Chapter 19 Chapter 1 The Third Man

As the recorder of Kindaichi Kosuke's detective stories, the author once talked with him face to face. After the armistice, he settled down in Tokyo.I asked him if there were any early-solved cases?Before the miserable black cat stand-in case "Black Cat Pavilion Incident", and the triple murder at Tsubaki's house, are there any other cases? At that time, the author was still in refuge in the countryside of Okayama Prefecture, and I only communicated with him through letters, and had no more intimate contact with him, so I don't know much about his activities. Facing the author's question, Kosuke Kindaichi seemed to remember something, scratched his disheveled hair as usual, and said:

"Ah, by the way, there was another case before this. I was entrusted to investigate the whereabouts of 700,000 yen, but I didn't want a double murder to happen." "Double homicide?" The author couldn't help but widen his eyes. "Well, yes." Kosuke Kindaichi seemed to remember something again, "Taking this double homicide incident as an opportunity, I got to know the police officer Waitoli, and the introduction has been mixed into the Black Neko Pavilion incident. At that time, Mr. Think I'm a brazen fellow." Kindaichi Kosuke had a characteristic smile on his face.

Police officer Waiting Li and him can be regarded as life-and-death acquaintances. Of course, they should listen to the case they met for the first time.Not to mention the 700,000 yen bill and the double homicide case.Wouldn't Kosuke Kindaichi's fans be disappointed if this case was missed?The author stepped forward and asked again. "Ahaha, I really can't do anything about you. If I accidentally slipped my mouth, it will end up..." He was a little embarrassed, and smiled wryly. Although he is a genius, he is extremely shy. "Okay, don't mention anything else, please tell me, what kind of case is this?"

Under the author's insistence, Kosuke Kindaichi also resigned to his fate, saying: "Let's talk about it, don't care if you need it or not... I still need to borrow your pen to polish it properly." Having received Kosuke Kindaichi's promise, the author was overjoyed and took out the notebook. "It was the spring of Showa 22 (1947), and it seemed to be March. Thinking about that time, Tokyo is really completely revived now." Kosuke Kindaichi was deeply moved. "That night, I was in a cabaret in Higashi Ginza. The landfill of Sankenbori had not yet been completed, and the Kabuki Theater was under air raids, and it was still an ugly ruin. In troubled times, people cannot walk alone in dark places at night."

The author asked, why would a person like Kosuke Kindaichi stay in a high-end place like a cabaret? "Right, then, let's start with that." What Kosuke Kindaichi told is such a thing. The previous year, that is, in November of Showa 21 (1946), in the ruins a few streets away from the tavern, two robbers broke into a bank that survived the robbery and robbed 700,000 Big money in yen.Of course, the bank had staff on the night shift, as well as young and old servants who lived in the store, but the robbers shot and killed the staff, and the young and old servants were also seriously injured and dying.

The two robbers fled with mailbags containing banknotes.The police heard the gunshots and came in hot pursuit. Finally, the robbers fled into the tavern that was being renovated at the time and surrounded by temporary board walls. The police followed, but because the other party had a gun, they did not climb into the temporary wall immediately.He hesitated, and sounded the siren to summon his colleagues.Two other officers heard gunfire from inside the tavern as they heard sirens approaching.Two shots were fired. The police were shocked.After all, this is a troubled world. Even the police will be attacked at some point.But hesitation was not an option. After a while, the three mustered up their courage and stepped into the Cabaret that was being renovated.

The tavern was of course dark, with cement and wood everywhere.The three police officers waved their flashlights and slowly pushed forward into the depths while carefully watching their feet.They found two men shot and lying on the ground. One was killed instantly, the other was shot in the head and still alive. The identities of the two were quickly identified.The dead one was Takayanagi Shinkichi, and the dying one was Saeki Makoto, both employees of the robbed bank.But Gao Liu was dismissed by the bank three months ago due to misconduct. That's what happened. Shinkichi Takayanagi, who was fired by the bank, became more and more corrupt. He worked in the black market and the like. For some reason, he got his eye on the bank where he used to work, and dragged his friend Makoto Saeki into the water.

Saeki was originally a diligent person, but the chaotic world at that time could not shake this prudent and upright young man.But recently, they have uncharacteristically spent money like dirt.It is said that there is a woman.So, his former colleague Gao Liuxinji stepped in. Takayanagi heard from Saeki that there was a huge sum of 700,000 yen to be spent in the bank vault that day, so he instigated Saeki to break into the bank together, shot and killed the staff on duty, seriously injured the servants, and stole the huge sum of money.After being followed by the police, he fled into the tavern under renovation... So far, everything is clear.But then, there was something that didn't make sense.

