemed to be even more blunt than ever.
“Kobato-kun, you said that you believed my observation that the car must have passed in front of Nanatsuya Town Store.”
“Did I really believe it? In the end, we came here to check for holes.”
“I think that’s only natural since the car didn’t actually show up on the video. Yet you didn’t immediately write off my observation as nonsense, and thought that it could still be correct, only that there is a hidden escape path.”
Why was she stating the obvious?
“Well, I didn’t have any reason to think that it was just nonsense.”
“There is, and it’s because I’m small.”
What was she saying now? I moved my phone to my other hand.
“…Is that related at all?”
Osanai-san replied mirthfully, as if she was laughing.
“Very related. The fact that I look like I’m in elementary school is reason enough to not believe anything that I see or hear.”
“That just sounds irrational.”
“Yup.”
I couldn’t understand. Did Osanai-san call me to pass the time, as I’d assumed?
Directly ahead was a slope for getting down to the riverbed from the embankment road.
“I see a slope.”
I vocalized what I could see, and Osanai-san replied.
“I’ll go over to you.”
The slope extended from the embankment road to the riverbed, cutting horizontally through the berm.
It was properly paved, and had a gentle incline. There was a thick growth of some creepers I didn’t know the name of at the riverbed.
“It’s a path for people who want to hang out at the riverbank, I believe.”
I suggested, prompting Osanai-san to give a somewhat cold reply.
“I think it’s for the people who manage the river.”
Come to think of it, that was probably the correct answer.
A chain was put up at the slope’s entrance. Each side of the entrance had a metal pole installed, and the chain extended from one pole to the other, where it was fastened. A padlock was even used so it wouldn’t come undone. While the chain was quite rusty, it was also fairly thick, and seemed unlikely to break. As long as this chain wasn’t broken through, it would be absolutely impossible for a car to get down to the riverbed via the slope.
Noticing something written on one of the poles, I drew my face closer to it.
“Locked during river swelling period. Inaba River Management Office.”
Osanai-san also crouched next to me.
“When I saw this, the chain was up.”
“It was also padlocked, right?”
“Yup. I wondered if the padlock was just for show and tried pulling on it, but it didn’t come off.”
I hadn’t thought of pulling on it. Trying to hide my chagrin at having been outdone in terms of attention to detail, I tugged at the padlock, but all I got in return was heavy resistance.
Reading the text written on the pole gave me the impression that the chain would automatically go up whenever the river swelled, but I couldn’t find an automatic device in the vicinity. Placing a hand on the pole, I stood up.
“Someone will come over to pull up the chain when the river swells, right?”
Still crouching, Osanai-san nodded, then tilted her head quizzically.
“With the key to that padlock, the perpetrator would be able to descend to the riverbed from this slope, wait for things to cool down, then make a U-turn and exit the embankment road without getting caught on the security camera. Is that what you’re thinking, Kobato-kun?”
“Is it not possible?”
“In other words, the person who almost hit me… and ran over Hisaka-kun was the person in charge of the key at the River Management Office?”
“If there is no doubt that the culprit used this slope, they would be the only person who could use it.”
Osanai-san had an unconvinced look on her face, so I lifted up a finger and continued.
“Let us assume that the perpetrator of the hit-and-run was indeed the person in charge of the keys at the River Management Office. When the Inaba River swelled, the path to the riverbed was locked – or the culprit came here to lock it. That person was driving on the embankment road in the sky-blue wagon car when they caused that accident. Not only did they ditch their responsibility to aid the injured, but also fled the scene and used the key they happened to have in their possession for job-related purposes to enter the slope. On that day, the riverbed was flooded to the point that the water level almost reached the top of the embankment, right?”
Osanai-san nodded.
“So they did not drive to the riverbed. Instead, they used the slope to make a U-turn, locked the chain again, then returned to the accident scene, where the police were alternating traffic on a single lane and conducting an on-the-spot investigation. However, the culprit was lucky and passed through without being questioned by the police. After that, they escaped to the city.”
“Do you really think that was what happened?”
I shrugged.
