Chapter 13 Chapter 12 Another Murder Case

Seipzeso is located at the foot of Atago Mountain. It is a small and neat apartment. Although the scale is far smaller than Akebono Apartment in Osaka, it is even better in terms of cleanliness.It is worth mentioning that this apartment can also be entered with shoes, and can be entered and exited freely through the side door without passing in front of the caretaker.In terms of these points, it is very similar to Shu Apartment. It seems that it is indeed a place suitable for trysts between men and women. We got off the car in front of the apartment, and Goi from the newspaper office ran over as soon as he saw me.

"Thanks a lot." "You have worked hard too. I just called the newspaper office and I heard that you found this place. Have you investigated the suite suspected to be rented by Hara Sakura?" "I, it's a pity..." Goi shrugged his shoulders and continued: "I found this place after six o'clock this morning, one step ahead of the police. I discussed with the administrator and asked him to let me see the suite, but he refused to agree. Just when we While the argument was going on, the police also arrived and kicked me out. What a disappointment."

"Oh, that's it. It's okay, you come with us too. What? Worried about the police? It'll be all right." When we entered through the side door, the first thing we saw was a warehouse-like room, and the second room that followed seemed to be the suite suspected to be rented by Hara Sakura.The hallway turned a corner in front of this suite, which meant that this suite was on the corner.Not only that, but as we walked further, we found that the corridor had turned a corner again, forming a situation parallel to the corridor at the beginning.Therefore, the suite we want to investigate is equal to the innermost place after entering the apartment.That is, there is only this suite at the corner at the end of the corridor.As I said before, this apartment is not big. Although it is small and tidy, it also has the disadvantages of narrow corridors, not high enough ceilings, and insufficient lighting.This leads to a gloomy feeling throughout the apartment, and I don't think it's all due to the fact that it's morning.

Walking in from the side door and turning the first corner is the door of the suite, and a criminal policeman stands in front of the door. "So, it does look like a hidden place far away from human habitation." Master Yuri looked back at me and then smiled, it was a kind of deep smile. The criminal police opened the door, and we immediately filed in.The suite is divided into two small rooms, one is a simple kitchen that can be used for some simple cooking, but there is no trace of those kitchen utensils being used.Although the furniture in the small room inside is simple, it can be seen that it has been carefully designed, and many small daily items are placed.Curtains on the wall, a lounge chair that looks very comfortable, three mirrors, tables and chairs... There is also a crumpled pillow at the head of the lounge chair.I felt an indescribable sense of disgust at the sight of these objects.Everything in this room is the ironclad evidence that Hara Sakura betrayed her husband.But……

While looking around the room, my eyes suddenly settled on one point. "Grandmaster!" "Huh? What? What did you find?" "Look, the front of that three-way mirror..." "Oh, that picture. Have you seen that picture?" In the frame in front of the three-way mirror was a picture of a young man.After waiting for the Police Department to take a look at it, they suddenly opened their eyes wide, walked quickly to the mirror, and quickly grasped the frame to look at it.Afterwards, he looked back at us with a deeply moved look in his eyes. "Master, now we can finally confirm that this incident is related to the murder of Fujimoto Shoji. This is Fujimoto's photo."

"Fujimoto's..." Master Yuli touched the frame with a hint of doubt in his eyes, but he immediately changed his eyes to concentrate and looked at the photo carefully. "Let me see. Well, this is what Fujimoto looks like. By the way, wait a minute, what about the baby photo clipped here?" I stood behind the master and looked intently at the frame, which contained a half-length photo of Fujimoto himself, and a four-inch photo of a cute baby underneath.The baby in the photo is about eight or nine months old, just learning to turn over. Wearing baby clothes, a small face sticks out of the cradle, innocent and cute like a doll.

"Master, this must be a photo of Fujimoto when he was a child. You see, the people in these two photos look very similar." It's a bit similar to what the police department said.But it is not easy to see the appearance of a twenty-six or seven-year-old from a baby who is eight or nine months old. "I see. From the fact that these two photos are clipped in the same frame, you may be right. But why did you clip the photo of Fujimoto's baby here together? Who will own this 20 Photos from many years ago..." As if to answer Master Yuri's doubts, the report content of Fujimoto Shoji's life experience that I read in newspapers and magazines suddenly appeared in my mind.I suddenly became inexplicably excited, feeling hot all over and dry mouth.

