Chapter 18 chapter 2

After watching the corpse being carried away, Sayama felt that something was wrong.He heard that an employee of MM Heavy Industries, and a man whom Nishina Toshiki liked had died, so he rushed over from the investigation headquarters of the Komae Department.But Hashimoto didn't show any signs of committing suicide. In the end, it was said that he might have died of illness. "What a waste of time, he seems to have died of a heart attack." Yano said impatiently with a blunt face. Before coming here, he kept saying that there was a second murder case, and he seemed full of energy.

When Atsushi Hashimoto was discovered, he seemed to have died lying on his desk.He was wearing pajamas, with a pen beside him.The direct mail next to him should have arrived on Saturday, and the medical examiner speculated that he probably died on Saturday afternoon. No trauma.There were no cadaveric reactions of particular note. "But the timing is interesting! Naoki Nishina died shortly after his funeral. I think it was a coincidence. And Hashimoto's father said that his heart was not particularly bad." "Such words have no reference value. Even athletes with a super-strong heart often die suddenly of a heart attack one day."

"I've heard of such things, but..." "Anyway, Hashimoto's death was a coincidence. Besides, it's impossible to intentionally induce heart paralysis." "Maybe that's true, but let's investigate the items around him for now. What needs to be done must be done." Sayama looked around the room and walked towards the bookcase; there were rows of professional books on electronic engineering or mechanical engineering on the shelf.In addition, there are library books, travel books, etc. of historical novels or SF novels.It feels like the room of an ordinary office worker - there is a small photo frame on the bookcase, Sayama picked it up and looked at it.In the photo are Hashimoto and his father, and the other two are probably his mother and younger sister. Maybe they were taken when the whole family went to a hot spring somewhere.Judging from Hashimoto's age, the photo was probably taken more than ten years ago.

"It's so pitiful." Sayama couldn't help murmuring.His parents brought him up, but he died suddenly when he finally became independent.Compared with Hashimoto, Sayama sympathizes more with his parents who sent the white-haired man to the black-haired man. When Sayama put the photo frame back to its original position, there was a "clang" sound behind him.Looking back, Yano was crouching under the desk.In the next second, he screamed loudly and fell to the ground. "Hey, what's wrong with you?!" Sayama helped him up.But Yano just coughed hard and couldn't answer.What on earth happened--?

Sayama turned his gaze to Hashimoto's desk that Yano was looking at just now. Brand new pens were thrown on the table. The following Wednesday— "Hydrogen cyanide gas?" The report from the forensics team left Sayama and the others dumbfounded.The use of potassium cyanide or sodium cyanide to poison people is common, but the gas... In the conference room of the Ogikubo Bureau, because the police believed that Hashimoto's death was suspected of homicide, an investigation headquarters was set up.In addition, this incident may be closely related to the previous Nishina Naoki murder case, so it is essentially a form of joint investigation.Investigators from the investigation headquarters of the Komae Bureau also gathered together, and the conference room was crowded.

"This is the same pen that was used to commit the crime in this murder case." The staff of the forensic department held up the pen, an ordinary black pen, and the staff of the forensic department then disassembled it to show everyone the ink sac. "It's an ink cartridge, in other words, a pen that, instead of being inserted into a tube, draws ink from an ink bottle. The nib is inserted into the bottle and filled with a piston motion. The trick is the same as before. The water gun is filled with water. The problem is the part that fills the ink. The investigation found that it seems to be filled with crystals of potassium cyanide."

There was a small commotion in the room. "In this case, what will happen?" the director of the Ogikubo Department asked. "If you don't touch it, nothing will happen. In principle, potassium cyanide is a stable substance, but..." The forensic staff took out the ink bottle, which was exactly the same as the one found in Hashimoto's room.The forensic staff opens the cap and plunges the nib of the fountain pen into the bottle for a pistoning motion. "Filling the ink like this will cause a change. But in this case, it must be blue ink. Because blue ink is acidic, mixing it with potassium cyanide will cause a chemical change."

The commotion became more serious. "Can't black ink work?" asked the director. "No, because the ingredients used to make blue contain acidic substances. We actually investigated the blue ink bottles found at the scene, and found that the acidity was slightly higher than that of commercially available products. In other words, the prisoner may have used it to promote the chemical reaction. Add a few drops of a strong acid like sulfuric acid." Someone said aloud, "It's a smart prisoner!" Several people nodded.There are so many investigators gathered, but no one should have been exposed to this type of crime.

"That is to say, Atsushi Hashimoto died by inhaling this gas?" an investigator asked. "Yes. We don't know how much gas was produced, but it is a pen after all, and the place where the gas is produced is quite close to the face. The deceased may have inhaled the gas before it diffused into the air, so it was almost dead on the spot status." "It's terrible!" someone said. "Potassium cyanate is terrible. When it was actually discovered, the chemical reaction had stopped, but when Detective Yano from the Komae Station played with the pen, the remaining trace components seemed to react again. The gas produced should be very small, but Detective Yano The respiratory center was still impacted, and the whole person fell to the ground. Fortunately, his life was not in danger."

