Chapter 9 Chapter nine

I don't know how long it took, I suddenly opened my eyes and found myself lying in a white ward in the hospital.When I came back to my senses, I also felt a sharp pain all over my body.I couldn't help moaning. "Ah, I seem to have woken up." Following the young woman's voice, a woman who looked like a nurse looked at me from above.At this time, I found a familiar face peeking behind her, and I couldn't help but widen my eyes. "You..." I exclaimed. "You've finally woken up. You've been in a coma for such a long time, but I'm worried to death. But, it's all right, don't worry about anything."

It was Kosuke Kindaichi.He was still scratching his matted hair, smiling with kind eyes. "Where is this place?..." I blinked and asked in surprise, "Also, why are you here?..." "This is Kanda's hospital. You ask me why I am here?...Actually, I took the same train as you, no, to be precise, I have been following you." Kosuke Kindaichi smiled and said, "Haha, Please don't be angry. You were lucky. You would have died if you had been thrown under the viaduct, but luckily you got stuck on the edge of the track and didn't even have a broken bone."

"You mean...you...you brought me here?" Kosuke Kindaichi smiled and nodded. "How long have I been unconscious?" "Exactly sixteen hours... It's already ten o'clock in the morning on April 21st." I close my eyes and think back.The horror at the moment of the fall, like a revolving lantern, quickly revived in his mind, and at the same time, the back of his right hand suddenly ached.I was taken aback, and stretched out my right hand from under the blanket to take a look, only to see that the white bandage was oozing blood and bulging. Kosuke Kindaichi watched me silently, and soon comforted me: "You'd better not think about anything right now. But, Mr. Yatsushiro, there is something that I must apologize to you..."

I looked at his face silently, only to see him pull out a newspaper from his pocket and unfold it in front of my eyes. "Look, here's the story. I'm joking a little bit." Following Kindaichi Kosuke's fingers, I couldn't help but widen my eyes. "Please don't be angry. I apologize if something is wrong. It must be wrong, but I think you probably know the reason why you want to make such a joke?" We looked at each other for a while with probing eyes.Soon, I closed my eyes feebly, and the lethargy of lethargy hit my whole body again... "Thank you for forgiving me, then I will go back today. Please don't worry too much, I will come again."

I will come again—Kosuke Kindaichi really kept his promise and came to visit me every day.Seeing my recovery day by day, he was genuinely happy.In fact, my injury was very minor, which can be called a miracle. After only four or five days, I was able to get up and walk around. "In that kind of place, it's a miracle that you only get such a slight injury after falling off the tram." Even the doctor said with a hearty smile. If this is the case, he can be discharged from the hospital in two days. On the evening of the day when the doctor’s permission was obtained, Kosuke Kindaichi, who came to visit as usual, sent the nurse out of the room, and said to me with an uncharacteristically straight face: “Mr. Yatsushiro, I have something today, and I need to ask you.”

"Please?..." I widened my eyes in surprise. "Yes, yes, there is something I want to ask you. Where is that person, do you have any clues?" "that person?" "That's right, the person who pushed you off the tram——by saying that, you probably understand, right?" Startled, I looked at his face again.The anger made all the blood in his body go crazy.How could I not know?That way of killing people, pushing people off the tram, pretending to be negligent death, isn't that the way I taught that person?I just felt angry, and all of it gathered on the back of my right hand, rolling up and down, leaving countless scars like pierced by awls.

"That is to say... that person is not at home?" Kindaichi Kosuke nodded. "Yes, this is a big failure of mine. I had been monitoring that person, but I was worried about you, and in the end, I let that guy escape while sending you here. Since that night, that person has been Never returned home, no trace. So I want to ask you, do you have any other clues about the whereabouts of that person?" Only then did I understand why this man spread the news of my tragic death to the world.This is just an expedient measure. He did this to stabilize the other party and make the other party paralyzed.

"No, I don't know, I don't have a clue." I shook my head resolutely and said, "How could such a smart person let me know the hiding place?" Kosuke Kindaichi nodded disappointedly. "But, Mr. Kindaichi, what kind of role did that person... that woman... Kanako... play in this case?" Kosuke Kindaichi stared at me for a while, and then smiled sympathetically. "Speaking out, it may be a little cruel to you. That woman is a terrible woman, a murderer..." Kosuke Kindaichi sighed, "Yes, she is an out-and-out murderer. She has killed several people. A man. Of course, the woman didn't do it herself, she probably conspired with He Chuan."

