Chapter 26 Section 1

Friday, November 20.Sayama took a break in the middle of his work to massage the corners of his eyes.He is not very good at reading small print for long periods of time.He stretched his waist and observed the appearance of everyone. An anxious atmosphere is about to appear in the investigation headquarters. Like the Nishina Naoki murder case, the investigation of the Hashimoto murder case has not progressed.For example, investigate the alibi of the person concerned at the time when the prisoner wrapped the pen in a package and sent it.However, it happened to be the end of Naoki's funeral and everyone was returning to the company, so if you want to commit a crime, it can be said that anyone can do it.The prisoner probably also took this matter into account, so he probably used the post office near the company.However, regarding the place where the pens were purchased, the investigators responsible for investigating Dongyou Department Store got quite interesting information.He took the wrapping paper he found at Hashimoto's house and visited the pen sales of various department stores, trying to find out where the prisoner bought it from the packaging method.As a result, I learned a very surprising thing.The clerks in the department store responded unanimously: "We won't wrap it so ugly."

What exactly does this mean?It may be that the prisoner bought the pen at another store and rewrapped it with the wrapping paper prepared in advance from Dongyou Department Store.Of course, the purpose is probably to confuse the police.And to a certain extent, this trick can be said to be successful. In short, this fact makes it necessary for the police to further expand the scope of investigation in order to find out where the pen was purchased.The police deployed additional investigative manpower to inquire around for days.However, no robust information has been obtained so far. As for where the potassium cyanate came from, it was roughly ascertained. A large amount of potassium cyanate is stored in the warehouse of MM Heavy Industry's heat treatment plant. Non-factory personnel are of course forbidden to enter, but if they wear company uniforms or work clothes, they will not be questioned by anyone.Having said that, since potassium cyanate is highly toxic, it is kept in a locked vault.The question is where is this key.The keys are usually kept in the warehouse clerk's desk drawer, but they can be easily taken by someone who knows where the key is.To put it simply, the prisoner is more likely to be someone inside the company.

The range did narrow, but there was no conclusive evidence— Sayama used the corner of the conference table to browse the meeting notebooks and personal notes borrowed from the desk drawer of Atsushi Hashimoto of MM Heavy Industries.Because there might be company secrets in it, Sayama asked Hashimoto's boss to check it in principle, and fortunately there is no part that is inconvenient for outsiders to see.However, Hashimoto's superiors of course told Sayama not to tell the media. "How is it? Did you find anything?" A criminal police officer from the Komae Department came over with tea.A good-natured middle-aged man.

Sayama thanked him for taking the teacup, and said with a tired smile, "No." "I thought that there might be something related to Naoki Nishina, but according to my investigation, it has nothing to do with it at all. There is obviously a cooperative relationship between the first research and development section and the development planning department?" "Because PeopleSoft said he was the head of the planning office, but in fact it was only in name, and in fact he almost didn't touch work at all." The middle-aged criminal policeman has no spirit either.

At this time, the phone beside him rang.Sayama stretched his hand halfway, and the criminal policeman on the opposite side stopped him and picked up the microphone first. "It's me... oh, that thing. Still nothing. Um... yeah, what a pity. Thanks for your hard work." His voice was getting weaker and weaker.No findings, what a pity—it's the kind of report that's been going on lately. "Then, you'll be right back with that thing now. Huh? Where are you going?...Oh, that's it. It's a headache, I want it now." He glanced at his watch, "Okay, then I'll go halfway Take it with you, the station is okay? You can go from there to the next place to inquire. Is it five o'clock? OK."

A brown button fell a little away from Naoki's body, and it seemed to be a call from the investigators for this investigation.Although I don't know whether this subtle investigation is related to the murder case, we can't be lazy. As soon as the detective opposite Sayama hung up the microphone, he immediately left with his suit jacket. I'll get you on the way... ah - a natural word, which often appears in ordinary conversation.But at this time, this sentence awakened something in Sayama's mind.On the way...to get it from you...Suddenly, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind.No, it wasn't as exaggerated as a flash of inspiration, but he realized that he had overlooked one thing.He took the road atlas that he had always carried with him for a while, and strode up to Taniguchi. "Director, Hashimoto's car is really on the Atsugi Expressway, right?"

When Sayama said this suddenly, Taniguchi didn't seem to be able to understand immediately, and it took a few seconds to understand what he meant, and said, "Is it about that receipt?" "The question is solved." "Isn't that thing stuck?" "I didn't give up. I kept thinking about the situation with Hashimoto's car on the Tomei Expressway. I was convinced that he was killed in Osaka and transported to Tokyo. But that's not necessarily the case. The receipt It should not be the receipt from Atsugi to Tokyo, but the receipt from Tokyo to Atsugi."

