Chapter 7 Chapter Seven A Woman

"Go see her!" Totsukawa said. "She? Who is it?" Kamei asked. "Mrs. Hoshino Isao!" Totsukawa said. When Isao Hoshino went to work in the company, Totsukawa and the others went to his home. "My husband is not at home." Totsukawa said to Hoshino Masako who was working: "Today we came to see you specially." With that said, the two were let into the house. After a while, Masako came out in a kimono. She was pale and seemed a little unwell. She brought up two cups of coffee. "Do you want to ask me something?" Masako looked anxiously at Totsukawa, then at Kamei.

No expression! Totsukawa said while thinking: "We want to hear about the time when you and your husband were married." "It's been five years." "We know that." "Then what do the police suspect of me?" Masako said without expression or change. "Five years ago, a girl named Keiko Yasuda died. You married your husband, of course you should know about that girl." When Totsukawa said this, Masako Hoshino said "hmm" and nodded. "There was a lot written about it in the weekly magazines, and I heard some from my husband."

"At that time your husband... no, at that time he was not called Hoshino Kou, but Yamano Michiko, what did he say to you?" "Say it's all true, and say she killed herself because she liked him so much." "What did you say when you heard that statement?" Kamei asked. "I didn't say anything." "Did you really say nothing?" Kamei asked again, Masako's expression wavered. "What can I say? That she's dead, that's great? Or am I going to cry because she's dead?" "Have you not considered breaking off your engagement with your husband?"

Totsukawa asked. "No." "why?" "why?!" Yazi asked back. "My husband is already in great pain, and I should comfort him." Masako said, but it seemed that she was a little nervous. "Haven't you ever wondered if Ms. Yasuda committed suicide?" "Why should I doubt this?" Masako regained her calmness just now, and looked at Totsukawa calmly, as if they were asking for the sake of asking, and she was also answering for the sake of answering, as if she was sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai.Totsukawa couldn't tell what Masako was thinking at this moment.

"Do you remember what you said when you first met your husband?" Kamei asked. "Remember." "What's your impression of him?" "A bright, quick-witted clerk. In fact, that's what he is." "When did you propose to marry him?" "This... I don't remember clearly." "Before Ms. Yasuda died, or after she died?" "before that." "Did you know then that your husband had a fiancée?" "I don't know. But he told me that he had a better girlfriend, and he also mentioned Keiko Yasuda's name, and said that she wanted to marry him. So I think she committed suicide out of desperation. About this One point, I also felt a certain responsibility at the time, but this is the relationship between a man and a woman, and there is no way to force it."

Yazi said very calmly. "Has the subject of her ever been raised between you and your husband?" When Totsukawa asked, Masako frowned in displeasure, and said emphatically: "No!" "Do you have a relationship...have a child?" Totsukawa asked with a smile. Suddenly, Masako's expression became impulsive. "It's too much!" Masako's voice trembled slightly. Why is she so nervous? While thinking about it, Totsukawa continued to ask: "I mean, there are only two people in such a big room. Isn't it too lonely? Don't you want a child?"

"Whether we want to have children or not is our private life and has nothing to do with the police!" Masako said in a serious tone. As a result, there was no room for conversation between the two parties, and Masako turned her head to the side. Totsukawa decided to call it a day. After the two left, Kamei asked. "Such a heavy woman, why does she get so angry when she asks about the child?" "Perhaps the child can bring back unhappy memories for her." "Investigate it?" Kamei asked. The next day, Kamei took Nishimoto to the maternity hospital in the city to learn about the situation, and did not come back until evening.

"It's the same as the police department estimated!" He excitedly said to Totsukawa. "She had a miscarriage?" "Yes! In October of the second year of marriage. When she knew she was pregnant, she had an artificial abortion at Maeda Maternity Hospital in Shinjuku at the beginning of the fifth month." "Is that why she gets so excited when it comes to talking about the baby?" "Yes, and we heard interesting things at Maeda Hospital." "What's up?" "This is what the head nurse said. She remembered very clearly Hoshino Masako who was in the emergency hospital at that time. When she knew that she was going to have an abortion, this Masako shouted like crazy: 'It's that child's retribution!'"

"retribution?" "yes." "What does it mean?" "Yeah, the head nurse was also taken aback. And she remembered other things about Masako." "Did Masako have an abortion before?" "No, it's not. The head nurse says she's a primipara." "retribution?" Totsukawa pondered the word. There must be something in Masako's past, and it's big!Speaking of "retribution", maybe it refers to who died? "Let's find out if there were any dead children around her before she had a miscarriage."

