Chapter 32 Ah Zheng's defense
My heart is heavy.
I worked at Hasumi Detective Agency for four years, and before that, I worked as a police dog for five years.I have seen a lot of absurd things caused by human beings, and there is probably nothing that can make me make a fuss; in fact, every time I solve an incident, I am no longer depressed (my partner, Kayo, is still young after all, and sometimes Affected by the incident, she got into a dead end. But in the near future, she will become as open-minded as me. As for whether this is good or bad for her, it's another matter...).
However, this case is a bit...
Introduced late.My name is Ah Zheng, and I am the bodyguard dog of Hasumi Detective Agency.I'm a German shepherd with a white star on my forehead and a gentle personality (sorry to introduce myself that way).Human beings don't often say "the older you get, the more mellow your personality becomes".On that account, I've become a smoother dog as I've grown older.
Having said that, about this matter, Kayo and I decided to keep silent, not just out of sentimentality, because even if we deliberately reported it, it would have passed the statute of limitations.Even if it is made public, more people will only be harmed, and no one will benefit.
We also consider that withholding the truth seems to be for the sake of the future.
This matter is really hard to explain...
As usual, the case started from the moment I was commissioned to investigate.
The name of the client was Miyuki Miyabe, and she was a novelist by profession—it was said that she wrote mystery novels.Of course I don't need to say it, but among the employees of Xiaokayo and Hasumi Office, no one has heard her name, so the other party should not be some great writer.After reading the author introduction on the book I brought instead of my business card, the director said, "Oh, I'm still a newcomer."
In a word, it is a writer who does not sell well.
Obviously not unknown, but he said "I was sleeping in the morning..." Such big words from famous writers.Kayo and I strictly kept our agreement at two o'clock in the afternoon and went to her small studio.
She is 30 years old this year, five years older than Kayo, but she gives the impression that she can't calm down.With a baby face, I can bet that this type of human female will often turn into an old woman overnight when the time comes.
Seeing Kayo bringing me over, she showed an exaggerated surprised expression.Kayo explained to her:
"We have studied the content of the entrustment, and think that it is better to start tracking tonight, maybe we can clarify the doubts in one night. You will feel more at ease if you solve it earlier, won't you?"
"Do you want to follow this dog together?" Miss Miyabe asked.
"Yes. Ah Zheng used to be a police dog. Ah Zheng can keenly detect the sounds and smells that I can't hear."
"Hey!" Miss Miyabe said. "Is it really okay? This dog looks very old, and it's very pitiful to ask him to work."
I want you to mind your own business!I hate this hypocritical animalism statement the most.I really can't like this client!
Speaking of it, her commission itself is ridiculous, if it is another detective agency, it will not be taken seriously at all.
She said that whenever she was working late at night, there was always the sound of people walking by in slippers in the passage outside.
"What? Slippers?"
The first time I heard the story of the incident from the writer lady who visited Hasumi Office, Kayo-san reacted like this.How else to respond?
"Did you mean the house slippers?"
"Yes. Here, they are slippers like sandals."
"Well, I know. I wore them when I was a kid."
"I wore beep beep slippers when I was a child."
"Oh, those beeping shoes? I wear them too."
Little Kayo!Now is not the time to talk about slippers!I let out a low growl of warning from the back of my throat.
At this time, I inadvertently noticed that our reasoning female writer has very small feet, and she must be wearing bu-pi-pi slippers even now.
"So, are you afraid of people in slippers approaching the studio?"
"It's not enough to be afraid..."
"Feeling hairy?"
"Probably." The client nodded and lit a cigarette.This Miss Writer actually still smokes!
"After two o'clock in the morning every night, the sound of footsteps will appear, gradually approaching here, so—"
It is said that the footsteps will always stop at the window of her studio.
"It's been going on for more than ten days."
"Have you looked through the window?"
"Yes. But..."
"But?"
"No one. That's not surprising, because it's a passage, but it's just a gap between houses. The width is only wide enough for one person to barely pass through, but you can hear the sound of slippers... I always feel that the sound seems to be welcoming mine."
Hey, hey, come on, it's not the plot of "Peony Lantern".I was dumbfounded.Kayo seems to be planning to do business, and agreed with her: "We will visit the house once to see the situation."
In this way, we came to Ms. Miyabe's studio.
While it was still dark, we took a walk around the studio.
