Chapter 6 Section 6

"It should be near here." The wine seller pointed to a place by the road. The open space next to it still showed signs of building demolition, and there were few residential houses nearby, only a small hotel that was still in operation, and a building that looked like a warehouse.Although there are convenience stores and izakayas next to the station, after a few dozen steps, the surroundings become like this.There are very few street lights, so you can't see far at night.It's too dangerous for a young girl to walk alone at night here, Oribe thought. "Is the car parked here that night Cedric?" Mano looked at his notes to confirm.

The wine seller showed a slight smile without confidence, and shook his head. "It doesn't seem to be the case. My brother used to drive a Cedric. That car is very similar to a Cedric, but I'm not sure that it must be. I only took a glance, and it was dark at the time." "In short, is it this type of big car? It's a sedan." Mano confirmed. "Yeah, I was wondering how the car is so old. My brother drove the Cedric more than ten years ago, so I said it feels similar. The car seems to be black, but it may not be. Anyway, I'm sure it's a dark car."

"Could you ask which year your brother drove? Or give me your brother's phone number, and I'll confirm with him." "It's okay, I'll just ask later. Uh...can I just call the number on the business card you just gave me?" "Okay, sorry to trouble you." Mano bowed several times, "Also, what kind of people are in the car?" "As I said earlier on the phone, it was a young man. Both the driver's seat and the passenger's seat, and maybe the back seat. I was thinking, these guys don't know what to do." "Don't you know what they're doing?"

"I just drive by in a pickup truck. And if I keep staring at them, maybe they will come to me and trouble me! Young people these days are very impulsive." "Did you see their faces?" "I just said that there is no way to keep an eye on them. Is it okay to only have this information? Am I not helping?" The wine seller showed a dissatisfied look on his face. Mano quickly shook his hand. "No, no, it's very valuable. With the testimonies of other witnesses, you should be able to discover a lot of things." "That's good." "So... it may be a bit tedious, but could you please tell me the time when you saw the car again?"

"I also said this on the phone. It should be less than ten o'clock. That's when people came out of the station over there one after another after the fireworks display. I can't give a more accurate time." "Really? Thank you very much. I may still have questions to ask you later, and I will trouble you then." After Mano thanked him, Oribe on the side also bowed his head. The liquor seller got into the pickup truck and left in front of the two of them.On the way to deliver the goods, he made a special trip to meet the two of them in front of the station. Liquor dealers are the ones who call the investigative headquarters specifically to provide information.He said that on the night Nagamine Ema disappeared, he saw a suspicious car at the station she got off.

In fact, there were several witnesses to the same incident.Several people who got off at that stop saw a similar black car parked on the side of the road.This is the common denominator of eyewitness intelligence.Several young men were said to be sitting in the car. "Cedric...?" Mano murmured on the way to the station. "Yesterday, the office worker said it seemed to be Crown." "Crown and Cedric...these two cars look alike. Oribe, do you have any research on cars?" "Well... it should be about the same as ordinary people." "What did Cedric look like ten years ago?"

"It depends on how long ago the car was, because Japanese cars change models very quickly." "Exactly." They came to the front of the station.In front of the stairs leading to the station is a rectangular billboard, which reads: Seeking information on the murder of Nagamine Ema.The phone number above is a number set up by the investigation headquarters in the East Branch.It seems that Hisuzuka suggested not to write the standard sentences such as "Please notify the nearest police station".The reason for this is that the gangster or his companion who saw the sign might provide false information in order to confuse the investigation, so it would be easier to get clues by asking witnesses to call the investigation headquarters directly.

After the board was erected, information poured in almost every day.The liquor seller just now was also one of the people who called.In fact, the investigation headquarters also knew that most of the information would not be helpful to the case, and only a small amount of information was worth tracking, because the people who called said the same thing. While waiting for the tram on the platform, Mano suddenly reached into his suit pocket, as if his cell phone rang. "Hello? I'm Mano...Ah, thank you just now...Uh, got it?...Is...Uh, the car? Is that right?...Oh, thank you. You did us a great favor." After hanging up the phone, Mano looked at Oribe. "It was the boss who called just now. He seemed to have asked about it and said it was a 53-year-old car. It's really surprising. It's not a car from ten years ago, but a car from more than 20 years ago. "

"Cedric in '53..." "It's not necessarily that car. But can this kind of broken car still drive? Everyone says that the driver is a young man, so it's probably not my car. Maybe it's Dad's? Young kid can't have it. That kind of car." "No, it's hard to say." Just when Oribe was about to refute, the tram pulled into the station.After the two got into the car, they found that the car was empty, so they sat side by side. "Some people who like cars will deliberately drive such an old car!" Oribe started talking again. "Oh? Why?"

