Chapter 22 second quarter

Kuno hasn't come back yet. Kuno's wife said to Tashiro apologetically, "Please come in first, I think he will be back soon." Tashiro wanted to tell Kuno immediately, so he walked into the living room.The living room of Kuno's house is the size of eight mats, with soft chairs. Kuno's wife brought tea and asked, "Mr. Tashiro, long time no see, how are you?" "Well, it's okay." "I heard you went on a trip a few days ago?" "Yes. I took a trip to the Shinshu area." "That's great, our family Kuno is too lazy to go out, it's really worrying." Kuno's wife complained.

"You can't say that. It's not so easy to travel with work... Oh, Kuno-kun went for a walk?" Tashiro asked, changing the subject. "How should I put it, he got up early in the morning and went out. Usually he seldom gets up so early. Recently, he seems to be desperately investigating something." "Oh." Tashiro realized a little, "What is he investigating?" "Well, he didn't tell me at all." Kuno's wife said with a smile, "Looking at him like that, he looks like a detective." "detective?" "I find all kinds of people to ask questions all day long, and I don't care about work at all."

"What is he doing?" Tashiro deliberately tilted his head to look puzzled.In fact, he had a pretty good idea. It goes without saying that Kuno's actions must have had something to do with the disappearance of the bartender at "Elm".When the proprietress disappeared, Kuno was very concerned. Now that the news of the proprietress's murder was published in the newspaper, Kuno's excitement can be imagined.But what exactly is Kuno investigating? Tashiro secretly guessed while talking to Kuno's wife.After a while, I heard someone pushing the door hard. "Astatine, you are back." Kuno's wife got up and walked out. "Mr. Tashiro is here!" Her voice came from the door.

"Really?" Following a rush of footsteps, Kuno appeared in front of Tashiro with a blushing face, "Oh, it's great that you came. I was just looking for you!" Kuno sat down on the chair opposite Tashiro, and said with great interest, "I called you a few days ago, and I heard that you went to Shinshu and haven't come back yet." "Sorry. I just got back two days ago." "What are you going to do?" "Shooting the lakeside scenery, preparing to compile a group of photos for the magazine." "Oh, I remembered, you told me." Kuno nodded and said, "Is everything going well?"

"So-so. I'm not sure." Tashiro stared at Kuno after finishing speaking and asked, "Hey, what are you investigating?" "You don't need to ask!" Kuno shouted excitedly, "Didn't you read the newspaper?" "I read it." Tashiro looked at Kuno in surprise, "I came to you because I read the newspaper. The proprietress of the 'Elm' bar was killed, right?" "What is it! Look at how easy you say it." "But, I really didn't expect such a thing to happen. I was really surprised when I read today's morning paper." Tashiro stared at Kuno and asked, "Did you expect the proprietress to be killed?"

"It's nothing." Kuno avoided Tashiro's gaze, "Who would have thought that the evil was so serious. I only thought that her life was in danger, but I didn't expect to be killed like that." "Did you know that from the morning paper, too?" "No, I heard it on the news broadcast last night." Kuno said, "It's too surprising. I was at someone's house at the time, and I heard this news on the radio by chance, and my heart felt like a fire." Like Tashiro, Kuno also accidentally heard the news broadcast on the radio. "Have you gone to check the scene where the proprietress was murdered?" Tashiro asked.

"Of course. I went to see the miscellaneous forest near Kunitachi this morning." Kuno's voice was still a little excited, "The forest is in the center of Musashino, and it is very desolate. The proprietress was murdered there by vicious criminals." Buried later, it's really pitiful." "I heard that you have been investigating the lady boss since she disappeared, haven't you?" Tashiro asked, remembering Kuno's wife's words. "Well, I have done various investigations." Kuno said, "First of all, the reason for the disappearance. I originally thought that the disappearance of women in this industry may be related to love problems, but after many searches, I couldn't find any clues."