Totsukawa ordered. In fact, Totsukawa couldn't explain why he made such a decision, but he thought it would be somewhat valuable. In this regard, Totsukawa mobilized all the criminal police to read all the newspapers five years ago. Therefore, the miniature versions of various newspapers were sent to the search headquarters that year.They all watched very carefully. After spending one night, Totsukawa and the others finally discovered a very important piece of news. Five years ago, on February 7, there was a car hit-and-run incident near Gotemba. The deceased was a 7-year-old girl who attended elementary school nearby.

There were no witnesses, so the perpetrators have not been found. The reason why Totsukawa was very interested in this matter was because it happened one month before Yasuda Keiko's death, and it was very close to Hoshino's villa. So Totsukawa called the Gotemba Police Station, wanting to inquire about the details of the car accident. Detective Taniguchi of the Traffic Division, who was in charge of the investigation at the time, said to Totsukawa: "Five years have passed, and you still bother with this matter!" "That was about 2:30 p.m.?" "Yes. The dead child was called Miyauchi Yuriko. After she came back from school, she played on the street. First, she was with her brother who was 3 years older than her. Later, her brother's classmate came, so Yuriko wanted to go to the nearby The park. You have to cross the road to get to the park, but unfortunately, a car drove by and knocked her twelve or three meters away!" "Are there really no witnesses?" Totsukawa asked. "We investigated with all our might and found nothing, but the car might help." "Car?" "Yes. The car that hit the person drove away quickly, but the car stopped at first. Maybe the owner was scared later, and the car has not been seen for the next five years." Taniguchi said. "Do you know the type of car?" "Analyzed from the fragments that fell from the found car, it is a white Mercedes-Benz produced in 1980, but I don't know which county it is from, so I don't know who the owner of the car is." After Taniguchi finished speaking, he asked again: "What clues do you have?" "No, not yet. If I find out, I will tell you right away." Totsukawa said to Taniguchi. Putting down the phone, Totsukawa's eyes sparkled, and he looked at Kamei excitedly: "Things seem to be on the mend!" "You mean this car accident is related to Masako?" Kamei asked. "Yes, but it's still just reasoning. We need to find out whether Masako Hoshino went to the villa in Gotemba in a white Mercedes-Benz on February 7 five years ago, and whether he was with Isao Hoshino, and see if it is It wasn't Isao Hoshino's car." "That is to say, did Isao Hoshino hit that girl to death with his car?" "Yes! After hitting someone, the two drove away." "So Masako yelled 'retribution' when she had a miscarriage?" "But what does this have to do with Keiko Yasuda?" Kamei asked. "Let me make a bold guess first: Could it be that Keiko Yasuda followed them? Because the local police said that judging from the car marks, it seemed that there was a car behind them." "You mean Keiko Yasuda followed them because of jealousy?" "Probably so." "So, she became a witness to the girl they ran over to death?" When Kamei said this, his face gradually turned red. "Keiko Yasuda has become a witness, and her existence is a threat to Isao Hoshino and Masako Hoshino. Maybe she will threaten the two of them at the price. For example, she can say that if Isao Hoshino Marry her, and she won't report to the police. But for a man, it's like getting married with a bomb in his arms." "So he resorted to homicide in the form of a fake suicide?" "Yes, so they carefully planned an illusion of committing suicide due to a broken relationship. Then, Hoshino spread his self-blame and guilt everywhere, and of course no one would force him, let alone doubt him. gone." "Then the person who called the weekly magazine is most likely Isao Hoshino!" Kamei said excitedly. "Yes, Isao Hoshino must be afraid. He is afraid that people will know the truth about Keiko Yasuda's death. He is afraid that people will know that he killed her in order to seal the mouth of Keiko Yasuda who was abandoned by him. And if the measures he takes are successful, that is, if People think that Yasuda committed suicide, so at most he will be condemned morally, but he can escape legal trial." "That is to say, if Masako Hoshino was also sitting in the car at that time, she would have become an accomplice, so they decided to get married!" Kamei further analyzed. "Yes. Therefore, the first step is to create an 'alibi' for killing Ms. Yasuda Keiko, and then lead to killing the younger brother who knows the secret." Totsukawa supports Kamei's analysis. "Finally found his motive!" "But it's all speculation, and there's no evidence yet!" Totsukawa said