Chapter 96 Section VI

Such a peculiar idea did not appear in Sasagaki's mind immediately.It was because of an insignificant incident that the boy Ryoji Kirihara once again attracted Sagaki's attention.It was the first time in a long time that Sasagaki went to Kirihara's pawn shop again. Sasagaki pretended to gossip, trying to get clues about Yosuke Kirihara's life from Matsuura's mouth.Matsuura showed an undisguised bored attitude, and was unwilling to seriously answer Sasagaki's question.Having been continuously interviewed for more than a year, it is no wonder that he cannot maintain a cordial and friendly attitude.

"Mr. Police, no matter how many times you come here, you won't gain anything." Matsuura said with a frown. At this moment, Sasagaki's gaze stayed on a book in the corner of the counter.He picked up the book and asked Matsuura: "This is..." "Oh, that's Xiaoliang's book." He replied, "He didn't know what he was doing just now, so he put it there first, and probably forgot about it." "Does Liangji like to read books?" "He reads a lot, and that book seems to be bought, but he used to go to the library often."

"Go to the library often?" "Yes." Matsuura nodded, with an expression on his face that seemed to say: What's wrong with this? "Oh." Sasagaki nodded, and put the book back to its original place, but a dark tide began to surge in his heart.That book was the one that Yukiho was reading when Sasagaki went to find Nishi Bunyo. Sasagaki wondered if this could be called a rendezvous point: it was very possible that two elementary school students who liked to read happened to read the same book.Besides, Yukiho and Ryoji did not watch it at the same time, Yukiho was a year earlier.

But it was still a curious coincidence, so Sasagaki went to that library.Walk about 200 meters north from the building where Yosuke Kirihara's body was buried, and you will find a small gray building. The librarian wears glasses and can tell at a glance that she was a literary girl when she was young.Sasagaki showed her the photo of Yukiho Nishimoto, and when she saw the photo, she nodded heavily. "This girl used to come here often and borrow a lot of books. I remember her." "Does she come alone?" "Yes, all alone." As he spoke, the librarian tilted his head slightly. "Ah, but sometimes with friends, a boy."

"boy?" "Yes, it feels like a classmate." Sasagaki hurriedly took out a photo, which was a group photo of Kirihara and Ryoji.He pointed to Liangji and asked, "Is that him?" The librarian squinted at the photo. "Oh, it feels like it, but I'm not 100% sure." "Are they always together?" "I don't think so, it should be sometimes. They often look for books together. Oh, and also, they also cut paper for fun." "Paper cutting?" "The boy is very dexterous, and he will cut the paper into some shapes for the girl to see. I remember reminding him not to throw the paper scraps. I may be very verbose, but I really can't be sure that he is the boy in the photo. , can only be said to be very similar." Perhaps because he was afraid that his opinion would have any decisive influence, the librarian's tone was very cautious.However, Sasagaki was almost certain that the exquisite paper-cut that he had seen in Ryoji's room appeared in his eyes.It turns out that Xuesui and Liang Si often meet here, and they have known each other since the murder happened.

For Sasagaki, this is simply a new discovery that subverts his previous thinking. His view on the murder case has changed 180 degrees. So, he turned back to the hypothesis that the murderer escaped through the ventilation pipe. If it was Ryoji Kirihara, he might be able to come and go freely in the ventilation duct.A boy who was in the same class as Liangji at Dajiang Elementary School said that they often climbed the ventilation pipe to play.According to the boy, Ryoji knew the location and direction of the ventilation pipes in the building. What about an alibi?Ryoji, Yayoko, and Matsuura were all at home at the time of Yosuke Kirihara's presumed death.However, the possibility of the latter two shielding Liangji is extremely high, but the task force has never examined this point.

but…… Will the son kill the father? Of course, the long criminal history is full of patricide cases.However, behind such an abnormal event, there must be a background, motivation and conditions.Sasagaki asked himself if any of these existed between Kirihara and his son, and he had to answer: none of them.According to his investigation, there was no friction between the father and son.Not only that, but almost all the testimonies say that Yosuke Kirihara doted on his only son and Ryoji loved his father. While Sasagaki continues to conduct field interviews and investigations, he wonders whether everything is just his own imagination, or is it just a delusion caused by anxiety in the fog?

