Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen

At this time, dark clouds covered the sky and blocked the sun.A shadow cast over Jim's face, only his eyes were still bright. "Madam, it is not easy for you to be aware of this incident to such an extent!" "What do you mean by that?" "I didn't want to say anything more, since you have already found out, then I will explain it to you!" "So, Mr. Jim, you already know everything?" "I can't know everything. I always feel that Horizawa-kun's death is not the so-called 'love death'. Madam, maybe you have already noticed it. Horizawa-kun and I have suddenly become estranged. Do you know why? "

"Yes. I have already felt it. I always feel guilty for what Horizawa did to you." "No, no, ma'am, don't say that. We didn't quarrel. It's true that we are naturally estranged." Changzi thought, the reason why Jimu was unwilling to say more was still in himself. "But the reason..." said Jim, drooping his eyelids. "The two of us took different paths. We were close friends in high school. I admire his talents very much. At a certain point, I can't catch up with him. First of all, he is full of confidence in life. He is in Status was always superior to me, and I took that for granted."

Yoshiki was referring to the fact that Horizawa graduated from a national university, passed difficult exams, and got a half-job in the government office.Of course, there is some truth to this statement. Masako recalled the scene when Masako and Horizawa walked side by side in front of Yemaxi in Kyushu, and Yoshiki fell behind alone.At that time, he showed what he now calls a "natural" expression. "In front of you, my wife, I don't want to mention my dead friend. The sudden estrangement between Horizawa-kun and I was not because I succumbed to his self-confidence. As I said just now, I admire his strengths. However, Ever since I was a student, I have felt that Juze-kun has a sense of superiority, or the coldness of egoism. Since he entered the officialdom, this expression has become more explicit, and he has become a typical pursuit of fame and fortune."

Masako naturally understood Jimu's words very well.The reason why she has no love for him is because of his flaws in character. "After we met in Kyushu, from then on, the friendship between Horizawa-kun and I was over. Thinking about it carefully, after graduating from university, we each went our own way. Sooner or later, the two of us will break up. It's fate." Jim went on. "There are two reasons why Horizawa-kun and I really broke up. First, I work at the Institute of Political Economy, which is a left-wing group. Horizawa-kun works in the government office, and my friend is a trouble to him. Said Understand that this friend of mine is a hindrance to his success."

"Really? I understand that." Changzi nodded.There was a complicated expression in Jim's eyes. "Secondly... I'm really embarrassed to say this to you, but now, I have no choice but to confess..." "What's up?" "This happened shortly after you and Horizawa-kun got engaged. One day, Horizawa-kun called me out and asked me suddenly: 'Do you love Masako?'" Changzi lowered his head, it turned out to be like this.For a long time, the thing that I have been wondering about in my mind is such a trivial matter. "At that time, I said, how can such a thing happen. But Horizawa-kun stared at my face and said, 'Don't lie, you love Masako. I felt it when I was in Yamaki'... At that time, I also No excuses. Because I think the more I say it, the more I will irritate Horizawa-kun."

Enraged... This word made Changzi understand Jim's mood at that time clearly.She could imagine Horizawa's face at that time, stubbornly pursuing the other party, not relaxing for a moment... "He also said, no matter how you hide it, I have already discovered it. From now on, you don't come to my house, and I declare that I will break up with you." Horizawa would say such words, how much like Horizawa's tone. "He said again, I married her, and I didn't invite you to the wedding! You have a plan..." "..." "Finally I asked him, did you tell Changzi these words? He sneered and said: 'This is my private matter, of course I will not tell my wife, please rest assured!' He then said, 'Since we have Cut off the relationship, and you don’t want to have any contact with me at work in the future, don’t say it’s unpredictable, I’ll tell you here first, ‘Just like that, he walked away resentfully.”

