Chapter 18 Section 18

After sitting down on the sofa in front of the counter, Kusanagi looked at a painting on the wall: bright red roses floated above the darkness.He always felt that this painting seemed familiar, he should have seen it on the label of some foreign wine. "Why are you so serious?" asked Kishitani who was sitting opposite him, "This painting has nothing to do with the case. Take a closer look, isn't there a signature in the lower left corner, but it's a foreigner's name .” "I know." Kusanagi looked away from the painting.In fact, he didn't notice the signature at all.

Kishitani asked puzzledly: "You said, would someone really collect the paintings drawn by their former lovers? If it was me, I would have thrown them away long ago." "Is that you? Zhen Chai Yixiao may not be like this." "Then even if it can't be kept at home, it won't be taken to the president's office, right? Hanging such a painting will make people feel uneasy." "It doesn't have to be on the wall." "If you don't hang it on the wall, you have to bring it to the company? This feels even weirder. If the employees see it, it will be very troublesome to explain."

"Just say it was sent by someone else." "If you say that, it will make people even more suspicious. Since someone sent a painting, it should be hung up to be polite, because the guest who gave the painting will come to visit at any time." "Why are you so annoying? Zhen Chai Yixiao is not this type of person." Just as Kusanagi raised his voice, a lady in a white suit came in from the entrance next to the front desk.She has short hair and wears thin-rimmed glasses. "I kept you two waiting for a long time, who is Mr. Kusanagi?" "It's me." Kusanagi quickly stood up and said, "I'm really sorry to bother you in the midst of his busy schedule."

"No, thank you both for your hard work," The business card she handed over said "Yamamoto Keiko" and her title was the head of the publicity department. "I heard that you two want to see the former president's personal belongings, right?" "Yes, may I trouble you for a favor?" "Okay, please come here." Keiko Yamamoto led the two into a room with a sign saying "small meeting room". "Aren't you going to the president's office?" Kusanagi asked. "Now the new president has taken office, but today he has something to go out and can't receive the two, please forgive me."

"That is to say, the president's office has been renovated now?" "After the funeral of the former president, we have sorted it out. All the work-related items have been kept, and all personal items have been moved here. We plan to find a suitable time to send them back to his house. We I didn’t dispose of or discard anything randomly, and I consulted the consultant lawyer Mr. Inokai for instructions one by one and made a safe disposal of all items.” Keiko Yamamoto said with a serious tone, her tone was blunt and guarded.From Kusanagi's ears, the words seem to imply that "Mashiba's death has nothing to do with the company, and it would be inconceivable to suspect us of destroying the evidence".

There are a dozen cardboard boxes, large and small, in the small meeting room. In addition, there are also golf clubs, trophies, foot massagers and so on.At a glance, there was no painting or anything like that. "Can we check it out?" Kusanagi asked. "Of course, please do what you want. I'll get some drinks. I don't know what you want to drink?" "No, no need, we appreciate your kindness." "Really? That's fine." Keiko Yamamoto finished speaking and walked out of the room with a stern face. Kishitani waited for her to close the door with a bang, then shrugged and said, "It seems that we are not very welcome."

"Who in this world would welcome people who work in our line of work? It's not bad if you can agree to our request." "Even so, wouldn't it be good for their company if the case can be solved as soon as possible? Can't she put on a poker face and smile a little?" "As far as the company is concerned, as long as the case itself is forgotten by people, it doesn't matter whether the case is solved in the end. In contrast, it is us criminal police who come in and out that make them more troublesome. Now that a new president has just been changed, the company There is a new atmosphere in the upper and lower levels, but at this time the criminal police came to the door again, how can they laugh? Well, stop talking nonsense and work quickly." Kusanagi said and put on the gloves.

The purpose of coming here today is nothing else but to find out Mashiba Yoshitaka's ex-girlfriend.The only clue in his hand was that he was a painter, but he didn't know what kind of paintings she had painted. "Although she has a sketchbook in her hand, she doesn't necessarily have to be a painter? Maybe she is actually a designer or a manga artist." Kishitani said while checking the cardboard box. "It's possible." Kusanagi readily agreed, "So you should also pay attention to those aspects when you are looking for things. People who work on architecture and furniture also use sketchbooks, so you should be more careful."

Kishitani sighed and replied "Understood". "You don't seem to have much energy, kid?" Hearing this, his junior detective stopped what he was doing, and said with a depressed face: "It's not that I'm not motivated, but I just can't figure it out. Didn't the previous search have already been found out? On the day of the incident, except Ruoshan Apart from Hiromi, isn't there no trace of other people entering or exiting Mashiba's house?" "I know this. Let me ask you, can you be sure that no one has entered or left that day?"

"So..." "If so, how did the murderer poison the kettle? Come and hear." Kusanagi stared at the silent Kishitani, and then said: "I can't answer it? You can't blame you, even that Yukawa has the same problem. In fact, the answer is simple and clear. There is no trick at all. The murderer At that time, I went directly to Mashiba’s house, poisoned the kettle and left. That’s it. Then why can’t we find any clues about the murderer no matter how hard we search? Have I explained this to you?” "Because Mr. Mashiba himself doesn't want people to know that he has met the other party..."

"Don't you understand it in your heart? When a man wants to hide his relationship, he should investigate his dealings with women. This is the basic point of the search. Am I wrong?" Kishitani shook his head and said "That's right". "If you agree, let's continue. We don't have much time." Kishitani nodded without saying a word, and started to check the cardboard box again, Kusanagi looked at his back and sighed softly. He asked himself, what is fire?It's just to answer questions for the younger generation, why should you be in a hurry to get angry?But at the same time, he also realized why he was so anxious. Kusanagi himself is dubious about whether this search is meaningful or not.There was a lingering uneasiness in his mind, worried that even if he investigated Zhen Chai Yixiao's relationship with women before marriage, it would be a waste of work. Of course, the so-called search is essentially like this.If you are always afraid of futility, you will not be able to work as a criminal police officer.But the uneasiness in his heart at this moment is different. He was worried that if no clues could be found in this search, the suspicion would really be directed at Mashiba Ayane.And this shows that it's not Kaoru Utsumi and the others, Kusanagi has a hunch that if this continues, one day even he will become suspicious of Ayane. Every time Kusanagi saw Ayane, he would feel a sense of urgency to personally put a sharp knife on his throat, which made him exhausted, shocked him, and fascinated him. And whenever he started to think about the source of this sense of urgency, an imaginary image would appear in his mind, making him uneasy and breathless. Kusanagi had also come into contact with several suspects who had bright spots in their human nature but had no choice but to commit murder.He can feel a common thing from them, which can even be called aura, which makes them seem to have a kind of insight that sees through the world.But there is only a layer of paper between this kind of aura and madness, and it can even be said to be a forbidden zone. Kusanagi also felt this kind of aura from Ayane. Although he tried to deny it, his keen sense of smell as a criminal police reminded him all the time. In other words, he actually searched to dispel the doubts in his heart.But the search is not allowed to mix the slightest personal emotion.He just knew it all too well to be annoyed with himself. The search had been going on for about an hour, and nothing related to painters or professions that used sketchbooks at work had been found.The carton was almost full of gifts and souvenirs and the like. "Senior Kusanagi, what do you think this is?" Kishitani asked while holding a small doll.The puppet looks like a vegetable in shape, with a green leaf sewn on it. "Like vegetables." "It's kind of like it, but it's actually an alien." "Alien?" "What do you think of this?" Kishitani flipped the leaves on the puppet and put it on the table.Indeed, the white head has a face drawn on it, and if the leaves were used as feet, it would look like the jellyfish-shaped aliens that often appear in comics. "I see." "Look at the description, this guy is a doll from Vegetable Star named Vegetable Boy, and it seems to be made by this company." "I see, so what?" "Senior Kusanagi, it is estimated that the person who designed this guy will also use a sketchbook on weekdays." Kusanagi blinked, stared at the puppet and said, "It is indeed possible." "I'll call Ms. Yamamoto." Kishitani stood up and said. Keiko Yamamoto walked into the small conference room, nodded when she saw the puppet, and said, "It is indeed an online animation character produced by our company." "Internet animation?" Kusanagi tilted his head and said. "I was on the company's homepage three years ago. Would you like to take a look?" Kusanagi said "I'm sorry", and stood up. When she came to the office, Keiko Yamamoto operated on the computer for a while, and the picture of "Vegetable Boy" was displayed on the screen.As soon as you click the word "play", a section of animation of about one minute will start to play.A character similar to a puppet appeared in the anime and moved.The story itself feels innocent and cute. "Is it gone on the homepage now?" Kishitani asked. "It used to be all the rage, so our company produced the puppet derivative products