Chapter 36 Section 8

In the afternoon of the next day, Kusanagi came to Imperial University again. The night before, he had arrested Takehisa Matsuda. Matsuda broke into the parking lot of Shujima Fumio's house in Seijo, and was caught by the police in charge while trying to escape. At that time, what Matsuda was holding was a metal block in a plastic bag, which was too small to fit in his hand. When he was arrested, he told the police: "Don't go near the water, otherwise you will regret it for the rest of your life." Saying this is probably out of the conscience of scientists. Matsuda's worries are unnecessary.That piece of metal was different from what he had imagined.It had been replaced by Yukawa two hours before his arrest.

What he sneaked into the Kijima mansion and stole was just colored clay. "Matsuda admitted that he killed Fujikawa." Kusanagi looked at Yukawa's tired face and said.He doesn't seem to be in a good mood. "I think he should be difficult to deal with, but when he was arrested at Mr. Kijima's house, he seemed to have given up hope." "He should know that even resistance is useless." "Maybe. Let's not talk about this first. There are many places that I don't understand very well, and I also want to hear your opinion." "Ok."

Yu Chuan stood up from the chair and pouted his chin, which meant he was here, and Kusanagi followed behind. On the desk was a snack jar that seemed to contain water. Tang Chuan picked up a greased paper bag from another table, and when he opened it, there was a small spoonful of white crystals inside. "Stay away." After Yukawa said, Kusanagi took a few steps back. Yu Chuan approached the snack jar, quickly put the contents of the oil paper into it, and then walked away from the table. The thing reacted immediately.What came out of the jar, at first, was flames.The jar jumped up with a loud noise, and the water in it splashed everywhere, and a few drops of it splashed onto Kusanagi.

"That's amazing." Kusanagi said, taking out a handkerchief. "Infinite power, right? This is only a small amount. Maybe this is it." "this is……" "It's uranium," said Tang Chuan, "it's the culprit of the Shonan bombing." "I've also heard about it from Matsuda, but I still don't understand one thing," Kusanagi looked at the exploded jar tremblingly, "I didn't expect it to be so powerful. I don't know much about sodium. I've heard of sodium hydroxide, sodium chloride, and the like." "Sodium is a metal, but it cannot be continuously extracted as a single metal in nature. As you said just now, there are only certain compounds. Like the sodium I put in water now, the part of it that touches the air is It's acidified."

"But the metal explosion still feels a little..." "Sodium will not explode by itself. As mentioned earlier, sodium is very reactive, especially when it reacts with water, it will generate heat, become sodium hydroxide and generate chlorine gas at the same time. Mixing hydrogen gas with air will cause an explosion." "It's not matches and gunpowder, it's water and sodium, isn't it?" "After that, only sodium hydroxide remained. Sodium hydroxide is soluble in dry water, so it is only natural that there are no traces of explosives in the Shonan Sea."

"But, according to the experiment just now, didn't the sodium explode as soon as it entered the water? If that's the case, how would the prisoner Fujikawa have time to escape?" "Good question! In fact, when using sodium to prepare for detonation, you only need to do something to delay the time. Of course, this is also without leaving a trace." "How did you do it?" "Let the surface of metallic sodium become sodium carbonate. Sodium carbonate is a stable substance, not dangerous, and easily soluble in water." "What will happen after doing it?"

"Shortly after contact with water, the sodium carbonate turns into lumps, and the sodium doesn't react with the water. After a while, the sodium carbonate dissolves slowly, and when the sodium is finally exposed to the water—" "Is that so?" Kusanagi spread out his palms in front of Yukawa. "I think Fujikawa should have secretly taken the tampered Na, approached Uritsuko, and then put Na near her, and sank by herself. Or, because she was on the inflatable mat, Fujikawa used some method to put Na On that inflatable mattress, it's possible." Kusanagi nodded, these microphones are easy to understand, even science idiots can understand some of them.The prisoner is dead, and it is not easy to understand the truth.

"Matsuda explained that the sodium was stolen in mid-August when Fujikawa came to school." Kusanagi said while sitting on a chair. Matsuda was using liquid sodium for heat exchange system research, and when Fujikawa entered his laboratory, it was not difficult to steal the sodium. "What did Matsuda and Fujikawa say at that time?" Yuchuan leaned on the table and looked into the air and muttered. "Fujikawa is here to complain. That's what Matsuda said. Whether it was going to Professor Yokomori's laboratory to help Matsuda with research when he was in school, or entering a small company like Nisina Engineering, nothing went well. Especially Nisina Engineering. Putting him in a job that didn't interest him at all made him depressed. He ignited all the previous depression."

