Chapter 11 fourth quarter

After six o'clock in the evening, Ogiwara Reiko finally regained her strength and was able to answer the police's questions.After being stimulated and in a state of madness, she slept until four o'clock after taking sleeping pills, but when she woke up, she kept calling the baby's name, and she couldn't ask her anything about the situation. Police questioned her in the living room of Ogihara's home. "That is to say," said Takama from the Prefectural Police's First Search Section, in as gentle a tone as possible, "that you went to bed at about eleven o'clock, ma'am, and your husband returned from a business trip at about twelve o'clock—yes. Is that the case?"

"yes." It was Ogihara Keizo who supported Reiko's body who answered the police's question.The thinning hair on his head was in a mess, the skin on his face had lost its elasticity, and he felt tired.After he answered, Reiko also nodded silently. The police's questioning of Qi San has long since ended.Judging from his testimony, he originally planned to spend the night outside yesterday because of a business trip.But then the work ended early, knowing that it was late at night, but still returned home. It must have been twelve o'clock. "Did you wake up, madam, when your husband came back?"

Even though the stove was on and she was still wrapped in a thick nightgown, her body was still shaking into the sieve.Her usually tender and smooth face with sharp edges and corners was now pale, and even when she spoke, the movements of the corners of her mouth seemed mechanically sluggish. "Woke up..." "I see. Then did you fall asleep immediately afterwards? Or, for example, lying in bed thinking about something for half an hour or so?" "Maybe I thought about it... I don't remember exactly." "I guess so. Didn't you hear any noise then?"

Reiko nodded feebly. Later, the criminal police's question involved locking the door.Her voice became whimpering again. "It's all my fault. If I had locked the door, this wouldn't have happened..." Qi San remained silent, the unexpressed grief in his heart was deeply embedded in the wrinkles between his brows.Right now, he could only silently support his wife's body that was about to collapse. "Do you often forget to lock the door?" Her whole body was shaking, as if to answer no. The high-level detective repeated the question.He also asked whether there had been burglars breaking in before, whether he had seen any suspicious people near his house-such questions, desperately trying to find some clues from them.

"And finally—although it may seem impolite to ask such a question—has the two of you ever had a grudge against anyone before?" The couple looked at each other.I don't know if they were surprised or what, neither of them answered immediately.Qisan asked back. "You mean... the murderer murdered the baby because he held a grudge against us and my wife?" Takama said expressionlessly. "The murderer's behavior is too cruel, so I have such a guess, please don't mind." The couple looked at each other again, and after that, Qisan replied on behalf of the couple.

"Impossible. For better or for worse, neither of us has ever had such a profound effect on another person." After leaving Ogiwara's house, Detective Takama and young Detective Hino walked around the neighborhood and walked towards the station. "Speaking of which," Takama curled his lips, "this case is really annoying." "It's kind of annoying." Hino agreed. "Although we have long been used to killing people, this case is really too special. Even if it is a devil, it should have their rules... There should be something that must not be violated..."

"Taboo." "That's right, it's a taboo. If there is such a thing, then this case can be regarded as a violation of the precepts. If this is not a taboo, I really hope that those guys will quickly add a 'strictly prohibit killing babies' What about the precepts?" "It's really hard to watch." "I really can't stand it." Takama frowned and nodded. When they arrived at the scene, the body of the child was still lying on the crib.Although she looked as if she had fallen asleep, her skin had lost its normal luster and her body had changed color.Even Takama, who was used to seeing dead bodies, couldn't help but feel a chill down his back.For some reason, I also recalled a movie called "Rosemary's Baby" I watched a few years ago.I have long forgotten the content of the story, and I only remember that there is a very ugly baby in it.

The people from the forensics department told him in a routine voice that the cause of death seemed to be strangulation. Although Takama responded, he really didn't have the slightest sense of reality in his heart. The thought of someone crushing such a soft mass of meat to death, one can't help but feel evil in his heart. "Have you asked anyone around you about the situation?" Takama asked, and Hino shook his head with a depressed face. "It's difficult. The presumed time of death is between two and four in the morning, when few people are awake." "I can't find any clues."

"As of now, that's still the case." Takama hummed. The two came to the station and got on the tram bound for the police station under their jurisdiction.The search headquarters is located there. The route was not considered crowded at first, but at this time, there were no empty seats.Takama leaned on his right arm that was holding on to the ring, and murmured. "It's really puzzling." "what?" "It's the lock on the glass door. It is said that I only forgot to lock the door occasionally last night, and some bandits happened to break in that night."

"Is it too coincidental?" "Don't you think so?" "But if you doubt this, it is tantamount to suspecting that there is an accomplice in Ogiwara's family?" "is it okay?" "No." Hino pondered, "At least this is beyond my comprehension." "I don't understand either uh." Takama said unhappily.