Chapter 4 Chapter 4 The Man from Tokyo

Shigetaro Tokai came to the fruit shop at Kashii Station. "Ask a little bit about something." The boss who was wiping the apples, who was about forty years old, turned around immediately.Any shop owner would not welcome people who inquired about things. Shigetaro explained that he was a police detective, and the boss became serious. "What time does this shop open at night?" Shigetaro began to ask. "It's open until eleven o'clock in the evening." The boss replied solemnly. "Then, passengers who leave the station around 9:30 can see it, right?"

"9:30? Yes. I can see it. I arrived at 9:25, and I can see it here. The store was not busy at that time, and there were not many customers buying fruit, so I could see it clearly." "So, on the night of the 20th, a man in his thirties in a suit came out of the station with a woman in her mid-twenties in a kimono. Have you seen it?" "Night on the twentieth? The time is too far away." The boss tilted his head in thought.Chongtaro also felt that this problem was really a problem.Four or five days had passed.Perhaps it is useless to mention the date alone, it is better to change another way of asking.

"A few days ago, someone committed suicide on the coast, do you know?" "Didn't the dead body be found early in the morning? I heard it from people and saw it in the newspapers." "That's right. That was the morning of the twenty-first. The twenty-first was the night before that day, remember?" "Oh, was it that day?" said the boss, tapping his forehead. "So I remembered. I saw it the night before." "Ah? Have you seen it?" Da Shilang's eyes flashed brightly. "Yes, I've seen it. It's because of the suicide incident the next day that I remember clearly. That night, there were only about ten passengers on the 9:25 train from the station. Passengers on this train are always very busy Not much. There is the man in a suit and the woman in a kimono you mentioned. I thought they were going to buy my fruit, but they just looked around."

"Did you buy any fruit?" "I didn't buy it, so I walked straight to the tram station. I was very disappointed. I didn't know that something like that happened the next morning. I was still thinking, maybe these two people committed suicide, but I didn't expect it to happen." bingo." "Do you still remember the appearance of the two of them?" Shi Dalang asked closely, the boss held his cheek and thought. "It was far away at that time, and the lights from the station were backlighting. I could only see the figure, but not the face. There was a photo of the man in the newspaper, so I can't be sure."

"Yeah," Shigetaro lowered his shoulders. "How about the clothes?" "I don't even remember that. When I walked there, I glanced at it, and it was probably a man wearing a suit and a woman wearing a kimono. This is just a flash impression." "Is the color and pattern of the clothes clear?" "I don't know." The owner of the fruit shop smiled slightly.Shigetaro was slightly disappointed.There was a customer picking mandarin oranges in the store, and he heard the questions and answers of the two people clearly. "Then these two people are walking towards the direction of the Kashii Tram Station, which is the coast!"

"That's right, that's right. Walking all the way to the beach is the beach." Shigetaro thanked him and left the fruit shop. As he walked, he thought about it, and he understood the matter almost. Unfortunately, he didn't see the faces of the two people clearly, but it must be Kenichi Sayama and Ah Shi.They arrived here by train from Bodo at 9:25 on the night of the 20th.Then, it must be around 9:10 to board the train at Hakata.The time difference between the two places is only fifteen minutes. Sayama received the woman's call and left the hotel immediately. It was eight o'clock at night, about an hour before boarding the train from Hakata Station. What did he do?The investigation was so difficult that it was almost hopeless.The streets of Hakata are vast and complicated, how can we figure out the clues.While thinking, Torikai Shigetaro walked towards the Kashii Tram Station, when suddenly someone shouted "Hey, hello," telling him to stop.

Shigetaro turned around and saw that it turned out to be a young man who looked like a company employee, with a somewhat embarrassed smile, catching up. "Are you a policeman?" "Yes." Shigetaro looked carefully, and the man took a bag of tangerines.It turned out to be a customer who bought fruit at the fruit shop. "When I was buying tangerines just now, I heard your question from the side." The young man had already stood beside Da Da Lang. "To be honest, I also saw the two men and women who committed suicide at around 9:30 on the night of the 20th."

