Chapter 4 third quarter

Since it was Asakusa's murder, it was not within Heishiro's jurisdiction, but Hideaki, who was stabbed to the side, was lying dead in the guest room on the second floor of the boathouse "Ibune" in Fukagawa Kamachi. Heishiro couldn't help showing his face. Masagoro, who received the urgent report, also accompanied Heishiro.This is exactly what Hirashiro wanted, he was a temporary back-up with extra manpower, he didn't need to lead the charge to find the murderer, as long as the superiors told him what to do, he would go to the "well boat" first to show his face, and then go around to fish for fish It doesn't matter.Now, while Masagoro's wife is away, I can ask Masagoro carefully——

Helplessly, Masagoro was deeply troubled by the case of Hideaki's murder, so it is inconvenient to talk about the big forehead.He was busy dispatching his subordinates to search for news nearby, and he was also moving around. Now that I think about it carefully, although I can't help but be moved to the present, Masagoro, as Okabiki, was ordered by Mr. Toshin of Fukagawa in our office, and he and Heishiro have no professional involvement, but only a small personal relationship between the two parties.Rather, it's just that Heishiro asked Masagoro for help when he encountered difficulties, and it was completely one-sided friendship.Therefore, regardless of Heishiro's presence or absence, once something happens to Fukagawa, it is Masagoro's responsibility to run around the case, and Heishiro has nothing to do with it.

So Heishiro squatted by the cool water outside the "well boat" alone, pulling out his nose hair.However, when he plucked his nose hairs, the crowd still kept gathering, and the people in the boathouse also made a fuss, eager to spread the word, so Heishiro understood the outline of the matter. Xiuming came to the "well boat" alone about an hour ago.At this time, in addition to the boats that visit Hachiman Shrine, "well boats" also go out for people to enjoy the shade in the evening.But at this time of day, few guests want to use the boat, and most of them are sitting on the second floor, Xiu Ming is no exception.He told the proprietress of the boat house that the person he had appointed would come later and order food and wine at that time.

In broad daylight, if you want to have a tryst with a woman, you usually go to a tryst teahouse instead of a boat house, so the proprietress also thinks that Xiu Ming is probably asking someone to discuss business. Xiuming looks handsome, not inferior to popular actors. Recently, many female guests specially come to Xiangwen Hall just to meet him.Tabloids also published his own portrait under the title of "Beautiful Edo Man", and the portrait is quite similar.But the proprietress of the "well boat" didn't recognize him, and it was his first time visiting the "well boat".

Maybe Xiu Ming deliberately chose not to know him, or maybe the content of his conversation with the date is not suitable for people to know. The owner of Xiangwentang who rushed to the scene said that due to the high praise of Xiuming's talent, shops from all over the place rushed to poach corners and made a lot of noise. There was an endless stream of proposals such as screens. Xiuming himself seems quite willing.Every fashion must go out of fashion, even if it is not like this, fans are originally a seasonal thing, and they have to be closed after summer.Considering this, it is not surprising that he would be tempted by proposals such as kimonos and folding screens.

The boss of Xiangwentang insisted that he had thoughtful plans for Xiuming's future, and promised not to treat Xiuming badly, so there was no conflict between the two parties.Naturally, he couldn't accept all these words, Heishiro thought with his nose hair pulled out. There are a large number of people going in and out of the "well boat" right now, but before the incident, it must have been completely silent. Xiu Ming stayed alone in the upstairs wing room, and the people in the boat house were busy and dozing off—in short, no one would stare at him—this was the rule of the boat house and tryst teahouse.Before the guests clap their hands and call out, the shopkeeper will not go forward and talk about it without knowing the reason.In this way, even if someone avoids people's eyes and ears and goes to the wing where Xiu Ming is, stabs him and then leaves quietly, it is not difficult to think about it.

