Escape - 7

< Machine Translation Version >

Clutch bag 

A call came in from the mechanic shop that had been asked to repair Takeshi's beloved Silvia. The other party's insurance coverage had been confirmed, and they would begin repairs as requested by Takeshi. I immediately called to confirm. In this day and age, it is a bit of a hassle to contact someone.

"Hello, my name is Takeshi Ohara, and I'm calling to check on the repairs to my Silvia that I requested. "

"I'll put you in touch with the person in charge now."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Takeshi Ohara. I will now put you in charge."

"Thank you for your patience. My name is Ichinose from maintenance. Thank you for calling. This time, the other party pay the full amount for the car accident, replace one door, window glass, and all the paint is baked on. I am surprised because I have never seen such a large amount of painting done by insurance before, but the other party's insurance company has informed me that they will pay for it, so I would like to start dealing with it, is that OK?"

"Yes, thank you. How long will it take?"

"We have already ordered the parts and can handle the entire process, so please give us about 10 days to get started."

"I understand. Then please call me when it is before completion."

“Yes, sir. Mr. Ohara. Also, I am wondering if you have problem with your clutch bag, which is still in the pocket behind the passenger seat.”

"What, a clutch bag?"

"Yes, it is. I did not check the contents of the bag, but I am asking because I thought it might be a bad idea if it contained something you normally use.”

Takeshi was flabbergasted. Come to think of it, at the time of the accident, the man had his driver's license out of his clutch bag. But when he went to the phone booth, he seemed to be empty-handed. Takeshi had a bad feeling that he might have put something in Takeshi's car, but it was too much trouble to go get it, so Takeshi decided to let him keep it. After the repairs were completed, Takeshi could check it out and report it to the police if necessary.

"I don't use that clutch bag, please you just leave it in there."

"I will do it. I will call you again when the repair is finished.”

Takeshi was concerned about the clutch bag, but decided that it would come back anyway once the repairs were done, and there was no point in being impatient. But, after all, it seems that there are not many requests for a full baked-in paint job. Takeshi thought that was probably true, but he was angry at the terrible response from the other party, and he recalled that he had felt encouraged by Grandpa's words in the dream.

Besides, Takeshi knew that the finished product was completely different between normal spray painting and baking. In the case of spray painting, the paint is applied twice, but in the case of baking, the surface is hardened with heat of more than 100 degrees Celsius to fix the paint. This produces an even coating and a beautiful finish. However, the process is more complicated and the cost is considerably higher. In addition, only a limited number of facilities are available to handle the work. However, Takeshi was in a good mood because the Silvia could be beautifully restored with this work.

Feeling that a good day is about to end, Takeshi takes a can of beer and a chilled glass out of the refrigerator and brings it to the living room. He pulls up the pull-top of the can of beer and after hearing the pleasant sound of the pusher, he tilts the chilled glass and pours the beer slowly, then pours a little more vigorously when the glass is over half full, allowing the foam to rise. After letting it settle a bit, slowly pour an additional shot until the glass is just about half full. A layer of fine bubbles formed, about two fingers above the top of the glass, which was just large enough to hold the contents of a single can of beer. Tonight was another success. The beer pours out of his mouth and down his throat in one gulp, along with the deliciously fine foam. Every time, I drink about half the glass at once. He enjoy the refreshing sensation of the beer as it goes down his throat with the first sip. As always, this is a moment of bliss. Takeshi feels the end of the day.

Takeshi sat down on the sofa, sipped a pleasant beer, and turned on the TV. A news program was just on the air. As he watched it, wondering what had happened today, he heard a startling piece of news.

"We have some new news for you. Takagi Energy Corporation, which operates several gas stations, has been found by the IRS to have failed to properly report the company's sales for several years. So far, the additional taxes are expected to amount to 300 million yen. The president, Mitsuru Takagi, has been missing for two days, and based on a missing persons report from the company, Kanagawa Prefectural Police are tracking his whereabouts. As for the management of the company, it appears that his younger brother and vice president, Yuzuru Takagi is currently acting on his behalf. We will report on the new facts as soon as we receive them. Now, on to the next piece of news…"

The TV screen shows an image of a gas station. It must be the company of the man who came to the institute. Takeshi began to wonder what on earth had happened. The taste of beer, which he had enjoyed drinking until then, suddenly turned bad. For the time being, he told himself that the repairs to his car, Silvia, had progressed, so there should be no impact on me, but something was making him uneasy.

Takeshi recalled that the person in charge of the maintenance shop had told him that the clutch bag was in the Silvia's car. He  wondered if the man had slipped it into Takeshi's car on the day of the accident while Takeshi went to make a phone call to call the police, but he could not imagine the inevitability of that. Did the man want to hide the bag somewhere because he was about to leave the Mercedes behind and flee? Did the man have something in the bag that would be bad if he kept it? If so, he might have decided that if he left it in Takeshi's car, where it was least likely to be searched, it would likely go unnoticed until the repairs were done. However, even if that were the case, it does not necessarily mean that he would be able to get it back. Takeshi thought it might be a trivial intuition, but the fact that the clutch bag was in the car bothered him. The TV news had ruined what had been a pleasant evening for him.

"Is there a connection between the escape and the clutch bag? Oh, No way."

to be continued

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Escape (「逃走」機械翻訳版)｜松浦 照葉 (てりは)｜note

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日本語版(原作)は、kindleで販売中です。
The original (Japanese) is on sale at Amazon kindle

逃走

#小説 #逃走 #機械翻訳 #Escape