“I’m what you’d call an illegitimate child,” Yilin said hesitantly, her eyes downcast.
The group had asked Takamiya for permission to use one of his reception rooms. Yilin and Aoi now sat next to each other on a sofa, while Kiyotaka and Azusa sat facing them.
Ensho had elected to stand leaning against the wall. He crossed his arms as he watched the others. Yilin had told him about her circumstances before, on that night when they’d gazed at the Shanghai Tower from the Bund. As she’d just said, she was the child of a mistress, and her father’s wife had committed suicide.
After explaining her background, Yilin sighed. “That’s why my relatives hate me. I’m a murderer’s daughter.”
“Yilin...” Aoi gently stroked the woman’s back, a sorrowful look on her face. The room fell silent.
“What the heck?” Azusa asked, crossing her arms. “That doesn’t mean they should call you that. How ridiculous.”
“I agree.” Aoi nodded. “You did nothing wrong, Yilin. It’s all the fault of others—not just your parents but also your relatives who still say those things about you to this day.”
Aoi seemed like the kind of person who always smiled and went with the flow rather than voicing her own opinion, but that wasn’t actually true. Ensho knew she also spoke up if she felt something was wrong, and this was no exception. But judging by the surprised look on Yilin’s face, this was her first time seeing it.
Kiyotaka, who had remained silent thus far, asked, “I’m hesitant to ask this, but how did Keqing take her life?”
“I heard she threw herself into a lake,” Yilin replied gloomily.
“Did she leave a note?”
“She called my father on the phone and said, ‘I’m going to die now.’ And then she really did it.”
“‘I’m going to die’?” Kiyotaka murmured to himself. “Did Mr. Jing rush over immediately?”
“Of course. But since Keqing was at their Bellagio villa at the time, it took some time for him to get there.”
Aoi tilted her head. “Where’s Bellagio?”
“On the shore of Lake Como in northern Italy,” said Azusa. “It’s a luxury summer retreat for the rich.”
Kiyotaka hummed and folded his arms. “What kind of person was she?”
Yilin shook her head. “My aunts say she was a wonderful woman, but I don’t actually know what she was like, and I’m in no position to ask...”
“Makes sense,” Ensho said with a strained chuckle.
He absentmindedly reflected on Yilin’s story. Keqing had told her husband, Mr. Jing, “I’m going to die now” before drowning herself. At the time, she’d been at their lakeside villa in northern Italy. Mr. Jing had been elsewhere, so he hadn’t been able to arrive at the scene for some time. This had all happened twenty-three years ago, right before Yilin was born.
“Just like Takamiya’s spoiled brat, huh?” he muttered.
Kiyotaka turned around. “What do you mean by that?”
Ensho had only been mumbling to himself—he hadn’t expected to be heard. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and said, “It’s just a coincidence. I noticed this story had something in common with the old man’s son.”
“Hm?” Kiyotaka furrowed his brow. “Can you tell me more?”
Ensho recoiled slightly. “I heard it from Komatsu. He got curious and looked into it.” The painter relayed what he’d heard from the detective.
Kiyotaka appeared to mull over the new information for a bit before saying, “It’d be nice if we could learn more about Mr. Jing and Keqing.”
Azusa clapped her hands together. “Why don’t we ask Ailee, then? She’s known Mr. Jing for ages and brags that she knows everything about him. Apparently she’s never slept with him, though. She’s only attracted to people for their looks.”
Yilin frowned. “But she isn’t in Japan right now, is she?”
“Oh, please. Do you know what year it is? You can talk face-to-face with anyone you want as long as you have an internet connection.”
“Oh, right.”
“I often have remote meetings with Ailee. I normally use my computer for those, but we’ll have to make do with my phone this time.”
As the young lady reached for her phone, Kiyotaka held up a hand and said, “No, let’s do this somewhere else.”
Azusa blinked. “Huh? Where?”
“The Komatsu Detective Agency. We can find the equipment we need there.”
Kiyotaka stood up to leave, and the others, though confused, followed suit.