cautiously. "Okay, let's start by investigating whether Masako Hoshino had a white Mercedes five years ago!" Kamei said. Could this be a breakthrough? Hoshino Masako is 30 years old and graduated from the Chinese Department of K University. Totsukawa and Kamei asked some of her classmates and friends back then about the situation. In it they heard some interesting things. Masako got her driver's license in college and often drives a car her father bought for her. This alone is nothing, but two years ago when the classmates met again, she said that she did not have a driver's license.Asked her why at the time, she only said that she had no interest in driving. "She's not that kind of person!" The students said to Totsukawa. "why?" Totsukawa asked. "She used to be a car fanatic, but she suddenly lost interest in driving. We thought maybe it was because once she got married, her interests changed?" "Will she hire a driver? That way she doesn't have to drive, and saves troubles such as exams and annual inspections..." "But didn't she drive well in college?" "What was her car like in college?" Kamei asked. "It's a domestic racing car." "But according to her status, she should drive a foreign limousine!" Hearing what Kamei said, her classmates laughed: "Even she said so herself. However, it is said that her father said that during school, she would drive a domestic car to make do, and after graduation, she would definitely buy her a 'Mercedes-Benz' or 'Volkswagen' imported brand-name car." "Did you see it later?" Totsukawa asked. "Yes. About a year and a half after graduation, we went to her house to play together. She let us go for a drive, and we got into a car of her family." "What kind of car was that?" "White 'Mercedes'." The female classmate said excitedly. "Is she driving well?" "Of course!" "Then why haven't they opened recently?" "Yeah, two years ago, I also drove to find her and asked her to go for a ride together, but she said she wouldn't drive. I was surprised at the time." "Didn't she say why she didn't open it?" "I thought there might have been a car accident or something, but she never said that." "She must have had a white 'Mercedes' after college?" Totsukawa asked again urgingly. "That's right, the 'Mercedes' 500SEL, which was the latest model at the time. I was so envious, so I was very impressed." "White Mercedes-Benz." "Yes, she has liked white things since she was a child." The female classmate added another sentence. Totsukawa and Kamei were very happy to hear that. They finally learned that Masako Hoshino once owned a white "Mercedes-Benz" car. "It's getting more and more interesting." Kamei said excitedly. "Perhaps your reasoning is correct." It is unclear whether it was Masako Hoshino or Isao Hoshino who was driving the white Mercedes in the accident five years ago, but a girl must have been killed by them. "Do you want to meet the couple? Maybe they will deny it." Kamei said. "Yeah, will they admit what we know?" Detective Hojo Sanae was arrested by the Shimonoseki Police Station after all. Totsukawa and Kamei visited Hoshino and his wife at night after they found out that they were at home. In the garage next to the gate, they saw a white 'Volkswagen' car parked through the crack of the door, maybe it wasn't theirs. In the large living room, Totsukawa and Kamei sat opposite the Hoshino couple. "What a beautiful car!" Totsukawa cut to the chase when he opened his mouth. "Yes, a bigger car is more convenient and safer." Isao Hoshino said with a smile. "Do you drive it yourself?" "It's been closed for a long time. After all, I'm getting older and the response is not so sensitive." "You used to have a white 'Mercedes-Benz', why is there no more in the garage now!" Kamei asked. "No, we never had a 'Mercedes'." Isao Hoshino firmly denied it. "This is so interesting, and someone has ridden in the white 'Mercedes' driven by my wife!" Kamei glanced at Masako. Masako's face turned pale. "I don't have a driver's license, so I must have never driven a car." "Didn't you have it before? The man also said that it was when the wife was not married, maybe five or six years ago?" "It's been so long that I can't remember." Masako said with a pale face. "Did you get a driver's license in college? Someone remembers you driving a domestic racing car." After Totsukawa finished speaking, Masako let out an "ah" and nodded: "Because I was young then!" "But after you graduated, there was someone who used to ride in the white 'Mercedes-Benz' car you drove. It was a classmate of yours." Totsukawa continued. "That must have been a mistake." Yazi retorted. "Mistaken?" "That car is similar to a 'Mercedes-Benz', but it is actually a domestic car, because it is the largest among domestic cars, so people often confuse it with a 'Mercedes-Benz' car." "What kind of domestic car?" "The 'Crown' car from Toyota." "But the 