Chapter 20 Chapter Twenty

The music used in the opening titles of the two-hour TV dramas I used to watch rang in my head.Clang clang clang clang──Speaking of which, I remember one time, Akiba seemed to have mentioned that kind of soundtrack, and it was the night she first told me about the case. The murder of Reiko Honjo, the real culprit──A year ago, I would never have imagined that I would hear this word in real daily life. I always thought it was a line that only appeared in suspense dramas. Even after hearing it like this, it took me a while to let my brain gradually understand the meaning of that word, and even after I gradually understood, the mood was still like a dream.

"Beer." Makiko Kugimiya said, looking at my hand. Without realizing it, I gripped the glass tightly and let it pour.The white foam overflowed and wet my fingers. I hurriedly put down the cup and wiped it with a paper towel. "Look." Kugimiya Makiko said, "Now you want to escape, don't you?" "No," I said shaking my head. "I've vaguely guessed that it might be such a story." "real?" "However, of course I still pray in my heart that it will not be such a story." That's half false and half true.The insider says that the suspect is a member of the Nakanishi family──If you keep hearing this kind of talk, you will take it for granted, and it will inevitably come down to the question "So Akiha is suspected?", but I have been trying my best to avoid thinking about that question.

"Can I continue?" "Please." I sip my beer.Suddenly feel dry mouth.As she said, I had to be mentally prepared. "The incident happened on March 31, 15 years ago, in a quiet residential area of ​​Dongbaile. At that time, the sun was still high in the sky, and it happened during the day." "The details are—" "It's meaningless if I don't tell you the details." Makiko Kugimiya pushed back unceremoniously: "You want to know everything? Then, please listen to me quietly. It's okay to speak up if you have any questions, but Please don't find fault with my approach."

The sharp tone completely overwhelmed me, and I could only nod silently to show that I understood. Her chest rose and fell as if trying to adjust her breathing. "The news of the woman's murder reached the Kanagawa County Police Station at about 3:30 in the afternoon. The police arrived about ten minutes later and confirmed the body. The owner of the house at the scene of the murder was Nakashi Tatsuhiko. The dead It's his secretary, Reiko Honjo. She's in the living room of Nakanishi's house, lying flat on the marble coffee table with a knife in her chest." This is what I have heard narrated by Qiuye several times. Although I have not witnessed it with my own eyes, I am used to imagining that scene.

"The discoverer was the eldest daughter of that family, Nakashi Akiba, who was sixteen years old at the time. She was practicing clarinet on the second floor, so she didn't notice what happened downstairs at all, but she vaguely felt that something happened downstairs, so When I went downstairs, I found Reiko Honjo in the living room of the dead body. She has no memory of what happened afterwards, because the shock of discovering the corpse made her faint. After that, Taeko Hamasaki, who came to Nakanishi's house regularly to do housework, finished shopping When I came back, I found the body and the fainted eldest daughter. Immediately contact the head of household, Nakashi Tatsuhiko. Nakashi Tatsuhiko returned home at around 3:30 in the afternoon, and he immediately reported the case to the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Station.”

After saying this in one breath, Makiko Kugimiya looked at me as if asking if I had any questions. "I know everything so far." "Well, do you know anything else than what I just said?" I thought for a while before opening my mouth. "I also heard that the fainted Akiba was unknowingly carried back to the bed in his dormitory, Miss Honjo's purse was stolen, and the French windows were left open──that's about all." Kugimiya Makiko nodded as if to say yes. "It was determined that the possibility of robbery killing was very high. The Kanagawa Police Station and the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Station immediately launched a search, but the search operation quickly hit the rocks because no clues could be found."

It seems that the topic has finally entered the core.I swallowed. "Although a large-scale search was carried out to inquire about the news, there were no sightings of suspected criminals. Do you understand? Not at all. This kind of situation is actually very rare. Usually, one or two sightings are taken for granted. It’s not that there were no people around the scene. For example, on the side of the road about 50 meters away from the house, there were three nearby housewives living in the east and west. They witnessed several people, but they were all them. The fact that one of them knew people, of course, is not enough to prove that those people are not suspected, so the police also checked the alibi of those people. As a result, all the alibi were confirmed."

"Perhaps the prisoner was hiding from the housewife's eyes? There are many winding alleys in that area, so it shouldn't be a problem to make any detours." Makiko Kugimiya's glasses flashed coldly. "Let me ask you, have you ever walked around there well?" "No, that's not true." "If you walk through it, you will understand that the road is a dead end. Therefore, even if the prisoner turns into a certain alley as you said, he will eventually return to the same road. The place where housewives stand is those alleys meeting point." When I recalled the surrounding roads of Naka Nishi's house, it may be as Makiko Kugimiya said.

"However, the prisoner may not necessarily walk in a proper manner! He is a rat who invades the house, so it may not necessarily be through the courtyard of another house when he escapes." "That possibility is not completely impossible, but it's hard to imagine." "Is it hard to imagine?" "If you don't believe me, think about it from the standpoint of a prisoner. If you want to escape safely, it's better to pretend to be an ordinary passer-by as soon as possible. If you were found wandering around in other people's yards, wouldn't it be impossible for you to argue?"

