Chapter 9 Chapter Nine: Catch the Murderer

There is a vacant lot in Osan, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo.Kazuo Sugimoto's white Blue Sky GT is parked there. When Totsukawa arrived at the scene, the identification personnel were taking fingerprints from the doors and steering wheel.In order not to interfere with their work, Totsukawa quietly peeped at the driver's seat from behind. Technician Nakano from the Appraisal Division noticed Totsukawa and said: "Please get in the car and check, our work is over." "Ah... no, I've already seen what I need to see." Totsukawa laughed. "See it all? You can't see anything standing there!"

"I looked at the fuel gauge. It's not too far from here." "Yes, the tank is more than half full. Is there any problem?" "The four tires are all normal, it seems that there is no fault." "Just checked the engine and it sounds fine." "Since there is still half of the fuel, why did Sugimoto leave the car in this place?" "Yes. This is really worth studying." Nakano nodded and said, "However, to answer this question, it is your job to investigate the first department!" After speaking, he left the scene with other appraisers.

Kamei walked up to Totsukawa and peered into the driver's seat like Totsukawa. "Since Sugimoto fled here, I don't understand why he left the car." Kamei said. Totsukawa didn't answer, but looked around. It used to be a place where fields and miscellaneous forests were overgrown, and now there are still some small patches of miscellaneous forests.The closest place to here is Chitose Wushan Station on the Keio Line, which takes half an hour to walk. "Does Sugimoto's mistress live nearby?" Kamei asked. "If he had a mistress, he wouldn't be attacking young women every Friday."

"Maybe it's possible that it's not easy to pass the checkpoint in his own car, so he gets off here and then steals someone else's car?" "This kind of argument is untenable. Sugimoto got off work early at noon, and when he returned to the apartment, he found that the photos were missing. Maybe the administrator told him about our investigation, so he drove away in a hurry. When the car arrived here, at the latest Before 2:30 p.m. We knew Sugimoto was on the run and issued an arrest warrant, but it was already 4 p.m. Anyway, when Sugimoto got here, our checkpoints wouldn’t be paying attention to him.”

"It makes sense, but it doesn't explain why Sugimoto got off the car here." "Maybe I saw someone here?" "Who did you see?" "have no idea." At this time, Nakano Technician turned back and said to Totsukawa: "Police, we found a strange thing when we checked the fingerprints." "what?" "Not a single fingerprint on the steering wheel!" "real?" Totsukawa asked in surprise. "Really, not a single one. Maybe the driver erased it on purpose." Nakano said. "Probably gloves. Young people who drive these cars like to imitate race car drivers wearing leather gloves."

Totsukawa explained. "I think so too. Well, look..." Nakano said and pointed to the small box next to the driver's seat. Totsukawa took out a pair of lambskin gloves from the small box, but upon closer inspection, it was gloves with exposed fingers.With this kind of gloves, fingerprints should be left on the steering wheel. "The reason for this is really strange!" Totsukawa said. "This car belongs to Sugimoto, why should he wipe off the fingerprints on the steering wheel?" Kamei questioned. "Yeah, Sugimoto's own car, there is really no need to wipe off fingerprints, and it doesn't make sense. I think someone else may have driven the car here."

Totsukawa said. "Who could have opened it?" Kamei asked again. "Have we misidentified the murderer again?" Totsukawa asked with a gloomy face. "If Sugimoto is not the murderer, the only one left is Hiroshi Sato who is married and has children." Kamei said. "Hiro Sato may also be the murderer. His family lives in Chofu, not far from here." Totsukawa said. "But the police department, the photos of women in swimsuits are all at Sugimoto's house, how can this be explained?" "The murderer will also do the deed of blaming others!"

"right." "Today, Sugimoto left work early due to feeling unwell. When I returned to the apartment and saw that Sato's photo had disappeared, I was naturally taken aback, so I quickly called Sato from the company. Sato knew that if the police thought it belonged to the murderer, they would It will definitely be confiscated as evidence. So Sato thought to himself, if done well, Sugimoto can be turned into 'Friday's murderer'." "That's why you called Sugimoto here?" Kamei asked. "Yes. But Sugimoto will be suspicious of inviting him to such a far place. And Sugimoto will not wipe off the fingerprints on the steering wheel when he drives by himself."

