Chapter 14 Chapter 3 The Man Reading the Newspaper

In the Yebisuya department store, the second murder case occurred, and the details of the case are roughly as follows: As mentioned earlier, Yebisuya Department Store is currently used as a shopping mall, only the first to third floors, and the upper floors are leased out for use as office buildings, and the seventh floor on the top floor has become a cinema and coffee shop.The business hours of shopping malls usually end in the evening, but this is not the case for office buildings and movie theaters.Since they get off work much later, there are additional elevators and stairs above the fourth floor.In other words, at night, even if you don't pass through the mall, you can still go in and out freely.

It was around 8:20 that night. The once busy coffee shop will suddenly become deserted at this time.The movie theater on the seventh floor usually ends at 8 o'clock, so every time after the movie ends, it will be busy for a while.But here is different from taverns, generally no one will spend a long time in a store specializing in coffee business.Especially the roads at night are not safe recently, and it is human nature to rush home, so the coffee shop usually becomes very deserted 20 minutes after the movie theater ends. This evening was no exception. From the time the clock pointed to 8:15, there was a sudden interruption of customers, and two young shop assistants were also preparing to close.However, it was already this time, but there was still a customer soaking in the corner, which made the shop assistants very embarrassed and looked at each other.

"Bastard, that person is really annoying. How long is he going to soak up?" "Just one cup of coffee, he has been there for more than an hour. Could it be that he is waiting for someone?" "Yes, the person he was waiting for seemed to have come just now, said something to him, and then ran out in a hurry. Could it be that he was waiting for that person to come back again?" "Then we can't afford it. We can't never close the door for such a person. Let's remind him that we are going to close." "Well, then you go, I'm a little scared."

"Why? What's there to be afraid of?" "He's been like that since just now, reading the newspaper in the same posture, not moving at all. He's probably thinking about something. If he interrupts rashly, he might be annoyed." "Really? What a nuisance." Two young girls muttered by the counter, observing this strange customer.Soon, one of them said: "It's really like what you said. He really doesn't move. What's going on?" "Go and remind me that we are closing." "No, I'm a little scared too." Both girls were on the verge of tears.

No wonder the two are afraid.The coffee shop on the top floor of the empty department store suddenly became deserted after the movie theater ended, and even the pale lights added a slight chill.In the corner of this coffee shop, a man is always in the same posture, reading a newspaper.His face was completely covered by the newspaper unfurled in front of him, but he hadn't moved a bit since then.No, not to mention movements, he didn't even show signs of breathing. "Hey, hello, A Ling." Suddenly, one girl shouted to another girl. "What's wrong?" "Then...then...that person's newspaper, didn't you take it down?"

Just when Ayako was dumbfounded with fright... "Hey, you two little girls, why haven't you closed the door yet?" It was the female owner of the coffee shop who poked her head out from behind the counter. "Ah, Boss!..." The girls shouted in unison as if they were dying, "But that guest..." "Hey, why are there still customers? It's already 8:30, so why not close... Ah Ling, go and talk to him." "But, lady boss, it doesn't seem to work." Ayako almost cried. "No? What's wrong?... You are really strange, kid. Since you can't say it, let me say it. When is this..."

The boss said, walked around the counter to the store, and walked towards the private seat where the strange customer was. "Uh...sorry, we've reached the time to call the details..." She greeted, but the other party did not respond.The strange guest still covered his face with a newspaper and leaned against the back of the booth. "Uh...if it's too late, the children will blame the poor, that..." Suddenly, the female boss stopped and leaned out her upper body.At this time, she also noticed that the customer's newspaper had been taken down, and she suddenly turned her head towards the two shop assistants.In an instant, an ominous premonition passed through the six staring eyes.

The female boss straightened her chest, took a deep breath, put her hand on the newspaper that the guest was holding, and said in a very polite way, "Well... what's wrong with you?" As she spoke, she gently pulled the newspaper, and for a moment, the strange guest seemed to lose her center of gravity, and fell to the ground with a "plop". Needless to say, this is Gong Wu Jiner, the former director of the store on the third floor. "For the sake of caution, I want to investigate even the seventh floor. I heard the screams of the boss and the girls as soon as I came up. I was shocked and rushed in to take a look, only to find out that this happened..."

