Chapter 6 Section 6

Mashiba's house, Mamiya and others' questioning of Ayane has also ended.Kusanagi told Ayane that Hiromi Wakayama went home first due to physical discomfort. "Really? Maybe this incident hit her quite hard." Ayane held the teacup in both hands and said while looking into the distance. Her quiet and peaceful appearance remained unchanged, but she straightened her spine The posture of sitting on the sofa with her back is full of power, which makes people feel the strength of her heart. The phone rang, and it came from the bag next to Ayane. She took out the phone and looked at Mamiya as if asking for permission.Gamiya nodded, agreeing to her answering.

"Hello...well, I'm fine...the police are here now...it's not clear yet, I just heard that he collapsed in the living room...well, I'll contact you when things get a little easier ...You can also tell Dad to let him not worry... Well, I hung up." Ayane hung up the phone, looked at Jian Gong and said, "It's my natal mother calling." "Have you told your mother what happened in detail?" Kusanagi asked. "I just told her that it was a sudden death. She asked me what happened, but I didn't know how to answer..." Ayane put her hand on her forehead.

"Have you notified your husband's company?" "Before I left Rihoro this morning, I informed his counselor, the same Mr. Inokai I mentioned earlier." "Is it the one who attended the house party?" "Yes, the manager passed away suddenly. I guess the company is in chaos, but I can't help you..." Ayane seemed to be on the verge of a dead end, staring blankly at a certain point in mid-air. Although she was desperately trying to show her strong side, it made people feel that she was already standing on the verge of collapse, which made Kusanagi want to go and help her impulse.

"Before Ms. Ruoshan recovers, why don't you find a relative or friend to accompany you? It will be very hard to deal with various affairs around you." "I'm fine, and it's better not to let other people come to the house today, right?" Ayane confirmed to Mamiya. Mamiya said to Kusanagi with an unhappy face: "The second round of evidence collection will start this afternoon, and my wife has already agreed." It seemed that there was no time left for her to immerse herself in grief, Kusanagi silently bowed her head to Ayane. Mamiya got up and said to the widow of the deceased: "I'm sorry to have disturbed you for so long, but Kishitani is staying here. If you have anything to do, just ask him, and it doesn't matter if you ask him to do chores."

Ayane thanked in a low voice. As soon as he left the gate, Mamiya looked at Kusanagi and Utsumi Kaoru and asked, "How is the situation?" "Wakayama Hiromi has already admitted her relationship with Mr. Yoshitaka. It is said that it started three months ago. She herself said that no one should know the relationship between the two." After listening to Kusanagi's narration, Mamiya puffed up his nose and said, "That is to say, the coffee cup in the sink..." "It was used by the two of them when they drank coffee on Sunday morning. It is said that Hiromi Wakayama made the coffee at that time, and the coffee was not unusual."

"Then the poisoning happened after that." Jiangong said while stroking his chin with long south stubble. "Did Mrs. Mashiba ask anything?" Kusanagi asked him in turn. Mamiya frowned and shook her head. "I didn't ask anything important, and I didn't even know whether she was aware of Mr. Yixiao's extramarital affairs. At that time, I asked her quite directly about her husband's relationship with other women. I didn't expect her to deny it without showing the slightest Her hesitation doesn't look like she's acting, but if she's acting, then she's a terrific actress."

Kusanagi glanced at Kaoru Utsumi secretly out of the corner of her eye. She once said that the scene where Ayane hugged Hiromi Wakayama and cried loudly was just a scene made by Ayane. She was very interested in her reaction, but the expression of the young female detective did not change much, she just prepared her notebook and pen and was on standby. "Perhaps we should tell Mr. Yixiao's extramarital affairs to his wife?" Hearing Kusanagi's words, Mamiya immediately shook his head; "We don't have to take the initiative to tell her that doing so will not benefit the search at all. I guess you will have to meet with his wife often in the future, so be careful not to slip your tongue."

"That is to say, this was hidden from her in advance, right?" "I'm telling you not to let her know on purpose, and if she realizes it herself, there's nothing she can do about it. Of course, this is also under the circumstances that she really doesn't know about it at the moment." As he said, Gamiya took it out of his underwear pocket. He took out a note, "Go to this family right now." The note recorded Tatsuhiko Inokai's name, phone number and address. "Go and find out about Mr. Yixiao's recent situation, and what happened last Friday."

