3. Who killed the Canary ?
Ikaru seemed to really like the snacks Adam threw.
"munch munch, It's tasty! This one is less sweet than Egoistist's 'Entrumé Käse Zanetorte Biscotti Il Prossimo', a luxury confectionery shop in Luna City, and it's totally good."
Adam made a displeased face.
“The Egoist’s Entrumé Käse Zanetorte Biscotti Ilprossimo? Is that the name of the confectionery shop?
Ikaru said,
"Ｗhat a surprise. Until now, Adam was the only one who could remember and say this name at once. That's amazing, you're smart."
Adam frowns at Ikal's words.
It's too obvious.This guy is deliberately using long sentences to make fun of me.I want to stop such a conversation and immediately leave this room. But then, the boss's orders crossed his mind.
― Mr.Evans’ second wife under suspicion of murder ― find out the details of the phone call she made to her stepson before she fell to the death ―
From the beginning, I'm a subordinate hated by him.
I'm not going to sell flattery to my boss ,now, but I don't want to disappoint Juliet and the supporters who have taken care of me so far in order to get me out of the slum.
Adam said to Ikaru.
"That's the baked sweets sold at the Daybreak Station near the slums. It's a cheap snacks that doesn't suit the taste of an expensive boy like you."
"I know it's cheap, but it's tasty. Though,I heard that slums are really scary places."
Irritated by Ikaru's insolent talk, Adam deliberately spoke in a terrifying voice.
"I can't guarantee that if you go deep into the slum, you'll be able to return alive."
The boy gives a dry gaze to the young detective.
His eyes are a deep, cold blue, like the bottom of a lake.
"Huh, is that so?"
Ikaru's face no longer had the innocent look he had when he was stuffing his mouth with snacks, and Adam couldn't even read the shaking of child's heart that was wriggling behind his eyes.
Adam thought.
"This kid is strange." Feelings suddenly disappear.
Then Ikaru asked again to Adam.
"Are many people killed in the slums?"
"Why are you asking me that?"
"Because even here, people are dying."
Ikar's mention of the murder made Adam impatient to carry out his plan.Now might be a good time to find out about the phone call from his stepmother.
……But, Adam's reason stoped it.
A vigilant feeling that tingles.As long as he doesn't take away that sense of caution, this kid will shut his mind off as soon as I 'll start talking about the phone at night.
Therefore, Adam deliberately changed the subject.
"May I ask about the birdcage?"
"Bird cage? Ah, there was canary in it？ I loved it so much, but this morning it died in the cage. So I threw it into the sea with the cage."
"One wing was torn off. Was it even attacked by a cat?"
"No, it's not."
Adam mutters in his mind.
'You were the one who killed that bird, Ikaru.'
'You took off the wings,and tighten it's throat that was singing beautifully.'
The trajectory of the canary's yellow wings flying in the pitch-black sky still remains in my mind.
'It's too disgusting to say it out.'
Ikaru looked at the detective's sour face and smiled slightly.
"It was she who killed my canary."
"Who is she?"
"My Maman"
"Maman...why did your stepmother do that!"
Ikaru turned his eyes to the dark sea beyond the balcony. Not a single light floats in the midnight sea.
"At first, she was very kind... she told me how nice my canary was. But she..."
― She said she hated me ―
* *
Even if the stepmother hates her stepson, that is the convention of all ages. Still, it's pretty hysterical that she would tear off the wings of a her child's beloved canary, and let it die.
Adam looked at Ikaru's expression with his upturned eyes.
Then Ikaru suddenly turned to the side. ……But, as if he had changed his mind, he turned around and touched his hair, which was around his ear. Then,he said to Adam.
"Papa liked this silver hair, and always kind and patted me on the head. He said "Ikaru is my angel. When I gets old and goes to heaven, I want an angel by my side."
Ikaru's slightly wavy silver hair is mellow and beautiful, like the angels depicted in religious paintings. Even if not his stepmother, If Adam were a woman, he thought, he would be jealous of Ikaru's appearance.
However, Adam thought ,still, questions remain.
The second wife's reason for kill her husband ,was that she hated him who doted on his son too much? Or ,ｗas killing her husband her last resort to monopolize him?
Different. Not only that. There is a darker darkness behind this incident. A heart too dangerous to step into with bare feet. However, if I miss now, I feel like I won't be able to do it later.
After lighting his favorite heat-not-burn cigarette,《 IQOS》, Adam put it in his mouth. The unique smell of popcorn soothes his mind.
