Chapter 5 Chapter Five: A Visit to the Hanged House

After Kosuke Kindaichi got off the National Railway at Shinagawa Station, he stopped a taxi in front of the station and told the driver to go straight to Yubanzaka. It is now around 6:20 pm on September 7, Showa 28, which is less than half an hour after Kosuke Kindaichi sent Naoyoshi Honjo out of the Matsutsuki Hotel. "Brother Driver, will this car pass through Takanawadai Town?" "No, I plan to pass in front of Sengakuji Temple, and then drive from Iwanezi to Yubanzaka..." "Oh, then, would you please take a detour to Takanawadai? Then, don't we have to go back?"

"No, just turn left at Takanawa Kitamachi." "Okay, let's do it!" The car turned left at Takanawa Kitamachi and arrived at the Takanawa Police Station in a short while. They turned right in front of the police station, and they came to the main street of Takanawadai.According to Naokichi Honjo, the photo studio of Honjo is located on the right side of this street. Kosuke Kindaichi soon saw a building that looked like a photo studio for Honjo. It was a two-story building. On the second floor of the front of the building, a horizontal billboard with the words "Honjo Photo Studio" was hung, and there was a large window that was out of proportion to the width of the storefront. There are many photos.

Because the lights were not turned on, the things in the window seemed to reveal a gloomy atmosphere in the dark of the evening. At this time, the driver said: "Where are you going, sir?" "Oh, no, no. Let's go directly to Yubanzaka!" So the taxi flew straight to Yubaozaka. When Kindaichi Kosuke got out of the car, a gust of wind blew right in front of him, blowing the hem of his clothes up, and he quickly used the handle of his crutch to hold down the melon cap on his head. Then, Kosuke Kindaichi looked around as if nothing had happened, and when he was sure that no one was following him, he gently raised his crutches and walked towards the destination.

The scene in Tokyo at the moment can really be said to be "destruction" and "construction" going on at the same time. After the homes were completely destroyed, scaffolding towering high into the sky continued to spring up like mushrooms after rain, so that wherever Kosuke Kanedaichi went, there were signs of road construction on the road, leaving only a little space for pedestrians to walk. Because cars also shuttle through it, pedestrians can only walk forward according to the sign lights. Kosuke Kindaichi detoured many ways and came to the bottom of Ripo.At this time, the surrounding sky was a bit dark, but as Naokichi Honjo said, because there are street lights at the bottom of the slope, it doesn't look very dark.

On the right side of the ramp is the school playground, behind which there is a temporary school building.The left side of the ramp faces the front of the hospital slope, and there are still traces of burnt everywhere. Although most of the front of the hospital slope has been rebuilt, the pace of reconstruction in this area is relatively slow. Looking up the slope, there is no one in sight. Kosuke Kindaichi slowly climbed up the inner slope, and sure enough, he saw that the road on the way formed a T-shape, and there were also lights on the electric poles there. (It seems that Naokichi Mujo's words can be trusted.)

Kosuke Kanedaichi passed a mound of soil and quickly came to the gate of Fayan's old house. He stopped in front of the gate and looked around with wide eyes. In fact, Kosuke Kindaichi had been to this place before. On the afternoon of August 21st, Kosuke Kindaichi was invited to Hogan's house in Denen Chofu, entrusted with finding Yu Shanli's whereabouts. At that time, he first accepted one hundred thousand yuan bills as the investigation fee. If Yuxiangli was rescued safely and smoothly, Yayoi would double the reward. It was no wonder that Kosuke Kindaichi was suddenly so motivated.

As soon as he left the Hoyan family in Denenchofu, he immediately went straight to the old house of the Hoyan family, when the sun was still high in the sky. As soon as he arrived at Fayan's old house, he found that it was like a ruin, still in a tragic state after the air raid.Not only are the two gateposts covered with ivy, but even the Dagu stone wall surrounding the house is full of cracks, and anyone can come in and out freely. The Western-style building on the left rear of the house was also damaged, and the Japanese-style building was also partially damaged. The latticed door in front of the porch is also tattered, and ordinary families are not able to use such a spacious door!