"Just now I heard that Mr. Inokai is busy stabilizing the situation." "His wife should be at home. You should call first before visiting. I heard from Mrs. Machai that she is only two months after giving birth. She said that it is very hard for her to take care of the child. It is best to make a long story short." It seems that Ayane already knows that the police are going to ask the Inokai couple for questioning. She has encountered such misfortune and is worried about her friend's health, which makes Kusanagi feel hot. The two headed to Inokai's house in Kaoru Utsumi's car.On the way, Kusanagi called the other party.As soon as she heard that it was the police, Yukiko Inokai yelled, and Kusanagi quickly emphasized that she only had to answer a few questions easily, so she reluctantly agreed to let them visit, but told them to go there in an hour , As a last resort, the two had no choice but to find a coffee shop where they could park their cars and went in.

"Following what I just said, do you really think Mrs. Mashiba has noticed her husband's extramarital affair?" Kusanagi asked after taking a sip of cocoa.He just drank coffee when he asked Hiromi Wakayama for questioning, so he ordered a cup of cocoa this time. "I'm just saying it feels that way." "But that's what you have in mind, isn't it?" Kaoru Utsumi didn't answer, his eyes were fixed on the inside of the coffee cup. "If she has already noticed, why didn't she blame her husband and Hiromi Wakayama? She even invited Hiromi Wakayama to a house party on weekends? Normally she wouldn't do that, would she?"

