Chapter 16 Section 16

Shortly after walking out of Kanno Michiko's building, Mano's cell phone rang.It happened to be when they arrived at Meidao Station. "Hey...yes, I've already been there. I can't help it, she doesn't seem to know her son's whereabouts...it doesn't look like she's hiding her son...yes, I'm with Oribe now. Imai Group The person in the house opposite the Kanno Building... Huh? Now? It's okay... Wait a minute. Nakai?... Nakai Makoto. I see, I'll go and see now. The address is... Yes ...Yes. Third-chome." After Oribe waited for Mano to hang up the phone, he said:

"Are you going to ask for a statement?" "Yeah. A classmate from Banzaki Junior High School, I heard that he lived near here. The father of the person concerned called the Nishiarai branch and said that he wanted to tell the police something." "If you and Banzaki are classmates, then are you also classmates with Kanno?" "It should be. By the way, do you have a map?" "Have." Oribe stood and spread out the map, confirming the address Mano asked from the phone.Indeed, it seems to be within walking distance.Judging from the address - it should not be a mansion or an apartment, but a single building.

"I'll call the Nishiarai branch, probably to provide information about the Banzaki murder?" "No, that's not necessarily the case. Maybe it's just a matter of notifying the nearby police station. And if it's the case of Banzaki, it should be true." Nakai Makoto's house is a little further in from the main road lined with shops, and it is one of the row upon row of houses.After walking in through the small door, he came to the front door of the entrance. Mano called his name over the intercom - and the door opened instantly, and a man in his fifties stepped out.He was well built and had a tanned face.

"I'm sorry, but I'm sorry to bother you to make a special trip. I'm Ah Cheng's father." The man handed out a business card with Yaszo Nakai printed on it.He seems to work in a construction company, and his title is section chief. "What's the matter?" Mano asked. "Yes, please come in first." Oribe and the others were taken to a small but cozy living room.Next to the restaurant, Taizo's wife served tea for the two with a nervous expression. Ash nodded slightly. "Did something happen that day?" "This kid said that he met Banzaki and the others that day, and they drove out together."

"Driving? Your car?" "It's my car, but the kid drives out sometimes." "What is the car model?" "Gloria, a broken car from '52." That's right, Oribe thought, that's what the eyewitnesses said. "You mean, you drove Banzaki and the others in that car?" "I heard that they asked him to go out on the day of the fireworks display, so the three of them drove out to play—" "Sir, I'm sorry, I want to hear from your son directly." "Uh, that's right, it's better this way. Hey, explain it carefully!" Taizao said to Ah Cheng.

A Cheng raised his head tremblingly. "... Quickly said that after the fireworks display, we wanted to pick up the horse, so the three of us and Atsuya drove around... wandering around..." Although the end of the sentence was unclear--Ah Cheng didn't seem to have finished speaking. So Mano urged him to continue. "Then Kuaier and Dun asked me to stop, and after I waited for a while, they brought a girl they didn't know into the car and told me to drive to the apartment..." "Wait a minute, was that girl the two of them went to strike up a conversation with?"

Ah Cheng looked at the ground and thought about it. "I don't know too well...it looks like the whole body is limp and unconscious." Mano glanced at Oribe.After the eyes of the two met, he looked at Ah Cheng again. "Is that girl that person? Is it Nagamine Ema whose body was found?" "I don't quite remember her face - just wondering if it was her..." "Oh, what this child means is that he saw the news report that Banzaki was killed, maybe it was the news report about the murderer of the Kawaguchi girl, and then he wondered if it might be that girl. Before that, he It seems that he didn't expect it at all. I don't know if he is too slow, or if he is missing a muscle, I am really embarrassed."

"Where is that car now?" Mano asked Yasuzo. "Park in the parking lot. Walk about 20 meters along the road ahead, and there is a one-month parking lot." "Can I see your car?" "Please, please. I'll drive over right now." Mano stopped Taizo who was about to get up with his hands. "No, no need." "There are experts in our branch, so I will ask them to look at it." Mano winked at Oribe after saying this. Oribe said "excuse me" and stood up.He was going to report to the investigation headquarters. Oribe contacted Hisatsuka and asked someone from the Forensic Section to come over.When he returned to the house again, the work of interrogating Ah Cheng had progressed to a considerable extent.

"That is to say—on the night of the fireworks display, Banzaki and the others brought a girl from somewhere into your car and drove directly to Banzaki's apartment, but your father told you to drive the car back, so you just Back home. Two days later, Banzaki called you—to borrow a car, and you didn’t know what he wanted to borrow the car for. He called that night, and you went to his apartment to pick up the car the next morning , Kanno was there at the time, but the two of them looked the same. ——Is that the case?” "Well, probably... That's it." Ah Cheng replied in a small voice.

