Pathway to Japanese Literature

Author: Sakaguchi Ango

A murder case occurred in that remote mountain village.
The victim was a female Nichiren ascetic named Sayo.

Dr. Hitomi was requested by Officer Satomura to go to the crime scene together.
In a hamlet over one mountain from the village center—where the village office, police station, and clinic were located—there stood an isolated, tilting hut at the farthest edge near the mountains. This was Sayo’s dwelling.

The interior of the hut consisted of an earthen floor and a single room with a straw mat laid over wooden planks—that was all there was.
Sayo lay dead in the approximate center of the straw-matted wooden floor, completely naked, her abdomen pierced by a sharp blade.

The only details Dr. Hitomi conveyed to Satomura after examining the corpse were the following few points.

The wound was a single stab to the abdomen.
It was the cause of death, with no signs of beating or strangulation elsewhere.
No signs of assault were observed.
The blade corresponding to the abdominal stab wound was not found inside the hut.

Satomura called the prefectural police about this and asked Hitomi to guard the scene until he returned.
This was because a crowd had gathered outside the hut, with children in particular repeatedly approaching to try to peek inside.
That day was Sunday, and school was closed.

Dr. Hitomi guarded the scene while driving away the approaching children.
However, as the children’s attempts to intrude persisted relentlessly, to shield the corpse from their view, he took Sayo’s kimono—which had been rolled up and discarded in a corner of the room—and draped it over the body.
At that moment, a playing card fluttered out from within the kimono.
When he picked it up, it was the Queen of Hearts.
He pinched it between his fingers like a magician and threw it back toward the corner where the kimono had been.

He had been practicing in this home village for twenty years now, but as he had never seen a homicide victim before, he lacked both the experience and confidence to estimate things like time of death.
Even in such a remote mountain village, he had handled several unnatural deaths from suicides or accidents each year, but this was his first homicide case.
So she was killed after all.

He recalled a memory from a certain day and muttered abruptly.
Then he flinched slightly at his own use of “after all,” mentally replacing it with “in the end.”
Dissatisfied even with this substitution, he grew oddly preoccupied—perhaps this fixation itself should have been recognized as an ill omen.

The memory in question dated back two or three weeks—a fact that when he had casually stopped by the school to request tea, he had engaged in the following exchange with Mr. Kundo.
Mr. Kundo was still a young, single teacher of uncompromising earnestness.

“Even this peaceful village may soon see a murder case.”
“Moto e.”
“I said ‘peaceful village,’ but… a village that appears peaceful, I should say.”
“There’s no longer such a thing as a peaceful place anywhere in Japan.”

said Kundo.

The impetus for this conversation stemmed from a sensational crime of passion that had recently occurred in the prefectural capital—a case then dominating local newspapers—so the ensuing dialogue unfolded with natural progression.

“Is such an ominous presence truly manifesting itself in this village?”

“It certainly is,” said Kundo. “It’s a wonder someone like Sayo the Nichiren ascetic hasn’t been killed yet.”

Sayo was so notorious in the village that she needed no other name. She had worked as a maid in Tokyo but returned home after the war and married. Two years ago her husband died. Since then there had been no end to rumors. Yet her promiscuity—much like her becoming a Nichiren ascetic—seemed born of necessity. For an uneducated single woman without even farmland might find no means to survive in a mountain village. She was twenty-seven when killed. Now that it came up, even Hitomi found things falling into place.

“I see. It might not be strange if a murder commotion were to arise because of that woman.”

“There, look,” said Kundo.
“You must think so too.”
“Sayo will certainly be killed.”
“She’ll be killed soon.”

“What do you mean by ‘certainly’?”
“In any case, even if something happens, there’s nothing strange about it.”

“Certainly, she will.”
“There exists an inevitable law that she must be killed.”
“Sayo’s case proves it.”

“What is this law?”

“The facts will prove it in time.”

At that moment, Ms. Hirato, who had been present, stood up saying “I’ll take my leave first,” prompting Dr. Hitomi to rise with a “Then I’ll be going too.” He bid farewell to Kundo and exited through the school gate walking alongside Ms. Hirato.

Ms. Hirato was an unmarried young woman of striking beauty.
That day had seen Ms. Hirato handling day duty while Mr. Kundo took night watch—their shift change perfectly timed to evening’s arrival.
Whispers circulated that Kundo had proposed marriage to Ms. Hirato only to face rejection.

