Chapter 23 Chapter Twenty-Three

How bad what he has done, he himself is naturally the most clear.Although it was to cover up his son's crimes, letting his mother act as a scapegoat had already deviated from humanity.He thought, if hell really existed, it must be the place where he should go after death. However, he really can't find any other way to get out of the current predicament. If the murderer is an old lady suffering from dementia, the world's criticism of them should be lessened.All of this will be interpreted as a tragedy caused by an aging society, and maybe their family can still get sympathy from others.He felt that in this way, the negative impact on Naomi would be minimized in the future.

Conversely, if the truth comes to light, Naomi will definitely be regarded as a murderer for the rest of her life.His parents, on the other hand, would be looked down upon as incompetent parents who failed to stop their son's atrocities, and would be constantly blamed.No matter where you move to live, there are always people who get wind of it and are sure to isolate and ostracize their family. He understood that he was sorry for Zheng Hui, but his mother probably wouldn't know that he was framed.Although Akio does not understand the judicial process of dementia patients after committing a crime, he does not think that the court will sentence them like ordinary people.Akio thought of the word "capacity". He had heard that it is difficult for a person without capacity to punish his crimes, but now no one can say that Zhenghui is a person with capacity.

And Zhenghui must be very happy to save her grandson by sacrificing herself, of course, the premise is that she can understand the meaning of all this—— He heard the sound of the door closing, and the sound of footsteps in the corridor getting closer. "I kept you waiting." Matsumiya said and walked into the room, but Kaga was nowhere to be seen. "Where's the other policeman?" Akio asked. "He went elsewhere and will be back soon. Well, I want to ask you again, does anyone else know the inside story of the case?" This question was also expected by him in advance, and he threw out an answer that he had prepared for a long time.

"It's just the two of us, we didn't tell anyone else." "But you still have a son, doesn't he know?" "My son," Akio said after trying to keep his voice calm, "knows nothing, we all keep it from him." "But he wouldn't be ignorant, right? There was a dead body in his home, and his parents dealt with it in the middle of the night. It's hard to imagine that he didn't notice the whole process at all." Song Gong poked Akio and the others at their biggest pain point, Akio thought, now has reached the most critical moment.

"He really doesn't know, no, actually he does now. Because I told him about the situation before I called the police, but he shouldn't have known about it before. Friday He didn’t know why he was wandering there that day, and he came home very late. Did I tell you about this yesterday? When my son came back, we had already moved the body to the yard, and it was covered with a black plastic bag. Shouldn't have noticed." "And," Yaeko interjected. "He usually locks himself in the room and doesn't come out except to eat and go to the toilet, so he doesn't care what his parents are doing in the middle of the night. So I think he must be hit now, and his mind is full It's blank. It's still a kid after all, and after we told him these things, he went to his room again. Can you please leave him alone for a while?"

She emphasized the words "still a child", and Akio also joined in. "He's shy of strangers, and it's hard to talk to people he meets for the first time. I don't know if it's because he's too young. So, I don't think he can help the police." Akio thought that the police must not shift their attention to Naomi.When the couple was researching countermeasures, they also agreed that this was crucial. After looking back and forth at the faces of the couple, Song Gong answered. "This is also for the sake of caution. Maybe he also vaguely sensed something. And if the matter is really as the two said, then according to our rules, we must ask all relevant personnel about the situation."

"Is he considered... the relevant person?" Yaeko asked. "Since he lives with you, your son belongs to the category of relevant personnel." Song Gong said firmly. What he said was absolutely true, and the Akio couple also knew that it was impossible for them to keep Naomi completely away from the police.But they wanted to emphasize as much as possible that he had nothing to do with the case and that he was a child. "Is your son's room on the second floor? How about I go and see it myself?" Song Gong's words made Akio nervous, and he had to stop the other party from doing so.It is dangerous for Naomi to face the police alone, and this is a fact that the couple agrees on.

"I'll call him." Yaeko said, she might have the same idea as Akio. "Excuse me," Akio said, "can we move to another place? It's not convenient to talk properly here." He glanced at Zhenghui. Song Gong's expression showed that he seemed to have thought about it, and then replied: "That's right." When they came to the dining room, Akio breathed a sigh of relief.He felt that if he said this in front of Zhenghui, Naomi would be in a panic. Of course, he also knew that his parents were letting his grandmother with dementia take the blame for him.

"Excuse me," Matsumiya asked after sitting down on a chair at the dining table, "has something like this happened before? That is, has your mother ever hurt someone or destroyed something before?" "Yeah... I can't say no, after all, she looks like that now. She often doesn't know that she has done something wrong, but it ends up causing us trouble, such as throwing things or something." "But Ms. Harumi Tajima said, your mother doesn't usually make a big fuss." "Oh, it's all because she is facing my sister, and she is only honest in front of my sister."