Yukawa shook his head lightly. "It's not always that simple." "It's very complicated. To be honest, I haven't fully grasped this incident." Kusanagi took out the notepad and opened it.It's not just about tampering with sodium. He also hopes to hear Yu Chuan's opinion on the background of this incident. According to Matsuda's words, Fujikawa originally wanted to join Professor Kijima's laboratory, but he didn't go because he didn't get important credits.That important credit refers to Professor Kijima's class that should be taken during the third year of junior high school.

"There is only one reason why Fujikawa didn't take the course. He forgot to submit the application for the course to the student department. When Fujikawa found out, the deadline for submission had passed, so Fujikawa hurried to the student department, hoping to revise it." "It was rejected," Tang Chuan said. "Our school's student department is extremely strict on this point. The students all know it, and I have personally experienced it." "At that time, the one who coldly and severely rejected Fujikawa was Uritsuko." "So that's the case." Tang Chuan agreed very much.

"Afterwards, Fujikawa probably asked Professor Kijima directly, and probably said something like please let me attend your class. When a student misses the time limit for submitting a course application, he or she can go to the class with the professor's permission. of." "What about the professor?" "I didn't agree," Kusanagi said, "As for the reason, Matsuda is not too clear." Tang Chuan tilted his head slightly. "I seem to know why." "What is it?" "Ah, let's talk later. What happened to Fujikawa after that?" "It's okay. In the end, he still didn't finish that very important class, so he couldn't enter Professor Kijima's laboratory as he wished. He had no choice but to go to Professor Yokomori's." "As a result, he did research he didn't like, entered a company he didn't like, and worked in a job he didn't like. Did he blame all of this on those two people?" "Yes, two people—Meritsuko and Professor Kijima." Kusanagi pulled his hair. "Do you want to kill people for this? Would a normal person do this? But Matsuda seems to mean that Fujikawa suffers from a neurosis." "Matsuda," Yukawa said with his eyes wide open, "that Fujikawa suffers from neurosis?" "Ok." "Is that so..." Tang Chuan looked at the ceiling with an expression of thinking about something. "Is there anything strange?" "No?" Tang Chuan shook his head, "Then what did he say about Fujikawa being killed?" "Matsuda said that when he knew about the Shonan incident and saw the scene of the explosion and the names of the victims, he must have done it. At that time, he checked the laboratory and found that the sodium had indeed decreased." Matsuda immediately came to Fujikawa's apartment to confirm the truth of the matter. Fujikawa did not deny it, and admitted his crime. Not only that, but also stated that he was going to kill another person, and he was Professor Kijima. "From now on, Matsuda's words are a bit difficult to understand." Kusanagi continued, frowning. "Matsuda said, Fujikawa said they were all finished, so he was very angry and killed Fujikawa. But why did Fujikawa say 'you are all finished'? Why was Matsuda so annoyed that he wanted to kill Fujikawa? It is still unclear, It’s just that when it comes to this place, Matsuda’s words are always vague.” "That's it." Tang Chuan straightened up and stood by the window. "Any clues?" "It doesn't count, it's not some profound words, you can hear them everywhere." "Let's listen." Kusanagi moved the seat in his direction. Tang Chuan stood in front of the window with his arms folded, against the light, it was difficult to see his expression. "Let's talk about the predecessor of the Institute of Energy Engineering. It used to be called the Institute of Atomic Engineering." "Ah, really?" Kusanagi thought, this name is easier to understand. "The reason for the name is that people's impression of it has changed. After changing the name, the research content has also undergone some changes, but the topics that were still being studied before are still retained. The research conducted by Matsuda is also one of them. , that is, the heat exchange technology using liquid sodium. If you put it to the extreme, it has only one purpose, do you know something about it?" "I don't know." Kusanagi thought, how could I know. "It's a technology to extract heat from the nuclear furnace that burns plutonium, that is, the resulting high-speed furnace. You should have an impression of the plutonium leakage accident of the high-speed value-added furnace a few years ago?" "Ah," Kusanagi nodded, "I have an impression of that. So, what happened to Na?" "After that accident, Japan's plutonium utilization plan changed in a general direction. Immediately afterwards, various related agencies concealed the accident and other