This is a corner of an ordinary town.Among the rental houses, there are several small factories, mostly sheet metal factories and printing factories.There are tofu shops and dry goods stores selling soy sauce and cooking oil in one-liter bottles (one liter = 1.8 liters), and two bathhouse chimneys.The function of the house does not seem to be bad, but if you live in this kind of small town all the time, Ms. Miyabe will not be able to write a gorgeous masterpiece with all her energy.
As for her studio, it is just a small door that can be directly entered and exited in the innermost part of her wooden house. The sunlight and ventilation can only be described as "terrible".According to the family members who live with her, she likes to stay there herself, and it is definitely not that everyone has united to abuse this useless daughter.However, this kind of thing doesn't matter at all.
This room is located in the northwest corner of the house, and there is an L-shaped passage outside the window.This passage is also the dividing line with the neighbors, and the windows of the neighbor's toilet and bathroom are open facing the passage.
The neighbor's house is the opposite of Ms. Miyabe's house. It is a newly completed and fashionable house.Located in this mediocre town, it is as eye-catching as a swimsuit model who suddenly broke into the bathhouse.This house looks elegant, and it seems to be very comfortable to live in. Unfortunately, the surrounding houses are row upon row, and the ventilation seems to be poor.After all, the only place where the wind can be ventilated is the L-shaped passage between the house next door and the Miyabe house.
At the same time, this is also the passage that the owner of the "slipper" will pass through.
Who is so bored to walk through such a narrow passage after two o'clock in the morning?
"I think it may be that there are things hitting each other nearby, making a sound like slippers." Xiao Jiadai said to the director in the office. "The sound appeared after the rain every night, which is a key point. Something happened at this time."
Before coming here, Kayo conducted several investigations in advance and obtained information about the neighbors.The male owner runs the restaurant and doesn't come home until late at night.
Isn't that what it is?The host next door returns home late at night, and the noises made during supper and bathing become strange footsteps to the ears of the paranoid writer—this is very likely.
In addition, the male owner next door lived apart from his family for a period of time after the completion of the house due to work. To be precise, he only lived in this new house with his family 12 days ago.
From this point of view, it is also consistent with Ms. Miyabe's statement that the footsteps of "slippers" started "about ten days ago".
But, why is it "slippers"?
That night, Kayo and I parked the car outside Miss Miyabe's studio and waited in the car for the early morning rain.
It was an ordinary, peaceful night.At 1:30 in the morning, the male owner next door drove home, reversed the car into the garage with skillful movements, and disappeared at home; other than that, there was no movement.
Xiao Jiadai explained to Ms. Miyabe that if the "slipper sound" Gongsheng approached, he would call the car.At five past two, the phone rang.
"So, has it started? Then, please stay where you are."
After finishing speaking, Kayo got out of the car and tiptoed into the L-shaped passage.Flashlight in hand, sneakers on feet.
I followed closely behind.There was a little light in the window of Ms. Miyabe's studio.Other than that, there were no lit windows nearby.
Then--
Of course, my ears picked up the sound first.
Kazi, Kazi's voice.
Little Kayo should have noticed, she straightened up.
"there."
She turned her head and took two or three steps back, and she was just under the bathroom window of the neighbor's house.The blinds on the window were fully drawn, and Kayo-chan held up the flashlight, and the shower head reflecting silver light could be seen from outside the window.
The shower head is covered with water droplets.Until just now, someone—probably the host who got home at half past one—had just used it.
Kazi, Kazi.
The voice came from the bathroom.I see.
Something was hitting the tiled bathroom wall, something—something made of plastic.
At the same time, I also heard a different type of sound.Judging from the distance, only I should be able to hear it.It sounded like a low-pitched motor running, as well as the sound of wings flapping across the air——
What, it's a ventilation fan!
When I discovered this fact, Ma Da's low growl stopped, and at the same time the sound of squeaks and squeaks also stopped, and Kayo, who was on tiptoe peeping at the bathroom next door, exclaimed "Ah!"
"It's very simple." Xiao Jiadai smiled.
On the third day, Kayo-chan borrowed the object that made the sound of "slippers" from the hostess next door, and showed it to Ms. Miyabe.
It was an old-fashioned thermometer, made of plastic, like a gift from a magazine, and the name of the publisher of reference books aimed at children was printed on the back.
The thermometer is very old.Kayo asked the publishing house, and the other party said that the magazine had sent a set of experimental props called "Experiment Together", and there was indeed a thermometer in it.It is said to be twenty years ago.
The neighbor hung the thermometer on the bathroom wall, right next to the vent vent.