"I know very well that if I tell others about these speculations, they will only be regarded as whimsical. Therefore, I have not even mentioned the idea that Ryoji is the murderer to my colleagues and superiors. If I tell them, they will definitely think that there is something wrong with my head. Maybe we had to retreat from the front line at that time." Sasagaki said half-jokingly and half-seriously. "So, what did you discover about motivation later?" Yicheng asked. Sasagaki shook his head. "At that time, it should be said that there was no discovery. Liang Si would never kill his father just for the one million yuan."

"You said there wasn't one at that time, so now there is?" Kasunari leaned over, Sasagaki stretched out his hand to ask him to calm down. "Please let me continue in order. In this case, I also encountered setbacks in my own investigation, but I have been following them. But I didn't keep an eye on them all the time. I just occasionally went to the vicinity to inquire about the news, to understand their growth status, Which school to go to and so on, because I figured they'd have to make contact." "How is the result?" Sasagaki replied with a long sigh: "I can't find the point of intersection between the two. No matter from top to bottom or from the inside to the outside, no matter how you look at them, they are two irrelevant people. If this state continues, probably Even I would give up."

"What happened?" "Yes, when they were in the third year of junior high..." Sasagaki put his finger into the cigarette case, but it was empty.Yicheng opened the lid of the glass box on the table, and it was filled with Ken brand cigarettes.Sasagaki thanked him and took one. "When I was in the third year of junior high... So, it has something to do with the attack on Karasawa Yukiho's classmate?" Kazunari said while lighting a fire for Sasagaki. Sasagaki looked at Kazunari. "You know that too?" "Mr. Imameda told me." Kazunari said that it was Yuho who found the victim in the suspected rape case in junior high school, and it was Imameda who told him.Kazunari also said that he told Imaeda that he encountered the same incident in college, and that Imaeda saw Yukiho as the connecting point of the two incidents.