"What about other aspects?" "The business of the 'Elm' bar is not bad. Therefore, financial reasons, such as going out to hide debts, are not possible." "That makes sense," "Since it's not for love or money, then the only thing left is family. But according to the female accountant who often stays with the proprietress, the proprietress doesn't have any worries about the family." "Female accountant?" "Did you forget? The woman in the 'Elm' bar who took the money. She lives in the proprietress's house near Omori, and knows the proprietress's private life best. Her words are usually not wrong."

From Kuno's words, Nakatashiro felt that he had indeed conducted a detailed investigation. "However, let me tell you." Kuno suddenly leaned forward, and said in an affirmative tone, "There is a person who claims to have seen the proprietress after she disappeared!" "Ah, is this true?" Representative Tian looked at Kuno nervously. "Of course, that's right." Kuno said seriously. "Who is he?" "Taxi driver" "taxi?" "Well, he used to send the proprietress back to Omori from the bar many times before. He knows her, so he can't make a mistake." It seems that Kuno is very sure about this matter. "Then what did the driver say?"

"He said he saw the proprietress sitting in a large private car, and not only the proprietress herself, but also three men were sitting in the car," Kuno said with bright eyes. "Where did you see that car?" Tashiro asked.No clues have been found since the proprietress disappeared.If the taxi driver's words were true, that would be a very important clue.Tashiro held his breath and looked at Kuno. "The place, oh, it's nearby." Kuno still said excitedly. "nearby?" "Well. There is a wilderness not far from here. That's right, last time you said you wanted to build a house, I still recommended that piece of land to you."

