.

Old Duroc's fingers twitched at this point. It wasn't until now that he realized that he didn't seem to have drunk a sip of tea, and it had been cooled all the time. The liquid that had changed the temperature of the formality slightly stimulated his fingers through the delicate porcelain, pulling his straightened mind back to reality.

Originally, he was no longer here, he had already traveled to a completely different place from here. The sky there was dark, snowing, and falling one by one. They are inconspicuous in the dark air, only faint tiny phantoms, and then when they fall into the radiance of the roadside lights, they all become as cute as elves.

The old detective stood in the middle of the elves, his hands in his jacket pockets, his mouth open and the white air visible to the naked eye, standing outside the glass window of the coffee shop, which had replaced the walls, and looking at the two teenagers sitting opposite each other in the booth inside.

He still remembered what Kari looked like when he was normal, but the sudden shortening of his hair still made him a little uncomfortable, not to mention the pair of glasses that were standard for the intellectual youth of the library. He looked at him, at Karui, at Kari with his mouth slightly open, and at the boy who was younger than him on the other side with doubt, incomprehension, and worry in his eyes. And the boy kept his head down all the time, so that old Duroc had no way to see what he looked like.

The detective leaned forward, his feet crunching on the snow, trying to get closer to the real, real, and undistorted face that belonged to him in his memory. Then "he" suddenly raised his head, and a terrifying bloody face faced the old Duroc.

“……”

Blinking, his gaze fell back to the cup he was holding, to the amber tea, and as he watched the tiny ripples that gradually began to ripple on it, he took a deep breath and tried to calm his trembling hands.

"He saw you that night," said Old Duroc in a hoarse voice, his eyes unmoved, as if he were talking to himself, "and then he killed himself the next day—and not long after, Lyra died." You said you killed Layla, was it because of him? Because Leila broke up with him and led to his death, that's why you killed Leila to avenge him? ”

"I'm still playing the detective's tricks." Kari smiled and closed his eyes in admiration, "That's right—if it's used to fill in the records you made, then it's enough to write like this, and it's a good summary, and you can't say anything wrong." ”

“…… But there's more to it than that, right? ”

“……”

Cary opened his eyes, and Old Duroc looked at him intently.

"Please," he said, "there are no archives here, and I don't have a pen with me." Besides, even if I brought it, it wouldn't be easy to write. He rattled his handcuffs on the table. I'm a police detective, but not just a police detective. I was involved in the events of the year...... I need to know what I've done. ”

"Does this make you feel better?"

"How bad could it be?"

Stretching out his hands and clapping, Cary gave Old Duroc a thumbs up.

"That's why I respect you, sir. At all times, you are a person who sticks to your principles, and many people don't even know what they really are - a bunch of weak pieces of waste who allow themselves to be crumpled and changed shape by the world in order to survive. I'm so glad you're not one of them. ”

"I guess that's probably why you're willing to see me today." Old Duroc remained silent, his eyes half-lowered calmly.

"Perhaps...... A little. Cary stretched out his index finger and thumb, pinching a small gap that could only fit into his little finger. Then he grinned.

“…… Why the hell did Leila die? Old Duroc asked in a deep voice, "Why did you kill her?" ”

"Oh yes, yes, I almost forgot." Patting his head in annoyance, Kari seemed to have just remembered what he was about to say, "Why did I kill Layla?" Why did I have to kill her? I think about it, I think about it — oh, yes. Turning his head, Kari looked at old Duroc with sparkling eyes, "Because—because she likes me!" ”

“……”

Enough of the surprises he had eaten tonight that Old Duroc thought he wouldn't react superfluously to anything he heard. However, visible to the naked eye, his gaze still changed slightly.

After saying that, Kari sat there, crossed his arms and closed his eyes and laughed wildly, tears of laughter were about to flow from the corners of his eyes, and his laughing body almost fell to the side to the ground, but fortunately it was blocked by the handrail.

"She likes me, sir—can you imagine? She actually likes me, she actually likes me! ”

Kari laughed, laughed, and laughed out of breath. He stopped laughing, his pale face turned red with laughter, he opened his mouth and gasped twice, his hands slapped on the table, and the whole person calmed down. He looked up at Old Duroc.

"I know what you're trying to ask, sir." "At the same time, that's my question—the foolish kid who found Leila after he stupidly made himself into art." Whatever the reason for her breakup with him, he had this kind of thing right after they separated, and I think Leila might have felt that part of it was her responsibility. I was a little worried about her, worried about whether she would become depressed or something...... But the woman I met, it wasn't Leila, it wasn't the Leila I knew. Actually, that's not anyone I know. ”

“……”

"My worries are unfounded, sir. There was nothing wrong with her, and though she couldn't have acted as if nothing had happened to the poor child's death, I can tell you that she had no problem. In fact, she even welcomed me in with good interest in my condolence visit, invited me to sit down, and entertained me with a sumptuous dinner, accompanied by a high-class red wine. ”

Gesturing with two hands on the table, Cary matched his expression, vividly and vividly conveyed his meaning to the old Duroc, so that his former boss clearly understood how high-end the red wine he wanted to talk about. That's definitely the kind of premium that is very high.

"I was drunk, she was drunk. We sat in her house, by the window with a beautiful night view, in a comfortable chair, still holding the bottle in her hand. I talked about him, expressed regret to her, and hoped that she would not be too upset and not too self-remorseful...... Then she laughed. ”

When he said this, Kari also smiled, as if he remembered the scene at that time, and his eyes looked into the air without focus.

"She told me that she was not upset and told me not to worry. She just felt a little sorry, she didn't expect that the child's ability to bear it would be so bad...... Originally, the 'game' should have had a good ending at the end. ”

“…… Game? ”

"yes, the game." Kari nodded, licking her lips, "She and the kid—they were just a game, at least to her. She never took their affairs seriously, and all of her and his whole thing, from beginning to end, was just a show for one person - that person, that person, it was me. I am not the only one who is good at closing my mouth and keeping my emotions in my heart firmly closed, but also her who is completely opposite to me on the surface. ”

“……”

"Then, I understood everything...... I finally knew what the boy meant by what he said to me at the end. ”

"Wait a minute," Old Duroc interrupted Cary with a sudden voice when he heard this, "what do you mean by that, what did he say to you at the end?" ”

"Do you remember who was the first to arrive at the scene after he committed suicide?" Kari asked with a smile, looking at Old Duoc's changing face, "That's right, it's me—do you know why?" ”

“…… Because you knew for a long time that he was going to kill himself at that time? ”

"You can say that, but it's not entirely true." Kari shook his head, "Actually, we were talking until the moment before he jumped. ”

“？！”

"I've never heard his voice like that, never, not even when we were in the café the night before, he never spoke to me like that...... He told me where he was, where he was, what he was going to do. I don't remember what I was talking to him about, yelling at my phone incoherently as I rolled off the train and ran towards the place. I've never been a very athletic person, and I've never hated my own legs like that at any point. I pushed myself beyond my limits, broke my physical limitations, and rushed to the bottom of the building in less than a quarter of the usual time...... But it's already too late. ”

Cary's gaze moved, refocusing his focus and looking at Old Duroc.

"I saw him—there he was," he said, gesturing somewhere, "a bloody flower blooming in the middle of the white snow, and he was lying in the center, lying on his stomach like a child who was bedridden on a Sunday, with one eye wide open, and one hand still clutching his phone. ”

“……”

"I can't forget that scene, sir." Kari grinned sadly, "I can't forget what he said to me at the end. ”

"He told me that he was never— didn't trust anyone anymore."