"Indeed, if it were any other ordinary woman, it would have already been troubled by the time she noticed it." "You mean, his wife is not simple?" "Although everything is hard to say now, I always think she is very smart, not only smart, but also very tolerant." "You mean, because she can bear it, she can even bear her husband's affair?" "She knows that even if she makes a big fuss and curses, she won't gain anything. If she makes a fuss, she will lose two precious things. One is a stable married life, and the other is an excellent disciple." "Indeed, you can't keep your husband's extramarital affairs by your side all the time. What's the value of her ostentatious married life?" "People have different values. If it's status annoyance, it's okay, and the couple looks happy and can have a house party, at least on the surface. In terms of money, there is no hard work , she can concentrate on doing her favorite quilt. I don't think she is a fool who would let this kind of life be ruined by impulsiveness. Maybe she planned to wait for the affair between her husband and student to die naturally, but she didn't lose Anything." She rarely said a lot, and then she seemed to feel that her words were a bit arbitrary, and she reflected; "This is my imagination, it may not be accurate." Kusanagi took a sip of cocoa, but unexpectedly it was much sweeter than expected, he couldn't help frowning, and quickly rinsed his mouth with water. "She doesn't look like a very scheming person." "This is not scheming, but a defensive instinct unique to smart women." "Nei Hai, do you also have this instinct?" She smiled wryly, shook her head and said, "I don't. If my spouse had an extramarital affair, I'd be desperate to throw a tantrum." "Thinking about your spouse's end, it's really sympathetic. All in all, I can't understand that I have already noticed the extramarital affair, but I can still pretend to not care about it and continue my married life." Kusanagi looked at the time, thirty minutes had passed since he finished talking with Yukiko Inogai on the phone. , The home of the Zhukai couple is also a mansion not inferior to Zhenchai's.Next to the doorpost with red brick pattern tiles, there is also a garage specially prepared for visiting guests.Thanks to this, Inland Sea doesn't have to look around for a paid parking lot. Inokai Yukiko was not the only one at home, her husband Tatsuhiko was also there, saying that he rushed back after receiving a call from his wife and knowing that the criminal police were coming. "Is there anything wrong with the company?" Kusanagi asked. "The company is full of talented people, so don't worry about it. It's just that it will take time to explain to customers in the future, so we also hope that the truth of the case will be revealed as soon as possible." Zhu Kai said, casting a prying look at the two criminal policemen. "May I ask what is going on?" "Mr. Mashiba Yoshitaka passed away at his own home." "I know this, but since this incident has alarmed the people in the Metropolitan Police Department, it is unlikely to be an accident or suicide, right?" Kusanagi sighed softly, the other party was a lawyer, so he probably couldn't be fooled by perfunctory explanations, and as long as he wanted, he could also find out the details of the matter through other channels. Kusanagi first stated that he would never disclose it, and then told him about the death from arsenic poisoning and the detection of toxic substances from the leftover coffee. Sitting side by side with Inokai on the leather sofa, Yukiko held her round face in both hands. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot. Kusanagi had never seen her before, so it was unclear whether her chubby figure was due to having a baby. Zhu Kai slowly brushed his permed-looking hair behind his head. "Sure enough, I think if he died of a sudden illness, it would be difficult to explain why the police came to the door and the body was sent for autopsy. Taking a step back, it is impossible for him to commit suicide." "You mean that it is possible to kill him?" "I don't know who it is and what the purpose is to kill him. What's more, it's poisonous..." Zhu Zi frowned and shook his head. "Then do you know if anyone has a grudge against Mr. Mashiba?" "If you ask him if he has had any conflicts with anyone at work, you can't say that there are no conflicts at all. But it's all because of the inconsistency between the two parties in the business relationship, and the hatred of the other party is not aimed at him personally. , if any disputes really happened, the person who will take the responsibility is not him, but me." Saying that, Zhu Zi patted his chest. "So what about your private life? Has Mr. Mashiba ever had any problems with others?" After listening to Kusanagi's question, Inokai leaned his back on the sofa, crossed his legs and said, "I don't know about that. Although Mr. Mashiba and I are good partners, we have always insisted on keeping each other separate from each other in terms of private life. Intervention principle." "But didn't he invite you to a house party?" He shook his head as if surprised at his ignorance of the world; "It is precisely because we do not interfere with each other on weekdays that we hold house parties. People like me and him who are on the go all day need to pay attention to relaxation." The implication seems to be that he doesn't have that much time to waste on making friends. "Did you notice anything special at the house party?" "If you want to ask me if I had a hunch that something would happen to him, I can only answer with NO. We felt very happy at that time, and we felt that we had a fulfilling life." After finishing speaking, he frowned, "I didn't expect a short Just three days later, something like this happened to him." "Did Mr. Mashiba mention to you who he was going to meet on Saturday and Sunday?" "I haven't heard of that." Zhu Kai said and turned to look at his wife. "I haven't heard of it either, I just heard that Ayane is going back to her mother's house..." Kusanagi nodded, and scratched his temple with the end of the ballpoint pen. He gradually concluded that there was no useful information to be gained from these two people. "Do you often hold house parties?" Kaoru Utsumi asked. "Probably every two or three months." "Is it the real Chai family every time?" "We also entertained them shortly after they got married, and then we have been doing it at their home because my wife is