Chapter 11 Chapter Ten Roses and Sand

"Ono... oh! Sagara is here too. Take a look at the evening paper and see... there is a new development in the murder case, what suitcase and so on..." Walking into the hall was a tall, thin man in a short black coat. His cheeks were thin and his nose was firm, giving him an impression of strength like steel.He is directing Kenzo Makino.While reading the evening paper, Makino walked into the hall.Only then did he realize that Master Yuri and I were present, so he frowned suddenly and stood where he was. "Oh, I'm so sorry, you were talking about something, weren't you?"

At this time another man came in.He was about the same height as Makino, slightly fatter than Makino, and his short hair was mixed with a lot of white hair.I could tell at a glance that he was a baritone Shiga flute player. "Mr. Makino, is there any news in the evening paper?" "Well, take a look, this way of writing seems to be playing a charade. It seems that there has been a new development in the murder case. Now, how will the police solve this murder case?" "Let me see..." Shiga flute man took the newspaper from Makino and sat on the arm of the armchair to read it.At this time, a waiter walked into the hall.

"Is Mr. Yuri here? There is a call from Mr. Asahara." "Oh, I am, thanks." The master walked out of the hall quickly and headed towards the counter. "Yes, I am Yuri. Oh, so..." Master Yuli's voice was like a bell, even we in the hall could hear it, but everyone pretended not to hear it.In the middle of the master's speech, the voice paused for a while, and at this moment, an unusually thick and deep crooning sound suddenly came out from the hall. "Oh... oh... oh..." That thick, deep croon sounded like the roar of a cow.Surprised, I turned my head reflexively and saw that Shiga flute's broad back was shaking like a wave. "Oh... oh... oh..."

Bursts of thick and deep moans emerged from Shiga's throat.He threw the newspaper under his feet, hugged his head with his hands, his legs gave way, and he lay down on the table, scaring us to look at each other. "Huh...huh? You...what are you talking about? Then..." At this time, Master Yuli's suddenly urgent voice came from the counter, and we were startled and turned around to look in that direction again. "Well, all right. Then I'll be right over." After hanging up the phone, Master Yuri waved to me, motioning for me to go over.Immediately I took my hat and got up from my chair.

"Master, where did you call..." The master did not answer me.He walked two or three steps out of the hall and then turned back. "Ono, you'd better think about what you said just now. I'll ask you for your answer when I get back. Before that, please think clearly." Ono looked relieved at last, looked aside thoughtfully and nodded.Sagara bit his lower lip without saying a word, his eyes stared intently at a point that didn't exist in the sky.Makino didn't know why, so he looked at our faces and Ono's face.Shiga still held his head and fell there. As soon as he walked outside, the master immediately stopped a car.

"To Osaka Station..." "Osaka station?" I asked the master in surprise, but he didn't answer me half a word. After we got off in front of Osaka station, I asked the master. "Master, where are you going next?" "The station master's room." "Oh, that's it. Then I'll make a phone call first. I'll go find you right away." I rushed to the telephone room, called the Osaka branch, and asked the switchboard to transfer Shimadzu.Fortunately, Shimadzu people are at the newspaper office. The reason why I called Shimadzu was, of course, because of the deciphered cipher sheet music.

"I guess Ms. Hara Sakura may have gone to Atago Shimo's apartment after she got off the train in Shinagawa on the morning of the 19th. That's why I asked you to contact the Tokyo head office in a hurry, hoping that the head office can make some adjustments to Atago Shimo's apartment. Carpet investigation. However, it is too early to make this public, and whatever is found in that apartment, don't report it yet!" "Okay! I know. But Mr. Mitsuki..." "What's the matter?" Under the influence of Shimadzu, I also unconsciously spoke in Osaka dialect.

"What's going on here? Where was Hara Sakura killed? Osaka? Or Tokyo?" "Wait a little longer! This matter will definitely come to light soon." Shimadzu asked about an important point.For now, it makes sense whether Hara Sakura was killed in Osaka or Tokyo.Hearing his question, I couldn't help but marvel at the unfathomable inside story of this murder case. The station master's office seemed to be surrounded by a serious and tense atmosphere.To be honest, I didn't know what was going on until I opened the door of the station master's room.However, the moment I stepped into the room, I was shocked by what I saw, and I immediately felt a little better.

