Chapter 11 Section 3

"I've never heard of that neighborhood at all. It's a neighborhood, but it's not a residential area or an office area at all. It's a suburb. Really, it always makes people feel that Tokyo is really big at this time. Really It’s too big, and it turned out that we had to go to this place more than an hour away from the capital in the middle of the night. Look, it’s almost twelve o’clock.” Kusanagi in the passenger seat kept talking like a cannonball, and seemed to be in a bad mood.It was rare to be able to get off work early today, but the phone rang just as he was about to go out to visit the night market, no wonder he was upset.You are not the only one who is harassed by the phone when you are planning to relax, and I am the same, Utsumi Kaoru thought.She had also planned to watch a DVD while sipping wine.

"There is no way. Because this is not just arson, but also murder." "I know that. Because of this, this matter can't be completely handed over to the people in the department under its jurisdiction. People from the general office must come forward. This is fine, but the question is, why did you let us do it? No , you just accept your fate, you are new here. The unlucky errand must be your turn, I am different." Xun was also angry, and couldn't help but want to say back to him: "Why don't you also taste the feeling of being called out to drive in the middle of the night, and being bullied by being a newcomer all day long?"

"If you just send newcomers there, I feel a little uneasy." "Who is worried? Isn't it the old man? Isn't it the old man Jiangong? He just plans to send us to lead the battle first, and after hearing our report, he will come over slowly tomorrow morning. Ah, it's really annoying. I thought I can finally have a leisurely drink tonight." Kusanagi straightened his back on the seat, "By the way, what did you just say? How did you know it was arson?" "Because the body was found from the burnt wreckage." "Isn't there a possibility of being burned to death because of the fire?"

"It's not that simple. The corpse found at the scene was killed with a knife. It is said that the corpse did not suffer much damage thanks to the timely extinguishing of the fire." "That's right. So no matter how you look at it, this is a deliberate murder." Xun caught Kusanagi's dejected look from the corner of his eyes. "It's troublesome. If the search headquarters were set up in a rural place like this, we wouldn't be able to do anything. It doesn't look like there's even a cafe in this damn place." He was right, the further you go the darker you go.Relying on the headlight alone felt unreliable, so Xun also turned on the anti-fog lights.

Soon, the front suddenly brightened.The source of the light is that there are many fire trucks parked in front of it. I don't know if it was because the night was too late, or because there were not many people living nearby, the fire scene did not see the expected crowd of people joining in the fun. Although there are several houses standing on the site, the fence that divides the land is completely invisible.A group of people had gathered on the left side of the house, and firefighters and police were surrounding the area with plastic sheeting and bags. A thin man ran up to the two of them. After hearing Kusanagi's self-introduction, the other party showed a somewhat nervous look. He claimed to be the investigator of the bureau under his jurisdiction, and his surname was Koido.

"Is there only one person who died?" Kusanagi asked. "Only one. The body has been sent to the police station, and the autopsy is estimated to wait until tomorrow." "That's true." Kusanagi turned to look at Xun. "Is the on-site inspection over?" Xun asked tentatively. "Not yet, just putting out the fire tonight is enough. It's dark and it might rain. The firefighters also said that they won't be able to start a detailed on-site inspection until tomorrow." That's right, this judgment is fairly safe, but in this case, why did the two of them come here so late at night?

"What kind of house was burned down?" Kusanagi asked. After Koito stood at attention, he took out his handbook, "It's a family named Tomonaga. It is said that the other house of his family was burned down." "Another house? That means—" Kusanagi looked up at the big house on the right, "This is the main house?" "Yes." Koito nodded. It is said that the victim was named Tomohiro Kunihiro and lived alone in another house. "Who lives in the main house?" "Uh, this..." Koito looked at the manual, "It's the victim's father and... Uh, what is the relationship between this? It's her daughter... I don't feel good That's right."

"What?" Kusanagi asked. "Well, the relationship is a bit complicated. It's the victim's father and his father's illegitimate daughter, and three of his father's students tonight. No, it should be four. It seems that they came because of a party." Xun judged from the word "student" that the father's occupation might be a teacher. "Are they still in the main house?" Kusanagi asked. "No, three of the four students have already gone back. They said that they have to go to work early tomorrow morning, and they have to go home tonight no matter what. If they continue to delay, they will not be able to catch the last tram."

"What about the rest?" "On standby." "Can I ask them about the situation?" "I think it should be fine." "Then let's go to them and ask about the situation. Please show me the way." "Yes, all right. This way, please." Kaoru and Kusanagi followed Koito to the main house. In front of the entrance of the main house, there is a doorplate with the word "Youyong" written on it.Although it is a wooden Japanese-style house, the gate is Western-style.Xiao Jingtu pressed the intercom doorbell next to the door, and said a few words to the people in the house.

