Chapter 20 Chapter 19 The Baritone's Sigh

"Mr. Shiga, I have something to ask you, I'll open the door and come in." Upon opening the door, we see Shiga standing by the window with his hands in his pockets.On his dark-skinned, deep-lined face, there was still an indelible sadness.From the bottom of his sorrow, there seems to be a glimpse of worry. "What is it? If I can answer it..." Shiga didn't look like he was going to sit down, nor did he intend to ask us to sit down.The question and answer between Master Yuri and Shiga will inevitably be conducted standing up. "What I want to ask you is nothing, but when you saw the evening paper yesterday, you seemed to be taken aback. What did you see? Do you have an impression of that suitcase?"

"Evening paper...? The suitcase...?" Shiga frowned inexplicably, his face darkened visibly. "Oh, that, what I saw in the hall downstairs...? No, it wasn't the report on the suitcase that surprised me. What surprised me was..." Shiga picked up yesterday's evening paper from the vanity case. "This report. This Shanghai telegram mentions that Saeki Junkichi committed suicide by taking poison on board." Master Yuri raised his eyebrows suddenly. "Oh, so you know Mr. Saeki?" "I know him. Saeki and I, Tsuchiya, and Makino-san used to be good friends who wore the same pair of pants. I did something sorry for him, so Saeki's suicide was a big blow to me."

"Sorry about him?" "At one o'clock in the afternoon on the 20th, Saeki will take a boat from Kobe to go abroad. I made an appointment with him to meet near the embankment, have a meal together, and bid farewell to him. However, I missed the appointment because of an inexplicable incident. He must Waiting for me until the last moment before the ship left the port. But in the end, I still did not show up. I thought he must be very lonely at that time. A sad man, no one saw him off, and left his homeland alone. When I thought of..., I Thinking of this friend committing suicide shortly after that, I was very angry with myself, why didn’t I send him off? No matter what happened, I should have sent him off! Whenever I think of this, I feel so sad.”

Shiga sighed deeply. "That's why. That's why you were so surprised after reading that report. But you just mentioned that you missed the appointment because of an inexplicable event. What does the inexplicable event mean?" Shiga raised his eyebrows suddenly, glanced sharply at Master Yuri, shrugged his shoulders and said. "Since things have turned into this situation, I will tell you everything. That morning, that is, the morning of the 20th, I received a telegram from Hara Sakura..., no, Ms. Hara Sakura. It was around nine o'clock It was sent from Umeda. In retrospect, Ms. Hara Sakura was no longer in this world, but of course I didn't know about it at the time. The telegram said: "I have an urgent matter to discuss with you, please come as soon as possible In front of Minoh Waterfall.'”

"So you went?" "Yes. To me, Hara Sakura... Ms. Hara Sakura's request is no different from the imperial decree." When Shiga spoke, his cheeks flushed quickly, but he raised his head generously and continued. "The reason why Saeki's death shakes my heart so much is because of this incident. The two of us have very similar states of mind. Both Saeki and I have fallen in love with women who should not be loved. As long as it is Ms. Hara Sakura's request , Even if I give up my friendship, I will never turn back. I thought Saeki should be able to understand why I did this, but..."

"I see, so you went to Minoh, but Ms. Hara Sakura didn't show up until the end, so you turned back to Osaka? Do you still have the telegram from that time?" "No. On the way back by tram, I got so angry at the thought of being cheated that I tore it up and threw it away." The police interjected. "You set off from Tokyo on the night of the 18th and arrived here on the morning of the 19th, didn't you? Please explain your actions on the 19th?" "On the 19th...? Well, good. First, I went west with Tsuchiya. Tsuchiya got off at Osaka, and I went directly to Sannomiya in Kobe. Although the things I have to do in Kobe are urgent, they are very urgent. It was simple, and it was done in a short while. Then I left the hotel at nine o'clock in the morning and went hiking in the back mountains of Kobe. I crossed Rokko and descended from Takarazuka. It was already evening when I arrived in Takarazuka. Soaked in hot springs, used After dinner, I went to Osaka to wander around, and I didn’t return to Sannomiya’s hotel until about ten o’clock in the evening to rest.”

"So, on the night of the 19th, can the people at the hotel prove that you were in the Sannomiya restaurant?" "prove……" Shiga suddenly tilted his head uneasily, and looked at the police department's face in surprise. "Well... the hotel people... When I returned to the hotel, the hotel people had already dozed off behind the counter. I had the room key with me, and I thought there was no need to wake him up, so I just went straight to the hotel. Went to bed. I was, however, in the room when the waiter brought me the telegram on the morning of the twentieth."

"When you left the hotel on the morning of the 19th and hiked in Kobe's back mountains, did you meet any friends? No, it doesn't matter if it's not a friend. Is there anyone who can prove that you went hiking?" Faced with such a direct question from the police department, Shiga blinked in confusion. "No. After all, I am a foreigner in Kobe, let alone in the mountains... But, why is this necessary?" "It's nothing, I'm just thinking about this possibility now. If you rush back to Tokyo immediately after finishing your work in Shen-hu on the morning of the 19th, clean up everything after committing a crime in Tokyo, and then take the night train to the west immediately." , and then got off in Osaka on the morning of the 20th, and sent a telegram to himself from Umeda in the name of Ms. Hara Sakura. Then sneaked back to the hotel in Sannomiya, sneaked into his room, and waited for the waiter to bring the telegram . . . I wonder if this is possible."

Suddenly, the veins on Shiga's face were exposed.He stared at the police department's face for a long time with a fierce gaze, and then let out a lunatic laugh from the back of his throat. "Yeah. If you look at it from the perspective of possibility, it's not impossible. At least, no one can prove that I didn't do it." Shiga sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, put his head in his hands, and remained silent. I stared at Shiga's huge back for a long time.What the police department said just now made me suddenly realize that possibility is ubiquitous, and alibi is so difficult to obtain.I can't help but feel a chill, this is not a matter that has nothing to do with me, there is no guarantee that one day I will not be involved in a murder case.

Master Yuri patted Shiga's shoulder lightly. "Okay, okay, there's nothing to be depressed about. After all, Asahara is not very confident in what he said just now. However, Mr. Shiga, there is one thing that I find incredible. Why did you still Are you interested in going hiking? Can't you use that time to see Mr. Saeki?" "Why is it possible? Saeki left Tokyo on the morning of the 20th, and he wasn't in Kobe on the 19th..." Master Yuri suddenly widened his eyes. "He didn't arrive in Kobe until the 20th? So, shouldn't he be on the same train as the opera troupe?"

"Maybe. Otherwise it's the next train." "Mr. Shiga, Mr. Saeki and Mr. Murano are old acquaintances, right? If they took the same train, Mr. Saeki would chat with Mr. Makino, right?" "I'm not sure about that. But I don't think so. Although we are old acquaintances, Mr. Makino and Saeki have been strangers recently. Besides, Saeki seems to try his best not to associate with others... He just wants to avoid All my friends will leave Japan." "I see. Thank you for your answer. Mr. Shiga, I might invite you to come over later. That's all for now. Thank you for your assistance." Then we climbed up to the fifth floor.