Chapter 13 third quarter

The murderer was undoubtedly familiar with the situation of the Ikuta family. He knew that Soemon's wife was bedridden with lung disease, and that the Ichinosuke and his wife would give up everything and rush to the family when they heard the notification from the family.The servants of the family are often changed, which is also known to him. What convinced the Ichinosuke and his wife was that there was a swallowtail butterfly's family crest in the circle on the lantern.Now that it is known that this is the Ikuta family's family crest, it means that it is unlikely to be a foreigner.It can be said that when the couple saw the family's pattern, they believed it was sent by the family.The murderer must have seen this as well.

It can also be seen that the murderer has a plan, such as calling out Shinosuke and Minako at different times.If the couple are together, they may be resisted by the two, or when attacking the city, Minako may call for help or run away.It is the murderer's brilliance to kill the couple one by one at a time interval. Since both of them died, the police could not correctly judge what words the visitor used to lure Ichinosuke out.However, we can get a rough idea from what Minako told Ah Fang. Those who saw the murderer were neighbor Afang and five-year-old Yukiyo.Yukiyo is still too young, and the only one who can describe the murderer is Fang.

He wore a cloak and a deep hood.Standing still like that, it seems to be avoiding the sparks of the lantern in his hand.It's a dark night with snowflakes.Ah Fang didn't see the man's face. The man's voice was low, as if deliberately suppressed.It can also be seen as deliberately covering up the original voice.Talked very little.He looked like he was watching someone from a dark place. The murderer has been trying to trick Yukiyo out as well.Yukiyo was spared only because Ah Fang strongly argued that it would make the cold worse.Otherwise the child must have been murdered along with his parents.

The murderer seems to have not spared his five-year-old daughter.His attempt seems to be to kill all of Ikuta Ichinosuke's family.Nothing was stolen.The police began their investigation in the direction of a vendetta. At first, it was thought that the case would be declared solved soon.No physical evidence was left and the murder weapon was never recovered.Three days of fishing in the icy T River were all in vain.However, there are quite a few clues left by the murderer. For example: The murderer exposed the fact that he was very familiar with the inside information of the Ikuta family, including the main family and the branch family.Not a bum from outside.According to Ah Fang, he was always wearing a turban and his face was hidden from the flames of the lanterns, which meant that he was known to people nearby.About five feet six inches tall.This is 1.70 meters, which belongs to tall stature.

There is also a small prop - lantern.Not ordinary, but with the Ikuta family crest.In the circle is the swallowtail butterfly, which is only found in the Ikuta family here.If the murder weapon was an iron rod for digging yams, then that too was something special.Not every household has it. It's inconceivable that such a case would fall into a maze. The County Police Department also sent people over to help investigate the case.There are three ways: one is to find the source of the lantern, the other is to find the whereabouts of the iron rod, and the third is to inquire about people who know the inside story of the Ikuta family and hold hatred for the Ichinosuke couple.

The family pattern of the swallowtail butterfly in the circle is only used by Ikuta's family in this area, and it is shared by the main family and the separate families.But only the main family and two branch families have lanterns with this kind of family crest.After investigation, there are five lanterns of this kind in the family, all of which are still there.And there is no trace of being used that night. All five were covered with a layer of dust. The two branches are in different villages, and their lanterns are also stored in warehouses, and there are no traces of recent use, with white dust on the lids and handles.

So there is a speculation: did the murderer who is familiar with the situation order the lantern in advance?They investigated the lantern merchants in T Town and the county.It turned out to be nothing.There are very few merchants making lanterns in the whole county.I also went to neighboring counties to check, and there was no lantern merchant with a circle and swallowtail pattern.At this point, the clue of the lantern was interrupted. The second is the iron rod for digging yams. F Village is located in the southern part of the county where the mountainous area connects to the plains. People in the village often go to dig yams and sell them after autumn.This is true not only for this village, but also for several neighboring villages.In other words, in several nearby villages, digging yams is a common thing, so almost every three farms have a pair of such iron rods. There are about 30 households in F Village, 20 households in East Village, and 25 households in West Village.