"As expected of a professional detective, even these things have been found out. What I want to talk about now is this rape case." "it is good." "It's just that my point of view is a little different from Mr. Jineda's. The rape case did not catch the criminal in the end, but at that time there was a suspect who was a third-year student in another junior high school. But it was later confirmed that his innocence The presence proof cleared the suspicion. The problem lies in the person who testified for the suspect’s alibi.” Sasagaki breathed out the high-grade smoke formed by what he regarded as a high-end cigarette, and continued, “The suspect’s name is Fumihiko Kikuchi, who is The older brother of the boy who found the body just mentioned, and the one who testified for his alibi is Ryoji Kirihara." "Oh?" Yicheng exclaimed, his body slightly bounced off the sofa. Sasagaki was satisfied with his reaction. "This is an anecdote! It's not a coincidence that can be explained." "What's going on?" "Actually, I didn't hear about the rape until more than a year after it happened. It was Fumihiko Kikuchi himself who told me about it." "himself?" "Because of the discovery of the corpse, I got to know the Kikuchi brothers. Once we hadn't seen each other for a long time. When we met, Kikuchi Fumihiko mentioned that a strange thing happened a year ago, and told me about the rape case and the suspicions he had received at that time." Sasagaki met Kikuchi Fumihiko in front of a shrine next to Oe Elementary School, when he was already a high school student.After talking about some school affairs, he seemed to suddenly think of it, so he talked about the rape case. "In brief, it goes like this: when the rape happened, Kikuchi was watching a movie. Just when he couldn't prove it, Kirihara Ryoji stepped forward. There was a small bookstore opposite the movie theater, and that day Kirihara was with his elementary school friends. In that store, I just saw Kikuchi-san entering the movie theater. The police also confirmed with the friend who was with Kirihara to prove that his testimony is not false.” "So the suspicion is cleared?" "Yes, Kikuchi thought he was lucky. But after a while, Kirihara contacted him, meaning that if he knew what was good and bad, he shouldn't mess around." "Recklessly?" "Kikuchi said that at that time he got a photo from a friend, which was said to be a scene where Kirihara's mother was having a tryst with a pawnshop employee. Kikuchi once showed Kirihara that photo." "The photo of the tryst... So, the two of them really have an affair." "It should be. Put this matter aside for now." Sasagaki nodded, shaking off the soot, "Kirihara asked Kikuchi to hand over that photo, and at the same time asked him to swear that he would no longer deal with pawnshop murders from now on." "It's about giving and taking." "That's right. However, after Kikuchi thought about it carefully, he thought it might not be so simple, so he wanted to tell me." Sasagaki seemed to think of Kikuchi Fumihiko's face full of pimples. "It doesn't just mean..." "Everything may have been designed." The cigarette between Sasagaki's fingers was already very short, but he still took another puff, "The reason why Kikuchi was suspected was because his key ring was dropped at the scene. But Kikuchi said he had never been to that place, and that key ring was not something that would fall off so easily." "You mean, Ryoji Kirihara stole the key ring and put it on the spot?" "Kuchi seems to be so suspicious. So Kirihara is the real culprit. After he saw Kikuchi with his friends in front of the movie theater, he rushed to the scene immediately, attacked the girl he was eyeing, and left evidence to make Kikuchi suspect .” "Did Kirihara know in advance that Kikuchi-san would go to the cinema that day?" Kazunari asked a natural question. "That's the problem," Sasagaki raised his index finger, "Kikuchi said that he didn't tell Kirihara about this." "Then, isn't it impossible for Kirihara to set up this trap?" "It will indeed lead to such a conclusion, and Kikuchi's reasoning is also stuck here." "However, I still feel that he must have designed the matter." Sasagaki still remembers Kikuchi's unconvinced expression at that time. "I also found it strange, so after hearing Kikuchi's words, I checked the records of the rape case, and the results surprised me." "Because Tang Ze Xuesui is also involved?" "Exactly." Sasagaki nodded deeply, "The victim was a girl named Fujimura Miyako, and the person who discovered it was Karasawa Yukiho. I thought there must be something wrong here, so I called Kikuchi again to confirm the details." "The details you said are..." "The details of the day he went to the movie. Finally, I found an interesting thing." Sasagaki said dryly, finishing the cold coffee, "At that time, Kikuchi's mother was at the dessert shop in the market. Work, the special coupon for the movie was given to his mother by the customer. Moreover, the expiration date is only on that day, so he can only watch it on that day." Hearing this, Kazunari seemed to understand what Sasagaki meant. "Who is the guest who gave that coupon?" "I don't know the name, but Kikuchi remembers what his mother said: a girl with an elegant demeanor who was in the third or high school..." "Tang Ze Xuesui?" "Isn't it unreasonable to think so? If Karasawa Yusho and Kirihara Ryoji designed the rape case to seal Kikuchi's mouth, the whole thing would be perfectly connected. For this reason, sacrifice one Irrelevant innocent girl, nothing can be described other than being ruthless." "No, that girl named Fujimura may not be completely irrelevant." This sentence made Sasagaki stare at Kazunari closely: "What do you mean?" "They picked that girl for a reason, and that's what Mr. Imae told me." Kazun will tell Sasagaki that the girl who was attacked has a sense of competition with Yukiho, she spreads about Yuho's life experience, her attitude changes suddenly after the incident, and she is very docile to Yukiho.These Sasagaki knew nothing about it. "This is the first time I've heard of it. So it turns out that this incident can achieve the goals of Karasawa and Kirihara at the same time. It really kills two birds with one stone!" Sasagaki murmured, and then he looked at Shinozuka, "This incident is a bit shocking. It's hard to say, but the incident in college that Shinozuka-san mentioned just now, was it really a coincidence?" Kazun turned to look at Sasagaki: "You mean, it was instructed by Karasawa Yukiho?" "I think it's possible." "Mr. Imae made the same reasoning." "Oh." "If that's the case, why would she do such a thing?" "Because she believes that this method can easily take away the other party's soul." "Take away the soul?" "Yes. Most of the motives for killing the pawnshop owner are hidden in the root of what they believe so deeply." Just as Yicheng's eyes widened, the phone on the desk rang.