Kosuke Kindaichi walked into the open lattice door, only to see rubble and ashes everywhere, and a large three-wave stone that was used as a shoe place.Also, no tatami mats were visible, probably taken away, so the whole floor was exposed. Kosuke Kaneda walked up wearing straw sandals. From the entrance to the back, there was a veranda about four feet wide. The wooden window on the left was closed, and there was no paper sliding door left on the right. Looking into the room behind the sliding paper door Go, there is not even a piece of tatami. These things were probably taken away after the war!

But Kosuke Kindaichi did not come here to explore. He heard Yayoi mention this house, so he came here to learn about the layout of this house. He continued to walk to the end of the corridor, turned to the right and found a door, which opened into a Western-style room with a size of five square meters. There is only a door between this western style room and another western style room twice as big. Kosuke Kindaichi's destination was this room, because it was here that Toko committed suicide. This room is located in the middle of the Japanese-style building and the Western-style building, and it is about ten ping, or larger.

There is a circular groove about five feet in diameter in the center of the high ceiling in the room, which must have been used to hang lamps in the past; the lamps are not in their original place now, but there is still a breast-shaped round metal part in the center of the ceiling, A large metal lock hangs from the metal part, and each ring is big enough to pass through the thick rope. Dongzi probably passed the rope through the most pointed lock ring, tied the rope in a dead knot, then put his head into the rope circle, and finally kicked the wooden box under his feet and hanged himself!

