Chapter 10 Chapter two

Hearing the sound, Mitarai still lowered his head to read the book, and said coldly without raising his head: "I'm not bored, I'm busy." "Didn't you just say it was boring?" He replied: "One moment and another moment." "I have a fun puzzle for you." "Hmph," Mitarai said with a grin, "isn't it the mystery of the beauty?" "Huh? Did you hear that?" "Hear what? I don't know." "Then the 'beauty' you mentioned is..." "My sweetheart has a boyfriend, but she said that if she gets married, she will choose me, and the most important person is me. Why would she say such confusing words—it's nothing more than a question of this level!"

"What? That's because... why did she say that?" Mitarai raised his head in a daze, was silent for a moment, and then said: "No need to explain!" After speaking, he turned his gaze back to the book. "She already has a boyfriend, why..." "There is no mystery in this world, Ishioka-kun, you should consider her gains and losses." "You keep saying things like this. If you weigh the gains and losses, there will be no mystery about women's behavior?" "Ishioka-kun, things are usually like this. People who want to get riddles are nothing more than clamoring about 'puzzles, puzzles'."

"Did she let the car run over the umbrella after weighing the pros and cons?" "What? What are you talking about?" Mitarai looked up from the book again. "If the umbrella is run over, it should be a loss. It's her own umbrella." "What did you say?" "Didn't you say that women always choose the side that is good for them?" "I'm not talking about women. People often make this kind of choice after thinking about it, but there are people like you among men. I'm not talking about women, but the kind of passive people with high levels of knowledge. .”

"Why would it be an advantage to have a car bend its new umbrella?" "I said Ishioka-kun, what exactly are you talking about?" "But that's what you meant. Isn't that the point of what you said?" I ignored Mitarai's question and said to myself. Mitarai had a gloomy face and didn't answer.After a while, he said as if giving up: "Okay, I see. Give me five minutes until I finish this chapter." Five minutes later, Mitarai closed the book with a snap, clasping her hands behind her head.Seeing this, I told him the story I heard on the radio just now.In retrospect, I did not miss anything in my account at the time.

Mitarai listened silently, without any sign of drowsiness, it seemed that he was not bored.After speaking, I said to him: "According to what you said, women always seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, so rolling an umbrella can bring benefits to this woman." Hearing this, Mitarai said nonchalantly: "This point of view is very important, Ishioka-kun. This is the spirit of learning." "What kind of learning spirit? How can rolling an umbrella bring any benefits?" I said, "If the umbrella is bent, you will be caught in the rain. If your clothes are wet, if you catch a cold again, you may catch a cold. And it's very good. The new umbrella can't be used anymore. It's all harm and no benefit!"

I thought I had dealt the fatal blow to this friend.No matter from which point of view, my words are impeccable.What I said is nothing more than a matter of course and a matter of course.However, Mitarai remained unwavering and responded: "If what you just said is true, then it is not good for her to walk on the road with an umbrella and not get wet." I was taken aback for a moment, speechless for a while. "What did you say? It's more unfavorable to hold an umbrella and not get wet than to be soaked?" "Logically, that's the case, Ishioka-kun." "How is it possible? If you have a cold, you have to spend money to see a doctor; if your umbrella is broken, you have to spend money to buy an umbrella; if your clothes are wet, you have to spend money to wash them. It might cost tens of thousands of yuan. Bad loss?"

"You're right." Mitarai agreed, and I couldn't help being aghast. "impossible!" "Maybe it's the intention of this question to make people think so." Mitarai said. "No. What are you talking about. After all, your point of view cannot be established at all." "why?" "Because... such absurd thing is impossible." "It is not the sun that goes around the earth, but the earth under our feet goes around the sun; on the other side of our feet are other countries; a ball of cotton and a piece of iron will fall at the same speed - in the past, these are absurd of."

"No, I understand what you're saying. But this and that are two different things." "Why are they two different things, Ishioka-kun?" "because……" "You just said that mechanically and without evidence. This woman's actions are full of mysteries, but looking at it from another angle, aren't these all the materials needed for reasoning?" "Oh, I know that...can you give me an example?" "Is this woman wearing a short-sleeved dress?" "Yes." "Isn't it strange to wear only a short-sleeved dress but no coat? You know, it was a rainy night and it should be very cold."

