Chapter 3 Chapter 3 The Last Passenger

Setada Junichi was hit hard by Kiyoko's murder.Just as she was drawing herself into her high walled castle, she was slain.He realized that it was he who caused Qing Zi's death. If it is said that she changed her job and place of residence at that time to make a break with her own past, wouldn't it be to cut off the tracking contact with the murderer?Her acquaintance with Setada gave her the desire to sort out her past and start a new life.But the murderer kept pestering him endlessly. It was Jie Tian who made her have this wish, and the result was Kiyoko's murder. As a result, Jietian aroused a strong desire to find out Qingzi's past.In the moments of their beautiful passion, they abide by the "conventional agreement" of adults on this point: just enjoy each other and don't ask about each other's past.

But Qing Zi's closeness with Jie Tian led to her murder, and Jie Tian regretted why he didn't understand her past carefully. Like two leaves blown by the wind in a corner of the city, Setada and Kiyoko dated.Jie Tian had the experience of divorce, but Qing Zi's experience was not clear to him.Her origin, experience, and even her name were not necessary to know at that time.For them, the two parties are just "tools" for each other, and they are just desire partners to satisfy their senses. From Setada's point of view, she is a delicious prey for free.As long as both parties have such needs, there is no need to worry about it.Probably Kiyoko also hoped to have such a safe sex partner.Just maintaining such a relationship will not cause any unhappiness.

So even if Kiyoko died, for Setada, it was just the loss of a very convenient sex partner, and there was no specific harm to him. But why did he still suffer such a strong blow?Setida was already in a trance.When I was working in the company, I often made mistakes, and I was often out of my mind; when I went out for interviews, I either suddenly forgot where I was going in the taxi, or I forgot to get off on the tram and passed the stop. "Are you too tired, why don't you rest for a few days?" His superior persuaded him when he saw his condition. She and Qing Zi originally planned to do this as a tool for sexual needs without any responsibility, but she didn't know when she had broken into the deepest part of her heart.

(Why did Qingzi die?) There are no respondents. Jie Tian hated the murderer who killed Qing Zi very much.The murderer lurks in Qing Zi's past.Assuming that the murderer was killed because she was close to him, then the infatuated person is an important clue. Qing Zi thinks that by locking up the past, she can spend her future life with peace of mind.But dating Setada broke the "protection" of this lock, and maybe in this way, the secrets of both parties were exposed to the world. Under the murderer's control, Qing Zi is safe.But as long as she wants to escape from this control, she will be threatened by the murderer.And Jietian wanted to take her out of this circle, so he angered the murderer.

Why did the murderer not allow her to escape from this circle?Maybe it's not love? Jie Tian felt that before Kiyoko changed her job and place of residence, there was no specific man by her side. Perhaps the murderer was lurking in the darkness that refused all men to break into his restricted zone.When they dated during this period, Setada thought that nothing happened.If there is a specific man around Kiyoko, it will definitely be inconvenient for her to date herself. The murderer was dissatisfied that Qing Zi transferred her love to Jie Tian, ​​but he would not kill her, Jie Tian was sure of this.

So the murderer wanted to make trouble for Qing Zi.It seems that some of her shortcomings were caught by the murderer. After Jie Tian appeared, her heart shifted to Jie Tian's body.In other words, Setada became her new master, and the two of them became new sex partners.But the murderer didn't think so.If she serves a new master as a slave, she is no longer a slave to the old master.She will tell the old master's secret to the new master, so her old master has to keep her mouth shut. But this is just Setada's reasoning, it's just a guess.Qing Zi tightly sealed her past, but she did not have the key to open the lock, and at the same time, she did not have the obligation to catch the murderer by investigating Qing Zi's secrets.

But Setada couldn't let it go. I am a layman conducting the investigation, but I am the person who had the closest relationship with Qingzi during his lifetime, so I have this responsibility.Maybe the police didn't have any clues, maybe the police didn't have their own firm attitude towards finding the murderer. The only clues to Qingzi's past are the phone numbers of her past work unit and place of residence, but she didn't remember that number in her notebook.First try to call her original work unit, there will be no clues at all. The telephone company does not necessarily have the home address of the owner of the phone, and that phone number may not be used anymore.

Jie Tian had only one clue: the snack Qing Zi held in his hand that day when he came to pay back the money he had paid for her.It was a famous pastry shop near Yoyogi Uehara, and she said she lived there at the time. The dim sum she chose was high-end.Generally speaking, women don't like dim sum because they are afraid of being fat.Since she lives there, she should be a regular customer of that shop.If you ask about the store, you will know her address at that time. A few days later, Setada went to the pastry shop.This store is located at Yoyogi Uehara Station on the Oda Express Line, facing Inokashira Street.The pastries that Qingzi bought that day were placed in the shop's display cabinet.