"Master, this photo..., this photo of the baby should belong to Ms. Hara Sakura, right? If so, could Ms. Hara Sakura be the biological mother of Fujimoto Shoji..." Master Yuri and the Waitori Police Department suddenly looked at me speechless, but in the next second, the Waitori Police Department reached out to rub their temples with a rustling sound.This is his habitual action when he is emotional. "That's right... Maybe it's like this..., no, it must be like this! Otherwise, she couldn't have clipped the photos of Fujimoto's baby and adulthood together here. I have also read about Fujimoto Chapter II before. The report is unmistakable, Fujimoto is Hara Sakura's son! He is Hara Sakura's illegitimate son. His voice and moving singing are all inherited from Hara Sakura."

Master Yuri stared wide-eyed, looking at the photo and us interactively.This incident seemed to make Master Yuri agitated, he touched his chin and said: "Wait, we have to carefully investigate Fujimoto's past again, and we must thoroughly understand the background of this man's growth. Besides, I think Hara Sakura must have come here directly after getting off the train at Shinagawa Station on the 19th. , but the question is whether there is evidence to support this?" We found evidence right away in the room.When Hara Sakura got off the train from Shinagawa Station, although she handed her luggage to Chieko Sagara, she took the bouquet of roses that Tatsuhiko Ono gave her.I think Hara Sakura must have rushed to this room immediately after getting out of the car, and put the bouquet of roses on the table.Because in the folds of the tablecloth, there are two rose petals.

"Okay! Now it's finally confirmed that Hara Sakura has come here. Is there anything else..." At this moment, the detective who was peeping under the recliner suddenly let out a strange scream. "What, what's the matter? What did you find?" "Sand... There's a pile of sand under the deck chair." We all looked under the couch together.At first glance, there is a hill formed of sand in the deepest part under the deck chair.The police department immediately wanted to move the reclining chair, but Master Yuri stopped him, and instead drove us all to the corner of the room, and then lifted the carpet in front of the reclining chair.There was a lot of sand under the carpet, and on the sand all over the floor, there was obviously a trace of a square-shaped object being placed.