The reason Dr. Hitomi had thought "after all" stemmed from this memory, but it might have been rather that he had abruptly connected Kundo to the perpetrator and been seized by both fear and panic.

★

An investigation headquarters was established at the village police box, and day after day people came and went.
Two weeks passed, but no suspects emerged.
The men who had dealings with Sayo each had established alibis, leaving no room for suspicion.

That day’s newspaper carried an article stating that Yoshikichi, the boy who had discovered the body, had been interrogated again.

Yoshikichi had a vagrant nature and a compulsion to steal.
He lied with casual ease.
Though he should have been in his first year of junior high, he had stopped attending school after graduating elementary.
During his six years of elementary education, he’d been absent half the time—on those days never staying home but sleeping rough outdoors, wandering about to pilfer food or beg.
At home waited a poor alcoholic farmer of a father who raged indiscriminately at Yoshikichi.
His mother being dead, they lived as two—yet even when home, Yoshikichi met only scoldings and went unfed.

Yoshikichi camped out near Sayo’s hut that night.
The next morning, finding the door to Sayo’s hut open, he entered to search for food and discovered her corpse.

The reason Yoshikichi underwent another interrogation was that his testimony had now become their sole remaining hope.
Given Yoshikichi’s vagrant nature, thieving habits, and penchant for lying, they considered it likely he was feigning ignorance—avoiding the police without deeper motive.
They desperately pressed him about whether he had heard voices or seen figures.
It proved futile.

Yoshikichi was treated with utmost care—during breaks in the interrogation, he would be allowed to rest alone in a room and was even provided with delicious boxed meals.
However, when Yoshikichi found himself alone, he instead teared up and sang this song.

The mountain reddens—will rain fall once more?

Pitiful, I am all alone.

I am the red mountain’s wind.

Rain

Do not run through the mountain wind

The wind is weeping

All alone.

Wind, wind, where are you going?

Crashing into the eastern mountain,

Scraped raw by the western mountain,

West and east both turn dark

Wind,

I can’t see anything.

Ah, where are you going?

He was often absent from school, but Yoshikichi was proficient at reading and writing.
The song he sang tearfully was his own poem.
It had been published in the newspaper.

Hitomi read it and was deeply moved.
Since Kundo had been in charge of sixth grade last year, he had taught Yoshikichi.
He thought of meeting Kundo to ask about the upbringing and nature of the boy named Yoshikichi.
because he thought what society was making a fuss about was merely superficial aspects of Yoshikichi.

However, he remembered. Since this incident, Kundo had been strangely distant toward him. When they met on the road—even though it was a straight country path with nowhere to turn—he would sometimes veer into a narrow ridge path.

Surely he couldn’t be the culprit, but Dr. Hitomi wondered if Kundo feared that assertion of his. And he too found it painful to look at Kundo’s face, while Kundo likewise ended up abruptly turning away.

However, it was that very evening.

A special correspondent named Dori from the prefectural capital’s newspaper came to visit.
And the question-and-answer session conducted that very evening was soon reported in the newspaper as follows.

“There is someone who claims to have seen you passing through that village on the evening of the day the murder was committed.”

“That’s a lie!”

“There are multiple witnesses.”

(After checking his medical diary)

“There was an emergency patient further in at a place called Ochiai in that hamlet, so I went to make a house call.”

“What time did you return home?”

“After being invited to dinner and taking my leave, I believe I returned home by around eight-thirty at the latest.”

“It has been announced that the crime occurred between the evening and midnight of that day, but—”

(Turned ashen and silent)

“Did you go to the crime scene the next morning?”

“I went because Officer Satomura asked me to.”
“It’s only natural as the only doctor in the village.”

“Were you ever alone at the crime scene?”

“Until Officer Satomura returned after making a phone call, I remained alone there at his request.”

“They say you picked something up and put it in your pocket then.”

“That’s a vicious lie!”

“Many witnesses saw it.”

“Name the witnesses.”

“Many boys saw it.”

“That is wrong.”
"What I did was bring clothes and cover the corpse with them."
“At that moment, something fell from between the clothes, and when I picked it up, it was the Queen of Hearts playing card.”
"I threw it into a corner."
“They must have misunderstood that.”