The first thing I saw was a large suitcase lying on the ground.Then, I saw Yasuo Kawabe, who had met once before and was staring straight at the suitcase. He Bian raised his head and said. "That's right, it's this suitcase. Look! There's a scratch on the suitcase. I already told you about the scratch at noon, right? This scratch is the mark left at that time, and it can't be wrong." "Oh, that's it. Thank you for your hard work. If necessary, we will invite you again. That's it for today, you can go back." After the Asahara Police Department sent Kawabe out, he carefully closed the door.In this way, only Asahara Police Department, Master Yuri, the other two detectives, and me were left in the room.In order to prevent people at the station from obstructing the investigation, the police asked them to avoid it temporarily.

"What do you think? Would you like to sit down? The locksmith won't be here for a while." "Oh, this suitcase hasn't been opened yet, has it?" "Well, I sent someone to a locksmith because the lock was so strong." We pulled our chairs up to the big old suitcase and sat down.The police department took out and asked the master. "Would you like one?" "No thanks, I like this kind of thing." Master Yuri took out a large pipe and filled it. Speaking of this, I suddenly remembered one thing, and I will mention it here by the way.Master Yuri's favorite pipe played a strange, funny, and somewhat nerve-wracking villain until the end of the murder case.But the reason for this will be mentioned later.