When Dongzi's body was discovered, two boxes were left at the scene. Kosuke Kindaichi left Fayan's old home after a short stay. When he was on his way home and looked back inadvertently, he couldn't help sighing: Although Fayan's old house has become a dilapidated ruin, judging from the bricks and tiles of the building itself, it is not difficult to imagine that it was once a mansion. If the house can be preserved in perfect condition, it must be a majestic and magnificent building. Kosuke Kindaichi slowly climbed up the ramp again and walked down the slope of the hospital. Not long after walking, he found a police station in front of the hospital slope, and a telephone booth next to the police station.Kosuke Kindaichi suddenly remembered something, rushed into the phone booth with quicker pace, picked up the public phone and dialed the wait force police officer from the Police Department's Search Section 1. Police officer Waitori happened to be there, so Kosuke Kindaichi explained that he wanted to visit the Ghanaian criminal police officer of Takanawa Police Station, and hoped that Officer Waitori could call him to say hello. Wait for the police officer to agree immediately. "By the way, if I contact the Garner Criminal Police, how should I notify you?" "I'm currently making this call from a public phone booth and I'll be calling again in 30 minutes to get the results." "Ok!" Kosuke Kindaichi hung up the phone, walked out of the public phone booth, and walked towards the slope of the hospital waving his crutches. Compared with Lipo, it looks more prosperous and lively here.The road here is also relatively wide. Although the road repair work has not been completely completed, shops selling imported supplies, bookstores, and stationery shops have opened one after another, and each store is brightly lit. The area from the left side to the bottom of the ramp belongs to Fayan General Hospital. The first third of the slope is the temporary building of the hospital, and the lower two thirds of the original building are currently under construction. Concrete buildings stand tall and are still in the stage of foundation work.The words "Construction in the Wind" are printed on the plastic curtain covering the scaffolding facing the road. After the war, "Fengwen Construction" has grown a lot. Judging from the scale of the reconstruction of Fayan General Hospital, it is not difficult to understand that "Fengjian Construction" is already a large-scale construction company. When Kindaichi Kosuke returned to the public phone booth, exactly thirty minutes had passed.He called, and it was Officer Waiting Li who answered the phone. "I have already contacted the Takanawa Police Station. The Ghanaian Criminal Police is currently in the station. You can visit him now." After Kosuke Kindaichi thanked the police officer Waituli repeatedly, he walked out of the phone stop and hailed an empty taxi to the destination. Detective Rina is about thirty years old, and he has worked with Kosuke Kindaichi in other cases. Kosuke Kindaichi explained that he accepted the commission of Yayoi Hogan and must find out the whereabouts of Toshio Yamauchi and his sister Koyuki. He hoped that the Ghanaian criminal police could tell him the ins and outs of Toko's suicide by hanging himself. "Oh, so that's the case..." Ghanaian criminal police said with a smile: "I still remember that incident, but are the brothers and sisters still missing?" "Yes, that's why Mrs. Yayoi commissioned me to do this with a heavy heart today. By the way, do you know that the siblings are not related by blood?" "Well, I only found out during the investigation. To be honest, no one will doubt that they are not brothers and sisters, because the relationship between the siblings is very good. The elder brother takes care of the younger sister very much, and the younger sister respects her elder brother very much..." After the Ghanaian criminal police gave the two brothers and sisters a good review, they smiled bitterly and said: "They really are a very lovely brother and sister, that's why I came out to help them." "You mean..." "These brothers and sisters should be safe and sound! It's just that at that time, Axue... her elder brother Minnan called her. Axue was only sixteen years old, and Minnan was only twenty years old. He looks quite mature and stable, so I think he will definitely raise his younger sister well. After all, the two brothers and sisters really have no relatives except the Fayan family." "Did you come forward to coordinate with the young lady Wanlizi at that time?" "Hmph! That woman... oh! What a disrespect, I shouldn't criticize your client like that." "It doesn't matter, because my client is Mrs. Yayoi, not Mrs. Young; what's more, Mrs. Yayoi doesn't seem to be very satisfied with Mrs. Young's handling of this matter." "Yes, yes! I also met Mrs. Yayoi later on. She is indeed a very dignified figure. In comparison, the Young Madam looks like..." "Ghana detective, listen to you... Xiaoxue is a pretty girl, isn't she?" "Yes, Mrs. Yayoi also finds it inconceivable to hear me say that. Is there any hidden secret in it?" After Kindaichi Kosuke briefly explained the reason, the Ghanaian criminal police couldn't help saying in surprise: "Cursed child? Born with a scary face... Did these words really come from Mr. Takuya? How is this possible! Xiaoxue can be called a beauty! She was originally a lively and cheerful girl. Encountered this kind of misfortune, so it will give people a feeling of depression." As a result, Kosuke Kindaichi was still unable to get any further information from the Ghanaian Interpol. Even so, he thanked the Ghanaian criminal police repeatedly, and