Not long after, the door opened, and a tall, thin woman in her mid-twenties appeared at the door.She tied her long hair in a bun behind her head. Koido introduced Kusanagi and Kaoru to her. "Could you please recount the situation to them both as you did just now?" "Well, okay. Let's invite some of you to enter the room." The woman looked at Xun and Kusanagi with a serious face and said. Kusanagi said "excuse me" and began to take off his shoes, Xun followed suit.Koito said that he still had something to discuss with the firefighters, so he left without entering the house.

On the way in, Kusanagi asked the woman for her name.She stopped and introduced herself as Namie Shinto.When she brushed her drooping forehead hair, the ring on her left hand flashed. "I was brought here by my mother, who passed away about ten years ago." "Ah, that's what happened. But your surname seems to be different from your father's?" Kusanagi said. "Mother River, I came to this family 23 years ago, but my father and mother have never been officially married, so my mother and I have always been surnamed Xindeng, although my mother claimed to be You Yong." "So that's what happened. Uh, I don't know if I should ask a question: Why didn't the two of you become naturalized?" After hearing this, Namie smiled slightly, looked at Kusanagi, then at Kaoru, and said, "The reason is very simple. We cannot be naturalized because our father's household registration has already married a wife." "Ah...that's how it is." Saying that, Kusanagi straightened his back and nodded, "Understood. Then, can I trouble you to take us to meet the other people?" "Okay, please go this way." Namie took another step. Kusanagi glanced at Xun quietly, that look indicated that he had already smelled something.Xun seemed to feel the same way, and nodded slightly to him without saying a word. Waiting for them in the twenty-fold living room was the head of the family Yukina Yukimasa, who was sitting in a wheelchair with a look of pain on his face. "I'm very sorry for disturbing you late at night." Kusanagi bowed his head and saluted, "Although I guess you should have told the police and firefighters here just now, but we would like to ask you to recount the situation at that time. Please start with what you witnessed at the time." "Ah, well, I didn't actually witness the moment when the fire started." Youyong said. "At that time, my father felt a little tired and was resting in the bedroom." Namie added from the side. "Just when I was drowsy, the surroundings suddenly became noisy, and I thought of looking out the window, so I saw that the other house was already on fire." "Where were you at that time?" Kusanagi asked Namie. "I was here with a few guests and all of a sudden I heard a noise coming from outside." "Noise? What noise?" "I think it should be the sound of glass breaking. Several guests said the same at the time." "What time was it?" "I remember it was past eight o'clock." "Is there any point for you to come here to ask when the crime happened?" A voice suddenly sounded from behind, and it was a voice that Xun had heard before. Turning around, he turned out to be someone he knew very well, and saw that he was wearing a suit that he seldom wears on weekdays tonight. "Teacher Tang Chuan." Xun said in a low voice. "Yukawa, why are you here?" Kusanagi looked back and forth at Yukawa and Tomoyaga in a bit of embarrassment. "You know each other?" You Yong asked Yu Chuan. "He is also from Teito University, but he is from the Department of Sociology. At that time, he and I participated in the badminton club." Said, Yu Chuan sat down beside You Yong. "Really, this is really a coincidence. Yu Chuan, it seems that Mr. Criminal Police doesn't know you are here." "I really don't know, what a coincidence." Kusanagi said, staring straight at Yukawa's face. "Every time such a coincidence occurs, I will first habitually wonder whether there is any necessity hidden in such a coincidence. But this time, it seems that there is no need for it." Tang Chuan moved his gaze from Kusanagi's face to On Xun's face, he nodded slightly, and Xun also nodded back. "Uh, from this point of view, Mr. Tomoyong, you should also be a teacher in the university, right?" Facing Kusanagi's question, Tomoyaga nodded and said, "It used to be. I used to be an assistant professor at the Institute of Technology of Imperial University." He added, "It's Wannian Assistant Professor." "So that's what happened." Kusanagi said suddenly, then looked at Yu Chuan again, and asked him, "Just now you said that it was meaningless for me to ask about the time of the crime. What do you mean by that?" Tang Chuan shrugged and replied: "Because the relevant situation should have been recorded. At that time, several friends of mine witnessed the moment when the fire broke out and reported it immediately. That is to say, you only need to go to Check the records of the fire department and the police, you will not only get vague answers like eight o'clock, but you will be able to grasp the more precise time of the incident. To be on the safe side, I have already asked the friend who called the police After the call time recorded on his mobile phone, it was 8:13." "I see. I will refer to your suggestion." Kusanagi said with a straight face. Xun wrote down the number 8:13 in the handbook. "You didn't witness it then, did you?" Kusanagi asked. "When I arrived here, the fire fighting operation was just over, and Mr. Tomoyong, who had temporarily gone out to evacuate, had already returned here. Since several of my friends were still there at the time, I asked them about the details. Therefore ——" Tang Chuan crossed his legs, looked up at Kusanagi and Xun, "you can come and ask me about tonight. Occasionally, the police come to me to listen to the situation, and it doesn't feel bad."