"Oh, it's strange indeed. What's the matter?" "It can be seen from this that she didn't just go out just now, and she probably went out when the sun was shining. And she is scheduled to go home before dark. Before sunset, it hasn't rained yet?" "Ok." "This light outfit shows this fact. However, something happened in the middle, so I went home late." "Well, but she may have left her coat at her destination." "That was impossible because she was carrying an umbrella. She was leaving after it started raining. That way, there was no way she would have left her coat behind."

"what……" "Women's beautiful clothes sometimes catch them cold. If you want to accentuate your figure, you have to cut back on the material." "Ah? Really..." "This is a simple law of physics. Therefore, some women who like this kind of clothes will almost pay attention to the daily weather forecast to avoid the unfavorable result of their precious clothes and shoes being damaged by the rain." "But... this woman was caught in the rain." "So something may have happened that prevented her from checking the weather forecast and caused her to leave her destination later than expected."

"Yeah." I folded my arms. "The incident that happened can be regarded as the accident I just mentioned." "Oh... but does this kind of thing make sense?" "If it is a rational woman, the probability of this will be relatively high. If it is you, it will definitely make the reasoning writers contribute endlessly." "Why did you get me involved..." "You went out on the worst stormy day of the year in the only decent clothes you had. You came back drenched, left your coat at the destination, and lost your wallet on the train." "Oh, there is such a thing..." "Such outrageous things may happen to you, but they will never happen to rational women, because they love their own things very much." "You know, don't talk about me. According to your reasoning, it is more beneficial to her to put the umbrella on the roadway and let the cars run over it than not to do so?" "That's what happened." Mitarai nodded and said. "Why? Why on earth do you think so?" Mitarai replied: "There is only one answer to this matter, there is nothing to hesitate." Hearing this, I thought about it for a while, but I didn't understand why, so I said to Mitarai: "What's the answer?" "The answer is - the woman wants to get wet." "Impossible!" I immediately retorted loudly, "I've thought about this too, but if she really thinks so, wouldn't it be enough to just close the umbrella!" It was the coup de grace - I thought it was.However, Mitarai was unmoved and replied: "That does not work." "No? Why?" "Because it will make passers-by wonder why she doesn't hold an umbrella." I have no words to refute, lost in thought.After a while, I said, "You mean, if you don't open an umbrella, it will arouse the suspicion of passers-by?" "This is how I understand it, this possibility is the highest." "She actually did such a conspicuous behavior..." "Ishioka-kun, that's wrong. After all, that woman didn't do it in the middle of the pedestrian street. For her, it doesn't make sense to choose that kind of place. Rolling the umbrella should be a secret operation to cover up people's eyes, just accidentally being seen It’s just here. If she knew that her actions were seen by the person named Zhukou, she wouldn’t push the umbrella.” "Is that true?" "Anyway, I think so." Mitarai said. I thought about it again, and said to him, "Wait a minute, Mitarai." "What's wrong?" "Even if you're holding an umbrella, you're still wet. No, you should get wet too. Right?" Mitarai nodded and replied, "Not bad." "Why doesn't she hold an umbrella?" "Because the umbrella is too colorful." "what?" "The combination of a white dress and an umbrella with orange and red stripes is the sun flag. It's too colorful. It's okay if it's a celebration or something, but this combination is too eye-catching in normal times. So she can't open an umbrella." "W-wait a minute. How did you know?! Then why did she keep holding an umbrella before?!" "This point of view is also very important, Ishioka-kun." "Could it be that she has been holding an umbrella before, but suddenly wants to roll it? It's her own umbrella!" "How do you know that umbrella is her own?" "Ah? Why..." "A lot of facts can be deduced from here. First of all, this umbrella is not hers. If you go out in a white dress, you usually don't choose this style of umbrella." "How do you know this umbrella is not hers? It's not hers, whose is it?" "Who knows. Besides, she has been holding an umbrella for a long time before she realizes that the style of this umbrella is very colorful." "It's as if you saw it with your own eyes..." "So she decided not to open the umbrella, but to snap it off." "Then she can take an umbrella that doesn't need to be broken, or one that can be opened!" "She can't do that." "Can't? Why?" "Or she was going to do it, but misread it." "That is how the matter……" "There are many reasons for this to happen, but the premise must be that the umbrella