“The most difficult question to answer regarding this bit of logic is why the culprit was so unwilling to drive straight ahead. By doing that, they would be captured on the security cameras of Nanatsuya Town Store. Was the River Manager Office staff aware of that, and thought it to be more of a risk compared to returning to the crime scene which would be teeming with police officers? …That doesn’t sound very plausible. But with every other possibility disappearing, that’s all we’re left with.”
Osanai-san clamped her lips and looked down. She was probably a little irked. I gave an excuse, just in case.
“It’s not that I’m playing around with theories. I’m simply considering the possibilities.”
“While you seem to be having fun.”
“Not really. I’m just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.”
Osanai-san said nothing more, then returned to the berm assigned to her. I also returned to the river-side berm.
Following the snaking Inaba River, the embankment continuously curved round and round. To borrow Osanai-san’s words, it can be considered a straight path in concept.
One hour after we set off, the river-side berm disappeared.
To be precise, the berm did continue, but the sloped portion was so buried in creepers that I wouldn’t be able to advance even one meter without a lawn mower. I immediately understood why the plants started growing so rampantly. From this point on, the berm wasn’t protected by concrete, so the plants could grow as much as they wanted.
Osanai-san had walked here on the day of the accident, so she should have experienced being unable to progress on the berm. I whipped out my phone and typed out a message.
“I can’t progress due to the plants, so I’ll join you.”
I moved up to the crest and waited for traffic to cease before crossing the road. The river-side berm was filled with plants, but the city-side one was actually paved, to my surprise. It was clearly fitted for people to walk on. I looked around for Osanai-san to find her solitary standing figure about a hundred meters ahead. A little unexpectedly, she waited there while I caught up to her in a small jog.
While the sky was cloudy, Osanai-san had been walking in the early summer sun, so she’d broken out in a bit of a sweat. Feeling quite sweaty myself, I wiped some of it off with a pocket handkerchief. Osanai-san took a PET bottle filled with water out of her tote bag.
“Here.”
“For me?”
I inadvertently blurted out a foolish line. There was no one else besides me and Osanai-san.
The PET bottle already had its seal peeled off, and its contents slightly decreased. I was wondering if I should drink from it, when she reached into her tote bag again and brought out a paper cup this time. After gratefully accepting it, I looked her full in the face.
“…You’re very well-prepared.”
Osanai-san looked down a little and lightly smiled, apparently embarrassed.
I gratefully gulped down the cup of water before immediately asking her a question.
“The berm here is well-fitted. How far back was it like this?”
“About a kilometer.”
“Could a car drive on this?”
Osanai-san shook her head.
“A gentle slope from the city comes up to this berm, but there’s a bumper curb, so cars can’t enter.”
Basically, this furnished berm was connected to the urban area, but not connected to the embankment road. As I thought, it couldn’t be used as an escape route by the culprit.
I gazed at the urban area. It looked to be an old town, with buildings that looked like they’d been constructed more than twenty or thirty years ago. A sign read, “Nobori Hata Noren”, but was it for a shop, or for a factory? While looking at the houses with tiled roofs and corrugated iron roofs, as well as chimneys that seemed to take the form of a sooty H, the two of us walked along the berm.
A man riding a bicycle approached us from the front, so I moved in front of Osanai-san to let him pass. When I returned to her side, she asked.
“What kind of a person is Hisaka-kun?”
I thought for a moment.
“Hisaka Shoutarou. He’s tall, doesn’t look very muscular, and is the Badminton Club’s ace.”
Osanai-san nodded while still facing forward, then turned to look at me after a moment.
“That’s all?”
“Not exactly, but… I don’t remember him doing anything to stand out during the Sports Festival or the Cultural Festival. Of course, he can do sports since he’s the ace of his club, but it didn’t seem like he was trying to do any self-promotion.”
“So he’s modest. Anything else?”
“That’s all I know.”
Osanai-san’s eyes slightly widened. After facing forward and collecting herself, she changed the direction of her questioning.
“You’ve visited Hisaka-kun in the hospital. Tell me in detail about that.”
“How detailed, exactly?”
“Down to every breath.”
That much was definitely impossible, but I went through my recollections and told her about the visit in as much detail as I could remember.
How some people in my class also visited Hisaka-kun, but I didn’t join them.