"I really don't know what to say, oh, it's really embarrassing!" Taizao's face was pulled down, "No matter how threatened, I wouldn't want to treat those two companions who abducted a strange girl from nowhere. Do you obey? How can there be such a thing in the world! I have already scolded him like this. However, I heard that those two people seem to have done this kind of thing before, but I don’t know whether it is luck or coincidence. It seems that nothing has caused a catastrophe, so the child thought that nothing would happen this time. So even though he saw the news that a girl in Kawaguchi was missing and the girl's body was found on TV, he didn't expect it to happen. It's the same person."

"Is that so?" Mano asked Ah Cheng. Ash nodded slightly. "Then why do you suddenly feel that you might have something to do with that case?" "Because of that... the news report said that Atsushi was also the murderer of Kawaguchi's girl, I just thought it might be that girl that day... If it is true, it will be miserable." "So you think you'd better tell the police that you were with the girls when they took the girls, and did you lend them a car?" "yes." "So that's the case." Mano nodded and looked at Taizo. "Can we ask your son to go to the police station and repeat what we just said? We will try to get him back as soon as possible." "now?" "Excuse me." Mano lowered his head. "If necessary." Taizo squinted at his son, "Well, can I go together?" "Of course, it would be best if you could go." "Then I'll go get ready—hey!" Taizao patted Ah Cheng on the shoulder, the two stood up at the same time, and then walked out of the living room. Mano turned to Oribe. "Has the team leader been notified?" "Notice, the people from the forensics class should be here soon. I heard that people from our group will also go with us." "Understood. After they arrive, let's go to the Nishiarai branch with Nakai and his son." "it is good." When Oribe nodded, Ah Cheng's mother spoke. "I'm sorry." Before that, she hardly spoke, just quietly listening to her husband and son talking. "What's wrong?" Mano asked. Mother licked her lips and said slowly: "Will my child be sentenced?" "This..." Mano said in a low voice, "We can't say anything, it depends on the prosecutor's judgment. Just now when the son said that he was there when the girl was kidnapped, and he was also driving, I don't know how the prosecutor will treat this Behavior." "That's true." Mother sighed. "That child is too cowardly, dare not say anything when threatened, and always obeys orders..." "We will investigate the stakes between him and the other two in the future, so if it is determined that he was really threatened, I think we will also let the prosecutor understand the actual situation." Mother nodded and said, "Is that so?" She looked more relieved. "Let's wait outside first." Mano stood up and winked at Oribe.Oribe also stood up. "What do you think of Makoto Nakai's words?" Mano asked Oribe after walking outside. "I think it's generally believable." Oribe replied bluntly, "Nakai was not included in that tape, so he shouldn't be at the scene of raping Nagamine Ema." "What about the abandoned corpse? Do you think he was involved?" "I think the possibility of this is also very low. If he was involved, he probably wouldn't have called. And as long as Kanno is caught, everything will be revealed." "Yeah—I generally think so, too." "Is there any detail that you care about?" "It's not a very important matter!" Mano stopped talking, just pursed his lips and smiled, "His parents seem to try their best to make their son's crime less serious! But it's only natural." "You mean they have something to hide?" "It shouldn't be that far, but I feel like I'm avoiding the important." When Mano said this, he saw patrol cars and trucks approaching.The police car did not sound. At about the same time, the entrance door opened, and Nakai and his son came out, Taizo in a suit. Led by Taizo, Oribe and the others walked towards the parking lot where Gloria was parked. Gloria stopped at the far corner.Because it is a 1952 model, Oribe thinks the exterior looks very retro, but the car is well maintained, and there are no scratches on the paint. The forensic personnel quickly started their work, and Zhongjing and his son watched every move of the staff anxiously. Among the fellow investigators was a detective named Kondo. He walked up to Oribe and said in a low voice, "It's nice to find the car, but there seems to be trouble on the other side." "Is the other side Nagamine?" Mano asked in a low voice. Yes, Kondo nodded.He paid attention to Nakai and his son, and then continued: "This evening, the public relations office of the Metropolitan Police Department received a letter. Do you know who sent it?" Could it be... Oribe's eyes widened. "That's right." Kondo's gaze shifted from Oribe to Mano, "It's from Nagamine. It's only for a limited time." "What is the content?" Kondo paused and said: "Please let me avenge my little girl. After I have revenge, I will definitely turn myself in... That's what he wrote."