Hearing Akio's answer like this, the young detective had doubts on his expression. There was the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, and the sound was far from brisk. Naomi slowly appeared behind Yaeko, wearing a hoodie over the T-shirt and sweatpants.He put his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants, hunched over in his usual awkward posture. "He is my son Naomi." Yaeko said, "Naosi, this is Mr. Police." After the introduction, Naomi still looked down at her feet without looking at the other person's face.He hid behind his mother, as if to hide his small body.

"Can you come over here? I have something to ask you." Song Gong said and pointed to the opposite chair. Naomi approached the dining table with her head down, and sat down on a chair.However, in order to avoid facing the police head-on, he leaned over. "Do you know what happened in the case?" Song Gong began to ask. Naomi's chin stretched forward slightly, which should be the way he nodded. "When did you know?" "Just now." Naomi replied with a vague voice. "Can you be more precise about the time?" Naomi glanced at her mother, then turned her gaze to the clock on the wall. "Around eight o'clock." "Then how do you know?" Naomi was silent, when Akio thought he might not understand the meaning of the question, he rolled his eyes and looked at his father. "Why is he asking me this?" There was anger in his voice. He probably thought he didn't have to do anything, maybe Yaeko told him so.Akio felt embarrassed that his son killed a little girl and still had such thoughts, but it was not convenient to teach him now. "Mr. Police said that he will ask all our family members. Whatever he asks you, you should answer." Naomi looked away impatiently, and Akio really wanted to ask him loudly if he had figured out the current situation. "Who told you what happened in the case?" Song Gong asked again. "Just now, Dad and Mom..." The second half of the sentence disappeared. "Can you tell me what they told you?" A look of nervousness and timidity appeared on Naomi's expression, it seemed that he also understood that he must not show his feet at this time. "They say grandma killed a little girl..." "And then?" Matsunomiya stared at Naomi's face. "They also said that Dad threw the little girl into the park, Ginkgo Park..." "Next?" "They then said that they couldn't hide it, and they were going to call the police." "Is there any more?" Naomi's facial muscles twisted unhappily, her eyes were looking somewhere, and her mouth was half-open, sticking out her tongue like a thirsty dog. Akio thought, his son put on his usual face again.When he did something bad and was questioned beyond words, he must have such an expression.Although it's all his own fault, when things don't make him feel good, he'll put the blame on something else, and get mad at it.Akio can imagine that he must be resenting his parents who failed to stop the criminal police from questioning him. "Is there any more?" Song Gong asked a second time. "I don't know." Naomi replied rudely, "I don't know anything." Matsumiya nodded and crossed his arms, a smile seemed to appear on the corner of his mouth.Akio couldn't understand the meaning contained in his expression, and felt a wave of uneasiness. "What do you think after listening to them?" "I was taken aback." "It's no wonder, do you think it's possible for your grandma to do this?" Naomi lowered her head and continued to answer. "She is demented, and she doesn't know what will happen." "Has she ever made a fuss?" "I think so, but I come home late every day, so I don't know much about grandma." "By the way, I heard that you came home late on Friday night?" Song Gong said. Naomi was silent, and Akio also understood that his son was trembling because he didn't know what the other party would ask next, because this was also his own mood at the moment. "Can you tell me where you went and what you did?" "Excuse me, Mr. Police," Akio couldn't help interjecting, "I don't think where my son went has anything to do with this?" "No, the problem is not that simple. We can't hastily record this as 'coming home late'. If I don't clearly describe the reason for returning late, it will be difficult for me to explain it to the higher authorities." Although Song Gong's tone was calm, his tone was uncompromising.Akio could only agree and said no more. "Then, what is the answer?" Matsunomiya turned his gaze back to Naomi's face. Naomi opened his mouth halfway and made a panting sound, his breathing had already begun to become disordered. "Game room and convenience store." He finally replied with a weak voice. "Is anyone with you?" Naomi shook her head slightly. "You were alone all that time?" "Ok." "Can you tell me which game machine room it is? And the address of the convenience store." Matsunomiya took out his notebook and put on a posture to take notes.Akio felt that the other party was intimidating Naomi, and showed that he would record it in detail and would not tolerate perfunctory answers. Naomi stammered out the names of the game room and the convenience store, which they had discussed in advance just in case.Naomi often goes to that game machine room, the storefront is relatively spacious, and it is said that he rarely meets acquaintances.They deliberately chose a convenience store that they hadn't been to before. If it was a store they frequented, the salesperson might recognize Naomi, and they might provide testimony that he didn't go there on Friday night. "What did you buy at the convenience store?" "I didn't buy anything, I just stood there reading." "Then what did you do in the game room? What games did you