Residual Dream [Chapter 1] ⑫ Father

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When I returned to the Hatomaki Police Station, Natsumi Inamoto came rushing out of the Police Affairs Division.
"Domori-san! Welcome back. Someone came by earlier wanting to visit Hiroko Kondo. He said he was her father."

"Her father?"

Kondo's father divorced her mother by mutual consent when she was a child. His current whereabouts are unknown.
"So, what happened?"
"When I told him it was lunchtime, he snapped. He left without us being able to have a proper conversation."
"Did you tell anyone in our division?"
"I did. Shimamura-san followed him outside, but said he couldn't find him anymore."

"What kind of man was he?"
Natsumi frowned as if trying to remember.

"He was smelly and dirty, and I hate to say it, but I thought he was a homeless person. He said he saw in the newspaper that his daughter had been arrested and wanted to see her. When I told him that it was lunch break so no one could visit, but that our staff would check if a visit was possible, and asked who he wanted to see, he got angry. He said it was ridiculous that people living off tax money were taking a lunch break."

"And yet, it's his daughter who's eating lunch on tax money. Isn't it?"
Sone chimed in with a snide remark from nearby.

"Then he started yelling that since he's her parent, we should let him see her immediately. And you know, he might have seen someone who looked like her near the stairs, because he started shouting 'Hiroko!' But when our section chief came out, he suddenly ran away. He said he didn't have time and would come back."

If someone is asking for 'Hiroko' among the women in the detention center, it has to be Kondo.
"He's the type who acts tough toward young women but is weak against authority or other men."
Sone remarked.
"Maybe. I was wearing a coat over my uniform, so maybe he didn't think I was a police officer. Maybe he looked down on me."
Natsumi agreed.

"Do you think he's her real father?"
"Shimamura-san asked me that too, but I don't know. They don't look exactly alike. But he might come back."

I thanked her and returned to the Criminal Investigation Division, where Shimamura seemed intent on informing Kondo about the matter immediately.

I'm not sure if it's effective when it comes to a divorced father, but there isn't a suspect who wouldn't be shaken at least a little to know their family is worried about them. Some start to regret the trouble they've caused, while others get angry, blaming that very family for their current predicament.

Since the room with the magic mirror was free for the afternoon interrogation, Shimamura took Kondo there. I quietly observed the situation.


"A man who appears to be your father came to visit you."
Kondo's eyes moved at Shimamura's words. Her expression didn't change much.

"He seemed to be shouting that he wanted to see you. He seems worried. He didn't complete the proper procedures, so the visit didn't happen, but if he comes again, do you want to see your father?"

Kondo, who had been expressionless, let out a light puff of air upon hearing that.

Shimamura observed her. Kondo exhaled once, then began to bow her head and laugh softly, her shoulders shaking as if she couldn't suppress the urge.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh."

With her hand over her mouth and her head down, her shoulders gradually began to shake more violently. As she rocked her head back and forth, her hair, which was slightly longer than her shoulders, swayed. Like a stone rolling down a slope gaining momentum, Kondo couldn't stop the laughter and finally opened her mouth to laugh out loud.

"Aha. Ahahahaha."

Shimamura watched her for a while. He waited to see what words she would utter after the laughter.

"Ha. Haa."

Kondo took a deep breath to steady herself, then shook her head as if to say that was impossible, and laughed again, saying, "'Do you want to see him,' you say."

"My father, hahaha. M-my father, he..."
Kondo stared at Shimamura, her shoulders still shaking, and said:

"My father is dead."

Then she started laughing loudly again, "Ahaha." Shimamura played along.
"He passed away? When was that?"
Kondo thought while laughing.
"Let's see. When I was in elementary school? Or maybe even before that. Hehe."
Then she looked straight ahead and announced with a smile.

"I killed him. My mother did."

Shimamura's brow furrowed.
There is no such information. After the divorce, Kondo's mother raised Hiroko, making a living through office work and part-time factory jobs, and passed away from heart failure about two years ago. Of course, her mother had no criminal record. There are no records of manslaughter or anything similar.

"Your mother killed your father?"
Shimamura asked carefully.

Kondo nodded twice while chuckling.
"She strangled him. Suffocation."
Was this specific story a fabrication by Kondo, or a misremembered event?

"My mother always did that."
"Always?"

When Shimamura asked instinctively, Kondo's surging laughter finally seemed to stop.

"Yes."
As she said that, her facial muscles went slack, and the life suddenly drained from her eyes.
"Always."

Kondo furrowed her brows as if trying to remember something. She narrowed her eyes slightly and spoke the rest slowly.

"On his face. Wearing a black mask."
"A mask?"
Shimamura repeated.

"A rubber one."
"Rubber?"
Kondo continued without answering.

"With a hose in his mouth. A collar around his neck. My father, naked. That's right. On all fours."

The recorder's hand stopped, and they looked back and forth between Shimamura and Kondo in confusion. Shimamura searched Kondo's expression.

Kondo's expression changed to one that looked slightly amused.
"My mother is smiling happily."
Saying that, she smiled broadly while staring into the void.

"Sending air through the hose, or stopping the air. Whether my father can breathe or not, that depends on my mother's control. My mother holds my father's life in her hands. His life. Always. At any time."
"Always?"
"Yes."
Kondo answered Shimamura's voice directly.

"That's how I was born. My mother controlled my father. And through that act, I was born."

Kondo's face was turned toward Shimamura, but she wasn't looking at him. Her voice rose slightly, becoming spoiled and childish.

"Mother would say to me, 'Come here, come here.' So I would imitate her too. I tried controlling him, too. My father would shake his body happily, as if he were pleased. Ufufufu. He looked like he was suffering. He looked like he was suffering, and he looked happy. So, I thought, 'More, more.' And then, and then—"
Kondo smiled with a smirk, her cheekbones raised high, in a voice like a young girl.

"I think I accidentally made a mistake."

Shimamura said nothing.
Kondo suddenly returned to a serious face and muttered in a low voice.

"I didn't see the end, so I don't know."

She remained frozen like a plaster statue for a while, and then, as if the string that had been pulled taut had suddenly snapped, she let her arms go limp and said nothing more.

⑬Continue to "The Past"　▶