Chapter 8 Chapter 7 The Heavy Suitcase

Sakurabashi and Fukushima are within easy reach and can be reached within five minutes by car.When the car I took was about to turn around the huge Akebono apartment, I saw a group of people who looked like policemen getting off from the two cars parked directly in front of the apartment, and Master Yuri was among them.The group of people entered first through the front door of the apartment, then came out again, walking in my direction.I immediately asked the driver to stop and jumped out of the car. "What's wrong? Isn't it here?" I asked the oncoming Master Yuri. "No, it's right here. It's just that the suite seems to be more convenient to enter through the back door."

We followed a group of policemen towards the apartment. Here let me briefly describe the construction of this apartment.As Shimadzu said, this apartment is different from ordinary low-cost wooden houses, but a majestic five-story building made of reinforced concrete. This apartment alone occupies an entire block.The building itself is in the shape of a "ㄇ", the main entrance is naturally in the center of the horizontal line above the "ㄇ", and the suite we want to go to is on the second floor on the right wing of the "ㄇ".Residents on the left and right wings of Akebono Apartment usually do not use the stairs on the front of the building to enter and exit, but use the stairs at the front of the two wings to enter and exit.In addition to the main entrance, there is also an iron door on the back of the concave building under the word "ㄇ", but the lock is only a form, and the iron door is always open 24 hours a day.Therefore, the residents of Akebono Apartment can freely enter and exit at any time, and it is of course not difficult to enter and exit without being seen.In short, as Shimadzu said, this is not so much an apartment as it is a mixed-use building. Although each suite can be locked individually, the building as a whole is a completely open space.And our group naturally entered through the iron gate at the back, and then went upstairs from the stairs at the front of the right wing.

The suite to be investigated by the police is located on the right wing of the second floor, the first one from the front.In other words, as soon as we climbed to the second floor, the suite was directly in front of the stairwell, and a plainclothes criminal was standing in front of the door waiting. "Has the people from the Namba Police Station come yet?" On seeing the detective, the man at the head of our line immediately asked him.I found out afterwards that the person who was questioning was the Asahara Police Department. "Yeah, I haven't seen anyone yet. Will they send someone?"

"Well, they should bring a witness. Could it be that we came early?" The detective opened the door and let us into the room. Here let me explain a little bit about our..., no, maybe it should be said Yuri Master's position.For the police, Master is naturally an ordinary citizen who has nothing to do with the case.However, the reason why the master was able to investigate the scene with the police officers without getting in the way was not only because he used to be the head of the investigation department of the Metropolitan Police Department, but more importantly, the character of the master was respected by everyone.The master will never hinder the police's investigation, let alone steal the police's limelight, nor will he deliberately hide the clues he knows like the famous detectives in foreign detective novels, or secretly delight in thinking that he is slightly better than the police officers.Under the complicated social mechanism of modern society, the master knows that even if the final decision depends on the wisdom of the individual, he still has to rely on the vast organization of the police in collecting various clues to judge the case.Therefore, the master always positions himself as a good helper of the police and a voice advocate.Moreover, the master is a person who has no vanity and does not know how to chase fame and fortune. Therefore, while solving the case, the master will always retreat behind the scenes and dedicate all the honors and praises to the police without hesitation.Therefore, for the police, Master Yuli is not only a burden, but a treasure.

Bringing the topic back to the scene, the suite we are currently in has a small entrance, a kitchen and a bathroom in addition to a room of eight tatami and a room of six tatami.The wardrobe and the floor in the room are Japanese style, but the floor is concrete, and the windows are also Western style.That is to say, the overall design of the room can be based on the individual preferences of the residents, whether it is to lay tatami mats on the floor to make the room full of Japanese style, or to use carpets and beds to create a Western style. The room we are currently in has of course no tatami mats and no carpet.No, not to mention tatami mats or carpets, not even a single piece of furniture.Even though the room is designed in a Japanese style, this empty shell still gives people a hard and cold feeling like reinforced concrete.In this eight-tatami room at the innermost side of the suite, a double bass was stripped out of its case and thrown in a corner. The chocolate-colored body gave off a cold light.Other than that, there is only fine sand scattered all over the room, and a broken sand bag made of cotton cloth thrown in a corner, like a bun with stuffing coming out.

