Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen

The local police station reported Ajika Masahiro's drowning incident to the Search Section of the Prefectural Police Headquarters. Mioka is most likely related to the murder of Miyoko Sawada at the Momijiso Hotel in Kurama Kibunecho, Kyoto.Even if he really committed suicide by throwing himself into the river, it is still necessary to get in touch with the police station responsible for Zetian's case.The prefectural police communicated the situation to the prefectural police station in Kyoto City through the Kyoto Prefectural Police Station. Ajika died by drowning, but it is not clear whether he committed suicide.Some people in the police station believed that the cause of his suicide was neurasthenia, but if his neurasthenia was caused by the murder in Kurama Kisune, it would be even more necessary to get in touch with the other party—when the murderer committed suicide while escaping, It is also necessary to report the situation to the police station where the homicide occurred.

At around four o'clock in the afternoon on the 29th, three investigators from the Kyoto Police Department arrived at the police station. They first asked the Yatabe criminal police how Mioka's body was discovered and the situation of the on-site investigation, and then asked the criminal section chief Yamazaki about the autopsy report and Mioka. These include: 1. Ajika departed from Kyoto, took the Shinkansen "Echo" to the Kosuikaku Hotel in Kanzanji Onsen, and then transferred to Hiryukaku in Futamata, Tenryu City, and returned to his room before ten o'clock in the evening.This series of actions mainly refers to the testimony of Oishi Kenkichi, Minister of Road Construction of Nichistar Construction (he and Mioka have been together since they met in Lake Green Pavilion), and the owner of the two hotels, Yamane Heitaro, and the hotel staff can also testify.

2. Mioka's recent actions - Minister Oishi will testify about company-related matters, and Mioka's wife will testify about family-related actions. Mioka has been in a state of neurasthenia since he came to the Hucui Pavilion of Kanzanji Onsen, which was of great interest to the investigators from Kyoto.Especially his behavior in Hucui Pavilion: After taking a nap, he saw the murder case of the Momijisou Hotel in Kibunecho, Kurama published in the evening paper (this is the police's speculation), and immediately wiped the room with a bathrobe.And after he arrived at Feiliu Pavilion, he asked the waiter to buy gloves for him, but he never took them off.

"The victim of the Momijiso Hotel case, Miyoko Sawada, arrived at the hotel at 8:20 that night. She told the front desk staff that her companion would come later, right?" Section Chief Yamazaki asked the police officer in Kyoto. "Yes, so the staff took her to Room 208. At around nine o'clock, a man with a build similar to Mioka came to the hotel and said that my companion should have arrived." No. told him. " "Didn't the staff lead him to the room?" "The distance between the front desk and room 208 is not very far, so the staff told him the location of the room. Besides, many guests don't like staff running around..."

"Probably because you don't want the staff to see your face?" Yatabe asked. "After all, it is a hotel specially used for trysts... Only the front desk is lit, and the lights in the corridor are very dim. It is the kind of love hotel." The investigator in charge of investigating Hongyezhuang Hotel said. "Then... it takes a lot of courage for her to go to the front desk to open a room alone, right?" "It is reasonable to say that most of the female guests are talking with their heads down, for fear of being seen." "Where is the victim, Miyoko Sawada?"

"The staff said she was the same, and she lowered her head when she spoke. The staff got used to it, so they took her to room 208. After opening the door with the key, he handed her the key at the door, and then went back to the room. Arrived at the front desk." "Did the staff not enter the room?" "Because Zetian came alone, he didn't go in." "Is the door of the room also dark?" "Yes, it's very dark in the corridor." "Did the staff see what the woman was wearing?" "I can see it clearly, because the lights at the front desk are quite bright. He said it was the suit left in Room 208."

"Ah, so..." Detective Yatabe recorded this in his notebook.Suddenly, he stopped the pencil in his hand and asked the director who came to investigate on a business trip: "Excuse me, do you have the floor plan of Hongyezhuang Hotel? Can you lend me a look?" The three investigators from Kyoto looked at each other.They were responsible for the murder at the Hongyezhuang Hotel. Futamata's police station only needed to investigate the body of Masahiro Ajika, an important insider in the Hongyezhuang case, and there was no need to meddle in other people's business.There was unhappiness in their eyes.