"Yes, I forgot about the fingerprints." Kamei said. "Sugimoto may have been killed, and then Sato buried his body. Just driving away and throwing away his car will give people the illusion that Sugimoto is absconding." "So where is Sugimoto's body?" "I don't know. If the body can't be found, Sato can still get away with it. Kamei, you go to Sato's house immediately." Totsukawa said. "I'll go right away." Kamei waved his hand as he spoke, and Wadajima got into the car. "The development of the case is getting more and more strange!"

Yasui said to Totsukawa after Kamei and the others left. "Isn't today Thursday?" Totsukawa looked at his watch and asked Yasui. "Yes, tomorrow is Friday again." "It's almost certain that Sato is the murderer." "Then are you sure that Sato is the murderer?" "We can't do it until Sugimoto's body is found. Sugimoto was killed by Sato, so it's just our reasoning." "What shall we do now?" "There are two things that must be done. First, keep a close eye on Sato; second, find Sugimoto's body."

Totsukawa talked to Yasui about his next job, but he was still uneasy.If Sugimoto's body cannot be found more than ten hours before tomorrow, things will be even more troublesome.From Sato's point of view, he must have noticed that the police paid attention to him, so he took great pains to blame others and make Sugimoto look like a murderer.Conversely, Sato is not an ordinary murderer, he is a paranoid.When he was not handcuffed, knowing the danger, he would attack young women, rape and kill.That's Friday's killer! Where might Sugimoto's body be buried? Totsukawa fell into deep thought... After thinking about it, Totsukawa thought that the place where Sato buried Sugimoto's body should be the miscellaneous forest in that area. Totsukawa led the criminal police and searched the entire forest with a flashlight. It was late at night, the fallen leaves were scattered, and the whole miscellaneous forest was a bleak scene.In order to find the body hiding place as soon as possible, the local police and identification personnel from the Metropolitan Police Department also came to assist.They searched in the middle from all directions, and found something suspicious, and immediately squatted down and pushed aside the fallen leaves with both hands to check the ground. After searching for nearly an hour, I combed the whole forest like a hair, but found no trace of burying the corpse. "Is it buried elsewhere?" Kamei patted the dirt on his hands and said while looking at Totsukawa. "Is there any place suitable for burying corpses in this area?" After Totsukawa asked, he suddenly said loudly, "The corpse may not have arrived." "The police department means..." Kamei was a little taken aback. "I told Yasui that Sato can't be arrested at the moment. It's not because he's in debt, he's not arresting him because he's feuding with his wife. The reason is that it's Sugimoto who has swimsuit photos of several of the victims. Let's go back to search the headquarters first. Kamei-kun will go to Chofu again to see how Sato is doing." Soon after Totsukawa and the others returned to search the headquarters, they received a call from Kamei. "I'm calling near Sato's house now." Kamei said. "Is Sato at home?" Totsukawa asked. "Haven't come home yet." "It's almost 12 o'clock in the middle of the night, and he hasn't come home yet?" "I met his wife. She said that Sato hadn't come back. I didn't think he was pretending. He really didn't come back. I also met his 3-year-old son." "Oh." "That kid doesn't look like Sato at all. Although the boy looks like his mother, there must be one or two places like his father, right? The kid said it himself, and others said that his mouth and eyes are exactly the same as his dead uncle. The kid's face shape is indeed completely different from Sato's." .If I were Sato, I would be greatly stimulated and even humiliated!" "According to you, that child is the result of his wife Hongxing cheating!" "If that's true, it wouldn't be a surprise that Sato became 'Friday's Killer.'" "You mean that he hates women because of his distrust. He can't kill his wife for the time being because she has his own flesh and blood in her stomach. However, whenever he sees his 3-year-old son, he thinks that his wife has betrayed him. Perhaps in the powerless situation, he turned to rape and murder young women." "What should I do next?" Kamei asked. "You continue to monitor Sato's house." "understood." "It's weird not coming home so late." After hanging up the phone, Totsukawa said something to himself. The clock on the wall struck twelve, and the dreaded Friday came with the last lingering sound of the clock. It was pitch black all around.But it's not Friday night, it's just before dawn.If Totsukawa's reasoning is correct, then Sato should have killed Sugimoto a few hours ago.This murderous demon is currently in a state of excitement. Today, and Friday again, he will continue to look for new targets. Among the photos of women in swimsuits found by Sugimoto's family, there