is not her own. She may have been very flustered at the time, or the surroundings were too dark... Maybe both. In a dim environment, red looks It will be gray." "You mean, she took someone else's umbrella from a dark place and thought it was gray?" "Very likely, this is an important clue." I pondered silently, is this really the case? "Wait a minute, Mitarai. You said earlier that walking with a brightly colored umbrella would attract attention, right?" "Yes." "But didn't you just say that walking on the street with an umbrella in your hand will also arouse the suspicion of passers-by?" "I did. Because it wasn't pouring rain?" "Then just throw away the umbrella? There's no need to hold it." "That's too conspicuous." "what?" "That would also attract attention. Don't everyone think she is a slender beauty? If you throw away the umbrella, people will think she doesn't have one. In this way, a man may show up to hold an umbrella for her." "You mean she doesn't want to?" "I think it is." "Wait, I suddenly feel cheated..." "What's wrong?" "Because of the above reasons, she bent the umbrella?" "right." "But it's conspicuous enough." "The umbrella is only slightly bent, which is invisible from the outside, so it won't attract flower protectors to hold an umbrella for her. As for those who wonder why she doesn't open an umbrella, you can show them the curved part of the umbrella..." "Oh? So no one will hold an umbrella for her?" "Maybe someone will fight for her." "yes?" "It's not my idea, but she might think so. Besides, the place is not Tokyo, but the countryside, and there are not many pedestrians on the road. In this way, this strange reason is somewhat understandable." "Really? This is too..." "It's really unusual. So the woman's psychology itself is the material for reasoning. Her spirit is extraordinary." "abnormal?" "There is a reason why I think so. Let's talk about this issue later. The biggest focus now is that she must let herself get wet." "Must get wet..." "That's the reason for her behavior." "Really……" "Yes, based on this material, we can only think so. Ishioka-kun, don't you understand?" "No... Maybe that's the case. I can't think of any other reason than that." "She wanted to make up a reason to stay wet, a reason to hold an umbrella and not use it." "what?" "She did it for herself. This is very important. This is the misunderstanding that making yourself understand is equivalent to convincing the people around you. Rational women often make this kind of confusion." "what……" "Besides, she doesn't want to attract attention. It's a matter of probability, a matter of degree. Sixty is better than seventy, and fifty is better than sixty. Not an infinite comparison with zero. The probability of a curved umbrella being suspicious It is lower than a straight umbrella; even if it is a curved umbrella, the probability of being suspicious and being accosted is lower than that of not holding an umbrella at all.” "Ok……" "That's what the woman thought that night. She's in a state of mind that thinks so." "The mental state of thinking so..." "This may be the core of the problem, but we are still at the stage where we are discussing the physical factors." "You mean she has to get wet from the rain?" "You're right, Ishioka-kun. That's what I thought. That's the core of the question. No matter what, she has to overcome all difficulties and get herself wet. Even at the risk of being suspected and catching a cold even risking the car to bend the umbrella and let myself get wet in the rain.” "What's that called!" "This is no ordinary state of mind. The problem, as I see it, is what makes her so abnormal, so hysterical." I couldn't help crossing my arms, and the reason for that was really unbelievable.What is the mystery in this? "But could there be a reason for that? The reason why she must be in the rain..." "Don't say 'rain', say 'water'. She must let the water get wet. Ishioka-kun, tell me, what is the nature of water?" "The nature of water?" "Give me an example." "Water is a fluid and has no shape." "Well, that's right." Mitarai nodded in affirmation. "Can cool objects." "Very good, what else?" "Can wet objects." "good." "Wash away the dirt." "Ok." "Breaks down and dissolves solids." "The woman may have needed one of these qualities at the time, well, maybe more than one." "A certain property of water is required..." "That's right. So what exactly does she need? Ishioka-kun, what do you think?" "where?" "Yes, I mean body parts." "Face," I replied. Mitarai shook her head and said, "I don't think so." "Hands and feet?" Mitarai still shook her head, and replied, "That's not right. In that case, it doesn't matter if it's not rainwater, tap water or river water." "Does it have to be water?" "It must be water. She must let herself get wet, so she cannot open an umbrella. This is the conclusion of the reasoning just now. In this case, our current speculation must be based on this conclusion." "But didn't she bend the umbrella because she was afraid of attracting attention because she