Chapter 11 Section 4

"Ah, she showed me that photo." Oda Fujiko sat on the stool at the front desk, his legs exposed under the short skirt folded together.There is a cigarette between the fingers, and the long nails are painted with silver nail polish. Kusanagi came to the "TaToo" club located in Shimbashi, the bar where Kiyomi Nagai used to work.It was 6:40 pm and there were no customers in the shop yet. "Do you remember what kind of photo it was?" "I remember, a photo that looked very uncomfortable. She said it was taken next to the Tama Cemetery. There was a tree with a strange shape on it, and there was something like white smoke next to the tree. Qingmei also asked me if it was a ghost. , I didn’t say anything at the time.”

"Dama Cemetery... What other pictures did she show you?" "Only this one. She said there were a few more, but nothing that looked like a ghost." "Leaving aside the ghost, did she tell you any interesting photos she took?" Fujiko lowered his head and thought for a while, then shook his head again: "I haven't heard of it." "Really? Then when did you just say that?" "Are you referring to the time Kiyomi showed me the picture? Or the time she took the picture?" "It's best to know both." "She showed me the photo about two months ago. As for the time when the photo was taken, I think it was about December last year."

"Last December? That was four months ago." "I remembered that she said that it was taken a week before Christmas Eve, that is, on December 17th. I remember she said that the man she liked invited other women to spend Christmas Eve together, so she was very depressed. I just went for a drive alone, and thought of taking pictures of ghosts along the way." December 17th, Tama Cemetery - After writing down only these few words, Kusanagi thanked him and left the bar. Three days have passed since meeting Yukawa.According to his suggestion, Kusanagi re-investigated Nagai Kiyomi's debt situation and got a windfall.In these two months, she repaid 2 million. The source of this money is unknown, but it is certain that she did not have much savings before.

What temporary income does she have?Kusanagi once asked Tadao Hosoya about this, and as a result, a mysterious line popped out from the other party's mouth again - Qingmei, who has recently become obsessed with photography, went to a place to take pictures of ghosts, and happened to take pictures of something unexpected. Call it a "lucky photo". Hosoya said that he hadn't seen those photos, but her good friend Oda Fujiko might have seen them, so Kusanagi came to the "TaToo" bar. But now it seems that Fujiko has never seen this crucial "lucky photo". After "TaToo", Kusanagi was not in a hurry to go back to search the headquarters, but went to Imperial University.Although the section chief expressed respect for his opinion on re-investigating the motive of the crime, everyone generally believed that the case was closed, and going back to investigate would just look at the other investigators' eyes.

"Oh...December 17th, Tama Cemetery." After listening to Kusanagi's words, Yukawa sat in front of the computer and quickly operated the keyboard and mouse.Since the monitor was facing away from Kusanagi, he couldn't see the screen.However, even if he saw it, he couldn't understand what Yu Chuan was thinking. "What does 'lucky photo' mean? Could it be that she snapped something in a flash, entered a photography competition with it, won a prize, and then used the prize money to pay off the debt?" Yukawa scoffed at Kusanagi's thoughts. "Based on Nagai Kiyomi's personality, if she has such a glorious thing, she will definitely publicize it everywhere. Besides, just being shortlisted, is it possible to get two million gold?"

"Hehe, that's true." Kusanagi scratched his head. "Did you find that suspicious photo from Kiyomi Nagai's room?" Tang Chuan asked without taking his eyes off the computer screen. "Well, her room has been searched, and neither the negatives nor the photos were found." "In this case, the photo is likely to have an important connection with the case." "Ah, why do you say that?" "Isn't it? What should have disappeared after the incident happened, so it should be considered that it is related to this case." "Ah, why didn't I think of that..." Kusanagi looked at Yukawa's face.

"Did you find anything about the cat and his housekeeper?" Yukawa asked. "I checked, and there are indeed some subtleties." Kusanagi took out a notepad and opened it, "First of all, about the cat, its owner is a bookstore owner, a small bookstore jointly run by the couple. They are more familiar with Xiaoshan , The cat is also relatively close to him, and the cat is fostered with him because the couple will go to Canada for about 10 days to see their son and grandson, and his son seems to be working abroad." "It does sound extravagant in a bad economy like this, but there's nothing subtle about it."

"The key point is in the back. It was Kosugi himself who asked for the cat to be fostered with him. The couple had already agreed to put the cat in the house of their relatives in Setagaya. Because of Kosugi's strong request, they considered that it would be better to foster the cat near their home. It was convenient, so I handed it over to him. Of course, this kind of thing has never happened before." "I see," Tang Chuan nodded, "Continue talking." "In addition, on the night of the incident, Xiaoshan was going to Osaka for an interview. This is the arrangement of the publishing house. But if you think about it carefully, you will find that this is not a sudden interview. Xiaoshan should have known long ago that you will be interviewing at this time. .”

"That is to say," Tang Chuan raised his head in front of the computer, "the foster cat and going out for interviews are likely to be planned by Xiaoshan long ago." "It should be, but I don't understand his purpose for doing this." "It's very simple. There is a cat in foster care at home, so it can't be left alone to take care of it. This is an excuse for him to hire someone to look after the house." "That is to say, his purpose is to hire someone to look after the house? Then what is his purpose of hiring someone to look after the house?"

"Need to say? It must be for that person to see the ghost." After speaking, Tang Chuan shook his head, "No, it can't be called a ghost at this point." "What are you talking about? I don't understand at all." "I'll explain it to you later. Take a look at this first." Tang Chuan pointed at the computer screen. "What is this?" "I searched for the reports in the newspaper. You read this." Kusanagi began to read what Yukawa pointed to, and was a little surprised at first, but then became excited.The report reads like this: At about 0:45 midnight on the 18th, the Fuchu Police Station received a report that a man fell down on the municipal road of XX in Fuchu City.The police arrived at the scene and determined that the man was about 60 years old and died after being hit by a car.The man died at the scene from serious head injuries.Police have classified it as a hit-and-run incident and are investigating.According to police investigation, the man was hit by a car when he was about to cross the road.The scene of the accident was near the Tama Cemetery, and there were almost no pedestrians passing by at night.

Kusanagi took a deep breath: "Could it be this?" "The location, date and time are exactly the same." "Wait a minute, do you mean that Nagai Kiyomi captured the hit-and-run moment?" "It's very likely, so for her, it's a lucky photo." Kusanagi understood what Yukawa said. "In other words, she blackmailed the owner of the car involved in the accident." "If we explain it this way, we won't be surprised that she suddenly got 2 million yuan." Tang Chuan said in a calm tone. "If you connect this incident with this murder case... that means the owner of the car was Xiaoshan?" "Well, it's not impossible. But it means that Xiaoshan is forcing the person who intimidated him to date him." "If it wasn't Xiaoshan, who would it be? Is it Xiaoshan's family? Or..." "It's a lover." Tang Chuan said, "The person he wants to protect even if he kills him must be his beloved woman." "But Kosugi doesn't like Nagai Kiyomi..." At this point, Kusanagi suddenly understood that Kosugi approached Kiyomi for another purpose from the beginning, "But there is no trace of a woman in Kosugi's room." "Of course. He must have extinguished the traces beforehand." Really, Kusanagi muttered. "If that's the case, how can we find out his lover? It seems that we can only find an insider to understand the situation honestly." "Perhaps. But I don't think it's too difficult. It's very limited anyway." "yes?" "Have you forgotten, you once said that Xiaoshan can only talk to female athletes." "Ah, yes. But there are too many female athletes to count." "That's right, but wouldn't the number of female athletes driving by that place in the middle of the night be limited?" "I heard that players on some corporate sports teams practice until late after get off work. By the way, do you have a road map here?" Kusanagi looked at the bookshelf. "I have the latest version of the map." Tang Chuan operated the mouse, and a few seconds later, a color map of Che Jing appeared on the screen.He zoomed in on the surrounding area of ​​Fuchu City and presented it in front of the dazed Kusanagi. "If you rely too much on modern methods, human beings will degenerate." Kusanagi was not convinced, staring at the screen, "It's just that the area of ​​Fuchu is huge, and there are many companies with corporate sports teams, and that woman may be from Those who come from other places are just passing through the mansion." "If it's just passing by, isn't there a wider road to go? She deliberately passed this remote path, which means that this place is either the starting point or the destination." "That's what it says..." Kusanagi's gaze moved across the screen, and his eyes hurt a little.Just as he was about to rub his eyelids, a line of text jumped into his sight. "Ah—" he cried out. "What's wrong?" Tang Chuan asked. Kusanagi pointed to a point on the screen: "How do you feel here?" He was referring to a building that read "Skating Training Ground." "It turned out to be an ice skating rink." "I heard that Olympians will come here to practice during non-business hours." "There must be a folder named 'Figure Skating' on Kosugi's bookshelf." Yu Chuan nodded after finishing speaking.