This is the last part of chapter 2 and it goes from page 76 to 96. (See my notes on the previous part) Inspector Kaga finally entered the stage at the end of the previous part. Even if he did appear earlier, we didn’t know it was him (well, I guess that, like me, every fan of Kaga knew he was the detective looking so scrupulously at those receipts). I realize that I really like Kaga, his cool and clear way of thinking, the thoroughness with which he digs every details, his discreet way of asking the good questions and his overall personality. He does have a painful episode in his past, but it didn’t lead him to alcoholism, unpleasantness or depression. Higashino Keigo’s way of writing is such that the reader cannot always follow Kaga’s thoughts. There are several focalizations in his novel, the reader is not always following the detective work, and is not always allowed in Kaga’s head. For example, at the beginning of this part, we still don’t know what Kaga …

Ready for the 4th story of すーちゃん! p.25 to 31. I’ll try to write more from now on, I realize that posting only vocabulary may seem too dictionary-like. “悪いけど… even if you don’t meant it”. Haha. I remember exactly the first time I learnt ”悪いけど”　it was in the Ghibli studio film Ocean Waves. Not my favorite one, but a good one to learn Japanese. When I heard that expression for the first time in the film, I found it very strange because so obviously hypocrite. If you really think that something is bad, why ask for it? That’s why I find what Maichan says so funny. 権力・けんりょく　power, authority 屈折・くっせつ　bending, refraction, inflection, warping, distortion…. mmh つけ方・つけかた　way of affixing sth…. ねじ曲がる・ねじまがる　to be twisted, to be wrapped, to be distorted Well, to be honest, I don’t understand what Maichan is saying… I have searched for unknown words and I know all the grammar but the first half of p.26 just don’t make sense to me. If I were just reading for pleasure, I would just skip this part …

My reading notes for the second part of chapter 2. 練馬区・ねりまく　is a special ward in Tokyo. Now, I have always wondered what was exactly a 交番・こうばん. It seems to be a small neighborhood police station. In the novel, two police officers　警官・けいかん come from the nearest 交番 to secure the area while the detectives　刑事・けいじ　will later come from the police station of Nerima: 練馬警察署・ねりまけいさつしょ. Sometimes, I just learn words without really know their meaning. So I was dummingly learning 交番 = police station, 警察署 = police station. Now I think I know the difference, at least, one difference. 差し支える・さしつかえる　to interfere, to hinder 差し支えなければ・さしつかえなければ　if you don’t mind, if you don’t mind my asking 所属・しょぞく　attached to, belong to 急遽・きゅうきょ　hurriedly, in a hurry 殆ど・ほとんど　nearly, pratically, mostly. (Many words that are usually written in hiragana appear in kanji in novels) 全く・まったく　an another example of usually in hiragana words written in kanji. 迂闊・うかつ　careless, studid, thoughtless 顔を歪める・かおをゆがめる　make a grimace 立ち直る・たちなおる　to regain one’s footing, to get back on one’s feet おだて flattery 隙間・すきま　gasp, opening 特殊・とくしゅ　special, paticular, peculiar, unique 感電死・かんでんし　electrocution 咄嗟・とつさ　moment, instant 遺体・いたい　corpse, remains 解剖・かいぼう　dissection, …