didn't open it..." "In order to convince myself, this is enough—this is my idea. Tell me, Shioka-kun, why does she have to be wet?" "White dress!" "The answer is correct!" Saying that, Mitarai pointed to my face. "That's the logical outcome, that's how I think about it." Hearing this, I lowered my head and held my head in thought.I still can't understand, always feel that this is putting the cart before the horse. "Mitarai, isn't that weird?" "Huh? What's strange?" After speaking, Mitarai stood up, put his hands in his trouser pockets, and began to pace around the room. "You can get your clothes wet with tap water or river water, so why use rainwater?" "You're great, Ishioka-kun! That's a great point of view. Any more?" "I really don't understand why you want to get your clothes wet?" "Well, you just mentioned many properties of water. The first is to cool objects, which can be ruled out. Because cooling her clothes and body will only catch a cold, and there will be no benefit at all." "It's also not right to break down solids, because the fibers of the dress can't be broken down by rain," I added. "That's right! What about 'washing away dirt'?" Mitarai asked. "What? Shouldn't it be? That dress isn't very dirty." I replied. "Are you sure?" Mitarai walked up and down to confirm. "That Zhukou guy just said that. He didn't say women's clothes are dirty. So..." "Ok." "So there's no reason to get wet. Then why should she get wet in the rain?" After hearing my question, Mitarai walked around the room without saying a word, with her hands behind her back.This move undoubtedly proved that his brain was stimulated by this unsolved mystery. "The properties of water, those you just listed are enough." Mitarai said. "Oh, really? It doesn't seem to fit either, so..." "So what?" Mitarai asked while looking at my face while walking. "So your speculation is wrong, her purpose is not to make the rain wet clothes. Let's discuss other possibilities..." "There's no need for that!" Mitarai interrupted me resolutely, "Tell me all the facts—except for this conclusion, there is nothing else. It's clothes! Ishioka-kun, if you get wet in the rain, your clothes will be wet. So there's no need Discuss other situations!" "yes……" Facing Mitarai's usual self-confidence, I can't help being a little timid.However, I still think his speculation this time is wrong, because the woman's clothes are not dirty at all. "Besides, if you want your clothes to be wet, it must be for washing." Mitarai said to me. "But that dress is white and not dirty at all," I reiterated. "Ishioka-kun, you have a good point of view." Mitarai praised me. "Good focus? Where is the focus?" I asked disapprovingly. "It's the 'clothes are white.' It's not black." "Oh..." I nodded temporarily, but didn't understand what it meant, and muttered, "It's not black, it's white..." Hearing the sound, Mitarai said: "The stains on white clothes are very conspicuous, but black clothes are not, so it is not appropriate to wear white clothes when going out." "I said Mitarai-kun..." I said.In my opinion, Mitarai is a bit paranoid and misunderstood this matter. "What are you doing?" Mitarai said impatiently. "Her dress is really white, but it's not dirty at all. Not only is it not dirty, but it's as white as new." Hearing this, Mitarai waved at me, her attitude still very disdainful.He came up to me and said: "Ishioka-kun, I know this is not the case. In fact, the correct answer lies in the properties of water you just listed." "This is the correct answer, shouldn't it be 'washing away the dirt'..." "Exactly!" "I've said it all, her clothes are so clean that they don't need to be washed at all!" I countered.But Mitarai said anxiously: "No, no, Shioka-kun! Think about it the other way around. At that time, it was already after washing." Mitarai's words left me at a loss. "After washing?" "Yes, after washing. It all makes sense when you think about it that way." "It's...reasonable..." Why makes sense?I am very puzzled. "Yes, Ishioka-kun. If you think about it, stains are very conspicuous on white clothes, so if there are large stains on them, you have to wash your clothes before you can go out. Am I right?" "That's true." "But what happens to the white dress if it's washed?" "It's wet..." "That's right! Ishioka-kun. Your clothes will get wet. If that's the case, you won't be able to go out, right?" "right……" "So dirty clothes are the same as wet clothes. Speaking of which, you understand, right?" "clear." "So if you want to go out, you have to wait for the clothes to dry. But what if the washing machine doesn't have a drum?" "It will be like us." "That's right. So what to do?" "Blow it with a hair dryer..." "You do that sometimes. But it's a dress and it takes too much time to blow the dryer." "Yes, it does take time," I admitted. "But... this is very important, Shioka-kun, you have to listen carefully." "OK." "What if it happened to be raining outside at that time?" "It's raining outside... Ah! So that's what happened!" I finally understood the meaning