Chapter 61 Section ten

On February 20th, it was all over. Saga's memo is still well hidden in the letter.The evidence was conclusive, and Onodera took Mizuno to the nearest police station to record a statement on suspicion of fraud.Kato and Fujimura were also taken to the police station in their jurisdiction. The people were all killed by Mizuno. Kato and Fujimura are surprisingly fragile.Once they learned that the authenticity of the painting collection had been found out, the two immediately blamed Mizuno for all their crimes, strongly advocating that they only acted according to Mizuno's orders and did not know that the painting collection was fake.

After all, Mizuno would not plead guilty immediately, until Onodera told him that his handwriting was identified from the passenger list of the plane, and Mizuno confessed to his fate. Once he opened his mouth, everything was revealed by Mizuno like an avalanche. Sure enough, as Onodera thought, Saga Hou was killed in Mizuno's office.Mizuno prepared a bath barrel filled with seawater near Cape Kitayama many days in advance, and then drowned Saga in it. Just three days after the detention, Mizuno was formally arrested on suspicion of murder. In the warehouse of the Fujimura shop in Sendai, there are nearly 50 pieces of works signed and signed by Chang Rong.Each piece is wrapped in wax paper and carefully sealed.Just as the Guofu thought, if there is no Qingqin's picture album to disrupt the situation, these works will be put on hold for at least three years.

Among them are works titled Dongzhouzhai Shuile.This "wax painting lion" signed by Sailet was regarded as a symbol of the event, and it occupied a large page in newspapers and magazines published later. This picture of a "wax painting lion" whose author is unknown will probably remain in the memory of many people in the future. Everything is settled. "The technique is really clever." Onodera and Tsuda, who saw him off all the way to Ueno Station, sat opposite each other in the underground coffee shop. "About a week before the incident, Mr. Saga's apartment received threatening calls from Fujimura and Kato one after another—and hinted that he would kill him. Mr. Saga seems to have committed a neurosis, and the memo was handed over to Mr. Kokufu probably because he was threatened. Then Mizuno appeared on the stage, and although he said that Mr. Saga would not be in danger of his life, he suggested that it is best to move to a safe place just in case."

"What do you mean by a safe place?" "Mizuno also serves as a warehouse office. No one will go there, is it safe? It is convenient for him to kill people." Onodera clenched his fists, "The office is actually an apartment, which can be used for bathing or staying overnight. It is indeed suitable for Mr. Saga to hide temporarily. Mr. Saga moved in on the night of the 8th with peace of mind, and of course he also brought a change of clothes and toiletries." Tsuda remained silent. "Mizuno assured Mr. Saga that he will have a good talk with Kato and Fujimura who are in the northeast during his evacuation period. However, there is no guarantee that the conversation will go smoothly, so don't be careless. It is Mizuno's office anyway. The two also knew the phone number and address. So Mizuno emphasized that, just in case, they must not go out or make phone calls in the near future."

"Hey, Mr. Saga must believe it now." "In another place, even Mr. Saga would think that Mizuno is too worrying. After the confession was made, Mizuno set off for Hachinohe in the early morning of the 9th on the grounds of negotiating with those two people." "So that's the case, so Mr. Saga just honestly..." "Honestly waiting to be killed. It's devoid of conscience. Listening to that guy's confession, I really want to beat him up. In a word, Mr. Saga completely trusts Mizuno blindly, and he really doesn't go anywhere to wait for him Come back. In the afternoon, Mizuno finally came back, still carrying two servings of Xiaobai sushi in his hand. Mr. Saga, who hadn’t eaten anything since morning, naturally picked up his chopsticks without hesitation. During the meal, Mizuno began to ask questions I carefully confirmed Mr. Saga's actions that day - did he go out, did anyone visit, did he make a phone call... After all, this is a person who shouldn't be in Tokyo, and if he makes any omissions, everything will be lost. Mizuno is in this regard It’s very insightful, I heard that he intends to choose another time to attack as soon as there is a flaw.”

Mizuno's cautiousness surprised Tsuda. "Confirming that there is no suspicion, Mizuno said that he would talk to Fujimura who came to Tokyo, and went out again. Mr. Saga was shocked when he learned that Fujimura came to Tokyo. His reaction was also calculated by Mizuno. This will ensure that he stays still for several hours, so that Mizuno can go to the Fuchu Library. Then, as we expected, Mizuno made an alibi and rushed back to the office, this time to kill Mr. Saga... Such a burly and powerful man, it must be easy to push the weak Mr. Saga into the bathroom and drown him."

"In other words, Senior Guofu is indeed with Mr. Saga's corpse..." Onodera wiped off his sweat and nodded repeatedly. "Mr. Kofu, no matter what, it is impossible to think that Mr. Saga is in the trunk. This way, Mizuno has a perfect alibi. After arriving at the villa, Mizuno and Mr. Kofu 'split' to check the room. This is the first time for Mr. Kofu , I don’t understand the internal structure at all. Mizuno used this time to put away his luggage and put the empty box of Xiaobai Sushi on the table, waiting for Mr. Kofu to find out. This man’s heart is really bad.”

"Indeed, the seniors of the national government will believe it." "The corpse was abandoned later. He led Mr. Kofu, and pretended to go to Kitayama Cape to search. After splitting up, Mizuno confirmed that Kofu moved towards the restaurant first, then returned to the parking lot, and dragged out the body from the trunk... The night was thrown into the sea." "Did no one hear the suspicious noise?" "There was a strong wind that night, and it was the perfect weather for throwing the corpse. Mizuno also said that it was too dark, and he couldn't confirm whether the corpse had sunk or not, which made him very worried."

