The Paris Macaron Mystery (Part 5) | Contents | The New York Cheesecake Mystery (Part 1)
The girl who joined our table introduced herself as Kogi Cosmos. Her given name was apparently written with the same characters as that of the garden Cosmos1, and she was in the third year of middle school. She had frizzy hair that was dyed hazel, and her freckled eyes were big, but they were currently looking down at the ground weakly. Going just by appearances, Osanai-san would look like the younger one no matter how much favoritism you showed her. However, strangely enough, in this scene, I could only see Osanai-san as the high school student and Kogi-san as the middle school student.
“Hey.”
Kogi-san started, then paused, seemingly tongue-tied. She took a deep breath before continuing.
“How did you know?”
“Because you were eavesdropping on us.”
Osanai-san sharply accused.
“From just now, some reflected light from a mirror has been wandering around on the table and on Kobato-kun’s face, and it was really distracting. Kobato-kun worked hard to deduce that the culprit who left the macaron would be peeping at us to see what we do with it, so I immediately figured out that they were looking at us with a mirror. On top of that… you gave a start when I stood up, didn’t you?”
Her instinct and initiative were certainly beyond my ability. Kogi-san looked like she was about to cry, and her shoulders were shaking.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why did you do this? It’s your father’s ring, isn’t it?”
As I heard Osanai-san’s words of admonishment, I realized what she’d meant by “thinking in a different direction” regarding the culprit. I’d thought that the person trying to interfere in Kogi Haruomi and Tasaka Ruriko’s relationship was someone working at Patisserie Kogi, envious of the trust and love between them. However, Osanai-san had been thinking about Kogi Haruomi’s family with those same conditions. Someone who knows his personality, has a grasp on his schedule, and perceived that he wanted to give the ring… It made sense for the possibility of that person being family to be high. Not seeing that was a failure on my part.
“Father…”
Kogi-san began with a weak mutter.
“…He always kept his wedding ring with him, even during work. He must really cherish Mother, I thought… but not half a year after she left, he opens this store and names it Kogi Ruriko, which is unbelievably terrible! He said he was going to Nagoya even though he wasn’t taking the day off, so I thought that he must have another reason… I had already greeted the staff here when this store opened, so I claimed to be collecting something that Father had left behind, and got into the waiting room.”
Her timidly wandering gaze would sometimes be drawn to the ring, but would leave soon after.
“I found a box in the fridge containing a macaron, and since it was a Kogi, I opened it thinking that it was a gift for that woman, only to see a ring inside… Mother suffered so much with her illness, but to think that he would date another woman right after she passed away… I, I thought that the shop should be destroyed, and Father should be humiliated…”
“So, why did you choose me?”
Osanai-san asked in an extremely gentle voice. Kogi-san raised a finger and pointed it at me.
“I haven’t seen that uniform before, so I thought the two of you are not students from a nearby school. And if you didn’t know about this area, you would be shocked and turn around during the time signal. Also… adults would probably just steal the ring.”
In other words, Osanai-san and I were singled out because we were customers who seemed like we wouldn’t run away with the ring. Does she have a discerning eye, or were we simply looked down upon?
Osanai-san sighed.
“…I see. So, you can make sweets too?”
The sudden question caused Kogi-san to blink.
“Eh, ah, yes. My father taught me on his days off…”
“Oh, you’ll have to let me try some next time, then. I’ll forget what happened today.”
Osanai-san retrieved a notebook page and ballpoint pen from her bag, wrote down her mobile phone number and passed it to Kogi-san. As she read the series of numbers with her eyes wide open as though she was looking at an undiscovered archaelogical find, Osanai-san handed her the Kogi containing the ring.
“I get your reason to be angry, but it’s no good to bring other people into it. You should first properly talk to your father. You understand?”
Kogi-san nodded multiple times.
“Yes… Um, thank you for stopping me.”
“It’s fine. Now go, it’s late for a middle school student.”
Protectively cradling the ring macaron, Kogi Cosmos left Patisserie Kogi Annex Ruriko, turning around and lowering her head every few steps. As I saw her back finally fade from view, I spoke.
“You were pretty kind back there.”
Although Kogi Cosmos had disrupted the macaron time she’d been looking forward so much to, Osanai-san did not lay a hand on her. I’d been thinking up all kinds of strategies to stop her if she tried starting something, too.
“I thought you would definitely tell her.”
“What about?”
She replied languorously.
“That Kogi Haruomi didn’t start dating Tasaka Ruriko when that girl’s mother passed away.”
“Hmm…”
The fact that she wasn’t surprised meant that she was also aware.
According to Cosmos, Kogi Haruomi always wore the ring on his body, even while he was working. However, Osanai-san mentioned that she had never seen a Japanese patissier wear a ring while working. Putting the two bits of information, as well as the lecture I’d received on the high-speed train, I could see one answer… Kogi Haruomi put his wedding ring on a necklace, and wore it around his neck.
But that necklace was not present in this January’s photograph of Kogi Haruomi, taken eight months before today, and in that interview he announced that the name of his new shop would be Patisserie Kogi Annex Ruriko. In the world of western sweets where many patissiers hone their skills at famous shops and subsequently strike out on their own, inserting Tasaka Ruriko’s name into a store name was, as Kogi Cosmos said, meaningful. For some reason, he seemed to be absolutely certain that Tasaka Ruriko would belong to Patisserie Kogi for a long time. It was probably at that time when he stopped wearing his old wedding ring and started preparing for a new one.
Not even half a year had passed since Kogi Cosmos’ mother passed away, so it meant that Kogi Haruomi was already thinking of his next wife two months prior to that. It would have been a painful inference for Kogi Cosmos.
With sluggish finger movements, she lackadaisically brought her black tea that should have gone cold already to her lips.
“I was aware of that, but…”
She let out a breath.
“That girl didn’t do anything bad to me… and anyway, I’m kind to my juniors.”
I let out a dry chuckle, and imitating Osanai-san, lifted up my teacup. Since I had been talking for quite a while, I poured some lukewarm tea down my parched throat.
Finally, there was a question I wanted to ask, though it might be a little mean-spirited.
“So, Osanai-san, are you disillusioned with Kogi Haruomi?”
Extending her thin fingers, she gradually picked up the green macaron.
“Of course not… you should know, right, Kobato-kun?”
As the awaited macaron touched her lips, Osanai-san broke into a graceful smile.
“Rather than someone else’s love life, I’m more interested in these macarons.”
The Paris Macaron Mystery (Part 5) | Contents | The New York Cheesecake Mystery (Part 1
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