How it occurred to me that I should pay Hisaka-kun a visit, and how I was in a dilemma of whether to pick some flowers since I hadn’t prepared a get-well gift.
And how Hisaka-kun was in room 403 of the hospital.
As I expounded on those topics in that order, Osanai-san listened wordlessly from start to finish.
When I finished telling her all I knew, she followed up with another question.
“What’s your relationship with the second-year student Fujidera-kun?”
“None at all. I just heard from my classmate Ushio-kun that this second-year student, Fujidera Makoto, had witnessed the hit-and-run accident. I didn’t even know their gender.”
“So, tell me about your conversation with Fujidera-kun.”
After asking that question, she looked directly at me and added.
“In detail.”
I was starting to feel a little bored looking down at the cityscape while walking, and talking was certainly a good distraction. Putting my hands behind my head, I traversed my memories and spoke in detail, as requested, about how I went into each classroom checking if Fujidera Makoto was present. How I eventually found Fujidera-kun, and had a conversation with him during the lunch break.
How he initially did not speak proactively, but after I mentioned that I was a classmate of Hisaka-kun and said that I couldn’t forgive the person who injured my classmate, he started telling me all sorts of things.
And finally, how he told me that there was a female student who almost got run over. Osanai-san did not raise an eyebrow even though I’d just brought her up as a subject in my story.
“When the break ended, so did my conversation with Fujidera-kun.”
After I wrapped up the recount, Osanai-san continued walking for a moment, then unexpectedly tilted her head. Did she think some points of the story to be dubious?
“What’s the matter?”
But she put on a difficult face and gave a short reply.
“I don’t know.”
“What about?”
“Uh…”
It seemed that she didn’t know what was confusing her.
A big bridge came into view overhead. It was built on top of the embankment, and we were currently passing under it. Looking up, I could see a gigantic steel frame, as the sounds of moving cars and the vibrations they caused were transmitted to my ears. After passing the bridge and going out under the sky again, the convenience store we’d talked extensively about, Nanatsuya Town Store, came into view.
By walking nine kilometers from where the accident occurred, we’d confirmed that there was no way for the culprit to escape from the embankment road other than passing through the T-junction in front of that convenience store.
In other words, all we’d done was to corroborate information that we already knew. Was the two hours we’d spent just a waste of time?
No, that wasn’t it. Now that we’d confirmed that there was no way out of the embankment road, there was only one way that would allow the culprit to avoid getting seen by the security cameras.
In my view, this could be solved with just a few minutes of observation.
I stretched my legs by swinging them in one corner of the parking area.
Walking a distance like this normally wouldn’t be a problem, but perhaps because the river-side berm was made of concrete, the shock from taking each step had penetrated to the soles of my feet. Shaking my feet made me feel a little better. As for Osanai-san, A small pebble had apparently entered her shoe, for she’d crouched down to untie the shoelace, and was now standing with a hand on the fence surrounding the parking lot as she shook the offending shoe upside down. I spoke while trying to hide my feeling of euphoria.
“About this parking lot…”
I started, but Osanai-san stopped me, still standing on one leg.
“Sorry, but let me rest for a little while longer.”
Though frustrating, that was probably for the best. We were fortunate that it was cloudy today, but we’d become quite dehydrated.
The two of us went into the store and each grabbed a bottle of mineral water. Osanai-san had bought some chocolate the day before, but it seemed that she wasn’t getting anything sweet today. Behind the register was a man in his early twenties. After looking at us, he said brusquely.
“You paying together?”
“Separately, please.”
Sporting a face that looked like he wanted to click his tongue, the cashier scanned the barcodes of the mineral water bottles.
We left the shop and drank water for a moment. Osanai-san finished the remaining water from the bottle in her tote bag, and left the new bottle of water sealed. Having spotted a trash can by the convenience store’s entrance, I was about to dispose of the paper cup I’d received from Osanai-san there, but the words “Bringing in trash is not permitted” were written on the trash can, so I pulled back.
The two of us looked at the parking area again.
It was night when we came here yesterday, and it gave off quite a different impression in the afternoon. I couldn’t tell where the security camera was positioned last night, but now I could clearly tell that there was one at the tip of a pole standing in the parking lot.