“Did you report that to the investigation headquarters?”
“I did not report it.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t think it was important.”
“Don’t you think it’s important that you arbitrarily altered the state of the crime scene by covering the corpse with clothes and discarding the fallen playing card?”
(Silence)

The newspaper article’s question-and-answer session had ended here. Following this, there was a postscript stating that the authorities were likely to pursue this matter. He was now being treated as the definitive suspect.

When Reporter Dori had conducted the question-and-answer session, his demeanor had not been like this; instead, he had acted in a familiar manner, saying things like, “There are people in the village saying such things, but of course no one actually thinks you’re the culprit or anything—ah, please respond as if it’s just a joke.”

Hitomi realized he had been set up.
He was thrown into disarray like a fox caught in a trap.
He felt there was no way to escape.

★

He thought he would be arrested immediately, yet there was absolutely no contact for a full three days.
That, however, only made things worse.
Terrified of shadows, he became half-sick.

On the fourth day, detectives came with utmost courtesy to take his fingerprints, but in his heart, all the confidence and composure of an innocent man had completely vanished, leaving his mental state as nothing but the gnawing desperation of a true criminal cornered.

Had they been experienced metropolitan detectives, they might have recognized that a true culprit would instead calmly feign ignorance—that such loss of composure and agitation stemmed precisely from innocence—but these country detectives reached a backward judgment, departing with a farewell so sinisterly polite it left behind an eerie smile, now utterly convinced that he was undeniably the true culprit.
Hitomi could only tremble uncontrollably, barely able to speak.

His fingerprints were confirmed on the Queen of Hearts card.
However, he was not yet arrested as a suspect.
He was summoned to appear and was merely subjected to preliminary questioning.
He regained some of his composure.

The police were cautious toward him partly because this lead in the case had not been obtained through their own efforts but had been preemptively reported as a scoop by a local newspaper.
And the fact that the newspaper had obtained this scoop through an anonymous tip was revealed in their report.

The author of that tip was none other than the real culprit.
And Hitomi concluded that it was undoubtedly Mr. Kundo.
At the very least, if the author of the tip was confirmed to be Kundo, that would be evidence that he was the culprit.
Wouldn’t all of Kundo’s suspicious behavior since the incident began completely melt away because of this?

He considered visiting the newspaper office to examine the anonymous letter.
And he departed on the early morning bus for the prefectural capital, a journey that would take a full five hours.

In that bus, it seemed to him that every passenger was gossiping about his suspected crime, and he was tormented by anxiety and shame.

Before long, an unexpected conversation suddenly caught his ear, and he involuntarily craned his neck.
One of the passengers was speaking to their companion in the neighboring seat.

“The elementary school teacher named Hanai is one of Sayo’s lovers.”

He couldn’t hear how the man in the neighboring seat responded, nor could he make out the man’s subsequent words.
So it was true after all, Hitomi thought.
Now the murder motive became clear.

When he visited the newspaper office, met with Reporter Dori, and asked to see the anonymous letter, Dori refused.

“Of course, if you write a memoir for us, I’ll show it to you.”

“What memoir?”

“So, it’s the memoir about when you did that thing, you know.”

Reporter Dori leaned back and let out a dry cackle.
Hitomi was seized by the impulse to leap at him and strangle his neck, but he clenched his fists and held himself still.
Then he said calmly.

“Very well. If you show me the anonymous letter, I will tell you the criminal’s name right here.”

The color of Reporter Dori’s eyes changed completely.
He stared fixedly at Hitomi but, without a word, stood up and left the room, then returned with a sealed letter.

The handwriting in the anonymous letter was deliberately crude, as if written by an elementary school student.
Moreover, the witnesses listed—both those who claimed to have seen him on the village road that evening and those who claimed to have witnessed his suspicious behavior at the crime scene—were all boys.
Thereupon, he asserted with conviction.

“The author of this anonymous letter is Mr. Kundo.”
“The reason all listed witnesses are children stems from his occupation interacting with them.”
“And this Kundo is the murderer.”
“Why?”

Thereupon, Hitomi explained in detail the conversation he had had with Kundo at the school two or three weeks prior to the incident, as well as Kundo’s strange behavior following its occurrence. However, after listening to the end, Dori fell into silent contemplation, then grinned, shook his head, and spoke.

“That alone isn’t enough evidence to prove Kundo is the culprit.”
“Compared to something of that level, your connection to the playing card is irrefutable evidence that you’re the culprit.”

“There is evidence that Kundo was Sayo’s lover.”

“Huh? For real?”

Dr. Hitomi recounted the conversation he had overheard among passengers on the bus.

“Was that passenger from your village?”

“No. He seems to be from another village, but I remember his face.”

“What kind of man?”

“A man in his forties who could pass for either a farmer or a black-market dealer. He got off at Meinuki-dori in this town carrying a fairly large piece of luggage.”

“A black-market farmer, huh. In that case, he must be returning on today’s bus. Alright, let’s go together.”

As they waited at the bus stop, buffeted by the cold wind, sure enough, the man appeared. Hitomi approached with such joy he seemed about to leap into the air.

“You were telling your companion in this morning’s bus that Mr. Kundo was Sayo’s lover, weren’t you?”

The man made a dubious face, averted his eyes, and refused to engage. As Dr. Hitomi tried to hurriedly explain, Reporter Dori intervened and patiently spelled out the details—but the man only kept shaking his head in denial. Finally, he snapped angrily.

“First off, I don’t know Kundo or Sayo.”
“If I don’t recall sayin’ any such thing on the bus, ask the guy I was with—he’ll tell ya.”
“If he ain’t holed up at the bar, he oughta be here any minute now.”

Fortunately, the companion seemed to have gotten stuck at a bar and did not appear before the bus departed.
The reason this was fortunate was because Hitomi had begun to vaguely realize that it might have been his own auditory hallucination.

In the bus that morning, the distance between him and them was quite considerable.
Country people do tend to speak loudly, but it was strange that he only managed to catch that one part of their conversation and didn't hear a single other word.
For a while after boarding the bus, all the passengers' conversations sounded to him like they were gossiping about him—so tormented by anxiety and shame was he that he couldn't entirely dismiss the possibility it had been an auditory hallucination.

"I'm completely exhausted," he thought. This must be what they call nervous exhaustion. As painful thoughts that he might become an invalid as he was—or perhaps even a lunatic—swirled through his mind, his consciousness began to fade and slip away uncontrollably.

Reporter Dori had been looking at him with contempt, but suddenly becoming convinced, he grinned, pushed him onto the bus, and got on himself. Needless to say, this conviction pertained not to Kundo's suspicion but to Hitomi's.

★

Around eight o'clock in the evening, the bus returned to Hitomi's village.
Hitomi was so exhausted he didn’t even want to speak, but Dori refused to give him a moment’s rest.
They immediately brought Kundo in for a confrontation.

“I don’t recall saying such a thing.”

Kundo shouted in a frenzied rage before erupting in fury again.
In response, Hitomi could only insist on his own theory in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum.

“Anyway, if you call Ms. Hirato and question her, you’ll find out.”

It was less an assertion than a frail, utterly resigned voice.

Reporter Dori had forcibly brought Ms. Hirato, who had been just about to go to bed.
Ms. Hirato’s testimony was as follows.

"I was engrossed in my work, so I didn’t catch what you two were discussing."

Dr. Hitomi showed no agitation, as though listening to a story that had nothing to do with him.
He remained slightly bowed, simply silent.
He kept his eyes open but seemed asleep.

Pointing at this state, Kundo declared:

“You’ve finally shown your tail, Dr. Hitomi.”
“This person had sexual relations with Sayo.”

“What?”

Even Hitomi finally raised his face as if jolted.

“Me and Sayo?”
“What’s the evidence?”

“Sayo’s husband was under your care for over a month before his death, wasn’t he?”

“That’s correct.”

Kundo grinned slyly and said:

“How did Sayo pay for that?”
“Sayo’s a woman who only pays with her body.”
“Or did she pay you in money instead?”

Dr. Hitomi gripped the chair arms and began lifting himself up.

And he was recalling Sayo’s figure.
Sayo was a woman with her bitter skin peeled away.
Though unclean, she was strangely alluring.
She had indeed tried to pay him.
Needless to say, certainly with her body.
She had deliberately let her knees fall apart and was sitting so that her white thighs were visible.
Deliberately raising one hand high behind her back, her armpit parted widely—exposing the area beneath it, the base of her arm, and a portion of her breast.
Sayo smiled oddly and cast him a sidelong glance.

He did not accept the payment.
And while he certainly should have accepted neither money nor body—that was merely how it should have been—Sayo’s figure remained entwined in his mind, persisting there endlessly.
Now, as he recalled it, it had been alive with an almost eerie vividness.
He felt as though he had cleanly accepted that payment.
And when Sayo’s figure grew increasingly vivid, searing into his eyes, he tried to lift himself by pressing down on the arms of the chair with all his strength—and suddenly felt dizzy.