Although I thought it might be true what she said, I kept silent.I drank beer, but my mouth was full of bitterness. "Let's talk about what the prisoner left behind." Makiko Kugimiya said. "You mean knives? I've heard they're ubiquitous." "It's a knife for ordinary households, or it's called a western kitchen knife. It's 14 centimeters long and worth about 10,000 won. It's sold in department stores all over the country." "Did you find out where you bought it from?" Kugimiya Makiko shook her head. It's really unreasonable that "kitchen knives and pocket knives are not included in the control objects of the gun and knife law (Note: the abbreviation of "Law for the Prohibition of Guns, Swords, etc."). However, if I have to go through various procedures when buying a knife myself, I It will definitely be very popular. Leaving aside that, the problem I want to emphasize is not the knife itself, but the fingerprints that should be on the knife. Regarding fingerprints, have you heard anything from Ms. Akiba?"

"I'm not sure……" "Fingerprints wiped off." "So there's no clue about that either?" "Yes. But there is one thing that puzzles the police." "What's up?" "Why didn't the prisoner wear gloves?" I was shocked, and immediately understood what she meant. "The same signs of rubbed fingerprints are found everywhere in the room, and on the French windows. However, whether it is theft or robbery, it is said that the criminal usually wears gloves to commit the crime." "There are always exceptions, right?" "Of course there are exceptions. If it is not a premeditated crime, but a sudden impulse, in other words, a temporary break-in, it is said that most of them will not wear gloves." "In that case, there shouldn't be anything worth mentioning, right?" Unexpectedly, she leaned forward slightly and stared fixedly at my face. "You mean that the crime was not premeditated, but improvised?" "probably!" "Then why is the prisoner carrying a knife? The knife doesn't belong to the Nakanishi family." I was dumbfounded at the moment, I deeply felt that this woman had really been chasing and investigating this case for fifteen years. "Otherwise, it may be a certain degree of premeditation, so I prepared a knife, but did not wear gloves. Maybe the reason is as simple as that." "I prepared a knife but forgot to wear gloves? This prisoner must be too careless!" "Everyone will be careless sometimes!" Careless, she said, tilting her head. "Even if that's the case, then why do you think the prisoner took a fancy to that house? There are other rich mansions nearby, and some of them are completely unoccupied during the day." "Perhaps Madam... Ms. Taeko Hamasaki happened to be seen by the prisoner when she went out. So the prisoner thought that there was no one in the house, so he broke into the empty door temporarily." "Do you think there is no one at home when you only see one person going out?" "Perhaps that's what the prisoner thinks." Makiko Kugimiya shook her head twice. "It's impossible for that kind of thing to happen. The prisoner should know that the Zhongxi family was not just playing empty tricks." "why?" "Let me ask you, you should have listened to my narration just now, right? Then, you shouldn't ask this kind of question. Who was in the room at that time?" "Miss Reiko Honjo and Akiba." "What was Miss Akiba doing at that time?" "On the second floor──" When I said this, I suddenly held my breath. Seeing my reaction, Makiko Kugimiya nodded in satisfaction. "Yes, she is practicing the clarinet, and everyone nearby can hear the sound of the flute. In other words, it is impossible for the prisoner standing outside the house not to hear it, but the premise is that if there is a so-called prisoner." I grip my beer glass tightly. "The sound of the clarinet came from the second floor, so the prisoner may have judged that no one was there on the first floor. If the prisoner already knew the family structure of Nakanishi's family, this possibility cannot be ruled out. Conversely, it means that , the prisoner may have judged that the stealing may be done at leisure during the clarinet playing." What I said made Makiko Kugimiya smile, an expression that could be called a wry smile. "You are quite smart." "Is this sarcasm?" "I'm telling the truth. If you were an ordinary person, you would never be able to think of such an inference for a while. Maybe it also shows how much you love Ms. Akiba." It seemed silly to affirm what she said, but there was no reason to deny it, so I kept silent. "Why do you think the prisoner invaded through the floor-to-ceiling windows?" Makiko Kugimiya raised a new question. "Probably because the entrance door is locked." "It just so happened that the floor-to-ceiling windows were unlocked, so did you break in from there?" "Isn't it?" "How does the prisoner know that the French windows are not locked? The house is surrounded by high walls, and the French windows facing the courtyard cannot be seen from the outside." "So that's... Maybe the prisoner looked around for a place to break into, and he finally found it." "The prisoner's luck is very good." I didn't know how to refute Makiko Kugimiya's sarcasm, so I could only drink beer in silence. "If the statements so far are organized like this: the prisoner went to that residential area intending to find a house to steal things. At the same time, the prisoner also prepared a knife, but did not expect to wear gloves. The prisoner was looking for which house to choose. Finally came to Nakanishi's house. At this time, the prisoner found that Ms. Hamasaki Taeko was out, and the prisoner who knew the members of Nakanishi's house from before decided to invade. The sound of clarinets came from the second floor, so it was judged that the eldest daughter of the family was on the second floor. There should be no one on the first floor, so the prisoner went through the gate and walked around to the yard. Fortunately, one of the French windows was unlocked. So the prisoner entered the house from there. When the prisoner was looking for something to steal, he was