that the two of you saw just now, but the actual sales were not satisfactory, so we finally canceled this plan." "Is this anime image designed by your company's employees?" Kusanagi asked Yamamoto Keiko. "No, it's not. Its author originally published some illustrations called 'Vegetable Boy' on his blog. Later, because he was also quite popular on the Internet, we signed a contract with him to make it into a An anime contract." "That is to say, this thing was not designed by a professional painter?" "No, a school teacher. But not an art teacher either." "Hey?" Kusanagi thought, in this case, it is still possible.According to Inokai Tatsuhiko, Mashiba Yoshitaka will not have a romantic relationship with company employees or people related to work.But if the other party is not a professional, it may be a different matter. "Ah, that's not right, Mr. Kusanagi." Kishitani, who had been looking at the computer, said, "It's not this person." "What's wrong?" "The original author left a personal file. He is a male and a male teacher." "What did you say?" Kusanagi also stared at the page: that's exactly what was written on the personal file. "Just ask beforehand. Seeing how cute it is, I thought the author was 100% female." "Me too, we were negligent." Kusanagi frowned and scratched his head. "Excuse me," Keiko Yamamoto interrupted, "if the author is a male, will there be any adverse effects?" "No, we're talking about ourselves. We're looking for someone who might lead to a case, and the first requirement is that it's a woman." "The case you mentioned...does it refer to the case where President Mashiba was killed?" "Of course it is." "Is that case related to this web animation?" "It's hard to tell the details, but if the author is a woman, it may be related to the case." Kusanagi sighed, looked at Kishitani and said, "Let's close the team for today." "Yeah." Kishitani said with his shoulders drooping. Keiko Yamamoto sent the two to the door of the company, and Kusanagi nodded to her: "I am really sorry for disturbing your normal work. We may come to bother you during the search in the future, please take care of us." "Well, you two are welcome anytime..." Her expression was still displeased, but it was obviously different from the coldness at the beginning. After leaving, the two turned around and wanted to leave, but Keiko Yamamoto suddenly said "please wait a moment". Kusanagi turned around and asked, "What's wrong?" She walked quickly to the side of the two, lowered the noise and said: "Can you two please wait for me in the lounge on the first floor of this building? I have something to talk to you about." "Is it about the case?" "I'm not sure about this, but it's related to that anime character and its author." Kusanagi and Kishitani looked at each other, nodded to Keiko Yamamoto and said, "Okay." After saying "see you later", she turned and walked back to the company. The lounge on the first floor is a public space. Kusanagi stared at the no-smoking sign bitterly, drinking coffee, "What exactly does she want to tell us?" Kishitani said. "Who knows. If it's the amateur male painter, it doesn't matter." Not long after, Keiko Yamamoto came.She was holding an A4-sized envelope in her hand, and she looked like she was afraid of attracting the attention of the people around her. "I kept you two waiting for a long time." As she spoke, she sat down opposite the two, and the waiter came over afterward, but she shook her hand and refused.It seemed that she didn't intend to sit for a long time and talk for a long time. "Okay, please tell me if you have anything to say." Kusanagi urged. Keiko Yamamoto looked around, leaned forward slightly, and said, "Please don't make this public. Even if you want to make it public, don't say that I told you, otherwise I will be in trouble." "Huh?" Kusanagi rolled his eyelids and looked at Keiko Yamamoto.He originally intended to say "it depends on the content", but if he did say that, he might miss important information.For the criminal police officer Xiangyan, it is sometimes necessary to be thick-skinned and contradictory. He nodded and said, "Okay, I promise you." Keiko Yamamoto licked her lips and said, "The author of the anime image you mentioned just now is actually a woman." "Hey?".Kusanagi opened his eyes wide, "Are you serious?" "It's true. In fact, it was said that way on purpose for some reason." Kishitani was ready to take notes, nodded and said: "Not only the names of many netizens, but also the age and gender are fake." "Then the profession of teacher is fake too?" Kusanagi asked. "No, the male teacher written on the blog actually exists, and the person who wrote the blog is indeed him, but the person who created that image is someone else, and she is a woman who has nothing to do with the male teacher." Kusanagi frowned and put his elbows on the table: "What's going on?" Keiko Yamamoto looked around vigilantly, and said, "Actually, all of this was premeditated from the beginning." "Premeditated?" "Just now I told the two of you that our company approached the male teacher to talk about making anime because the anime image he published on his blog was well received, but the truth is exactly the opposite. In fact, the plan to use that image to make online animation was the first. , and as a sales strategy, first let it appear on the personal blog. Secondly, in order to make that blog popular, we have also made a lot of efforts on the Internet. When