are no new women except Ishiyama.Judging from the murderer's preferences, he always chooses women with tanned skin.That being the case, he had already decided who he would choose.Objectively speaking, since the murderer committed the crime on September 5, there are only three people who failed to achieve their goals. Ono Midori, a female employee in the personnel department of K Iron and Steel Company, Jiji Jizi, a magazine reporter, and Chieko Ishiyama, a female detective.The murderer has been noticed by the police today, and he is in dire straits. He must take revenge against these three people. This is the product of the combination of the murderer's habit and hatred. After sorting out his thoughts, Totsukawa said to the criminal police next to him: "Call everyone over here." Since Kamei went to Chofu, only four people were left to search the headquarters. "I have now decided that we will take immediate action and go to the homes of the three women separately. Midori Ono has been discharged from the hospital, and Shiraishi and Aoki will go to her home; Yasui and Tajima will go to Yongji's home; and I will go to Shishan's." "The police department is alone." "It doesn't matter. I still have Shishan here, so it can be said that there are two people." The two groups of criminal policemen went to carry out their tasks separately.Totsukawa called Ishiyama's apartment. "Hello, hello." The sound of Chieko Ishiyama's drowsy sleep reached Totsukawa's ears. Totsukawa breathed a sigh of relief and said: "It's me, I'm Totsukawa." After a short pause he asked again: "Is there anything wrong with you?" "what's the situation?" "Like a weird phone call or something." "Yes. Someone made three nasty phone calls tonight. The phone rang. I went to answer it, but the other party was silent." "When did you call?" "After 11 o'clock, I was hit three times in a row, which made me unable to sleep for a long time. It was very uncomfortable." "It's not a wrong call." "No. I called again and again, but the other party listened silently. I could tell that the caller was listening with bated breath." "Now shut the doors and windows and stay still in the house. I'll come to you right away." "Police, what's the matter?" "'Friday's Killer' is likely to snipe you. The other detectives are sent to protect the woman who tried to commit the crime on Friday. The murderer may be Sato Hiroshi." "I'll call you when I get near the apartment. We'll discuss it carefully at that time. Before that, you must not leave the room." On the way, Totsukawa called Ishiyama again.No matter how the phone rang this time, Shi Shan didn't answer it.Totsukawa's heart immediately hung up, and he felt that something was wrong.His usually calm face turned pale at this moment, could it be that Hiroshi Sato had already attacked Chieko Ishiyama?But he thought about it again and felt wrong. 20 minutes ago, I reminded her on the phone to close the doors and windows and not leave the room!Even if Sato came to her apartment, she wouldn't be attacked if she didn't open the door.Moreover, if Sato rushed in, Shi Shan could still call the police. Although Totsukawa tried his best to think on the bright side, he still felt that there was more danger than good.When he rushed to the apartment where Shi Shan lived, it was almost 1:00 in the morning. The apartment was quiet, as if nothing had happened.At this moment, the Nishimoto detective who was investigating the situation near Kazuo Sugimoto's apartment drove to Totsukawa and reported to him: "Sugimoto's body was found." "Where?" "In the open space near his apartment, a pit was dug and buried. We found the burial place of the body only after we found that there were traces of car tires in the open space. I think the murderer Sato tricked Sugimoto into killing him in the open space, and then buried him on the spot. It was lost. After burying Sugimoto, he drove his car to Chitose Bird Mountain, this is to create a fake scene of Sugimoto’s escape.” "Now let's go to see Shishan first." Totsukawa said. When they came to the door of Shishan Qianhuizi's room, they saw that the door was locked, and there was no response to the doorbell.Totsukawa had no choice but to wake up the apartment manager, and opened the door to see that Shi Shan was not there, the room was not in a mess, and there was no trace of the murderer. "Strange?" Totsukawa's face was immediately clouded with sorrow, and he felt that Shishan was in danger of life and death. While Totsukawa was thinking about countermeasures, a police car galloped up with its siren blaring.Totsukawa hurried downstairs.A young police officer reported to Totsukawa: "All the police officers dispatched in front were attacked and were seriously injured and are now being sent to the hospital." "Did the murderer take anything? Pistols, police uniforms, ID cards, etc." "It's all taken away." "Stolen them all?" "Yes. From police uniforms, ID cards to pistols and bullets, everything was taken away. So the killer may have disguised himself as