Adam said,
"Ikaru, there's something I want to ask you."
"……what?"
"Maybe you don't want to say it, but can you tell me about the phone call your stepmother called before she drove off a cliff?"
There was a moment of silence.
"... I can tell you, but if that's the case, tell me about Adam too."
"I?"
"Yeah. It's a exchange conditions. For example, um, what kind of person is Adam's father?"
Now it was Adam's turn to be silent.
……but, he answered to Ikaru"s questhion.
“I don’t know my father. I never met him.
"Heh... Eh, even a child of such a person can become a detective."
Adam curses Ikaru in his heart
You motherfucker!
And he said,
"Ikaru,If you don't watch your mouth, someday you'll be killed."
"Ahaha, it's like being in a slum."
After a moment of silence, Adam continued,
"...I'm from that slum."
Seeing Ikaru's eyes glow with curiosity, Adam regretted it. He was unbearable if Ikaru asks him any more questions.
"Enough with my story. It's a exchange conditions . Now, tell me about your stepmother's phone call."
Ikaru fell silent again. It might be better to say that I'm hesitant.
Then, he said,
"Hey, Adam, are you holding a cigarette in your mouth? I feel like having something in my mouth. Do you have that snacks. I'm hungry."
Adam thought to hear that.
'Is this kid trying to dodge? However, it is forbidden to rush here.'
Adam reluctantly tried to find the inside pocket of his jacket.
It was at that time. Ikaru suddenly stood up from the sofa.
"Hey, what's that red things on Adam's neck?"
Suddenly, Ikaru's hand reached out to Adam's neck. The moment Adam shook it off, a red bruise appeared on his exposed collar.
He was strangled by his mother when he was six years old, it became a negative stigma for him.
Ikaru says with a bewildered look．
"Adam... what happened?"
"I don't know. Wasn't it an exchange condition? This time, it's not me to answer the question, but Ikaru, it's your turn."
"But I had found a similar red mark on my father's neck."
"Did you see your father's corpse? I've never heard of such a thing."
"Because Maman called me on the phone."
"That's why I want you to tell me. What was that phone call about?"
＊ ＊
― Ikaru
I'm calling you because I want to tell you about my sin.
But I have no regrets.
It's me who with him until the end of his life.
I wanted to tell you that. ―
Adam is astonished.
"What a mother!"
Not only did she kill her husband, but she also made such a blasphemous phone call to her child in the middle of the night.
Was the murder of Mr. Evans by his second wife done to monopolize her husband out of jealousy over her stepson who was doted on by her husband?
Ikaru looked diagonally at Adam Adam thinking while smoking a IQOS , and said.
"Adam, I hate that popcorn smell. If you want to smoke, go out on the balcony ."
"You’re so annoying. Get used to it."
“Wait, is that the words a detective can say to a child?”
"Then you should go out to the balcony."
"No, I hate that balcony, too. Two years ago my mother, my real mother, fell into the sea from there. Let me tell you one more thing. It was my mother who cut my long silver hair.
And It was my stepmother who killed my beloved canary.
It's terrible.Why everyone hate me?
Ikaru muttered like he was talking to himself。
”I haven't done anything wrong...”
Ikaru's words shocked Adam more than a little.
Why was this child so shunned by his mothers?
Adam repeats Ikarus' words in his heart.
"Ikaru is his father's angel. His father likes Ikaru's silver hair. On dying, he wanted an angel to be by his side. "
And his birth mother cut off Ikaru's silver hair. His stepmother made a ostentatious phone call to Ikaru saying that I was the one who attended to her husband's death.
"I can't think of anything but jealousy."
Clearly, the quagmire of their feelings for his son, swirls in the background.
Feeling like he caught a glimpse of the darkness, Adam started to feel sick.
"...Ikaru, did you like your father ?"
"..."
"ikaru?"
A child who suddenly lost the light in his eyes and became expressionless. The novice detective - Adam - looked at him suspiciously and called his name again.
At that moment, Ikaru's blue eyes opened wide.
Ikaru cried,
"Papa kissed me. He kissed me every night. While gently stroking my silver hair, Papa told me that Ikaru was my angel, and always smiled and hugged me... But I hate papa's kisses... I hate them so much."
After asking why, Adam couldn't control himself with helpless frustration.
"Asshole...It's terrible for a father to sexually abuse his son."
Ikaru said.
"I didn't like Daddy's kisses. Because the kisses Daddy gave me every night were like Daddy's giving Maman..."
Because their were real kisses.
