Kaname heard three housewives talking near the elevator hall. They were discussing the burglary.
“Did you hear? They say it was that old cleaning lady.”
“It’s not proven yet, is it?”
“But wouldn’t it be awful if it was her?”
“I hear she had to quit her last job because she stirred up trouble there, too.”
“You think it’s really true?”
“Yes, that’s what I heard. Though she certainly puts on a kind face to the residents here...”
The malicious gossip was being led by a slightly chubby housewife in her early forties. Kaname recognized her; she had served on the apartment residents’ superintendent board several times. She had also apparently participated in movements to ban harmful books, having come to Kaname’s apartment to collect signatures before.
“They’re just making baseless assumptions...” Kaname muttered to herself, but chose not to intervene as she passed them by on her hurried way to school.
That day, after class, Sousuke and Tsubaki Issei had a fight that left three windows and a classroom door broken. Other than that, it was an ordinary day. On her way home that evening, Kaname gave Sousuke a thorough lecture, then invited him over for dinner. He followed her loyally, tail wagging.
They went shopping at the fishmonger on the shopping street, but as they returned to her apartment, they saw a figure near the dumping site, spraying the street with a hose. It was the cleaning lady. Had she been released? No, given what Wakana Yoko had said, it didn’t seem like she had actually been arrested...
“Oh, hello...” Kaname decided to take a neutral attitude towards the cleaning lady despite their unpleasant interaction the other day. Sousuke gave her a silent nod as well.
The cleaning lady turned back with a neutral frown. Kaname had assumed she would be depressed about her trip to the police, but that didn’t appear to be the case. Still, she did look exhausted.
“Dinner?” the old lady asked.
Kaname remembered she had a plastic shopping bag hanging from her arm. “Yeah. The fishmonger had cheap saury today.”
“How wonderful. You cook for yourself?”
“Yeah, but daikon radishes have been expensive lately. It’s a real problem,” Kaname laughed.
The other woman let out a speculative hum, then went back to hosing down the road.
“It’s unusual to see you out at this hour,” Kaname added. She’d only ever seen the old woman in the mornings.
“I was worried about the filth, since I missed this morning.”
“Really?”
“And it’s in as bad shape as I imagined. Even though I’m always telling them to put nets over the trash. Honestly...” Muttering to herself, the old woman went on spraying the trash on the road into the gutters.
“Ah... I’m sorry,” said Kaname. “I did see the crows picking at it this morning, but...”
“It’s fine. You had school, right?”
“Oh... yes.”
“I realized what happened after you left. You were in a hurry because you were late, right?” The old woman said indifferently.
“Yes. Well...”
“I see. Next time, make sure you sort your garbage properly, all right?”
“But, seriously, that wasn’t my—”
“All right, all right. Just be more careful next time.”
“Grr...” There was no talking to her; she was as stubborn as ever. But at the very least, the flippant way she’d spoken suggested she didn’t hold a grudge. This issue is behind us, she seemed to be saying.
Well, all right, Kaname thought as she bade her goodbye, then entered the building’s front hall with Sousuke.
“You were more amicable than I thought. The other day, at school, you spoke so poorly of her,” said Sousuke, who had been quiet through the whole interaction.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter,” she told him. “I was just annoyed, with it being first thing in the morning and all.”
“I see.”
They entered the front hall just as a young man in a suit was posting a notice on the residents’ message board. It was probably someone from the management agency. Kaname peeked over his shoulder and saw that the notice was about the recent burglary, with a reminder to residents to lock their doors.
“Hey... did they catch the thief?” Kaname asked.
The man from the agency shook his head. “No. At least... not yet. They might. It’s hard to say.” With that, he cast a glance in the direction of the dump site. “The police took in a person of interest... They were apparently kept for questioning overnight, but continued to deny it. I guess the police don’t have decisive proof, so they sent her home.”
“A person of interest?” Kaname echoed. “That cleaning lady?”
“Ah, well, yes. You can see she’s still at work. We told her to take some time off, but she’s very stubborn. Nevertheless, I’m monitoring her. You can rest easy.”
The part about him monitoring the cleaning lady got on her nerves. “That doesn’t seem right, does it? Treating her like a criminal over one stupid piece of evidence? Hasn’t she been working here for a long time? Aren’t you going to defend her?”
The man made an expression as if to say, “I only work here.” “Well... I’ll take your opinion into account. But a lot of people are nervous, and I’m getting complaints. So... no matter how the police investigation goes, I think we’re going to ask her to quit at the end of the week.”
Kaname stared at him in surprise. “You’re firing her?”
“Yes.”
“Just based on suspicions?”
“Regrettably, yes.”
Kaname felt her face turn hot. “What the heck?! That’s stupid! You can’t do this! There’s no way she would rob someone’s apartment while carrying a work tool that would immediately incriminate her! And just leaving it behind like that? It’s ridiculous!”
“It’s possible it was a spur of the moment thing,” he pointed out.
“Like hell! Nobody really believes that!”
“Stop it, Chidori.” Sousuke held back Kaname as she began to grow heated.
Even so, she continued taking the man to task. “Are you guys even trying to find the real culprit?! You’re just going to declare a random criminal and sweep it under the rug? That’s disgusting. It’s awful!”
“Chidori,” Sousuke said again. “Calm down.”
At last, the elevator door opened.
“This ‘don’t rock the boat’ bullshit sucks! You’re worse than garbage! Hang on! I’m not done yet! Let me go! Come on!” As Kaname continued trying to lay into the man, Sousuke dragged her away. The man from the management agency simply stood there in shock and watched them leave.
Once they were in her apartment, the still-angry Kaname laid out to Sousuke everything that had happened.
“I see,” he said afterwards. “That’s quite ridiculous.”
“Right?! It’s so wrong! She might be an annoying old lady, but I can’t let them do this to her!” said Kaname, while she chopped the saury in half and slapped it on the grill.