Chapter 6 Chapter 6 The Painter Killed

Kosuke Kindaichi had heard a little about Shin Kyogo, who was classified as the Shiratori school. He believed that Shin Kyogo was influenced by the French painter Renoir, and he was good at using madder red and cinnabar red, which was very similar to Renoir's painting method. Kosuke Kindaichi stood in front of Shin Kyogo's studio, smiling happily. (This studio is very similar to the Renoir Canuu studio seen in art magazines.) It was around two o'clock in the afternoon when the car he took came to Shin Kyogo's simple villa in Yazaki, when the fog cleared and the sun shone brightly from the clouds.

Shen Gongwu's villa stands alone in the water, surrounded by miscellaneous forests. "Mr. Kindaichi, I'm sorry that I asked you to come here specially." When the car drove slowly onto the sandy road submerged in the water, Asuka Zhongxi immediately came to the corridor of the villa to meet him, and Feng Chiyoko also stood behind him. When Kindaichi Kosuke got out of the car, Asuka Tadashi said: "Mr. Kindaichi, please come in." "what?" "The murder scene is in the studio behind. Akiyama, you come in too." When Asuka Zhongxi walked down the wooden stairs of the villa, Feng Chiyoko said softly behind him:

"Zhongxi, what should I do?" "You stay here, I believe you don't want to see that scene again!" "But……" "Are you afraid?" "Well, a little bit." "It's not like you at all. Aren't there police guards here?" "That's why I'm even more afraid!" "I really can't do anything about you! But now is not the time to withdraw, you should stay here!" After Asuka Zhongxi finished speaking, he walked down the stairs and sat in the car. Although Feng Chiyoko felt helpless, he immediately bent down and said:

"Mr. Kindaichi, I leave everything to you." "Yes, yes, also, please give me your advice." Whenever a beautiful lady talks to Kosuke Kindaichi, his heart suddenly thumps like a deer. As soon as Tadashi Asuka sat beside Kosuke Kindaichi, Takuzo Akiyama asked: "Master, where are we going now?" "Go around from the left side of the villa to the back." Behind the villa, there is a mixed forest on a slightly higher terrain. When the car passed through this mixed forest, the studio that made Kindaichi Kosuke smile knowingly before was reflected on the water at this moment.

The ecru gravel road twists and turns to the studio, but cars cannot get in because a large tree has been uprooted and fallen in the middle of the road; a small British car is stuck under thick leaves. "Mr. Kindaichi, shall we get off here?" "OK." Kosuke Kindaichi lifted up his wide trousers, and stepped into the stagnant water with his feet in white cloth socks without hesitation. He saw the stagnant water flowing rapidly from the studio to the villa, and the sound of cicadas could be heard not far away. A young policeman in uniform came out of the studio. His fair complexion was rare in this area, and he wore a pair of deep glasses on his face. He was about thirty or so.Soon, Kindaichi Kosuke learned that he was the Hibino police officer who held homicide views on the death of Fue Koji Yasuhisa last year.

Introduced by Tadashi Asuka, police officer Hibino knew that it was Kosuke Kindaichi who was coming, and he stared at Kosuke Kindaichi with eyes hidden under deep myopia glasses, showing unfriendliness and contempt in his eyes. "Mr. Asuka, we will keep the murder scene as it is according to your request." "Thank you very much. This is Mr. Kindaichi, Mr. Kindaichi, and this is Officer Hibino who is in charge of investigating this murder case." Kosuke Kindaichi nodded to the other party implicitly. After everyone entered the studio, they saw that the style inside the studio was very similar to Renoir's studio in Kanu, and Kosuke Kindaichi couldn't help but feel admiration.

This studio is not big, the roof is covered with a very special kind of tiles, and it slopes from south to north. If it is not decorated with a lot of glass around, it may be mistaken for a storage room. There is a cornerstone in each of the four corners of the studio, and the bottom is fifteen centimeters above the ground. The clear water now forms a small vortex at the bottom; the surrounding glass is broken, and it must have been filled with water. "Mr. Kindaichi, please." "My shoes are already wet, can I go in?" "It's okay, the room is already wet."

There were already two plain clothes in the studio, and when the three of them entered, the space suddenly became very crowded.The furnishing of the studio was rather simple, and besides being surrounded by glass, it was also surrounded longitudinally by wooden boards; these boards are now all crumbling, and there are signs of flooding everywhere. Shen Gongwu must have been too lazy to paint recently. I saw easels and bookcloths scattered all over the studio, and all the painting tools looked a bit old. Kosuke Kindaichi sighed softly. Judging from the messy situation at the murder scene, the murderer must have committed the crime before the typhoon hit; even if he left obvious footprints on the ground, it would be wiped out by the raging typhoon Drop marks.

There is a rattan coffee table and two simple rattan chairs on the west side of the studio. Shen Gongwu's body is sitting with his back to the north side, and the whole person is lying on the coffee table.Kindaichi Kosuke glanced at the corpse, and in an instant, his whole body trembled involuntarily. He saw Shen Gongwu's left hand stretched out obliquely forward, his right elbow bent, his forehead against the back of his right hand, lying on the coffee table; the most strange thing was that the cuff of his right hand and the two strands of hair on the right half of his head were burnt up.

Kindaichi Kosuke hurriedly went around to the other side of the coffee table, and found a new wound from the right cheek to the ear of the deceased. Officer Hibino pointed to the fallen candle in front of the deceased's right arm and said: "Mr. Kindaichi, if the strong wind last night hadn't blown out this candle, the entire studio might be burned up, and the body might be burnt before anyone finds it." Police officer Hibino looked aggressive, Kosuke Kindaichi nodded in agreement with him. (There is a pile of wax marks on the right front of the deceased's head, and the candle should stand on this pile of wax marks; judging from the thickness of the candle, it does not stand very stably on the table.