Where could the blue light wagon disappear to? I peered at the camera attached to the pole.
It was exactly as I thought. The camera did not capture the entire parking area without any gaps. I spoke up in an intentionally blunt manner.
“Hey, I might have a simple explanation for this.”
I called out to Osanai-san. She sidled next to me and looked up as well.
“If you’re about to say that there’s a blind spot directly under this camera, it’s captured by another camera at a different angle.”
“…Is that so.”
“There were no locations that would be a blind spot to any camera.”
Unable to instantly think of what to say next, I tried to maintain my usual tone.
“And the blue wagon wasn’t shown on the other cameras, right?”
Osanai-san did not answer. She was basically implying that it was obvious.
I walked around the parking lot and studied my surroundings with a nonchalant look on my face. But in fact… I was not at all composed.
When we couldn’t find a byroad leading off the embankment road, I’d thought that there had to be a blind spot for the convenience store’s surveillance cameras, and the culprit had entered that blind spot, regardless of whether it was by accident or on purpose. The culprit had stopped their car at that location for thirty minutes or an hour, or a sufficient period of time for the police to leave the scene, then returned by the way they came. I’d thought that to be the only way to avoid the cameras.
I was certain that we’d be able to solve the riddle of the disappearing light wagon by going to the car park in the day and observing it for a few minutes. And as expected, I’d found a blind spot right under the camera, and inwardly bragged, “So that’s the truth? It’s actually quite boring once it’s solved.”
However, Osanai-san had debunked my theory with just one line. One simple line.
I glanced at Osanai-san. She was staring blankly into space, as if unsure of what to look at.
…Could I trust her?
I had not seen the video footage from that “camera at a different angle”. Only Osanai-san was claiming that this parking lot contained no blind spots. That could very well be a lie.
But what motive could she have for telling such a lie?
Perhaps she hadn’t said anything true since the beginning. Perhaps her claim that she almost got run over following Hisaka-kun’s accident was a lie. She could be covering for the culprit for some reason, and lying that she’d seen the video footage from the other camera…
I wiped away some sweat and shook my head.
The heat was causing me to have these stupid thoughts. I did not have a reason to trust Osanai-san, but assuming that she was on the side of the culprit, I had no explanation for why she would try to solve this mystery with me. Could she have marked me to be a person of interest who would certainly find the perpetrator of the hit-and-run accident? That would be an honor, but there was not a single reason for me to be seen by her in that light.
I’d seen the existence of cameras at different angles in the convenience store’s office. If so, I unfortunately couldn’t come up with any basis to doubt Osanai-san’s argument that other cameras covered the blind spot.
Above all… no matter what turned out to be a lie, I believed that her desire to “make them pay” was true.
In that case, I should believe that the security cameras had no blind spots – at least, until I find a reason to doubt that.
As I walked while having those thoughts, I found myself in front of one of the fences constructed on the side of the convenience store. I tried shaking it, just in case. It was old, had its paint flaking off and was rusting in some areas, but it was firmly secured, and showed no signs of being moved.
Osanai-san slipped through the gap between the fence and the apartment building. Up ahead was the parking lot for residents of the building, and it was completely unrelated to the hit-and-run driver’s escape route. Cars couldn’t pass through here, after all. As I wondered why she did that, I noticed Asoya-san getting out of a white van clad in a T-shirt and denim shorts. Though she had a broad smile as she jumped out of the back seat, she turned back to face the interior and raised her voice.
“You’re the worst, Papa! I’m really not sure you should be saying something like that in public!”
It seemed that Osanai-san had noticed Asoya-san in the vehicle that was entering the parking area, and was thinking of calling out to her. However, after seeing such a cheerful look on Asoya-san’s face, Osanai-san naturally wanted to avoid raining on her parade. She came to a grinding halt and stumbled a little.
But unfortunately, her reserve was all in vain, for Asoya-san had noticed the two of us standing near the fence. She froze on the spot, tried putting on a forbidding expression but failed, and in the end looked away, her face tinged with red. A good-humored man’s voice came from inside the van.