There are dining tables and chairs in the shop, so it can also be used as a tea shop.After ordering the same type of pastry, Setada asked the female boss at the counter: "I remember that Ms. Kiyoko Shimazaki lives nearby. I want to visit her home. I forgot to bring her address. Can I ask you? I heard that she often buys pastries in your shop. You know ?" "Ms. Kiyoko Shimazaki..." The lady boss seemed to be thinking back. "It's her." As he spoke, Jie Tian took out a photo of Qing Zi and himself before his death for the female boss to see. "Oh, it's her! I used to see her often, but I haven't seen her recently."

The hostess answered.It seemed that she didn't know what happened to Kiyoko. "Can you tell me where she lives?" "It's in Uehara's third-chome Uehara apartment." "Uehara apartment?" "Yes, it's a little further west from me." The female boss said enthusiastically. It seems that the female boss does not seem to be lying.Kiyoko who bought pastries for her back then was indeed dead, but it was true that Setada came to find her address. Setida walked out of the store carrying the snack box. According to the female boss, he came to Inokashira Street, turned the corner, and entered a quiet street.Uehara Apartment is just inside this street.

Setida found the apartment without much effort.This is a nice little building in an old 4 storey building.There are about 20 families living there.There is an iron fence outside the apartment.Pointed iron fences guard the apartments like sentinels. Setada stood in front of the apartment where Kiyoko lived, tilting his head in thought.Kiyoko's new residence is located in Hiroo, which is closer to the city center than here, but she has to endure the noise from Meiji Street every day.From the environment, it seems to be quieter here. The transportation here includes the Oda Express Line and the subway.From this point of view alone, Qingzi seems to have moved to a place with worse conditions. Setada was standing in front of the apartment, observing the exterior of the apartment when someone tapped him on the shoulder suddenly.He turned around and saw that these were two faces he knew, staring at him with piercing eyes. "Why are you here? I'm afraid you didn't come here for nothing, did you?" The older of the two asked Setada first.Although there was a smile on his face, there was nothing kind in his expression.The young man also put on a state of alert in case Setada would react at any time. At this time Setida remembered their names.They were the policemen who met at the scene where Qingzi's death was discovered, and Jietian was asked detailed questions by the older man. "Ah, Mr. Police." "What are you doing here?" "The police also came to Miss Qingzi's former residence?" "It seems that we all have the same purpose?" "I'm here to see what the place she lived in was like." "You care about her." An indiscernible look of suspicion flashed across the policeman's eyes. "She just gave me the phone number here, but I have never been here. I just want to see, there is really nothing wrong." "So you came here. How did you find out about a place you've never been to?" "this……" So Setada started talking from the pastry box in his hand. "Investigating cases is the job of the police, so you can leave this matter to our police." Sugimoto stopped talking.Judging from what he meant, if it wasn't for the police, then don't get involved in this matter, and from his eyes, it can be seen that the suspicion of Setada has not been dispelled. "I also hate the murderer who killed Qingzi." Jie Tian said. "So it's not appropriate for you to intervene, because you are still a person related to her!" "Does that mean I'm still the suspect?" Sugimoto smiled lightly and didn't answer. "I have no reason to kill her at all! I hate the murderer more than anyone else!" "So you came here to find clues about the murderer?" "right!" "Why do you think there are clues to the murderer here?" As soon as Sugimoto asked, Setada understood that this was to detect himself. "That's what it means. I think she's got something on the murderer's radar. If she escapes the murderer's watch, she'll be killed." "We think so too." "And if she wants to break with the past, she should move farther away, but Uehara and Hiroo are not far away, and they are both in Shibuya!" "Maybe she is too confident, is it for me? I live in Nakameguro, which is closer than Uehara!" "If she was trying to escape the killer, how did the killer know her new address?" "If the murderer pursues it seriously, she will find it no matter what. Maybe she doesn't realize that she will be killed at all, but she doesn't want to live under the murderer's surveillance..." "Miss Shimazaki has a good idea." It seems that the police gradually agree with Setada's opinion. "Then let's ask you another question. Did you hear Miss Shimazaki say about a person named Kawagishi Kazuyoshi?" "Kazuyoshi Kawagishi? I've never heard her say that. What happened to him?" "He's the driver of Kameko Taxi Company." "I have never heard of this company." "When we sorted out Ms. Shimazaki's belongings, we found a taxi calling card of a driver named Kawagishi." "Then just ask Kawagishi directly, won't you understand?" "But this man is dead, too." "died?!" "He died in a robbery three years ago." "His taxi was robbed?" "Yes. Three years ago, on September 18, his car was parked on Fukasawa