Chapter 292 Crow Shadow Guard
"It's okay, it's okay now..." Seeing the child crying, Kudo Yukiko was suddenly overwhelmed with maternal love. She squatted down, touched the little girl's head, and comforted her softly.
“Woo…”
The little girl also seemed to have a liking for older women like Yukiko (after the disguise), and she actually took the initiative to hug her for comfort.
Seeing this, Fujitani Kei didn't know what to say. He sighed deeply, "Sayuri seems to like you... Come in! Don't stand outside my door like a bunch of idiots!"
"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Fujitani." Kudo Yusaku thanked.
"Why do you think he did that? It's all for Sayuri's sake. But Sayuri has been saying similar things for the past month. I think she's terrified. Oh... she was deceived by that bastard, that devil, for a while. We were all fooled by him, thinking he was a nice guy, honest and kind-hearted. Sayuri loved playing with him. Who could have imagined he was actually a murderer?"
Kudo Yukiko led the little girl inside, sat down in the living room, and asked softly, "Sayuri, why do you think you killed your mother?"
"Because, because..." Sayuri Fujitani sobbed, "It's because I asked Uncle Numabuchi to pray to the flower god for me that Uncle Numabuchi became so strange..."
"Flower God?"
Kudo Yusaku and Kudo Yukiko looked at each other.
"Oh, that's it, the flower god." Fujitani Kei shook his head. "I think I know what Sayuri is talking about. Didn't I just say that Sayuri loved playing with him? Around that time, Maya had a slight cold and a fever. I don't know where this kid heard that praying to the flower god can bring safety. There's that Myorin-ji Temple in Yokohama, the one with the cherry blossom forest behind it. Isn't there a legend about the flower god there? I guess this kid saw it in another government brochure for Yokohama's tourism industry."
"But Sayuri usually has to go to kindergarten, Maya needs to rest, and I have to go to work. So the child ended up asking Numabuchi for help, that bastard! Phew... Sayuri asked him to go to Myorinji Temple and pray for Maya."
"After praying, Maya did recover quickly. It wasn't a serious illness to begin with! She recovered from the cold quickly, and she was worried about infecting us! But... after a few days,..."
Fujitani Kei looked gloomy.
"No, no..." Sayuri Fujitani stared down at the floor. "It's because after Mom recovered, I gave my amulet to Uncle Numabuchi, causing him to be possessed by the flower spirit and kill Mom... It wasn't him! Uncle Numabuchi at that time wasn't himself at all, I know that!"
"Sayuri, didn't I tell you that it was all fake..." Fujitani Kei hesitated, then said, "There are no such things as gods in this world!"
"But I know..." Sayuri Fujitani cried a little louder, "It was the flower god who possessed Uncle Numabuchi and killed Mom... I just know... It's all my fault."
"Sayuri, this is definitely not your fault." Kudo Yukiko squatted down, stroking the little girl's hair to comfort her. "Even if the flower god harms people, it's the flower god's fault... Why do you think Uncle Numabuchi is possessed by the flower god?"
"Because, Uncle Numabuchi didn't change from the beginning! He only became so strange after I gave him the amulet he asked for me! At that time—"
"Uncle Numabuchi, this is for you! Thank you for helping me heal my mother!"
"Huh?" Kiichiro Numabuchi, who had slightly long hair, was stunned. "...Give it to me? But this is what I asked for you and Miss Maya."
"Well, I already gave my mother her amulet! I wanted to give mine to you!"
"Why?"
"Because Uncle is always protecting us! He fixed the clothesline on the balcony and Dad's bicycle. He also helped Mom recover from her illness! Same for me. My parents often work overtime, and it's thanks to Uncle that they can pick me up and let me go home from kindergarten without worry! So, I want to protect Uncle, too. I hope he will be happy."
The little girl took the adult's rough palm, spread his hand open, and gently placed the amulet in his palm.
"The blessing of the Flower Goddess is for uncle!"
"--But after that, Uncle Numabuchi seemed to be in a lot of pain." Sayuri Fujitani sniffed, "He seemed to have a headache, and he would cover his head from time to time. Once I even saw him talking to the air, and he was crying that time... I was very scared. After he saw me, he asked me not to tell anyone else about his symptoms. At that time, Uncle Numabuchi must have been fighting the flower god! He was talking to the flower god in the air that we couldn't see..."
Fujitani Kei pursed his lips: "Sayuri! You—Hey, didn't I say that the flower god is just a legend…"
"I, I also told the police officers who came to investigate the case." Sayuri Fujitani ignored her father and wiped her tears. "They didn't believe me, just like Dad... Uncle and aunt, will you believe me?"