"Where did you find this suitcase?" "It's stored inside the station." I couldn't help blowing a whistle. The police department took a leisurely puff of cigarette and continued: "However, more than half of it was luck that we were able to find it so quickly. We ordered a city-wide search and targeted the car carrying the suitcase from Akebono's apartment. This inference is true. The suspect seems to have changed two or three times on the way. Three times, we finally found the last one just now, which is the car that the prisoner took to the station. As for why the driver remembered this suitcase, please try to move this suitcase.” I immediately put my hands on the suitcase, but the force I used was so strong that my whole body shook. "This...is it empty?" "Yes. It has a huge appearance but is extremely light. The driver also thought it was strange, so he left an impression on it. In addition, there is another interesting point about this suitcase." Asahara Police Department threw away the cigarette butt and took out a notepad from his pocket. "This suitcase has been left at the station since noon on the 20th, and no one has picked it up until today. However, during this period, a consignor had a problem with the checked luggage due to personal negligence, so he didn't even check it out. Checked out the luggage as well. The consignor noticed this suitcase among the many checked luggage because he had the impression he had seen it. Why did he have the impression? You see the scratch Is that the mark. We got the shipper and asked him a lot of questions, and he said he did handle the luggage two or three days ago. We asked him to think of the exact time, and he said he had the impression This was taken away from the consignment office during the period between the early train arriving on the morning of the 20th and before noon of the day. I was very nervous when I heard him say that, except for the whereabouts of the suitcase. Also curious to know where the suitcase came from, so I asked him to double check if it was really the suitcase. He said he was particularly impressed with it because it had a scratch on it and it was surprisingly heavy.” I can't help but gasp.Master Yuli leaned forward slightly and said. "Then where did it come from?" "Yes, this is another interesting point. I immediately sent someone to investigate the record and found that it was sent from Tokyo. It was carried by the train from Tokyo at 10:15 in the evening on the 19th. It arrived at 8:7 in the morning on the 20th. That is to say, it arrived in Osaka with the people from the opera troupe. Moreover, the addressee written on the voucher is..." Asahara Police Department suddenly lowered his voice and said. "The recipient is Kyozo Tsuchiya." I felt my heart beating fast, as if it was going to burst out of my chest.Master Yuri pursed his lips as if to whistle. "Then, Ms. Hara Sakura was indeed killed in Tokyo?" The Asahara Police Department narrowed its eyes and looked at me, then nodded slowly and heavily.Master Yuri stared at the suitcase for a while, smoking his pipe, before turning his head to the police department. "But, Mr. Asahara, for the sake of prudence, it's better to investigate this matter in advance, right?" "what……?" "According to Sagara, Ms. Hara Sakura decided to take the next train to Osaka. In other words, she planned to take the train that departed around 11:00 am on the 19th and arrived after 9:00 pm that night. We have all I have always been convinced that Ms. Hara Sakura did take that train to come here, but did she actually take that train? I think this matter needs to be investigated first. For a lady of her status, if it is true After taking a ride, no matter how deceptive her dress is, it is impossible for her to be completely undetected. So should we investigate the driver and waiter on that train..." Master Yuri suddenly stopped in the middle of his words, looked at the Asahara police department, and noticed that the police department coughed meaningfully, as if they had something to say. The police department pretended to say: "Actually, I noticed this problem a long time ago. Before I came here, I asked the station master to help investigate. It just so happened that the conductor and waiter who were in charge of that train at that time were not on duty now, and they happened to be still in the station. So the station master got them here for me. I just asked them the questions you mentioned!" Master Yuli leaned forward slightly and said. "So, what's the result..." "The answer is no. Both of them concluded that Ms. Hara Sakura never took that bus. After all, Ms. Hara Sakura's status is such that if she was on that bus, it would be impossible not to be discovered. The driver said that he was checking tickets that day. After going through the entire car, he was sure that Ms. Hara Sakura was not in the car. Moreover, the driver and the waiter were very sure that there was no woman in the car with a veil covering her face." "Ok……" Master Yuri exhaled heavily from his nostrils. "Did Sagara see Ms. Hara Sakura getting off the train at Shinagawa Station with her own eyes? Maybe Ms. Hara Sakura just pretended to get off the train, but actually walked into another car..." "No, that's not the case. Sagara said that she saw Ms. Hara Sakura get off the train in a hurry at Shinagawa Station, walked up the overpass connecting the platform and left. So Ms. Hara Sakura definitely didn't take the original train. But This must be based on the fact that what Sagara said is credible..." "I think we can trust what Sagara said, at least this incident is credible." Master Yuli silently handed over the music score that had just cracked the code to the police department.The police department took a look and took a deep breath. "Ah, then...then, Ms. Hara Sakura returned to Atago's apartment because of this letter?" "Yes. As Sagara said, Ms. Hara Sakura originally planned to take the next train to Osaka. Since she didn't take that train, it means that something must have happened. The next train after eleven o'clock The train is...?" "The next bus will leave in the afternoon. Because the time when Hara Sakura was killed is estimated to be between 9:00 p.m. Killed on the train, so the crime scene is in Tokyo." "And then stuff her into this suitcase..." I had the illusion that the suitcase under my feet would suddenly spurt blood. "That's what happened. It makes sense in terms of timing. The suitcase was brought to Osaka by the train from Tokyo at 10:15 p.m. Kill Hara Sakura in Tokyo, then stuff her into this suitcase, and quickly transport it to Tokyo Station for consignment, so there must be time." "Then the murderer falsely used Tsuchiya Kyouzo's name?" "That's right, that's right. But Tsuchiya was already in Osaka at the time... No matter who the prisoner is, he must have been in Tokyo before 10:15 p.m. on the 19th, and came to Osaka on the morning of the 20th." Not only that, he must also be someone who is familiar with the inside story of the opera troupe." At this time, the criminal police brought in a locksmith.The locksmith squatted in front of the suitcase, took out his eating tool, and fiddled with it.Not long after, the lock on the box lid snapped open. "Oh, thanks. Thank you for your hard work, you can go back." After the locksmith reluctantly walked out of the room with a suspicious expression on his face, the police department put their hands on the trunk lid.I know that there is nothing inside, but I can still feel that the atmosphere at the scene is extremely dignified.After the police department and Master Yuri exchanged glances with each other, they suddenly lifted the lid of the box. Our eyes looked into the suitcase at the same time. The suitcase was really empty.The old suitcase appeared to be indistinguishable except for the worn lining.Master Yuli bent down to check the inside of the suitcase, poked his hand into the hole in the bottom lining of the suitcase, and searched for a long time.The master suddenly smiled and held out his hand to us—a withered and faded rose petal stuck to his finger. The police department was silent, took the petal, and put it in the notepad. The master still maintained that posture and continued to investigate the inside of the lining.When he stood up, he spread his palms in front of us like a magician. His palms were covered with countless grains of sand.

---

Notes: