Chapter 7 Chapter 6 Murder Shadow

The preparatory committee for the International Conference on Atomic Energy, which was scheduled to be held in Nagoya, was in a state of confusion after receiving a report of the crash of Masao Amamura's Noboard passenger plane. Amamura is the chief representative of Japan attending this international conference.Most of the scholars from various countries attending this international conference came to listen to Yucun's scientific research report. International conferences are mostly held in summer every year.Because it is easier for the participating scholars to travel during the summer vacation, it is easier to arrange venues and accommodation than in other seasons.

This international conference has always been held in Geneva, where the headquarters is located, and this is the first time that it has been held in a location other than the headquarters. A total of 94 countries participated in this international conference, with a total of about 500 participants.The number of people is unprecedented.At the center of the discussions was the study of changes to the regime for preventing the transfer of nuclear material.According to this revised plan, large-scale reactors of more than 100,000 kilowatts should be investigated to prevent the uranium and plutonium produced by atomic reactors from being used in the military.

However, what scholars are most concerned about is not this amendment plan, but the new technology for enriching uranium that the young Japanese scholar Amamura is scheduled to announce at the conference.Although it is expected that the main points of the new technology will not be presented at the meeting, scholars from various countries are also very interested in saying that it is a new invention with epoch-making significance. Scholars from various countries were very disappointed when the host of the meeting announced the news of Yucun's death.Some of them wondered: "Is this a temporary deception trick that the Japanese government refused to let him speak!" Some even said: "I'm afraid that kind of method doesn't exist at all. Japan is trying to pull the international conference to Japan." Let's develop a strategy!" In short, Japan's reputation was discredited by the death of Amamura, the protagonist of the meeting.With the whereabouts of Yucun's body unknown, how can foreign scholars speculate wildly?Relevant persons also rushed from Nagoya to the crash site to participate in the search.Despite their best efforts, there was no trace of Yucun's body.The search team composed of the police, self-defense force and fire brigade lined up in a horizontal line from the mountain to the bottom, then from the bottom to the mountain, and then turned into a column to conduct a comprehensive and repeated search.Even with a thorough search using crowd tactics, Yucun's body was not found.

The only area that was not searched was Lake Kurobe.There are undercurrents and water leaks at the bottom of Lake Kurobe. If the corpse falls there, it will not float up. Families are still identifying bodies as search teams repeatedly search.Several unclaimed bodies that were too badly damaged to identify had been placed on dry ice. One of the corpses was identified by the Countermeasures Headquarters based on the items he was carrying, and he was handed over to the family members. After seeing it, the family members said it was a mistake.The victim was an employee named Yamamoto in Nagoya, and the body was taken away by others.The countermeasure headquarters hastily contacted the family members who misidentified the corpse and wrote back that the corpse had been cremated.In addition, there may be others who misidentified the corpse.

Masao Amamura's body may not have been found, or it may have been misidentified by others. In short, he disappeared over the Alps together with the epoch-making research results. "Mrs. Amamura, did Amamura store documents and other things in your hands before the business trip?" Mitsuo Monobe said stiffly. Mitsuo Monobe's two short-sighted eyes rolled sneakily behind the glasses with layers of apertures.He is the Chief Engineer of the First Research Office of the Central Research Institute of Materials Science and Technology, and Yucun's immediate boss. "I'm not allowed to keep anything that has anything to do with the company."

"What a mess!" Monobe shot around the room with suspicious eyes.His eyes hidden behind the lenses made Kumiko feel very cold.Although he is Amamura's boss, Kumiko hates him. Monobe's suspicious gaze seemed to say that Kumiko hid the things Amamura gave her somewhere. "My husband didn't ask me to keep anything!" Kumiko protested at Monobe's suspicion. Indeed, the body of the deceased husband has not yet been found, and they are suffering from grief. You come here like a vicious creditor to demand something from the victims. You can't do this kind of thing without a particularly cold heart.

"Oh, ma'am, it's inconvenient for us to talk about this matter. In fact, it's like this. The main part of Yucun's research this time was almost all carried out by him. Although I was his leader, he didn't tell me the details. According to me, not only I don’t know, but all our researchers don’t know. The basic experiments done according to his theory are very simple and don’t need assistants, so he has secretly carried out many times by himself. According to his method, not only It is easy to get cheap enriched uranium, and it can also play a role in the technological innovation of enriching isotopes that has not been successful so far. So, madam, please..." Monobe's tone changed from tough to soft persuasion, He just hoped that if Kumiko hid Yucun's scientific research materials, he would give them out without hesitation.