'Crown' car and the 'Mercedes-Benz' car are very different in the front body. Why do your classmates mistook it for a 'Mercedes-Benz' car? And said it was a 'Mercedes-Benz' 500SEL model?" Totsukawa asked. "I don't understand. Maybe they know I like 'Mercedes' cars, so they think I bought a 'Mercedes' car." Yazi shook his head and said. "Why do you like 'Mercedes' but buy 'Crown'?" Kamei asked. "I just graduated from university, I don't have much money, and I'm too embarrassed to ask my parents for money. I can't afford a 'Mercedes-Benz'!" "Did your husband drive in that 'Crown' before they were married?" Totsukawa turned his gaze to Isao Hoshino. Isao Hoshino looked at a loss all of a sudden. "Well... I've been sitting three times..." He must be thinking no or yes. "Who was driving then?" Totsukawa continued to ask. "Who is it? Sometimes it's me, I remember..." Isao Hoshino said ambiguously. "You have a villa in Hakone, right?" "Yes, it was bought by my father." Masako replied. "You two must have driven there?" "I've been there, the driver drove there." Isao Hoshino replied. "Didn't the two of you drive there before getting married?" "Ah, it seems!" "Five years ago in February, you two weren't married yet, right?" Totsukawa was getting to the heart of the matter more and more. "Yes, not yet. So what?" Isao Hoshino looked at Totsukawa very cautiously. "Remember what happened on February 7 five years ago?" Totsukawa asked, staring closely at Isao Hoshino and his wife. "What happened five years ago?" Isao Hoshino asked back, and looked at Masako Hoshino again. Masako still said without changing her expression: "It's been so long that I can't remember clearly." "That day, near Gotemba in Hakone, there was a car accident and the perpetrator escaped. A 7-year-old girl was run over to death." "Why are you telling us this?" Masako stared at Totsukawa questioningly. "Because the murderer is still at large. There was another car following them at the time and witnessed the scene." "What does this have to do with us?" Isao Hoshino asked excitedly. "The local police are looking for the driver of the car behind, and at the same time considering whether the perpetrator may be the owner of the car, Ms. Hoshino Masako." Totsukawa tore through the window paper. He wanted to observe the reactions of the two men. "I don't remember that happening." After Isao Hoshino finished speaking, Masako also continued: "I think you are mistaken." "But, you did go to the villa in Hakone in February!" "So what?! It's still cold in February, why don't we walk there?!" Isao Hoshino asked angrily. "Really don't you remember that one hit-and-run incident?" Totsukawa asked again. "No, I don't remember." "I don't remember either." It's really a husband and wife. "That's a pity. We thought we could definitely find witnesses, so we came to you." Totsukawa said. "Unfortunately, we were unable to help with this." At this point, the conversation should be over.Kamei glanced at Masako and said: "Excuse me, why are you uncomfortable?" Masako shook her head: "No." "No way, the complexion is not good, it must be sick." Kamei shrugged and said. "Nothing, I'm not sick at all!" "No kids yet?" "Yes, no." Masako said. Asked here, Totsukawa and Kamei got up to say goodbye and left Hoshino's house. They returned to the patrol car.Kamei asked while starting the car: "Does it work?" "Those two people must be the murderer five years ago." Totsukawa said confidently. "You believe so firmly?" "Of course. If it wasn't for the murderer, if they really didn't even see the incident, they would definitely be interested in the hit-and-run incident and would ask all kinds of questions. But they just kept going I insisted that I didn't see it, which is not a normal reaction." "But it is too difficult for us to prove that they are murderers!" "Yes. The only way is to find proof that Masako Hoshino owned a white 'Mercedes' five years ago. I think it's still possible because people who can afford a 'Mercedes' don't A lot." Totsukawa said. "There is another thing worth noting, that is, Masako... Her complexion is indeed not good." Kamei said worriedly while driving. "Actually, I noticed that too. Maybe it's just a common cold?" "Did Hoshino Kou give her some poisonous medicine?" Kamei asked. "To keep her mouth shut?" "Yes! Didn't that guy kill the witness Keiko Yasuda five years ago to silence him? And then he killed his younger brother, and now only one Masako is still alive. She should know everything he did. If Masako Once he dies, he can sit back and relax completely. Moreover, if she is given poison to die, it may be regarded as a death due to illness!" "If that's the case, the common use is arsenic." "I think so." "But how to start the investigation?" Totsukawa looked at Kamei and asked. Kamei also looked at Totsukawa. If this is true, then the problem is much more serious.