pregnant." "Before Ms. Ayane and Mr. Mashiba got married, did you know her?" "I know, because I was there when Mashiba and Ayane met." "what do you mean……" "At that time, Mashiba and I went to a party, and Ayane happened to be there. After that, they started dating." "When did this happen?" "It seems to be..." Zhu Kai recalled, "About a year and a half ago. No, maybe not that long." After hearing what he said, Kusanagi couldn't help interjecting; "They got married a year ago. I think this can be called a flash marriage." "That's true." "Mr. Mashiba wants to have a child sooner." Yukiko interrupted and said, "But I haven't met a suitable partner, so he must be a little anxious." "Don't just gossip!" Zhu Kai turned to look at them after blaming his wife and said, "Does their meeting and marriage have anything to do with this case?" "No, that's not what it means." Kusanagi waved his hand, "There are really no useful clues at the moment, so I just want to know a little bit about the family life." "Really? I can understand your desire to search more information about the victim for the sake of the search, but if you exceed the limit, you will be in trouble." Zhu Kai changed into a lawyer's face and looked at them with a slightly threatening gaze. . Kusanagi lowered his head and said, "We know this very well."Then I looked back into the lawyer's eyes and said, "I'm sorry, but we still have to ask you something. This is also a routine, and I hope you don't mind. If you can tell us how the two of you spent this Saturday and Sunday, we will Thank you very much." Zhu Jin curled his lips, and nodded slowly: "Are you checking our alibi? Well, since you have to check, there's nothing you can do." After finishing speaking, he took out the alibi from his jacket. handbook. After finishing work in my office last Saturday, the client attended a banquet in the evening, and played golf with another client on Sunday, and didn't go home until after ten o'clock in the evening.Yukiko replied that she was at home all the time and that her mother and sister had visited on Sundays. That night, the black police station held a search meeting.The management officer of the first section of the Metropolitan Police Department first made a statement, saying that there was a great suspicion of homicide in this case.The biggest basis for his statement is that highly toxic arsenic was detected in the used coffee powder. If the deceased committed suicide, it is unlikely that the poison would be mixed into coffee and taken. It is right to mix the poison into the brewed coffee. So how exactly was the poison mixed in?Although the forensics department reported the previous investigation results at the meeting, his conclusion was still "not yet determined". This afternoon, the forensics department conducted another investigation on Zhenchai's house.The purpose of this investigation is to conduct toxicity tests on all items that Mashiba Yoshitaka may have eaten at the time, such as ingredients, condiments, beverages, and medicines.The same survey was conducted for dining utensils.At the time of the search meeting, testing was about 80 percent complete, but no toxic substances had been found.The person in charge of the forensics department believes that judging from the current situation, the possibility of toxic substances being found in the remaining 20% ​​of the items is very small. That is to say, the murderer targeted the coffee Mr. Yixiao drank at that time. There were two methods, either pre-poured on coffee powder, filter paper cups, etc., or mixed it in when making coffee.It is still unclear which method the murderer used.Because so far not only has no arsenic been found anywhere, but there is also no evidence of who Yixiao was with when he made coffee. The results of the inquiries around the Zhenchai family's mansion have also come out. From the results, no one saw anyone visiting before the incident. Of course, because it is located in a secluded residential area with few pedestrians, most of the surrounding residents are as long as they do not threaten themselves. I don’t care about the affairs of nearby people, so just because no one saw it doesn’t mean that no one visited at that time. Kusanagi also reported the results of their questioning of Mashiba Ayane and the Inokai couple, but did not mention the relationship between Wakayama Hiromi and Mashiba Yoshitaka.Before the meeting, Mamiya gave him instructions to temporarily keep it secret.Of course, Mamiya has also reported this matter to the management. Senior leaders believe that the issue is more sensitive. Before it is confirmed that it has something to do with the case, try to control the number of people who know the facts. Maybe they don't want the media to hear about it. bring it on. After the meeting, Kusanagi and Utsumi Kaoru were called aside by Mamiya. "Tomorrow you all fly to Lihoro." Mamiya looked at the two of them and said. Upon hearing the excuse, Kusanagi immediately sensed the purpose. "Do you want to check Mrs. Chai's alibi?" "That's right. Now the person who died unexpectedly was a man who had an extramarital affair. In this case, it is natural to have doubts about his wife and mistress. It has been confirmed that the mistress has no alibi, so what is the situation with his wife? The superiors instructed us Find out as soon as possible if you can. Let me tell you first that I will go back and forth on the same day, and I will arrange the local police to assist you." "His wife said she was notified by the police at the hot springs. I think I have to go to the hot springs." "Is it Dingshan Hot Spring? If you take the bus from the station, it will take a little more than an hour. His wife's natal family is in the western district of the city. If you two split up, you can finish the work in half a day." Kusanagi had no choice but to scratch his hair and said "Indeed".It seems that Mamiya did not intend to surprise his subordinates with a one-night stay in the hot spring. "What, Nei Hai, do you seem to have something to say?" Mamiya asked. Kusanagi looked at Kaoru Utsumi beside her, and saw that she pursed her lips tightly, with an expression of unrelieved expression on her face. At this time, she moved her lips and said, "Is it really enough to just check her alibi at that time?" "Huh? What do you mean?" Mamiya asked. "Mrs. Mashiba left Tokyo on Saturday morning and came back on Monday morning. I'm asking you, is it enough to check her alibi during this time?" "Do you