"Why didn't my husband tell you?" "It's hard for you to explain to your wife. I think it's because of the desire for fame." "Fame heart?" "That's right, as soon as it is announced at the Nagoya International Convention, it will immediately become an international celebrity and become worth a hundred times!" "Yumura is not that kind of person!" Kumiko couldn't help raising her voice, suppressing Monobe's words.Her voice was so loud that it surprised even herself. Since the day Yucun discovered the new theory, he has felt a huge burden in his heart.He is most afraid of linking his research with military use.He once confided that he would change careers.It is impossible for a man to change what he does with all his zeal and energy without fairly new knowledge.

He had said that he would tell Kumiko about his work, but disappeared over the Alps before he could. He has been hesitant to allow him to attend this international meeting from the leadership.If he has the ambition of fame and fame and keeps it secret from the members of the research laboratory, then he should not hesitate to attend the international conference this time.This shows that there is another reason for the strict secrecy.Kumiko sat there thoughtfully. "Did you remember anything, ma'am?" Monobe asked when Monobe's eyes met Kumiko's. "No, no. I'm too tired today, should I just talk about this?" Kumiko bluntly gave the eviction order.

"Oh, I didn't think of my wife's feelings. I'm sorry. Anyway, this is a major event related to the fate of Wuken Company. You are also an employee of Wuken Company. I hope you can help me a lot. If you find anything from Yucun's relics, Please contact us immediately." After Monobe finished speaking with a sense of compulsion, he finally got up.If Kumiko didn't take a decisive attitude, maybe he would go into Umura's study to search it! After Monobe left, Kumiko fell into deep thought.At this time, a revelation from the Ministry of Objects suddenly flashed in my mind.