The candle may have lost its balance and fell when the studio was swayed by the strong wind. The fallen candle burned the right sleeve of the deceased's shirt, hair and right cheek. The body will not be burnt by the candle. ) Kosuke Kindaichi looked back at the south side of the studio. Five or six pieces of glass were broken in front of the victim's left. There were glass shards all around his feet, and the bright and dazzling sunlight was coming in from the broken glass window. Last night there was a southerly wind, so that most of the trees outside the window fell to the north. Kosuke Kindaichi looked at the light bulb hanging from the ceiling of the studio and speculated that he said: "The power went out at about eight o'clock last night. Shen Gongwu sat on the wicker chair alone or because there were guests. After the power outage, he lit candles, but since there were no candlesticks, he dripped a few drops of wax oil on the tea table, Fix the candle on the coffee table, but...Shen Gongwu is probably left-handed! "When most people use candles or install light sources on the table, they always place the light source in front of themselves to the left. If this candle is placed on the table for a guest, it would be too close to the other party!" Officer Hibino had been paying attention to Kosuke Kindaichi's eyes from just now, and he said with a serious face: "The victim was not left-handed. I asked the woman who cleaned him, and Ms. Feng, that he was right-handed." "Yes, is it?" Kindaichi Kosuke immediately blushed, and looked around with a blushing face. Just as he hurriedly looked around to hide his embarrassment, his eyes stopped on a small decorative shelf protruding from the north side of the wooden board behind the guest, where there was a long clock, and the time stopped at 8:43. (Did the pointer stop this morning? Or did it stop long ago?) In addition to the long clock, there is also a distorted vase on the shelf, which contains withered Qumai and Wumuxiang. Except for some parts of the shelf that are wet by rain, the rest of the dry place is covered with dust. At this time, Kosuke Kindaichi saw a dark green thing next to the vase, so he stepped forward to look at it carefully. (It's a candlestick! A beautiful bronze candlestick hiding in the shadow of a vase...) Kindaichi Kosuke immediately glanced at Police Officer Hibino, but Hibino Police Palace remained expressionless and did not say a word. Asuka Zhongxi also noticed this, he raised his eyebrows and looked at the wax on the tea table. Kosuke Kanedaichi noticed some scattered matchsticks under Shin Kyogo's arm from just now, and there were about twenty matchsticks scattered on the coffee table. "Do you want to lift the body?" "No, wait a minute..." Kosuke Kindaichi stretched out his hand to stop their movement. "Who was the first to find this body?" "The maid in charge of cleaning here—Michiko Nemoto." "So, apart from the victim, no one else lives here in this villa?" "Yes, Shen Gongwu is the only one living here..." Officer Hibino glanced at Asuka Tadashi and said: "He has been living a single life since he divorced his ex-wife." "By the way, where did the maid in charge of cleaning come from?" "From Salt Lake." "Yozawa is to the west of here, right?" "Yes. In the past three years, whenever Shin Kyogo came to this villa, Nemoto Mitsuko would come here to clean it; usually she would come here at eight o'clock, but because today is a typhoon day, it was ten o'clock when she arrived here. One point, the "here" I mentioned refers to the villa in front. Mitsuko has the key to the kitchen. She felt very strange when she entered the house and didn't see the owner. Take this matter to heart, just open the awning of the villa." "Does this villa have a canopy?" "I heard that there was no such thing before, but because a thief broke into the empty door one winter, and the whole house was turned into a mess. Since then, a canopy has been installed. This is what Ms. Feng said, because it was her What happened when I was still with the deceased. I heard that they got married in May of the 29th year of Showa and divorced in the spring of the 31st year, so the awning was probably installed in the 30th year." Police officer Hibino deliberately glanced at Asuka Zhongxi, and when he said this, he added: "Although the exterior is not very good-looking, the doors and windows here are very tightly closed." "Is there anything unusual about the doors and windows?" "No, if there is no canopy installed, I'm afraid it will be messed up by the typhoon." "and then?" "Nemoto Mitsuko came here to ask the studio after checking the situation of the damage in the villa. She saw a car outside the house and thought it was strange..." "Is that car owned by Shen Gongwu?" "yes." "Where do you usually park your car?" "Usually they park in front of the corridor of the villa. Mitsuko Nemoto has been making dinner and will go back around six o'clock, but since Shin Kyogo was not at the villa during the day yesterday, she returned before six o'clock. Mitsuko Nemoto said she left yesterday The car was still parked there." "In other words, Shen Gongwu didn't leave the villa until after six o'clock last night." "Yes, and he also brought a man back." Police officer Hibino tried his best not to look at Asuka Zhongxi, and Asuka Zhongxi probably felt it too. He closed his lips tightly and looked at the expression on Officer Hibino's face without blinking his eyes. "Could you please tell me how Mitsuko Nemoto found the body?" Officer Hibino swallowed and said: "Since the car is parked in front of the studio, Netsuko thinks