"Ah!" Tashiro was taken aback when he heard Kuno's words. "Under that wilderness is a road, surrounded by some bushes, and the light is not good. Go straight along the road, and it is the home of Writer A where you went to take pictures last time." Following Kuno's words, Tashiro Katsumae seemed to have the situation there. "Oh, I got it." Tashiro urged Kuno to continue, "In short, because the surrounding trees are blocked and the light is too poor, there are very few taxis passing by at night." "Well, it seems that the road is very difficult to drive." "However, it is said that the driver took customers past there once, and the time was about eleven o'clock at night. He only took that road because of soliciting customers, and he seldom goes there." "What happened next?" Tashiro urged again. "Later, the car passed the road in the bushes, which happened to be a corner. When the car turned the corner, the driver found a large private car parked in the bushes in front with the lights off. At that time, the taxi's headlights shone on the car on the body of the car." "Oh." The scene at that time seemed to appear in Tashiro's mind. "Under the headlights, the driver saw the lady proprietress of the 'Elm' bar, and the men sitting on either side of her. The two men turned their faces away from the direct headlights." "Oh." Tashiro asked after thinking for a while, "Is it really the proprietress?" "It's not wrong. I just said it tomorrow. The driver pulled the proprietress and knew her." "So where is the driver now?" "That's what I'm talking about." Kuno's eyes sparkled excitedly, "A weird thing happened." "Strange?" Tashiro felt that Kuno's words were out of tune, but he didn't smile.Because Kuno's tone contained a wonderful sense of reality. "what is the matter?" Kuno shrugged and said, "To tell you the truth, I found the driver who claimed to be a witness, but..." "Wait a minute." Tashiro moved his body towards him, "Let me first ask how did you know that driver?" "It's very simple!" Kuno said, "I was in a taxi once, and the driver's colleague happened to be driving. He knew that I often went to the 'Elm' bar, so he revealed the news to me while chatting." "information." "Well, he said that his colleagues saw the proprietress sitting in a car, and that the car was parked in an inexplicable place, which made people feel strange." "So that's it. Zhi, have you followed this clue to investigate?" "Exactly! I'll ask for the driver's name and address." "You can't hold back, so you must ask someone else?" "Yes." Kuno replied happily, "The driver's name is Chutaro Konishi, and he lives in an alley in the Okubo area. His house is really hard to find." "Have you found him?" "The first time I went, he was not at home. It is said that he went to work. I went there again the next day." "So have you met him this time?" Tashiro asked. Kuno opened his eyes suddenly: "Hey, what I want to talk about is the following weird thing." "Got it. Tell me quickly!" "I went again the next day. Taxi drivers usually work one day and have one day off. I thought I'd see him this time." "Oh, from your tone of voice, he must not be at home again!" "My family said that he went for a walk. I didn't want to take the trip in vain, so I waited for him. I waited for about two hours. I was really bored, so I walked around the neighborhood and went to the cafe for a cup of coffee. .” "You are really good! You are so busy with work, you are willing to kill time." "Listen, something strange is coming." Kuno moved his body on the chair, "Two hours later, I went back to the driver's house, Konishi Chutaro, and he still hasn't come back. If you take a walk, the time will be long enough." Well, even his wife wondered, and said it was rarely the case." "Did you meet a friend on the way, and where did you go together?" Tashiro asked. "This is a common thing. At first I thought so too, so I waited. But in the end I couldn't wait, so I had to come back." "When did this happen?" "The day before yesterday. I didn't wait for the queen, so I was a little worried. I went to Xiaoxi's house again yesterday." "Oh, how did it turn out?" "Xiaoxi still hasn't come home." "Have you not returned since you went for a walk the day before yesterday?" Even Tashiro was surprised. "That's right. Mrs. Xiaoxi told me tearfully that if her husband disappeared in a taxi, of course the company couldn't ignore it. But now he disappeared during the break, so the company is very indifferent to this matter and doesn't want to listen to Mrs. Xiaoxi at all." narration." "Wait a minute." Tashiro organized his thoughts, "Driver Xiaonishi went for a walk in the afternoon on the rest day and didn't return that night, so the next day should be the day he drives to work?" "That's right. It's said that the company was very upset that he didn't ask for leave. Not only did they not worry about him, but they also said that he was absent from work for no reason. It seems that they want to fire him." "Then he is so pitiful." Tashiro had heard about the unkindness of the taxi company, but now all he cared about was Konishi Chutaro's whereabouts. "It's so pitiful." Kuno also said, "I heard from his wife that Xiaoxi never stayed out overnight for no reason, so I was even more worried. To tell you the truth, on the way back from Guoli this morning, I hurried to Xiaoxi's house to see Take a look." Only now did Tashiro understand the reason why Kuno went out so early in the morning. "Xiaoxi still hasn't come home?" "He didn't come back, that is to say, he hasn't come home for two nights since he went for a walk that afternoon. Do you think this is strange?" Kuno stared at Tashiro Road. "Have you already reported the crime?" Tashiro asked. "No, not yet. However, it is estimated that his wife will report the case within today." After finishing speaking, Kuno went on to talk about his own opinion, "However, it is useless to report the case to the police. If Xiao Xi's disappearance is clearly related to It's a different matter if it's connected to a crime. It's only because he hasn't been home for two nights that the police don't take it seriously." "However, it's better to report the case," Tashiro said, and then asked, "According to your judgment, do you think the driver's disappearance is related to his seeing the proprietress in the car?" Kuno rubbed his nose and conjectured: "I think it's related. The criminal and the proprietress were sitting together in the car that Xiaoxi's driver found. Because Xiaoxi witnessed these situations, the criminal tried to kill him and trick him away. of." "But, if you really wanted to kill someone, why didn't you do it then?" Tashiro asked back. "The reason," Kuno thought for a while, "the criminal only wrote down the license plate number, and the subsequent investigation probably took a lot of time. That is to say, the criminal needed time to find the taxi company and the driver who worked that night." Tashiro was also thinking hard: although Kuno's conjecture had some truths.However, since the incident had already reached Kuno's ears, it goes without saying that driver Xiaoxi must have publicized what he saw.If, as Kuno said, driver Xiaoxi was really killed by criminals, I am afraid that the main reason should be here. At this moment, an idea flashed into Tashiro's mind. "Hey, did Xiaoxi see that car parked on the road under that open lot?" "Yes. Said to be parked in the bushes by that road." "Do you have a shovel or a shovel at home?" "Shovel or shovel?" Kuno was puzzled by Tashiro's sudden questioning. "Shovels, there are." "Let me use it." Tashiro stood up from the chair.