Dr. Hitomi slumped forward heavily.
And then, he slid off the chair where his patients usually sat and collapsed in a faint.

Dori, who had been coldly watching this, clicked his tongue and stood up.
And he said dismissively,
“This bastard’s the culprit.”

Kundo seemed even more convinced.
And he said.

“From the moment I heard Sayo had been killed naked, I had discerned that the culprit was this person.”
“This man is a madman who revels in women’s nakedness.”
“He is an utter lecher.”
“Just look.”
“This very examination room was the castle where he reveled in his secrets.”
“He made many women strip naked there and indulged in his pleasures.”

Ms. Hirato’s beautiful face flushed red as she quietly turned away.
For she too had once been completely naked in this very room.
Of course, this was due to an unavoidable illness that required being fully unclothed before the doctor.
It had not been forced by Hitomi.

Ms. Hirato gradually turned pale.
She shuddered with chills.
She could no longer bear to remain there.

When Ms. Hirato hurriedly announced her departure and left, Kundo chased after her.
“I’ll escort you home.”

“No. Please don’t trouble yourself.”

She ran.
Kundo also ran.
She gradually ran more earnestly, more frantically.
She wanted to escape from Kundo.
However, Kundo did not let her escape.

She rushed into her house, and Kundo rushed in simultaneously.
She was gasping for breath, but Kundo maintained a nonchalant face; even though he was winded, he showed a composure that suggested this was simply the natural state of existence.

“I wanted to thank you.”
“The fact that you believed in my innocence—I was truly grateful for that.”
“Even so, his wordless confession and collapse must have been too harsh a shock for your kind heart.”
“How dreadful for you.”
“I had wanted to tell you he was the true culprit, but I never wished it to unfold in such a provocative manner.”

She brushed off his words and, without speaking, walked to the back of the room, where she said to her mother, who had gotten up:

“Please have Mr. Kundo leave.”
“He’s so detestable I could kill him.”
“He showed me a life so filthy it made me shudder. How utterly vile…”

Tears welled up.

Tears welled up.

★

The next day, Hitomi was summoned to the investigation headquarters.
Beside the inspector, Dori stood with his shoulders squared.
Needless to say, he was the instigator.
However, the inspector was not as forceful as Dori had hoped.

Hitomi wept bitterly.
And he said:

“I am confused.
I am tired.
Please grant me three days of rest.
I don’t know what to do.
Let me gather my thoughts.
I don’t know how to respond.
I can’t find the answers.
I’m utterly bewildered.
I need rest.
Otherwise, I’ll die.”

“Very well.”
“You may rest until the turmoil subsides.”
“I will assign a nurse to your room so you can sleep peacefully.”

“We have a nurse at home.”

“However, having a nurse would be more prudent for safety.”

Having come to understand that the “nurse” was actually a detective, Hitomi did not resist.

Before he left, the inspector took out the playing card and,

“Regarding this playing card—is this yours?”

“No.
“I don’t believe there were any playing cards in my possession.”

When Hitomi left, Dori’s eyes blazed.

“If he goes and kills himself—that’s on your head!”
“I’ll skin you alive for it!”

The inspector did not answer that.

Soon, something strange occurred.
The playing card had somehow gone missing.
If the culprit was Hitomi, it would have been the only physical evidence.
Everyone searched frantically.
However, it was nowhere to be found.
In the midst of this, Kundo and Ms. Hirato were summoned.
It was to have them testify about the confrontation from the previous night as a precaution.

Upon hearing about the missing playing card, Ms. Hirato suddenly seemed to notice something.

“Was it the Queen of Hearts?”

She suddenly asked, to no one in particular.
The inspector did not miss hearing it.

“Yes.
“It is the Queen of Hearts.”
“It seems you have some idea, don’t you?”

“No, it’s just something trivial.”

Ms. Hirato blurted out an excuse.

“I remembered a child’s poem.”
“I think it was a poem Yoshikichi wrote when he was in sixth grade, but there’s a poem that was published in the alumni magazine.”
“The title was, I believe, ‘Queen of Hearts.’”

“If you happen to recall it, please let me know.”

“I don’t recall it, but since the magazine is at my home, shall I show it to you?”

Thereupon, Ms. Hirato brought the magazine and showed the poem.
The title was indeed Queen of Hearts.

