Chapter 96

"Hello, Mr. Patel. My name is Tomohiro Okamoto. I am from the Maritime Department in the Japanese Ministry 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 disappearance of the cargo 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 spoke 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。"