Chapter 6 first quarter

Takehachi got on the 23:40 train from Ueno Station.This train will arrive at Fukushima at around 7:00 am the next morning. Other trains will arrive at midnight, which is inconvenient. The car is more crowded.After someone got out of the car in Utsunomiya, Suzui managed to find a corner to sleep in, and he fell asleep soon.Drinks at the Shinjuku tavern had an effect. Get off at Fukushima Station.The cool air in the morning is very refreshing.Bottom hails a taxi in front of the station. After Takehachi got on the train, he suddenly realized that Okase Masahira was taking the express train from Ueno Station at 11:30, and he could reach Fukushima at 4:30 in the afternoon.And it was the third day after he went to visit his mother's grave and was killed, so where did Okase Masahira live during the two nights?

Is it relatives living in my hometown?Or do you live near Iizaka Onsen?What does this have to do with Okase Masahira's murder?It's not clear yet. Di Jing told the driver where he was going according to the place name on the notepad.Unexpectedly, the driver told him that he should get out of the car immediately.It turned out to be the village that appeared in front of me.There is a plain in front of the village, and rolling hills behind the village. "Is it here?" "Yes. If it's Nakano, it's here." The road lay ahead.A little further on is a field full of mulberry and pear trees and a village surrounded by windbreaks. There are about twelve or three families. There is a shop selling groceries, snacks, and cigarettes next to the bus stop.

Takehachi Sochii sent the taxi away and asked the store where Fukuzenji was. "Fushan Temple is at the place where you go straight along this road." The proprietress of the shop told him. Sojii Wuba came to Fushan Temple according to the instructions of the proprietress. It was a rather old building. Di Jingwu went up the stairs and entered the mountain gate.There is a stone pavement under your feet, and weeds grow in the cracks between the stones. He didn't enter the main hall, but walked towards the cemetery first.The cemetery is next to the monastery, divided by low bamboo walls.

The cemetery is located on a wide slope of hills, with lush forests in the distance.That is probably the place where Masaaki Okase mentioned in the news reports was killed! Okase Masahira's mother and the graves of his ancestors must be found.There are many tombs, and it is indeed troublesome to check the epitaphs one by one. It would be helpful if there were monks to inquire, but the surroundings were so quiet that no one could be seen.Crows crowed on the high branches, and pale foxtails, dead last fall, lay by the roadside. After searching for a long time, I still haven't found the grave of the Okase family.Dijing wanted to find someone to inquire about, but when he was about to turn around and leave, he saw a tall young monk with a broom in his hand, and Dijing Takeha walked a few steps to meet him:

"Master, where is Mr. Okase-kun's grave?" The young monk looked him up and down.It looked like he was one. "At the northernmost point." Because Okase Masahira himself was killed two days ago, that monk was very interested in people who asked about Okase. "May I ask what is the master's name?" The monk didn't answer, but said, "I'll lead you there!" "Are you from Tokyo?" "Yes. I'm Okase-kun's friend. I'm going to Iizaka Onsen over there, so I'll drop by here to have a look." "What happened to Mr. Okase is really unfortunate!" The monk simply thought that Takehachi Sochii had come to mourn his friend's mother's grave.

"I only found out after reading the newspaper. It's really unexpected!... Is that the tree?" He pointed to the forest that he saw just now.Even if he didn't say whether it was the scene of Okase Masahira being killed, the monk already understood it. "Yes, it's in that area." The monk pointed to the north side of the cemetery and said: "It's really surprising that just two or three hours before he was killed, he was still talking to the abbot monk!" "What did they talk about?" "It's nothing special, it's just that he came to visit the graves of his ancestors and mother, and it's just a general courtesy. He said that this was his long-cherished wish for many years, and he was very pleased that it was realized today! Gave it to the abbot."

"Oh, that's right. He misses his mother very much!" "It seems that his temperament is not bad, but he also did some wrong things!" The so-called wrong things of course refer to his squandering of public funds. The young monk led Suji Takehachi to Okase Masahira's mother's tomb. The cemetery is very grand, and it is a luxurious mausoleum built by Okase Shohei when he spent public funds.After ten years, the quartzite headstones have become old. A pair of flower tubes in front of the tomb are also made of stone.There is a circular butterfly with wings that seems to be the Okase family engraved on it.There are flowers in the flower tubes, but they have withered.

"Who offered this?" Sujii Takehachi asked while looking down at the flowers. "It was enshrined when Mr. Okase came to visit the grave." The person who presented the flowers was killed two or three hours after presenting them. When Takehachi saw the withered flowers, he felt a strange feeling in his heart. "Did Okase-kun come with the abbot monk when he visited the grave?" "No. Mr. Okase went to the temple after sweeping the grave." "Didn't you come with me too?" "yes." "That means he came to worship alone, and then he met the abbot monk?"

