Chapter 23 Section 1

In the distance came the sound of a no-passage warning, indicating that a train was slowly approaching.Fujikawa Shinichi sat in the driver's seat of the commercial vehicle, raised his hand and looked at the watch, the pointer on the watch pointed to 2:8.The train will arrive exactly as scheduled at 2:9, and depart at 10:00. He parked the car beside the roundabout in front of the station, and turned his gaze to the entrance and exit of the station—this is a dilapidated station with cracks on the concrete wall. Not long after, a tall and handsome man came out of the station.Although he was wearing a coat, he still couldn't hide his tight figure, which was no different from his student days, and there was no excess fat on his body.

Fujimura got off the commercial vehicle, ran towards the man, and called out, "Yu Chuan." Yu Chuanxue turned to Fujimura, raised his eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses, and said in response, "Yo!" "It's been a long time since I saw you. It seems that you are in good health, stronger than anything else." After finishing speaking, Yukawa looked at Fujimura's body. Fujimura frowned and said: "You want to say that although you look good, you have gained a lot of weight, right? Kusanagi told me a long time ago that when you meet Yukawa, you will definitely talk about my body shape."

"I won't talk about you, each other, we are all people who are getting older and our bodies are starting to change." "Aren't you almost the same as before?" "No," Tang Chuan said, pointing to his head, "the hair has started to grow gray here." "The hair is still so thick, a few gray hairs can bear it." Fujimura brought Yukawa to the front of the commercial vehicle, and after he sat in the passenger seat, he started the engine. "It's really cold here in November. It seems that it has snowed." Tang Chuan said looking out the window.Snow was piled up on both sides of the road.

"It fell five days ago. This year seems to be colder than usual. This place is completely different from Tokyo. I remember that in Tokyo, I still wear single clothes in November." "You've probably gotten used to life here, haven't you?" "How should I put it, after all, this is only the second time I've spent the winter here." "How is the hotel doing?" "Well, it's okay." Fujimura drove a commercial vehicle and climbed up a slender ramp. Although it was paved, the road surface was not wide.There are many small shops on both sides of the road, and Fujimura drives by.

"It's high enough." Tang Chuan in the passenger seat said with a little surprise. "It's not far, so bear with it." Fujikawa continued to drive forward, along the curve, and soon came to a place where the road was slightly wider, and he stopped the car against the guardrail. "What is this place?" Tang Chuan asked. "The hotel has to go further, but I have to trouble you to get off here first." Tang Chuan showed a confused expression on his face, but he nodded immediately and said, "Okay." There is a canyon under the guardrail, and the sound of running water can be heard.It is about 30 meters above the ground, and you can see rocks of all sizes in the river.

"The terrain is steep." Tang Chuan said below. "That case," Fujikawa licked his lips, "it happened here." Tang Chuan turned his head, there was no surprise on his face.I'm afraid he had roughly guessed it when Fujikawa asked him to get out of the car. "Did it fall from here?" "That's right." "Well—" Tang Chuan looked under the guardrail again, "If you fall from such a high place, I'm afraid there is no chance of surviving at all." "Presumed to have died at the scene." "I think so." Tang Chuan nodded.

"I just want to let you take a look at this place first, although I don't know if it has any reference value for you." After hearing what Fujikawa said, Tang Chuan tilted his head in confusion and said, "I told you on the phone that I am not a policeman or a detective. Maybe in your imagination, it seems that I have broken many case. But I’m just giving Kusanagi some advice, from the perspective of a physicist. You can’t expect too much from me.” "Kusanagi specifically asked me to ask you Yukawa to help!" Tang Chuan sighed, and shook his head dumbfounded: "This man really has no sense of responsibility. It's not enough to bother me with his own affairs, and he even spread your problems on my head."

"That guy is from the Metropolitan Police Department, so he can't intervene in the cases of other prefectures. And he also said that you, Yu Chuan, are the most competent to solve such mysteries after listening to me tell the story of the incident." "Solve the mystery..." Tang Chuan frowned, and looked at Fujikawa with a little surprise, "Remember you said it was a secret room mystery?" "That's right, it's the secret room." Fujikawa nodded seriously. Fujikawa asked Yukawa to get in the car again and start the car.After advancing about 100 meters, turned into a fork, and then climbed up about 50 meters.Soon, a log-style building appeared in front of him, and Fujikawa stopped the car in the open space in front of the entrance.