“Oi Hitomi, you forgot your backpack!”
So Asoya-san’s given name was Hitomi. Her face still red, Asoya-san got onto the van and did not come out again.
Osanai-san spoke.
“Perhaps I should have left her alone.”
Agreed.
…But what else could we do here? After walking under the clouded sky of early summer for more than two hours, the deduction I had confidence in was overturned with a single line, so I had nothing to show for my efforts except the bottle of mineral water I’d bought at the convenience store. I was aware that I should be prepared for missing the mark if I was trying to solving this incident, but this was seriously a meaningless waste of time.
I wasn’t the only one to think that way. Osanai-san seemed to have also expected more from this inspection, and was not hiding the colors of discouragement. Having nothing else to say, I gave a suggestion.
“We should head back to school. You left your notebook computer there, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“It’s a pain to walk all the way back, so do you know any bus stops around here?”
“Yes.”
Now, please lead the way.
The two of us left the car park and moved towards the normal road. I didn’t think that there would be much traffic on a weekend afternoon, but the road was filled with all kinds of vehicles.
We approached the bus stop. I wasn’t very familiar on the bus routes, but we could probably just hop on a bus going in the direction of the station and alight somewhere near school. A heavy truck was trundling right past us. I’d been walking behind Osanai-san, but inadvertently moved next to her on the side of the roadway.
“Ah!”
I involuntarily exclaimed.
“What’s wrong?”
Osanai-san asked. I felt an urge to grab her shoulders and shake them.
“Why… Why didn’t I notice something so simple!”
“You figured out where the culprit’s car went?”
Regrettably, that wasn’t it. However…
“It might be even more important.”
Osanai-san’s eyes slightly widened. Since the sounds of cars zipping past was loud, I naturally raised my voice.
“Why did Hisaka-kun do that… why did he walk at a point on the pavement that was almost touching the road?”
That had been on my mind for a while already. I’d also felt that something was off when we were checking out the scene of the accident earlier. But up till now, proper thoughts about why Hisaka-kun had walked in such a position had never come to mind. The best answer I’d had was that he’d been looking at his mobile phone while walking.
I’d never had the opportunity to walk side-by-side with Osanai-san on a pavement until now. I’d followed her at a fixed distance when we were going to and from Omotedana, and we’d traveled by bicycle to Nanatsuya Town Store. We’d walked next to each other earlier, but that was on the berm of the embankment, and not a pavement. But now I understood, after doing just that.
“Hisaka-kun was walking next to someone, and he was on the side of the roadway. That’s why he was on the edge of the pavement. In other words, Hisaka-kun had a companion!”
Before this point, the diagram of the incident I’d drawn in my mind was simple. On the pavement were Fujidera-kun, Osanai-san and Hisaka-kun, with Hisaka-kun getting run over by a car. Now, that diagram was being painted over. At the moment he got hit, Hisaka-kun was on the side of the pavement closer to the roadway, and someone else was next to him.
Osanai-san let out a sigh, and for a brief space of time, bit her lip in frustration.
“Yeah.”
Then, having reluctantly recognized that the situation wouldn’t change no matter how much she thought about it, she added.
“There’s no mistake about it. Why did I not realize until now?”
“You saw the accident for an instance, right? Was there anyone near Hisaka-kun?”
She fell into silent contemplation for a moment, then shook her head.
“I don’t know. I think I saw Hisaka-kun falling over, but after that I was completely focused on avoiding the oncoming car.”
“That person was probably hidden by the car. Since you could only see Hisaka-kun, you subconsciously assumed that he was alone.”
Osanai-san pondered for a short moment, then carefully answered.
“That might be it… but that pavement isn’t so narrow that one person would have to almost cross the white line to walk alongside someone else.”
Indeed, when I went to investigate the accident scene with Ushio-kun, the pavement was wide enough that we could walk side-by-side without any problems.
A bus arrived but left without stopping, probably because no one in the bus stop was waiting for it. Osanai-san tilted her head.
“What if there were three?”
That was certainly a possibility, but I was somehow doubtful that there were two mystery companions.