that Shin Kyougo should be in the studio, but the studio is locked, so she finds it very strange." "The door is locked?" "Well, it was locked firmly, probably when the murderer left here? Mitsuko called two or three times but no one responded, so she went around to the south side and looked in through the broken window. In the end, Shen Gongwu's body was found." "I see, what did the forensic autopsy report say?" "Possibly potassium cyanate poisoning." Kosuke Kindaichi approached the victim's mouth, but he did not smell potassium cyanate. "Did the murderer force the deceased to ingest potassium cyanate, or poison the deceased in other ways? No bottles, cups or other containers were found in the studio!" "The container... probably was taken away by the murderer." Officer Hibino expressed Kosuke Kindaichi's doubts expressionlessly, which made him blush again. (Can this young police officer read other people's minds?) "What about the time of death?" "It was between nine o'clock and nine thirty last night. If you want to know more exact information, you have to wait for the autopsy report." (The power outage did start at around 8:00 last night, so it is also very reasonable to use candles between 9:00 and 9:30. The power outage time may vary depending on the area. You can ask nearby residents about this.) "Even so... Police Officer Hibino, Shin Kyougo went out after six o'clock and brought someone home from outside, so why didn't they enter the villa in front? And this studio..." Kosuke Kindaichi reached out to touch the wicker chair in front of him, and then showed his dusty fingers to Police Officer Hibino.Unexpectedly, police officer Hibino smiled and said: "Mr. Kindaichi, we have noticed this a long time ago, and we have also thought of the reason." "what reason?" "We have checked the body of the victim, but the keychain was not found." "Has the victim always had a chain of keys with him?" "Yes, Nemoto Mitsuko said that the victim is currently single and lived in an apartment when he was in Tokyo. He used a silver key ring to string the keys of the apartment in Tokyo and the keys of the villa here, and carried these keys with him. Nemoto Mitsuko also said that the victim once Tell her these keys are all his property." "So, the victim is not carrying the keychain now?" "yes." "What if the key was originally on the victim, but was taken away by the murderer? In this way, the victim can open the door of the villa." "No, that's not the case, I think the victim lost the key when he was out." Kosuke Kindaichi frowned and said: "But in this way, it is impossible to open the studio! When the victim brings someone back, even if the studio is unlocked, the murderer can't lock the door when he leaves?" After Kosuke Kindaichi finished speaking, he suddenly looked back at the door as if he had discovered something and asked: "How did you get in? Did you use another key?" "No, Mr. Kindaichi, we use that key to open the door." Police officer Hibino obviously wanted to try Kosuke Kindaichi's ability, and saw a key dropped on the toe of the deceased's right shoe under the coffee table. Kindaichi Kosuke sighed: "Y-so that's the case, I didn't even notice the key, haha..." At this moment, the mocking look in Officer Hibino's eyes disappeared, and he bit his lips tightly and said: "Sorry, because Mr. Asuka asked to keep the murder scene intact, we looked in through the broken glass window and found a key on the ground, so we hooked the key with a fishing rod and tried to insert the key into the lock on the door Kong, and it turns out that it is the key to this studio." "So, only the studio key and the keychain are separate?" "That's the way it is. Mitsuko doesn't even know why it happened." Kosuke Kindaichi grabbed the back of his head hard. "The victim lost the key when he was out... so how do you know the victim lost the key when he was out?" "Because the gate of the villa in front was locked, and Mitsuko only had the key to the kitchen, we asked the administrator to open the gate of the villa." Residents of the villas in this area will hand over one of the keys to the management staff for safekeeping after the shelter season, and the management staff will sometimes inspect each household. Kindaichi Kosuke finally understood what was going on. "Then Shen Gongwu's key was obviously lost after six o'clock last night, and after leaving the villa." "exactly." Officer Hibino's tone of voice was always rigid. "Because Shen Gongwu carried the key of this studio with him alone, when he returned home from outside and couldn't enter the villa, he had no choice but to enter this studio first." "Mr. Kindaichi, we still don't know whether Shen Kyogo broke into this studio as a last resort. Maybe he entered the studio specially for some reason. At present, we only know that the key chain is not on the victim. And I searched the whole studio and couldn't find the bunch of keys." "Have you found it in the car?" Officer Hibino replied with a smile: "No, because the car door can't be opened... If the key is in the car, wouldn't the victim be able to enter the villa?" "indeed so." This time, Kindaichi Kosuke said with a smile: "You mean that you don't know whether the victim came to this studio because the key was lost, or came here for a special reason?" "yes." "Well, I just wanted to double check. Yes..." Kosuke Kindaichi scratched his head again and said: "Why did the victim bring someone to this studio? Let's call this person 'X'. 