The Florence Cream Puff Mystery (Part 3) | Contents | The Florence Cream Puff Mystery (Part 5)
We exited the underground area to be blasted by eddies of winter wind flowing around the tall buildings. After equipping herself with a mask, earmuffs, muffler and gloves, Osanai-san walked off with apparent resolve.
“Kogi-san was surprised by the phone call, right?”
I asked while following her, and she nodded.
“She asked why I would ask about something like that.”
“How did you answer?”
“I said it was necessary.”
You could treat your junior a little kinder. As I had that thought, Osanai-san suddenly whipped out her mobile phone. She glanced at the monitor, then returned it to her pocket.
“Was that from Kogi-san?”
“Yup. She said, ‘Please don’t do anything if you’re talking to that person.’”
Well, of course she would say that.
“Yet we’re still going?”
Osanai-san looked up at me with accusatory eyes, as if saying that I already knew the answer to my own question.
“She did say to find the truth no matter what happens.”
So she did. She had to be responsible for her words, and she had even been kindly warned that pain might befall her. Osanai-san did not slow down her footsteps in the slightest. She looked like she might run onto the road on a red light with her speed, so I grabbed her collar and pulled her back.
Along the way, she asked.
“Was there anything weird about Kayazu-san’s story?”
There was indeed something.
“Kayazu-san and her friends received punishment from Sanpongi-sensei, while Kogi-san received notice of her punishment from her homeroom teacher, Fukuya-sensei. But that might have been based on who was free at the time, or perhaps that was because Kayazu-san and her friends were deemed to be problem children. I don’t think it’s an important difference.”
Osanai-san nodded.
“However, I think the time difference between Kayazu-san and Kogi-san is strange.”
She clumsily tilted her head that was buried in her muffler.
“Time difference…?”
“Kayazu-san got suspended because the photo of them at the party was uploaded on the internet. It was probably the same for Tochino-san and Sada-san. But it was different for Kogi-san. She was the only person to be suspended one day late. Why is that, I wonder?”
Osanai-san nodded, a satisfied look in her eyes.
“I didn’t pay attention to that. That’s impressive, Kobato-kun.”
Oh, cut it out.
I still had no clear idea what this time difference meant. I had a few theories, but more investigation had to be done for us to properly discuss them, and more importantly, this road was not a good place to do it, with its eddies of wind spiraling around. A familiar junction soon came into view.
Patisserie Kogi Annex Ruriko, which took up the first floor of a building facing an intersection and was decorated with brick-styled tiles, was almost full, despite the coldness of this winter. The dining area had all its seats filled, and the showcase had a line of customers assessing the cakes and macarons with smiles on their faces. The waiters displayed nary a hint of panic as they handled each and every order. After waiting for one of them to empty their hands, Osanai-san pulled down her muffler and approached them.
“Excuse me, is the manager in?”
“The manager?”
Even with that reply, the waiter answered Osanai-san’s question without seeming suspicious of her.
“Sorry, she’s out at the moment.”
Looking at the wall clock, it was a little past two. That was likely to be an excuse, and she was probably taking her afternoon break at the back. Osanai-san seemed to have the same thought, for she retrieved a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to the waiter.
“Could you pass this to the manager when she returns? I’m a friend of Kogi Cosmos-san, and I urgently need to speak with her.”
A suspicious expression finally drifted onto the waiter’s face, but probably because Osanai-san had used the owner’s name, Kogi, they said, “Please wait for a moment.” While watching the waiter disappear into the back of the shop, I asked.
“When did you write that note?”
Osanai-san put on a light grin.
“When was it, I wonder?”
That’s absurd, did I really not notice the whole time I was with her…? Before long, the waiter returned and said, “This way, please.”
In contrast to the shop which gave off a modern and clean feel, the back was just like a normal building. After going through a door which had no knob and could be opened from either side, we reached a small office. The first things to hit my eyes were a folding chair and a small table on which you could lay out one bento. Behind that table was another bland office desk that had documents haphazardly piled up on it, and one woman was sitting down on the opposite side of those documents. That was probably the manager. She had a nameplate on her chest which spelled out her full name, Tasaka Ruriko, so I understood that she still went by the name of Tasaka in the workplace regardless of what was on the official register.
Tasaka-san smiled and said, “Thank you,” to the waiter that led us here, who bowed and returned to the shop. Now that the compact room contained only three people, Tasaka-san spoke.
“Please, take a seat.”
Osanai-san and I unraveled our mufflers, and Osanai-san removed her mask, earmuffs and gloves. After that, we each grabbed a folding chair and sat down.
Tasaka Ruriko-san had a narrow face, and her hair was combed to the back. Her eyebrows were thin, her eyes looked somewhat melancholic, and her lips were small. She had both her hands on the desk, with her right hand encasing her left. She seemed to have no makeup on, and her voice was serene.
“I hear that you’re Cosmos-san’s friends.”
