Chapter 7 Section 1

Kaga deeply felt that things were developing in an unexpected direction. That day, he originally came to the Plaza Hall in Tokyo to observe the "Beauty of the Sleeping Forest". Unexpectedly, the pager received a message from the headquarters. They issued an order: "A homicide has occurred in the Plaza Hall of Tokyo, please go there quickly." "Is the one who was killed a member of the Gaoliu Ballet Company?" "It seems so, it's a director named Oda." Kaga's superior, Inspector Tomii, said in a calm voice. "Oda..." Kaga couldn't help swallowing, because he and Oda had met several times because of the ballet company case.Was that man killed? "I know that man," he said.

"Really? Anyway, come here quickly." "understood." After Kaga hung up the phone, he told Ota about the matter.Sure enough, the senior criminal policeman was really surprised. "There has been a new homicide, which really adds to our confusion." "It's not necessarily a coincidence." "Don't say unlucky words." Ota frowned. The Tokyo Plaza Hall is in Yoyogi Park, opposite the National Yoyogi Gymnasium.After Kaga and the two arrived quickly, they found that there was a long queue of people waiting for the opening of the hall.There were three police cars parked beside the building, and the guests all cast curious eyes, but they must have never dreamed that what happened inside was a murder case.

Standing next to the police car was a young uniformed police officer from the Shibuya Police Station. Kaga walked over and explained his identity to him.The policeman showed a slightly nervous expression, said "this way" and brought the two of them to the back entrance. "Today's performance doesn't seem to be suspended?" Kaga said while walking. "Yes, it seems to start at 6:30 as originally scheduled." "Probably there is no way to stop it, and there is no need for it. The prisoner will not escape anyway." Ota said meaningfully.It seems that the murderer is already believed to be an insider.

After Kaga and the two were led by the police to the backstage studio, they found that the air inside was mixed with tension and uneasiness, but this tension was obviously not caused by the murder case.There were indeed a lot of people who looked like policemen walking around, but their expressions were much more elegant than those young people who pushed away from the crowd and ran around.Not to mention dancers, even other stage workers must be thinking about the official performance that will start in a few minutes. A deputy police officer named Uchimura of the Shibuya Police Station, who had been in contact with him at work before, was sitting on a stool in the lounge, his eyes moving with the stage staff in a daze.Although Kaga and Ota greeted him from the side, the first words that came out of his mouth were complaints.

"I was going to make a statement, but they said they would wait until the dance show was over. We policemen can't make trouble for no reason to make things difficult for them." Uchimura twisted his mouth with an impatient face. "Where is the crime scene?" Kaga asked. "Being in the middle of the auditorium is also one of the reasons for the headache." "In the middle of the auditorium?" Ota rolled his eyes. Uchimura then briefly explained the circumstances of the case.According to him, Oda collapsed in the middle of the dance rehearsal, and the actors hurriedly called the doctor, but the doctor said they should contact the police.Oda was out of breath, so everyone suspected that he died of poisoning.The Shibuya Police Station received the report, and the investigators rushed to the scene. The forensic doctor observed the appearance of the doctors and the corpse at the scene and immediately found something strange.Although Oda is wearing a cotton shirt, there is a dark brown stain on the center of his back.

"What's that?" Kaga asked. "Although it cannot be determined, it is said that it is poison." Deputy Uchimura replied in a cautious tone. "Take off the shirt and find fluid attached to the skin, and there's a small cut in that spot, a little bit of bleeding. We re-examined the shirt and found a small needle-pricked hole in it." "So that's how it is." Kaga nodded.Poisoning is divided into ingestion poisoning, injection poisoning and inhalation poisoning.If there is a small wound with an unknown fluid sticking to it, it is most likely injection poisoning.

They judged that this was a homicide case, so they contacted the police headquarters first. "Where's the body?" Ota asked. "There was an empty backstage lounge, so it was carried there first. The autopsy should wait until everyone is here." "Did the searchers move the body?" "No, it was moved when we got here. Those people from the ballet troupe did it. For those guys, it seems that it is more important to let the performance end smoothly than to preserve the scene of the murder case." When the complaint came here, the deputy police officer clicked his tongue.

Other investigators from police headquarters also arrived on the scene shortly after.Ando, ​​an associate professor at the University of Tokyo who helped with the case a few days ago, also came and was in charge of the autopsy in the small lounge. Yasunari Oda, wearing a white and light green striped shirt and jeans, lay prone on a plastic mat on the ground.The reason for turning the back up is to make the suspicious tan stain easier to see. "While it's impossible to say for sure without further analysis, could it be nicotine?" Kaga's superior, Inspector Tomii, asked.Tomii was small and thin, but he looked commanding because of his habit of sticking out his chest when he spoke.

"Yes, it is highly poisonous. Although the amount of gas inhaled by its leaves on fire will not cause harm." Hearing the associate professor's words, Kaga nodded secretly, because he thought of a mystery novel.The novel mentions a method of killing: stick a few needles into a wooden peg to make a thorn ball, apply concentrated nicotine to the tip of the needle, and put the wooden peg in the pocket of the person who wants to kill.In this way, as long as you put your hand in your pocket, the poisonous needle will pierce your finger and you will die immediately. "How did you get that little cut?"

Ota asked, pointing to the wound on his back. "It seems to have been pricked by a needle," said the associate professor, "I don't know if it was an injection needle." No other unusual trauma was found on the body.Afterwards, the body will be transported to the Shibuya Police Station, and after a more detailed autopsy, it will be sent to the forensic science classroom of a designated university for judicial autopsy. Although the investigators wanted to conduct an autopsy immediately, the dance drama had already begun.The people involved in the case couldn't spare their hands, and the murder scene couldn't get close, so the investigators couldn't do anything.

The only person who can record a statement is Shizuko Takayanagi, and police officer Fui is in charge of questioning her. "Then I'll just go to the ballet." Kaga whispered to Ota, who was doing nothing, while taking out a long strip of paper from his pocket. "I just bought it for today's dance. If you don't watch it, it's a waste." "If you read it now, you will definitely feel restless." Kaga ignored Ota's sarcasm and walked towards the entrance of the ballet.Now the first act is only halfway through, so it is impossible to sit in the auditorium. He plans to go to the side door of the stage to watch. There is no room for various props behind the stage, including a model of a carriage.It looks like a dirty cheap product up close, but it should show a realistic effect on the stage. It can't be seen from the front, but the backstage is far more spacious than imagined.Both the depth and the width are almost twice as wide as the stage, but after thinking about it, you are right, if there is no such a wide backstage, there is no way to move that kind of large-scale scenery and props to the stage. Standing at the side door, Kaga looked at the stage, and it was the turn of Princess Aurora, played by Akiko Takayanagi, to dance, and he saw Mio Asaoka among the people watching.She has a fluttering feather ornament on her head. Headed by Akiko, other actors also entered the play one after another, showing joy.It doesn't look like the director just died unexpectedly not long ago.Kaga seemed to see the professional ethics of professional actors in them. Soon, an actor playing the role of an old woman appeared at the side door opposite Kaga.The old woman gave Princess Aurora a bouquet of flowers, but the princess pricked her finger with a spinning needle hidden in it, and fell down. The king and princess were heartbroken. Poisonous needle... Kaga muttered, feeling a strange feeling.Then I remembered that Oda died in the same way as Princess Aurora.