Chapter 10 Section 1

Komae City - The apartment building was built a little north on Setagaya-dori, a few minutes walk to the Tamagawa River.There is not much traffic, and the environment is quiet and pleasant.The apartment is a three-story building, all rooms face south, and the parking lot is on the east.Not many people commute by car, but the parking lot is empty and full of cars.In this apartment building, there is a man who runs a small printing business.Although he inherited his father's business, this job is not easy and pleasant.If there is an urgent shipment, the goods must be loaded into the car the night before, and delivered directly to the customer early the next morning.

This morning happened to be such a day. In order to meet an unreasonable order that had to be delivered before this morning, the printing press was running until after ten o'clock last night.A small printing shop cannot do business without a little accommodation to the unreasonable demands of its customers.As a result, the man returned home at eleven o'clock last night.His parking space is the second from the inside, and he drives a van he bought a few years ago.A VOLVO car was parked inside his car.He often sees the owner of that car, who seems to be more than ten years younger than him, perhaps because the bachelor has a lot of money and wears designer goods all over his body.

Living alone in this apartment is a luxury, he thought.Although this place is not in the twenty-three wards of Tokyo, the land price has soared recently, and the housing price is beyond the reach of ordinary office workers.But the owner of the Regal car lives in the room with the largest square footage and the best view in the building.He probably wasn't in a legitimate business—the man guessed jealously. The man gets in the car and checks the goods on the shelves. After confirming that they are correct, he turns the key to start the engine and adjusts the position of the rear-view mirror at the same time.He found that the rear-view mirror on the left was crooked, and he smacked his lips.Because his car is not equipped with humanized equipment such as electric rear-view mirrors.He leaned to the left, rolled down the window, and when he reached out to move the rearview mirror, it was reflected in the mirror.Someone, he thought.Because what is reflected in the rearview mirror is a human hand.He stretched his body further and poked his head out of the car window.After a few seconds, he jumped out of the car without turning off the engine.

"About 12 hours have passed since the death." Associate Professor Ando of Toto University's Forensic Science Research Office said in a calm voice while straightening his gold-rimmed glasses with his fingers. Sayama looked at his watch to count the time.It is 7:26 in the morning, so the deceased was killed around 7:00 last night. "It seems that the deceased was strangled to death from behind?" "Yeah, the rope is crossed behind the neck, it must have been attacked from behind." The body was lying between the two vehicles.According to the testimony of the discoverer, the deceased must be the owner of the rich car parked in the parking space next door.From the driver's license and business card on the deceased's body, it was known that he was Naoki Nishina who lived in Room 303 of the apartment.

"Sayama." Someone was calling his name, Sayama looked back, and the Taniguchi police department raised his chin, motioning for him to go over. "The owner of the printing factory who found the body seemed to have returned home after eleven o'clock last night." Taniguchi bent his normally hunched body even lower. "That's strange." Sayama said: "Associate Professor Ando said that the deceased had been dead for more than twelve hours. So the prisoner should have killed the deceased somewhere and brought him here." "Probably in the middle of the night."

"Perhaps one of the residents knows something." "Now I'm sending inquiries. Let's go and see the victim's home." Taniguchi walked towards the apartment, and Sayama followed behind him.Looking up at the building, several windows are open and the occupants were looking down at the parking lot. Climbing up to the third floor, room 303 is next to the stairs.The door has been opened and several investigators are inside the house.Taniguchi also went in, but Sayama rang the doorbell of Room 302.The person who came out to answer the door was a thirty-five or six-year-old woman who seemed to be a housewife.

Sayama asked: "Did you hear any noise from the next room yesterday?" The housewife shook her head. "I didn't hear any sound at night. But then again, the deceased was Mr. Nishina..." She glanced at the next door and frowned. "Did you see Mr. Nishina yesterday?" "Well, I saw him when he went out in the morning. It was about six o'clock, more than an hour earlier than usual." In this way, he is not going to go to work as usual. "How does his costume look?" "What, just normal. He's wearing a neat gray suit with a briefcase or something."

