２．Ｓｕｎｄａｙ Ｍａｒｃｈ ２４， ２０１９
文字数 6,841文字
"There is more to come." 〈Captain〉 said, to which Maruta replied, "I know."
"There was still the car with which Milley-san had her accident. They couldn't leave it in the yard forever, so they decided to dismantle it themselves. So Asumi-san asked Silva-san to call many junior staff members, and they took two days to disassemble it. "
"They hid the individually separated parts in the steel grate of the backyard?" Maruta naturally mentioned it.
"Yes. Maruta-san, you went out of your way to see it. The steel grate was hurriedly purchased by Asumi-san from an online retailer at the time. I'm told it was a huge thing used to confine large animals."
"They even went so far as to do that," said 〈Kirvy〉, who seemed eager to talk. He stifled a laugh of confusion in the back of his throat. 〈Captain〉 turned to 〈Kirvy〉 and responded, "It's a heck of a lot of work for amateurs to take apart a whole car." The air softened somewhat as the chatter began to pick up. Seeing an appropriate opening, Maruta inserted his words.
"Another thing I found out. The reason there was one extra parking space at the Minagawa residence was because Milley's car, which was supposed to be there, was scattered and stored in the backyard. "
"Was that so?" 〈Captain〉 said.
"Yes. When I saw it through the gap in the cloth, there were a few pieces of furniture thrown in."
Hearing this, 〈Captain〉 and the rest of 〈Tokyo Spread〉 said, "Furniture?", with surprised looking.
"Actually," Maruta said. "When Kira-san and I went to the Minagawa house the first time, I intentionally hid my handkerchief inside the house. Of course, I was trying to ascertain what that rectangular object, which later turned out to be an steel grate, was. But it seems that such childish tactics were soon discovered. Miss Minagawa had found it and even ironed it by the time of our second visit. However, I may have succeeded in upsetting that woman. She must have disposed of the contents of the grate somewhere after our first visit because she anticipated that I would sneak in. Perhaps she asked a scrap iron dealer to take them away. That's how the police traced her. If the wreckage of the car was hidden in the strange grate in the backyard, and if some of the bodywork still bore the marks of the accident, the contractor would be suspicious. The police, who received the report, interviewed Asumi, and shortly afterwards, the news was reported this morning, I suppose. I hadn't mentioned it yet, but she told me on the first visit that the rectangular object contains furniture. According to her, she was storing furniture that she had designed herself for some kind of exhibition to be held in Ginza."
When they heard that much, they all groaned at once.
"It's definitely not true." 〈Shaggy〉 said in a teasing way. "As I recall, Asumi was unemployed. I have heard from Silva-san that she was a domestic helper at Milley's house. At least, it's definitely lie that she was designing furniture."
"That's what I thought." Maruta said in a controlled voice. "She must have put the furniture herself, which she bought all the way from somewhere else, into the empty grate. There, she greeted me pretending not to notice anything when I believed she wouldn't find me. But I wonder why she would tell the easily discovered lie of 'Holding an exhibition in Ginza' without hesitation."
"I'm sure," 〈Captain〉 said knowingly. "Miss Minagawa was trying to look as good as possible to you, whom she had never met before."
Maruta gave a dry laugh. He was saddened by remembering how the woman was already protecting herself with a curtain of vanity when he first met her.
"We could also say," Maruta sat back firmly in his chair. "When Milley-san died, Miss Minagawa must have told the police a lie that she made up herself."
All were so quiet that Maruta flinched. But he continued on, because he felt almost certain of his own imagination.
"If she had uploaded that 'assault video' on her own cell phone, the police would have made her explain about it after Milley's death. Based on the current explanation from Captain, a reasonable inference springs to mind. Miss Minagawa must have faked it by saying that Silva-san and Milley-san were drunk that day when she was injured, and they were joking around with each other, so she filmed it and posted it for fun. With the preface that it has nothing to do with her younger sister's death."
"Apparently so." 〈Captain〉 answered again. "After Milley's death, Silva-san and Asumi were separately called to the police station. And I also heard that some people from UMORE were asked to explain as well."
"I got called by the police too." Kira pointed to his own face.
"Yeah, that's what Yuya did too." 〈Captain〉 counted on his fingers. "Asumi apparently testified that Milley-san 'fell down the stairs' as she said, in order to hide her drunken driving anyway. As you just said, it seems that Silva-san also tried to match Asumi and say 'there was no assault'. In fact, there was no assault. As for the UMORE people, I'm not sure. However, whether they testified that there was an assault or not, both Milley-san and Asumi who were closest each other, said that she fell down the stairs, so the police probably considered their testimonies to be valid. Perhaps UMORE also said something like 'We didn't hear that there was an assault.' to avoid making things bigger by publicizing the 'trouble'. "
"Very well understood." Maruta rested one elbow on the table. "After all, Milley-san avoided going to a hospital after her injuries to hide her DUI and the accident."
"Yes." 〈Captain〉 seemed confident in his statement. "These are the facts of Milley's incident. As I answered earlier, I heard these stories from Silva-san roughly around August 2017. It was after Milley's death, but since it was her drunken driving that caused the accident, we did not make the public announcement, at least not on our own easy decision. Silva-san never explicitly told us to keep our mouth shut. But even so, it wasn't a topic we felt comfortable discussing, so we had avoided saying anything about it ourselves until now."
"Indeed." Maruta closed his mouth there for the moment. The ice covering the case was sure to melt. However, the core of the story seemed to be getting further away rather than closer. The ice mass, which should have been thinning, appeared to be even thicker than before.