My thinking and imagination had expanded after going through a dark, narrow path. If Hisaka-kun had only one companion but was still forced to the edge of the pavement, what kind of situation would that be? What if there was a large empty space between them?
There was no need to even think about it!
“The companion was pushing a bicycle. That’s why Hisaka-kun was pushed to the edge close to the roadway.”
Osanai-san nodded, her eyes wide in surprise.
If there were four people on the walkway at the time of the accident, the biggest problem was clear.
“Why did no one say anything about that person?”
Why did I only now find out something as trivial as Hisaka-kun walking next to a companion? I was definitely not averse to or poor at figuring out the events that transpired using deductions and analysis, but we would have been saved from taking a detour if Hisaka-kun or Fujidera-kun had said, “There was one more person at that time.” Why could I only reach this fact via deduction? Therein lay a big mystery.
Taking an upward glance at me, Osanai-san replied.
“Uhh… sorry to say, but I don’t think it’s that mysterious.”
I stared at her. As if trying to dodge my gaze, she looked off at a random direction. The sounds of vehicles going here and there seemed to cease for a moment. I asked.
“Why?”
“Just now at the berm, you told me about what you heard from Hisaka-kun and Fujidera-kun. At that time, I thought it was weird.”
I silently urged her to carry on.
Seemingly having some reservations, Osanai-san’s voiced turned soft.
“They were trying to avoid talking to you about it.”
“Huh?”
“When you asked Hisaka-kun whether he normally takes that road to get home from school, he replied with another question, asking if you were that interested in him getting run over. Basically, he did not answer your question.”
I thought back to that moment in room 403 of Kira Municipal Hospital. What exactly did Hisaka-kun and I say to each other?
And I had no choice but to agree… Indeed, he had not answered my question.
“In Fujidera-kun’s case, it was a lot more obvious. When you tried pressing him on whether Hisaka-kun was alone, he mentioned that there was a girl in between him and Hisaka-kun. You were then thrown off by why Fujidera-kun was there, and what everyone was doing at that time.”
That made me feel dizzy.
It can’t be… Such a thing should be impossible! I… I was just trying to solve the hit-and-run incident, but I got deceived by the victim and witness, and on top of that, I didn’t notice?
I was barely able to respond.
“But that’s strange. If so, Hisaka-kun and Fujidera-kun would have had to arrange beforehand to tell the same story, but the only relationship they have is that they happened to be walking on the same road.”
“Erm… did you check?”
…No, I did not.
Though seemingly reluctant, Osanai-san said her next line clearly.
“I think you should have. According to your account, Fujidera-kun naturally called Hisaka-kun ‘Hisaka-senpai’, right?”
Since he was referring to an upperclassman, it wasn’t strange for him to use the senpai honorific. But thinking back, based on Fujidera-kun’s words and expression, it seemed unlikely that he was talking about a third-year student he hadn’t seen before.
“Also, Fujidera-kun knew that the person walking in front of him was Hisaka-kun.”
If one was about to recognize the other from only the back, they had to be acquaintances.
I didn’t even try to deny that. It was too obvious.
“Fujidera-kun was walking behind Hisaka-kun. That’s because the two of them left school at about the same time… probably. To go further, their club activities ended at the same time.”
I understood what Osanai-san was trying to say, which was that Hisaka-kun got into the accident while heading home after his club activities.
“There is a possibility that Fujidera-kun is Hisaka-kun’s junior in the Badminton Club.”
And Hisaka-kun used his position as club senior to forbid his junior from telling others that he was walking with someone else. That was it, right?
“But why the gag order?”
Osanai-san shook her head.
“I don’t know. I hardly know a thing about Hisaka-kun. And you probably don’t know him either, Kobato-kun.”
That’s not true, I was about to say. I’m Hisaka-kun’s classmate, and, and…
But that was all we were, classmates.
Osanai-san might have been slightly exasperated when I was talking about Hisaka-kun on the embankment road earlier, because there was very little I could talk about regarding Hisaka-kun. She was right. I didn’t know Hisaka Shoutarou.
Who did Hisaka-kun walk with, and why did he want to hide it?
More significantly, that companion should have had a better view of the culprit’s car than Fujidera-kun and Osanai-san, and even Hisaka-kun who had gotten hit by it. There was a good chance that they even saw the culprit’s face.
