“If you consider the facts, it’s obvious why she stole that neck strap too. Why would Aoii need a thing like that? It was a gift from Akiharu Usami. But remember what you said about it? ‘It’s a good match,’ or something to that effect. You, who almost never compliment anybody, went and said that. So Aoii stole it. She didn’t need it but simply wanted to take it. So she snatched it from the crime scene. I suppose this too was an act of jealousy. The point is, Mikoko Aoii couldn’t bear the thought that you and Tomoe Emoto were becoming close.”
“And that’s why she murdered? That was her motive? That’s silly. Can you imagine being killed for such a reason? It’s too much.”
“You’re right, it’s too much. That’s why you couldn’t forgive her. Mikoko Aoii cruelly murdered a human being for something so stupid. And so you made her take responsibility for it.”
“Do you really think I’d do that?”
“I don’t, not if this had been some spur-of-the-moment crime. If it was just a matter of someone going too far, I’m sure you would’ve forgiven her and looked the other way. But that’s not what this was. This was a premeditated crime. It wasn’t due to excessive drinking or anything. She even had a murder weapon prepared from the start.” Aikawa let out a snicker. “I know you don’t really think she used a ribbon to do it. Apparently you told Zerozaki the murder weapon was the ribbon from Usami’s gift, but obviously that wasn’t the case.”
“I don’t know about that. It seems like it would’ve made a good─”
“But only the neck strap was missing from the crime scene, right? It says so in those police documents. That means the ribbon was still there. Which means that the murder weapon had to be something else, since the cloth used in Aoii’s suicide matched the cloth used to kill Emoto. So what does this mean? It means that Mikoko Aoii had already prepared a murder weapon before arriving at Emoto’s apartment.”
“In other words…”
“In other words, Aoii made a prediction. She sensed that you and Emoto had a similar smell…or air, if you will. And if her prediction turned out to be on the mark, she was going to kill Emoto. She’d planned on it beforehand. I mean, her gimmick wasn’t the kind that any old sucker of a college student would think up off the top of her head.”
“That’s rather laughable, if true,” I said without even cracking a smile. “She kept going on and on about how they were such great pals…then killed over something so trivial. What’s more, I know she wasn’t lying about them being friends. That was no lie, Jun. She really did care for Tomoe.”
Just not to the point that she wouldn’t kill her.
If she got in the way, Mikoko would kill her ruthlessly.
KILL.
Die for me.
What charming nerve─truly, from the bottom of my heart.
“So you pontificated for a while, but ultimately decided to denounce her.”
“Denounce… Just to be clear here, Jun… I didn’t suggest that she kill herself. In fact, I waited until she was in a relaxed state before I even approached her about it, specifically so she wouldn’t go too far and commit suicide or something. At the very least, I left three options for her. She could kill herself, turn herself in, or just pretend she didn’t know what I was talking about and never cross paths with me again. As a bonus option, she could also kill me.”
“Weren’t you hoping she’d go for the bonus option?”
Hardly, I shrugged. “I expected her to choose to turn herself in…but she didn’t. When I entered her room, she was dead. That’s why I─”
“That’s why you made it look like it wasn’t a suicide? There was nothing about that in the suicide note, was there? And you’re the one who left that ‘x over y’ marking, I take it?”
It was true. Mikoko hadn’t made any such request. Swallowing everything was all my idea. The fact that she hadn’t turned herself in meant she didn’t want people to know what she had done. And so I decided, more or less on a whim, to at least help out that much.
And to be honest, I also felt a little responsible.
“Responsible, huh? Personally, I think of that as a word people use when they didn’t expect something to happen at all.”
“Well, to be sure, I wasn’t expecting it. It was outside of expectations, it really was. Like you and Zerozaki, I didn’t really think that a person capable of murder would kill herself out of guilt. That’s why I was surprised to find that she had. I’m not even sure it was the indigestible objects in my stomach that made me so queasy.”