'X' made the victim die by ingesting potassium cyanate. After Shen Gongwu died, he took his key and locked the door. Then escape. But why is this key here in the end?" "Of course 'X' broke the window and threw the key in." "What is his purpose?" "To make it look like the victim committed suicide." Kosuke Kindaichi looked at Police Officer Hibino's face again. "That's right, isn't it strange that the murderer took away cups and other containers? Since the victim is going to look like he committed suicide, the suicide utensils should be left at the scene of the murder so that it won't be suspicious! " "Perhaps the murderer was worried about leaving clues, so he temporarily decided to take the container away." "Have you found a container for potassium cyanate on site?" "No, it hasn't been found yet." "Since the murderer wanted the deceased to look like he committed suicide, there should have been a container of potassium cyanate left at the scene." A plainclothes criminal policeman couldn't stand the conversation between the two of them, so he said: "Mr. Kindaichi..." "We have just started investigating this murder case, and we don't know the whole situation at present. Can you tell us how much you know about this murder case?" The detective's name is Kondo, and he is a well-known old fox detective from the Karuizawa Police Department.He has a pair of rolling eyes, a short and fat man with a stubby neck and a pair of zero-shaped legs.Detective Kondo has many years of experience in handling cases, and he is very impatient with Kindaichi Kosuke's slow-working and meticulous question-and-answer method. "I just came into contact with this case, and I don't know much about this murder case, haha..." "Since this is the case, we don't need to waste time discussing some irrelevant issues. The ambulance will come later, and the body will be carried away..." Before Kondo finished speaking, the siren of an ambulance could be heard in the distance. "coming." "I'm sorry, should we lift the body?" "Hello, Gu Chuan." Detective Furukawa looked quite young, about twenty-five or six years old, and he kept looking at Kosuke Kindaichi with weird eyes, as if he saw something strange. Next, Detective Kondo and Detective Furukawa set up Shin Kyougo's body on the left and right. Even though they were very careful, they still slightly moved the matchstick below. Shen Gongwu has a baby face, and his skin is very delicate and smooth. He must have been a handsome man during his lifetime.Now his face is distorted and deformed, with dried black blood at the corner of his mouth, and some cheeks were burned by the candle flames. In addition to burning off two locks of hair on his right half, even his right eyebrow was also damaged. Shen Gongwu put a vest on top of his shirt, and a large coat on top of it. The right cuff of the coat was a little blackened.His trousers were wrinkled and looked as if they had shrunk, and his shoes were torn. (Shen Gongwu goes out to visit friends... Could it be that the other party is a friend he knows well and doesn't need to pay attention to details? Or is he just a willful man?) The coat, trousers and shoes on Shen Gongwu's body were all wet, as if they were wet from the rain that came in from the window. Kosuke Kindaichi shifted his gaze to the matchsticks scattered on the coffee table. These matchsticks did not seem to have been accidentally dropped on the table, but were arranged on purpose. Kosuke Kanedaichi noticed this when the matchstick was still under the body. There are a total of twenty-one matches on the coffee table, seven with red heads and fourteen with green heads. Among them, four matchsticks with red heads were folded in half, and the remaining three were intact; seven matchsticks with green heads were folded in half, and seven were intact. In other words, four symbols are used here—a good red match and a match of the same color folded in half, and a good green match and a match of the same color folded in half. (I don't know what the murderer or the deceased wanted to use these four symbols to explain? What do these matchsticks represent?) It is a pity that when the deceased fell on the table, the arrangement of the matchsticks was messed up. Now there may be patterns without any meaning, but Kindaichi took out a notebook from his pocket and drew these matchsticks arrangement pattern. "I heard that this man is very passionate about matchstick puzzles and likes to use matchsticks to illustrate anything." "You said he was into matchstick puzzles?" Kosuke Kindaichi memorized the arrangement of matchsticks on the table, then looked back at Police Officer Hibino and said. "I just found out about this when I asked Nemoto Mitsuko. She said that Shen Kyogo likes to use matchsticks to play jigsaw puzzles. For example, arrange twelve matchsticks on the table, jump over two matchsticks at a time, and then use two as a group , A total of six groups of matchsticks are combined; or gifts such as a house with matchsticks are all children's games. I heard that this man will play this kind of game whenever he is free." The richer the material life, the poorer the spiritual life of human beings, so some intellectuals have to resort to guessing or jigsaw puzzles to escape the loneliness and emptiness of spiritual life. (Does the reason why Shin Kyogo is so keen on matchstick puzzles mean that his spiritual life is very depressed? Did he also like matchstick puzzles when he and Feng Chiyoko were living a happy married life?) "So, Shen Gongwu took potassium cyanate while playing with match puzzles?" "No, it's not like that." Officer Hibino gave a light bite, and then said: "I also learned this from Nemoto Mitsuko. When explaining things, some people are used to using some small