"Murderer?..." I widened my eyes, and felt a strange shudder running down my spine. "What's going on? Who did she kill?" "Then let me tell you about it. This is a very vicious crime, and even you were almost murdered. You should have the right to know the details." Kosuke Kindaichi sullenly, finally said the following words: "I first focused on her and the man He Chuan because of Kamei Junkichi's letter. The first time you saw Kamei Junkichi was on the night of April 5th. Yes, that's right, what you saw at that time The man with the prosthetic leg was indeed Kamei Junkichi, because Kamei Junkichi was still alive at the time. Yes, I think that Junkichi is dead or killed, and there is a good reason for that. Please wait a moment, I know your doubts, or I’ll explain later. On that day, or the day before, Junkichi wrote a letter to Umeko in Osaka. Because of this letter, Umeko came to Tokyo, and you must have heard about it from Umeko, right?”

I nodded slightly. "The problem lies in that letter. Although I haven't seen that letter with my own eyes, judging from what Meizi told others, the content of the letter seems to be that Kamei Junkichi discovered a serious matter. , wanted to discuss with her, and asked her to come to Tokyo quickly. So Meizi came and met Junkichi Kamei. So, she must have heard about what Junkichi Kamei discovered. It was the eighth of this month Day, and that night, after Kamei Junkichi went out, he never came back." Although I don't know the exact reason, I still feel frightened. Kosuke Kindaichi continued: "Meizi gradually became worried. In order to find out the truth, she went to Kichizoji Temple to investigate the situation. This happened on the evening of the twelfth day when the crime happened. As a result, she accidentally made a strange discovery. She Seeing Kanako running into your house being chased by a man with a prosthetic leg. It's not a big deal, but that man with a prosthetic leg is not Kamei Junkichi, but her husband Ka Chuan. I found out Seeing this, Meizi panicked."

