Chapter 6 Section 6

That evening-- After sending Asako away, Narita and Takaaki entered Tojiro's room and found that the body lying on the bed had disappeared.At first, the two thought that Jiang Lizi had tampered with it, and then tried to ask her what happened through the internal phone, but she didn't know the whereabouts of the corpse.She couldn't even fully understand Narita's purpose for asking this question. In the room where the body disappeared, Narita, Gao Ming, and Jiang Lizi stood there motionless. "what the hell is it?" Gao Ming said angrily as if to vent his anger on someone, but of course Narita and Jiang Lizi couldn't answer him.

The disappearance of the corpse itself is very strange, and on the other hand, the state of the room is also somewhat unbelievable.The windows were also locked from the inside, creating a complete back room. "It seems that the only possibility is that someone moved the corpse out..." Narita stammered, how would he leave this room if the body was removed? "Is there only one key to this room?" Gao Ming asked, but Jiang Lizi shook his head. "There should be another one in the desk drawer." After that, she opened Tojiro's desk drawer, flipped through it a bit and took out a black leather key ring. "Here, the key to this room is only one in my hand plus this one."

"So... how to remove the corpse? And... By the way, why does he have to remove the chairman's body?" "In the current situation, neither of these two questions can be answered." Narita kept restraining his emotions, looked at Gao Ming and Jiang Lizi alternately: "In short, I think we need to discuss the next step." All three showed very complicated expressions. It was fine if Tojiro's body was hidden, but they didn't know what the prisoner's intentions were, which really made everyone feel at a loss. "How about we do this?" The clever idea is to continue to act according to the plan set before.Although I don't know the purpose of the prisoner, I just want to gain time as much as possible.

"But if the criminal is arrested and brought to justice, and the truth comes out on the day Tojiro committed suicide, then I still won't be able to get the insurance money!" Jiang Lizi was a little reluctant. "So as long as you don't call the police and don't make matters worse, it's okay, I won't let this happen." "But the prisoner will always do something, right?" "At that time, we will also have to do our best to ensure that this matter does not come to light." In the end, everyone decided to adopt Gao Ming's proposal and carry out the original plan as usual.Unexpectedly, the next morning, an accident happened: Tojiro's car broke down.The three were helpless and were forced to suspend the plan.

"Everything is as Narita-kun said." Gao Ming's face was as uncomfortable as if he had been poured with cement, "It is indeed true that the chairman's death was deliberately concealed, and I apologize for that. However, we were not the ones who actually hid the body. Didn't work out. If it's a game, we're back where we started." "Sorry, I'll go back to my room to rest for a while." Ryoko was about to get up, but accidentally staggered.After hearing these shocking words one after another, her nerves finally couldn't hold on anymore.She dragged on her slippers and staggered out of the room.

After confirming that the door was closed tightly, the detective said: "All the clues so far are summarized as follows: around 9:30, it was confirmed that Mr. Tojiro was hanged in the room, and the body disappeared around 10:30..." "That's right." Narita replied. "In this way, the way of thinking has undergone a fundamental change. For example, there is no need for the prisoner to enter the study through the door. Since there is only one corpse in the room, he can enter through the window. Perhaps the prisoner happened to find the corpse through the window. As a result, they broke in through the window and took away the corpse. Because it is a corpse, there are no restrictions on how to carry it. Of course, moving it into the trunk of the car is the fastest way."

"The windows are locked!" Gao Ming emphasized: "Not only the windows, but also the doors are locked. How did the prisoners get in and out?" After the others left, Narita was left in Tojiro's room by the two detectives.Why the detectives named him and what their real purpose was, he was completely at a loss. "Then Mr. Tojiro," The detective stepped onto a table placed in the center of the room and grabbed the chandelier with his right hand. "Hang the rope here and put the other end around your neck, right?" "yes." "At that time, how far was Mr. Tojiro's feet from the table?"

Although Narita didn't know why the detective was interested in this matter, he still used his hands to draw a length of about 30 centimeters: "It's about this distance." The detective nodded and winked at the assistant.She quickly wrote it down. "What kind of rope is it?" Narita gestured to the shelf placed in the corner of the room, which displayed folk crafts from all over the country, and Tojiro had a soft spot for rural toys.What Narita pointed to was a ox about 40 centimeters wide, carved out of wood and adorned with various ornaments. "That golden bull is a characteristic of Hanamaki, but it has a origin. Actually, there was a red and white rope tied to it, but it's gone now."

"You mean he used the rope?" "It shouldn't be wrong." Narita confirmed his memory. What Tojiro wore around his neck was indeed a red and white rope. "anyway," The detective sat down on the sofa, lowered his voice and asked, "Do you still think his motive for suicide was impulsive?" "This..." Narita faltered and got up. "Or have you changed your mind?" The detective watched Narita's expression, and the female assistant next to him also looked up at him. "Well, it's changed." Narita answered after looking at the two of them separately.

"He did show signs of depression, but by all accounts he was not an impulsive person." "I see." The detective clasped his hands on his lap on the sofa, as if he was thinking about something.He hesitated to speak, looking for an opportunity to speak. "Mr. Narita." His voice sounded a bit different, "Can you tell me in as much detail as you can from the discovery of the body to the disappearance of the body? It seems that things have become complicated."