think it's not enough?" "I don't really know, I just feel that since the method and timing of the poisoning are not clear now, even if she had an alibi at the time, is it too early to exclude her from the suspects? " "I don't care about the method, but the timing is very clear," Kusanagi said. "On Sunday morning, Hiromi Wakayama and Yoshitaka Mashiba drank coffee together. down." "Is it wrong to draw conclusions like this?" "Isn't it right? According to you, when did the murderer poison you?" "Well... I don't really know." "You mean, Wakayama Hiromi is lying?" Mamiya said, "In this way, the mistress and wife will become accomplices. Do you think it is possible?" "I don't think it's possible either." "Then what are you dissatisfied with?" Kusanagi shouted loudly, "It is enough to have the alibi from Saturday to Sunday! Even if only the alibi on Sunday is enough to prove his wife's Innocent, do you think this idea is ridiculous?" Kaoru Utsumi shook his head: "No, I don't think this idea is inappropriate, but is there really no other way to poison? For example, set up a trap to let Mr. Yoshitaka mix the poison into the coffee..." Kusanagi frowned: "Try to make him commit suicide?" "No, but I didn't tell Mr. Yoshitaka that it was poison. I didn't talk about poison, I just said it was a secret recipe to make coffee more delicious." "Secret recipe?" "Isn't there something called Garam Masala in coffee? It is said that a little sprinkling of that condiment before consumption can increase the aroma and taste of the coffee. If the poison is called the coffee version of that thing, leave it to Mr. Yixiao, although Mr. Yixiao didn't use it when he was with Ms. Ruoshan, but when he drank coffee alone, he remembered it and added a little bit... It might be a bit far-fetched to say so." "It's not just far-fetched, it's just nonsense." Kusanagi said bitterly. "yes?" "I've never heard of any powder mixed into coffee to enhance the flavor, and I don't think Mashiba Yoshitaka would believe such a lie. If he really believed it, he should have told Wakayama Hiromi? At that time Yixiao once talked with her about how to brew coffee to taste better, and if Yixiao really poisoned himself, there should be traces. Arsenic is in powder form and can only be packed in bags or on paper. You can only take it out after wrapping it up, but no poisoned bag or paper was found at the scene, how do you explain this?" After listening to Kusanagi's barrage of rebuttals, Utsumi Kaoru nodded slightly and said, "Unfortunately, I can't answer any of your questions. I think Mr. Kusanagi's words are very reasonable. But I always feel that there should be some way to do it." Kusanagi turned away from her and sighed: "You mean, let me trust a woman's intuition?" "I didn't say that, but women have a woman's way of thinking..." "Wait," Mamiya interjected helplessly, "It's okay to discuss, but don't lower the level of the topic. Utsumi, do you think his wife is suspicious?" "I'm not sure either..." Kusanagi really wanted to say "It's intuition again" but he held back. "What's your basis?" Mamiya asked. Kaoru Utsumi took a deep breath and said, "Champagne glass." "Champagne flutes? What happened to that thing?" "When we arrived at the scene, there were five washed champagne glasses in the kitchen," she turned her head and said to Kusanagi, "Do you remember this?" "Remember, used it for a Friday night house party." "The champagne flutes are usually stored in the cupboard in the living room, so when we went, the corresponding place in the cupboard was empty." "Therefore..." Jiangong said, "Maybe my brain is not bright enough, I don't think there is any problem in it." Kusanagi felt the same way, he stared at Kaoru Utsumi's resolute side face. "Why didn't his wife put away the glasses before leaving?" After hearing Kusanagi's "ah", Harumiya also said "ah". "Even if it's confiscated, it's not a big problem, right?" Kusanagi said. "But I think it's usually put away. You saw that cupboard at the time, too. It was neatly placed inside, and you could tell at a glance that the empty space was for champagne glasses. His wife should be The kind of character who can't be at ease until she puts the expensive cutlery where it should be, and yet she didn't put those champagne flutes back, which is really inexplicable." "Maybe I just forgot?" After hearing what Kusanagi said, Kaoru Utsumi shook his head firmly: "This is impossible." "why?" "It might be possible under normal circumstances, but his wife was going away for a while at the time, so it's hard to imagine that she would leave those champagne glasses alone." Kusanagi and Mamiya looked at each other, saw Mamiya's shocked face, and thought that his expression should be the same at the moment, and the question raised by Kaoru Utsumi had not even crossed his mind before. "I think there is only one reason why his wife didn't put away the champagne glass," the young policewoman continued. .” Mamiya leaned back on the back of the chair, put his hands on his chest, looked up at Kusanagi and said, "Listen to your senior's rebuttal." Kusanagi scratched his eyebrows, he couldn't think of anything to refute, instead, he asked, "Why didn't you say it earlier? You started to be suspicious when you arrived at the scene, right?" She tilted her head and showed a rare shy smile: "At that time, I thought that you might tell me not to stick to the details all day long, and I thought, if his wife is the murderer, sooner or later she will show her feet in other places, I'm really sorry." Mamiya took a deep breath, looked at Kusanagi again and said: "It seems that we have to change our attitude, it's rare to have a female detective at the top, if we make people afraid to speak, it will be outrageous." "No, I never meant that..." Mamiya raised his hand to stop Utsumi Kaoru's defense: "If you have anything to say in the future, don't worry about it. It doesn't matter whether it's a man or a woman. Seniors and juniors, I will report your opinion just now. Don't get too deep, no matter how subtle your focus. It's unnatural that his wife didn't put away the champagne glass, but it doesn't prove anything. Our purpose is to find evidence that proves the state of affairs. And, I just said Your order is for you to verify the validity of his wife's alibi. You don't have to think about how to deal with this matter, understand?" After Kaoru Utsumi lowered his eyelids and blinked several times, he looked at his boss and nodded: "Understood."