Masako's fingers were trembling, and Yoshiki told about his severance with Horizawa, that is, a confession of his love for Masako, Masako couldn't lift his head for a while. "No, ma'am, at this point, I'm telling these things, please don't be sad. I just want to explain why Horizawa-kun suddenly alienated me. Why should I quietly investigate the cause of Horizawa-kun's death, if I don't tell these things To put it bluntly, you won't understand..." "..." "The Institute of East Asian Fiscal Studies I work for actually belongs to the left-wing camp. There, I learned a lot of knowledge and cultivated my ability to observe and judge things. I often go out for interviews. Due to work, I am very interested in Hori. Zejun’s Economic Planning Department and other bureaucratic agencies have considerable knowledge. But these things are not directly related to the issues I’m talking about today, so I won’t go into details.”

Jim regained his composure.Changzi also suppressed his excitement and listened to him calmly. "Now let's focus on the death of Horizawa-kun. My thoughts are the same as yours. I don't think Horizawa-kun has anything to do with your younger sister Reiko. Reiko has never been to Sakunami Hot Spring, so the matter is as it should be. I understand now. When Lingzi left home, did she tell her family that she was going to Sendai with her friends?" "yes." However, Lingzi's friend denied this. "The problem is that no one has ever met Reiko at Zukunin Onsen. I think this is an important clue to this incident."

Jim went on to offer his own opinion. "Secondly, who is Horizawa-kun waiting for at Zukunami Hot Spring? Since Horizawa called Tokyo, it can be presumed that this person is from Tokyo." "That's right." "The next morning after the phone call, Horizawa-kun left the hotel. Since then, no one has witnessed Horizawa-kun's actions. It can be thought that he went in the direction where his body was found. At least many people believe so of." "Many believe? What does that mean?" Masako questioned Jim's fantastic formulation. "Mr. Jim, do you have another idea?"

"I'll talk about my ideas later, and now I'll implement the clues I got one by one." "The reason why many people believe this is because Horizawa-kun's actions were seen by people, isn't it? Horizawa-kun stayed at the inn in Sakunami Onsen until the third morning. He seemed to say to the maid, He was waiting for someone. In fact, he himself was waiting at the station. On the evening of July 17, he called Tokyo and left the hotel the next morning. impression. Is it not?" "What?" Masako asked in surprise, "Could it be Horizawa's acting skills?"