"The male owner next door came home to take a bath or finished taking a shower. As soon as he turned on the fan, the thermometer on the wall would be shaken by the wind and hit the tiles, making a sound."
The house next door is poorly ventilated, and the steam in the bathroom cannot be dissipated only by opening the windows, so a ventilation fan that can be set for 30 minutes is installed.
"The sound always appears at two o'clock in the morning, because the host next door takes a shower around this time every day."
As soon as the ventilation fan stops turning, the sound stops.
"But, that voice seems to be approaching here." Ms. Miyabe seemed unconvinced.
"That's an illusion. It sounds like that if you've been listening intently."
Miss Miyabe didn't say anything, just stared at the old thermometer silently.Soon she asked in a low voice:
"Where did they get such an old thing?"
"I heard that when the house was built, there was not enough soil for the foundation, so I brought some soil and sand from other places. This thermometer was buried in the soil and sand. Although it is old, I heard that the man next door used to play as a gift from this magazine when he was a child. , I feel nostalgic after seeing it, so I wash it and use it.”
After a long silence, Miss Miyabe said, "Can I have this thermometer?"
On the surface, the matter ended here, and it was a trivial matter that could not even be called an incident.
However, I have something to worry about, and Kayo-chan is even more worried.She also seemed to find time to investigate Ms. Miyabe's childhood.
Turns out something happened.
It was told to us by a Miss Tanaka who lived near Miyabe's house twenty years ago.She said that an unknown fire broke out in the town, and one of Miss Tanaka's classmates was burned to death.
"The whole house was burned - even the foundations were scorched. Bulldozers came to the scene after the disaster and dug up the whole thing and didn't know where it was thrown."
The fire was judged to be arson, but the culprit has yet to be found.
"I was very sad at the time, because that classmate and I were very good friends and joined the physics and chemistry club together. In that year, we measured the temperature inside and outside the house at a fixed time in the morning and evening. The experiment was very simple. After all, we were only in the fourth grade of primary school at that time. "
Kayo-chan keeps the inner turmoil from showing.
"What kind of thermometer do you use?"
Ms. Tanaka replied: "It's a gift from the magazine."
Ms. Tanaka readily agreed to Kayo's request and let her see the photos of her classmates who died in the fire.
"This picture was taken during the town assembly."
It was a black and white group photo, and it also captured Miyabe, who was not cute at all when she was a child, in the corner of the crowd.
"Here, my classmate who passed away is this one."
The girl that Ms. Tanaka pointed to was standing right behind Ms. Miyabe.
She wore slippers on her bare feet.
Later, Kayo did one thing.She asked Ms. Miyabe's neighbors to confirm where the soil and sand used to reinforce the foundation when they built the house came from.
The responsible construction company brought the news.We know the answer.
But if it is explained here, it becomes the theory of karma, so I think it’s better to forget it.
Children like to play with fire.This is real.It was just a little prank, but it caused a huge tragedy, and finally fell into endless regret throughout his life.This kind of thing happens to everyone—well, maybe not everyone, but once in a while.
When Kayo and I went to pay homage to the cemetery where the girl who was burned to death was buried, I asked the abbot:
"Has a lady recently come to ask for something?"
The abbot replied yes, and said that the things were packed in a small box, but he didn't open it to see.
"That's not necessary," said the abbot.
"What kind of lady is that?" Kadai asked.
The abbot thought for a while, and replied: "I forgot the appearance... But I remember that when the lady entered the inner hall, she took off her shoes, because the pair of sneakers she took off were so small that they looked like those worn by children." , I was very impressed."
really.
In any case, everything has passed the statute of limitations and cannot be pursued.Kayo and I were helpless.
Ms. Miyabe seems to be working hard now, but she really doesn't look like a hardworking person. It won't be long before she will start to be lazy again.
If so, it is unforgivable.She doesn't have the right to live a fool's day.She can write mystery novels with crime or murder as the theme, probably because (or maybe subconsciously) there is an urge to "want to confess my crime!" In this sense, she is not qualified to be lazy.
It's no atonement if you don't write like hell.Therefore, I will continue to monitor her work status in the future.
So, when she is still working hard—not to mention reviews and sales—at least when she is still serious about the crime of arson and murder, readers, please turn a blind eye to it.That's right, think of it as a kind of probation.
What?Do you want to smile at her meaningfully when you see her?Oh, that's all right.
After all, this is the only thing I can't do by myself.
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