props to help the other party understand what they want to say." "I do that a lot myself, ah... sorry, then what?" "The victim has the habit of using matchsticks every time he explains things." "I see. Last night, Shen Gongwu was just playing games for self-entertainment? Or do you want to explain something to the other party?" Officer Hibino said in a stiff tone: "Of course it's the latter! Shen Gongwu was with the murderer last night!" Kindaichi Kosuke thought for a while, then smiled and said: "Officer Hibino, you are saying that because you believe that Shin Kyogo came back here with the murderer! Even though Shin Kyogo went out last night, he may have returned home alone, maybe he will play alone next time Have you ever considered a matchstick puzzle for fun, and then the murderer comes in when he's having a good time?" The young Hibino police officer was obviously negligent on this point. "hey-hey……" Detective Kondo on the side laughed. "What does this mean? When the victim was out of power on the night of the typhoon, he sat here alone with a candle and played a game of matchstick puzzles... Mr. Kindaichi, are you a detective? Or a confused detective? Such a ridiculous question It will come out of your mouth!" In this case, after Asuka Zhongxi negotiated with the county police station, he agreed to allow Jin Tianyi to assist in the investigation.And Kindaichi Kosuke looks useless at first glance, so the shrewd and capable Kondo detective sneered at him. Kindaichi Kosuke laughed at himself: "Mr. Kondo, when I focus on a certain case, I always have a feeling of stepping into a maze, so I am called a 'confused detective'. Haha... these are just jokes. Mr. Kondo, what you said makes sense , but I just want to remind everyone that it is not sure whether Shen Gongwu is with the murderer or returned here alone, besides..." "What exactly are you trying to say?" "If these arranged matches represent a special meaning and are related to the murderer, why did the murderer leave these matchsticks at the murder scene? Even if the arrangement of the matchsticks has been messed up, as long as the matchsticks Staying at the scene would be a threat to the killer himself, wouldn't it?" Hearing what Kindaichi Kosuke said, Detective Kondo rolled his eyes and murmured: "You're right, there is indeed such a possibility. Regarding this, does Mr. Kindaichi have any insight? If so, please tell us and let us hear." "I'm afraid I can't do what you want. I hate having my credit taken away by others. Hehe... I don't know much about this murder case, but I just want to draw everyone's attention to the many suspicious aspects of this murder case." Well, other than that, I don't have any other meaning." Kosuke Kindaichi said with a smile on his face. He looked around, and then said: "By the way, did you find the matchbox?" "We have noticed this part a long time ago. Although we don't know why we can't find it, it must have been taken away by the murderer." Detective Kondo couldn't hide his anger, and began to pace back and forth in the studio.Police officer Hibino completely lost his aura just now, he hardly spoke, and had been paying attention to Asuka Zhongxi's actions since just now. Asuka Zhongxi stared intently at the twenty-one matchsticks scattered on the coffee table, with an uneasy and puzzled expression on his face.He checked the shelf behind the victim, and then bent down to check a shelf under the coffee table. There were some old newspapers and two or three art magazines that were yellowed on the shelf. "Mr. Asuka, what are you looking for?" To Hibino police officer's inquiry, Asuka Zhongxi was indifferent. He focused on the match sticks scattered on the coffee table, and at the same time reached into the pocket of his cardigan shirt, took out a small notebook and a red and blue mechanical pencil, and wrote down the arrangement of matches on the coffee table in the notebook . "Mr. Asuka, do you have any other ideas about the arrangement of these matchsticks?" Police officer Hibino couldn't help blushing when he saw Asuka Zhongxi still didn't answer his question. "Mr. Asuka, if you know what these matches represent, please tell us. If you conceal the facts, it will only delay the time to solve the case. Do you know these arrangements..." After Asuka Tadashi memorized the arrangement of the matchsticks, he put his notebook and mechanical pencil in his pocket, and retreated to the corner of the studio without saying a word. At this time, three ambulance personnel entered the studio. "This corpse..." "Well, we can take him out." Police officer Hibino was too angry to speak, so Detective Kondo handled the matter on his behalf. When the ambulance personnel lifted Shin Kyogo's body from the wicker chair, Kosuke Kaneda yelled and ran over. "Ah! Please wait!" I saw something dark brown on Shin Kyogo's light khaki coat near the buttocks. Kosuke Kindaichi took a closer look and found that it was the scale powder and a little body fluid on the moth's wings. "Officer Hibino, look at this." Officer Hibino approached him unnaturally, because he was still angry. "Is it... a moth?" His voice was a little hoarse, probably because of his anger. "Probably he just sat on the moth, so the scales and bodily fluids got on his clothes." Police officer Hibino looked at the rattan chair, but did not find any dead moths on it, and there were no dead moths even in the studio. "Okay! Take off this coat first. Be careful when taking it off, we are going to send these scales for identification." The police rushed to send Shen Gongwu's body from the water town of Zeguo for autopsy.