Chapter 18 Chapter Seventeen The Strange Lover

At the same time that Nasu interrogated Inohara Xinghei, the Ibaraki Police Department also interrogated Chengyou Noriko, and the Matsubara Police Department of the Osaka Prefectural Police Department was in charge of the inquiry.Detective Okawa from Yotsuya Station was also present.He hid a secret "device" in his arms. "Madam, thank you for coming to the office on purpose." After Matsubara expressed his polite thanks to Yukiko, he began to ask questions.Since the interrogation was still being conducted as the person who provided the reference materials at this moment, although it was essentially an interrogation, on the surface the arrival of the other party had to be called a kind of "cooperation".

There was a thin layer of anxiety and sadness on Yukiko's face.Perhaps it was an illusion created by the detectives' nervousness. In their view, the anxiety and sadness were absent on their faces, and they were only added on purpose when they came to the police station. "I invite you to come today to learn about two or three new facts about your husband's murder." "What's the matter, haven't you already told the criminal police all about it?" Yukiko was very unhappy when she was called to Ibaraki City, far away from Osaka.Prior to this, the criminal police had visited Yukiko's home and asked her about her private life repeatedly.Because her husband died unexplained, she had to cope.Such constant exposure to police surveillance often made her feel neurotic.

"Madam, I heard that you stayed at home alone from 8:00 p.m. on April 19th to 8:00 a.m. on the 20th." The Songyuan Police Department asked immediately. "Yes, that has been said several times." "But that doesn't prove you're at home." "I stay at home alone, who can I ask for proof?" "Did no one else call or call during this time?" "Around me, there is no such rude person as calling in the middle of the night or visiting someone's house early in the morning." A wry smile appeared on Yukiko's face. "Then it can be assumed that you were somewhere between the night of the nineteenth and the next morning."

"What does it mean?" Yukiko restrained her smile, and stared at Matsubara fiercely. Da Chuan, who was observing secretly, could see from her eyes and movements that she had been cornered. During interrogation, even if no confession can be obtained from the prisoner, observing the subtle changes in the prisoner's expression and demeanor can also play a role in forming the examiner's testimony. "Ma'am, you have a driver's license, and you have a Jaguar racing car, right? You can easily run more than 200 kilometers." After investigation, it was found that Yukiko had indeed obtained a driver's license before she got married, and she also had a Jaguar Type 10 luxury sleeper with a current price of 6 million yen.There is no undue negligence of only considering airplanes and ignoring cars.

"What on earth are you trying to say?" Yukiko's voice was hysterical. "lady!" Matsubara's voice suddenly became unstoppable like a sharp knife. "Don't you know your important position in this miraculous case? We have learned from various sources the time when your husband was killed on the night of April 19th. And we are very suspicious of your actions that night. Now It’s not that someone was killed, it’s that your husband was killed. You need to actively try to disprove your absolution.” Yukiko also launched an offensive without giving an inch: "You say that my husband was killed on the 19th, do you have conclusive evidence? This is just the subjective conjecture of the police! If my husband was indeed killed that night If I kill him, I will also eagerly look for the proof of my alibi, but you are only based on speculation, insisting that I come up with an alibi for a certain day, isn't it too much? Yes, I do not hide that our husband and wife The relationship is not good. Because this cannot be concealed. Haven’t you already investigated this clearly? If you are regarded as a “key suspect” just because the relationship between husband and wife is not good, then there are many couples like us, it seems that we have to Always pay attention to the fact that you are not doing the actual scene.”

Yukiko spoke sarcastically, with a sarcastic smile on his face.Compared with her delicate appearance, this smile is so cold. "Ma'am, do you know Mrs. Inohara Kyohei?" Okawa, who had been silent all this time, asked suddenly.This was discussed with Matsubara before the question was started, and I chose the right time to ask Yukiko this question out of the blue, and see how she responds.This change in expression can directly indicate Yukiko's position in this case. "Mr. Inohara!" The sharp eyes of the two scouts focused on one target at the same time.Yukiko's pensive eyes seemed to be searching for the past, but this expression was by no means a negative reaction to her.She looked as if she remembered an acquaintance not worth mentioning.Is this also acting?If it's acting, it doesn't look a little pretentious.

