Chapter 18 Section 6

By shifting the focus of the search from syringes to soft tennis inflators, the snooping team worked remarkably efficiently.First of all, they checked the sporting goods stores around Gaoliu Dance Troupe and each dancer's house, and basically got all the information about customers who bought air pumps recently. "From the conclusion, there are very few customers who have purchased recently." Shen Yuan, the leader of the investigation team, said at the meeting, "Recently, tennis is generally played with hard tennis, and soft tennis is only played by middle school students. Therefore, we I asked about the shops that sold it, and almost all of them said that it was bought by middle school students.”

That is to say, no figures similar to the ballet dancers of Gaoliu have been found so far. They also investigated whether the dancers were playing soft tennis, or someone who had played it.According to the information they learned, generally as long as they are professional team members, they must have one or two air pumps. "There are four people in the cast who are eligible. The list is as follows. These people live or have lived with their sisters and brothers." Kanbara forcefully read out the list, two of whom Kaga had heard before. "These four people should be the most suspected right now?" Fu Jing said, "What should we do now?"

"Actually, I was going to check the amateur carpenter's shop." Kanbara replied. "The carpenter's shop? Why?" "I just thought of it after reading this," he picked up the tennis ball pump. "The appraisal report also mentioned that the needle tip is about a few millimeters long, so how did the murderer cut it off?" "So that's why you thought of an amateur carpenter." Someone clapped their hands in admiration. "If it's a long and thin injection needle, it should be able to break off smoothly, but this one is too thick so it's hard to do it. If you don't fix it properly, the needle won't work."

"Do you keep pinching with pliers?" Tomii asked. "If you cut it with pliers, it will be crushed. I think other methods should be used. In short, cutting the needle is like this. To make a series of other devices, you must buy other props." "Are you going to start with the props for making the device?" Seemingly satisfied with this idea, Tomi nodded significantly and patted his thigh. "Okay, let's go on from this in-depth investigation." Finally, I heard the cheering voice of the policeman who had been missing for a long time. Here's a conversation from last night's search meeting.

And then today— Just as Kaga and Ota were explaining Toshiyuki Kazama's life in New York to Tomii, they received a call to search the headquarters.The young policeman called Tomi's name with the receiver in his hand. "I'm Tomii." He said into the receiver.In the next moment, his expression suddenly became serious, "What? Found it? Silicone and files... um... yes, the owner of that shop... is back. Okay, then hurry back and take notes!" After hanging up the phone, many police officers gathered around Tomi. "Found it?" one of them asked. "found it."

"who is it?" "Yasuko Mori." "Morii..." Unbelievable expressions suddenly appeared on the faces of the police officers. This was undoubtedly because she was the least suspected of the four suspects listed last night, and even Kaga didn't quite believe it. "It's true that people can't be judged by their appearance, especially women." Speaking of this, Tomii seems to have the same mood. "What did she buy?" Ota asked, "I just heard you say something like a silicone file." "Well, it's these two. I don't know what the silicone is used for. The file should be used to break needles. It can even cut through stainless steel. That's what the store owner said."

If any of the above-mentioned four people had been to the amateur carpenter's shop, they would definitely carry out the procedure of searching the houses immediately, and hoped to get the confession transcript of the amateur carpenter's shop as soon as possible. "It's best for Mori to be present during the search," said the young detective. "She has to be there, that's how it should be said. Explain the situation to the police officers who are monitoring the dance troupe, and instruct them to arrest Mori when they return." "understood." While he was on the phone, Tomii raised his hands and stretched his body. "I don't know, what is this silicone used for?"

"Could it be waterproof?" Kaga thought for a while and said. "Although I don't know what kind of structure this device is, but since nicotine concentrate is used, the whole container has to be sealed tightly, right?" "That's right, it should have hit the target." Tomii pointed his finger at Kaga's chest in a gesture of aiming.This shows that he is in a very good mood at this time. But the good times didn't last long, the criminal policeman who finished the call turned around and said, "Sheriff, it seems that Yasuko Mori has asked for leave from the dance company."

"What?" Fu Jing's voice became serious again, "What's going on?" "That is--" After the young detective said a few more words on the phone, he covered the receiver with his hands and looked at Tomi. "It seems that I have been on leave since yesterday. It is said that I have a cold." "Did you rest yesterday?" "It was reported, and we will confirm in some way about the people who asked for leave from training. Detective Tasaka should have visited Mori's apartment yesterday evening." "Ok……" Fu Jing snorted, and muttered: "I always feel suspicious, and even took two days off in a row." Then he suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, "Ota, Kaga! Hurry to Yasuko's apartment now!"

Yasuko Mori's apartment is located in a residential area divided by many narrow roads.There are many small buildings gathered here, and the two-story apartment building looks like it is buried in it. The door of this building faces east and the balcony faces west, so there is no sunlight at all, and Yasuko's room is still on the first floor.But because she spends most of her time in the Gaoliu Dance Troupe, she may not mind the position of the sun during the day. Kaga stood in front of the dim door and knocked twice.But there was no answer, and then he called a few more times, still no response.Ota turned the handle and found that the door was firmly locked.

"Not at home." Kaga said Ota didn't answer.He looked at the door with a disappointed expression, and pushed open the mailbox door. "Look," he said, "there's something in there..." Kaga also peeked inside, and could see newspapers folded inside. "Morning paper?" "Seems." The two acted almost at the same time, Ota knocked on the door of the neighbor's house, and Kaga ran out. Kaga went around to the back of the building, walked into the balcony of Yasuko's house, and looked into the room from there.Through the white lace curtains, Wei Wei can see what’s inside: wardrobe, low table, TV, bed—— There was a figure on the bed, as if someone was sleeping on it. Kaga went back to the main gate, but Ota was nowhere to be seen.But after a while, he came back with a balding middle-aged man who still had the key in his hand.He had gone to find the landlord.When Kaga told his senior what he saw from the balcony, the bald landlady immediately put on a straight face. Putting on his gloves, Ota inserted the spare key into the lock, and with a click he opened the door. The two took off their shoes, being careful not to touch the objects around them, and walked into the room.This is an old-fashioned one-bedroom house: the kitchen is on the left as soon as you enter, and you go straight in to a Japanese-style room. The room was tidy with just glasses and bottles on the table.There were no clothes or trousers lying around at all, no dresser or anything. As expected, Yasuko Mori was lying on the bed.She was wearing a pink sweater and black skirt, with her legs firmly together and her hands clasped across her chest.Even if it is a nap, the sleeping posture is too neat and a bit unnatural. Kaga took off her gloves and picked up her wrist, feeling cold, without pulse or breathing. "No trauma," he said. "it is this." Ota picked up the bottle on the table, "This is sleeping pills, I don't know how much is left, but it's empty now." "Contact headquarters." "please." "I guessed the Sheriff's expression." "Nine times out of ten, life is unsatisfactory." Looking at Ota shaking his head from the corner of his eye, Kaga picked up the receiver.It feels unusually heavy.