it is a little popular in reality, we will sign a contract with our company A contract to make anime. That's how it goes." Kusanagi crossed his arms and murmured, "The execution sequence of this matter is quite complicated and long-winded." "At that time, the president thought that doing so would make those netizens feel close and willing to support us." Kishitani turned his head to look at Kusanagi, nodded and said: "It is indeed possible. Netizens generally prefer to see news from an unknown person gradually spread." "So, the person who designed the anime image was actually an employee of your company?" Kusanagi asked Keiko Yamamoto. "No, at that time we selected suitable candidates from some unknown cartoonists and illustrators, and asked them to propose their own proposals for us to screen. The vegetable boy was finally selected. At that time, we signed a contract with the author for his creation. A promise of confidentiality. In addition, I asked her to draw illustrations for uploading to the male teacher's blog. But the author didn't finish the drawing, and another designer took over halfway, so I'll stop here For the sake of it, you two should understand, that male teacher is also the blog we paid for him to write." "Oh!" Kusanagi couldn't help blurting out. "It was indeed premeditated." "If you want to promote a new image in the market, you must implement various marketing strategies." Keiko Yamamoto said with a wry smile, "It's a pity that the results are not satisfactory." "So, what kind of person is that painter?" "She was originally a picture book author. In fact, she has published several books." She put the envelope under her arm on her lap, and pulled out a picture book from it. Kusanagi said "Let me have a look", and took the picture book.The title of the book is "It's going to rain tomorrow".He flipped through it hastily, and learned that it was roughly about Sao Qingniang's story, and he signed the author as "Butterfly Pansy". "Is this person still associated with your company today?" "Not anymore. Since all the copyrights about that image belong to our company, we haven't been in touch since I asked her to do the initial illustrations." "Have you ever met this woman personally?" "No, I haven't seen it. I told the two of you just now that her existence must be kept secret. Only a very small number of people, headed by the president, have seen her. I heard that the president personally asked her to sign the contract back then. " "President Zhenchai will go out in person?" "I heard that the person who liked the vegetable image the most was the president." After finishing speaking, Keiko Yamamoto stared at Kusanagi. Kusanagi nodded, and turned his gaze to the picture book.Although the author's introduction column is printed on it, his real name and date of birth are not recorded.However, if you are a picture book writer and have published books because of the work of painting, it is also in line with the conditions. "Can we borrow this picture book?" He picked up the picture book and asked. Keiko Yamamoto said "please go ahead" and looked at his watch. "I have told you all that I can say, and I almost have to go back. I hope it can help the search." "It's very helpful, thank you." Kusanagi nodded his thanks. After Keiko Yamamoto left, Kusanagi handed Eki to Kishitani: "Go to this publishing house and inquire about it." "Will there be a result?" "It seems very likely. At least there must be some relationship between this picture book writer and Mashiba Yoshitaka." "You seem quite confident." "Seeing Keiko Yamamoto's expression just now, I am convinced. It can be seen that she has begun to doubt the relationship between them before." "If that's the case, why has she been hiding it until now? The criminal police who came here to inquire about the situation before should have asked about Mr. Mashiba's relationship with women?" "It is estimated that she feels that there is no conclusive evidence, so it is best not to talk nonsense. She didn't make it too clear to us. Perhaps it was because she felt that we had already shown interest in the author of that image, so she first said that it was not the author of that image. The message that the man is not the woman is telling us. It is precisely because she knows in her heart that the picture book writer is special to Mr. Mashiba, so she can't stand by." "I see. I said behind her back that she has a poker face, and I really feel sorry for her." "If you don't want to waste her kindness, hurry up and call the publishing house to ask." Kishitani took out his cell phone, took the picture book and walked away.Kusanagi looked at his figure on the phone while drinking the cold coffee.Kishitani came back after making the phone call, but his face didn't look very good. "Didn't you find the person in charge?" "No, I found it, and I also told him about the author named 'Butterfly'." "Then why are you still looking depressed?" Kishitani did not answer his question, but opened the handbook and said: "This person's real name is Tsukui Junko, 'Tsukui' from Tsukui Lake, and 'Run' from Runze. It is said that this picture book was published four years ago. It is now out of print." "Have you found the other party's contact information?" "No, this..." Kishitani raised his head from the notebook and said, "This person has passed away." "What? When did she die?" "It is said that he committed suicide in his own home two years ago."