Sayama nodded silently, wrote this point on the notepad, then raised his head, and asked the housewife again about her impression of Nishina. "I don't know him very well, but he is a bit strange. Sometimes he would be on the balcony, staring at the outdoors for dozens of minutes... Speaking of which, I also saw him playing the trumpet in Tama River." "Do you talk to him often?" "No, at most it's a greeting when we meet." Then, Sayama asked, "Have you ever seen the people who entered and exited Naoki's house?" She put her hand on her cheek, tilted her head in thought, and finally replied: "I don't know, I don't know."

After Sayama thanked the housewife, he looked into room 303.When he saw the state of the house, he was speechless for a moment. "It's like a typhoon, right?" Taniguchi approached. "It's just horrible," Sayama said. The state of the room is indeed like a small typhoon passing through.As far as a bachelor is concerned, the layout of three bedrooms and two living rooms is too big, and every room seems to have been completely turned over by someone.Sayama looked around while putting on his gloves.All the clothes in the wardrobe and storage cabinets were ripped out and scattered all over the floor.There were hardly half a book left on the bookcase, all the drawers of the desk had been pulled out, and the contents inside were emptied.

"Even the refrigerator was turned over in a mess," Taniguchi said. "The prisoner seems to be looking for something?" "It seems to be. I don't think the murder scene is here." "Probably not. If it was here, it would be meaningless to move the corpse to the parking lot. The prisoner probably moved the corpse specifically because he didn't want to be known where the murder scene was." "Would you like to come to this house to rummage through the boxes while moving the corpse?" "Probably so. The neighbors next door haven't noticed the house turned into such a virtue. It can be seen that the prisoner is a cautious person."

"The question is whether the prisoner found what he was looking for." "Did the prisoner leave no trace?" "I don't know if this can be regarded as a clue...you come here to have a look." The two walked into the living room, there were playing cards and an ashtray on the coffee table, and Taniguchi pointed to the ashtray. "Signs of burnt paper?" "I see." The prisoner seemed to have crumpled up some paper, threw it into an ashtray and burned it, turning the paper into black ashes. "Is there something written on the paper, is there a way to identify it?" "There are still a few vaguely recognizable characters left. They are A and B of the English alphabet, and there seems to be C. The rest is unclear. I plan to entrust a scientific investigation and research team." "A, B, and C, did PeopleSoft burn them themselves?" "I think it should be, the possibility of the prisoner burning it is not high." "If it's a prisoner, you can take the paper away and dispose of it slowly outside." "The ABC murder case, I always feel that this matter will become very troublesome." Taniguchi picked up a poker card from the side and spread it on the coffee table. The clown on the card laughed horribly. On this morning, Sayama from the Investigative Section 1 of the Metropolitan Police Department and Yano from the Komae Department visited MM Heavy Industries.Yano is nine years younger than Sayama, only in his twenties. He is tall, strong and thick, and his usually sharp eyes are even sharper. He is very motivated to participate in the investigation of the first murder case. "I don't understand why Nishina came back from Osaka?" Yano said in a low voice while waiting for the other party in the reception room of MM Heavy Industries. This room with more than two square meters has good sound insulation, and the sofa set for guests is not inferior.In addition to this room, there is also a reception hall with a whole row of tables, but as soon as Sayama and the others reported their names at the counter, the counter lady in a blue uniform led them to this room with a slightly stiff expression. Room.They also seem to know a little bit. "It's not necessarily that he was killed when he came back. Maybe he was brought back after he was killed." Sayama answered in a softer voice than Yano. "Did the criminals kill him in Osaka and then transport him to Tokyo?" Yano widened his eyes, "This is a huge project, why do you have to do that?" "I don't know, but it's possible." "I think Nishina was killed when he returned to Tokyo." "Whatever you think." As soon as he finished speaking, Sayama crossed his arms and closed his eyes. He had something to think about. When confirming the identity of Naoki Nishina, Sayama immediately contacted his hometown and company, which is not too far away.Hearing that his father Toshiki is the full-time director of MM Heavy Industries, Sayama figured it out. He had heard about the Nishina family. Min Shu, who came forward to identify the corpse, immediately concluded that it was his son.His breathing was a little short, but in the face of such a thing, he could still speak in a calm tone.It's just that his right hand holding the handkerchief was always trembling. "Is there any clue?" Minshu asked staring at the body. An investigator replied: "We, the police, are investigating." Minshu stared at the investigator and said, "Catch me the criminal as soon as possible, and I am willing to provide any assistance." Sayama and the others lowered their heads and said, "We will do our best." At the same time, the company received a very interesting piece of information. It is reasonable to say that Naoki went to Osaka on a business trip yesterday.The purpose of the business trip seems to be to listen to the lecture of the International Society of Robotics.In this way, the testimony of the housewife next door that Naoki went out earlier than usual is sufficient to be accepted.Naoki, who was supposed to go to Osaka, turned into a dead body and was found in Tokyo—indeed, as Yano said, this is an unbelievable thing.But compared to this, there was one thing that made Sayama even more heartbroken.Why did the criminal deliberately choose this point in time to plan to kill Naoki?Is there any reason for the convenience of the prisoner? Hearing the knock on the door, Sayama said, "Please come in." A man of about forty years old appeared, the man was bony and had a bad complexion.But he glanced at them as if looking at Sayama and the others, with a certain kind of keen observation in his eyes. "I kept you waiting for a long time." The man said while handing out a business card, which said Hagiwara Toshio, Deputy Director of the Development Planning Office.He was the subordinate of the murdered Naoki, but Hagiwara looked obviously older, which made Sayama feel strange.In short, is this the power held by the Nishina family? Sayama and the others also reported their names, and immediately cut to the chase, trying to ask what kind of person Nishina Naoki is.Hagiwara shook his jaw to one side and said, "Frankly speaking, I think he is a poor man." "Poor, what do you say?" "He is someone who stands in that position. Relatives probably have great expectations of him. He seems to be unable to meet their expectations." Sayama thought, the man's tone of voice was too humble. "How is your performance at work?" Sayama asked. Hagiwara twitched his jaw again before answering.This seemed to be his habit when he was thinking quickly in his head. "He doesn't seem very interested in work..." "What's the meaning?" "He mostly shuts himself in his office and rarely comes to ours. We talk to him about things and he just says, 'Do as you want.' He looks at the reports, but hardly ever. Point out the shortcomings." "Will there be any problems at work like this?" "Well, I have fully checked at the moment." He said in a tone of "as long as I am there, the room chief is superfluous".When Sayama asked about the job content, he was even more obvious. "Researchers in the research and development department are not just immersed in the research of professional fields, but have objects that must be developed. They are divided into planning groups of different sizes according to the objects. The development planning room plays the role of managing and coordinating these planning groups. If you use an orchestra It may be easier to understand the command metaphor. The leaders of each planning team will report the development process to me one by one, and if I find anything, they will give instructions. I am confident that the management is quite good." The way at the end is full of confidence. "So it's impossible for Nishina-san to be involved in a work problem?" "Impossible, I don't think there is such a possibility." Hagiwara replied, his jaw moved again. "Apart from work, is there anything strange about him recently?" "Besides work?" Hagiwara's eyes were vaguely wandering, but Sayama stared at him silently. "No... I don't think so." "Please be honest, is there really no?" Yano suddenly said loudly.Sayama patted his knee to comfort him, even scaring him in this kind of place is useless. Sayama tapped the notepad a few times with the tip of the ballpoint pen, and then looked at Hagiwara's face. "By the way, how much do you know about his business trip?" "I heard it was to listen to the society's lectures." "Do you often travel like this?" "Yes, but it's rare for the head of the department to attend in person, and most of them order younger employees to attend." "Oh." Sayama thought, this is an interesting testimony, why does Naoki Nishina want to attend in person this time? "When did you hear from Mr. Nishina that he was going to attend?" "Uh... what time is it?" Hagiwara opened the black-covered notebook in his hand, and turned to the page of the calendar. "It should be a week ago. He said that he would go to Osaka for a business trip and spend the night. I left everything to me." "Apart from Mr. Hagiwara, does anyone know that Mr. Nishina is going on a business trip?" "All the subordinates know. I don't know who else knows." "I see. By the way, Mr. Nishina's body was found near Komae's home. Did something happen that made him change his planned overnight stay?" Hagiwara shook his head immediately. "About this matter, I have no idea at all, because he also booked a hotel specially." "That's it." There seemed to be no other useful information from Hagiwara, Sayama said, "Please call a subordinate to come in." "Then I'll find someone who is free to come over." Hagiwara got up from the sofa. "Could you please use this phone to call him?" After speaking, Sayama pointed to the intercom phone in the corner of the room.This is to prevent Hagiwara from issuing a password to his subordinates. Hagiwara looked like the boss was unwilling, but still called his department to find his subordinates.The one who was coming seemed to be a male employee named Kasai.Five minutes later, Kasai appeared in the reception room.He is two years younger than Naoki, so he should be in his early thirties.However, he gave Sayama the feeling that he had just graduated from university.Although it is not a baby face, but the lines of the facial features are slightly delicate, and it feels a little too tender. Hagiwara got up and left the reception room, and Kasai sat in front of Sayama and the others. "Sorry to disturb you at work." Sayama said. But Kasai did not respond to this, and asked curiously, "Was the head of the department attacked by robbers?" Sure enough, he was the same as his appearance, and he felt that his tone was not reliable. "We don't know yet. Of course there is a possibility." Sayama answered like this, but actually felt that it was impossible to encounter robbers, and this was also the opinion of the police.If it is pure robbery, there is no reason to move the body.Moreover, the presumed time of death was around seven o'clock last night, which was too early for a robber to commit a crime. "But having said that, I didn't expect the head of the office to be killed. Life is really unpredictable." Kasai expressed the same feelings, showing a regretful expression. Then, Sayama started to ask the same question as he asked Hagiwara just now.Kasai's words were slightly different from Hagiwara's words: "Frankly speaking, the head of the office is indeed a bit pretentious. However, there are other reasons why the head of the office is not active in his work." "How?" Sayama urged him to continue. Kasai first said not to mention that he said it himself, and then went on to say: "The deputy director deliberately excluded the director. This may be because someone younger than himself is the immediate boss, which made him feel uncomfortable, but I think professionals This kind of thing should be tolerated. Mr. Hagiwara seems to want everyone to think that the planning department is in charge of the deputy director.” "So Nishina-san and Hagiwara-san don't have a good relationship, do they?" "Yeah, their relationship is very cold. Ah, but the deputy chief seemed to be working overtime late yesterday." Perhaps feeling that the police might suspect Hagiwara of committing the crime, Kasai hastily added a sentence. Sayama nodded with a wry smile, and then asked, "Has anything strange happened to Naoki recently?" Although the content of the question was slightly changed from the one asked to Hagiwara, the content of the question to Kasai was clearer. He leaned forward slightly, lowered his voice and said, "Didn't you listen to what the deputy head said? About the head's sister." "What about the room chief's sister? No. What's the matter?" So Kasai cleared his throat appetizingly, and said an opening sentence: "Please keep this matter secret, don't say I said it." The content is about Nishina Naoki's younger sister Hoshiko.There are rumors that a man is her husband candidate, and what Naoki said to that man. "I think that kind of statement is a bit too much. Even the successor of the Nishina family has no position to express opinions on the younger sister's marriage." Kasai pouted, as if he was the person involved. "Hmm... so there is such a thing." Sayama thought to himself, this is really interesting.In other words, to marry Hoshiko, Naoki's consent must be obtained.Naoki, however, objected. Takuya Suenaga——Sayama felt that this man, whom he had never met before, strongly aroused his curiosity.