But this is no layman's approach. Instead of stabbing the chest and cutting the throat, but killing him with a single blow to the side, it is beyond human ability.Not to mention anything else, Xiu Ming who was killed neither made a sound nor struggled.The proprietress would find him lying on the ground in the blood-stained side room, because no one came after an hour, she felt a little strange, so she went to inquire, otherwise no one might have known that Xiu Ming was dead. After all, who is Xiu Ming?Where did he make a living before he settled down in Xiangwentang and painted portrait fans?Painters are not like carpenters and fishmongers everywhere, nor is it an easy industry to make a living.

Well, anyway, these Zheng Goro will check. Heishiro pulled out a nose hair.Ha chirp!Sneezed.At the same time, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared.In Heishiro's case, the flashes of inspiration were more questions than answers. Who came up with the idea of ​​painting a portrait on a white fan? Is it Xiuming?Or did the people in Xiangwentang think of it, so they went to Xiuming, a painter?If the latter, it would be too coincidental.After all, the former is reasonable—it was Xiu Ming who had this idea and was sure of his own ability, so he suggested to Xiang Wentang the business of portrait fans, right?

Heishiro took out the fan from his belt and spread it out in a flash, and on it was the horse face Heishiro drawn by Yumisuke.Gong Zhisuke said while drawing: "Uncle, this kind of thing must have been popular decades ago, and there are not many things that can touch people's hearts. Once a thing becomes popular, it will be completely forgotten after a long time, or someone will rise up again. The idea is, or it is to think of the popular things you have heard about in the past, and stir-fry hot food. There is nothing new under the sun, which is the common sense in the world."

Is this all coming out of your head?Heishiro asked.Yumonosuke replied yes, but Mr. Sasaki also said the same.This Mr. Sasaki is a teacher in his school, and he secretly makes maps that violate the prohibition. It is common sense in the world that things are of a like kind. The small room was covered with bedding, with a large forehead lying flat, and a kettle and cup placed beside the pillow. "Although you lie down, can you talk?" Heishiro strode closer to the pillow, his big forehead was startled, and he struggled to get up.Heishiro sat down and pressed the child's broad forehead with his palm.

