Chapter 3 Chapter 3 A Man Like a Cat

"Then what do you mean, none of you know when that man like a black panther left? You are still in charge of the front desk!" The time was before twelve o'clock on the night of November 25th. More precisely, it should be around midnight on the 26th. The weather outside was freezing, and the heating inside the room was fully turned on. "Yes, that, that..." Yozo Imai at the front desk seemed incoherent.He didn't expect that the low-end hotel he manages, which usually doesn't have many visitors, would now be involved in the murder case. Moreover, in the hotel's accommodation register, there is no registration of guests who open hourly rooms, so he was punished. Warning from the police force.

"I also have a deep impression on the man who came with that woman. I didn't see him go out the front door." "However, during the investigation just now, it was found that the person did not go out through the back door. So, is he still in the hotel?" "Where, how...how is it possible." Hearing that a major investigation was going to be done in the hotel, Manager Imai couldn't help but panic. "Didn't you just say that the man didn't go out through the front door? If he didn't go out through the front door or the back door, it means that the murderer must still be lurking somewhere in the hotel, or you were dozing off at that time... "

"No... nothing, I was reading the newspaper at the time, was I concentrating on reading the newspaper..." "Hey, Mr. Imai, don't play tricks! The hall here, do you think it is as big as a baseball field? I don't know how much the newspaper attracts you. Could it be that you are so dazzled that guests come down from upstairs, Can't you see clearly through the hall?" Imai Yozo, who was overwhelmed by the Ghana Deputy Police Department, was already sweating profusely. At this time, the room service Isamu Eguchi came from the side and said, "Mr. Imai, is that man running from the fire escape?" Where did it fall? If you run from there, it’s not easy to be seen.”

"By the way, it's the fire escape! This bastard ran away from the fire escape after killing the woman." Imai Yozo suddenly became airy again, verbally swearing, it may be his true face.This man in his forties is not so much a hotel manager as he is more like a gangster wandering in bars. "Okay, wait for the fire escape to investigate later. I want to know what the man who looks like a black panther looks like, how old he is, and what his height is." "This, this, as I said just now, that man can hardly see his face clearly. He is about thirty years old and about five feet three inches tall. In short, he is not tall, not low, Not fat, not thin."

"So, this person's features are nothing but black from top to bottom?" "By the way! This bastard must have deliberately covered his face from the beginning, like a cat, without making a single sound." It usually takes no more than five minutes to receive guests at the front desk, and in this kind of place, it is inconvenient to stare at the guests all the time.Maybe it could be a clue if I left the signature of the guest when I registered, but I didn't. When the deputy police department in Garner was frustrated, Kosuke Kindaichi interjected from the side and said, "How many pairs of guests like this are there in the guest room on the second floor tonight?"

"Ah, two pairs since evening." "Two pairs? Are there only two pairs?" "Yes, if you add the pair of the woman who went to Xitian just now, there are three pairs in total. The economy has not been very good recently, and it usually looks like this." "Are the other two pairs of guests still there?" "How could it be? I left long ago. Generally, couples like this would leave immediately after finishing their business. The longest time is two hours, and the quickest is about half an hour." "Do you know when the two pairs of guests came and left?"

"Of course I know, this case has nothing to do with other guests, right? Could it be from other guest rooms..." "Mr. Imai, are you here to ask us, or are we here to ask you?" Waiting for an angry shout from the police department, Shuzo Imai closed his mouth. "Yes." Yozo Imai shrank his neck and looked at Kosuke Kaneda with surprise eyes, "That's right, the first pair came at around 7:30 in the evening and left around 8:30." "That is to say, did they leave before the guests who had the accident came?" "Yes, shortly after the pair of guests left, the pair of guests who had the accident came, about thirty minutes later."

"Just to be on the safe side, I would like to ask, is the first couple regular customers?" "No, they are all here for the first time." "What kind of couple are they?" "Working in this kind of place, you can't always pay attention to every move of the customers. The man looks like a senior management cadre of a second- or third-rate company. He is about fifty years old. He doesn't seem to be a person with good character. The woman It looks like a staff who just graduated from university and started working, and when they come and leave, they always look pitifully shy."

"Which room is on the second floor?" "Room No. 3. Eguchi, is there anything wrong?" "Yes, I led them up." The rooms on the second floor are numbered up to No. 5. There is no room No. 4. In fact, there are only four rooms in total. No. 3 and No. 5 are next door. "Are the two guests together when they come and leave?" "yes." "So, what about another pair of guests?" "Yes, yes, if you know what's going on, it should be this pair of guests. They seem to have arrived about twenty minutes earlier than the pair who had the accident."