Yukiko Kudo held the little girl's hand.
"Sayuri, Numabuchi Kiichiro can indeed see things that others cannot see and hear sounds that others cannot hear. But he is not the flower god, and the disaster that caused his murder was not caused by the amulet you gave him. The blessing you gave him was a flawless treasure. And we came here to rediscover the truth of that time, so we need your help."
"Think carefully, Sayuri. When did you give the amulet to Kiichiro Numabuchi? After receiving it, did he always keep it with him?"
"Well, I gave the amulet to Uncle Numabuchi before Children's Day," the little girl recalled carefully. "Uncle Numabuchi really did wear it all the time... even on the day my mother died, he wore it."
After she finished speaking, she felt like crying again.
That day, she lost both her family and her friends.
"I see." Kudo Yukiko asked again, "What about your mother's amulet? Is it still kept at home?"
Children's Day is on June 1st, and Maya Fujitani died on June 2nd. In other words, Maya Fujitani died two days after Sayuri Fujitani gave her the amulet.
"Yes, yes! I secretly hid it in the cupboard... Now I hate the flower god! Although I really want to throw it away, I'm also afraid that if I throw away the amulet flower god, he will come to take revenge on me... I only have my dad left, I can't lose him again!"
"Sayuri..." Kei Fujitani was deeply moved.
Sayuri Fujitani rushed into the room and rummaged through the cabinets, then ran out with the amulet in her hand.
The police who were watching from the side quickly took out the evidence bag and put the amulet away.
"Needless to say, this needs to be tested too, right?" he said. "I'll apply for overtime pay for my colleagues in the laboratory."
Kudo Yusaku took the evidence bag and looked at it carefully.
An ordinary peach pink amulet with the words "Health Amulet" sewn on it.
It doesn't seem like anything special, but...
Kudo Yusaku opened the evidence bag, put the opening to his nose and sniffed gently.
…Although it smelled of camphor and laundry detergent because it was hidden in the closet, the hint of floral and citrus scent was still clearly discernible.
——This amulet contains the same fragrance as the one in the vase in Rintaro Kawakami's house.
"What else happened on June 2nd?" Kudo Yusaku asked Fujitani Kei.
"Ask me? I've told the police every detail I can recall." Fujitani Kei laughed bitterly, "I even provided them with a photo of Kiichiro Numabuchi - haha, a photo of our family and Kiichiro Numabuchi. I tore Kiichiro Numabuchi's face off the photo and gave it to the police, asking them to use it to track him down."
"Well, Mr. Fujitani, I mean, was there anything unusual, subtle, but noteworthy, that happened on June 2nd?" Kudo Yusaku said. "It doesn't matter if it's unrelated to the case. It doesn't matter if it's worthless. Perhaps just a few details can help us deduce the final truth?"
"...But what's the point of knowing the truth?" Fujitani Kei said calmly, "Maya is already dead."
"But Sayuri may be able to untie a knot in her heart," Kudo Yusaku said. "She is only five years old this year. She needs to know that this case has nothing to do with her."
Kei Fujitani looked at Sayuri Fujitani.
The little girl held Kudo Yukiko's hand, her tear-red eyes staring blankly into the air, as if she didn't notice what they were saying.
"...Okay." Fujitani Kei wiped his face, "Let me recall it again."
What happened that day?
Kei Fujitani tried hard to block out the series of bloody images from his memory and recalled what happened before his wife was killed.
"So, I remembered two things," he said slowly. "They don't seem very important... They have nothing to do with the case."
"Tell me about it."
"One thing is that the company gave its employees new light bulbs. I work for a home appliance sales company, and I'm in the product development department. Sometimes the company gives us new products to try out and give us feedback on their strengths and weaknesses. The new light bulb I got that day broke right after it left the factory. It was flickering, and before Maya went home... I asked Kiichiro Numabuchi to fix it." Kei Fujitani closed his eyes. "He's really good at fixing these things. To be honest, he's fixed a lot of the little things around the house."
"The flashing lights...and the other one?"
"Maya was suddenly notified that she had to perform surgery on a patient that day, and she came back late from overtime," said Kei Fujitani. "This kind of thing happens all the time. Maya called me before the surgery to let me know. So that day I bought some prepared food on the street and cooked some food myself, waiting for Maya to come back. These are the only two things I can recall that are not related to the case."
"What was Maya Fujitani wearing when she came back that day?" Kudo Yusaku suddenly asked.
"Clothes?" Fujitani Kei repeated blankly, "Ordinary clothes... Oh, right, she was wearing ordinary clothes on the outside, but a short-sleeved surgical gown underneath. She was in a hurry to get back, so she didn't change clothes... What happened?"
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