behind Mitarai's words, and I was stunned. "That's right. In the rain, even if the clothes are not dry after washing, they will not attract attention. Others will think they are wet from the rain. In this way, you can go out." "Is that so? If the other party is in a hurry..." "You are right, Ishioka-kun, this is very important. If this idea is correct, many possibilities can be deduced from here." "Huh? What's the possibility?" I asked hastily, feeling very excited. "First of all, as you said, the other party was in a hurry. The woman was probably very anxious at the time." "Well, that's right." "If we're right about this, we have to think about the reasons." "Ok." "Secondly, she probably had no other clothes to wear, so she left the place when the rain started." "What kind of family is that?" "Who knows, there are many possibilities. First of all, there may be no clothes in that place, in other words, it is not a human home..." "Could it be a zoo?" "Ah? Oh! Maybe, she might be a guest at the elephant house. Or it's a factory, a company, a construction site or something..." "Well, it makes sense." "Or it's like our house, where only men live. Or it's that there are women living in that house, but the body shape and clothes size are very different from hers." "And she's still in a hurry, right?" "You're right, Ishioka-kun. However, women who are in a hurry usually don't do things like let a car roll over their umbrellas." "Yes, because she may be in a hurry to go home." "She came along the sidewalk, went to the opposite side, and went back. It was a futile move. From this, it can be seen that she was not anxious about her own business, but was anxious to get out of that place." "What's the reason?" "I don't know. I just thought of it. Well, maybe it's because she doesn't want to stay there. She's unhappy, or she's in danger and wants to run out quickly..." "Then why did she feel unhappy and put herself in danger?" "There are many reasons. For example, she had a big fight with the owner of that family, and the other party wanted to beat her. Or if she didn't run away quickly, the family would drag her into religion..." "Ah? Really?" "No, Ishioka-kun, the specific reason is still unknown. It is meaningless to give examples and guesses. These are just a simple list of assumptions, not reasoning at all, because there are no clues that can lock the conclusion." "What clue?" "A clue..." Halfway through speaking, Mitarai fell silent, walked a few steps in the room, and then said: "First of all, there is no light in that place." "No light?" "Yes, the black light is blind." "You mean there's no light bulb in there?" "Maybe it's because there's an elephant cage there? But even if it's a cage, at least there are light bulbs. In this day and age, light bulbs have already spread all over Japan. The place didn't turn on the lights, which is a big clue!" "how do you know?" "Because of that umbrella that looks like a street advertisement." "Ah, that's what it is. She took that umbrella from the shadows..." "That's right. The second clue is in the fact that she's in a hurry." "In fact itself..." "But Mr. Shigang, don't you find it strange? Why is this woman so anxious?" I remain silent.Didn’t Mitarai list this reason just now, why are you still asking me? "The umbrella is bent to get out of the rain. The reason for the rain is because the clothes are wet. Then why are her clothes wet? It's because she just washed off some kind of stain on the clothes. This is current line of reasoning." "yes……" After finishing speaking, I waited for Mitarai to continue talking. "Then why didn't she wait for the clothes to dry before leaving?" "Yeah, why?" I asked. "Because she ran out in a panic, she had to wet her clothes. If she waited for her clothes to dry before going out, she wouldn't have to bend her umbrella and get caught in the rain." "Well, it makes sense..." "Because it was raining, she thought she could go back with wet clothes, so she ran into the rain. Normally, she would have waited for the clothes to dry before leaving. But why didn't she do that?" "Because she was so anxious to die, right?" "Well, then why is she in such a hurry?" "For example... that place is the secret headquarters of a dangerous religious group. If you don't escape quickly, your life will be in danger. It's not surprising that such a place is dark, and the congregation may be doing some weird rituals... " While speaking, I think this inference is not bad. "It's very interesting, but it doesn't stand up to scrutiny." Mitarai said, "If this is the case, she will definitely escape first. Even if the clothes are a little dirty, she must escape from the danger first." "right." "But she washed that dress. The reason why she folded the umbrella and let the rain soak her whole body was because the dress was not washed partly, but the whole thing. I'm afraid it was washed in a washing machine .” "Ok." "Take off the thin clothes, but you're naked. What did she do until the laundry was done?" "Borrow other people's clothes