Street in Setagaya District, and he was found dead after being beaten with a blunt object to the back of the head. According to the operating records, there should have been The cash of 30,000 yen is all gone.” "His calling card is in Miss Shimazaki's belongings?" "Yes, just to be on the safe side, where were you on the night of September 18 three years ago?" "Why, you suspect that I am a robbery murderer?" Jie Tian was taken aback. "We want to rule out all the suspects, and now you are the person closest to the deceased." "Stop joking! If I had been the murderer, I wouldn't have called the police." "That's not necessarily the case. What if someone saw you two together? Maybe you can find her relics and find something related to you? Don't you want these to appear in the police as evidence?" In sight?" "But the pinch mark on her neck is obviously not mine!" "So you are not a suspect but also a related person!" "You suddenly asked me what happened three years ago, and I can't answer right away!" "If you can't answer right away, then check your notebook." "Three years ago... I got married." "Married? Divorced soon afterwards?" "Yeah, because of our personality differences, we got divorced soon after we got married." "Then the divorced ex-wife can do an 'alibi' for you." "My ex-wife is a woman who gets angry at any point, and she is not sloppy with my whereabouts at all, so I think although we divorced, she will still remember what happened that day." "That would be great." Sugimoto finally showed Setta a rare smile.It seems that his doubts about Setida have been lifted. The search meeting centered on the motive for the killing.Although it is considered that the murder was done for money, judging from the fact that the deceased easily let the murderer enter the room, it is not possible to draw this conclusion so early. The results of the search meeting determined the direction of future investigations: 1. The relationship between the deceased and men during his lifetime; 2. The deceased's interpersonal relationship in the "Flower Gate" club! 3. The experience of the deceased before "Huamen"; 4. Investigate the qualifications of the personnel who entered and exited the old residence of the deceased 5. Investigate the surrounding relationship of the current residence; 6. Investigate the remains of the deceased. There is no cash or valuables in the deceased's residence and belongings, but a passbook containing 5 million yen is still there.The police conducted a strict inspection of the deceased's notebooks, photo albums, address books, phone books, business card folders, and correspondence. Most of her letters and business cards are from before she came to "Huamen", mainly from her superiors and colleagues, because her job is to receive visitors, so she has a lot of business cards in her hand. These characters must be excluded one by one.The police found that one of these business cards was named "Kazuyoshi Kawagishi". There is something odd about a taxi driver's hailing card appearing on these business cards.The police asked Qingzi's company and the Guizi taxi company, but he was not a special taxi.It seems that it was just a taxi called by the deceased. It is indeed puzzling that such a one-time calling card is kept here. Sugimoto took this taxi card as the focus of the investigation, asked the taxi company, and learned that this taxi card was used when Kawagishi was killed three years ago. Then, why did Qingzi keep the hailing card of the driver who was robbed and killed?It speaks to her unusual interest in the case.Therefore, Sugimoto believes that Kiyoko should have something to do with Kawagishi's murder. When Chuan An was killed, Kiyoko was living in the Uehara apartment in Uehara 3-chome.Then, maybe that Uehara apartment was somehow connected with the dead Kawagishi. So while investigating other people, the police also focused on Uehara's apartment.This is what happened when He Jietian met here. "Is that Setada trustworthy?" Sato said after Setada left. "I don't think he is the murderer in all likelihood." Sugimoto replied. "Because the pinch mark on the neck is different?" "Of course. There are traces of Setada everywhere in Shimazaki's belongings. There are business cards, his phone number and address in his notebook, photos of them together, and a few letters. If he is the murderer, he The evidence will definitely be erased after the murder." "As Mr. Sugimoto said, is there any evidence that has not been eliminated?" "In that case, it will be the best clue. I think we should first look for it from letters and business cards." "I think so too." Sato also leaned towards Sugimoto's opinion. "This is just an ordinary layman's reasoning, but Jie Tian's statement still has some truth. Rather than saying that Qingzi's motive for killing formed after she joined the Huamen Club, I think she had this motive before she was in Huamen. Soil. Isn't it very obvious that her past 'master' did not allow her to 'derail'? If we talk about the taxi murder incident..." "You mean that Kiyoko is related to Chuan An's murder?" "I can't say that yet, but I don't think it can be ruled out?" "If it's related to Chuan An's murder, then what role did Kiyoko play in it?" "Could she know the murderer?" "Do you know why you didn't call the police?" "There are many reasons for this. For example, the murderer is her relative and she wants to protect it; the second is that the murderer knows that she has discovered the facts of his crime; the third is that she and the murderer are accomplices." "Qingzi... an accomplice?" "Of course, this is just a guess. I also derived this from Setada's opinion, because after all, she has the driver's business card in her business card box. This is unexplainable. This is also my guess." Sugimoto also doubted his own opinion at this time. The Tamagawa Police Department is in charge of the investigation into the murder of a taxi driver on Fukasawa Street in Setagaya Ward three years ago.Since there has been no clue of the murderer, the case has fallen into a maze.At that time, the search headquarters was established, and a lot of manpower and material resources were invested in the investigation, but in the end the murderer was not found, and the search headquarters had to be withdrawn later. Sugimoto and Sato came to the Tamagawa Bureau for a visit. The two of them met Nagai, the criminal police officer in charge of the case investigation, and saw a lot of information. "That incident was a pain in the ass for us! As a result, the search of the headquarters was cancelled. I was the only one who continued to investigate slowly, but so far I have not found any clues about the murderer." Yeongbin said in a very regretful tone. "Are there any clues about Kawanan's personal grievances?" "This was also investigated as an important clue at the time. However, he is humble and upright, and everyone has a good evaluation of him. There are also many thank-you letters from passengers. There has been no unexcused absence or other violations of labor discipline in the past 10 years. , and his operating income is relatively good among his peers, and he is also an excellent driver of the company." "In other words, it is very likely that he committed crimes on the run?" "Yes, because there is really no clue that he was killed because of a grudge. But there is only one clue that caught our attention." "What is it?" Sugimoto and Sato's eyes lit up. "Before the discovery of Kawagishi's body, a man called Kameko once, as if to say that he was Kawagishi's passenger and that he had left something in his car." "What is it?" "At that time, the company also asked, but the other party hung up the phone immediately. Maybe the things are very expensive, and he was too nervous!" "What's the passenger's name and address?" "The company asked, but the other party didn't say anything. At that time, Kawa'an's car didn't have a radio, so he couldn't tell him about the passenger's complaints. But we thought that if Kawa'an himself found the passenger's belongings, he would try to return them. Unexpectedly, he was discovered later. corpse." "So did he have any passenger stuff in his car?" "We looked for it, and there was none." "What's going on here?" "Maybe the passengers complained wrongly, or the gangster got into the car later, killed Kawagishi and took it away." "Is there no news from the passenger who complained?" "No, after the news of Kawagishi's death was published in the newspaper, there was no reaction." "That is to say, that passenger was the last passenger before the gangster?" "Anyway, the guest recorded in Chuan'an's operation diary is the 24th passenger of the day. He got on the bus near Azhi at around 11:30 in the evening and got off near Oza at around midnight in the morning. There was no Recorded. We speculate, maybe it is the complaint call from this passenger?" "But why didn't the passenger explain his name, address, and what he lost? If he didn't explain clearly, even if he found it, he couldn't return it!" "This is the suspicious point I noticed. Who is this passenger? What happened to it, and why is there no news after Kawagishi was killed?" "Could it be that something criminal was left behind, such as a murder weapon or drugs?" "Yeah, I doubt this too. Maybe it's something that violates public security regulations, so I dare not say it clearly." "Then the murderer got into his car?" "Yeah, anyway, there is no record of the passenger. It should be killed before the record. If the gangster took the things thrown by the previous passenger, it will still be useful in solving the case." "that's true." "Then is it possible that Kiyoko Shimazaki is the last passenger?" "It is the victim of this case." Sugimoto and Sato had a new view. "But the last passenger was a man!" "Isn't it also confirmed that the last passenger is alone? She may be a companion!" "There is a possibility, but if the gangster gets into the car later, how will they communicate with each other?" Sugimoto and Sato have a keen interest: "Is this because Kiyoko Shimazaki knew the gangster?" "But if Qingzi was the last passenger, how could she meet the murderer?" "Of course, they can get out of the car and get in the car at the same time! If so, wouldn't Qingzi be able to see the murderer?" "That's true, but just met once, why does the murderer have any reason to threaten Qingzi?" "Maybe Qingzi saw the murderer again after the murderer committed the crime? Of course, this is just my guess." Nagai's view raises new possibilities.This is indeed a new way of thinking. "The murderer and Qing Zi met again, so Qing Zi's existence became a threat to the murderer." "But if there are male passengers with Qingzi, even if Qingzi is killed, the threat to the murderer is still