Okawa and Matsubara feel anxious when their trump card that they think is absolutely fine doesn't work.But no matter what, Yukiko still showed that she knew Inohara. With a glimmer of hope, they continued to ask: "Then what is the relationship between you and Mr. Inohara Xingping?" "It's not a relationship. If you ask me to tell you, he seems to be a bit overconfident. Before I married Shicheng, he had expressed his affection for me and proposed to me. But since Mr. Inohara's father and my father are the same Deadly enemy, but he failed to do so.” "So, what about your own attitude?"

"My attitude? Hmph." Yukiko smiled only with her lips.Maybe that's what the so-called unemotional smile is all about. "I'm nothing. To me, he neither likes nor hates him, just like a stranger passing by." Not only the expression, but even the voice has no emotion at all. "Strange passerby..." Okawa was disappointed.What more can I say?I don't like it or hate it. Is there any evaluation that makes a man more sad than this?For some reason, Okawa felt pity for Inohara Xinghei. "Is there anything else you want to ask?" Looking at Okawa's gloomy expression, Yukiko asked calmly.

"Is that all? No other affinities?" "No." Okawa had doubts.Yukiko must have an ulterior purpose in hiding things about the aviation club. "Didn't you stay at the Eagle Aviation Club together?" Okawa asked sharply. "Ah, that..." For a moment, Yukiko's upright face showed an embarrassed expression, she opened her mouth twice, and then said hesitantly: "Ah, I have forgotten that. This period is not worth mentioning, and He and Inohara-san are just in the same club, so there is no close relationship." Okawa turned his attention to Yukiko again, looking for the secret in her heart.At this time, Yukiko's face had returned to normal, becoming beautiful and expressionless.

Okawa's report was immediately forwarded to the Marunouchi Bureau.Nasu also had the same doubt after hearing it. "Yukiko only concealed her participation in the flying club. Isn't that suspicious?" At the meeting, Nasu questioned the detectives. Okawa came here from the Yotsuya Department on purpose.There was a "collaborative" atmosphere at the meeting. "If Yukiko is Inohara's accomplice, she should try to hide everything related to Inohara, no matter how small. But she easily admitted that she knew Inohara, isn't it strange?" "Does this mean that the existence of Inohara is not a danger to Yukiko?"