"Because they think it's cool. Antiques are very popular no matter what field they are in. Just like jeans. I heard that there are hundreds of thousands of yuan a pair." "Jeans? That's crazy!" "It's the same with cars. Some people will deliberately buy old cars back, repair the engine and paint, and think it's cool. I think people who can drive a car for five or three years now should be this kind of person." "Hmph, I really don't understand what young people are thinking now." Mano pouted his lower lip. "Officer Mano, what do you think? About the car that the boss saw."

"Are you asking if that is the murderer?" "yes." "Is it true? But I think it's very suspicious. The only thing for sure now is to find the owner of the old Cedric or Crown tomorrow." This was what Oribe expected. "Is this going to be told to the media?" "You can't completely stop talking about it. But the people above definitely want to publish it. Every press conference has nothing to gain. This has something to do with the prestige of the police." "Will it be announced that the person sitting in the car is a young man?" "It should be. If it is true, the murderers may give up struggling and surrender themselves. This should be what the people above hope." Oribe remained silent, lost in thought.He didn't know if he should ask. "What's the matter? What's the matter?" Mano asked as if aware of it. "If the murderer is a teenager, will things become very difficult?" Oribe said simply. A wry smile appeared on Mano's face. "Do you still care about what I said before? Sorry, it made you think too much." "I'm care about." "Maybe. But it is true that it is difficult. If the other party is a teenager, it will be difficult to deal with after arrest. Even if you are charged, you have to be careful in the prosecution. It is troublesome. But I said that before, Not for that reason." "what is that……" Mano still had a smile on his face, then frowned. "Oribe, you should still remember? The massacre happened in Edogawa district three years ago. It was a case where a high school student was killed in a cemetery. Our team was in charge of the investigation at that time." "Oh. I have heard. The murderer is also a high school student." "It was a very brutal case. Apart from ruptured internal organs, the deceased had burn marks all over his body. The four playmates who turned themselves in were four playmates who turned themselves in. When they were brought by their parents, they still looked serious. Although they I cried, but it was not because I felt sorry for the victim, but because I was afraid that I would be arrested by the police and felt sorry for myself. I was shocked after I interrogated them. What do you think they killed for? Because the other party did not borrow their mobile phone It's electric! It's the kind of video game that beeps when you hit it. High school students got into a fight over a toy and ended up killing them. I heard that four people kicked and kicked the victim. Wait for him After losing consciousness, he was set on fire." "fire?" "It was just approaching him with a lighter's fire, and that's how the burns were caused." "Those guys are too exaggerated." Oribe clicked his tongue. "If the victim wakes up, they beat him again, because after repeated several times, the victim stopped moving, so they seemed to burn his ears in the end. As a result, the victim still didn't move, and they found out He is dead." Oribe shook his head silently, feeling terrified just by hearing it. Mano let out a long sigh. "I have also met the victim's parents, but I think they are too pitiful, so I can't look at them directly. Although they told us "it's hard work", to be honest, I really feel powerless. We can't help what are they doing." "Did the murderer sincerely apologize?" Mano sighed, shaking his head. "They just kept crying and couldn't even utter a word. And the main suspect is that the bastard is still talking nonsense that he will become like this, because his parents and the environment have traumatized him psychologically. I really want to beat him up. " "Officer Mano, did you do the interrogation?" "No, I heard what the team leader said later, and I was really angry." Oribe thought, Mano must be telling the truth.Judging by his current appearance, he might really hit someone. "Those guys obviously did such an outrageous thing, but let alone sentence them to death, we can't even throw them into the detention center." "Just because they're delinquents?" "This is one of the reasons. In addition, at the time of the case, those guys drank alcohol, and drank a lot. Is the store owner who knew they were underage but sold alcohol to them also responsible? During the trial of the case, this kind of The ridiculous controversy is still coming in halfway." As if the unhappiness at that time had come to life again, Mano scratched his head. But Mano seemed to suddenly think of something, stopped his hand, and muttered to himself: "But the team leader should be the most reconciled. Because he had a son who was about the same age as the deceased, he had an accidental death, so he can understand the feelings of the victim's parents. After we quit this case, he probably still sees them often. He said that all we can do is provide them with some information." "So that's how it is." That's why in this case, Hisuzuka did not say that the murderer might be a teenager, Oribe interpreted it this way. "The victim was dosed with stimulants, which means that the possibility of the murderer himself is also very high." Mano didn't seem to want to discuss this topic, so he didn't answer, but dug his ears. "Please sentence them to death." Then he said suddenly, and then stood up, "This is what the victim's parents said in the case three years ago." "I can understand." "Even if the murderer is caught, we may still hear the same words again." Mano Naga sighed. --------------------------------- Notes: