Chapter 2 second quarter

The victim, Yosuke Kirihara, was the owner of "Tirihara Pawn Shop", and the shop and his house were about one kilometer away from the scene. After the identity of the deceased's wife, Yayoko, was confirmed, the body was quickly removed from the scene.Sasagaki helped the identification department move the body onto the stretcher.At this time, something caught his attention. "Did the victim die after eating?" He murmured. "What?" Koga who was beside him asked back. "Look at this." Sasagaki pointed to the belt worn by the victim, "Look, the belt hole is two buckles looser than usual."

"Ah, sure enough." Yosuke Kirihara wore a brown Valentino belt.Buckle marks and elongated holes in the belt suggest that he normally used the fifth hole from the end.However, the corpse was the third one from the end. Sasagaki told a young appraiser next to him to take pictures of this part. After the corpse was transported away, the investigators involved in the on-site investigation left one after another, preparing to conduct visits and investigations.Apart from the appraisers, the only people left were Sasagaki and Nakazuka. Nakazuka stood in the middle of the house and looked around the room again.He put his left hand on his hip and stroked his cheek with his right hand, which was his habit when he stood thinking.

"Sasagaki," Nakazuka said, "what do you think? What kind of murderer?" "I can't see it at all." Sasagaki also swept his eyes around, "Now at most, it is known to the victim." The clothes and hair are neat, there is no sign of fighting, and the assassination is frontal, these points are the evidence. Nakazuka nodded. "The question is what the victim and the killer are doing here." Sasagaki looked at all the items in the room one by one again.The room appeared to be used as a temporary office while the building was under construction.The black bench on which the corpse lay horizontally was also left over from that time.In addition, there is an iron desk, two iron chairs and a folding conference table, all set against the wall.Everything was rusted and dusty, as if dusted.Work was suspended two and a half years ago.

Sasagaki's eyes stopped at a certain point on the wall next to the black bench.The square cavity of the ventilation pipe just below the ceiling, which should have been covered with wire mesh, was of course empty. If there were no ventilation pipes, perhaps the body would have been discovered later, because it was through the ventilation pipes that the person who found the body came into the room. According to the investigation by the West Busch Branch, the body was discovered by a third-grade student of a nearby elementary school.Today is Saturday, and the school class is only on until noon.In the afternoon, six boys play in the building.Instead of playing dodge ball or hide-and-seek, they use the building's sprawling ventilation ducts as a maze.For boys, crawling through the intricate winding air ducts may indeed be a game that inspires the spirit of adventure.

While the rules of their game are unclear, one of them seems to be taking another path halfway.Lost with his companions, the boy ended up in this room by crawling anxiously around the ventilation ducts.It is said that the boy did not think that the man lying on the bench was dead at first, and he was afraid that he would wake him up if he climbed out of the ventilation pipe and jumped down.However, the man remained motionless.The boy felt puzzled, so he approached the man on tiptoe, only to notice the blood on his chest. The boy came home near one o'clock and told his family what had happened.However, it took his mother twenty minutes or so to take her son's words seriously.According to the records, the report to the West Busch Precinct was at 1:33 p.m.

"The pawn shop..." Nakazuka said, "Pawn shop owner, why do you want to meet someone in this kind of place?" "Probably because I don't want to be seen by others, or it's not appropriate to be seen." "Even if this is the case, there is no need to choose this kind of place specially. There are many places where you can avoid people's eyes and ears and talk in private. If you are really afraid of being seen, you should try to stay as far away from home as possible, right?" "Indeed." Sasagaki nodded, touched his chin, and felt the palm of his hand.I was in such a rush to go out today that I didn't even have time to shave.

"His wife's dress is really exaggerated." Nakazuka brought up another topic, talking about Kirihara Yosuke's wife Yayoko, "It's probably in her early thirties, and the age of the victim is fifty-two, which is quite different." "She should have done that line of work." Sasagaki replied in a low voice. "Hmm..." Nakazuka shrunk his chin, "Women are really scary! The scene was not a few steps away from home, but she came here with makeup on. However, the way she cried when she saw her husband's dead body was really interesting. "

"Crying is the same as makeup. It's too exaggerated, isn't it?" "I didn't say that." Nakazuka gave a smirk, and immediately returned to seriousness, "I should have almost finished asking that woman, Sasagaki, I'm sorry, can I trouble you to take her home?" "Okay." Sasagaki bowed his head and saluted, then turned and walked towards the door. When we came outside the building, there were far fewer people watching.But reporters began to appear, and people from the TV station seemed to be here as well. Sasagaki looked at the police car parked in front of the building, and Yayoko Kirihara was in the back seat of the second police car in front of him.Detective Kobayashi was sitting next to her, and Koga was in the front seat.Sasagaki walked over and knocked on the glass window of the back seat, Kobayashi opened the car door and came out.

"How's it going?" Sasaki asked. "I have roughly asked, and just finished. But to be honest, my mood is still a little unstable." Xiao Lin covered his mouth with his hands and said in a low voice. "Has she confirmed her belongings?" "Confirmed. Sure enough, the wallet is gone, and the lighter." "lighter?" "I heard it's a high-end Dunhill." "Oh. Then, when did her husband lose contact?" "She said that she left at two or three o'clock yesterday, and she didn't know where she was going. She didn't come back this morning, and she was very worried. She wanted to call the police if she didn't come back, but she was notified that the body was found."

"Was her husband called out?" "She said she didn't know, she didn't remember if he got a call before he went out." "How was her husband when he was away?" "Say there's nothing wrong with it." Sasagaki scratched his cheek with his index finger, and there was no clue in what he asked. "As it stands, I don't know who might be the murderer." "Yes." Kobayashi frowned and nodded. "Does she know about this building? Has she got any clues, asked?" "I asked. She knew about this building before, but she didn't know anything about the specifics. She just stepped in for the first time today, and she never heard her husband mention this building."

Sasagaki could not help but smile wryly. "It's all negative sentences from beginning to end." "Sorry." "It's not your fault." Sasagaki patted the little brother's chest, "I'll see her off and let Koga drive, is that okay?" "Okay, please." Sasagaki got in the car and ordered Koga to drive to Kirihara's house. "Let's go around a little bit. Those in the media haven't noticed that the victim's home is nearby." "Yes." Koga replied. Sasagaki turned to Yayoko who was at the side, and formally introduced himself.Yayoko just nodded slightly, it seemed that she didn't want to bother to remember the policeman's name. "Is anyone in the house now?" "Yes, someone is looking at the store, and my son is back from school." She replied without raising her head. "You have a son, how old is it?" "Studying the fifth grade of elementary school." That means ten to eleven years old.Sasagaki calculated in his heart, and looked at Yayoko again.Although she conceals it with makeup, her skin condition is not very good and her fine lines are quite obvious, which is not surprising even with such a big child. "I heard that your husband went out yesterday without explaining anything. Is this often the case?" "Sometimes, I just go straight to drink. I thought that was the case yesterday, so I didn't pay much attention to it." "Will you not be home until dawn?" "rare." "Won't he call home under the circumstances?" "He seldom calls. I have to call when I want him to come home late. I don't know how many times I have told him. He always agrees, but he never calls. I am used to it. But, I never expected him... "Yayoko covered her mouth with her hand. The car that Sasagaki and his party were riding in went around for a while, and stopped next to the telegraph pole marked "Oe 3-chome".Single-family homes line the narrow roads. "Over there." Koga pointed forward through the windshield.About 20 meters away, the signboard of Kirihara Pawnshop appeared.The media seems to have not learned the identity of the victim, and there is no one in front of the store. "I'll take Mrs. Kirihara home, you go back first." Sasagaki instructed Koga. The iron door of the pawn shop was pulled down halfway, and the height was about the face of Sasagaki.Sasagaki followed Yayoko into the door.Behind the iron gate is the merchandise showcase and entrance.The entrance gate is made of frosted glass, and the name of the store is written in golden calligraphy. Yayoko opened the door and went in, followed by Sasagaki. "Ah, I'm back." The man at the counter greeted.This man was about forty years old, with a slender figure, a sharp chin, and black hair combed into an exact three to seven quarters. Yayoko sighed and sat down on a chair that was supposed to be used for hospitality. "How is it?" the man asked, looking back and forth between her and Sasagaki. Yayoko put her hands on her face and said, "It's him." "How come..." The man's face was gloomy, a dark line appeared between his brows, "It really is... him?" She nodded slightly: "Yes." "How come! How did this happen?" The man covered his mouth, his eyes drooped, as if he was sorting out his thoughts, and kept blinking. "I am Sasagaki, a police officer from Osaka Prefecture. This incident is really regrettable." Sasagaki showed his ID and introduced himself, "You are here..." "My surname is Matsuura, and I work here." The man opened the drawer and took out his business card. Sasagaki nodded, and took the business card.At this time, he saw a platinum ring on the little finger of the man's right hand.A big man who loves beauty so much, Sasagaki thought.The man's name is Isamu Matsuura, and his title is "Kirihara Pawnshop Manager". "Have you been here long?" Sasagaki asked. "Well, it's already the fifth year." Sasagaki thought, five years is not a long time.Where did you work before?What is the reason for coming here to work?Sasagaki wanted to ask these questions, but decided to hold back, because he would come here several times. "I heard that Mr. Kirihara went out during the day yesterday." "Yes, I think it should be around half past two." "He didn't mention what he was going to do?" "No. Our boss is a bit arbitrary and rarely discusses work with me." "When he goes out, is there anything different from usual? For example, the clothes feel different, or he is wearing something he has never seen before." "Well, I didn't pay attention." Matsuura tilted his head and scratched the back of his head with his left hand, "However, he seems to care about time." "Oh, mind the time." "He seems to have looked at his watch several times. However, I may be overwhelmed." Sasagaki looked around the store as if nothing had happened.There is a closed Japanese-style sliding door behind Matsuura, and the back is probably the living room. There is a shoe-off place on the left side of the counter, and the house is from there.After going up, there is a door on the left. If it is a storage room, the location is very strange. "What time did the store open yesterday?" "Well," Matsuura looked at the round clock on the wall, "it usually closes at six o'clock, but yesterday it was procrastinated and opened until almost seven o'clock." "Is Mr. Matsuura the only one looking at the store?" "Yes, mostly when the boss is away." "What about after closing?" "I'm going home." "Where is the house?" "Teradamachi." "Terada ding? Are you driving to work?" "No, I take the tram." If you take the tram, including the transfer time, it will take about 30 minutes to Terada-cho.If you leave after seven o'clock, you should be home by eight o'clock at the latest. "Mr. Matsuura, who is in your family?" "No. I got divorced six years ago and now live alone in an apartment." "So, after you went back last night, you were all alone?" "yes." In other words, there is no alibi, Sasagaki confirmed in his heart.However, he remained calm. "Mrs. Kirihara, don't you usually come out to look at the store?" Sasagaki asked Yayoko who was sitting on a chair and pressed her forehead. "Because I don't understand anything about the store." She replied weakly. "Did you go out yesterday?" "No, I'm home all day." "Didn't go out a step? Didn't go shopping?" "Yeah." She nodded, and then stood up with a tired face, "Excuse me, can I go to rest? I'm so tired that I can't even sit comfortably." "Of course, I'm sorry. Please rest." Yayoi staggered and took off her shoes, reached out to hold the handle of the sliding door on the left and opened the door. There were stairs inside.It turned out that this was the case, Sasagaki finally understood the purpose of that door. After the sound of her footsteps going upstairs gradually disappeared behind the closed door, Sasagaki continued to ask Matsuura: "You heard about Mr. Matsuhara not coming home this morning?" "Yes. Both the proprietress and I felt very strange and worried. Then we received a call from the police..." "It must have been a surprise." "Of course!" Matsuura said, "How could it be? I still can't believe that the boss would... must have made a mistake somewhere." "So, you have no idea at all?" "Where did you get the idea?" "However, you are in this business, and there are thousands of customers who come to your door. Has any customer had a dispute with the boss over money?" "Of course, we are some special guests. It's not uncommon for people to hate you for borrowing money. But, no matter what, we won't kill people..." Matsuura looked back at Sasagaki's face and shook his head , "It's really hard for me to imagine." "It's no wonder that you are in business, so you can't blame your customers. However, we won't be able to investigate in this way. It will be very helpful to us if we can borrow the latest customer list." "The roster..." Matsuura frowned in embarrassment. "There must be, otherwise, you won't know who the money was lent to, and you won't be able to manage the pawns." "Yes, there are." "Please, let me borrow it from you." Sasagaki stretched out his flat palm, "I'll take the original copy back and return it immediately after copying. Of course, we will be very careful not to let others see it." "It's not up to me to decide..." "Okay, I'll wait here, can I trouble you to ask the proprietress for permission?" "Hmm." Matsuura frowned and thought for a while, then finally nodded, "Okay. In this case, I can lend you things, but please keep them safe." "Thank you, don't you need to ask the proprietress for permission first?" "It should be available for loan. I'll tell her later. After thinking about it carefully, the boss is no longer here." Matsuura sat on the chair and turned ninety degrees, opened the filing cabinet beside him, and there were several thick binders lined up inside.Just as Sasagaki was looking forward, the corner of his eyes caught the door of the stairs opening silently, he looked over there, and his heart suddenly trembled. Behind the door stood a boy, about ten years old, wearing a long-sleeved sweatshirt and jeans, with a thin build. Sasagaki's heart trembled, not because he didn't hear the voice of the boy going downstairs, but because he was shocked by the gloomy darkness in the boy's eyes at the moment when the eyes met. "Are you Mr. Kirihara's son?" Sasagaki asked. The boy didn't answer.Matsuura turned around and said, "Oh, yes." Without saying a word, the boy began to put on his sneakers, his face expressionless. "Xiao Liang, where are you going? It's better to stay at home today." The boy ignored it and went out. "It's pathetic, he must have suffered a lot," Sasagaki said. "Maybe. There's something special about that kid, though." "How to say?" "This, I can't say well." Matsuura took out a binder from the filing cabinet and put it in front of Sasagaki, "This is the most recent client list." "Then I won't be polite." Sasagaki accepted it, and began to look through a large row of men and women's names inside.He looked at the document in his eyes, and recalled the boy's gloomy eyes in his mind.