Chapter 96

"Hello, Mr. Patel. My name is Tomohiro Okamoto. I am from the Maritime¹ Department in the Japanese Ministry² of Transport. This is my assistant, Atsuro Chiba. We have come to see you about the sinking of the ship Tsimtsum, of which you were a passenger. Would it be possible to talk to you now?"

"Yes, of course."

"Thank you. It is very kind of you. [translation]Now, Atsuro-kun, you're new at this, so pay attention and see to learn."

"Yes, Okamoto-san."

"Is the tape recorder on?"

"Yes it is."

"Good. Oh I'm so tired! For the record, today is February 19th, 1978. Case file number 250663, concerning the disappearance³ of the cargo⁴ ship Tsimtsum.[/translation] Are you comfortable, Mr. Patel?"

"Yes, I am. Thank you. And you?"

"We are very comfortable."

"You've come all the way from Tokyo?"

"We were in Long Beach, California. We drove down."

"Did you have a good trip?"

"We had a wonderful trip. It was a beautiful drive."

"I had a terrible trip."

"Yes, we spoke⁵ to the police before coming here and we saw the lifeboat."

"I'm a little hungry."

"Would you like a cookie?"

"Oh, yes!"

"Here you go."

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome. It's only a cookie. Now, Mr. Patel, we were wondering if you could tell us what happened to you, with as much detail as possible."

"Yes. I'd be happy to."

    第九十六章

    “你好，帕特尔先生。我叫冈本友广。我是日本交通运输部海运科的。这是我的助手千叶笃郎。我们是为“齐姆楚姆”号沉没一事而来，你是船上的一名乘客。现在可以和你谈谈吗？”

    “可以，当然可以。”

    “谢谢。你太好了。现在，笃郎君，你对这项工作不了解，注意听，好好学。”

    “ 是 ，冈本先生。"

    “录音机打开了吗？”

    “是的，打开了。”

    “好。嗅，我太累了！记下，今天是1978年2月19日。案卷号250663，关于‘齐姆楚姆’号货船失踪一事。你感觉舒服吗，帕特尔先生？”

    “是的，谢谢。你们呢？¨

    “我们感觉很舒服。”

    “你们大老远的从东京来？”

    “我们在加利福尼亚的长滩。我们是开车来的。’’

    “旅途愉快吗？”

    “旅途很愉快。开车很愉快。

    “我的旅途糟糕透了。"

    “是的，我们来之前和警察谈过了，我们还看见了救生艇。”

    “我有点儿饿了。"

    “你想要一块小甜饼吗？”

    “噢，好的！”

    “给你。”

    “谢谢！”

    “不客气。只是一块小甜饼。现在，帕特尔先生，我们想知道你能否告诉我们发生了什么事，尽量详细一些。"

    “好的。我很高兴这么做。"

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