not eliminated!" "Maybe Qingzi is the only one who knows this murderer, or Qingzi's companions are also very dangerous." "What, her companions are also dangerous?! You mean that the murderer who killed the driver was the last passenger who killed Qingzi?" "Of course, this is just my opinion, and it may not be right." "No, I think it makes sense." "Also, after discovering Kawagishi's car, there were slight collision marks on the rear of the car. According to the company, all taxis were inspected before operation, and there were no such marks. They thought it was in the There was a rear-end collision during operation that day." "In other words, it may have happened when the last murderer got on the car and committed the crime?" "It's possible, but it's impossible to judge the time of the collision." "If it happened very early, generally Kawagishi would drive back to the company for processing. Because even if it was not found at that time, it would be discovered when returning to the company for routine inspection." "Then it can only be considered that it happened at a very late time." "Is it also likely that the murderer was witnessed by someone at the time of the collision?" "Does that mean that Qingzi happened to be in the rear-end car?" "right." "Does she have a driver's license?" "No, she didn't." "Then it means that she was in the same car with someone else? In this case, as a rear-end car, she might have seen the murderer. But when the rear-end collision occurred, of course she saw the back of the murderer and the victim. So how did she see the murderer clearly? Could it be that she walked to the side of the accident car to observe the car and see the murderer clearly?" "Yes, in this way, we can see the circumstances of the murderer's crime. In this way, the murderer may kill Qingzi in order to silence him." "If Kiyoko is indeed in the rear-end car, then it is really possible to see all of this. Because she can't drive, she will have plenty of time to pay attention to the driver." Nagai seems to agree with Sato interested. "However, our opinion is based on the fact that the murderer had a rear-end collision when he attacked Kawagishi. If the rear-end collision happened before the murderer committed the crime, it would be irrelevant." "Because Kiyoko was killed holding Kawagishi's business card, I think she was in the car at the time, and there is a high possibility that she witnessed the crime process." Nagai still supports Sato's opinion. "Thank you very much for providing us with so much information." The two stood up after thanking Nagai. According to the information on the taxi driver's robbery and murder case provided by Nagai, the search headquarters researched the relationship between this time and Shimazaki Kiyoko, and the only evidence to prove the relationship was the taxi calling card.Therefore, most people think that it is too early to prove that the case of Chuan An and Qing Zi is related by just relying on such a clue. However, the investigation list made based on Qingzi's remnants was excluded one by one during the investigation process.In other words, the people who appeared around Qingzi all had clear evidence of innocence, and no suspicious persons emerged. Why Qingzi kept such a business card for calling a car in his hand is still unknown, but the owner of this business card was killed three years ago, so he still can't give it up casually. Even those who think that it is too early to conclude that the two are related do not object to investigating this. So Sugimoto and Sato put forward three inferences to the search meeting based on the information they got from Nagai. 1. When Qingzi is the same passenger as the last passenger; 2. When Qingzi is the passenger in the rear-end car; 3. When Qing Zi and the murderer were accomplices. "I think in the case of 1 and 2, it doesn't make sense to kill her alone for the sake of silence." Someone soon raised an objection. "If Qingzi had the opportunity to meet the murderer again, it would make sense for the murderer to kill her. Or the murderer would recognize the person in the car with Qingzi again, and he would kill this person later." Sugimoto replied.His opinion caused a great shock in the meeting. "What does this mean? Even though the murderer may see Qingzi again later, Qingzi will not tell her the address and name of the passenger in the same car! Besides, the chance of Qingzi and the passenger in the same car seeing the murderer at the same time is very small after all. Wouldn't that be very dangerous to the murderer if he hadn't killed them both at the same time?" "I also think that the chances of Qingzi and her fellow passengers seeing the murderer at the same time are very small, but will Qingzi witness the crime despite being alone with her and the murderer, after being induced by the murderer, to tell the truth?" What about the murderer and her fellow passengers? In this way, 1 and 2 do not exist, and only 3 remains. For the murderer, the accomplice is the most dangerous person." "The only thing that proves the relationship between the driver Chuan An and Qing Zi is a business card for calling the car, and there is still no strong evidence. I hope to find and add other evidence to prove the relationship between the two of them." Nasu, who is in charge of investigating the case, said that he also set the tone for future investigations.