"This villa is quite magnificent." As soon as he got out of the car, Tang Chuan looked up at the building in front of him and praised. "This is not a villa." Fujimura smiled. "Really? Sorry." "But it's still a house ready to be sold as a villa." Fujimura stretched out his hand towards Yuchuan, ready to help Tangchuan carry the big bag he brought.Although the two are friends, as the hotel owner, he is obliged to help the guests with their luggage.But Tang Chuan said "no need" and declined his kindness.Perhaps it was because he did not regard himself as a guest.

Probably seeing the car arriving, Hisenko opened the entrance door and appeared in front of the two of them. Wearing jeans and a sweater, she smiled and nodded slightly to Yukawa. "This is my wife, called Hisako." Fujimura said. Yu Chuan nodded exaggeratedly at her, and then said: "I heard from Kusanagi and the others that Fujimura married an extremely young and beautiful wife. It seems that the rumors are correct." Fujimura hurriedly waved his hands in front of his face and said, "Don't say it, she will get carried away. Although everyone praises her for being young, she is actually a person who is going to be married soon, and she is not very old with the wives of the others. There's a difference."

"Wait a minute. Who said I'm going to be 3 soon? I'm only three years away from turning 30." Jiurenzi raised her chin while talking. "Three years are just a blink of an eye." "No, three years is a long time." Tang Chuan emphasized, "My wife in her twenties. It's really good." "Aren't you targeting younger ones yourself? I've heard what Kusanagi said." "What did Kusanagi tell you?" Yukawa frowned. "Okay, okay, let's talk about these things later." Fujimura greeted Tang Chuan into the house.There is a long corridor as soon as you enter the door. The dining room and lounge is the closest to the door. There are a few bar chairs in the room, and the kitchen is further inside. There was a table made of logs in the center of the room. Fujimura and Yukawa sat down facing each other at the table, and Kuniko poured coffee for them. "This coffee tastes pretty good." Tang Chuan took a sip, with a satisfied smile on his face, "It should be pretty good to live here." "It depends on the person's personality. But it suits me quite well. The air in Tokyo always makes me breathless. Rather than haggling with customers, I think it's better to chat with hotel guests here. Feel the value of life." "It's great to be able to find a life that suits me. This is the happiest thing." "With your words, I also feel more confident." "But I'm worried about the income. To be honest, I can't guess how much you can benefit. But if you have money in your family, you don't need to worry about it. Fujimura smiled bitterly: This guy is still so outspoken. "As you might expect, it really doesn't make a lot of money here. Although it's a bit busy in winter and summer, other than that, there are only one or two pairs of guests on weekends. But then again, I didn't expect to rely on It comes to make money." "What an enviable life." "You really think so? Then let me ask you, can you do it? Get up early in the morning to make breakfast for the residents, then clean up the dishes, clean the room, go out to buy vegetables, and sometimes take them to roam around the mountains. Prepare the kayak, and of course you have to cook dinner at night. In winter, not only do you have to send the guests to the ski resort, but you also have to remove the snow from the roof. How about it, do you want to try it?" "Of course I don't want to try it. But isn't this kind of life exactly what you want? You don't even hesitate to lose your title as a first-class businessman for it. I'm envious of you being able to realize your dream." "Well, I admit that in this sense, I am indeed deeply favored by God." Fujimura's father was a man who skillfully used his ancestral land to make his fortune.The few apartments he left to his son still bring in a lot of income.Without this income, it is estimated that such a ticket-like business would not be able to survive today. "How many residents are there today?" Tang Chuan asked. "Only you." "Really, then please take me to the room as soon as possible." Tang Chuan put down the cup and stood up. "Well, do you really want that room? I think you'd better have another one." Tang Chuan shook his head nonchalantly and said, "Why do you want to live in another room? I don't have any problems." "Since you say so, I'm fine." "Take me there." Fujimura said "OK" and stood up.As he walked out of the room, he exchanged glances with Kuniko across the bar; Kuniko blinked uneasily, and he nodded slightly at her. At the end of the corridor, there is a door facing you.When he opened the door, Fujimura felt a little resistance. Since that case happened, he would feel this way every time he opened the door. The room is about six pieces in size, and there are two single beds in the room.In addition, there is only a small table and a few chairs, and there is a window on the south wall. Yu Chuan put his coat and bag on the bed and walked towards the bed. "It's a very common crescent lock." Tang Chuan said. "You don't see anything amiss, do you?" "It seems so." Yu Chuan opened the window lock, tried to open and close the window, and then locked the window again.Then he went to the door, which had an ordinary cylinder lock, the kind with a chain attached. "The door chain was also buckled at that time, wasn't it?" "yes." Tang Chuan said "Oh", nodded, and sat on the bed.He crossed his arms, looked up at Fujimura and said, "Then please tell me about that wonderful secret room case."