Chapter 25 Section 25

“According to Ms. Yoko Tsukui, Junko worked for a job after graduating from university, quit her job three years later, and went to study in Paris for two years to study painting. It seems that the postcard was sent during that time.” Kusanagi stared at Kaoru Utsumi who was excitedly talking about his discovery, feeling an inexplicable frustration in his heart.He had to admit to himself that there was a part of him that was not too keen on appreciating her discovery. Gamiya leaned back on the back of the chair, with his thick arms folded in front of his chest. "You mean Junko Tsukui and Ayane Mashiba are friends?"

"I think this is very likely. The date on the postcard is also the same as the time when Mrs. Mashiba studied in London. And she is from Hokkaido. I don't think there will be so many coincidences." "Are you sure?" Kusanagi said, "I don't think such a coincidence is impossible. How many Japanese students do you think there are in London? You can't count a hundred or two hundred." "Okay, okay." Jiangong waved his hand and intervened. "Assuming that the two of them are indeed friends, what do you think has anything to do with this case?" the section chief asked Kaoru Utsumi.

"Although it is still in the deduction stage, it is undeniable that the arsenic left over from Junko's suicide fell into Ayane's hands." "I'll go to the forensic department early tomorrow morning on this point, although I don't know if they can confirm it. But Utsumi, if things are as you infer, the wife of the deceased married the ex-boyfriend of the friend who committed suicide." "Is such that." "Don't you think it doesn't make sense?" "do not think so." "why?" "There are a lot of women in the world who date friends' ex-boyfriends. I know people like this too. Some women even emphasize that they just got a lot of information from their friends. It’s good for me to know more about the other party in advance.”

"Is it the same even if this friend committed suicide later?" Kusanagi interjected and asked, "The reason for suicide may be on this man." "That's just a possibility, not a certainty." "You forgot one very important thing, that is, Mrs. Ayane and Mr. Mashiba met at a party. Are you trying to say that she happened to meet her friend's ex-boyfriend on that occasion?" "It's not surprising if both of them are still single." "And then it happened to be a romantic relationship? That's a pretty handy story." "That may not be a coincidence."

"What do you mean?" Hearing Kusanagi's question, Utsumi Kaoru stared at him and said, "Maybe Mrs. Ayane went after Mr. Mashiba from the beginning. She watched Mr. Mashiba when he was still dating Junko Tsukui. Fell in love with him, and then took Junzi's suicide as an opportunity to start getting close to him, and even their acquaintance at the blind date party may not be accidental." "You're just talking nonsense," Kusanagi said angrily, "She's not the kind of woman you said." "Then what kind of woman is she? Kusanagi-senpai, do you really know that lady?"

Gamiya stood up and yelled, "Shut up, everyone." "Utsumi, although I admit that your intuition is very keen, but you are a little too suspicious this time. Before you say your inferences, you should collect some strong physical evidence. And you, Kusanagi, you too Don't argue with people every sentence all day long, can you listen to what people have to say first? Sometimes the truth is revealed in the process of exchanging opinions. Don't you usually listen to people? Now it's okay It's not like you at all." Kaoru Utsumi said "Sorry" and lowered his head, while Kusanagi nodded silently.

Mamiya sat back on the chair again and said: "What Utsumi said sounds interesting, but the evidence is weak. And if Mrs. Ayane is indeed the murderer, the origin of the poison can be explained clearly, but other Nothing related to this case. Or," he put his elbows on the table and looked at Kaoru Utsumi, "this time, you're going to assume that Mrs. Ayane is deliberately approaching Mashibayoshi in order to avenge her friend who committed suicide. Filial piety?" "No, that's not the case. I can't imagine anyone marrying for revenge." "If that's the case, then stop your imaginary game here. Let's wait until the forensics department investigates the utility room of Tsukui's house." Mamiya concluded.

When Kusanagi returned to his long-lost home, the date had quietly jumped forward.Although he really wanted to take a shower, he fell on the bed as soon as he took off his shirt.Even he himself didn't know whether he was physically tired or if he had surrendered mentally. "Senior Kusanagi, do you really know that lady?" Kaoru Utsumi's words still lingered in his ears. He thought to himself, I really don't know anything about Ayane.He thought that if he had a few words of conversation and got to know her appearance, he understood her inside.But he couldn't imagine her as a woman who could casually marry the ex-boyfriend of his friend who committed suicide.Even if her suicide had nothing to do with Mashiba Yoshitaka, she might feel ashamed of her friends in her heart.She should be such a person.

Kusanagi sat up, loosened his tie, and his eyes stayed on the two picture books randomly thrown on the table beside him.That was Junko Tsukui's work he brought back from "Oak Publishing". He lay back on the bed again and flipped through a few pages.The title of the picture book is "The Snowman Has Fallen". It tells the story of a snowman who originally stayed in the snow country, but one day he travels in search of a warm country.Although the snowman in the story wanted to go further south, he encountered a dilemma that his body would melt if he continued to move forward.The Snowman stopped his trip and was going back to the original cold country.On the way back, he passed by a house, looked into the house through the window, and saw the whole family sitting around the stove, chatting happily.And the topic they talked about was that only when there is a world of ice and snow outside the house, can they feel the warmth of the house.

After glancing at the pictures on this page, Kusanagi jumped up from the bed. On the wall of the house the snowman was spying on, there was a picture of something he had seen before! On the dark brown background, as seen in a kaleidoscope, petals of various colors are regularly scattered. Kusanagi can still clearly recall the emotion when he saw this pattern for the first time, and he also remembers where he saw it. It's in Mashiba's bedroom.It was the pattern of the tapestry that hung on the wall of his bedroom. During the day, Ayane originally planned to ask Kusanagi to help hang the tapestry on the wall, but she suddenly changed her mind and said that she would not hang it today.

Perhaps it was because she had heard the name Junko Tsukui before.Probably because she knew that the tapestry was in the picture book, so she deliberately didn't want Kusanagi to see it.Kusanagi put his head in his hands.Along with the violent heartbeat, he heard tinnitus. The next morning, Kusanagi was woken up by a phone ringing.Look at the clock, it's past eight in the morning.He found himself lying on the sofa with a bottle of whiskey and a glass halfway down the table in front of him. He recalled the scene of tossing and turning last night and finally having to drink to help him fall asleep.As for the reason why he couldn't sleep, he didn't have to think about it at all. He propped up his heavy body, and reached out to pick up the cell phone that kept ringing on the table. Caller ID is Neihai. "Hello, it's me." "I'm Utsumi, I'm sorry to disturb you so early. Because I have something urgent, I need to inform you as soon as possible." "What's the matter?" "The results came out. Spring 8 came to report, and it is said that arsenic was indeed detected from the water purifier."