"So, the man with the artificial leg at that time was He Chuan?" "That's right. Meizi found out about this, and she was flustered for a while, but to be cautious, she went to your house first to inquire about the situation. Maybe she wanted to know what Kanako said... But, listen to what you said Kanako said that it was Kamei Junkichi. The smart Umeko immediately understood everything. In other words, Ka Chuan and Kanako acted together in a play...that is, Junkichi is no longer alive. "However, once Junkichi Kamei disappears suddenly, the two of them will be suspected... In order to create the illusion that Junkichi is still alive, they chose you as a witness... Meizi understood everything in an instant." I couldn't help gnashing my teeth, and the anger welled up in my heart again. "This is why Meizi suddenly wavered during the conversation with you. The previous skepticism has become a certainty. So in order to get a more accurate picture, Meizi sneaked into He Chuan's house that night. Leading to the back door The wooden gate was pried open, probably by Meizi. Besides, she was hiding behind the curtains in the living room. Then, what do you think happened?" I silently watched Kosuke Kindaichi's face.Kōsuke Kindaichi shivered slightly, and said, "It's my imagination, but I think it's roughly correct. When Umeko was hiding behind the curtain, Kanako walked in without noticing. Soon, disguised as Ka Chuan, a man with a prosthetic leg, came back after intentionally letting the nearby housewives hear the sound of the prosthetic leg, and then tried to strangle Kanako to death." I couldn't help but widen my eyes, Kosuke Kindaichi stretched out a hand to stop me, and said: "No wonder you are surprised. This is indeed the most puzzling place, but in the end it can only be understood in this way. The doctor said : Kanako’s throat injury. It can’t be caused by a woman, and it’s impossible to strangle it so hard when acting or joking. It is said that Kanako almost strangled to death. So, it must have been strangled by He Chuan, And, he really wanted to kill Kanako, we can only think so. Here, we can only think that He Chuan played the role of Kamei Junkichi's double. Of course, this also has a kind of declaration to you, Kamei Junkichi After that, the meaning of being alive, and undoubtedly another meaning, is to take advantage of this and kill Kanako by the way, that is, to kill Kanako to put the blame on Kamei Junkichi." "Kanako was also an accomplice by accident? An accomplice in her plan to kill herself?" I let out a vicious laugh from the depths of my throat.But I know that no matter how viciously I laugh, it cannot compare to the viciousness of the case. "Yes, that's right. Kanako is also a clever woman, but she still hasn't noticed this. Uh, the reason why Ka Chuan wants to kill Kanako is probably the fate of their kind of couple, which is difficult to escape. That is It is said that one party despises the other party. Fearing the other party, he wants to escape from the other party's hands." Kosuke Kindaichi said with deep emotion, "However, when he was about to kill Kanako, Umeko suddenly jumped out from behind the curtain. She jumped out. Since the scene unfolding in front of her eyes was extremely terrifying, Meizi subconsciously clenched the curtain tightly, but after a while, she still couldn't bear it and jumped out." "Then she beat He Chuan to death?" I blurted out in surprise. Kindaichi Kosuke shook his head slowly, and said: "Yes, we can think so too. But judging from He Chuan's injury, it's not like Meizi's usual behavior. Meizi undoubtedly hates He Chuan, but I think, she She is not a woman so cruel that she can beat people to death with sticks. The one who beat Ka Chuan to death was probably Kanako. When Kanako was about to be strangled to death, He Chuan's hand suddenly relaxed. Umeko was really startled and let go of her hand. Just as he stood there in a daze, Kanako picked up the walking stick on the ground and slammed it down from behind. She was so dizzy that there was no sign of Umeko Noticing that, it was just taking Pu's anger and hatred, and he smashed down with his life." "Since this is the case, after the incident, the man with the artificial leg we saw was..." "That's Meizi——if you think about it this way, you can figure out why He Chuan was naked at the time. Meizi and Kanako——Kanako probably helped too, and the two quickly took off He Chuan's clothes. They went out. About the nudity, even though Kanako made all sorts of obscene explanations, all of them were lies. We only need to look at the photo to understand. According to Kanako, the husband and wife went to After getting into bed, he heard strange noises from downstairs, so He Chuan went downstairs to check the situation. However, judging from the photo, neither He Chuan nor Kanako's bed seemed to have been slept in, because Going up, the bed looks like it has just been made, very tidy. Even if there are strange noises downstairs, no one will go downstairs naked, not to mention the pajamas are by your side." Kosuke Kindaichi said with a slight sigh. "Let's reorganize what happened that night. First, Meizi sneaked in and hid behind the curtain, and then Kanako walked in. Kagawa, who was disguised as Kamei Junkichi, also came back later, trying to kill Kanako When Kanako was almost killed, Meizi suddenly jumped out from behind the curtain. Ka Chuan was startled, released his hand from Kanako's throat, and turned towards Meizi. Kanako immediately picked up the crutches and threw Ka Chuan Beat to death. Meizi was terrified, at a loss and helpless. At that time, if Kanako still had a little strength, even Meizi would have been beaten to death, but she had exhausted her strength. "When Meizi, who had been in a state of collapse, suddenly came back to her senses, she immediately thought of the future consequences. Kanako cannot be made a suspect, and she must be saved no matter what. She is such a smart and strong-willed woman. Therefore, she immediately thought of passing on the suspicion, and Kamei Junkichi was the most suitable candidate. So, she took off He Chuan's coat, put it on herself, and put on pants and a prosthetic leg. But in this way, the suit under He Chuan's coat must be stained with blood. In order to hide her behavior of taking off the coat, she simply stripped him naked. The suit was probably taken away by Meizi. "After everything was ready, in order to attract the attention of the neighbors, Kanako made the sound of fighting again and smashed the plaster statue. The real fight before was probably carried out silently. Because both sides have ghosts in their hearts , So, I didn’t even make a sound. After doing this, Kanako climbed up to the second floor, let out a scream, and fell on the bed. At this time, Kanako was exhausted physically and mentally, and I’m afraid she really fainted. At this moment, You followed that Dr. Asano and rushed over. Meizi managed to get away, and she walked over on purpose so that Mrs. Asano could see the blood-stained coat and the artificial leg. Afterwards, because the artificial leg and walking stick were no longer useful, she Throw it into the sinkhole, and then take the bloody coat and suit home to dispose of. This is probably the truth of this case. However, what is more regrettable is that the body of Chunji, who was supposed to be the prelude to this case, has not been Still undiscovered. But given the circumstances, the most plausible explanation is that he was killed." Having said this, Kindaichi Kosuke suddenly shut his mouth.Only then did I feel that I had come into contact with the terrible truth of this case, but what I didn't understand was Meizi's actions.Meizi hated Kanako, hated her sincerely.But why did she take risks to protect Kanako?When I mentioned this, Kosuke Kindaichi nodded sullenly. "Yes, you are right. However, there is another terrible secret hidden in this case. The action Meizi took was to protect Kanako on the surface, but her real purpose was not here, but to pass the This kind of behavior is to indirectly save the reputation of her family. If Kanako is arrested, once she confesses to Ka Chuan's other terrible crimes during the police interrogation... Meizi is actually afraid of this. In order to prevent all this, Even the woman I hate can be saved." "He Chuan's other terrible crimes? The one that killed Junkichi?" "I'm afraid that case is also among them, but there are more terrifying things than this." Kosuke Kindaichi suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared at me when he said this, "Mr. In the dining room of the restaurant, I saw four men standing by the air-raid shelter in the back, right? One of them, the man with the artificial leg was me..." My eyes widened again.Kindaichi Kosuke smiled and said: "Hahaha, that was just a trick, I just wanted to test Kanako's reaction. She reacted very strongly, but she thought it was your fault, so she wanted to kill you. " "So... those three men standing next to you are..." "It's all ghosts. No, it's the ghosts I made people dress up. Those are the three murdered corpses dug out from the air-raid shelter..." I was almost out of breath.In addition to fear, his teeth were chattering, and his hands were sweating coldly with fear. "Three dead bodies? Mr. Kindaichi, who are they...?" "Picking black market traders. Mr. Yatsushiro, I heard that Kanako once told you that Ka Chuan had worked as a broker? That's not a lie, but the method they used is truly horrific and indescribable. First, let Kanako find the black market. The businessman who traded, and then used saccharin or sugar as bait to lure the other party to that house. He Chuan killed the other party there, robbed the money, and buried the body in the air-raid shelter. According to the police investigation, only the three The amount of money brought by people is no less than hundreds of thousands of yuan. That couple is completely a ghost, a beast. Especially Kanako, she is a psychopathic beauty murderer." I just felt that the blood in my whole body was coagulated.I have long known that Kanako is an extraordinary woman, but I never thought that she would be so terrifying... Yes, with that said, I did remember one thing.When I met Kanako for the first time, I once talked to her about the fact that among the five hundred people, there was a murderer brother hidden, and then I asked her jokingly, would there be bones and bones in the backyard of the neighbor’s house? Dig up the body.As a result, Kanako turned pale with fright at the time. It turned out that she was not frightened by my imagination, but because I accidentally exposed her true face.I felt a sense of weakness all over my body. "I never thought at first that that couple would actually do such a horrible thing. I just guessed that Kamei Junkichi might have been killed for the reasons I mentioned just now, and maybe he was killed. Buried near the house... So I investigated around the house, and then found the air-raid shelter. So, I took advantage of the time when Kanako was summoned to the police station, and secretly dug there. Kamei Junkichi's body was not found , I accidentally dug up three other corpses, but I was terrified. The identities of the corpses were immediately identified, because all of them were reported missing to the police. Only then did I know the horrible crimes of Ka Chuan and Kanako At the same time, I also understood. The meaning of the serious matter mentioned in the letter Kamei Junkichi wrote to Umeko. In the process of pestering Kanako, Junkichi learned the terrible secret and was killed because of it. Umeko also knew this secret, Because of this, she was suspected of killing her husband without any excuse, but committed suicide by taking poison. From her point of view, she might have to consider the reputation of the family and the future of the child. Instead of letting the child know, the father He is a horrible murderer who kills black market dealers. It is better to let them think that it is the mother who hates her, kills the father and then commits suicide. This will have a slightly less impact on the child's future——Meizi probably thinks so Like all mothers in the world, she is willing to take the blame for her children. Thinking of this, I can't bear to reveal the truth of the case. But now, I can't help it anymore, Kanako will be caught sooner or later. In this way, all the truth will be revealed to the world, and Meizi's act of sacrifice may also come to naught." After Kosuke Kindaichi finished speaking, he closed his mouth sadly.I slipped out of the hospital that night.