This was the first report heard from the criminal police when Officer Waiting Power and Liusuke Suoya arrived. "At first I thought: He had a heart attack. But when I checked my chest, I found the business card of Ebisuya Department Store, the sales manager on the third floor - Gongwu Jinji. The boss and the girls here are all I knew Mr. Gong Wu, but said that I didn’t notice it before. You also saw that this man was wearing a disguise. You see, there are sunglasses and a beard—of course it’s a fake beard. I think, maybe this matter, there will be If it has something to do with today's case, I will report it to you."

Waiting for the police officer to look back, he asked Zao Gu Liu Zhu: "Are you sure it's Gong Wu?" Suoya Liusuke frowned, and nodded sadly. "It's Miyatake...sunglasses and fake beard...why does he have to disguise himself like this?" Suoya Liusuke said puzzled. Gong Wu Jin'er's corpse was placed on several tables put together, his eyes were wide open, as if they were about to jump out of their sockets, the appearance was very frightening.Sunglasses and a fake beard lay beside the body. "Have you checked the body? Is there any trauma?" "Nothing. At first I thought he had a heart attack. However, after hearing what the boss and the girls said, I realized that was not the case. There is one thing that I find very strange."

"Strange?..." Waiting Li police officer muttered. "It is said that when the girls discovered the abnormality, he was sitting there with a newspaper. If it was just like this, it is undeniable that he would have a heart attack while reading the newspaper, but the strange thing is that the newspaper was Take it upside down." Waiting for power, the police officer's eyes widened in surprise. "With such a bright light, it's impossible to hold the newspaper upside down. So, it's not that the deceased himself was poor, but someone asked him to hold it like this after his death. Moreover, because of his panic, the newspaper fell down..." That is to say, the thing is this: that person does not want his death here to be discovered prematurely. That is, that person is likely to be a criminal suspect, and this case is also likely to be a homicide." "So that's how it is. The forensic doctor will be here soon, and the answer will come out soon." Waiting for the police officer to lightly nodded, "Since it's a murder, the method used is..." The criminal policeman pointed to the private seat beside him and said, "The place where Gong Wu is staying is that table. You have seen it. There are two coffee cups there. He must have a companion. Maybe there is something in one of the coffee cups. and also……" "Potassium cyanide?..." Waiting Li frowned. "You must not be careless about this point, let's leave it to the identification department first. By the way, the girls here, do you still remember his companion?" Upon hearing what the police said, the two girls on both sides of the boss, who had been pale and nervous since just now, almost burst into tears. "It's said that I can't remember clearly. Boss, you can tell the police officer what happened just now for them." After all, it was the boss, who had regained his composure at this time.Under the urging of the criminal police, she held the two girls in her arms and said caringly: "Look, they are still children after all... Besides, when he came in, it happened to be the end of the movie, the busiest time." It was a period of time, so I can’t remember clearly. However, after a while, another person came in and said something to him... Ah Ling, it’s like this. Tell me about this situation .” "Oh..." Ayako said with a crying voice, "When did that come? Although it was not crowded, there were a lot of customers, and it was the busiest time. There was a man in a black coat with a dark face mask. The Veiled Woman..." Black coat with dark veil?Waiting for power, the police officer and Suiya Musuke couldn't help but stared at each other. "Oh, black coat and veil, what did that woman do?" "Uh, after the woman came in, she sat in front of him. I went over to order food immediately, but she didn't want anything." "Don't want anything? That is to say, this coffee cup is not for that woman?" "No. The woman didn't order anything, so I went back to my seat. After a while, when I passed in front of the private seat, I saw the woman leaning over and talking enthusiastically with the man across the table Uh, at that time, the man was the one who died over there. He was leaning on the corner between the back of the seat and the wall, with his left hand on the table. The woman put her hand on that man's. I was talking about something in a low voice. I don’t know what I was talking about... After a while, the woman stood up and said you wait a while, I will be back in a while, and then went out. At that time, I accidentally Look, I saw that man in the private seat with a newspaper in his hand... Now that I think about it, he has been sitting there in the same posture since then." "Oh, so the one who asked him to hold the newspaper was that woman? That is to say, that woman...ah, the doctor seems to be here." The doctor's examination was soon over.Although I don't dare to make conclusions without looking at the results of the autopsy, there is no doubt that it should be potassium cyanide. "Mr. Karatani, even so, do you still insist on not revealing the true face of that veiled woman?" After the doctor went back, the police officer Waituli turned his head towards Suiya Liusuke and stared at him.