6. The Canary in the Slum
— 7:00 PM News.
This is a follow-up report on the Evans residence murder that occurred late in the evening of August 23.
The Luna City Police Department has determined that the second wife, who died in a fall off a cliff, is the murderer and has filed a police report with the suspect dead. The Evans mansion, which tragically ended with the plunging to one's death of the remaining 9-year-old son, has been vested in the government due to the absence of an heir.
Following is a weather report —
When Adam turned off the neck speaker, the news streaming from the streaming service was cut off.
'As of today, you've been transferred from the Criminal Investigation Division to the Patrol Division. '
Adam sighed as he looked at the letter of personnel change his boss had given him.
' I'm supposed to be glad I didn't get fired? '
That was the punishment given to Adam for his failure to prevent the suicide of a protected person.
At dawn on the day after the incident, Adam had briefly visited an apartment in a slum. Adam was on his way there again.
That time, he had only had a brief conversation with Juliet and had immediately returned to the Evans residence.
Three days had passed since he had been busy dealing with the aftermath of the incident, and Adam wondered how she is doing now.
Adam went up the cracked stone stairs of the entrance and stood in front of the apartment's front door. As usual, he used the duplicate key to open the door. Then .....
”Hey! Wipe your hair properly. It gets cold at night, you'll catch a cold!
Juliet's high-pitched voice rang out.
As Adam was taken aback by that voice , a child wearing a baggy T-shirt and putting a towel over his head ran past in front of him.
”What the hell's going on in there? '
The apartment is a terrible mess.
A detective with the irritated eyes. Just as he caught sight of him, the child, who had once passed in front of him, came rushing back.
High-pitched voice rang out.
"Adam, listen to me. Julia's breasts are so soft and fluffy!"
Adam raised his eyebrows to hear that.
'I had to endure a lot of sarcasm from my bosses and use all my wiles to fake that suicide and now this....'
"Ikaru! you are a dead man in the world, so be a little more careful with your behavior!"
Hearing him ,Juliet came running out of the bathroom.
”Adam, thank God! You were finally back."
A young girl wearing a baggy T-shirt matching Ikaru's. Her macallite green eyes sparkled brightly. And she put her arms around Adam's shoulders and kissed willy-nilly.
"......Ikaru, go to the room over there."
Adam kepting to have his arm around her , tossed Ikaru a baked good had bought at Daybreak Station and waved his hand in a gesture of clearing out the people. What he threw was snacks that Ikaru described as ’cheap but tasty’.
Ikaru said.
"Okay! Julia, can I have some juice from the fridge?"
"Sure, but you'd better brush your teeth before bed or you'll get cavities."
To Juliet's words, Ikaru replied cheerfully, "Yes."
Juliet's small apartment had only a kitchen and the bedroom where Adam and her are now.
After watching Ikaru walk into the next bedroom with a bag of baked goods and a glass of juice, Adam closed the door between the two rooms with a snap. Sitting down in a chair, he fell silent and put his IQOS in his mouth.
Then, the girl's expression changed drastically and she said,
"What are you going to do with him now, Adam?”
”I don't know exactly what I'm going to do with him yet. but I'm going to look around to see if there are any suitable adopters. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. So I'm sure he'll find a rich foster family ...... soon."
But Juliet said,
"No. I saw it on the news. I don't know how ikaru got involved in the murder of parents, however,the world thinks that kid comitted suicide.How can such a small child live with that and keep it a secret from everyone?"
Adam was afraid to tell Juliet the truth about the case.
As a matter of fact、 he himself had not thought ahead when he brought Ikaru to this apartment half by force.
However Adam had sworn in his heart.
― I'm not going to kill anyone. —
"Julia, just for a little while. ......”
After Adam’s word, Juliet said,
"I know. I'll take care of that kid. I'll just tell neighbours Ikaru is one of my relatives and It'll be fine.”
”Sorry ......”
However, it is hard to believe that Ikaru, who has never known poverty, will be able to live safely in this worst environment of a slum.
Besides ………
”Julia, Ikaru is already 9 years old, no matter how much he is a child. Shouldn't you be not taking a bath with him for educational reasons?
Adam remembered Ikaru's words going into next room, and made a bitter face.
"Who said "Julia's breasts are so soft and fluffy"!
Juliet blinked at Adam like that.
”I'm not sure if it's a problem at all. ”
”What?”
”Why? We're both girls.Ikaru is a very pretty girl, isn't she? If she grows out that silver hair, she could be an idol celebrity."
"A girl? Ikaru? "
For a moment, Adam was puzzled, but it soon turned into a certainty.
Was this the cause of Ikaru's distortion? Evans family…No, The Evans wives made their daughter Ikaru could only live as a boy. In and out of the house .......
His real mother kept cutting Ikaru's silver hair, which her husband praised, and sutepmother killed the canary that Ikaru adored. It was out of spite her husbandand and revenge against their daughter, whom he doted on. ......
If Ikaru was a girl, the two mothers' envy of the same sex may have been more complex, persistent, and insidious.
Ikaru's "different face" from time to time. If this was the escape that the abused child had created for herself, it is almost certain that Ikaru strangled her father.
However,
Where did the more deeper-seated darkness go?
What about the other Ikaru's murderous intent?
"Julia, Ikaru could be quite a difficult person to live with. So, you can from now ......."
Juliet looked suspiciously at Adam, who was looking up at her. He usually looks at her that way when things are getting complicated.
"No, I'll take care of it," Juliet said.
" I know Ikaru is a strange child. But you know, I love her so much. Because Ikaru says she likes my name, and wants to call me by it so much." Juliet Canary ,so that's Julia's name, she said."
And Ikaru said, "There's a Canary here too, isn't there?
"Canary ......."
Even though the canary of Ikaru is dead.
silenced profile of Adam .
"Adam, do you remember what I told you before?"
"What we talked about before? Julia told me?"
Juliet looked at Adam, and said.
"Yes. About how if Adam and I were to get married and have children."
― When they get older, they'll probably ask us. —
Why does Daddy's body have so many bruises?
Why does Mom have so many scars on the wrists?"
The thought of it made me so anxious that some nights I hated my upbringing.
But you know what?
That girl would see my scars in the bath and talk to me about all sorts of trivial things, as if none of that mattered. I enjoy responding to that. ......
I don't want to go through life licking each other's wounds and comforting each other.
Juliet looked into Adam's face.and said,
"I'm sure we can get through anything,even thought the things we've been holding on to.
And I began to think that 'What the heck.'"