Shanlu spoke first. "I can only think so, but there is still something suspicious. When we exposed the trick of exchanging bodies and emphasized that Inohara's alibi was meaningless, he refuted it with the fact that he did not have a driver's license. That said, it was indeed a fatal blow. "However, this does not rule out the possibility that Inohara and Yukiko are in the same case. However, Inohara admits that he has a close relationship with Yukiko, and he is not hiding his love. The two are in the same case. , and their respective confessions are different. How can this be explained?" "I'm afraid it's not Inohara's unrequited love?" "No, unrequited love cannot constitute an accomplice in exchanging bodies." "Then, is Inohara's poor acting?" The two planned to drive to become "strange passers-by", but because of Inohara's poor acting skills, they revealed their true colors. "In this case, Yukiko's acting skills are not very good. When the Okawa criminal police mentioned the matter of the flying club, she was also disturbed. When it came to Inohara, she was indifferent, but when she came to the flying club, she seemed so panicked. Maybe there's something in it that's not good for her." "Maybe it has nothing to do with Inohara." "Inohara admitted his relationship with Yukiko, and used his lack of a driver's license as a shield to deny the crime. The lack of a driver's license is already clear, but his seven-hour gap must not be ignored. I think it is necessary to repeat It was an unceremonious questioning of a pig." The detectives spoke one after another, and the meeting room was boiling. When the debate reached a fever pitch, Okawa spoke. "Can't Inohara and Yukiko confront each other? Through direct contact with Yukiko, I feel that she is quite indifferent to Inohara. How will Inohara react to this? I think through observation, maybe I can get some Something of value." This is a way to try, but the two live in Tokyo and Osaka respectively, and one of them needs to be called to the location of the other. At the stage of providing reference materials for the examination, if the person concerned is required to take a long-distance trip, the other party will be disturbed. Uneasy, it is best to avoid it as much as possible, but there is no other way, and I don't want to use special arrest methods. As a result of the research, it was decided to ask Yukiko to come to Tokyo. Yukiko did not refuse the subpoena, but she didn't know that this trip was to testify face to face with Xingping. On July 20, Yukiko took the Shinkansen train to Tokyo Marunouchi Office. Almost at the same time, Inohara Xinghei also appeared in the Marunouchi Department in the form of a free appearance in court. Although they are free to appear in court, they themselves are aware of their situation. In this case, few people refuse to be arraigned.Xingping also seems to know that if he refuses to appear in court for no reason, an arrest warrant may be issued immediately.There is no need to bring in defense lawyers at this stage.If a defense lawyer is brought in from the beginning, it will arouse the suspicion of the police even more. When Nasu received Inohara in the interrogation room of the headquarters, Yamaji welcomed Yukiko who had just arrived into another room. Yukiko was depressed and pale.There is a note on the door of the headquarters room that reads "Special Investigation Headquarters for Murder at the Inohara Hotel".She squinted and felt that there were policemen around her, and they were approaching her step by step with shackles in their hands. Nasu greeted Inohara in the interrogation room: "I'm really sorry to trouble you so many times. However, I heard you said that you plan to marry Yukiko, right?" "Yes. I want to formally propose to her after her marriage prohibition period is over." To prevent irresponsible fathering of the children, the civil law prohibits a woman from remarrying within six months of her ex-husband's death. Inohara, at a time when his company was about to be taken over by foreign capitalists, had time to look forward to marrying Yukiko. Nasu thought, he is really a "doll manager". Although it is just a "doll", it is an important suspect.Despite some inconsistencies in confirming his co-accused relationship with Yukiko, the suspicion that he killed Sulesen and Osawa has not diminished at all. "Does Yukiko think so too?" "No problem, I don't think she will refuse. Because she understands my feelings very well." Inohara is very confident.If it is really the same case, he is a bit "simple and naive".He seemed to regard this topic as a commonplace that Nasu brought up for in-depth investigation. "That's weird." Nasu tilted his head and said. "What's so strange?" "According to the criminal police who directly investigated Ms. Cheng, to her, your existence is just a 'strange passer-by'." "Strange passerby?" Inohara narrowed his eyes and looked at Nasu, as if he didn't understand what he meant. "She doesn't care about you at all. According to him, she neither likes nor dislikes you, and of course she doesn't think about marriage." "This... this woman