Monobe came to ask if there was a copy of the research paper that Amamura was scheduled to present at the Nagoya International Science Conference or something.Kumiko was surprised that Monobe didn't understand what Amamura was studying.She felt that her husband's research project could not have been carried out without the cooperation of many people, but even his immediate supervisor did not know the details, which showed that he was completely secretive.In the same work unit, being so secretive to colleagues will definitely attract everyone's disgust.The two people from the company who came to the memorial service in the first few days did not show good looks. This is something that Yucun, the hopeful star of Wuken, could not realize during his lifetime. "At this level, why does the husband keep it a secret?" "That's not a desire for fame!" Kumiko asked herself and answered. As his wife, Kumiko already knows very well that people who have made major discoveries in atomic energy science will not consider changing careers if they are driven by fame, and they will not hesitate to participate in that grand international conference where they can make a difference. decision.So what was he thinking about, and what was he worrying about? Kumiko seemed to realize something in her contemplation: Amamura must be worried that the research results will be used in the military after the publication, so she has been reluctant to publish her papers and attend conferences!So, he has been hiding that new invention deep in his heart.Thinking of this, Kumiko felt that the doubts in her heart were suddenly solved. She understood that Umura's original intention was not to go to Nagoya.In an instant, she felt that Yucun was still alive in the world. Since Yucun's body was never found, maybe he really didn't die.After detailed identification among the discovered corpses, the husband's corpse was not found.The fragmented corpse may have been mixed with other corpses, but the main part has not been recognized by itself, which is certain.She thought that as long as the main part of the husband's body was not found, the husband could not be considered dead. If the husband goes to Nagoya, even if he doesn't want to, he has to publish the content of the research.Of course, it cannot be said that it will be used in the military immediately after publication, but my husband's worries are understandable.So, will he not want to go more and more, and will miss the plane in a restless way? If so, why is his name included in the victims' register?If he's still alive, why doesn't he come to see me? The first question can be clarified by simply asking the airline, but Kumiko felt as if she had reserved a plane ticket, but she didn't actually take the plane, so her name was still on the list. Local flights on domestic routes did not check the number of passengers and the number of passengers according to the list in detail before departure. Yucun did not take the flight, and it is very likely that his name remained on the list.The second question, half can be explained, the other half is still a mystery.We assume that Amamura did not take the plane for some reason, and knows that the plane collided in mid-air and everyone died.After being shocked and thankful that I survived by chance, would I think this way: If people think that I am dead like this, wouldn’t the research results be buried with me? Umura once thought that his research was a challenge to the gods, and was troubled by it. So, will he use this accidental incident to write off himself and the research results?Perhaps this is the most radical way to bury an energy source capable of destroying the planet. Of course, Amamura alone could not stop the increasingly demanding nuclear energy research work.However, it is not impossible for the neurotic Amamura, who has a strong sense of justice, to hide himself because he is afraid that his research will be closely integrated with military use. "If that's the case, why didn't you get in touch with me secretly?" Kumiko murmured to herself, but no one could answer her question. After asking the airline, Kumiko was roughly right.That is to say, domestic routes, especially local routes, are not strictly checked according to the passenger list and seat map like the international and domestic major routes.The flight attendant only needs to check the number of tickets and the number of passengers torn off at the ticket gate.Therefore, if passenger A transfers the ticket to passenger B before boarding the plane, and passenger B boards the plane without explaining the situation to the airline, in name, passenger A is still passenger A. No one outside B knew, and the plane crashed again. If A did not come forward to explain the situation, people would think that A had passed away. Did Yucun transfer the plane ticket to someone else?Could it be that he didn't get on the plane after the ticket check?Kumiko was still speculating that her husband was not dead.She felt at least that possibility existed.The husband's body has not been found so far, and it may not have fallen into Lake Kurobe. The idea that sprouted in Kumiko's mind became stronger and stronger. This is a hopeful guess as a wife, and also an instinctive feeling as a wife.Kumiko trusts her intuition and wants to find out what happened to her husband by herself. The first place you must go to find a husband is Niigata City.She has never been there.The father was very strict with his unmarried daughter's travel, so she hadn't been to any place before marriage, not to mention Niigata, and she hadn't even been outside of Tokyo.When she was a staff member, she rarely participated in company group trips.If it can be called a trip, it is just a wedding trip.Speaking of Niigata, she only knew that there was a poor town facing the Sea of ​​Japan on the ferry to Sado Island.It took courage for Kumiko to go to the city where she lived her life alone.However, in order to find out the whereabouts of her husband, she had to go again. Amamura should have flown from Niigata to Nagoya. If he didn't take that flight, he just went elsewhere.Where is that?Anyway, he will leave his footprints in Niigata.Kumiko bought this train timetable to find out the route and train number to Niigata.It takes less than an hour by plane, and four or five hours by train at most, but this is a long journey for Kumiko. On the first day of departure, Kumiko went to a department store to buy travel supplies. When she came back to open the door, she found that the door had been unlocked. Kumiko was stunned, the lock was broken, who did it?Kumiko's face changed abruptly.She thought, this must have broken in while she was not at home.So he hurried into the house. Ever since the accident on the Noboard plane, she had invited her mother to her house to keep her company.Seeing her loneliness, her mother advised her to go back to her natal home for a while, but her daughter refused.She encouraged herself to get used to living alone, and she let her mother go back by herself two or three days ago. Running into the house frightened her into a fool.With an "ah", she leaned upright against the door frame of the inner room like a wooden figure in an instant, motionless. This house was given to them by the father as a dowry gift for his daughter. It was originally a three-room bungalow that was not bad.Now the house is in disarray, not in a good shape.They tore away the straw mats, pulled down the decorations hanging on the wall, the carpet was torn, the