bad things happened, and the change in direction was even more dramatic. Of course, there will be changes in the process of change. It has an impact on all aspects, and the fastest responders are related companies first," Tang Chuan moved two or three steps, and pulled out a booklet-like thing from the bookcase. "To tell you the truth, I also politely asked my friends in the Nisina project about this matter. Sure enough, the company has prepared technical reserves for the coming of the era of plutonium utilization, but starting from this year, all research related to it has been stopped. , It seems that Fujikawa also changed jobs for this reason." "So that's the case. In that case, I can somewhat understand why Fujikawa got neurosis." Although Fujikawa did not enter the company out of his original intention, he could at least give full play to his professional expertise for research.Now, even this has been taken away, and now he has lost the direction of his life, Cao Ruo thought. "Researchers are directly affected by the reorganization of the company," Tang Chuan continued, "In fact, the research conducted by Matsuda is also one of the objects to reconsider the budget." "Understood..." "Matsuda is probably terribly worried. If the university's research topics are scheduled, then the hard work you have put in before will be in vain, and of course it will affect your promotion." After hearing Yukawa's words, Kusanagi remembered that Matsuda was still an assistant. "Graduate Fujikawa was killed, what is the decisive factor..." "It should be Matsuda who discovered that the murderer used sodium. This sodium is very dangerous, and it was stolen from the university research room..." "Is this decisive?" Kusanagi sighed. "Don't Matsuda understand that killing Fujikawa is not the solution to the problem? Does he just think that the man in front of him can't be solved." Then Tang Chuan shook his head slightly, "He said that Fujikawa has neurosis, and he himself Isn't it the same?" "It can be said," Kusanagi agreed, "It is said that Matsuda is afraid of rain." "Is he really starting to wonder where the sodium is?" Faced with Yukawa's question, Kusanagi nodded. "Judging from the photo of the parking lot, he should have noticed that the sodium was in Professor Kijima's car. At that time, the professor was going to Osaka for an international conference, and if it rained, the sodium would explode. No, It's the hydrogen that explodes. Anyway, he's terribly worried at the thought of something so terrible as that might happen." "If he hadn't had a conscience, I wouldn't have noticed that Mr. Kijima was being targeted." Yu Chuan looked out the window. "The photos in the parking lot make people think that Fujikawa is staring at Professor Yokomori's car for some reason, but it is not the case. Asking students which car is Professor Yokomori's is actually to know which car is Professor Yokomori's car. Which one of the new cars belongs to Professor Kijima? He should have considered it, if Professor Kijima’s name is directly said there, when there is an explosion in the future, the students will think that he did it.” The sodium was pasted inside the BMW with an instant adhesive, and then Yukawa replaced it with a fake one, specially setting up a bureau waiting for Matsuda to take it back. "I want to ask you something," Kusanagi said, facing the physicist's profile, "When did you think Matsuda was weird?" This question seemed to touch Yu Chuan, he tilted his head. "It started when you said that Fujikawa might be related to the Shonan incident. But I noticed the possibility of using sodium earlier than that." "But why didn't you tell me?" "Hey," Tang Chuan thought, tilting his head, "Why?" "Isn't it because you want to protect him?" - Just as the words started, there was a knock on the door. "Please come in." Tang Chuan responded. It's Professor Kijima.Kusanagi stood up reflexively. "Ah, thank you for taking care of me during this time." The professor looked at Kusanagi, his expression softened. "No, thank you for your help." Kusanagi lowered his head. In order to catch Matsuda.Professor Kijima gave a lot of help to leave the car at Seijo's home. Kijima and Yukawa talked about work and planned to leave. "Professor." Kusanagi stopped him. Professor Kijima turned around. "Why didn't you let Fujikawa attend your class?" The old professor looked back at him and smiled slightly. "What sports did you practice?" "judo." "Then you should understand that no matter what the reason is, players who forget to sign up will not be able to participate in the competition, and such players will not be able to win. Knowledge is also a battle, and you can't show mercy to anyone." After speaking, the professor smiled and walked out of the room. Kusanagi stood motionless, staring blankly at Yukawa. Yu Chuan smiled and looked at the sky outside the window. "It's raining," he said.