hoped that if the Ghanaian criminal police had the whereabouts of Minnan's two brothers and sisters, please be sure to inform him.Kosuke Kindaichi also left the address and telephone number of the Songyue Hotel to the Ghanaian Criminal Police. The next place Kosuke Kindaichi will visit is the KKK nightclub in Chiyin.He called Domenxiu, the bodyguard of the KKK, to a nearby coffee shop, and asked him to find a poet named Tianzhu Ronin. However, Kindaichi Kosuke deliberately kept the matter of Yamauchi Toshio's brother and sister, on the one hand, he was afraid that the Hogan family would be implicated, and on the other hand, because there is currently no clear evidence to prove that Tianzhu Ronin is Yamauchi Toshio, so Kindaichi Kosuke thinks it is better not to let Tomono be born Preconceived notions are better. In the next two days, Kosuke Kindaichi came to Seijo to visit the author, but his efforts on this matter did not stop there.Although Kosuke Kindaichi himself was quite anxious, because the longer the time dragged on, the less likely Yukari's innocence would be guaranteed, but what he could do was really limited. Kosuke Kindaichi told me in particular that this was an extremely confidential commission that even the other members of the Hogan family did not know about, and this was why Kindaichi Kosuke could not visit the Hogan family often. Kosuke Kindaichi looked through the book "Poetry Collection" "The House Hanging on the Hospital Slope" from time to time, hoping to find some clues from it.However, the more he read this collection of poems, the more he felt the terrifying resentment and evil in the lines. The structure of the whole collection of poems is very complete, and the content is mainly about a girl who falls in love with an older man, and later becomes the man's mistress.Although the man has a wife, he still loves the woman wholeheartedly, and the two have a daughter. Once, a man bought a string of southern wind chimes and hung them under the eaves. Wind chimes are hung under the eaves of my little wife's house all year round, so for a growing and sensible girl, "wind chimes" are a symbol of her father in her heart. Men don't often spend the night with their wives.Every eleven o'clock, he would leave the woman, change clothes and go home.As the little girl grows up, she gradually understands her situation. She knew that her father had another family, and that her father's blood flowed in the other girl as well.When she knew that the girl was the same age as her, she couldn't help but envy that the girl could always stay by her father's side, but at the same time she was jealous of her luck. But the girl didn't think she was very unfortunate, because her father loved her very much, and she respected her father very much. Her father didn't come to see her every day, and there were often more days when he didn't come than when he came.But whenever he came, the girl's mother was always very happy, and the wind chimes under the eaves seemed to be infected with her mother's joy, always shaking and shaking, making a crisp and pleasant sound. On nights when the father doesn't come, the girl's mother can only be so lonely that she doesn't say a word. On such nights, even the wind chimes under the eaves are silent. The above is the general content of the first part of the "Poetry Collection" "The House of Hanging on the Hospital Slope" - "The House of the Whore with the Wind Chimes". However, because the woman's situation is very pitiful, it arouses the readers' compassion. The second part is - "The House Hanged on the Hospital Slope", and the whole atmosphere becomes very intense. The content of this part is to describe the ruthless war, which makes the life of the mother and daughter increasingly impoverished, and the beginning of the story focuses on describing their impoverished situation. The girl's father owns a large hospital, but because of the war, he suddenly became busy, and gradually, he seldom visited the girl's house. One night, many B-29 bombers suddenly appeared in the sky, like dragonflies flying in the sky in autumn; before long, the whole town was ablaze like a fireball. Anti-aircraft guns continued to blare deafeningly, and everyone fled for their lives in the burning town. In this way, the girl's home was also burned to the ground, but the wind chimes recovered from the burning ashes were not damaged. The girl's mother held the wind chime in one hand and the girl in the other, dragging her sore feet and evacuated to the farmhouse in the south by boat. When the wind blows, the wind chimes under the eaves of the farm house will make a crisp sound. After the end of the war, another one or two years passed. At this time, women were no longer able to maintain the family, and life became more and more difficult. One day, the woman summoned up her courage and decided to knock on the door of the man she loved.Unexpectedly, what she got was heartbreaking humiliation and scolding. A lady who claims to be the man's daughter insults, abuses and taunts the woman as best she can.The lady laughed hysterically, ridiculing women as whores and the plague of the world. Finally, because she couldn't bear the severe blow, the woman was so sad that she ran to the empty house where the man she loved had lived and hanged herself. This is the general content of the second part. The author narrates this fact as calmly as possible.But maybe the poet was too young, and his tone was getting more and more agitated, unable to restrain the passionate emotion deep inside. Finally, in the third part of "Maggots", the poet's suppressed anger is like a bomb that explodes suddenly, which makes people a little unprepared. The