without conscience!" Inohara exclaimed. "That's not a lie. Ask her yourself if you need her here." "Has Yukiko come here?" Inohara asked eagerly. Nasu nodded. "Please call immediately. I don't know what her plan is, but if this is a lie fabricated by the police to tease her private life, it will not be tolerated." Manager Inohara, who has always been very rational, was also confused by this sudden stimulation. He lost his usual dignified demeanor. Nasu winked, and Detective Hayashi, who was standing in the corner of the room, walked out of the room. After a while, Yukiko lowered her head and was led into the room by Okawa. At first she didn't seem to notice that Zhu Yuan was in the house. "Yukiko!" She only looked at Inohara when she heard the cry. "Ah!" She stood there motionless.Obviously, this meeting was a surprise attack on her.She didn't speak for a long time, standing there not knowing what to do. "Ma'am, you probably still remember that this is the strange passer-by Mr. Inohara you mentioned." Okawa's words were cold and ruthless. Yukiko's face suddenly became red. Inohara, however, had a glimmer of hope, and couldn't wait to ask Yukiko: "Youkiko, is this true?" "I……" The two spoke at the same time. "I never said that." Yukiko's tone was very drawn out, and she spoke very clearly, with an expression on her face as if nothing had happened.Inohara finally heaved a sigh of relief, and his frowns relaxed. "Really? I remember you did say it." Okawa smiled faintly, and continued: "I think I heard it right. This has been recorded. You might as well listen to it." Okawa put a small tape recorder on Nasu's desk. "what!" Yukiko shuddered as if stung by a scorpion suddenly. Okawa pressed the play button without hesitation. "My attitude, hum!" Although the voice was not very clear, it was undoubtedly Yukiko's voice with a sneer. "I'm nothing. To me, he neither likes nor hates him, just like a stranger passing by." "Strange passerby?" This is Okawa's disappointed voice. "you you!" This sudden blow made Inohara speechless. "That's right, you said it yourself!" Nasu said mercilessly. Yukiko was pale and sat there like a statue without saying a word. Nasu winked, and Noriko was taken to another room. "Well, tell the truth!" Inohara and Nasu were the only two people left in the room, and it was unexpected that Inohara was so impulsive. Inohara was no longer angry, he sat listlessly on the chair, staring at the wall with desperate eyes, but in fact he didn't look at anything. Could it be that woman is his spiritual support?Looking at this man who was born rich, Nasu couldn't help but smiled wryly when he thought that he could be so lost. Nasu drove away such dull thoughts and did not let go of his offensive. "Well, tell me, where were you on the night of April nineteenth? What did you do?" Inohara raised his head as if exhausted. Nasu suppressed the police officer's excitement before conquering the fortress, in order to smoothly guide the other party to tell the truth, he nodded slowly to Inohara. At this moment, it is necessary to eliminate the impression of oneself as a police officer in the other party's mind.As if bowing his head to listen to the confession of a sinner, Nasu put on the airs of a priest who can undo the sins of life. "Mr. Police Department, please wait a moment. I don't believe Yukiko is speaking from the heart. I will talk about it after I find out her true feelings." Lieyuan seemed to have calmed down at this moment. The big fish that was about to be hooked suddenly slipped away.But Inohara is still in the stage of providing reference materials, and there is no reason for the police department to force him.But if Yukiko deceived Xingping with rhetoric such as "that was a performance in front of the police" after he went back to meet Yukiko, Xingping, who was finally trying to tell the truth, would change his mind.The experienced Nasu was also helpless at this time. After Nasu sent the listless Xingping away, he fell down on the sofa in disappointment. Yukiko was extremely tired, so she stayed at a hotel near the Marunouchi Station that night. Of course she is subject to surveillance, but since she is still the provider of reference materials, her freedom cannot be restricted yet. As expected, that night, Inohara Xinghei went to the hotel to find Yukiko. The police cannot interfere with this contact.Xingping stayed in Yukiko's room for more than an hour. Just in case, the police explained the situation to the hotel, and placed two criminal police officers in an empty room next to it to keep an eye on it.In the event of an accident, you can immediately break into Yukiko's room. An hour later, Xingping was pale and came out of the room with weak steps. A detective followed Xingping, and another detective visited Yukiko's room.Nothing happened to Yukiko. The next morning, Inohara Xinghei arrived at the Marunouchi Office as if she had made up her mind.As an important material provider, most of those who came to the door without summons wanted to provide some new information. "Mr. Police Department, I finally made up my mind to tell the