O my soul’s Queen of Hearts

Let me sleep

Yesterday a thief
Today a beggar
Hated by people and dogs
Both yesterday and today my stomach is empty
The mountain gradually grew dark
When birds return to their nests
I return to where you are
If there are stars in the night sky
I want to eat the stars
Sleep I want, sleep I want

The inspector fell into deep thought.
“My soul’s Queen of Hearts, huh? A clever turn of phrase—though surely that soul isn’t a playing card. Still, this is a discovery nonetheless.”
“I believe Yoshikichi was here earlier—could you bring him in for a moment?”

However, Yoshikichi’s figure, which had been seen until just a moment ago, was no longer there.

“Surely Yoshikichi couldn’t have taken away the Queen of Hearts of the soul, but regardless, it’s a strange coincidence.”

Rather, the inspector thought that perhaps Dori had stolen the playing card.
Linking that playing card to Hitomi had been his achievement.
However, he suspected that perhaps he had resorted to harassment because it had not been sufficiently rewarded.

In any case, since it was the loss of a crucial piece of evidence that could be called the only physical proof, it could not be left unattended.
They also pursued Yoshikichi.
And they discovered Yoshikichi.
However, from Yoshikichi’s pocket, the Queen of Hearts tumbled to the ground.

★

What follows is the interrogation between the Inspector and Yoshikichi.

“Why did you steal it?”

“This is mine.”

“If you lie, I won’t forgive you.”

“This is mine.”
“It’s something I always kept in my pocket.”

“Is there any evidence that what you’re saying is true?”

(Silence)

“Is there anyone who saw and knows you always kept it in your pocket?”

“Because I hid it carefully so no one would see, nobody’s ever seen it.”

“Why did you hide it so nobody would see?”

“Because it was my important charm. I didn’t want anyone to see it.”

“Why was it important as a charm?”

(Silence)

“Who gave it to you?”

(Silence)

“Since when have you had it?”

(Silence)

“If you tell me everything honestly, I’ll let you eat a delicious meal.”
“Even if you stole someone else’s things, if you confess honestly, I’ll forgive you and I promise you’ll get that meal without fail.”
“Why is it an important charm? Tell me everything about that.”

“I wanted playing cards so badly I couldn’t stand it.”
“When there was no one at the town bookstore, I stole a box of playing cards because it caught my eye.”
“Because if I kept the whole box, people would notice, I left one favorite card and threw the rest into the river.”

“Why did you like the Queen of Hearts?”

"I don't know why, but it was my favorite."
"And I made it my charm."

"Did you keep it on your person at all times?"

"I kept it on me at all times."

"When did you lose this?"

"I didn't lose it."
"Because Sayo said before she died that she wanted to hold it, I let her borrow it and hold it."
"Sayo held it and wept bitterly."

“Did you know Sayo was going to die?”

“I killed her.”
“Why did you kill her?”

(Silence)

“You’re lying, aren’t you?”

“I’m not lying.
Because I killed Sayo, kill me.
I want to die.”

“You want the meal, don’t you?”

★

Approximately two hours later, after Yoshikichi had finished eating his meal and rested, came a series of questions and answers.

“You said earlier you killed Sayo, but that was a lie, wasn’t it?”

“It’s true.”

“Have you ever spoken to Sayo?”

“Sayo was kind to me.”

“Why was she kind to you?”

“When I went to Sayo’s hut to steal food, she found me, and as I tried to run away, she kicked me down from behind and pinned me.”
“Because she asked why I came to steal, I explained the reason—that if I didn’t steal, I couldn’t eat.”
Then Sayo burst into tears, said “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” and hugged me.
“From that day on, Sayo was kind to me.”
“She told me to come anytime I had nothing to eat.”

“When was that?”
“About a month before Sayo died.”

“Did you sometimes go to Sayo’s place to get food?”

“Sometimes I went.”
“Sayo would be delighted when I came and urged me to eat this and that as much as I wanted.”

“Tell me about the day Sayo died.”

“When Sayo saw my face, she said she had been waiting for me to come.”
"And then she asked me to lend her the Queen of Hearts charm she had shown me before and let her hold it."
When I handed it to her, Sayo pressed it against her skin and burst into tears, then took out a short dagger with a plain wooden sheath and showed it to me, saying she’d prepared the blade so I could kill her.
"When I asked why she wanted to die, she said it was because she met me."
“And she said that if I would kill her, it would be her dearest wish and burst into tears.”