"Is this the trace of a suitcase?" Wait for the Police Department to lower the volume and murmur. "Yeah. Bring that suitcase over later and compare it with this trace. I don't think it's wrong..." "Master, so Hara Sakura was killed in this room?" A chill ran down my spine, I asked. "Oh, it seems so..., no, it must be so. Hara Sakura must have been knocked out here by the murderer with a sandbag, and then strangled to death. After strangling Hara Sakura, the murderer stuffed her body into the Put it in the suitcase and transport it to Tokyo Station." Master Yuri listened silently to the police department expressing his opinion, and once again I felt a chill run down my spine. Because the forensic autopsy found that Hara Sakura was killed between 9:00 and 11:00 p.m. on the 19th, even if the murderer strangled her to death at around 9:00 p.m. There was only time to transport the suitcase to Tokyo Station.To do this, it must be carefully planned in advance.That's the case, no wonder Master Yuli would say that this is a murder carefully planned by the murderer... As if possessed by a ghost, I stared at this ominous grain of sand with horror and gloom.After a while, Master Yuri said as if he had just woken up from a dream. "Don't mess with the things here, we should first ask the administrator about the situation here, and find out when Hara Sakura rented this suite..." We walked into another small room, that is, the one with simple kitchen equipment, closed the door that separated the two small rooms, and brought in the female administrator who had been waiting in the corridor for a long time.Unexpectedly, what this woman said was a bit beyond our expectations. "The police came to me just now and said that there seems to be something wrong with this room. I just checked the account books. The lady named Yuan Qingzi signed the lease for this room on June 5th, and then..." "June 5th? Do you mean last June? Or this June?" asked the police department in surprise. "Of course it was June this year. She paid half a month's rent in advance, so although I felt a little uneasy at first, I decided to rent the house to her. At that time, the lady said that she was a writer, because There are often guests at home, so I can’t create quietly, so I plan to use this place as a workplace. She said that she would come here often, but she would not live here. After two or three days, she asked someone to move the tables, chairs, It was only when the sofa and other furniture were brought in that I settled down... People like us who are in charge of renting out houses have seen people from all walks of life, so we try our best not to ask about the tenant's private affairs. Besides, they don't I stay here often, and even if I come, I will go back immediately, so I don't take this matter particularly seriously." "So you were not aware of a young man who frequented this suite?" "No, I know that. It's just that I've never seen that man with my own eyes.... Mrs. Kawaguchi, who lives across from this suite, once mentioned this to me. The former lady rarely comes in through the front door. If a man comes, he will probably go through the side door next to him, right?" "Then, you don't know what kind of woman Yuan Qingzi is?" "No, I know that too. Mrs. Kawaguchi told me about it. At first I didn't realize that she was such a famous person, because she always covered her face with a veil. In fact, even if I saw her face, She doesn't have to worry about what a little commoner like me will do to her... However, Mrs. Kawaguchi told me about this about a month ago, and I was really taken aback. After private investigation, I found out that Kiyoko It's really her real name, and the place of household registration she wrote when signing the contract is really a mansion located in Ushigome District. It's not surprising at all. I thought to myself, after all, she is a famous big shot , It’s not a big deal to want an unknown hiding place, so I didn’t pay special attention to it.” "But, you should have read the news about her murder in Osaka recently? Why didn't you inform the police about her renting a house here?" "Well, I know about this news, and Mrs. Kawaguchi warned me about it. But what does her death in Osaka have to do with this apartment? If there is a relationship, the police will come to investigate sooner or later, then Just wait for the police to come and investigate..." Wait for the Police Department to be speechless angrily.It wasn't until now that I realized how sophisticated the murderer's crimes were.If this murder had happened in Tokyo, the administrator would have called the police immediately.In order to avoid this situation, Hara Sakura's body must be found in Osaka.Although this apartment will attract the attention of the police sooner or later, the later the apartment is discovered by the police, the better it is for the murderer.In this way, perhaps the prisoner did not expect the police to find the apartment so early. "It's useless to say anything now. But if you find anything strange in the future, please call the police immediately." The police department warned her with a downcast face.Master Yuli then asked without haste: "So, Mrs. Kawaguchi was the first to find out that the woman was Ms. Hara Sakura?" "yes." "So, is Mrs. Kawaguchi here now? I'd like to ask her to come over." "Well..., I think she should be here. Do you need me to call her?" "Well, please." After the administrator walked out of the room, I said to Master Yuri: "Master, I always feel that something is not right. If Hara Sakura rented this suite in June, who is she meeting here? I always thought it was Fujimoto Shoji..." "I don't know. But we can be sure that the object of Hara Sakura's tryst is not Fujimoto. Because this suite was only rented by Hara Sakura in June, that is, after Fujimoto was killed." "I don't understand, what is the relationship between Fujimoto's murder and this case?" Just as the police department said these words, a woman with short hair poked her head out from behind the door timidly. "Oh, are you Mrs. Kawaguchi? This way please." "I am. That... Excuse me... I heard from the administrator that you seem to be looking for me..." "Yes, we have a few things to ask. I heard that you knew that the owner of this house was Ms. Hara Sakura before this?" "Yes. Well, I'm not entirely sure that she is Ms. Hara Sakura herself, this is just my personal guess..." "What do you mean? Didn't you see clearly what the woman who came in and out of this suite looked like?" "No, because... because her face is always covered with a layer of tulle..., so I haven't seen her face clearly. However, I think there is one thing that is very strange..." "Things that feel strange? Mrs. Kawaguchi, can you speak clearly?" Perhaps it was because of Master Yuri's