"That's right." Takehachi Sukui imagined Okase Masahira clasping his hands in front of his mother's grave, and died two or three hours later.This was the last time he visited his mother's grave, did he have any premonition then? The surrounding area of ​​the tomb was cleaned. "Do you usually clean this cemetery?" "Yes. Not just this tomb, I will clean the cemetery in this area every three days." There are stone railings around the tomb, and stone slabs are laid on the ground.There are a few white stone chips on the slate. "Oh!" The young monk followed Takehachi's sight to find the stone chips, and picked them up with his hands:

"There are more here!" This sentence was heard by Takehachi Suijing. "What! Still?..." He looked at the blue-faced monk and asked, "Have you found this kind of stone debris before?" "Yes. But I've cleaned it out." "When was that?" "That means it was the day after Okase was murdered." "Yes, that is." Takehachi picked up a small piece and put it in his hand. It was an ordinary quartz chip. "Mr. Okase talked with the abbot monk at about six o'clock in the afternoon the day before yesterday; he was killed at about eight o'clock. That's what the newspaper published, is it true?"

"Yes. It's roughly like that. He talked with the abbot monk at about six o'clock." If according to the police's speculation, Okase Masahira came to his mother's tomb first; then he talked with the abbot monk around six o'clock, and was killed in the woods in front two hours later, then what did he do during the period from six o'clock to eight o'clock? What happened? "After Okase-kun talked with the abbot monk, did he go back alone?" "Yes. He walked out of the monastery alone. He said he would visit his mother's grave once more." "Did no one go with him then?" "Yes. Nobody followed him." That is to say, Okase Masahira returned to the cemetery alone. Sokui Takehachi thought that Okase Masahira might have met someone there.who?Maybe someone tailgating from Tokyo, maybe a local. Whoever it was, no one witnessed it at the time.Because no one comes to this kind of place at night. Takehachi Sochii asked where the young monk Okase Masahira was killed, and the monk led him to the place of the accident. Although there is a bamboo fence between the cemetery and the forest, but the bamboo fence is very short and decayed, and anyone can easily cross it. There is a path leading to the forest.The young monk walked in front. "It's here." Among the pine and cedar trees are piles of fallen leaves.In order to protect the scene, the police surrounded the place where the deceased was found with ropes, and some of the ends of the ropes are still in place. Thick pine and fir foliage blocked the sun.The ground is wet, and half of the fallen leaves are rotten. "I once went to see the dead, and it's here that they fell face down." The monk said, pointing to a fallen leaf that looked sunken. Later, Takehachi met with the abbot of the monastery again, but did not get any valuable information. The abbot monk is an old man in his sixties.Okase Masahira was killed after sweeping the grave, which was also a big shock to him: "It would have been nice to catch the criminal earlier. Although Okase has done bad things, he has already served his sentence and made atonement. Unexpectedly, the charity for his mother has become a charity for himself." Hearing this Questions were raised: "Did Okase-kun come here suddenly?" "Yes. I was also surprised that I didn't say hello before I came. I only came here to build his mother's mausoleum. After that, he went to prison, and we haven't seen each other for seven or eight years." "Are there any relatives of Okase-kun around here?" "There used to be, but now it can be said that there is no. Even the relatives are estranged because of the change of generation. In addition, Mr. Okase has cut off contact with him a long time ago. Mr. Okase said that he will go back immediately after finishing the business. " "Okase-kun left Tokyo two days before the accident. Then he lived outside for two nights. Didn't he say where he lived?" "He didn't say that." If Okase didn't live with relatives, he might live near Iizaka Onsen.After spending seven years in prison, relaxing in a hot spring is also expected. "The murder of Okase has become a big news here, and it has caused a sensation!" said the abbot. "The Tokyo newspaper also reported it. Maybe the local newspaper reported it in more detail! Are there any new supplementary reports?" "No. The police didn't find any clues, so it was very troublesome. The deceased was found at ten o'clock in the evening. The police investigation said that he died at around eight o'clock in the evening. At that time, there were no pedestrians in the area. But Okase It is really puzzling why he was taken into the woods. He met me after visiting the grave. He said he would go back after looking at it.” The question is between six and eight.From six o'clock to eight o'clock when he was killed, what was his purpose in staying in the cemetery for these two hours? Didn't Okase Masahira visit his mother's tomb before meeting the abbot?At that time he had offered flowers.So even if he went to bid farewell to his mother's grave again, there was nothing to do, just a simple visit. This caught Takehachi's attention. "Before meeting with the abbot, he visited the graves of his mother and ancestors and offered flowers. Are those flowers from Okase-kun? Has anyone seen them?" "Someone saw it clearly." The abbot immediately replied, "The mason saw him then." "mason?" "It was the stonemason who built the mausoleum. He was building a new mausoleum at the time. He once saw Okase lay flowers in front of the tomb, and then put his hands together to pray." "Then when he went to bid farewell to the tomb for the second time, the stonemason was already gone!" "Yes. That's what the stonemason told me. When Okase came to the temple, he had already finished his work and returned. If the stonemason had continued working until night, perhaps Okase would not have been killed." All the questions that should be asked have been asked, and there is nothing more to ask. Di Jingwu thanked him, left the incense money, and left Fushan Temple. That night he stayed in Iizaka Onsen.The editor-in-chief Yamazaki gave enough travel expenses, so he booked a luxurious room on the second floor, which was regarded as a consolation to himself. The hotel is located by the river, and the bottom well enters dreamland with the sound of gurgling water.The murdered Okase spent the last night of his life in the same way! The next morning, Takehachi took the train to Fukushima. When I arrived at Fukushima Station, I saw a large poster posted in the waiting room, saying that the Fukushima horse race will be held in June.

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