"Oh!" Shigetaro opened his eyes wide.He looked around and found a small shop that looked like a teahouse and a restaurant.Shigetaro took the young man into the shop, drinking coffee that looked like colored sugar water, and looked at him. "Please tell him carefully." "No, I can only give an outline, not details," the young man said, shaking his head. "When I was shopping for fruit, I heard your question and thought my words might be of use to you." "That's fine, please tell me." Shigetaro nodded. "I'm a local, but I'm working in a company in Hakata." The young employee started. "The night before the suicide couple was discovered, that is, the night of the twentieth, I seemed to have seen this suicide couple. I arrived at the Xiangshii tram station at 9:35."

"Wait a minute," Shigetaro made a pause with his hands. "Is it a tram?" "That's right. I took the tram that leaves at 9:27 in front of the racetrack, and I got here in less than eight minutes." The race track is in Hakozaki, at the east end of Hakata, which can be seen from Hakata Bay. "I see. So, you saw this couple in the tram." "No, it's not in the tram. There are two cars in that tram. I took the back one. There are very few passengers. If they also take the back one, they will be able to see it. So they must be taking the The one in front."

"Where did you see it?" "I went out of the fare collection station and headed home. That night, I was a little drunk in Hakata, and my pace was very slow. Therefore, two or three people who got off the tram behind me chased me. These few days Everyone is local, and I know them all. However, there is a man and woman I have never seen before, driving me from behind, walking very slyly. The man wears an overcoat, and the woman wears a kimono. These two people walked along the road leading to the coast. I didn’t pay much attention at that time, so I went home. I didn’t know about the suicide until the next morning. According to the newspaper, it was around ten o’clock the night before, and I think it was this couple. .”