“Do you understand why it was her dearest wish?”
“I don’t know about that, but all of Sayo’s words are definitely true.”

“Because Sayo asked you to kill her, did you stab her with that dagger?”

“Sayo had me hold the dagger and became naked.
‘This belly was so dear—so unbearably dear—that I want you to stab it and kill me,’ she said.
‘And if you keep living, you’ll grow up—since adults are all bad people—it’s better if you die before becoming one too,’ she told me.”

“What reply did you give?”

“I didn’t give any reply.
Because Sayo wasn’t listening for my reply.
Sayo just taught me it would be better to die before becoming an adult.
Sayo kept saying ‘this belly is dear, dear,’ stroking it with an indescribably gentle smile.
She told me to stab the dagger into her navel with all my strength, pull it down as far as I could, and slit her belly open.”

“Did Sayo lie down and point to her navel?”

“She was standing. She told me to stab her while standing, pressed my hand, and determined the dagger’s position herself. ‘Now, stab me,’ she said, and closed her eyes.”

“Before that, didn’t you press your cheeks against hers?”

“I don’t do that. Sayo always looked into my eyes, and I always looked into Sayo’s eyes. After becoming naked, Sayo’s eyes always smiled like those of God.”

“Have you seen God’s eyes?”

“While looking into Sayo’s eyes, I kept thinking that as I gazed at her. Did she think I couldn’t stab her if those eyes were open? ‘Now, stab me,’ she said and closed her eyes—but that made her look all the more divine.”

“Did Sayo close her eyes and have a pale face?”

“When she closed her eyes, her smile looked all the more divine. I stabbed her navel with all my strength just as Sayo told me to, then pulled down.”

“Did Sayo let out a scream?”

“She didn’t let out a single scream. When I stabbed her, she gave a faint ‘Ugh’ moan; after I pulled down and withdrew the dagger, she staggered and fell with a thud. She struggled in agony for a while but didn’t scream once. Sayo told me while in agony: ‘Yoshikichi is a man—endure it,’ she said.”

“What does that mean?”

“The pain will only last a while; you’ll feel relief soon,” Sayo said to me again.
“And after a while passed, Sayo truly found relief and wore a smile.”

“And did she say anything?”

“I understood that her smiling face was her greeting.”
“And then Sayo died.”

“Why did you lie and report that Sayo had been killed?”

“Because Sayo taught me to do so and died.”
“I said I’d dig a hole alone and bury it without showing anyone, but Sayo told me not to do such a thing.”
“Because she had exposed her shame throughout her life, she said she wanted to display her naked corpse in death and suffer that shame as well.”
“She said she wanted to show everyone her naked body.”

“So she said she wanted to atone for her sins by suffering shame in death, did she?”

“I want to die naked,” “nakedness is dear,” “I want to show my nakedness”—she said that afterward.

“Do you regret killing Sayo?”

“Sayo died happily.”
“In the end, I was able to do something that made Sayo happy, so I’m glad.”
“So I think I want to die now.”

★

The dagger was found at the location Yoshikichi had described, and bloodstains that had been washed off were discovered on Yoshikichi’s clothing; thus, with his confession confirmed as truthful, the case was resolved.

As a mere byproduct of this case remained the fact of Hanae Kundo’s descent into madness—he who had prophesied the promiscuous woman’s death.

Hanae Kundo stalked Dr.Hitomi for revenge under the pretext that he had stripped Ms.Hirato naked and humiliated her; furthermore, under the pretext that Ms.Hirato—having suffered this humiliation—should not live on in defilement, he stalked her to kill her.

Because of this, his descent into madness became apparent to all, and he was sent to a psychiatric hospital.

When Yoshikichi was confirmed as the perpetrator, Hanae Kundo stormed into the investigation headquarters.
“Yoshikichi’s spouting nonsense!”
He insisted that only he—having been Yoshikichi’s teacher—could make the boy tell the truth, demanding to interrogate him personally.
When refused, he cursed the world with these words:

“That we’ve squandered fortunes and burdened decent citizens to hunt a killer—all because the most abominable whore was murdered—is sheer lunacy!
The slut who paid with her flesh and the curs who took payment—they’re beasts, not humans!”

He knew only how to kill and judge others, but he did not know how to judge himself.
That was what he called a human.
The beast judged itself and died.