caught by Reiko Honjo , So he killed her with a knife. The prisoner wiped off the fingerprints on the handle of the knife and the place where he touched it, then snatched Reiko Honjo's purse, and then went out through the French window and left the house. But the prisoner saw several housewives Standing at the junction of the roads, I fled across the courtyard of another house──” After finishing speaking in one breath, "Do you have anything to say?" She asked me. "No, I don't have anything in particular to say. Although some things are indeed unnatural, human actions are not so logical, right? Especially the behavior of criminals, even if measured by common sense, it may not make much sense." My answer made Makiko Kugimiya smile slightly, her expression was unpredictable. "The offender's behavior is unnatural, so let's not pursue it for the time being. So, what about the victim?" "Miss Reiko Honjo, is there any unnatural behavior?" "She was stabbed in the chest, right? And from the front." My heart skipped a beat.I hadn't given much thought to this before. "It seems that you have understood what I want to say. If a stranger appeared in the room, how would a young woman react? Of course she would scream and run away? But she didn't scream, no one heard that This kind of voice, even if she didn't have time to scream, she should try to escape. But she was stabbed, not from behind but from the front, and she was killed with a single knife! What do you think of this?" "The prisoner is an acquaintance...is that so?" "This is the only possibility. It is an acquaintance who can make Reiko Honjo defenseless even if he is face to face and close enough to be stabbed. But if such a person is impossible to intrude through the French windows, just press the intercom and go through the entrance door. Just go in openly. On the other hand, if you break in through the French windows, even the most familiar acquaintances, Reiko Honjo will be surprised and raise your guard." But—she said again: "The prisoner didn't enter through the entrance door, and he didn't press the intercom, because someone testified that he didn't hear the intercom. Do you know who that person is?" "Autumn leaves, is it?" "Yes." Makiko Kugimiya nodded. "I think it was her mistake to make this kind of testimony. In short, based on this testimony, the police have greatly narrowed the scope of the prisoner's investigation. In short, the prisoner is a person who suddenly appeared in the house even if he didn't go through the entrance. Reiko Honjo And unsuspecting characters." "So that should be someone from Zhongxi's family..." "To be precise, it's Nakanishi and his daughter and Hamasaki Taeko, but who has the chance to be alone with Honjo Reiko?" I bit my lip and looked at the wine glass I had been holding in my hand.There's a third of the beer left, but I don't feel like drinking it anymore.I let go of the glass and clasped my fingers on the table. "That seems to be called QED (Note: Quod Erat Demonstrandum, Latin for "the above is proved", usually written at the end of the mathematical formula proof.) Is it? It is said that it is a sign when the mystery is finally solved. I have no intention of calling myself a detective. But you should understand why I judged that Nakashi Akiba is the real murderer, right? As long as she is assumed to be the criminal, all the questions I raised before can be easily solved. Well, if you want to refute, just say it now Listen!" I scratched the top of my right eyebrow, and of course I couldn't come up with any good ideas even if I did so, so I decided to say the only thought that came to mind at the moment. "That's just the so-called situational evidence. I understand why you doubted her, but it just means that it can meet the situation at the scene. Although the basis for your conclusion that the prisoner is an acquaintance is convincing, the possibility of not being an acquaintance cannot be completely confirmed. exclude." "You're right." Makiko Kugimiya readily agreed. "So the police are helpless. The only thing that can be regarded as physical evidence is the knife, but Ms. Akiba can't connect with the knife. If a high school girl buys that kind of thing, it should leave a pretty strong impression, but the police can't find the one who sold it. A shop of knives. So it seems that fifteen years are about to pass.” "The statute of limitations will come soon...isn't it?" "But I won't give up." After finishing speaking, she inadvertently showed her eyes looking into the distance. "Before my sister was alive, she almost never mentioned to me about her and Nakashi Dayan. I don't even know when they developed that relationship, but I know she is very distressed. The abnormal love has just divorced. The other party's The ex-wife committed suicide, so it is natural that she would be distressed, and she also has a daughter. How should I get along with that daughter? I think she was probably very distressed, but things turned out like this..." She pursed her lips as if trying to hold back something, and then looked at me with strong eyes again. "I will never give up, I will pursue the truth until the very end!" "That's why you went to 'Butterfly's Nest'..." "Because they are the only ones who know the truth. I went to that store to continue talking about that case, and I wanted to continue to ask about what happened at that time. Taeko Hamasaki could not refuse, because I am a relative of the victim, and I have the right to ask her for information. Intelligence, through repetition like this, as long as any small flaw can be found, the truth can be traced.” Makiko Kugimiya took out her wallet and put the beer money on the table. "You should also know the truth, but even if I don't say such things, you must be eager to know, right? Because of this, I will tell everything. If it is you, maybe you can unlock the sealed thing." "What is the sealed thing?" "Miss Akiba's heart! Needless to say?" She stood up and walked to the door. I didn't have the strength to stand up, so I could only silently stare at her leaving back.