Chapter 21 Chapter 21

The Manila police came to answer on November 28. Regarding Ugaki Gen, the report is as follows: There was also a letter attached to it, from Laudonigues of the Manila Police Department who had a meeting together in France. To Tsukawa, the most surprising thing was that Ugaki returned to Japan the day after he arrived in Manila. (What exactly is going on?) It's getting more and more confused. "Yayoi Shimazaki was lying from the start." Kamei smacked his lips angrily. "That's right. If the phone failure at the Manila Hotel is a lie, then it's a lie that I went to Bangkok and extended my trip to Chiang Mai for two days!"

"Yayoi knew that Ugaki had returned to Japan, but deliberately deceived people, as if he was still traveling in Southeast Asia." "It can only be understood in this way." Totsukawa said. Kamei said puzzledly: "But why did she lie?" "Isn't it obvious? We are looking for the murderer of the TGV incident." When Totsukawa said this, he suddenly frowned. "At first, when she asked us to find Ugaki, who was missing, we thought she was innocent." "Yes. Later, she said that the Manila Hotel's phone was out of order, and she didn't suspect them then."

Kamei said. "That's what happened. We began to suspect Ugaki, and it was after that." "So, she didn't need to lie at that time." "Confused again." Totsukawa was a little impatient. "In short, try to find Ugaki and Shimazaki first. If we can do this, the mystery will be solved. Fortunately, Ugaki has returned to Japan, so we can find him no matter what." Kamei said to encourage everyone. Decided to focus on investigating the places where the two might be hiding, but Totsukawa didn't have much hope for this. Because, even if Ugaki returned from Manila on November 4, he may go abroad again after that.

Probably, at that time he and Shimazaki Yayoi reunited together.If the two have already fled abroad, it is useless to search for them in the country. "If photos of the two are released and a public search is conducted, what will happen?" Some of the young detectives said so. They thought that their colleague Shirai Detective also died at the hands of Ugaki and Yayoi, so they wanted revenge. "That can't be done. The contradiction of gunpowder reaction can't be explained yet." Totsukawa said calmly. The whereabouts of the two men have been unknown. That's how November passed.Entering December, the weather is still warm.

In a blink of an eye, on December 11, the first snow fell in Tokyo.The snow did not fall heavily, and it melted in the ground without even leaving a trace. However, it snowed heavily in Aomori in the north, and the words "No. 1 heavy snow warning this year" appeared in the newspapers. The Aomori Police Department called Totsukawa on December 12. "About Ugaki, we have a situation report." Detective Tanaka of the Prefectural Police Headquarters said. Since there are relatives of Ugaki in Aomori City, I asked them for help. "Have you found any clues about Ugaki?"

Totsukawa asked. "It's like this. The snow was really heavy yesterday. There was an avalanche in the Hakkoda Mountain area. Some people were trapped there. We went to rescue them. Later, we learned that those people were safe, but a body was found at the place of the avalanche. .” "Is that corpse Ugaki?" "The face is very similar to the wanted photos." "We'll go right away." Totsukawa said loudly. He and Kamei boarded a plane from Haneda Airport to Aomori. At Aomori Airport, Detective Tanaka, who called last time, drove to meet him. "The remains have been transported to the prefectural police headquarters."

Tanaka said. "Is the body rotting?" In the car, Totsukawa asked. "It seems that the body was placed in the mountains of Hakkoda, and it is basically intact." "How did you find out?" "I think the body may have been buried under the roots of the tree. In this avalanche, the tree was uprooted, and the body was carried from the soil to the snow." Tanaka said. When they arrived at the headquarters of the county police station, they exchanged a few words with the chief, and then went straight to identify the corpse. Indeed, the body was largely undecomposed.

The naked body was covered with mud everywhere, just as Detective Tanaka said, it was buried in the mountains. "As you can see, she's naked and can't verify her identity. Since she looks very similar to Yu Yuan in the photo, I'm calling you guys." Tanaka said. "That's right, it's Ugaki." Totsukawa said. "Didn't an autopsy be done?" Kamei asked. "I'll do it right away. Before I do that, I want you to have a look." "thank you very much!" Totsukawa expressed his thanks. Ugaki's body was taken for an autopsy, and Totsukawa and Kamei decided to wait in a restaurant in Aomori City until the results were released.

"Yayoi Shimazaki killed him, right?" Kamei looked at the silvery white outside the window and asked Totsukawa. "I don't know. To be frank, I didn't expect such an outcome. It's also possible that he committed suicide because he was desperate." Totsukawa said. "But, no one commits suicide naked. It must be homicide." "yes." Totsukawa nodded. The next day, detective Tanaka came to the hotel and reported the results of the autopsy. "Cause of death was cyanide poisoning." "Then someone must have made him drink or eat something with cyanide in it."

Totsukawa asked. "I think so." "Is the date of death clear?" "About November 12. It's hard to judge because of the long interval." "If it was around November 12, it would make sense." Totsukawa said. It must be that Ugaki returned home suddenly from Manila on November 4th for some reason. Then, he was killed and buried in the mountains of Hakkoda. (But, who is it, and why did you kill him?)