Taniguchi looked at Sayama's face again. "Why do you think so?" "Because I thought there might be an accomplice. First, the culprit who actually killed Naoki took the body to Atsugi. At the same time, the accomplice set off from Tokyo to Atsugi, took the body and went straight to Naoki's apartment to discard the body. In this way, both sides They all have incomplete alibi, that is, the person responsible for the murder has no time to carry it, while the person responsible for carrying it has an alibi for the crime. This is a simple trap." "Is it to carry the corpse by relay?"

"That's right, that's a good analogy." Taniguchi didn't listen to him putting on his top hat, and crossed his arms with a low moan. "Do you want to say that Hashimoto is responsible for carrying it?" Sayama nodded vigorously. "If it's just moving the corpse late at night, Hashimoto should be able to do it. Even if he goes to the company to work overtime, he still has enough time." "Then, was Hashimoto killed by the principal criminal?" "pretty close." "It's really interesting." Taniguchi let go of his folded arms and put his hands on the table.

"I find the reasoning interesting. But that's all. Do you have any evidence to back up the reasoning?" "Not yet," Sayama said. "But there's no evidence to disprove this reasoning either, right? We should consider all possibilities." "No, it is not without evidence that would disprove this reasoning." Taniguchi looked up at Sayama sharply, "Naoki Nishina's estimated time of death is between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm on the 10th of this month. That is to say, the time when the prisoner killed him in Osaka and transported his body to Atsugi It was late at night. If it was midnight, even if the body was handed over to the accomplice in Atsugi, it wouldn't take much effort to create a strong alibi. There was no alibi before twelve o'clock in the morning, but there was an alibi after that, So I can't carry the corpse myself. If someone claims that, it's a different story."

"Unfortunately, there is no such person." "In this case, you should give up." "But there are people who can't move the body to Naoki's apartment, but can move it to Atsugi, can't they?" Taniguchi raised one eyebrow, "Who?" "Like," Sayama thought for a moment, and said, "Like Takuya Sueye. He was in Nagoya that day. There was no alibi for the nine hours from 10:00 p.m. Komae’s apartment, and then turning back to the hotel in Nagoya is extremely difficult, but going back and forth between Nagoya and Atsugi is as easy as pie.” "Suenaga, so that's the case, this guy has a motive to kill Naoki." Taniguchi tapped the table with his right index finger, "But have you forgotten something important? As I said, the presumed time of death is from six o'clock to eight o'clock. If he has an alibi during this period, we can't do anything about it." He launched an investigation." "I haven't forgotten, and I'll try to sort out my alibi for that time again." "Hey, Sayama, let's calm down." Taniguchi pointed at the tip of Sayama's nose with his index finger. "You seem to be obsessed with Hashimoto's car, but there is no evidence at all that the prisoner used that car to transport the corpse." But Sayama pushed his hand away. "Have you read the report of the forensics department? The investigation results of the rear compartment of Hashimoto's car." "I've checked it. Except for the hair, I didn't find anything that seems to have fallen from the corpse." "Forensics found many blue wool fibers." "Did that cart ever carry sheep?" "It's a blanket." Sayama said, "A blue blanket. Could it be that the prisoner used that to wrap the corpse?" So Taniguchi looked at his subordinate's face seriously, and shook his head giving up arguing. "Thank you for wanting it." "Look at the suit jacket on the body and you'll know." "You mean, blue sheep stained on the suit jacket?" "It's wool. In any case—" Sayama put his hands on the table, "In short, I will take into consideration the transfer of the corpse by relay, and try to re-investigate the alibi of each relevant person." Taniguchi frowned exaggeratedly, and said impatiently: "Okay, you can investigate until you are satisfied, and I will send someone to re-investigate the suit jacket on the corpse." But Sayama's reasoning ran into a bottleneck soon after. Even though it is believed that the prisoner carried the corpse by relay, among the relevant persons, no alibi was found that matched this reasoning.The only possibility is Sue Yong, but he has a perfect alibi.He seems to have been with clients in Nagoya.In the investigative report that collected evidence, there was no evidence against him. Sayama thought that his alibi was so perfect that he seemed to expect that he would be suspected by the police.Too perfect to be suspicious.But the reason why Sayama thinks this way may be that the case is stuck in a stalemate, causing him to have fantasies. Sayama even thought: Maybe the place where Nishina was killed was not Osaka, but Nagoya where Suenaga was.Naoki had appeared at a hotel near Shin-Osaka at six o'clock.However, he was not necessarily killed in Osaka.Let's say he later went to Nagoya to meet Suenaga for some reason.Then he was killed by Sue Yong - maybe he couldn't think so.But no matter where Naoki was killed, the presumed time of death cannot be changed.Find out the place and time of Naoki's last meal, as well as the food eaten at that time, and the time can be deduced quite accurately. Naoki was killed between six and eight, that won't change.At that time, Mo Yong had an alibi. Or——Sayama felt another idea sprout in his mind.In this case, everything makes sense. No, it couldn't be—he dismissed the idea.Because he believes that it is too far from reality.