"It's fine to lie down. But you, why have you lost such a large circle of weight? Does your head still work?" "Yes, I'm sorry." The voice with the big forehead was as thin as a mosquito. "Looking at you like this, I really should go directly to Maoqi to bother you, but I heard that although the big man is still in good health, his speech is slurred after all. You were the only one who could understand what the big man said a few years ago, so I had no choice but to Came to find you." The big forehead blinked. "May I ask what's the matter, sir?" "You know the portrait fan of Asakusa Shobundo, right? Did the big boss mention that something similar was popular before?" Big Forehead wanted to get up again, but Heishiro stopped him again, but he heard him say "you can't think if you don't sit down", so he helped him up. "Well……" The big forehead and the eyes are close together, forming wrinkles on the forehead, and the black eyes are also close to the bridge of the nose.He clenched his small fist and placed it in front of his chest, looking as if he was about to run away. Big forehead Deep in the broad forehead, there must be many deeds that have been heard like a library.Whenever he wants to think of something, the soul in his body really spreads his legs and runs in the library, taking out what he needs and running back. After a while, Big Forehead let go of his fist, and the eyeballs that were closed together returned to the center of the eyes. "That was the summer thirty-five years ago." "Oh, what happened?" Heishiro eagerly agreed. "It was a drought-stricken summer, and fans were selling well. Portrait fans came from a shop called Horaiya in Fukagawa Hachimangu Monzencho." "Oh, it started from Fukagawa at that time?" "Yes. At first, it started with Tatsumi's sisters giving fans to guests, and then it spread to the general market and became popular for a while." The cause is slightly different from Asakusa this time, but the content is the same. "I knew it. It's really nothing, but it's always fun to guess right." Heishiro smiled. "However, Mao Qi is really observant, and even remembers such popular things that have nothing to do with the case." "Related to the case." Heishiro was taken aback. "What case?" "Since the early spring of that year, there have been many robberies in the city. The robbed are all big businessmen. Discoloration." "What are the fire robbers doing?" "I can't do anything, I can only stare blankly." The eyes with the big forehead leaned against the corners of the eyes again, and then returned to their original positions. "That group of robbers is different. It is not a combination of the leader and a group of subordinates. There are only the leader and a military adviser. The rest of the people are recruited temporarily every time they commit crimes, so it is difficult to track down." Heishiro frowned.This time, he showed the expression on his big forehead just now. "Is this approach feasible? According to you, it is not difficult to find people who are willing to lick blood as long as they can get rich overnight. That’s right. Robbers belong to robbers, so we should still value internal unity.” "This is the ingenuity of it." The big forehead continued. "The leader doesn't need to worry about being betrayed or betrayed by the temporary subordinates, because these temporary subordinates don't recognize the leader's face at all. Not only that, they don't even know each other's names and faces on the night of the crime, and they have never met beforehand. Face to face." Heishiro put his hand on his forehead and thought, is this really feasible? "But, there must always be someone to mediate between the leader and everyone, right?" "Yes, this is an important job. That person is probably the leader's military advisor. It is said that this man always wears makeup every time he acts, so that people can't see his true face." The reason why I can understand these details is that at the beginning of the autumn wind that year, I finally arrested a thief who was injured and couldn't retreat because of the victim's plan to fight back.The man, who spent most of his life in the detention center and prison cells, was immediately tortured to extract a confession and reveal these inside stories.But the next morning.They found that although he was still tied to his own pillar, he had received a fatal blow in the side and died of exhaustion.No one knows who and when sneaked in and silenced the man. However, perhaps fearing that the government would have seen through the modus operandi, this unique robbery murder case came to an abrupt end, at least in Edo Castle. Heishiro opened his mouth wide open.A fatal blow to the flank—isn't this exactly the same as the murder just happened! It's amazing.This is the case with the so-called prophecy, which is simply using the leftover sardine bones as bait, and the snappers actually took the bait. "It's not over yet." The big forehead gasped a bit, but continued to speak.He hasn't eaten all the time, so it's no wonder he gets tired quickly. "According to what the arrested man said before he was killed, those hired hands don't know the leader, even if they meet on the road, they don't know, but the leader knows every hired man and remembers them clearly." "Is it peeping from a distance?" "No, it seems that they secretly asked someone to draw their portraits and keep them by their side. If someone repents and tells the truth, even if they hide their names, they will not be able to escape, and they will not give up if they don't ask for their lives. The man said that the other party was so threatening, and He really gave a portrait that resembled himself, and said that the leader also had a portrait that was exactly like this, and asked him to keep it in mind." Heishiro's mouth was open so wide that it was about to dislocate.It turned out that it was not the snapper that took the bait, but the whale. "Could it be that portrait..." "Yes, just draw it on the fan." The fan is easy to hand over and carry, as long as it is put away, the paintings on the fan cannot be seen by others. "The big boss and the others rushed to Penglai House immediately when they heard about this, but they were still a step too late. The artist who painted the portrait fan had fled overnight, and the clues of the investigation were interrupted. After all, the boss couldn't be brought to justice." Most likely, as soon as someone was accidentally arrested, the painter was notified immediately, and then he was able to escape without a trace. The leader, military adviser, contact person, and painter.No, maybe the painter is the same person as the military adviser and the person who is in contact. Thirty-five years ago— "Do you remember the artist's name?" Heishiro asked. "Bai Xiu." The big forehead replied. "The people at Penglai House didn't know anything about Bai Xiu's background, they only knew that he was a wandering painter, and they ran out of money, so they came to ask if they could sell portrait fans at Penglai House..." Finally, Heishiro asked the most important point: "Is that painter named Bai Xiu handsome?" The big forehead replied: "It is said that it is comparable to actor Ling."