"You said that the pair of guests who had the accident came after nine o'clock, right?" "Yes, I checked the watch when Mr. Eguchi took them up to the second floor. It was five past nine at that time, because the hourly room counts the time, and we all have the habit of looking at the watch." On the wall behind the reception desk, hangs a quartz clock.Kosuke Kindaichi compared the time of the quartz clock with the time of his own watch, and the quartz clock was very accurate. "The pair of guests... the one who had the accident, how long did they book the room?"

"Two hours. It was booked by the woman who went to Xitian just now. At that time, I was still looking at my watch and told her that it was eleven o'clock. Then I asked Mr. Eguchi to take them to the second floor." "Mr. Eguchi, did you notice anything special at that time?" "It's nothing special, it's just that man, he seems to be very reluctant to let people see his face. It's not surprising that there are such people in this kind of place. I got room 5 from the manager. The key, take them upstairs, and after opening the door, give the key to the woman. It is the men's first room, and then the women go in. I asked, is there anything I need? The woman replied : 'Nothing.' Then he closed the door and locked it from the inside." "It was on the second floor at that time, there should be another pair of guests, right?" Waiting for the police department to interject and ask. "Well, it's room one." "That's right, I just wanted to ask Mr. Imai about the pair of guests. According to what you just said, this pair of guests arrived 20 minutes before the one that had the accident. , then, the time should be around 8:45?" "yes." "This pair is also two hours?" "No, this pair was booked for an hour. Although I told them that they can use it until ten o'clock, they left around nine thirty." "That is to say..." Garner's Deputy Police Department interjected, "The couple who had the accident and the couple in Room 1 stayed together on the second floor for a total of 20 minutes." "Well, but once the guests enter the room, they will lock the door from the inside. Mr. Eguchi, how is it? When you lead the guests in Room 5 upstairs, when you go, when you come back, you always go through the door of Room 1 passing by." "Yes, yes, of course. The doors are all tightly closed." Isamu Jiangguchi seemed to think of something, and laughed alone, "When I opened the room with the guests in Room 5, I came back When I passed by the door of Room No. 1, I heard the creaking sound of bed boards coming from inside. I am used to this kind of sound. At that time, I couldn't help coughing on purpose. Come down, I thought it was weird. Then I went downstairs." "What kind of man and woman are the guests in Room 1? Just to be cautious, please tell me in detail." "What kind of men and women? How should I put it..." Manager Imai's tone became ambiguous, "The guests who come here don't want to draw attention to their appearance. That man is in his early forties. The hats are set low, the collars of the coats are turned up, the scarves go all the way up to the nose, and then there's the old-fashioned shades." "What about height and weight?" "It can be said to be of medium build. By the way, it may be a guest from other places. He is carrying a large suitcase, which feels quite rustic. He may be a foreigner who came to Tokyo. He went to a bar or club and caught up with the woman there. Then, after we got to know each other well, we came here together." "Is there any dialect in his accent?" "For a bit, it feels like that person is trying his best to imitate Tokyo dialect, but there is a little Northeast dialect accent in his voice." "That's right, that's right, he said at the time 'Don't want anything'." "Mr. Eguchi, what's going on?" "When I took them to the room, opened the door, handed them the key, and asked, 'Is there anything I need?', he said, 'Nothing.' Then he waved the door It's closed. Anyone who hears the phrase 'don't want anything' can tell it's a rural accent." Tonight, the room service boy seems to be in a bad business. The guests in rooms 1 and 5 didn't give tips. "So, what does that woman look like? Doesn't she want others to see her face?" The face of Garner Deputy Police Department darkened. "Yes, it's also the same old sunglasses, and then I wore a mask for preventing colds, clothes..." Then, for the clothes, Imai gave a description, but there are hundreds of women wearing such clothes in Ginza. "After the pair of guests left, the case was discovered because the faucet was not turned off at that time..." "By the way, this thing is really a bit strange." "How do you say it?" "After the pair of guests in Room 1 left, Mr. Eguchi took the key and went up to the second floor." "and then?" "This is the case no matter which guest leaves, otherwise, what if there is a new guest coming in soon." "Oh, so that's the case, I understand, and then?" "Then, let Mr. Eguchi talk about it himself. Mr. Eguchi, let me talk about the phone..." "Okay, and then it's like this. I took the key from Mr. Jinnai and went up to the second floor. I heard the sound of rushing water coming from the other end of the corridor, but