a police officer." "It must be this Sato who disguised himself as a police officer to trick Shishan out!" Totsukawa suddenly realized. There was a knock on the door of Chieko Ishiyama's room. "Who?" Shi Shan asked cautiously. "Please come out quickly, the Totsugawa Police Department is calling you!" Shi Shan twisted the hidden lock of the door, but did not take off the chain.Through the slightly open door, she saw that there was indeed a police officer standing outside the door. "What's up?" Shi Shan asked. "Just arrested a suspect who might be 'Friday's murderer', but he vehemently denies it. The police department said that you might be able to find out if he is a suspect, so they asked me to pick you up. Please go quickly." Shishan Chieko hesitated a little, but when she saw the police officer in police uniform with a pistol and police ID in front of her, she hesitated again. Urged by the police officer, she finally opened the door and went out. She went downstairs with him, walked outside the apartment, and walked towards the dark place behind the apartment.She felt something was wrong, and immediately slowed down and asked: "You stop. Where is the police station? Are you really a policeman?" The man suddenly turned his head, revealing a hideous face. "You fake!" Chieko said decisively. The man quickly drew out his pistol, put the muzzle against the stone mountain, and said in a low voice: "Be honest, don't move. Or I'll kill you!" "You are 'Friday's Killer' Hiroshi Sato." Chieko said.After hearing her words, a look of surprise flashed across the man's face. "We have you under control." Qian Huizi said without fear in a condescending tone, "Stop doing criminal activities!" "What are you talking about!" the man yelled nervously, and at the same time pressed his pistol to her chest, "If you don't want to die, go to the opposite house!" Chieko glanced at the few vacant houses opposite.It was three two-story buildings completed half a year ago.Because the house price is too expensive, so far no one cares about it, so it has to be left empty. Just go in and it's over, Chieko thought.She looked secretly at the pistol he was carrying again.She knew that this pistol had a six-shot burst, but it was only loaded with five rounds according to the regulations.In order to prevent misfires, even if the trigger is pulled, the first round cannot fire bullets.I don't know if the murderer in front of me knows this kind of device, so I have to try it desperately.She suddenly pushed aside the pistol in front of her chest with her hand, turned around and ran wildly. "I am going to kill you!" The man yelled, and immediately pulled the trigger, only to hear a "click", but the gun did not fire.He pulled the trigger again, "Bang!" A crisp sound pierced the peaceful night sky... Chieko instinctively fell to the ground.The murderer continued to shoot her several times until the bullets ran out. "damn it!" The murderer cursed and dropped the pistol. The police car honking and approaching.Then there was the sound of chaotic footsteps... Shishan Chieko was hit in the leg, bleeding profusely.When the murderer heard the siren, he ignored her and ran away in a hurry. Totsukawa and others rushed to the scene and ordered Kamei and other criminal policemen to hunt down the fugitive.He picked up Chieko Ishiyama who fell on the ground, and asked: "How? It's all right?" "Sorry, I left the apartment without permission..." Qian Huizi couldn't continue speaking, tears flowed down like a spring. "Stop talking. Call an ambulance immediately and be patient." Totsukawa said. In an instant, a white ambulance drove by like lightning.Totsukawa helped to carry Chieko into the car, and said kindly to her: "Chieko, you will probably be staying in the same hospital as Sakurai, please greet him when you see him." The ambulance went away. Kamei approached Totsukawa seriously and said: "Hiroshi Sato has been arrested. Ishiyama is okay?" In the interrogation room. Totsukawa couldn't imagine that the murderer sitting opposite him was actually the "Friday's Murderer" who troubled the police for a long time, shocked the entire Tokyo, and killed four women and one man in a row! He - Hiroshi Sato, although he is tall enough to strangle a woman, but other than that, he is indeed a mediocre man that can be seen everywhere.He has a wife and children, and he would rather borrow usury to build a house, presumably for his family.From the perspective of building a house, he is also a father who loves his family.So, why did he repeatedly rape and kill, and embark on the road of crime? This is where the interrogation begins. "Hey, would you like a cigarette?" Totsukawa asked. Sato Hiroshi nodded. Totsukawa handed Sato a cigarette, which he held in his mouth.Totsukawa lit the fire for him, and asked: "Why on earth did you kill?" Sato took a drag on his cigarette, lowered his head and remained silent.I saw him looking sad and confused. "Then let's start from the beginning." Totsukawa changed his story. "From the earliest?..." Sato