Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

The first installment in Rika’s serial article about Kajii comes out in the magazine. Shortly thereafter, Rika and Reiko start attending cooking classes at the culinary school using false identities. The class is run by Miyuko Sasazuka, known as Madame. The recipes they cook in their first class impress Rika, and the other students’ camaraderie surprises her. One woman named Chizu remarks that she and Rika are alike because they’re there to meet other women instead of to cook. After they eat the meal they’ve made, Madame asks Rika if there’s a recipe she’d like them to try making together. The room goes silent when Rika mentions bœef bourguignon and several women dismiss themselves, upset. Madame explains they’ve cooked it too many times already. Afterward, Rika and Reiko discuss the class, theorizing that Chizu is the woman with which Kajii wanted to be friends.

During Rika’s next visit with Kajii, she asks about Kajii’s interest in attending culinary school. Kajii admits that she dropped out of university and pursued cooking school because she thought she could make friends with other women through the program.

After Rika’s next cooking lesson, she and Chizu go out for coffee.