At first, the police believed that after the two fled into the tavern, they had an argument and shot each other, which led to this result.But if so, there should be mailbags on site.But the pouch was gone. Therefore, the police deduced again as follows. Although the surviving bank servant and the following police officer said there were two robbers, there were actually three.At that time, someone hid in the tavern to respond. Two escaped in with the money, were shot by the third, and the pouch was carried on a bicycle and escaped through the back door... because the back door still had brand new bicycle tire marks.

In addition, the 700,000 yen that was stolen may not have flowed into the market...Recently, the authorities have begun to infer this. The banknotes that were stolen were all hundred-yuan notes, a total of 7,000.Some of them, that is, tenths, 700 bills with an amount of 70,000 yen, have been numbered by the bank branch manager.It has been five months since the incident and no matching notes have yet emerged. The serial number of the banknote recorded by the branch manager is absolutely secret, and only a very few people know it.No, most people didn't know about it until it was exposed by a newspaper three months later.

So the possibility of criminals deliberately not using those banknotes can be ruled out.And it is also very unlikely that by chance, all but that portion of the banknotes will be used up.One in ten is a high odds, and 700 is also a big number.And so far none of them have been found, so it can only be said that the criminal did not use the money at all... So why don't criminals use that money?As I said before, the fact that the store manager registered the number of one-tenth of the banknotes, from the time of the crime, that is, when the criminal got the money, until three months later, most people do not know. So, the criminal must have had a reason to hesitate to use the money.In other words, the money is not in the hands of the criminals, but hidden somewhere... With that in mind, the focus becomes the cabaret.Maybe that mailbag is still hidden somewhere in the Cabaret. Another reason to think so is what happened on the third night after the bank robbery. That night, the patrolman in charge of guarding Higashi Ginza stood by the temporary slab-walled cabaret, still thinking about the events of the night before.The patrolman couldn't help looking in through the gap in the temporary board wall, and found something that surprised him. In the darkness inside the makeshift wall, the beam of the flashlight flickered. If the patrolman has some sense of judgment, in order to see the opponent's appearance clearly, he should keep silent and not act.But unfortunately, the patrolman was too young and inexperienced, thinking that the other party might have a gun, he didn't have the courage to enter the wall. He roared outside the wall: "Who? Who's in there?" The light of the flashlight went out suddenly, and there was the sound of fleeing footsteps.Holding a gun in one hand, the young patrolman walked around the temporary wall and saw a man passing by on a bicycle under a street light ten meters away. Across from the street lamp was a pitch-black ruin and Sankenbori, which was being filled.Under the streetlight, the back of the man riding a bicycle flashed past, and then disappeared in the darkness. The patrolman fired a warning shot and blew his siren to summon his colleagues, but the man riding the bicycle was nowhere to be found. This also became a problem, presumably the criminal from the day before yesterday returned to the scene to retrieve something, perhaps a mail bag hidden in the house.But according to witnesses, the man on the bike was not carrying any luggage or similar items. A sweeping search of the interior of the cabaret was also carried out, but no mail bags were found anywhere.No wonder, the Cabaret opened a week after the incident.After another five months, if there was such a thing in the house, it must have been discovered by now. So, if the huge sum of 700,000 yen is still hidden in the tavern, it must be hidden very cleverly, and criminals must be watching there.As a result, the police deployed plainclothes police officers in the cabaret tavern. Saeki Makoto, who was identified as an accomplice, was sent to the hospital immediately, although he was shot in the head but survived.For the police, he is an important witness and of course he should receive the best treatment. The treatment saved his life, not only that, but his health returned to normal.If he could confess what happened that night, the third man's identity would be revealed, and where the money was.But unfortunately, Saeki couldn't tell. Why can't you tell? Due to a head injury, Saeki lost all memory of the night before.Facing the police questioning, he just tilted his head in confusion and couldn't help blinking. Although the memory is lost, there still seems to be a vague impression. From time to time, he will blurt out: "Ah, there's something in the dark . . . a cat! A cat! Ah!" His body trembled violently, and his head drooped feebly.That should be the impression of being shot at the moment. But what exactly does a cat in the dark mean?what did the cat doBased on Saeki's words alone, everyone was completely in the dark. The badly wounded servant died three days later, and he gave no testimony other than two men whose faces were covered with black cloths. This is the antecedent of the incident, and it is also the first legendary incident that Kosuke Kindaichi took over in Tokyo after the armistice.