play?" Akio was taken aback, this was something they hadn't discussed in advance.Because they didn't expect the police to ask such detailed questions, he could only look at his son with his head down, asking for blessings. "Drummer Frenzy, VR Warrior, and Drive Scary," Naomi replied, "And... slot machines." Akio knew that the slot machine refers to the automatic slot machine, and he had never heard of other games, so he thought these should be the games that Naomi usually played. "What time did you get home?" Song Gong's questioning was not over yet. "Eight or nine o'clock, roughly." "When did you leave school?" "Around four o'clock... estimated." "Is anyone with you?" "Myself." "You usually go home from school alone?" "Yeah." Naomi replied briefly, with a little impatience in her tone.It should have included his displeasure at having the police still staring at him, and the question itself might have hurt him. Naomi has no companions that can be called friends, and has been like this since elementary school.Whether he is going to the game room to play games or read a book in a convenience store, he is always alone.On the other hand, if he could have even one or two close friends, this incident might not have happened. "Leaving school at four o'clock, arriving home at eight o'clock, that means staying in the game room and convenience store for four hours." Song Gong said as if talking to himself. "He's always been like this," Yaeko said. "I always tell him to go home early, but he just won't listen." "Students are like this now." Matsumiya said and looked at Naomi, "During the period from leaving school to returning home, did you meet or see any acquaintances?" "No." Naomi replied quickly. "So is there anything that stands out to you that happened in the arcades and convenience stores? For example, someone was caught stealing, or a game console broke down or something." Naomi shook her head. "I can't remember, I don't think so." "That's it." "Excuse me," Akio said to the criminal police again, "if I can't prove that my son has been to the game room and convenience store, will there be any trouble?" "No, it's not. It's just that if it can be proved, it will be more convenient in the future." "what do you mean?" "If you can prove this, your son will have nothing to do with the whole case, and you probably won't ask him for questioning in the future. But if you can't prove it, I think our police will confirm the situation with him many times." "No, my son has nothing to do with this matter, we can guarantee that." However, Matsumiya shook her head. "Unfortunately, the testimony of the parents is not credible as evidence, and a third party must testify." "We didn't lie." Yaeko's voice trembled, "This kid really has nothing to do with the case, so please don't involve him anymore." "If it's true, it will always be proven in some form. You don't have to worry about that. Game rooms and convenience stores generally have anti-theft cameras. If you play in those places for four hours, it will probably show up on video. .” This remark made Akio panic - something they never considered. Matsumiya turned to Naomi. "You like playing games, don't you?" Naomi nodded slightly. "What about the computer? Do you usually play?" Naomi was silent, because he was so unresponsive that even Akio felt anxious. He really hoped that his son could answer these questions that seemed to have nothing to do with the case. "Are you a computer player?" Yaeko seemed anxious, and said beside her. "Does he have his own computer?" Songgong asked Yaeko instead. "Well, an acquaintance of ours gave us an old one last year." "So that's how it is. The current middle school students are really good." Matsumiya turned back and continued to look at Naomi, "Thank you for answering my question, you can go back to your room." Naomi stood up slowly and walked out without saying a word.His footsteps came up the stairs, followed by the slamming of the door. Akio was convinced that the police officer was suspicious of his son. Although he didn't know what caused his suspicion, it had become a fact, so he followed up and asked Naomi for his alibi. Akio glanced at Yaeko, who was also looking at him with a look of seeking support.Her expression showed that she shared the same anxiety and hoped that her husband would do something about it. The police may be suspicious of Naomi, but they should have no evidence.As long as their family doesn't tell, the police probably have nothing to do.The biological son testified that his mother with Alzheimer's disease was the murderer, and they had no room for disbelief.Even if the anti-theft camera did not record Naomi, it is not certain that Naomi's alibi was a lie.Even if it is proved that the alibi is a lie, it cannot be concluded that Naomi is the murderer. Can't be shaken, we must insist on going down this road - Zhaofu has strengthened his determination. At this moment, the intercom rang again, and Akio smacked his lips involuntarily. "Who's coming at this hour?" "Could it be someone from the courier company?" Yaeko walked towards the walkie-talkie. "Don't bother with them, there's no time to collect things leisurely now." Yaeko, who went to answer the walkie-talkie, talked with the other party for a few words, then looked back at Akio with a bewildered expression. "Honey, it's Chunmei who's here..." "Chunmei?" Akio didn't understand why his sister came at this time. Then Matsumiya spoke calmly. "Officer Kaga should be with her, please let them in." Although Songgong pretended to be calm on the surface, he was actually excited inside. A lot of sweat leaked from the palm of his hand holding the pen tightly.