Asahara Police Department turned to the detective on duty and said. "You should have carefully investigated every corner of the room? Have you found any fingerprints, footprints, or anything suspicious?" "We found nothing. As you can see, the floor of this room is very hard, so there is no footprint left. And the walls here are thick, so even if it is a little noisy, you don't have to worry about being heard by the neighbors next door. " The detective clenched his fist and knocked on the wall, but the Asahara Police Department and Master Yuri did not respond to his actions, and both of them had expressions of indifference.I really don't understand what the expressions of the two of them mean. The murder should have happened here, but their faces lack the tension when they are at the crime scene.Just when I couldn't understand, Master Yuli walked to the side of the police department, pointed to the sandbags on the ground, and whispered something in his ear.The police department nodded immediately after hearing this, and ordered a few words to the criminal police next to him, and the criminal police immediately walked out of the suite, and brought in a young woman in home clothes not long after.

"Sorry to invite you here. Are you Mrs. Miyahara who lives next door?" "Yes, what's the matter?" Mrs. Miyahara held her apron tightly with a frightened expression on her face.But under her frightened expression, one can see that her more ordinary curiosity is just around the corner. "There are a few things we'd like to ask. About that sandbag..." When Mrs. Miyahara moved her eyes to the broken sand bag pointed by the police department, her eyes widened in surprise. "Have you seen this sandbag?" "I've seen it... Of course I've seen it. It's our family's sandbag."

"Are you sure...it's your family's fault?" "It can't be wrong. I took apart my husband's old bathrobe and sewed it again. If you don't believe me, you only need to go to the corridor to find out. There is a heel in front of our house. It comes in pairs of sandbags." "So that's it. In this way, it is true that your sandbag is not wrong? Do you have any memory, when did this sandbag disappear from your house?" "Well, well..., I think it was probably yesterday or the day before yesterday." "Yesterday or the day before yesterday, that is, the 20th or 21st? Could it be earlier?"

"No, it can't be. I'm sure it's still in front of my house on the morning of the twentieth." Hearing what she said, the police department looked at Master Yuri with a kind of deep and meaningful eyes.I was a little taken aback when I heard that, and stared at Mrs. Miyahara's face. "Mrs. Miyahara, why do you remember this matter so clearly? Do you count the sandbags every day?" "That would not be the case. But the administrator of this apartment is nagging about air defense matters, and the leader of the residents' mutual aid association is an extremely enthusiastic person. He often comes to count air defense materials without warning. On the morning of the 20th, too. , I saw on the household circulation board that there will be a surprise inspection of air defense materials in the near future, and everyone should prepare well in advance, so I took a rough inventory of the things that should be prepared in my house. In addition to the sandbags shared by the neighbors, each household has to Keep ten usable sandbags ready at all times. I also counted them on the 20th, and there are indeed ten, that’s right, not one more and one not less.”

Mrs. Miyahara didn't know the significance of her testimony, and her tone was very natural.As soon as I heard it, I peeked at the expressions of Asahara Police Department and Master Yuri in surprise. The murder took place on the night of the 19th, there is no doubt about it.Until just now, I thought that this sandbag was the weapon used by the murderer to stun Hara Sakura before strangling her. However, if this sandbag was still in front of the neighbor’s door on the morning of the 20th, this incredible What is the situation? The time contradiction made me feel inexplicably uneasy, but what further aroused my uneasy emotions was the expressions of Master Yuli and the Asahara Police Department at that time.The two looked at each other with meaningful eyes again, and it seemed that they were not as shaken by this matter as I expected.