truth." Inohara Anhei sat down on the chair that Nasu had given over and said. Nasu thought excitedly; the conversation with Yukiko last night must have made him make up his mind. "When it was almost nine o'clock that night, I received a call from Yukiko in the Laurel Bar in Ginza. She told me that she had something to tell me, and asked me to wait for her at the Sky Apartment in Shinjuku no matter what. Actually I rented that apartment for a secret private meeting with Yukiko. I love Yukiko deeply. Since the day I met her at the flying club, I thought no one could be my wife except her. "But we couldn't get married because of my father's strong opposition. It was impossible to go against my father's will while my father was alive. Yukiko was raised in the same environment, and she was the same as me in that. But at that time We are still in a spiritual relationship. The physical relationship started after we both got married and met at a reception in the financial world. Before we were married, we were all restrained by Stoicism, but after we were married, we were liberated I came out and fell in love more and more passionately. Although this is not the case, at least I have such a belief. However, this relationship should not be known to others. For this reason, I rented an apartment here without telling my identity. The husband comes to Tokyo twice a month, and that's the only time we have warm hugs. "When I got the call that night, I went to the Sky Apartments right away. "She came to Tokyo to send her husband abroad on the 18th, and later she informed me that she would go back with her husband's brother that day, which greatly disappointed me. "I waited for a long time after I arrived at the apartment, but she didn't come. I wanted to call her home in Ashiya, but I was afraid that other relatives in her family lived there, so I had to endure it. "I waited anxiously and didn't close my eyes all night. When it was nearly four o'clock, Yukiko called again and told me to go to the central bowling court in Aoyama. She put the phone down before asking why. There was no way. , I had to find a taxi to go to the petanque field. She and I went to this petanque field several times during the bachelor days. "But when I got there, I didn't even see her. This made me very dissatisfied, and I returned to the Shinjuku apartment around seven o'clock. At that time, I only had the illusion that Yukiko might still come. "But for some reason, the door was locked with a safety chain on the inside, and there was no one in the room. Although I gave her a key, neither she nor anyone else could lock the safety hinge from the outside. Since I was The room is rented anonymously, so it is not easy to go to the service desk to ask the reason. "In any case, someone secretly locked the safety chain while I was away, that is, between four o'clock and seven o'clock, so that I couldn't get in. By what method and for what purpose, I don't know. There is a safety chain on the door, and the door can only be opened a crack. I looked into the room from the gap, and there seemed to be something on the bed. Due to the angle of sight, I could only see a little bit. At that time, I really did not think that it was a corpse. "At the time, I was very unhappy. After that, I neither contacted Yukiko nor went to that room again. "Osawa's body was later found in Osaka. "I don't know why Osawa appeared in Ibaraki. However, after he was murdered, I knew my situation. I don't know about Su Lisen, but I knew about Osawa and my wife's adultery. "Of course I was quickly put on the list of suspects with a motive and asked if I could prove my alibi that night. By luck or misfortune, I went to the petanque green very early the next morning, which made me Alibi established. "I don't know why Yukiko called me to the petanque court, but she somehow saved me anyway. "At that time, I really didn't expect that she killed her husband. About a month and a half later, the decomposed body was found in my room, and the deceased was Yukiko's husband, Toshihiko Naru. I was shocked by the news. I immediately thought that the murderer was Yukiko. Because Yukiko was the only one who knew the room and had the key besides me. "After I knew Yukiko had committed a crime, I was determined to do my best to protect her. I foolishly thought that her direct motive for killing her husband was to marry me. The reason why she didn't ask for my help was because she didn't want to give it to me. Trouble. So leads me to the petanque field. "At the time I thought the Daze case had nothing to do with her. "However, since Mr. Police Department proposed the trick of exchanging corpses and learned about Yukiko's ice-like heart, I realized that I was being used. "I finally figured it out from Yukiko last night. According to Yukiko, what she said in front of the police was from her heart, not acting. The hug with me before was like sports. Not from the heart, and said she was tired of this kind of acting. "My God! This is the true face of a woman for whom I would give everything. I see now how stupid I was! Now that I think about it, she