to wear." "In that case, wouldn't it be enough to escape in that dress? I have reason to think that she was naked at the time. If so, the place is not a religious group. You know, there are many men in the dangerous secret headquarters, and she can't be naked. What laundry. From this I think she may be alone at the destination." "Ok……" "That's strange. She was alone there, why did she run out in a hurry? And she was wearing wet clothes. Even if it was raining, there was no need to be so flustered." "yes." "If you are alone, you should be able to stay as long as you want." "Ok." "There is another question, what is the stain on the clothes? I didn't wash the part, but washed the whole thing with the washing machine. Presumably the stain must be quite large." "Maybe it's mud or something." "Which family can get covered in mud as a guest?" "But how do you know it's someone..." "There's a washing machine there, Ishioka-kun. So it's most likely someone else's. And when she visited that family's house, it wasn't raining yet." "Ah, why..." "Because she was holding someone else's umbrella." "Ah, that's it...then could this stain be a juice or coffee stain?" "Usually. Wouldn't it take a spot wash to deal with these stains?" "Well, that's right." "Besides, you don't need to pay attention to the stains of that degree. You can go home directly, and you don't need to wash the whole thing in the washing machine." "Yeah. Could it be ink spilled?" "Even if the whole bottle is spilled, you will wash the part instead of washing the whole thing in the washing machine? I repeat, if you don't wash the whole thing, you won't fold the umbrella on the road. To get to the bottom of it, folding the umbrella This abnormal behavior just confirms the seriousness of the stain. In other words, the stain must be big enough to worry her." "Is that so? Then what is this stain?" "Ordinary visits will not be stained with that kind of stain." "Then she went to the zoo, or the subway construction site..." I said. "Zoos and subway construction sites don't have washing machines." Mitarai denied my words. "Is that so... Could it be the construction site of the building? There should be a washing machine or something in the construction site where there are workers' sheds." "Would a slender beauty be naked in a worker's shed?" "Ah, I forgot about this..." "There are washing machines there, but there are also a lot of rough men. If you want to use a washing machine to wash the whole clothes, as long as there is a washing machine. Thinking about it this way, there should be someone with a washing machine. The owner is a woman whose figure is completely different from hers, or else is The man. The woman was alone there, probably naked while doing the laundry. So it was like a room in a building, a space isolated from the outside world. "And for some reason, she couldn't stay there long, so she ran out in a panic in wet clothes. Besides, this kind of thing happened when she was a guest. Besides, the reason why she was so flustered was not her own fault. , but in the place itself. From the current clues, the above situations can be deduced, and the possibility is very high." "Ah, so it turns out..." I couldn't help but marvel.If these are facts, then Mitarai undoubtedly deduced such a huge situation from only a little bit of information by logical thinking. "Then what exactly is this stain? When you are a guest at someone's house, you usually don't get the kind of stain that needs to be washed in a washing machine." "It's true that I won't touch it, Ishioka-kun. But there is one exception." Mitarai said. "What kind?" At this time, I still asked with a relaxed mood. "It's blood." "What!" I screamed and jumped up from the chair. "The kind of stains that are so bad that you have to wash the whole clothes in the washing machine, and the stains that are abundant in that house, are the blood flowing in the owner's body." "How is it possible..." I was speechless in astonishment. "The stain then served as a reason for her to flee the house in a hurry, and it fully explained why she endured the wind and rain, walked alone in the rain, and had umbrellas bent by cars." "So compared to holding an umbrella to cover the rain..." "That's right! Ishioka-kun, it's more beneficial for her to get out of the rain than to open an umbrella to cover her from the rain. At least in the second half of being a guest, she will be alone, because the other party is dead. In this case, it doesn't matter if she is naked." "hehe……" I suddenly panicked. "And she can't turn on the lights, the lights in the room will attract visitors. There are dead bodies in the room, so she doesn't want others to come." "All the materials show that a homicide occurred within walking distance from Chita Town, Anzai City the day before yesterday. The murderer may have cut the victim's carotid artery with a sharp knife, causing the victim to bleed profusely. There will be a lot of blood. And the victim is likely to be a pudgy woman." At this moment, I have nothing to say.