９．Ｓａｔｕｒｄａｙ　Ｍａｒｃｈ　２，　２０１９

Maruta silently waited for the rest of the story, watching as Kira's tongue began to move well. Then, as expected, taking a sip of coffe, he spoke smoothly.
"As you confirmed earlier, Milley posted the video of her injury in May, about two years ago. I believe it was the beginning of May. Silva came back to our apartment with a serious look on his face."
"Did you live with him then?"
"No, it's not like that. I basically rode my bicycle from my home to his room to do editing or other work. Sometimes I was allowed to stay over when we were busy, but I have never been a resident there. That day I was in Silva's room editing a video. It was after ten o'clock, I think, at night. Silva sighed loudly as he came in and sat down on the floor. After a while, he didn't say anything, so I asked him, 'What's wrong?' But he didn't take it up with me, saying, 'You have nothing to do with it, don't worry about it.' And then, at midnight, around the time the date changed, the Milley's video was uploaded."

"She said she fell down the stairs."
"Yes, I watched it for the first time at home the next morning. At that time I froze in front of my PC display and couldn't move for a while."
"You thought that something must have happened between the two of them."
"Yes. The impact of the injury was significant, and given the way Silva was blocked up, it was clear that something was up. I then immediately went to his apartment and questioned him directly. He watched the video too, and looked as gloomy as he had the day before, but his delivery was clear. So, rather honestly, he confided in me that he had been with the injured Milley the day before."
"What exactly happened between them?"

Kira took a breath, then mumbled.
"I don't know. Back then, he was emotionally unstable, getting depressed and suddenly starting to talk. I couldn't ask him casually, 'What really happened between you and Milley?' In the process of doing so, she died."

Here they were at a loss for words to add. I would rather have a moment, he thought. Kira did not seem greatly upset either, judging from the gesture. Maruta began to say carefully after a thoughtful pause.
"That was about a month later, I believe. After she uploaded her last video. I read something about bleeding from the internal organs near the abdomen, which caused her death."
"Seems so."

"Is there a causal relationship between injury and death? So to speak,"
"Alright,"

Kira, nodding in small increments as he asked, seemed to have guessed what Maruta wanted to ask.
"You ask if the direct cause of Milley's death was that May '17 injury."
"Yes. Then again, if not, I would also ask if she was in some other kind of trouble during the month leading up to her death."
"I see."

Kira answered after another short pause.
"I have never heard of Milley being attacked by anyone just before her death. The situation around us was rather calm. It seems that Silva was actively going to her home to care for, after she was injured. However, it was in vain. She breathed her last at home. This was later conveyed by Silva, that Milley, who was completely cold in her own bed, was first discovered by her older sister who lived with her. That was in June 2017. An ambulance was called immediately, but the situation was no longer salvageable. By the time paramedics arrived, she was already gone. That may not answer your question, but that's pretty much all I know about when she died."
"Okay, thank you very much."

There, silence descended spontaneously, as if promised. The scene of 〈Milley〉 lying on the bed, already a corpse, came vividly to Maruta's mind, who until then had seen her death only as a fact. That amazing energy that once bound the gazes of so many spectators has completely disappeared from her body. No one knows whether an untimely death is based on fate or simply due to an accidental chain of unfortunate events. Either way, it remains that one person came to a cruel end. Maruta immersed himself for a moment in a somber emotion, thinking of the irresistible and merciless flow of all things.

"Maruta-san," In this atmosphere, it was Kira who opened his mouth first. "Do you have any thoughts so far?"
He asked the same formal question that Maruta had just asked. Feeling slightly amused by this, Maruta bit back his out-of-place laugh.
"Yes, I understand how she passed away. Even after all this time, I still think that we have lost a important person, even though I have never met her in person. By the way,"

Maruta had no desire to make light of Milley's death. On the other hand, the urge to move on next topics was accompanied by an unquenchable solidity.
"Also, there's one other thing I'd like to check." Maruta took the tablet again. "I know it's not something you would want to see."
The screen shows the playback of one video. "Kira-san, have you ever seen this?"

The image of the assault by the blond man that Maruta had just seen while waiting for the guest. Kira looked at it without changing any expression, much to Maruta's surprise. Then, while returning the terminal, he said in a tone as if to say that it was out of the question.
"There was, I know, such a video."
"I wonder if the man and woman in this video are not Silva-san and Milley-san, or if they are completely different people."

Kira sipped his coffee with a hesitation-free motion before answering.
"It is hard to imagine that Silva was violent to Milley. He certainly dressed like a smooth-talking playboy, but he wasn't the kind of guy who would be violent to others. Well, to be honest, I don't really know where the video come from either. But if I may say so personally, maybe each man and woman there is neither Silva nor Milley."
"I thought you would say that, my bad."
"As a matter of fact, we were interviewed by the police about it once."

Maruta looked up and gazed into Kira's face. While he was amused by the unexpected words again, Kira was the first to speak.
"It seems that about a week after Milley died, that video was already out there. First, Silva was called to the police station. In his case, it took about half a day to interview him."
"What did him tell them there?"
"I got the general gist from him. But that should have been no more than I just told you now. If Silva had been negligent, and if he had been talking about it, he would have been arrested. But actually, he was never."
"That's for sure."
"Then in my case it was short, I think less than two hours. And that is exactly what we just talked about. The only difference is that I was asked the same questions over and over again."

Those were all Maruta needed to hear. Maruta crossing his arms, leaned back in his chair to replace the air in his lungs. The cafe, which he viewed after a time, was empty, indicating that the end of the day was near.