However, this is just speculation by the police.I am speculating here because there may be other families with iron rods.This is because the matter sounds extremely difficult.It turned out that the villagers were reluctant to tell the investigators which family owned the iron rod. As long as they can find out, the police will go to investigate.When those farmers were questioned by the police, they reluctantly took out the iron rods from the hut behind the house.One end is tapered like a pencil, and the point is ground.According to the investigation by the criminal police, most of the pointed ends are covered with mud, and no bloodstains can be seen.After testing, no blood stain reaction was found.

The victim's neighbor, A Fang, also testified that the man who came to pick up the Ichinosuke and his wife was a man wearing a headscarf and a cloak.And the unanimous opinion of the villagers is that no one in the village has such a cloak. The police investigation was extremely difficult.Since the search was focused on vendetta at the beginning, I tried my best to filter out the interaction between Ikuta Ichinosuke and Minako.There is completeness between the couple.Minako's natal family is in a neighboring county. Ten years ago, she got married through a blind date through a matchmaker.She had never dated any other men before marriage, and she was gentle and diligent.She has a fair complexion, which can be considered beautiful, and she has never heard of any cheating behavior in the village.

Shinosuke is also a hardworking person.He faithfully guards the ancestral one-acre Xu Tian, ​​and gets along well with his neighbors.I like to drink a few glasses of wine, but I never drink too much, and my relationship with the opposite sex is also innocent.In addition to the farmland and housing, the farmer's association also has a deposit of 1.5 million yuan.no debt.He is very gentle, and he has never fought with anyone, so it is impossible to complain. In short, the police were unable to discover any cause that would have caused the couple to suffer a tragic fate together.It can be said that they are ordinary and ordinary farmers.

The police focused most on the relationship between the Ikuta family and the Ichinosuke branch.In the countryside, the main family and the branch family are blood relatives, and there may be internal disputes that others cannot see.Such examples are very common in the world. However, the head of the family, Soemon, has three heirs, all of whom are married.The eldest son of the future Chengyou is already forty years old.Although Zongemon has a lot of capital, but since the heir has been determined, it is impossible for the separated family to rob the family's property.The branches also get along well with each other.Even if the main family was a problem in this case, at best it was used by the mysterious man as an excuse to call out the Ichinosuke couple, and had nothing to do with the case itself. However, how much truth is there in the circumstances of the Ichinosuke and his wife that the police searched?The villagers were tight-lipped about the investigators' inquiries.You should even be familiar with the police officers stationed in the village. The case-handling center said that the families in the village had limited knowledge.Things related to the villagers usually become rumors, but there is no unpleasant ups and downs in this village.The police stationed in this village also said that every time they investigate something, they will encounter this kind of wall from the villagers. The villagers are all zealous believers. It turns out that Kaga and Echizen have become strong "always disciples" since the founding ancestor Shinran visited tin.This sense of solidarity from religious beliefs, or the sense of community of destiny, seems to dominate the villages in this area until now. On the day of the incident, Shinosuke was picking wheat in the garden until evening.His wife Minako has been staying at home because her child Yukiyo has a cold.At four o'clock in the afternoon, Ichinosuke went to Tokurenji Temple to attend the final meeting of the Bounty Lecture.Dinner is invited by the temple.The dinner party was a total of seven representatives of believers.The temple side was received by the abbot Nogami Huihai and the hospital representative Shinonen. Hui Hai is fifty years old this year.I have been the abbot of this temple for more than ten years.Yuandai Zhendian has only been here for about three years.There are also two young monks.The abbot is unmarried, so whenever there is such a thing, the women in the village go to the temple to help.There were also five or six women in the kitchen on this day, but Minako did not attend because her child had a cold. The monastery attaches great importance to the representatives of the believers, so a lot of dishes were cooked on this day, and the abbot and the representative of the hospital were even more hospitable.Both were drunk.It was eight o'clock after the banquet, and Ichinosuke went home immediately.All this, no matter how clear the investigation is, will not help the case. The police, who thought they could easily solve the case, finally failed to grasp any clues and fell into a maze.The search center established in the department had to be abolished after fifty days of desperate efforts.

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