didn't call me to the pétanque to save me from being involved." , not to create the conditions for me to prove the alibi. It was to hide the body in my room, so I was driven to the petanque court. Before that, I was kept in the room to make the police more suspicious The blank time I set up. In fact, Yukiko wanted to make the blank time longer, but it had to be stopped because of a conflict between this place and the place where the dead body was hidden. The secret room was also set up to prevent me from entering the room and finding the dead body. "After the discovery of the dead body, I divorced my wife and planned to marry Yukiko. Although I knew that Asia Industrial was buying shares secretly, I didn't go to Dongxi Bank for assistance. Because I thought that even if I lost Equity is nothing special either. The restaurant was created by my father and Yukiko was my choice. "For a woman, I would rather lose the largest hotel in the East. Isn't this the greatness of a man? But I have ended up like this. My current mood is indescribable. I have become the most pitiful person in the world. "I'm a man. Even if I lose Yukiko, I can't lose the courage to live. Now I don't regret it, and it's useless to regret it." "Who killed Daze?" "I don't know. Maybe someone besides me hates Osawa." "You didn't kill Su Lisen?" "No, I don't want to say anything more now." Inohara lowered his head and kept silent.His face was as stiff as a plaster or mask, only his lips trembled slightly.It could be seen that his heart was filled with pain at this time. Inohara's confession helped the police to further confirm that the speculation about exchanging bodies was correct, or that Osawa's killing may have nothing to do with Shicheng's killing.But there is some truth to the former, and some contradictions to the latter. First, Yukiko called Inohara to the apartment, and then tricked him elsewhere.If it's just to hide Shicheng's body, there's absolutely no need to call Inohara to the apartment.And it's dangerous.Because of this, it is very likely that Inohara will accidentally meet the person who transported the corpse. Daring to call Inohara here and guard him for nearly four hours, we can only think that this is to make Inohara an important suspect in Osawa's murder. The second point is who will transport Shicheng's body to Tokyo, which is also a problem.It is known that Cheng returned to Osaka on the JAL domestic flight at 17:55 on the 19th. In addition, Yukiko was at her home at 8:00 pm that night and 8:00 am the next day, which was also investigated clearly.Then consider that the "contact" between Cheng and Yukiko is more appropriate in Osaka.Inohara was tricked into going to the pétanque field around 4:00 in the morning, and when he returned to the apartment around 7:00, the "secret room" had already been formed.Therefore, based on various other circumstances, it can basically be concluded that the corpse of Cheng Cheng was transported during this period of time. Regardless of whether Cheng was killed in Tokyo or in Osaka or on the way, he had to be transported to Tokyo, but at 8 o'clock in the morning of the same day, Yukiko was at her home in the cottage. It is absolutely impossible to transport the Cheng (possibly a dead body) to Tokyo, into an apartment in Shinjuku between 4:00 am and 7:00 am, after forging a secret room, and return to Ashiya, which is more than 500 kilometers away from Tokyo, before 8:00 am . Although her car may run at a speed of more than 200 kilometers per hour, it is impossible to maintain such a high speed for a long time. It can be reasoned like this: It was the accomplice who transported the dead body, and Yukiko was the one who threw Osawa's body in Ibaraki. This is a trick to exchange the body. Here, the ingenious significance of Yukiko's call to prove that she was not at the scene of the crime at 8:00 a.m. is clear. But the crucial question is who killed Osawa.The prisoner must meet the following three conditions, namely: (1) There is a motive to kill Osawa. ⑵ has a close relationship with Yukiko (except Inohara). ⑶Have a driving license. There is another condition, but it is not an absolute condition, that is, this person must be familiar with Yukiko and Inohara.Because before committing the crime, this person directly grasped Inohara's whereabouts from Inohara's side, which is much more powerful than knowing indirectly from Yukiko. The key to this crime is that the criminal has grasped Inohara's whereabouts. Thinking of this, Nasu had an idea. "Please answer one more question. On the night of April 19th, you were at the Laurel Bar in Ginza. Did you tell Yukiko beforehand?" Inohara shook his head. "Did you go to the Laurel Bar and tell anyone else that night? The secretary, the clerk, for example." "I don't remember telling anyone." "This is very important. If you think about it carefully, no one really told you?" Inohara finally realized the significance of Nasu's question.If no one told her, how would Yukiko know where Inohara was? "Ah, so...?" Inohara took out a cigarette and smoked it vigorously, as if trying to use it to evoke memory.