Man being stalked

 Hide from the sky

　　Gongjie is 43 years old this year. He is a disgraced office worker, busy with his daily life.

　　On this day, the agency went to the suburbs to see a second-hand house. That house was actually very good, but the price was too high, 10 million yen more than the agency's budget, and he couldn't get it all at once. Right now, their family of four lives in a small rented house. Both their son and daughter are in their teens, but they have to sleep together in the same room. Recently, the landlord has rushed to drive them away. As the head of the family, the pressure of the agency can be imagined.

　　It was 6 o'clock in the evening after seeing the room, the sky was getting darker, and it started to rain. The agency walked on the ridge leading to the county road in a frustrated mood. At this moment, a car drove from not far away, but a figure suddenly appeared on the side of the road. At this moment, the figure flew up on the hood of the car and then fell down.

　　The public agency hurried over and saw a child lying in the wheat field, his head turned unnaturally, apparently no longer working. The driver who caused the accident on the side wanted to drive away, but was stopped by the agency. The driver poked his head and said, "Are you taking a ride?" The agency felt that the other party's voice was a bit familiar, and when he looked closely, he was a middle-aged man with a familiar face. "Get in the car!" the other party urged again.

　　When the agency got into the car, the driver slammed on the accelerator, and the narrow compartment was full of alcohol. After a short silence, the driver said, "You don't think you have seen it. It is estimated that someone will find the body tomorrow morning, and the crash marks will be washed away by the rain." The public agency subconsciously looked back at the accident. At the scene, no one was seen.

　　The driver said: "That child suddenly jump from beside the road, startled me as long as you do not say anything, there would be nothing!."

　　Public media and some distraught: "? ...... But this really hiding maintained"

　　"Shoo . As long as you stay out of the matter, there is no problem. I know that your family is crowded and you are now at a stage where you need to spend money. I will open the door for you as long as you have never met me.” The

　　car stopped. No, the agency jumped out of the car like fleeing an ominous place. The driver said something and would call him, and drove away.

　　The driver is Qi, the president of a bank, and the agency is in this bank to apply for a loan when buying a house. According to current conditions, the agency can only borrow 20 million yen from the bank at most. If you can borrow 30 million yen, you can buy the ideal house you just looked at.

　　"Open the door of convenience for you!" These words rang in the ears of the agency again. He suddenly felt that the desire he had been thinking about in the past few months had encountered an unexpected opportunity and was about to be successfully realized.

　　In the evening, President Qi really called: "You have to keep it secret for me! I will try my best to handle your house loan for 30 million yen. No, more is no problem. You can come and go through the formalities tomorrow. For the children, you should also have a decent house." After hearing these words, the agency struggled for a while and agreed.

　　The next day, the Evening News published a report on the escape of the perpetrator of the car accident. The report said that the police had encountered difficulties in the investigation. There were no witnesses, and the traces on the scene were washed away by heavy rain as the governor had expected.

　　After seeing this, the agency had struggled in his heart, but in the end he was relieved: Although the child who was struck to death was pitiful, he would not be able to get back to life just because he called the police; besides, the police would not bring anything to his family. Happiness. He made up his mind to buy the house he yearned for.

Frightened

　　One late night two days later, the agency took the tram home after get off work as usual. After the tram arrived at the station, the agency followed the crowd and got off the bus. It takes 30 minutes to get home from the station on the main road, but it only takes 20 minutes to take a shortcut. The public agency intends to take a shortcut.

　　On the street in front of the station, every household has turned off the lights, and only one fruit shop is still on. The owner of this fruit shop lives near the agency’s house and knows each other. The agency watched many people get together to buy fruit in the fruit shop. The owner was so busy that he couldn't help but sighed, "It's good to have money, and I don't have to be forced to do something that violates my conscience."

　　In this way, while thinking about this, the agency walked past the fruit shop and entered a path that was hidden from view. At this moment, he suddenly felt a strange feeling behind him. It seemed that someone was following him at the same pace, neither approaching nor far away, about 30 meters away from him, and a burst of unfounded fear penetrated his back. .

　　Gongjie had a lung resection operation more than ten years ago. His lung capacity is small. As long as he walks faster, his heart feels as uncomfortable as jumping out of his throat, so he walks very slowly. And now, he felt that the people behind were walking with his slow pace. What is that man going to do? With the faint street light, the agency quietly looked back and observed that the man was wearing a peaked cap!

　　Is it that peaked cap? A burst of fear hit my heart again. The agency remembered that on the tram just now, there was indeed a man wearing a peaked cap, with a low brim, wide shoulders, a flat nose, and high cheekbones. Later, everyone around him got out of the car halfway, and only this guy stood motionless. Could it be that he has been watching since then?