"Did you see the face?" "At that time, it was like what it is today. It was chasing from behind, and I couldn't see what it looked like." "Well, what color is the coat and what is the pattern of the kimono?" "I can't remember that at all. Although there was an electric light in that street, it was not on, and I was very drunk. But I heard the woman say something." "What are you talking about?" Shigetaro's eyes sparkled. "What did you say?" "While walking past me, the woman said to the man, 'It's such a quiet place!'" "This place is so quiet!" Shigetaro repeated these words unconsciously. "How does the man answer?" "The man didn't make a sound, and strode down." "Is there anything characteristic of that woman's accent?" "The accent is very clear. There is no local accent, it's completely standard. People in this area can't speak such words. From the accent, it's probably a Tokyo accent." Shigetaro took out a pack of fan cigarettes from his pocket and lit one.Breathing out blue smoke, thinking about new problems. "Does the tram really arrive at nine thirty-five?" "That's not wrong. Whenever I come back from Bodo late, I always take this bus." Shigetaro studied this reply.Are the man and woman seen by the clerk the same pair as the man and woman seen by the fruit shop owner in front of the train station?The employee didn't see them on the tram, but thought they were getting off the same tram and chasing him from behind.The train arrives at Kashii Railway Station at 9:24.The tram arrives at the Kashii Tram Station at 9:35.Eleven minutes apart.The distance between the two stations is about 500 meters.The road from Kashii Railway Station to the beach just passes by the tram station, and the road and time are in order. "That's all I have to say." The enthusiastic staff looked at Shigetaro who was deep in thought, and stood up. "Because you questioned this matter at the fruit shop, so report what I know." "Great, thank you very much." Shigetaro asked the person's address and name, and saluted deeply.If you know more about what the woman said, you will gain. When we came out of the small shop, it was already dark. "This place is so quiet!" This was the woman's words that Tokai Shigetaro heard from the staff member, and now it was lingering in his ears as if he heard it directly. From this short sentence, three elements can be learned. ① It is a standard language with a Tokyo accent, not a local.Starting from Fukuoka Prefecture, people in Kyushu do not speak like this.Using the Hakata accent as an example, it should be said, "It's so quiet here." ②According to the meaning of this sentence, this woman seems to be here for the first time. ③ Therefore, this sentence is not asking the man for homophony, but expressing his initial feelings to a man who already knows the local situation.Therefore, the man didn't reply, and kept going forward. In short, the man has been here before, and the woman is here for the first time under the leadership of the man.The woman spoke with a Tokyo accent, and it was just before the estimated time of suicide death (if the death was just after ten o'clock, the difference was only thirty or forty minutes, and if the death was around eleven o'clock, the difference was only one and a half hours. The imputed time can vary by two or three hours).It seemed that the man and woman seen by the owner of the fruit shop and the company staff must be the man and woman who committed suicide. However, if we carefully scrutinize it, I am afraid that we cannot make a conclusion.There are more than a few thousand people who come to Hakata from Tokyo. Could it be that those who pass by here at this time must commit suicide?Torikai Shigero thought about this link for a long time, and decided to try it himself. The cold wind was blowing, quietly blowing the store's banner up and down.There are only a few stars blinking in the black sky. Tokai Shigetaro walked back to Kashii train station.When I arrived at the station, I immediately looked at my watch.The watch is outdated, but the time is still accurate. Like a stopwatch that continues the race, it starts off.With both hands in his pockets, his head lowered, he stepped forward at a normal pace.The target was still the Kashii tram station, and the cold wind blew up the corners of his coat. Arrived at the brightly lit tram stop.Look at the watch, it's only been six minutes.In other words, it only takes six minutes to walk from Kashii Railway Station to Kashii Tram Station. Shigero thought for a while.I looked at my watch again, this time aiming at Kashii Railway Station, I walked back again, at a faster pace than before.After arriving at the station, I looked at my watch, less than six minutes. Chongtaro walked back the same way.This time, I wandered slowly, looking around, like a walk.Even walking slowly like this, it only took eight minutes to reach the Kashii Tram Station. Based on these three experiments, it can be known that it takes between six and seven minutes to walk from Fanshii Railway Station to Kashii Tram Station at a normal pace. ——The owner of the fruit shop saw the men and women coming out of the train station at 9:24.The men and women that the company staff saw at the tram stop were passengers who disembarked from the tram at 9:35, with an interval of eleven minutes.If they had seen the same man and woman, it would have taken them eleven minutes to walk from the train station to the tram stop. How should this problem be explained?Torikai Shigero began to think.Why did they spend eleven minutes on a path that only took seven minutes to walk slowly—— Thinking of this, the company staff's words resurfaced in their minds: "This pair of men and women chased me from behind and walked very fast." correct.If you walk quickly, it will take less than five minutes.Eleven minutes apart, how to explain it? ①I have something to do on the way, such as shopping. ②The man and woman seen by the owner of the fruit shop are not the same pair as the man and woman seen by the company staff? Both cases can make sense. In the first case, the possibility is very high.The second case can explain clearly why the time interval is so far apart.Moreover, there is no evidence to prove that the men and women seen in the two places must be the same pair.The only difference is that men wear overcoats and women wear kimonos.No one saw their faces, and no one remembered the colors of their clothes. If