Chapter 29 first quarter

It took about 15 minutes from receiving the report to when the patrol car arrived at Tajima's house in Nakameguro. Although I later learned that these 15 minutes had some significance, no one noticed it at the time. The first to arrive were two young policemen. They entered Tajima's house with suspicion. When they saw the two bodies, they immediately called the police station. Ten minutes later, Yabe, a police officer from the First Investigation Division, entered Tajima's house together with the forensic personnel. The Yabe police department is about forty years old, and his body is thin. Because of his big mouth, his colleagues nicknamed him "Toad Mouth". Apart from that, he is a very ordinary person.

As soon as Yabe entered the living room, he looked at the corpses of the men and women with a calm expression, and immediately knew that he died of poisoning. Since there were no external injuries on the body, it seemed that it was probably poisoned by potassium cyanate. Yabe shifted his gaze from the corpse to the man standing in the corner of the room. "Are you the one who called the police?" "yes." "What's your name?" "Iseki, Iseki Kazuhiko..." "Do you know why this happened?" "Know." After Yabe asked the other party to sit down on the chair, he said, "So, can I trouble you to explain it again?"

"The dead lying in that place are..." Iseki took a mouthful of saliva and continued, "Painter Tajima Kohei and his wife Mariko." Iseki looked at the two corpses with sad eyes. "Those two are my friends." "And then?" Yabe urged. Iseki sighed softly, his face was very pale. "Three years ago, Tajima-kun and Mariko married because of love. However, recently, Tajima-kun got married. After Mariko knew about this, she thought that Tajima-kun had betrayed her. She didn't know what to do, so she asked I discuss." "Of course I persuaded them to reconcile, but after I approached her, I fell in love with her unknowingly, and she, who was betrayed by her husband, also accepted my love and planned to break up with her husband and stay with me."

"With this, won't a new triangle relationship take place?" Yabe said lightly. "Oh! Yes, but, because I was afraid that Tajima-kun would misunderstand that I took Mariko from his hands and cause him displeasure, I told him the truth of the matter so that he could understand. " "So, does he understand?" "Tajima-kun said he understood, and said that in order to avoid future disputes, he asked me if the three of us could have a toast together so that we can get together and leave. Mariko and I have no objection." "So, you got together to toast?"

"Yes. However, when I brought the wine glass to my mouth, I smelled a strange smell, so I didn't drink it. Tajima-kun and Mariko drank the wine in one gulp and poured it down quickly." Yabe turned his gaze to the table. Of the three wine glasses, only one was indeed full. "Now, that's how things are." Yabe turned his eyes back to Jingguan and continued: "Although Tajima said he agreed to divorce his wife, in his heart he was completely unwilling. He died because he didn't want others to take away his wife. To resolve this triangular relationship..."

"Yes, I think so too." "So, do you think Tajima killed his wife and then committed suicide?" Yabe asked, looking at Iseki's face. "Maybe it can be said that." Jingguan nodded with a sad expression, and said, "Unfortunately, I was also involved in this case." "Kill yourself and then commit suicide?" Yabe muttered to himself, then glanced at the corpse again. "But..." Yabe said looking at Iseki. "The possibility of another idea is also very high. I don't know if you have thought of it?" "What's up?"

"It's very simple, kill." "kill?" "Yes. We must consider it from all aspects, because this is a murder case." Yabe said with a wry smile. "But, you said murder..." Jingguan said in a bit of a panic. "You don't think I killed these two, do you?" "No, I didn't say you were the murderer, I just thought there was such a possibility, and because of this possibility, I must investigate. I think you also know that your position is very ambiguous. The Tajima and his wife are dead. , even if you are killed, you cannot come forward to testify, so I have to investigate you."

"I understand that." Iseki said, nodding his head. "I am very clear about my position. It is natural to be suspected of being a murderer, but I did not kill anyone." "Although I think so too, just to be careful, you should accept our investigation!" Yabe asked the young detective to take Iseki away, and Iseki left the room calmly. Yabe walked over to the forensic doctor who was investigating the corpse. "Do you know the correct time of death?" Yabe asked looking at the forensic doctor. "Is this necessary?" asked the elderly forensic doctor.

"It may or may not be necessary, because it may be a homicide." Yabe replied in an uncertain tone.After the forensic doctor said "Oh", he opened his eyes wide and said, "If it is a murder, Jingguan is the murderer?" "yes." "However, if this is a murder, isn't the murderer very confused? Triangular relationship, the motive is obvious, and there is no alibi at all, and he calls the police himself. Isn't this pushing himself to the guillotine? Isn't it a very outdated method of killing ?” "Really?" Yabe looked at the two corpses with a look of embarrassment on his face. The corpses had already begun to stiffen, and the pink spots characteristic of potassium cyanate poisoning appeared.

"My idea is completely opposite. If this is a murder and the murderer is Iseki, I don't think he is stupid, but extremely smart. He ignores the alibi, does not hide the motive, and calls the police himself. It makes me feel that he is still very confident when he is surrounded by enemies. However, generally speaking, no matter how cleverly concealed the murder motive is, he will be found out sooner or later. A fox's tail will be exposed one day, so no matter how cleverly disguised a murderer is, once the diorama is exposed, the fox's tail will naturally be exposed..."

"I understand." The forensic doctor said with a wry smile, as if confused. "Your embattled praise said that I will listen slowly later, about the time of death..." "Have you found out?" "The approximate time can be known without an autopsy. Those two died within thirty minutes." "thirty minutes?" "Does it mean something?" "If Jingguan killed these two people, he must have done something before calling the police. However, he died only 30 minutes ago, which means that he immediately called the police as soon as he saw the two people fall down, and forced him to die. Turned into a very favorable testimony." "However, the period from when he called the police to when the patrol car arrived at the scene was about fifteen minutes. Aren't these fifteen minutes enough for him to act?" "Yes." Yabu nodded. "But what can you do in fifteen minutes?" "You ask me that question and I can't answer it because I'm stupid." The forensic doctor said with a smile.From his expression, it can be seen that he thinks this incident is not a homicide incident, but, as Iseki Kazuhiko said, an incident of forced death for love. Yabe looked around silently, but couldn't find any clues.