"There was still the car with which Milley-san had her accident. They couldn't leave it in the yard forever, so they decided to dismantle it themselves. So Asumi-san asked Silva-san to call many junior staff members, and they took two days to disassemble it. "
"They hid the individually separated parts in the steel grate of the backyard?" Maruta naturally mentioned it.
"Yes. Maruta-san, you went out of your way to see it. The steel grate was hurriedly purchased by Asumi-san from an online retailer at the time. I'm told it was a huge thing used to confine large animals."
"They even went so far as to do that," said 〈Kirvy〉, who seemed eager to talk. He stifled a laugh of confusion in the back of his throat. 〈Captain〉 turned to 〈Kirvy〉 and responded, "It's a heck of a lot of work for amateurs to take apart a whole car." The air softened somewhat as the chatter began to pick up. Seeing an appropriate opening, Maruta inserted his words.
"Another thing I found out. The reason there was one extra parking space at the Minagawa residence was because Milley's car, which was supposed to be there, was scattered and stored in the backyard. "
"Was that so?" 〈Captain〉 said.
"Yes. When I saw it through the gap in the cloth, there were a few pieces of furniture thrown in."
Hearing this, 〈Captain〉 and the rest of 〈Tokyo Spread〉 said, "Furniture?", with surprised looking.
"Actually," Maruta said. "When Kira-san and I went to the Minagawa house the first time, I intentionally hid my handkerchief inside the house. Of course, I was trying to ascertain what that rectangular object, which later turned out to be an steel grate, was. But it seems that such childish tactics were soon discovered. Miss Minagawa had found it and even ironed it by the time of our second visit. However, I may have succeeded in upsetting that woman. She must have disposed of the contents of the grate somewhere after our first visit because she anticipated that I would sneak in. Perhaps she asked a scrap iron dealer to take them away. That's how the police traced her. If the wreckage of the car was hidden in the strange grate in the backyard, and if some of the bodywork still bore the marks of the accident, the contractor would be suspicious. The police, who received the report, interviewed Asumi, and shortly afterwards, the news was reported this morning, I suppose. I hadn't mentioned it yet, but she told me on the first visit that the rectangular object contains furniture. According to her, she was storing furniture that she had designed herself for some kind of exhibition to be held in Ginza."
When they heard that much, they all groaned at once.
"It's definitely not true." 〈Shaggy〉 said in a teasing way. "As I recall, Asumi was unemployed. I have heard from Silva-san that she was a domestic helper at Milley's house. At least, it's definitely lie that she was designing furniture."
"That's what I thought." Maruta said in a controlled voice. "She must have put the furniture herself, which she bought all the way from somewhere else, into the empty grate. There, she greeted me pretending not to notice anything when I believed she wouldn't find me. But I wonder why she would tell the easily discovered lie of 'Holding an exhibition in Ginza' without hesitation."
"I'm sure," 〈Captain〉 said knowingly. "Miss Minagawa was trying to look as good as possible to you, whom she had never met before."
Maruta gave a dry laugh. He was saddened by remembering how the woman was already protecting herself with a curtain of vanity when he first met her.
"We could also say," Maruta sat back firmly in his chair. "When Milley-san died, Miss Minagawa must have told the police a lie that she made up herself."
All were so quiet that Maruta flinched. But he continued on, because he felt almost certain of his own imagination.
"If she had uploaded that 'assault video' on her own cell phone, the police would have made her explain about it after Milley's death. Based on the current explanation from Captain, a reasonable inference springs to mind. Miss Minagawa must have faked it by saying that Silva-san and Milley-san were drunk that day when she was injured, and they were joking around with each other, so she filmed it and posted it for fun. With the preface that it has nothing to do with her younger sister's death."
"Apparently so." 〈Captain〉 answered again. "After Milley's death, Silva-san and Asumi were separately called to the police station. And I also heard that some people from UMORE were asked to explain as well."
"I got called by the police too." Kira pointed to his own face.
"Yeah, that's what Yuya did too." 〈Captain〉 counted on his fingers. "Asumi apparently testified that Milley-san 'fell down the stairs' as she said, in order to hide her drunken driving anyway. As you just said, it seems that Silva-san also tried to match Asumi and say 'there was no assault'. In fact, there was no assault. As for the UMORE people, I'm not sure. However, whether they testified that there was an assault or not, both Milley-san and Asumi who were closest each other, said that she fell down the stairs, so the police probably considered their testimonies to be valid. Perhaps UMORE also said something like 'We didn't hear that there was an assault.' to avoid making things bigger by publicizing the 'trouble'. "
"Very well understood." Maruta rested one elbow on the table. "After all, Milley-san avoided going to a hospital after her injuries to hide her DUI and the accident."
"Yes." 〈Captain〉 seemed confident in his statement. "These are the facts of Milley's incident. As I answered earlier, I heard these stories from Silva-san roughly around August 2017. It was after Milley's death, but since it was her drunken driving that caused the accident, we did not make the public announcement, at least not on our own easy decision. Silva-san never explicitly told us to keep our mouth shut. But even so, it wasn't a topic we felt comfortable discussing, so we had avoided saying anything about it ourselves until now."
"Indeed." Maruta closed his mouth there for the moment. The ice covering the case was sure to melt. However, the core of the story seemed to be getting further away rather than closer. The ice mass, which should have been thinning, appeared to be even thicker than before.