that's the case - Jutaro thought of this and recalculated. If Riichi Sayama and Simultaneity were a couple, then it seemed to be the couple that the company staff saw.What the woman said caught Tokai Dairo's attention deeply. However, if it must be said that the man and woman who came by train were another couple, there is not enough evidence.Because the possibility of the first case is still very high.Thinking up to this point, Shi Da Lang simply ignored the question of whether the two couples are the same couple. Since he could not reach a conclusion, he went home from Bodo and went to sleep. When he arrived at the police station the next morning, there were already two telegrams waiting for him on the table. He opened the first letter: "Kenichi used to travel to Hakata on business from time to time. Sayama." Then I looked at the second letter: "Xiuzi has never been to Bodo." This is a reply to the two telegrams sent by Shigetaro at Kashii Railway Station yesterday.One was from Sayama Kenichi's older brother, and the other was from Ah Shi's mother, whose real name was Kuwayama Hideko. Judging from this, Kenichi Sayama often travels to Hakata, so he must have a good understanding of the local terrain, while Ah Shi seems to have never been to Hakata. Two black shadows appeared in front of Torikai Shigetaro's eyes, one was the woman who said "This place is so quiet!", and the other was the man who kept silent and hurried to the shore. In the morning, Torikai Shigetaro did one thing. He got out of the police station, took the city tram to Hakozaki, and walked from there to the station in front of the circuit.This train goes directly to the port on the north shore called Tsuyazaki, and the Kashii tram station happens to be an intermediate stop. The weather is sunny, a rare good weather in winter. Shigetaro handed out his business card to the station master's office. "I don't know if there is anything I can advise?" the stationmaster, who was fat and flushed, asked him. "At 21:35 on the night of the 20th, what time did the tram to Xiangshii Tram Station leave from here?" Shigero said. "Twenty-seven minutes past twenty one." The stationmaster replied immediately. "I want to talk to the person who collected the tickets at the station that night. I wonder if he is here now?" "Okay," the station master called the assistant next to him to check.I found it from the duty list, and the assistant went to call someone immediately. "What's the matter?" the station master asked while waiting for someone. "Yeah, a little." He said and took a sip of tea. "It's very important." The young station attendant came and stood upright in front of the station master to salute. "That's him." The station master said to Shigetaro. "Really. I'm really bothering you." Da Shilang turned to the young station clerk. "Did you collect the ticket for the tram at 21:27 on the night of the 20th?" "Yes, I am on duty." "At that time, was there a pair of male and female passengers, the male was 27 or 8 years old, wearing a coat, and the female was 22 or 4 years old, wearing a kimono?" "Ah," said the station clerk, blinking, "There are a lot of people wearing overcoats. What color are they?" "It's a dark purple coat and brown suit pants. The women wear gray winter coats and shrimp brown kimonos."Shigero recounted the dead body's clothes.The station attendant looked up and hesitated for a long time. "I really can't remember. At that time, I was only concerned with collecting the tickets. I had nothing special to do, so I didn't pay attention to the appearance of the passengers. As soon as the station door opened and the tickets were being collected, the passengers entered the platform one after another." "So, was the situation of the passengers chaotic at that time?" "That's thirty or forty people, the same as usual." "Recently, women wear more suits and less kimonos. Can you think about it again?" "I can't even think about it anymore." "Think about it again." Shigetaro insisted. However, the station attendant frowned, unable to find a clue. Shigetaro suddenly thought of a way. "When the ticket was collected, were there any passengers you knew?" "That's true." "Okay, do you know the name?" "We're friends from time to time, so we know their names and addresses. But there are only three of them." "That's fine, please speak up." Shigetaro wrote down the name and address mentioned by the station staff, thanked him, and walked out of the station chief's office.All three lived along the tram line.He got on the tram and got off at three stations: Wabai, Shingu, and Fukuoka. People who live in Hebai say so. "I was sitting in the car in front of me. There were two women in gray kimonos. One was about forty years old and the other was twenty-six or seventeen. However, it seemed that they were all women coming off work from a nearby company. I didn't see a dark purple overcoat. man." Shigetaro took out the photo of Ah Shi from his pocket and showed him. "Is that the young woman in the kimono?" "No, they look completely different." The second one lived in Xingong and was sitting in the back car. "A woman in a kimono? Ah, I can't remember. Maybe there was one. I was sleepy. I didn't realize there was a man in a dark purple coat." Shigetaro showed him the photos of the two victims, and replied that he couldn't remember them at all. The last passenger who lived in Fukuoka said so. "I was in the back car. There was a woman in a kimono, yes, in her mid-twenties." "A gray kimono?" "Can't remember the color, the kimono is more or less gray. Maybe. She's been talking to the man next to her." "A man? What kind of man?" Shigetaro felt that he had a clue, and quickly shrugged his shoulders and asked. "It looks like a couple. The man is in his forties, wearing a kimono with a broken white dot pattern." As usual, I showed him the photo and replied that it was wrong.Is there a male passenger in a dark purple coat?Can't remember. ——As a result, Shigetaro, who hoped to find evidence that Sayama and Aji took the train, found nothing and returned to Hakata. Shigero returned to the police station exhausted, and the inspector immediately stood up and greeted, "Hey, Torikai-san. Someone from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is here, and they are waiting to meet you!" Next to the inspector, there was indeed a young man in a suit smiling and sitting there, who had never met before.