Chapter 12 Section 5

That night, a task force was formally established in the Shimadzu Police Station.There hasn't been a murder case for a long time, and the victim this time is not an ordinary person.For the Shimadzu Police Department, it may be the most significant case ever.Reporters flocking to the police station one after another also proved that this murder case was unusual.At 7 o'clock in the evening, the director will hold a press conference to officially release information about the murder case to them. The head of the task force is the chief, but the actual commanding authority is Konno, the Chief Investigator of the First Investigative Section of the Prefectural Police Headquarters.Konno set up a ten-member team headed by the Western Police Department and composed of people from the first search department.They are the core figures responsible for the future investigation of this case, and they are also assisted by police forces such as mobile search teams, criminal officers from the Shimadzu Police Station, and crime prevention personnel.

After the main members gathered in the conference room, West stood up and briefly explained the circumstances of the murder.Yusaku leaned against the wall behind and listened, in fact he knew it all too well. "It is said that the victim used to go to that place at that time of the week, and the murderer who knows this is likely to be ambushing there. However, the newspaper has reported this matter, so it is difficult to use this clue to lock the suspect." The Western Police Department said His words sounded like a bell, but he didn't feel the sense of oppression when facing a major murder case, which was completely different from the domineering chief at the side.

"As for the bow that committed the crime—" West said, "the crossbow has not been found yet, and it has not been confirmed, but it should be the murder weapon." "Have you found any fingerprints on the arrow?" A criminal policeman sitting in the middle asked. "No, it was wiped clean." There was a small commotion in the conference room. "The cause of death of the victim was not heavy bleeding or heart attack, but poisoning. Was poison applied to the arrow?" another criminal policeman asked. "Regarding this, we learned the details from the people around Naoaki Guasheng, the holder of the crossbow."

West ordered a criminal police officer named Fukui to report the information obtained.Fukui has a baby face, but an unusually burly figure. "That person is Kenji Matsumura, who is currently the executive director of UR Electric. He said that because he learned that Guasheng was collecting art and rare treasures, a male employee who returned from West Germany at the end of last year took the crossbow It was given to Gua Sheng as a gift." "The employee is currently in West Germany, and we are trying to get in touch." West added. "About that crossbow," Fukui went on, "it is said to be stringed, it works perfectly, and it has a sight."

"Can laymen use it?" Konno asked. "It is said that it is not difficult to set up a bow, but the hit rate is not used before. So I don't know." "Could it be that the murderer is a person who is good at using that kind of weapon?" the policeman said to himself. "No, I don't think that's necessarily the case." West said, "After on-site investigation, we believe that the murderer aimed at a position more than ten meters behind Sugai. At such a short distance, as long as the crossbow is fixed in some way, it is considered the first shot." For those who use it for the first time, it should not be too difficult to hit the target."

"Oh. But how to fix it?" "The murderer is hiding outside the concrete wall that surrounds the cemetery. The wall is a little over one meter high, and it should be safe to place a crossbow on it." This point seems to have been discussed, and West replied confidently. Police Konno looked "acceptable", so Fukui continued to report: "As for the arrow, Matsumura knew that it was poisoned. He said that the arrow was not coated with poison, but installed an invisible organ." "The part of the agency will be reported by the forensic department later." West said.

"What kind of poison is it?" Yusaku's boss, the chief criminal officer, asked. "It seems cur are." Fukui replied. This strange poison name caused commotion in the room again. Fukui said: "This is a plant poison extracted from several kinds of vines, which is used by the indigenous people of the Amazon Basin. I heard that the men of the tribe are still making it privately. Cur are means 'killing birds' in the tribal language. , refers specifically to arrow poison. If you are shot by an arrow fed with this poison, you will feel pain soon after, and you will be unable to move due to muscle relaxation, and then you will die of respiratory paralysis. It is unexpected that this kind of thing can enter Japan.”

"How many arrows of that kind are there?" A senior criminal policeman from the Shimadzu Police Department raised his hand and asked. "The two that were in the cabinet are missing. The murderer had one chance to fail." The murderer probably thought that if two arrows were fired from a distance of more than ten meters from the target, one of them would hit.Without this guarantee, the murderer might not have made up his mind to commit the crime. Then the forensic personnel explained the structure of the arrow.The officer in charge held up a plastic bag containing the arrows used by the perpetrator.

"Please look at this arrow carefully. The front part is different from ordinary arrows." The forensic officer handed the plastic bag to Police Officer Konno. The police stared at the plastic bag and said, "There is a hole in the front." "A hole of about one millimeter. In fact, that's the organ." The forensics officer walked to the blackboard with the report in his hand, and drew the cross section of the arrow with rough lines. Shaped, of course the tip is pointed. The remaining three centimeters are stuffed into the tubular shaft. In addition, the arrow tip is hollow and can hold poison."

"What happens if you shoot it?_" a detective asked. "At the moment of shooting, the poison in the tip of the arrow will be squeezed to the rear, and when it hits the target, the arrow will suddenly stop moving, and the poison will be squeezed out by the reaction force, and enter the prey from the small hole in the front end. In short, this is like It's a flying needle." "Oh, that's how it is." Everyone expressed their admiration with one voice. "It's amazing." Police said, "Is this also the wisdom of the natives of the Amazon?"

"Probably not. Generally speaking, when it comes to curare poison, although I haven't consulted experts, I can't say for sure, but I think it should just be poisoned at the front end." "Well, but, this is really an incredible mechanism." "That's why the murderer thought that he only needed to shoot a certain part of Mr. Sugai's body." West said. After the explanation of the murder weapon came to an end, the testimony of Masaki Sugai's wife Yakie and son Junhe, as well as the results of the interrogation at UR Densan, etc. were reported.As far as conclusions are concerned, no information worthy of special mention has been obtained. "However, there is one thing to pay attention to." Xixi glanced over the crowd, and said somewhat mysteriously, "It is Xu Bei's whereabouts yesterday. He left the company during the day and went to Guasheng's house." This is the information that Yusaku and Oda asked Misako Kawabu.According to her, Takahisa Weito also went to Guasheng's house before noon.The West also mentioned this. "Ask Takahisa Oto and Ayako Guabu about the story respectively. They said that Sugai said that he wanted to read the books owned by Naoaki, so they took him to the library next to the study. However, almost all valuable books have been sold to second-hand booksellers, Sugai Whether the desired book is still there is a big doubt. In addition, there are several doubts, we plan to continue to investigate." Xixi ended this passage with mystery. Then, the general investigation policy for the future is announced.Tomorrow, we will continue to collect clues at the murder scene. However, no one guarantees how useful information will be obtained.The criminal police commanded by the director on the front line also failed to find out any major clues and returned without success. As for the motive for the murder, no clues have been found to indicate that Masaaki Sugai had a grudge against others.However, his tough personality also seems to have affected his management style. If you investigate deeply, you may find some clues.Since the victim is an entrepreneur, of course it is necessary to investigate the flow of the inheritance. In addition, Xu Bei had lent money to several relatives, and some people must want him to die.It is unclear whether he has life insurance.Tomorrow will officially launch the action to explore the case from all aspects.The police will investigate Xu Bei's work and personal affairs separately, especially those who entered and exited Gua Sheng's house today. "Please try your best to confirm the alibi of everyone's fragmentary time. In addition to the crime time, don't forget to investigate the time when the murderer or accomplice stole the crossbow from Gua Sheng's house." Xixi urged in a strong tone. According to the news obtained today, the murderer is definitely someone close to the Guasheng family or the Sugai family.He probably wanted to find some inconsistencies in the testimony and solve the case in one go. The group then exchanged views on the details, and then assigned the tasks each person was responsible for. Yusaku and Oda's mission tomorrow is to meet Akihiko Kuwao.