　　There are residences on both sides of this path, but another two to three hundred meters is a narrow mountain road cut out by a cliff, and there are no people around. A few years ago, a girl was killed on that road. From then on, even passing there in broad daylight will make people feel uncomfortable. And further forward, there is a trail in the open field.

　　The agency stood still on the side of the road, pretending to explain, and the man disappeared immediately. Gongjie breathed a sigh of relief and continued on the road, but soon the figure slowly followed, probably hiding behind the telephone pole just now.

　　At this time, Kosuke's face suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. On the surface, the bank leader seemed to have a pretty smile, but he always felt unfathomable. After thinking about it carefully, holding the other party's handle in his hand, after the other party takes out a little advantage to buy himself, it is impossible to sit back and relax. Could it be the killer the other party was looking for, who wanted to kill someone?

　　"Ah!" The agency couldn't help but whispered, and then remembered another thing. Yesterday he was walking on a road with few pedestrians when he was almost hit by a car. At that time, he was thinking about the house, and felt that it should be his own negligence, but now he feels that since witnessing the scene of the car accident, he seems to be stared at by invisible sight.

　　Seeing that when he reached the narrow road between the mountains, the man seemed to be moving faster, and the agency couldn't help but speed up. As a result, his heart beat violently again. Not to mention anything else, as long as this situation lasts longer, he will die. The sound of footsteps and breathing are getting closer and closer. There is no one around here, no matter how loudly you call for help, no one will hear it. It's over, what should I do?

　　At this moment, there was a burst of singing from the field ahead, and it sounded like two or three people were singing, and the voice was a little immature. Saved! Gong Jie's heart was a little relieved, and he continued to walk quickly toward the field path. He felt that at the moment the song sounded, the footsteps of the person behind him seemed to shrink a little.

　　The field trail is different from the narrow mountain road just now. The field of vision is much wider, and the public agency can vaguely see it, and there are several students walking towards him on the opposite side. Behind him, the pace of the peaked cap slowed down, and the distance from the agency was opened to about 30 meters.

　　Next, as long as the students cross the field trails when they are not far away, they will be fine when they enter the residential area, and they will be their home after another minute or two. While thinking about it, the agency deliberately raised his voice and greeted the opposite student: "Good evening!" Several students seemed startled at first, and then all responded: "Good evening!"

　　Soon, the agency gasped. Quickly walked across the field path, entered the residential area, and walked towards his home. The peaked cap at the back still followed closely.

　　When the agency arrived home, he immediately locked the entrance door, panting heavily while observing the scene outside the house from the cat's eyes. I saw the peaked cap standing outside the door and looking penetratingly, as if regretting that the prey that was about to arrive had escaped. The public agency turned on the door light, and the man immediately avoided and walked away.

Dumbfounding

　　The public agency walked into the room and looked at the sleeping son and daughter lying side by side in a small corner, feeling guilty for the children again.

　　That night, the agency tossed and turned, and did not close his eyes overnight. He didn't make up his mind until it was almost dawn. At breakfast, he said to his wife: "The bank loan is still only 20 million yen." The

　　wife was unsure, and said dissatisfied: "What's wrong? Didn't you say that you can borrow more a few days ago?" "

　　The world is difficult." Gongjie sighed and went out. However, instead of going to work at the company, he went straight to the police station.

　　The agency told the police officer who was receiving, the whole thing was told exactly. Fortunately, judging from the autopsy results, the child died on the spot. If he did not die on the spot, then the agency would not save him, and his situation would be bad.

　　After making the transcript, the police severely reprimanded the public agent, then let him go, and soon issued an arrest warrant to Saki.

　　Late that night, after get off work, the agency took the tram home as usual. Thinking back on this incident along the way, he still felt upset. Although reporting to the police station made him feel more at ease, after all, his favorite house was soaked up. After walking out of the station, the agency saw that the fruit shop was still open, so he stopped. He wanted to buy some fruit to take home to comfort his family.

　　The public agency said to the shopkeeper: "Give me four persimmons." The

　　shopkeeper replied politely: "Okay! I didn't come home so late. It's hard work!" The

　　public agency replied, "Well, it's okay." The

　　shopkeeper packed quickly while packing. , While chatting to the sky: "A few days ago in the middle of the night, at about this time, someone asked me about Mr. Hadye's home."

　　"Mr. Hadye?" The agency was a little curious.

　　The shopkeeper nodded and said, "Yes, isn't his house and your house separated by two doorways? Because the journey from here to his house is complicated, it is not clear at once, and it happens to be passing by your house to get to his house. , So I said to that person, just let him follow you. When you get to your house, go a little further, the third doorway is. I don’t know if I found it later..."

　　Gongjie realized something at once, and tremblingly asked, "So, what does that person look like?" The

　　shopkeeper handed the persimmon, and said nonchalantly, "I can't remember, I just remember that he was wearing a peaked cap."