"No, it can't be called acting. The question is what caused him to do this? This. Please remember before I go on... I think that Horizawa-kun is really waiting for someone in Sakuna Onsen. And Horizawa Ze called Tokyo: it was a mistake by the planners." "Tell me more in detail." Changzi asked after being confused by Jimu's words. "After listening to what my wife said just now, I understand the facts that I didn't know before. Or, before this, I only relied on my own imagination, and I only got confirmation after listening to your words." The sun hit Jim's face. "All in all, it was part of the planner's plan that Horizawa-kun stayed at the inn at Sakunami Onsen. Later, the person he was waiting for was delayed, and Horizawa-kun couldn't wait, so he called Tokyo. In other words, Horizawa Jun's phone call to Tokyo was out of the planner's mind. That person failed to arrive on time due to unexpected reasons..." Jim paused at this point. "Madam, I have brought a clipping from the July 18th newspaper for your perusal." As Jimu said, he took out a newspaper clipping from his notebook and handed it to Changzi. "The Ou Main Line is in chaos due to landslides "A sudden landslide near Osawa on the 17th at 6:00 pm on the 17th. About 500 meters of the railway near Osawa on the Ou Main Line was buried by sand. For this reason, the No. 427 train bound for Akita broke down near Itaya. Fukushima The whole line section was dispatched overnight to remove the sediment, and it was reopened seven hours later. The train was delayed by eight hours and did not leave until 2:00 am on the 18th. The timetable of the Ou Main Line was once in chaos, and it took half a day to return to normal. " After Masako finished reading the news, she looked up at Jim. "Mr. Yoshiki, then didn't this person take the Tohoku Main Line instead of the Ou Main Line to go to Sakunami Onsen?" "Yes, this can also be obtained after watching the scene of 'Love Death'. This location is in the valley between Sakunami Onsen and Tendo Onsen. Tendo is on the Ou Main Line. I think Horizawa-kun is waiting for it Some people came to the scene from Tendo." "That means Horizawa came here to meet the people from Tendo after leaving the inn at Sakunami Onsen, doesn't it?" "Yes. Translate Hori always thought that the other party was coming from Sendai. However, this person came from Tendo via Yamagata, and he missed the scheduled time. Because of the accident on the train, he was eight hours late." When Jimu said this, he paused temporarily. The dark clouds in the sky occasionally cracked a gap, and the sun shot out from the gap!It illuminated the half of Jim's face. "Is anyone coming from Tokyo?" Masako asked, looking into Jim's face. "Yes, there are people from Tokyo, and I met Horizawa-kun." "Who is this person?" "I don't know." Jim shook his head, "I still don't understand." "Can you find this person?" "I think I can find him, it depends on how I work hard in the future." "You count me in too." Masako said forcefully. "It's really desirable. Because it's not my business, it's your business." "Then allow me to ask you a few more questions." "Please?" "Mr. Yoshiki, just now you said that Horizawa stayed at the Sakunami Hot Spring Hotel and attracted people's attention. That was part of the planner's plan. Who came up with the idea?" "I still do not know yet." "Then why should Horizawa's actions at Sakuna Onsen draw attention?" "I think that because of the love death incident between Horizawa-kun and Reiko, Misawa-kun laid an ambush first. In other words, if a dead body is suddenly found at the scene, people will be suspicious. In the past, one of them had been to Sakunami Hot Spring, which made a strong impression on the third party." Changzi still didn't quite understand what Jimu said. "But no one has seen Lingzi before!" "Yes. That doesn't matter. Because when the body was found at the scene of the love death, even if no one had seen Ling Zi, they believed that the two agreed to meet here and then both committed suicide. There is nothing unnatural about this explanation. At the same time, Horizawa has already pretended to be waiting for someone at the station. Therefore, it is enough for Horizawa to show up near the scene of the love death." Jim went on to say: "As I said just now, Horizawa-kun's love-death incident is linked to Horizawa-kun's spy incident. Before the spy incident was announced, the issue of Horizawa-kun's love-death has already been aroused. In a word, Create air first, and then move on to the topic. In people’s minds, if they can die in love with their sister-in-law, then such a person may also commit espionage to sell confidential documents. This is the ingenuity of the planner.” "I feel the same way," Masako said. "So, Mr. Jim, the masterminds you are referring to are quite a few!" "Yes. This is a very important matter, and we cannot act rashly. When I say his name, I must have solid evidence." What method did Jim use to grasp the conclusive evidence? "As I said just now, the only mistake made by the planner was that Horizawa-kun called Tokyo. This was something the planner didn't expect in advance." "When Horizawa calls Tokyo, he's calling Takita Restaurant." So far Masako was embarrassed to say that she was working as a maid at Takita. "It's a big credit to you, ma'am, now that I remember. I've heard of 'Takita' before, too." "Did you hear that from Otomo Ryosuke?" Masako had heard from Lingzi before that Yoshiki had contacts with Otomo Ryosuke and Ono Kikuko. "Two ways," said Jim. "Takita's proprietress has a special relationship with Otomo Ryosuke. This is what I heard from the female reporter Ono Kikuko. Otomo himself often mentions 'Takita'." "I'll tell you." Masako said with determination. "I'm working as a maid in 'Takita' right now." "Uh?" Jim stared at Changzi in surprise, and Changzi couldn't help avoiding his sight shyly. "When I learned that Horizawa's caller was Takita, I went to look at its door, and I happened to see that there was a maid recruiting there. I became a maid hard-heartedly, and it has been more than a month gone." "It's been too hard. I didn't expect you to pay such a high price. Then, what do you know after you entered 'Takita'?" "Understood a little bit. The Otomo Ryosuke you mentioned just now has a relationship with the proprietress. The maids all call Otomo the boss. This may not be true, but they do have a special relationship. In addition, Horizawa's boss Takemura Kou Nagato and the assistant to the field chief also often come to Takita for dinner, of course this is also related to Otomo Ryosuke."