I didn't pay special attention to it at the time. I entered a After room No. 1, I tidied the sheets and changed the pillowcases. It took about three minutes to do these things, and then I walked out of Room No. 1. At this time, the sound of running water in Room No. 5 had not stopped. At that time, I thought, why did the water take so long, but I went downstairs without paying special attention. Then, about ten minutes later, there was a call to Mr. Imai." "Let me tell you what happened after here. It was around ten o'clock at that time. The caller said that he was the guest who stayed in Room 2 on the second floor today. He said that his wallet was lost. , it may have fallen in the room, let me help him find it. But tonight... no, it should be last night, no one lived in Room 2 at all last night. If someone lived in If so, it was during the daytime, between noon and one o'clock, and a couple lived there. I thought at the time that if something important was lost, it should have been discovered long ago, and it was only discovered so late. Is it a bit abnormal, but for the sake of caution, I still handed over the key to Mr. Eguchi." "At the time, I thought it was unnecessary, but I had no choice but to go up to the second floor. At that time, there was still the sound of running water at the other end of the corridor. I couldn't care about anything else, so I went into the second room and searched through the room thoroughly. I checked again and found that there was no wallet at all. Gradually, I became a little annoyed. When I walked out of Room No. 2, I saw water flowing from under the door of Room No. 5 to the corridor. When I got to the door of Room No. 5, I found that the door was open with a small crack, and the key was inserted outside the door. I yelled a few times, but no one answered inside. Moreover, the water flowed more and more, so I bit down on it. Gritting his teeth, he pushed the door open..." Isamu Eguchi gestured while speaking. "That's the case." "Then did you report to Mr. Imai?" "No, I turned off the faucet first. Although I know that such an accident scene cannot be destroyed, if I don't turn off the faucet again, the whole hotel will be flooded." "At that time, how did the phone talk?" "I was holding the microphone at the time, but as soon as I heard Mr. Eguchi's report, I hurried to the second floor. On the way, I suddenly remembered the phone, and hurried back to get the microphone, but the phone had already been hung up. " Everyone couldn't help but looked at each other, and the air around them became tense.Did that call happen by chance?Judging from the results of the matter, it was precisely because of this phone call that the case was discovered early.But if it was the call from the murderer, what was the motive of the murderer?Generally speaking, the murderer hopes that the case will be discovered as late as possible. "The pair of guests who came at noon, what kind of people are they? Are they also covering their faces?" "Well, it's okay, but it feels quite normal. I think it's the boyfriend and girlfriend who are in love. Because of some family reasons, it's not convenient to meet each other, so they use the lunch break to come here for a tryst." "So, is the accent on the phone the accent of the customer?" "No, it was a slow, gloomy tone, and the voice was low and slow, which made me almost angry. Could it be that it was the murderer?" Even Manager Imai, who was usually defiant, couldn't help but lose his color when he recalled the gloomy voice on the phone at that time. "Mr. Police Department, let's learn so much here first. Then, let them take us to the fire escape. In addition, there may be some new clues found on the second floor." On the second floor of "Dragon Palace Hotel", there are four side-by-side rooms. The corridor is on the north side. There is a door at the end of the corridor. Outside the door is the fire escape. ladder. No new clues were found in Room No. 5. Hearing someone outside talking about the fire escape, Detective Chen Ye came out of Room No. 5. "Actually, I'm also preparing to investigate this fire escape. You see, the hook has been opened. I think someone must have gone out from here. Well, let's go down from here to have a look." Outside the door is a narrow balcony. The fire escape extends from the edge of the balcony to the alley next to it. Adjacent is a four-story building. There is a room about the size of a room between the building and the hotel. There were no lights, and the alley was pitch black. Detective Tatsuno, who took the flashlight, climbed down the ladder first, followed by the Garner Deputy Police Department and the Tomoli Police Department, and finally Kosuke Kindaichi.In this kind of occasion, wearing a hakama is really inconvenient, but there is no way, this is Kindaichi Kosuke's hobby. "Mr. Director, it's really good. Someone must have gone up or down from here. Look, there are footprints here..." Today in the evening, it happened that there was a winter rain as cold as ice.Going down to the bottom of the ladder, I also found two or three footprints covered with mud. These footprints were not left when I went upstairs, but seemed to be left when