calm response, Mrs. Kawaguchi gradually calmed down, and continued. "I have the impression that the lady rented this room in early June. The suite around the corner from the corridor is my home. Since we live so close, I want to keep the distance between each other as close as possible. I heard The administrator said she doesn't live here, she just comes here to work, she seems to be a writer... so I can't help but wonder what kind of person she is?" Hara Sakura's strange whereabouts seemed to ignite the curiosity that women often have. "However, I later discovered that besides the lady, there was also a young man who often came in and out of this room through the side door. He always behaved furtively, as if he was afraid of being seen. But I I've never seen him appear with Ms. Hara Sakura...that is, the woman with the veil. They always appear alone and then go away separately. But I didn't spy on them. So they are in this room What to do, I don't know." When Mrs. Kawaguchi said this, she couldn't help but look ashamed. "There is another thing that is very strange. Once Ms. Hara Sakura entered this suite not long ago, I felt as if someone was in the corridor, so I opened the door and saw the young man who often came running away. The direction, that is, ran to the porch. Walk a few steps forward from my door, and then turn right and immediately after the porch, he ran away like this. At that time, I thought there must be something wrong, but I It was impossible to follow him. And I had something important to do at the time, so I had to ignore it. About ten minutes later, I tiptoed to the door of this suite, and unexpectedly, a man and the leader walked out of the room without warning. Veiled Lady." "Ah, wait a minute. Is this man you're talking about the young man who comes here often?" "No, it's not. As I said just now, the young man who came here often fled towards the entrance, and this happened after that. And..., and I was the one who walked out of the room with the veiled lady Well-known people. He is a different person from the young men who come here frequently." "That's it. You said that man is someone you know well? Who is he?" "Mr. Tenor Ono....I'm a fan of his, so I know very well that it was the tenor Mr. Ono who walked out of the room with the veiled lady." We were shocked and couldn't help but look at each other.Master Yuri's eyes shone with astonishment, and he stroked his chin with his hand. "I see. So the young man who comes here so often is someone else?" "Yes, they are two different people. That was the first and only time I saw Mr. Ono here." "When did that happen?" "I think it should be exactly a month ago. At that time, the lady with the veil was in a panic, looking like she was about to pass out at any time, and she seemed to be crying. Mr. Ono helped her to leave through the side door. At that time I heard Mr. Ono say: "Teacher, you have to be strong!" I took a deep breath. Only then did I realize that the teacher Mr. Ono was talking about, that is, the lady named Yuan... turned out to be The well-known Ms. Hara Sakura. I was shocked by this fact at the time, so I also informed the administrator." This is where things get more and more complicated. When I heard that Hara Sakura was having a tryst with a certain man, I immediately thought of Ono.But when he came here, what was caught in the frame was Fujimoto's photo.At that time, I once doubted whether the person who had a tryst with Hara Sakura was Fujimoto, but judging from the time, it is impossible for her to have a tryst with Fujimoto.So my focus of thinking returned to Ono again.But as Mrs. Kawaguchi said, the man who often comes here is not Ono.In this way, who is that man?How many young men surrounded Hara Sakura? "By the way, Mrs. Kawaguchi, I would like to ask you about that young man who often comes here. What kind of person do you think he is? The outline of the facial features is also good. I wonder if you have any impression?" "Well, well... I often pass him in the hallway, but he always looks away immediately, and he carries a pair of thick-rimmed blue glasses, and he wraps half of them in a scarf Face..., so I don't know what he looks like. Basically, though, he's a fair-skinned young man of medium build. Also... oh, I remember, he always wears a raincoat or The coat collar was turned up. The only time he left it unbuttoned was when I saw what he was wearing under the coat. I was particularly impressed by the fact that he was wearing a long dress with the hem open and the collar turned back It's a bit faded, but the colors are still very bright. He always looks very handsome with a slender cane tucked under his arm." "What did you say? That man had a slender cane tucked under his arm? He was also wearing a long dress with a faded collar?" At this time, Goi suddenly walked up to us. "Well, I'm not mistaken, I only saw him unbuttoned his coat once." "He wore a fur hat very low, and covered his facial features with blue glasses and a scarf...?" "Yes, that's what it is." "Wujing, what's the matter? Do you know that man?" "Mr. Mitsuki." Goi said in a voice as if being strangled by someone. "I just ran into that man here, just over the side door... I didn't know that this suite was near the side door, so I let him go without asking. Who knew that as soon as he stepped out the door, He even ran away like he was running away." When Master Yuri heard Wujing's words, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared at Wujing viciously. "Is it true what you say? When did you meet him?" "An hour or so before you got here, no, maybe a little earlier. I think it was around seven-thirty." "Mitsuki." Master Yuri immediately turned to me and said: "Call the newspaper immediately and ask them to contact the Osaka authorities. Tell them to quickly investigate and see if any members of the Hara Sakura Opera Troupe were not in the hotel during the period from last night to this morning!" I immediately ran to the administrator's office and borrowed a phone from him to call the General Newspaper Office. Fortunately, it was the editor-in-chief Tanabe who answered the phone.The editor-in-chief barked at me as soon as he heard it was my voice. "Mitsuki, why did you leave Osaka? Something big happened at Hotel N last night!" "I know, someone's missing, right?" "Oh, mezzo-soprano Chieko Sagara seems to have disappeared since last night, but that's not what I'm referring to. Someone was killed in Hotel N last night." "Hey, eh, eh? You, what are you talking about!" I held the microphone tightly, my whole body seemed to be frozen, and I completely lost consciousness. "Who was killed?" "Shimadzu just called to tell me...that the person who was killed was Junpei Amamiya, the manager's assistant. You go back to Osaka immediately!"