Among the investigators, some couldn't help laughing.The topic character, Yano, is still in the hospital, which is a natural disaster for him, but thanks to him, the police discovered the trick of the pen.He died because of potassium cyanate poisoning, and it seems that even an autopsy could not find out the cause of death. After the forensic report was completed, the criminal section chief of the Ogikubo Bureau explained the pen.According to him, the pen appears to have been delivered to Hashimoto last Saturday in a package.On the ground next to the body, there was brown paper used to wrap pens and ink bottles.The sender on the paper was Toshiki Nishina, and the postage date was the 13th of the previous day, and it was stamped with the postmark of the Chofu branch office.The branch is next to MM Heavy Industry.

"We asked Mr. PeopleSoft about this, and he said he had no recollection of sending anything like this." Sayama thought to himself: That's true.It was impossible for the prisoner to write his own name, but the use of Toshiki Nishina concerned him. Addresses, recipients, senders, and other texts were all typed with a word processor.The machine model has not been locked, but it is slightly different from the machine fonts of various departments in MM Heavy Industry. The pen is a product of Company S, and the wrapping paper used to pack the box from Toyo Department Store, like the kraft paper, was found in Hashimoto’s home.On the wrapping paper was a sticker that said "Gift"—— It was carefully planned, Sayama admired the way the prisoner did it.The next day after Naoki Nishina's body, he received a package with "gift" from the bereaved owner, so he should feel reasonable.So it is not difficult to understand that Hashimoto will be completely caught in the trap. The investigative meeting has entered the stage of deciding on the policy for handling the case in the future.The direction of handling the case was decided that the Ogikubo Department would follow the line to investigate the pen and potassium cyanate, while the Komae Department would investigate the connection between this incident and the murder of Naoki Nishina. After the meeting, Sayama and the others went to the Komae Office.He and the Taniguchi police department sat in the back of the car driven by the young detective. "Not only has the investigation of Nishina's homicide stopped, but now something difficult has happened." While the car was starting, Taniguchi said, "The question is whether this case is related to the previous murder. Has Hashimoto been killed?" Nishina Naoki's prisoner, killed based on the same motive? Or Hashimoto himself was involved in Nishina's murder?" "We should think about the possibility of both." Sayama said: "First, I will try to investigate Hashimoto's alibi on the day that Nishina Naoki was killed." Taniguchi nodded immediately. "That's it, but Hashimoto didn't ask for leave that day, did he?" "He didn't ask for leave. But just to be prudent, let's check it temporarily." "Yeah! Maybe you can leave the company without filing a leave form." "Also, I will also try to investigate the relationship between Hashimoto and Naoki Nishina." "Are they related at work?" "They also belong to the research and development department, and there may be a relationship between the two." Sayama thought of the face of the administrative staff working under Naoki, she should be called Nakamori Yumi, she might know something. "By the way, have you finished investigating all the alibi of those who asked for leave that day?" Taniguchi tried to change the subject. "People who may be related to Naoki Nishina have been investigated in principle." But Taniguchi said bluntly: "I originally thought that if you ask for leave, there must be a reason for taking leave, but I didn't expect that there were many people who asked for leave without any special reason. I was shocked. The boss of MM Heavy Industries seems to guide his subordinates Annual leave is planned, so employees take breaks after a while. It’s a fact that Japanese people are overworked and don’t have fun. Many people watch TV all day, or play pachinko to pass the time.” "It was also a painstaking effort to confirm the alibi of these people." "That's right." "So, is there a specific character locked?" "There is only one." After speaking, Taniguchi raised his index finger, "That's what I said, but it's just because the place of work is interesting." "who is it?" "In Nishina Toshiki's cadre office, there is an administrator named Yasuko Amamiya. This woman asked for leave that day, and she has no definite absence certificate. According to her, she was wandering on the street that day." Sayama let out a breath. "But just like that, I can't say she is suspected." "That's right. Besides, women can't do that kind of murder." "Strangle it..." The prisoner strangled him with a rope from behind Naoki, but the results of the autopsy did not detect sleeping pills from Naoki.In other words, Naoki should have resisted.If a man resists desperately, the average woman will be thrown away. "However," Taniguchi said, "if there is an accomplice, it's another matter." "Accomplice?" Sayama felt that something was coming to his mind.Regarding the murder of Naoki Nishina, he has always been brooding about something.Now I vaguely see that. "What's wrong with you?" Taniguchi asked. Sayama shook his head. "No, it's nothing." It seems that it will take a little time for the vague things to take shape.