The police department gave a dry cough and said to Mrs. Miyahara. "Then, I would like to ask you a question by the way. On the night of the nineteenth, you..., no, anyone, did anyone see anyone entering or exiting this suite?" "Well, well, Mr. Interpol also asked me about this last night, but no one told me that he had seen it. After all, there are currently no residents here. If someone really enters and leaves this room, the person who saw it It will definitely feel suspicious, so it must be passed to my ears." "What about the morning of the 20th? Ma'am, what time did you count the sandbags?" "This... I'm not sure, but I think it should be before ten o'clock." "After you finished counting, did you see anyone walk into this suite...?" "No. Because I went out to buy things on the morning of the 20th... After counting the anti-aircraft materials, I went out immediately. I went out at about ten o'clock, and it was almost one o'clock when I got home. In the middle I don't even know what happened." "Is that so? Well, I see, thank you." "Well, where. That..., is there some misunderstanding here? My sandbag...?" "That sandbag please leave it in place for the time being. As for what happened here, I think it will flow into your ears before long. If you think of anything else wrong about this suite, ma'am, please tell me right away." police." At this moment, there were waves of footsteps outside the door.The Asahara Police Department ordered the criminal police to take Mrs. Miyahara, who was reluctant to leave, away from the scene. He himself followed the two and walked quickly to the entrance.At this time, Master Yuri and I were left in the room with great difficulty. "Does the master know about that?" "Which thing?" "There is a contradiction in time when the sandbag disappeared..." "Oh, that..., no, I don't know. But it wouldn't be surprising if there was that timing discrepancy." "so?" "So, I began to think that Ms. Hara Sakura might not have been stunned by the sandbag. As for the reason why I think so, you will know soon. The police seem to want to bring a witness." "witness?" "A car driver. But not the driver who delivered the double bass case, but another one. This morning the man..., by the way, didn't it appear in your family's newspaper? That report mentioned that there was a Hara Sakura The double bass case of the dead body was carried on a car in front of the Akebono apartment in Fukushima to the public hall. After reading that report, I remembered something, so I rushed to the Namba police station. There was a call just now Called the investigation headquarters, and the headquarters decided to bring the witness here. Mitsuki, you will listen quietly later, this is really an interesting incident." The Asahara Police Department, who was talking loudly in the corridor in front of the entrance, soon brought a young man in.From the man's appearance and posture, one can tell that he is a car driver. Both he and the police department are very excited, and their eyes are shining like stars. "Master, it seems that this room is right." Asahara Police Department barely suppressed his excitement, but his voice was very hoarse. "Oh, um." Master Yuli nodded slightly. "What's your name?" "My name is Yasuo Kawabe." "Were you in this room?" "No, I didn't go into the room. But I helped the man move the suitcase to the door, and then he dragged the suitcase into the room by himself. It is indeed this room." "Oh, that's it. Riverside, can you repeat what happened at that time? From the first time you saw that man..." "what……" Yasuo Kawabe licked his lips first, and then said. "Around eleven o'clock in the morning on the twentieth, I'm not sure what the correct time is, but it should be between eleven o'clock and half past eleven, when I passed the side entrance of the Mitsukoshi department store in an empty car with no passengers At that time, the man stopped me. He was standing outside the side door of Mitsukoshi Department Store. He was a tall man. He wore a hat on his head, the collar of his coat was turned up, and he also wore a pair of sunglasses and a mask, which made people feel uncomfortable. I couldn’t see his face clearly. I asked him where he was going, and he said he was going to Fukushima. When I was about to start the car, he pointed to the large suitcase at my feet and asked me to help lift it into the car. So I got out of the car and we worked together with him to get the suitcase into the car and it was really heavy. We put the suitcase in the car and he got in the car and when we got to the apartment he asked me to help him Moved the suitcase to the second floor, so the two of us worked together to carry the suitcase to the second floor. The next thing I said just now, he dragged the suitcase into the room alone... All I know That's all." "I see. So what do you think that has to do with the murder?" "Well... well... I don't know very well, but... but... I read a newspaper report this morning that the body of a woman named Hara Sakura was transported from the front of this apartment, and it was reported that The shape of the prisoner described in the book is very similar to the man who asked me to carry the suitcase. Besides, the man gave people a very weird feeling, because I wondered what was in the suitcase. Sliding off the suitcase. He looked so nervous at the time...and yelled at me. And...and...that suitcase, no matter the size or the weight..." "In short, you suspect that the suitcase might contain Hara Sakura's body, don't you?" "yes……" I have been feeling uneasy since just now, and the shock I received at this time was like a bolt from the blue.Oh my God!So, Ms. Hara Sakura was not killed in this room?

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