I came down from upstairs. "Look, there is a stall selling late night snacks over there. The boss may have seen something, go over and ask." In the corner opposite to the exit of the alley, there is a bank. Red lanterns are hung on the supper stalls in front of the bank. Water vapor, it can be seen that the boss is preparing to close the stall. The boss, who was preparing to close the stall, caught a glimpse of four people suddenly appearing from the dark alley through the shadow of the sign. "Boss, we are in this business..." The boss didn't show the slightest surprise when he saw the police ID shown by Detective Chenye. "Something seems to have happened? I heard that a woman was killed." "Yeah, so I want to ask the boss about the situation..." "Well, of course. How about a drink? Would you like a drink, sir?" The boss who showed his face from behind the sign was cleanly dressed, with a cotton waistcoat over his overalls and a warm cotton turban on his head. "Thank you, thank you, I will come to your place for a drink when I have time later, boss, have you started business since evening?" "Yes, this is my territory." "Oh, then did you see any suspicious people running out of the alley?" "I've seen it, sir." After the old man answered briskly, he filled a plate full of leftover cooking food and brought it up. "Come on, it's all leftovers, please don't give up. It's really cold tonight." As the old man said, the stars in the night sky are like being frozen in the sky.Although Kosuke Kindaichi had turned up his collar, the cold still hit his body from the asphalt road along his legs, and he felt cold even in his bones. "Wow! This is delicious, how about it? Mr. Kindaichi, you are welcome, come and eat something?" Seeing that the Waiting Force Police Department broke apart the convenient chopsticks, others followed suit.At this time, the steaming hot cooking was the most attractive, and several people moved their chopsticks. "Well, how about a little more?" "No, we are working now, boss, you said just now, did you see someone running out of the alley?" Waiting for the police department to ask. "Yes, sir, this is the matter. I have expected that someone will definitely ask me about this matter. I have been waiting for it." "So, what kind of man is he?" "You ask what kind of person he is. How can I tell him? I didn't see him face to face. I can only confirm that he is wearing a pair of big sunglasses." "But boss, can you tell me more about it? For example, the color or style of the coat." "By the way, I remembered. The man was wearing a shiny black dress. There was no business at that time. I was in a daze with a cigarette in my mouth. I first heard footsteps coming from the alley, and I thought it was There was business, and I looked out from under the front of the sign, and saw someone running out of the alley suddenly. I was just feeling how gorgeous this person was attire. The corner disappeared. Because it was too fast at that time, that is, in an instant, I remembered that the man was wearing big sunglasses and a coat with black light." "Physical? Is it tall, or..." "He's of medium build, and doesn't feel tall." "Boss, have you ever thought about reporting this matter to the 'Dragon Palace Hotel'?" Chenye detective asked in a reproachful tone. "It's not that I haven't thought about it, sir, it's just that there are a lot of guests coming to the end of the movie over there, and..." the old man said here, and nodded his chin in the direction of "Dragon Palace Hotel", "I have thought about it before, Why not tidy up that hotel earlier, some messy things often happen there. This place is as close to the police station as nose and eyes, it should be restrained." "Ah, I understand, I understand. I will definitely keep the old man's words in mind. But when that man ran out, what time was it?" "It's almost nine o'clock." "Before nine o'clock? No way? When that man ran out, it should have been after nine o'clock." "Really?" The old man took an old alarm clock from the shelf of the stall, "Sir, what time is it?" "The correct time should be 0:40." "Ah, as expected, my clock is a little slow. There's nothing I can do about it. This clock is already so old, and people are the same..." The old man set the alarm clock while talking. "Anyway, it's about that time." On the contrary, the old man stubbornly believed that it was before nine o'clock. "Okay, boss, please tell me your name and address." "My name is Tamura Fukuzo, and I live somewhere in Gotanda 3-chome. However, if you have any questions, please come here to find me. I will come here at seven o'clock every evening, no matter it is windy or rainy. of." "Thank you very much, then, if you think of anything, please let us know." Wait until the Police Department took out four or five hundred-yuan bills and handed them over. "No, no, it's not allowed, sir, the rest of my stuff is free." "Okay, okay, just accept it, if there is anything else, please cooperate more." Because the owner of the cooking stall had confirmed the murderer's escape route, the guests who were confined to the first floor of the "Longguan Hotel" were freed. It was already one o'clock in the morning on November 26th.