|
This man’s lying
, Aomame thought.
That’s just ridiculous, that he can sense when
somebody is at home. I haven’t made a sound. His real goal is to just stand in front of
a random apartment, make a racket, and intimidate all the other residents, to make
people decide they would prefer to pay the fee than to have him plant himself outside
their door like that. This man must have tried the same tactics elsewhere and had
good results
.
“Miss Takai, I know you find me unpleasant. I can understand perfectly what
you’re thinking. And you’re right—I
am
an unpleasant person. I’m aware of that. But
you have to understand, Miss Takai, that pleasant people don’t make good fee
collectors. There are tons of people in the world who have decided they aren’t going
to pay the NHK subscription fee, and if you’re going to collect from people like that
you can’t always act so nice. I would rather leave with no problem, just say,
Is that
right? You don’t want to pay the fee? I understand. Sorry to bother you
. But I can’t.
Collecting the fee is my job, and besides, personally I don’t like it when people
pretend not to be at home.”
The man stopped and paused. And then he knocked on the door ten times in a row.
“Miss Takai, you must be finding this annoying. Aren’t you starting to feel like a
real thief by now? Think about it. We’re not talking about a lot of money here.
Enough to buy a modest dinner at your neighborhood chain restaurant. Just pay it, and
you won’t be treated like a thief. You won’t have anyone yelling at you outside or
banging on your door anymore. Miss Takai, I know you’re hiding in there. You think
you can hide and get away from me forever. Well—go ahead and try. You can keep
as quiet as you like, but one of these days somebody is going to find you. You can’t
act so sneaky forever. Consider this: there are people a whole lot poorer than you all
over Japan who faithfully pay their fee every month. Is that fair?”
Fifteen knocks on the door followed. Aomame counted them.
“I get it, Miss Takai. You’re pretty stubborn too. Fine. I’ll be going now. I can’t
stand outside here forever. But rest assured, I’ll be back. Once I decide on something,
I don’t give up easily. And I don’t like people pretending to be out. I’ll be back, and
I’ll knock on your door. I’ll keep banging on your door until the whole world has
heard it. I promise you this, a promise just between you and me. All right? Well, I’ll
be seeing you soon.”
She didn’t hear any footsteps. Perhaps he had on rubber soles. Aomame stayed still
there for five minutes, staring at the door. The hallway outside was quiet again, and
she couldn’t hear a thing. She crept to the front door, summoned her courage, and
peered out the peephole. No one was there.
She reset the safety on the pistol and took some deep breaths to get her heart rate
back down. She switched on the gas, heated up water, made green tea, and drank it.
It
was only an NHK collector
, she told herself. But there was something malicious, sick
even, about his voice. Whether this was directed at her personally or at the fictitious
564
Miss Takai, she couldn’t tell. Still, that husky voice and persistent knock disturbed
her, like something clammy sticking to your bare skin.
Aomame undressed and took a shower. She carefully scrubbed herself in the hot
water. After she finished and had put on clean clothes, she felt a bit better. The
clammy sensation was gone. She sat down on the sofa and drank the rest of the tea.
She tried to read her book but couldn’t concentrate on the words. Fragments of the
man’s voice came back to her.
“You think you can hide and get away from me forever. Well—go ahead and try.
You can keep as quiet as you like, but one of these days somebody is going to find
you.”
She shook her head. The man just said whatever nonsense popped into his head,
yelling things just to make people feel bad.
He doesn’t know a thing about me—what
I’ve done, why I’m here
. Still, her heart wouldn’t stop pounding.
You can keep as quiet as you like, but one of these days somebody is going to find
you
.
The fee collector’s words sounded like they had deeper implications.
Maybe it was
just a coincidence
, she thought,
but that man knew exactly what to say to upset me
.
Aomame gave up reading and closed her eyes as she lay on the sofa.
Tengo, where are you?
she wondered. She said it out loud. “Tengo, where are
you?”
Find me now. Before someone else does
.
565
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
