By the age of thirty-six or thirty-seven, one has already stepped into the age of uncertainty.
Roughly one-third of life has already passed.
Shikimi Miyu and Yukihiro Otsuka are of similar age, and one could say that they spent their youth together in the first half of their lives.
Although they parted ways, deep down in her heart, Shikimi Miyu couldn't help but hope that Yukihiro Otsuka would regain his spirit, find a stable job, and reconcile with her.
A woman only asks for a stable home, and this request is not unreasonable.
But fate plays tricks on people, and who could have imagined that their parting would turn into a final farewell?
As Senichi left Shikimi's house, he realized that the sky had inexplicably brightened.
Looking up at the sky, he noticed that what was originally a cloudy day was now quietly filled with sunlight directly overhead.
"It seems that we can only visit the company from Miss Shikimi's address in the afternoon."
Senichi glanced at his wristwatch and realized it was already noon. He looked at Takagi and asked, "It's 11:20. Let's find a place nearby to have lunch. What do you want to eat, Takagi-san?"
"How about ramen?" Takagi thought for a moment and said, "There's a good ramen shop nearby that serves delicious tonkotsu broth."
"That sounds good. Let's go for ramen then." Senichi nodded in agreement with Takagi's suggestion.
In fact, Senichi didn't really enjoy eating just plain noodles; he needed enough side dishes to accompany them.
And fortunately, the ramen in this area offered a variety of toppings, especially meat dishes like char siu.
Whenever Senichi came to eat ramen, he would always add extra char siu and enjoy it with some deep-fried skewers. Only then could Senichi satisfy his taste buds.
While eating, the two of them organized the information about Yukihiro Otsuka.
Although they didn't find any leads related to the case during the morning, gathering Yukihiro Otsuka's personal information was necessary, so they didn't feel impatient.
After lunch, they got into the car and headed directly to the planning company where Yukihiro Otsuka used to work.
The planning company wasn't particularly large.
Their main work involved organizing concerts and managing various events.
When Senichi and Takagi arrived, it was already around noon, and there were still quite a few people working in the company. It seemed to exude an air of diligent employees.
However, taking advantage of this, Senichi and Takagi easily found the person in charge of Yukihiro Otsuka's dismissal.
"To be honest, we didn't want to do this, but recently, our activities have been relatively scarce, and the company is facing difficulties."
After exchanging pleasantries, the person in charge helplessly said, "That's why we had to dismiss Yukihiro Otsuka, along with a few other temporary workers."
"But we heard that you offered Otsuka-san a job with accommodation." Senichi spoke up.
The person in charge paused their actions and nodded, saying, "That's correct. He strongly expressed his desire to stay in our company, and we just signed a formal employment contract with him. We felt really sorry for dismissing him, so we tried to help him as much as possible."
Upon hearing this, Takagi asked, "Which company is it?"
"Well... um..." The person in charge scratched their head and then gestured towards a drawer, finally finding a business card.
After receiving it, Takagi and Senichi glanced at each other and saw a hint of helplessness in each other's eyes.
Yukihiro Otsuka ... his whereabouts were truly unpredictable.
But there was no choice. They had to keep moving forward. After blocking the name on the business card, they showed the photo of Yukihiro Otsuka, but the person in charge, named Koda, bluntly said they didn't remember him.
"He should have been working here a little over a month ago, introduced through Ryosuke Planning Company," Officer Takagi reminded.
"So, he probably worked here," Koda casually replied.
"Probably?" Takagi frowned at the statement, feeling dissatisfied. "He was fired from here a month later, and you have no recollection?"
"Well... our company also has many problems, not as good as what you see, we have poor management," Koda replied dismissively.
Meanwhile, Senichi noticed a schedule whiteboard hanging on the wall and suddenly spoke up, "Your company is dispatching workers to construction sites? That seems illegal, isn't it?"
As a graduate of the University of Tokyo Law School, with his only A-level skill at the moment, Senichi quickly spotted some irregularities on the planning chart on the wall.
"Ah, actually, we are a contracting company, not a dispatching company," Koda said with an apologetic smile, hurriedly explaining.
"In that case, it's natural to have technical personnel present at the construction site, right?"
As Senichi said this, his tone became serious, but Koda's forced smile froze for a moment, then immediately he laughed, saying, "Of course, we are absolutely legal."
However, Senichi was intentionally testing the waters, and he sensed something unnatural in Koda's reaction, amplified by Senichi's keen insight.
Positions like technical personnel at construction sites are necessary and would be considered illegal if they didn't exist, so specific talents are required.
This is also a common illegal issue at construction sites. Senichi was just testing the waters, but he unexpectedly gained some unexpected insights.
However, on the surface, Senichi nodded calmly, then continued to ask, "So, what kind of work does Yukihiro Otsuka do here?"
"He probably does tasks like moving bricks at the construction site," Koda scratched his head, pondered for a moment, and then said, "But the temporary workers are quite happy because they have work almost every day."
"They have work almost every day? Then why was he fired?" Takagi looked puzzled and asked the question.
"It's unavoidable," Koda replied matter-of-factly, "Once the construction at the site is completed, there won't be any work left."
"I heard that accommodation is provided for the work here," Senichi looked at Koda and asked again, "Can we trouble you to take us to the place where Otsuka stayed before to have a look?"
"Well... the dormitory is quite far away, and Otsuka's bed is already occupied, so there's no point in going there," Koda refused with an unpleasant expression. "I'm sorry, but can we leave it at that? I still have work to do."
"It's fine, then. Thank you for your time," Senichi nodded and walked straight out the door, with Officer Takagi following behind.
"Senichi, that guy Koda seemed to be hiding something," Takagi immediately said as they stepped out of the door. "His expression changed when you suggested going to the dormitory."
"I know," Senichi's lips curled into a faint smile. "Don't worry, I already have a way to get him to spill the beans."
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