Conan Moslin

The murder of diplomat Isao Tsujimura was not widely publicized.

Just like those people who were assassinated and were at the center of public opinion, according to the identity of the deceased, the incident should be reported in full, and then everyone should be cleared of the charges under the tide of public opinion before the matter is resolved.

But in this incident, all that remained on the news were a few condensed and pithy lines from the teleprompter, followed by a few sweet and ordinary sentences from the host in daily news reports.

"Diplomat Tsujimura Isao was murdered at home, the murderer has been arrested."

There is no appearance of the missing detective Shinichi Kudo, nor is there a basic name for the suspect. This is a request made jointly by the son of the deceased and the daughter of the murderer in order to protect everyone involved in the case.

It is difficult to verify things that happened more than ten or twenty years ago, so the police are keeping their hands off for the time being.

This may be temporary, or it may be permanent.

So now, he is just a victim in a case, nothing more.

As a judicial trainee and trainee judge who had completed all his studies and internship, Takayoshi Tsujimura was hit hard by the cause of his father's death.

He had no way of judging whether what the murderer's stepmother said was true or false, but seeing his grandfather's distraught look, with his professional ethics and the one or two cases of gritting teeth murderers and the complicated eyes of the deceased elders he had seen in court during his internship...

He thought he knew the truth.

After the coroner completed the basic examination, Takayoshi Tsujimura followed his grandfather to hold his father's funeral.

Although Tsujimura Isao died in an ignominious way and the things involved were disgusting, many people still came to his funeral.

Most of them were politicians, acquaintances or subordinates of the diplomat.

So Takayoshi Tsujimura stood at the door to greet the guests, calling out each visitor's name accurately and greeting them with a forced smile.

The young girl hired to help diligently handed a pen to each visitor and asked them to write their name on the roster.

So the guests came in one after another, found their seats, sat down and started chatting with each other.

No one asked about the cause of death of Tsujimura Isao at the funeral. These smooth guys were all very sober.

How rude it is to ask about the cause of death at someone's funeral?

It would be better to talk to the future diplomat candidates who have just arrived here.

Tuk - Tuk - Tuk -

With the end of diplomat Tsujimura Isao, the people who were once connected with him dispersed like monkeys, looking for new superiors and joining new factions.

At the meeting, monks in cloth robes were beating wooden fish and chanting scriptures in a low voice, while their former colleagues in suits and ties were sitting on the cushions behind them, looking down and thinking about the future.

Just as the memorial service was about to end and the strange yet familiar guests were gradually leaving, two people finally arrived late.

The leader exchanged a few words with the young girl sitting in front of the stage flipping through the roster, and left a name on the roster she opened.

The young man behind him held a box in one hand and took the pen with the other, then signed another name on the roster.

The girl who was recording the roster turned the notebook over, looked at the two names on the roster, then raised her head to look at the people who had entered the venue, frowned, and didn't know what to say.

"Strange, they clearly look like mother and son..."

"Why did Mr. Guishan ask me to put Ms. Katsuragi... Mr. Katsuragi in there?"

There were two names written on the roster:

[Masako Yamashiro]

[Katsuraki Kita]

……

Finally arrived in front of the deceased's coffin.

Masako Katsuragi lowered her head and looked into the fat and bloated black and white portrait in the photo.

She is married and her surname is no longer Shancheng.

But Masako insisted on signing her old name on the roster, so she still represented "Yamashiro".

At this moment, there was no smile on her face. When her eyes fell on the greasy and fake smiling face in front of the coffin, there was actually a hint of regret in her eyes.

What a pity, he died a few days earlier.

Most of the people around had left, and only Tsujimura Toshimitsu, wearing a black suit and tie, was still sitting hunched over on the futon, his eyes filled with sadness, guilt, and disappointment.

This playful and naughty old professor once indulged his son in pursuit of fame and fortune out of hesitation, and now he indulges his step-daughter-in-law in revenge by killing his son out of guilt.

All the consequences of cause and effect seemed to fall on his shoulders.

Hearing footsteps, Tsujimura Toshimitsu turned around to look.

She had a pair of eyes similar to those of her brother who died fifteen years ago, and was wearing a black mourning dress that was a little old but as clean as new.

That was the mourning dress she wore at her brother's funeral fifteen years ago, and she had carefully preserved it.

Tsujimura Toshimitsu looked at the woman in front of him hesitantly: "You are..."

"I am Masako Katsuragi, the elder sister of Kenji Yamashiro. I am here to represent his colleague from 20 years ago—"

Katsuragi Masako spoke each word with a firm tone.

"Send him off for the last time."

In response to her words, Tsujimura Toshimitsu opened his dim and turbid eyes, trembling his lips without saying a word.

While they were talking, Katsuragi Masako's little follower, her son Kita, handed the gift to Takayoshi Tsujimura.

Takayoshi Tsujimura met Kita's unfriendly gaze, which was full of scrutiny and dissatisfaction.

"Are you the Takayoshi that Sachiko was talking about?"

Facing Katsuragi Kita's scrutinizing eyes, Takayoshi Tsujimura unconsciously tensed up. He took the black gift box from Katsuragi Kita and slowly opened it——

It was a thick stack of information. When he unfolded the paper, he saw the familiar handwriting of his father.

He knows what this means.

Masako Katsuragi smiled as bright as a flower, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes seemed to relax. She stared at the old professor who was in his twilight years, even though his gaze was dodging and he didn't want to look at her at all.

"I have copied the excerpts and distributed them to many places."

"As for you—"

Looking at Takayoshi Tsujimura who had a somewhat sad look in his eyes, Masako Katsuragi sighed.

"I promised Gongjiang that I would not interfere in your and Sachiko's affairs."

Katsuragi Masako was already gentle enough. She sat outside peacefully, and only came with Kita to cause trouble when most people had left.

She only handed over a gift box and said a few words -

He then left with his son in a leisurely manner.

After she left, Takayoshi Tsujimura put away the materials he had read and helped his grandfather up.

He thought for a long time, then said:

"Grandfather, this is a good thing."

……

"You asked me how this story will end?"

"If a story from many years ago were reported in the media..."

"Public opinion will tear them all apart."

"Some would say he is greedy and cunning, and that his fat belly is full of evil."

"Some people would admire his wife's endurance, but would also despise her ruthlessness in abandoning her own daughter."

"They will say his father was conniving and an accomplice, destroying the benevolent image he has maintained for many years."

"They will also say that her daughter deliberately approached his son in order to help her mother."

"So his father became an accomplice, his son became an accomplice, and his wife's daughter - naturally also became an accomplice."

"This approach - it will only make them lose both sides."

The young man whom I hadn’t seen for four years seemed to be drunk and his eyes were curved like crescent moons.

"Sister Youxi, I have another ending for this story. Are you willing to listen to it?"