raised his eyes, stared at Totsukawa and asked. "Yes. Let's start with the fact that you borrowed usury to build a house. After all, you built it for your family!" "Well, yes. My wife always wanted to have an independent house, so I reluctantly built it. When the child grows up, he also needs to have his own room." "Is that when you started collecting swimsuit photos?" "Yes. It started then." "Why do you do such a thing?" "That was my little bit of an affair. At first, I had absolutely no thoughts of rape and murder. Please believe me on this. In order to pay usury, I have no money to play with women. My wife is too stuck. To fill the spiritual void, I just From the commissioned negatives, you can enlarge the photos of young girls in swimsuits, and watch them secretly for your own entertainment." "Are all the women you choose have tanned skin?" "Yes. Because I work in an environment where I can't see the sun, I always have a sense of yearning for tanned skin." "Collecting swimsuit photos just for pure entertainment, to create your 'harem'?" "yes." "From self-entertainment to serial killing, is it because your wife is having an affair?" When Sato heard Totsukawa suddenly ask this question, his expression changed immediately. "How do you know?" "Your child doesn't look like you, so I think it's possible. What do you think?" "That's right. The child's face is less and less like mine, and more like another person." "Do you know that person?" "Yes, familiar." "Have you ever pressed your wife?" "My wife is like a tigress, very powerful. I didn't dare to ask her face to face. But I checked the child's blood type secretly, and it turned out that the child was indeed not mine, but that person's. It was my wife who hooked up with him to have an adulterous child children." "Then why didn't you kill that man?" "I really wanted to kill him, but he died of illness last summer." Sato said dismissively. "But it was your wife who committed adultery, not the young girls you killed. Why did you kill them? It doesn't make sense!" "I can't tell." "You said you were afraid of your wife?" "afraid." "According to common sense, when an ordinary man encounters a wife who is having an affair, he will either beat him up or divorce him, but he will never kill someone who has nothing to do with him. But why do you do this?" "I also wanted to beat her and divorce her, but when I knew she was pregnant again. This pregnancy was after the man died, I thought the child was mine. No matter what she was, I always wanted to have my own Child, therefore I did not harm her." "Then why hurt someone who has nothing to do with you?" "For the sake of the child in her womb, I didn't say anything. But on Friday when the company was off, I stayed at home and saw my wife's face, and the matter between her and that guy appeared in front of my eyes. Four years ago in the summer, she Said she went to the beach with a friend from high school, but she was actually with that guy. She said that the bikini photo was taken by her girlfriend, but it was also taken by that guy.” "What does that have to do with your rape and murder?" “I can’t really tell. Anyway, I’m pissed off when I see pictures of women in swimsuits I’ve collected and they end up being just as flamboyant as my wife. When they were printed, they put their professional address on it, so I went around her apartment and waited. At first I just wanted to rape, but when the other party was struggling and screaming, I strangled her neck, and unexpectedly strangled her to death. At that time, I felt extremely excited, and it was only at this moment that I completely forgot about my wife's affair." "Is that why you rape and kill every Friday?" "..." Sato Hiroshi remained silent.It seems that he has nothing to say. The interrogation ends here. The "Friday Killer" has been arrested. The cracking of this case essentially forced the police to admit that Yuichiro Saeki had been arrested by mistake.For this reason, from Mikami Criminal Minister down to the police department Totsukawa, all were punished accordingly.The press was buzzing again for quite a while, all of them blaming the police. Although Totsukawa was punished, as a criminal policeman, he still felt relieved.His colleagues felt the same way. "The case is finally over." Kamei said to Totsukawa in a comforting tone. "Yes, everyone has worked hard." "Police, do you think similar cases will happen again?" "There will be. Next time there may be 'Monday's murderer', or maybe Tuesday's murderer. In short, society is complicated, and the cases are endless! I really hope that the era of peace will appear soon!" "But in the police department, some people say that a society with various cases is a normal phenomenon, and it will be unbearable without the police." Kamei said with a wry smile. While Totsukawa and Kamei were chatting, the phone on the desk rang again. Totsukawa motioned, and Kamei picked up the receiver.Totsukawa looked at Kamei's face and smiled. "Police department, another homicide..."