I spoke.
“To find the culprit of the hit-and-run, we need to know Hisaka-kun, right?”
I was probably laughing.
It was difficult to pin down the culprit of this case, even with the right clues. I was unable to see a clear path to find that one person in a city of 400,000 who had run over Hisaka-kun. However, the situation had changed.
Hisaka-kun, whom I’d thought to be a mere victim, and Fujidera-kun, whom I’d thought to be a mere eyewitness, were connected. The two of them had colluded and plotted to hide some truth, which meant that they had something to hide. The mystery to solve had now taken on a concrete shape.
How amazing this is!
Now all I have to do is solve it!
I woke up before dawn. The hospital room was quiet.
I tried remembering what I recalled, took a deep breath, and instantly groaned as pain from my broken rip shot through my body. I spat out some of the air I’d just inhaled, confirmed that the agony was not so bad that I would have to call the nurse, and let out a small wry grin. When will I get used to this injured body?
Before, Doujima Kengo had faced me and declared, “You are not a little citizen.” Osanai-san had even called my aim to become one a lie. Those proclamations were probably correct. I cannot stop my predilection for unnecessarily showing off my wisdom and butting in with impertinent comments, and I likely don’t have the desire to stop it deep down. Was the “retribution” in my dream referring to punishment for having such an abhorrent personality?
Moreover, my sagacity is not so great that I can take pride in it. At least, the past me did not possess such wisdom. Beside my bed was the notebook in which my foolish acts were recorded. Unable to stand the sight of it, I turned to look elsewhere.
When told that Fujidera-kun and Hisaka-kun had avoided answering my question, I’d thought that it was impossible for me to be deceived without me noticing. Regarding that point, I now understood that it was only natural. It wasn’t strange for me, the person involved, to be unaware of such a conspiracy while a third-party, Osanai-san, managed to figure it out.
– And there was another point that showcased my stupidity to an even greater extent.
It was the notion that we would understand everything if we found out what Hisaka-kun didn’t want us to know. My investigation (While I thought that I was heavily responsible, to speak fairly, it belonged jointly to Osanai-san and I) had, as expected, hit a turning point on that day, and had entered a different phase.
Where is Hisaka-kun and what is he doing now, I wonder?
I can’t accept that he’s no longer around. I always thought that we would never meet again, but would live out our own lives separately.
No, that should be it. I… I did something bad to Hisaka-kun. But it wasn’t so terrible that he would lose the will to live. He’s probably still fine. That should be it.
It has to be.
Some dawn light seeped in from under the curtains. I couldn’t get off the bed, and with my cracked rib and broken knee causing me pain, I couldn’t even shout.
I turned my attention elsewhere. What is Osanai-san doing now? She’d apparently been checking the security cameras, but I would rather she prepare for entrance examinations. Also, it would be perfect it we could meet face-to-face. Just once would be enough. I’d received her messages, but hadn’t actually met her yet. Unfortunately, I was always asleep whenever she visited.
Did we simply have bad timing, or did Osanai-san feel inferior at having been protected by me, and always waited for me to fall asleep before paying me a visit? I don’t know, but I do want to see her face. I want to know if me pushing her off the embankment resulted in any injuries, and I want to hear the answer straight from her mouth.
…There was no get-well gift today. On top of the table sat the wolf plushie with its usual prickly gaze. Since I can’t finish the basket of fruits Kengo had given me on my own, I’d passed it to my parents, who had come over to bring me my underwear.
Osanai-san probably hadn’t visited today. With the year nearing its end, it would be difficult to place a get-well gift every day. Even so, like a child who no longer believes in Christmas mornings but still searches for presents from Santa Claus, I rummaged under my pillow.
I felt something hard with my finger. I couldn’t believe it. Another message had been secretly delivered to me today. Just how long did she wait for an opportunity to do so?
The message was short.
| Why can we not see each other? |
It was a line characteristic of star-crossed lovers.
But of course, we don’t have that kind of relationship. In the dimly lit hospital room, I read Osanai-san’s question again and again.
Chapter 4 | Contents | Chapter 6
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