“But it wasn’t necessarily guilt that pushed Aoii to suicide. It’s possible that she died because you cornered her. Because you were disgusted with her. She had antagonized you, and in so doing, lost all hope.”
“If that’s the case, that just makes me even angrier. She murders someone, and that distresses her to the point of dying? She wasn’t even qualified to be a killer.”
“Ah, so that’s what you meant about feeling responsible. Not for Aoii, but for Emoto… I see. Huh, interesting concept… But doesn’t a person’s affection mean anything to you? She may have taken it in a twisted direction, but Aoii really liked you─”
“Saying ‘I like you so you’d better like me’ is just an intimidation tactic. Unfortunately, I’m not some blind reciprocator. People who kill for passion make me sick.”
“Would you say the same thing about Atemiya?” Aikawa asked solemnly. “The thing that impresses me the most is that you were able to predict all of this, including its conclusion, from the very beginning. That’s why you implanted that false idea in Atemiya’s head about a dying message. You explained to Zerozaki that Atemiya ‘misunderstood’ the meaning of those markings, but in reality, you occasioned that misunderstanding. That way, it would be immediately obvious that Atemiya was the culprit if the murders continued after Aoii’s suicide. Even when you snuck into Emoto’s apartment, you weren’t looking for clues; you were looking for something that nobody would know about.”
“It was just a sort of insurance… I’m not that calculating. Don’t make it sound like I had everything in the palm of my hand.”
In the end, she was the one who had done the killing, he was the one who had done the dying, and that girl was the one who had committed suicide. I hadn’t done a thing. I hadn’t even manipulated anyone. How could someone as clueless about people’s emotions as me even try to?
That was really some nonsense.
“So, Sasaki and Kazuhito…” resumed Aikawa. “Yesterday, they took Muimi Atemiya into custody…but they say she was on the verge of suicide. She was about to jump off the roof of her building, and they managed to rescue her just in time. Apparently she’d completely lost it, and they couldn’t even understand the words coming out of her mouth. They’re not sure she’ll ever return to normal.”
“Really.”
“Did you say something to her?”
“No,” I answered without hesitation. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m not interested in people who kill for passion.”
“I’m pretty sure you said they make you sick.”
“You must have misheard me.”
Aikawa glared at me in silence for a moment. “Hahh,” she sighed. “Well, either way… That’s why you condemned these girls, who each only killed one person, yet completely overlooked the indiscriminate murders perpetrated by Zerozaki? To give or to take, huh? Gee…you really are cruel.”
“I get that a lot.”
Aikawa sipped down the last remaining drops of her cola, rose to her feet with a grunt, and looked down at me. “Dust the dust… Well, whatever. When all is said and done, your crimes and your punishments are yours and yours alone. I’m not sure how you see it, but you weren’t in the wrong about this one. If you can be faulted for anything, it’s that you are who you are. You’re guilty of the crime of being you, and so, too, shall that be your punishment. And I have no intention of getting in the way. I was just a little curious… So here’s my final question,” she appended in a much more lighthearted tone than before, almost humorously. But I knew it was when she got like this that she truly shined.
“Sure, what?” I consented, just a little bit nervous.
“What did Aoii’s suicide note really say?”
I fell silent for a moment, then answered, “It was just one line.”
“Wow. What was it?”
“Forgot. Bad memory.”
“…”
“‘I wanted you to save me.’”
“That’s pretty icky.” Aikawa laughed. “It’ll stick with you, whether you like it or not. Her confession to you would’ve made for a beautiful last memory, but that’s just plain bitter. You’ll never forget her for the rest of your life. Maybe that’s what she was shooting for.”
“Not really. I’ll have forgotten it in three days or so.”
This came out sounding sulky, but I meant it in all honesty, and it would probably come true. I was already thoroughly saturated with bad memories. Sure, I may have gained another two or three or four crosses to haul around on my back, but they’d get buried soon enough. That was all there was to it.