“Yes.”
“I see…”
A silence descended as we felt each other out.
“So…”
Tasaka-san was the one to break the ice.
“What can I do for you?”
Osanai-san was narrowing her eyes as if she was trying to read Tasaka Ruriko-san’s inner thoughts, but since we were asked about our purpose for coming here, she answered without hesitation.
“Kogi Cosmos-san was suspended from school because she was suspected of drinking alcohol. However, she claims to be innocent, and the group that actually drank alcohol said that she was not in the location where they did it. The school should have evidence of Kogi-san being in that location, but we believe in her innocence, so we think that evidence is forged. We want to ask the school for more details about the situation, but for that we need a guardian of Kogi-san to launch an inquiry.”
Slight agitation ran through Tasaka-san’s eyebrows.
“…So why did you come here?”
Osanai-san instantly answered.
“Because you are a guardian of Cosmos, Tasaka-san.”
A small sigh escaped from Tasaka-san’s lips.
“Did Cosmos-san say that?”
“All she said was that you married Kogi-san. That girl doesn’t know that we came here. She probably wouldn’t allow us to if she did.”
Tasaka-san crossed her fingers so that her left hand became visible. I couldn’t see a ring. She most likely didn’t wear it while working.
“…Suspended, you say? I didn’t know.”
I didn’t fail to catch the colors of self-deprecation on her normally calm, tranquil face as she uttered those words. However, I managed to muster the minimum level of self-restraint required to not point that out aloud.
As she lamented her unreasonable suspension, Kogi-san called Osanai-san in tears, but did not mention it at all to Tasaka-san. That was natural. On the other hand, it was difficult to imagine Kogi Haruomi, who was working in his shop in Tokyo, to be unaware of his daughter’s suspension. Even if his daughter tried to hide it, the school would have contacted him. Yet he didn’t inform his new wife about his daughter’s situation… I didn’t want to stick my nose into another family’s matters, but I started feeling some disdain for Kogi Haruomi, though I’d never met him before.
“I understand.”
Confusion and hesitation were wiped clean from Tasaka-san’s voice.
“So what should I do?”
I couldn’t deny that Osanai-san had a small body and childlike facial features. Her actions were also not always composed – she would go all soft if she sees numerous macarons, for example. That was the first time I’d seen an adult trust this Osanai-san on their first meeting, and even ask her for instructions. Osanai-san was a little bewildered herself, but eventually replied.
“Please make a phone call to the school, and speak with Sanpongi-sensei from the Student Counseling Department. Tell him that you want to meet with him in person to discuss the case of Kogi-san’s suspension.”
“Sanpongi-sensei, correct?”
“If you get them to agree, I’ll follow you to meet them. It should be fine if I go as Kogi-san’s older sister, right?”
Tasaka-san stared at Osanai-san for a moment, probably contemplating if she should act as a younger or older sister. She then shifted her gaze to a calendar hanging on a wall.
“Our rest day is Wednesday, but a TV crew will be coming here next Wednesday, so after that…”
Tasaka-san started, but Osanai-san interrupted her.
“No, the sooner we do this, the better. And if possible, now.”
“Now?”
Tasaka-san frowned, which was expected. There was no way a shop manager could leave on a weekend during operating hours. Her eyes wandered.
“But there is no school on a Saturday. That teacher might not be around.”
“That might be so, but many teachers go to work on Saturdays. We can’t do anything if he isn’t present, but we should first check if he is.”
Osanai-san probably knew that the problem wasn’t whether Sanpongi-sensei was in school, but whether Tasaka-san could leave the store on a Saturday. On top of that, she wanted Tasaka-san to hurry. What she said was valid, but it looked grim. People usually can’t take action that quickly.
However, Tasaka-san silently nodded. She reached for a mobile phone on the office desk and made a call. No one told her anything important, but she still had the phone number to Kogi-san’s school registered on her mobile phone. In almost no time at all, the call went through.
“Hello. Sorry to bother you when you are busy. I am Ruriko…”
For a moment, she was at a loss for words.
“…mother of Kogi Cosmos from Class 3-E. I understand that it is a rest day, but is Sanpongi-sensei from the Student Counseling Department in?”
The conversation continued for a while, so we waited. Osanai-san took a breath, then started looking around the office curiously. It was just a prosaic office, but she was probably fascinated because it was her first time at the back of a patisserie.
Eventually, the phone call ended, and Tasaka-san announced while holding her phone.
“He’s in school. Let’s go.”
Would the shop would be fine without her… no, it wouldn’t, but Tasaka-san had made the decision to go. There was no need for me to ask unnecessary questions.
The Florence Cream Puff Mystery (Part 3) | Contents | The Florence Cream Puff Mystery (Part 5)
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Editors (Tier 2): Dedavond, Egi Pratama, Pearl H Nettle
Assistants (Tier 1) : Rolando Sanchez, Liliam
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