"Mizuno was also responsible for Mr. Nishijima's accident?" "That's right, he confessed everything. He said that although he had no intention of killing someone, he did not deny that he had murderous intentions. By the way, Mr. Tsuda confirmed everything. He really witnessed Mr. Guofu going to Nishijima's house that night. Visiting. Why did the man who was expelled come to the door? Mizuno was wondering, so he hid under the window of the study and eavesdropped on the conversation between the two. Hearing Mr. Kofu say that the painting album was forged, Mizuno thought everything was over. But Mr. Kofu just He simply saw through the loopholes in offset printing, and didn't realize the existence of Mizuno's group. Now he felt at ease, and set fire after the night was quiet as planned. Mizuno seemed to have never dreamed that Nishijima was sleeping in the study, but even if he slept In other rooms, it is still possible that there is no time to escape. So we think Mizuno actually has the intention to kill."

Tsuda nodded silently. "Since then, Mr. Kokufu's every move has been locked by Mizuno. Although the evidence has been burned, Mr. Kokufu is still a dangerous person to them. When Mr. Saga's memo was stuffed into Mizuno's mailbox, he immediately understood This is the work of Mr. Kofu, so it is better to keep it quiet. In addition to the art postcard, Mizuno expected that Mr. Kofu would go to the Fujimura store, so he rushed to Sendai first. Sure enough, as analyzed before, in In Sendai, it was Mr. Kofu who was followed by Mizuno. Mizuno believed that Mr. Kofu acted alone and drove into people with his car. Mr. Kofu must have never thought that he would be preempted by the other party, and he had no precautions at all."

Onodera couldn't help trembling. "If Mr. Kofu hadn't found out the existence of Fujimura along the art postcards, maybe he wouldn't have been killed. According to Mizuno, it was from then on that they began to worry whether Mr. Kofu would grasp the truth... Speaking of which An art postcard is not in Mr. Saga's plan." "Is it Mizuno's idea?" "No, it seems to be Fujimura's idea. Mizuno regretted it very much. He said that Fujimura suggested adding old things inadvertently to the picture book, so as to show the sense of age. That insignificant gadget turned out to be fatal. It's ironic..." Tsuda couldn't answer. (It has also become a fatal wound to senior Guofu... It's all because I asked him to investigate.) Tsuda sinks into self-blame. "If Mr. Guofu can slow down, at least wait until Sotheby's discovers the authenticity of the so-called Shale... Maybe he won't make the stupid choice of going it alone, it's just a day's difference. If it can be done at night then One day, even Mr. Guofu will give up the investigation and choose to discuss countermeasures with you and me." "But the albums are all burned...Senior will never release Mr. Saga's memo to the public." "Oh, I don't know much about this...By the way, what kind of trap did Mr. Saga really set in the art book?" "The copies are almost torn by me. There is nothing suspicious at all. Sure enough, it is only the offset printing problem discovered by the seniors." "Is that so... But it doesn't make sense. If there is only a flaw in the printing method, once the album is out of hand, Mr. Saga's words can't be proven, and it can't be seen from newspapers and magazines. Could it be that he has some secret means to guarantee that Xi Shima took out the painting album?" "God knows." Indeed, as Onodera said, according to the current incompatible relationship between the two, it is impossible for Nishijima to give the painting collection to Saga no matter how he thinks about it. "Is there a more direct flaw? Since Mr. Saga can talk to death, it should be some kind of evidence that is clear at a glance without the original." "Well, I think so too." "The trap he mentioned must mean something else." Onodera asserted, "But Mr. Kofu and Mr. Tsuda don't understand it, and I guess no one can figure it out. Mr. Saga is really a powerful person. His brain is so good that he can't simply use cleverness. To describe..." Tsuda also felt the same way. (It's an obsession. The obsession with the teacher gave birth to that painting album...) Tsuda suddenly felt lonely.If Saga and Nishijima were not in the two opposing associations of the ukiyo-e world, the two should be able to work together as friends to conduct the same research, and this incident would not have happened.However, after the incident was exposed, this antagonism did not need to rise, and it became more and more deeply rooted in the soil of Ukiyo-e. For Tsuda, who has already made up his mind to leave Ukiyo-e, this is the only thing that makes him uneasy.No one can guarantee that this kind of confrontation will not reproduce evil results.In this sense, the incident is not resolved.The confrontation between the two associations does not know how long it will last, and Tsuda is terrified by the heavy premonition. Yoshimura lost his foothold due to the impact of the incident, the university's research institute was closed, Iwakoshi also returned to his hometown, and Nishijima students scattered their things. (In the end, Mr. Saga's wish was fulfilled...he was the winner.) Saga's triumphant laughter seemed to be heard in his ears, Tsuda looked around, and the noise of passengers suddenly amplified. Onodera looked at Tsuda and said with a smile, "What are you thinking about?" "This Akita Lanhua talk——" Onodera suddenly changed the subject, "It took me several days to finish reading Mr. Tsuda's paper. Mr. Kofu is right, and your discovery should be correct. Although I don't know painting, but According to the idea of ​​​​criminal investigation, the same conclusion can be drawn. It is a pity that there is no evidence, but your hypothesis is absolutely correct. This is what, the detective's intuition. I plan to say to everyone in the future, "Sile is in Akita Ranhua Among the illustrators'...the perfect evidence will be found one day. So please don't give up ukiyo-e, and continue to study in the future." Onodera sincerely persuaded him to stay.A warm feeling welled up in Tsuda's chest. "Thanks to you, even I fell in love with ukiyo-e. I'm still a rookie who has just started learning, and I can almost tell the difference between song and music." Onodera shook his body and laughed.This smiling face brought warmth to Tsuda for the first time after the incident. The two couldn't stop laughing.