content of this part is that the girl who temporarily boarded in the farmhouse in the country came to the city to find the whereabouts of her mother.She managed to find her mother, but her mother's body had already rotted, and terrible maggots were all over her body. The girl was so sad that she howled and cried. She picked up strips of maggots and put them in her mouth while crying. Soon, the girl cremated her mother's body, returned to the countryside with the ashes in her arms, and hung wind chimes on the ashes altar. Now, this string of wind chimes is no longer a "symbol of love", but a "black curse". When Kosuke Kindaichi read the last chapter, he always trembled involuntarily. The poet uses many interjections and arias in this chapter to express his passionate emotion, curse and resentment. In these psalms, the poet did not speak out, but narrated the tragic fate of mother and daughter from an objective point of view. Even so, Kindaichi Kosuke could not forget behind the whole poem, hiding the poet's curse and resentment.Thinking of this, Kindaichi Kosuke couldn't help trembling all over. At this moment, the phone beside the bed suddenly rang, and Kosuke Kindaichi quickly picked up the receiver to answer it. Ah Qing’s voice came from the other end of the microphone: "Mr. Kindaichi, a woman is calling for you." "Which one is it?" "She didn't give her name, she just said that you can understand it by hearing her voice. But her words are very noble and polite, and she seems to be an elderly person." After hearing Qing's description, Kosuke Kindaichi immediately guessed the other party's identity. "Hey, you are Mr. Kindaichi, right? I don't need to introduce myself, you already know who I am." Yayoi's voice over the phone became even more dignified. "Yes, ma'am, where are you calling from now?" "You don't have to worry about this, I called you from a payphone in a certain apartment. By the way, Mr. Kindaichi..." "yes." "The thing I told you a while ago, I hope you can act as if it never happened! In other words, I want to cancel this commission." "What the hell is going on here?" "Because that thing came back today." "Huh? Yukari..." Kindaichi Kosuke was about to speak, but quickly swallowed his saliva, and asked instead: "That thing is still intact!" "I-I'm not very clear about this, that child... No, the other party is unwilling to say anything, so I think it's better not to ask questions now." "That's fine. Then can I meet with you? I want to know the details of this matter." "Please forgive me for this matter. At present, I just want to send that thing to the United States as soon as possible." "Well, this is also a way." "That's why I want you to stop investigating this matter. I know it's a very rude request, but..." "No, no, you must not say that. Now that the most important thing has returned, my work is over." "It's great that you can understand my thoughts. For the sake of prudence, I want to ask you a word. I don't know if you have told others about this..." "No, I didn't tell anyone, don't worry about that." "Thank you. Then I will send a thank you gift as promised, and I will send it in a small package today. In addition, you don't need to give me any receipts, and I'm just out of prudence." (Yayoi's tone of voice is so steady from the beginning to the end, without feeling flustered at all, but does this also reflect that she is a little uneasy? Yu Shanli is back, but she may not be complete anymore. Since Yu Xiangli is not willing to talk about this matter for the time being, and Yayoi also deliberately avoids this issue, then this matter will probably be handled as Yu Xiangli climbing Mount Baima! ) Kosuke Kindaichi looked at the calendar on the table. Today is August 19th, which is also the tenth day after Yu Shanli was kidnapped. Since the kidnapper is willing to release Yu Xiangli, he must have achieved his goal.Thinking of this, Kindaichi Kosuke couldn't help shivering all over his body. On the third day, a small parcel was sent to Kosuke Kindaichi's residence.The sender’s name was someone Kosuke Kindaichi didn’t know at all, and the carton contained bundles of banknotes totaling 200,000 yuan. Yayoi probably wanted to use the money to seal Kosuke Kindaichi's mouth. Kosuke Kindaichi didn't intend to betray Yayoi's trust, but he really didn't want to give up the investigation just like that.Everything is already on the line and has to be released. Therefore, he really wanted to meet Yukari, and this wish came true by chance. At around five o'clock in the evening on September 4, Kanedaichi Kosuke went to Ginza. On the way back, he crossed the iron bridge and walked in the direction of Hibiya. At this time, it happened to be the closing time of a certain movie theater, and a large number of audience members came out of the movie theater one after another, among them was the figure of the little fat man Azi. Azi was very conspicuous in the crowd, but he didn't notice that anyone was paying attention to him. In addition, there was a friend beside him, who wore sunglasses on his face, but Kosuke Kindaichi still recognized who it was at a glance. She is Hogan Yukari, and Kindaichi Kosuke still remembers her subordinates holding a leather whip. Yukari was tall, about five feet four inches, and she was wearing high heels, making her look taller than Azi. Yu Xiangli naturally didn't know Kindaichi Kosuke. When they passed each other in the chaotic crowd, Kindaichi Kosuke heard Yu Xiangli say with a serious face: "Azi, I understand what you said, but before that, I want to make a decision first!" In that photo, the happy smiling face of the girl in the riding suit was gone, replaced by a cold and