vases were left sideways, the chests were turned upside down, all the drawers of the desk were pulled out, and even the refrigerator in the kitchen was broken. Did not let go. This was done by breaking into and ransacking the house while no one was there, and it was very thorough. It was probably done by a few guys who specialize in Sidao.Apparently, the door lock doesn't do anything for them. The most intolerable thing was that the small study was in such a mess that all the books seemed to have been turned over.The books on the bookshelves that were stacked so high were also thrown all over the floor, and there was almost nowhere to go.Yucun once told his wife that if a fire broke out at home, he must first try to rescue those documents and materials. It can be seen from the damage in the room that the target of the search was Yucun's study.Whether they achieved their purpose is unknown.However, judging from the mess in other houses, it seems that he didn't find what he needed in Yucun's study. "Who did such a despicable and hateful thing?" Kumiko forgot her anger for a moment, just thinking blankly. Where is this home when I went out a few hours ago?Who is it and what is it for?She suddenly thought of Mitsuo Monobe, the chief engineer of the research office who had been to her home recently. Was the home ransacked just for that information?Maybe he did it.At this moment, Kumiko recalled Monobe's sneaky and suspicious eyes, and felt very disgusted. Then Kumiko thought again, wouldn't people be suspicious immediately if she ransacked the house after asking for that thing nakedly in front of her last time?It is impossible for such an excellent engineer to do such a thing of stealthily ransacking the house while no one is around.However, who else would it be? Kumiko shivered suddenly.The horror that had been forgotten by the astonishment just now surged out.She thought that the man might not go back after searching the house.It was already dark, and the room was even darker.The more Kumiko thought about it, the more frightened she became.Just when she was thinking about whether they would be hiding in some corner and peeping at her holding their breath, she suddenly heard a click, which made her dodge a few steps back in a "ah".She collected herself and listened carefully again, but there was no movement.It turned out that the book that had been thrown on the side of the coffee table fell to the floor. Kumiko turned on the light, which gave her some courage.It seems that the person who ransacked the house had already left.Kumiko suddenly seemed to remember something, and immediately walked to the telephone, picked up the receiver and dialed the number.She thought that it would be easy for her to leave here, but she left without knowing the truth about the house raids, and she couldn't go on. "Hey, is that mom?" "It's me, what's the matter, in a panic?" "Mom, please come quickly, something has happened!" "Okay, let's go." Mom put down the phone without further questioning. Kumiko thought, it will take thirty minutes for her mother to arrive. Will the people who searched the house come back again?The door lock was broken, and if it wasn't it wouldn't work anymore.At this time, she thought of calling the police station, but when she dialed the dial, she stopped, thinking that she should think carefully before calling. She thought: It seems that when I was not at home to search the house, at least she didn't mean to kill herself.But who would this person be if he wasn't the Monobe?The husband has said that he worries that his research results will be used in weapons and will bring huge profits to large companies.As soon as the news of the success of his research was published, a large company immediately sent someone to recruit him.Now even if the husband is dead, his research results are still closely integrated with the interests of large companies, and they must all want to grab them and will never stand by.So, which company will do it? At this time, Kumiko raised her dull eyes and looked at the house that was so shattered that it seemed impossible to live in it. She felt an indescribable sadness and sorrow.Suddenly, a frightening thought flashed in her mind: Was Yucun killed? Although Yucun successfully researched it by himself, he is very afraid of this kind of energy demon that can destroy the earth.Not only did he not want to publish it, he even wanted to destroy it again. This research is related to the high profits of billions of dollars for large companies.Could he have been killed, then, against the wishes of the big capitalists?However, it is said that effective research can only be carried out with the participation of Yucun. If he is killed, won't that research be destroyed as well?Maybe as long as you understand the basic theory, others can do it too.If so, why are you still searching?Searching means that the information they want has not been obtained.It is unlikely that the inventor will be killed before the information is obtained.Secondly, could it be that some companies got the information first, and killed him for fear of future troubles?The person who came to search for the house may be a company that started too late, or a company that only thought that Yucun was killed, and came to search for his scientific research "relics". Kumiko thought about it but couldn't come to a conclusion.She really wanted to deny that her husband was killed, but the more she thought about it, the more likely she was to be killed.She also thought that Yucun might have been killed before boarding the plane, and the body was hidden, so his name was still on the plane passenger reservation list. "Amura, where are you!" Kumiko called out to the silent and desolate study. She looked at the messy documents and books thrown on the desk where her husband often worked, and the chair that he often used lying on the floor, and her heart ached like a knife. Kumiko wondered, what would my husband say if he saw this?Anyway, let's tidy up my husband's study first.She was about to tidy up the things in the house with a strong effort, when someone entered the door. "Oh, what's going on?" was the mother's surprised voice. "Mother!" Kumiko's nervousness disappeared immediately, and she threw herself into her mother's arms, sobbing and crying. "Is it stolen when I was not at home, or..." The mother stroked her daughter's back and stared at her with frightened eyes.The mother thought it was done by the robbers, and worried that her daughter might suffer other wrongs. Kumiko regained her composure and explained the situation to her mother, but not the thought that Amamura might be dead. "That's right, let's see if anything has been stolen." Mom thinks that ordinary thefts often make a mess of the house.Indeed, if it was only something valuable that was stolen, there was no need to think so much. Kumiko felt that what her mother said was also reasonable, so she checked the more valuable things.Starting with a few stocks, I looked at cash, savings book, rings, gemstones and even clothes, but nothing was lost. Not long after she got married, she didn't have much belongings worth stealing. Judging from the inspection results, it was still aimed at Yucun's scientific research materials. At this time, in Kumiko's mind, a phantom of a headless man brandishing a murder weapon suddenly appeared at her husband.Kumiko plans to go out to investigate.In addition to knowing Yucun's whereabouts, maybe at the same time he can find out who the murderer is.