resolute voice. Such a voice makes people sound like blood dripping from the gap between the teeth, which is horrifying and shocking. On the evening of September 7th, Kosuke Kanedaichi stood in front of the gate of Ripo Fayan's old house, his expression was very surprised, because it had become a bit different from the time he came last time. On the evening of August 21, when Kosuke Kindaichi sneaked into the house, he didn't see the roadblock in front of him. Today, two wooden pillars have been erected at the main entrance, which was supposed to allow people to freely enter and exit. There are also several wooden boards nailed to the pillars horizontally, without any gaps in between, and a barbed wire fence is stretched above it. Kosuke Kindaichi walked carefully past the door and walked up the slope, trying to look in from the front door. But after a while, Kosuke Kindaichi noticed that the roadblock was only half completed.On the Dagu stone wall on the left, there is a crack that can allow one person to enter and exit, and there are no roadblocks here. In addition, there are several places from here to the top of the slope that have collapsed, but no roadblocks have been erected. (Could it be that these roadblocks started today, so it was too late to finish?) Suddenly, Kosuke Kindaichi finally understood why Toshio Yamauchi deliberately invited a photographer here to take wedding photos. Toshio Yamauchi went to Benjo's photo studio around 4:00 pm on September 3 to get the developed photos. If he sent them by special delivery the next day, they would be delivered to Fayan's house by the morning of the 6th at the latest. Since Kosuke Kindaichi could tell that the western-style room was the place where Toko hanged himself, Yayoi must be able to detect it too. Yayoi probably sensed what might happen after the wedding photos were taken, therefore, no matter whether the other party would come back here or not, she would first build a roadblock to keep him out. At this time, the twilight in the surrounding area was gradually falling. Kosuke Kindaichi took out a pen-shaped flashlight and stepped into the ruins recklessly. Compared with the last time, it was more difficult to walk this time. The weeds around were growing very long, and there were rubble and stones under the weeds. Kosuke Kaneda finally came to the entrance, and the entrance was unexpectedly blocked by two crosses. It was sealed with a board, and barbed wire was stretched over it. Since Kosuke Kindaichi had thought of this situation in advance, he was not surprised. While waving the flashlight in his hand, he went around to the left, only to find that the wooden window was also sealed. Fortunately, there was still a gap that could barely be drilled in. Kaneda Kazuko didn't care about the situation of his clothes being scratched, he insisted on getting in through the gap, and he entered a spacious room after a while. He illuminated the surrounding walls and ceiling with a flashlight, and found that the room was not square, but a rectangular room with a ratio of four to six; there was a door on the narrower side, which should be the front entrance.There is a door on the left and right walls behind the door, and Kosuke Kaneda enters through the door on the right. While shining a flashlight on the ceiling, he came under the illuminated lock hanging in the center of the room. Yes, the problem is with this lock. Dongzi committed suicide by hanging the rope on this lock ring, and her beloved relics were probably hung on the same lock ring. Behind the lock, there was a golden screen standing there, which happened to be him in the photo angle seen in . But there was still one thing he had to confirm, and that was what was behind the door on the left side. Kosuke Kindaichi ignored this door when he came here on the night of August 21st. When he opened the door, he found a narrow corridor outside. On the other side of the corridor was a Japanese-style room with a half-open sliding door, which seemed to be covered with a layer of tatami mats. Kindaichi Kosuke couldn't help stomping his feet frequently. On the night of August 21st, there were probably no tatami mats in the room.This piece of tatami must have been laid out in preparation for the wonderful wedding on the night of the 28th! Although other supplies were removed the next morning, something as heavy as a tatami mat should have been left here. Kosuke Kindaichi stepped into the room and shone a flashlight on the walls and sliding paper doors on all sides. There were six rough tatami mats inside. There was a closet in the corner of the room. The door of the closet was half open, but the upper and lower floors were empty. . Suddenly, Kosuke Kindaichi took a step back, leaned forward slightly, and shone the light of his flashlight on the underside of the closet. There was a man in a slightly dirty kimono squatting in the closet with his back arched. "What, who is hiding there?" The other party seemed very scared, so Kosuke Kindaichi became bolder, and said to the other party in a gentle tone as much as possible: "You can come out now. If you don't have the intention of harming others, I won't harm you...huh?" The man turned his head when he heard Kosuke Kindaichi's voice, and when the light of the flashlight hit his face directly, he quickly raised a hand to block the light. But in this way, Kindaichi Kosuke also immediately understood who the other party was, so he was relieved. In the darkness, Kosuke Kindaichi kept grabbing the messy hair like a bird's nest, and said in a respectful tone: "This, this, isn't this Mr. Cheng Cheng? Why did you come here? Do you know that this is the Hanged House on Hospital Slope?"