"I'm sorry, if you don't mind, can you accommodate me?" Yatabe begged with his head bowed.His hair was already grey. The detectives from Kyoto also knew that they were asking for something, so they immediately put on a smile and said, "Okay." The agent pulled a photocopied floor plan from the bag.Yatabe and Section Chief Yamazaki leaned together. "Oh... oh... this is the drawing of Room 208 at the scene of the crime, and this is the floor plan of Hongyezhuang Hotel." Yatabe stared at the two floor plans and recognized God. The victim died in the six-fold bedroom, separated from the eight-fold living room by a paper door.There is also a paper door on the north side, with cement outside the door, which is lower than the room, and outside is the door connecting the room and the corridor.At the end of the interior corridor is the washroom and bathroom.There is a narrow backyard outside the bathroom wall, and the same is true for the eight-storey room and the six-storey room, except that these two rooms have glass windows with curtains drawn, and there is a narrow corridor outside the window.On the west side of the backyard is a wall. The floor plan of Room 208 shows that there are two quilts in the six-fold bedroom, and the deceased is lying in one of the quilts.The picture also shows the detailed structure of the eight-fold living room: shelves, mirror stands, hangers in the corner, the victim’s dress hanging on the hanger, a small table in the middle, a tea set on the table, the location of the victim’s handbag, etc. .

In the bathroom, frosted glass doors, laundry baskets, tiled floors and bathtubs are drawn.Each graph has a name written on it. "So that's how it is, the picture is so clear." The Yatabe detective wearing reading glasses praised, "The hot water faucet in the bathroom has not been turned off, and the staff who happened to pass by the door saw heat coming out of the crack in the door." When I came out, I called room 208 at 1:40, but no one answered. He felt that something was wrong, so he opened the door with the spare key and entered the room, so he found the body, right?"

"Yes, you know that very well." "It's all from the newspapers. Is that information provided by the Kyoto police to reporters?" "Well, it's sort of it." The director of Jingdu showed a sad face. "But why doesn't anyone turn off the tap..." Yatabe looked at the floor plan and asked with his gray head tilted. "Perhaps the victim and the prisoner forgot to turn it off when they came out of the bathroom. Afterwards, they got into the bed, so they didn't care about the faucet. This kind of thing often happens in love hotels." Kyoto investigators said.

"Yeah...how can I care about it..." After the elderly detective finished speaking, he showed a wretched smile. "...Is there semen in the victim's body?" Yatabe continued to ask. "That's the fault here. I didn't find it during the autopsy." The Kyoto investigator replied with a slight displeasure. "Oh? Why? Didn't they have sex after they entered the bed?" "The prisoner has murderous intentions. Before doing anything, he pretended to caress and strangled the woman's neck with a rope. The murder alone is enough to make the prisoner excited. How can he have sex with a woman?" "But they should be able to hear the sound of water in the bathroom. If the faucet is not turned off, it will definitely attract the attention of the staff. Isn't that why the staff found the body at 1:40 in the morning?" "Maybe the prisoner is too anxious and only thinks about escaping. Officer Yatabe, I heard from your section chief just now that Mioka didn't want to use the bathtub in the room to take a bath in the lake green pavilion of Kanzanji Hot Spring. The bathtub is not good, so I ran to the public bath in the end, am I right?" "This is what Minister Oishi told us." "Mioka hates the bathtub in the room so much, it must be because the bathtub reminds him of the bathroom in Room 208 of the Momijiso Hotel? He probably doesn't want to recall that he killed someone." "It turns out that there is indeed such a possibility." Yatabe pretended to agree and changed the question. "May I ask what time did the autopsy in Kyoto take place on the 28th?" "We arrived at the Hongyezhuang Hotel in Kurama Kifunecho at two o'clock in the morning. Because it was midnight, there were no cars on the road, and the police car drove at full speed and arrived in a while. The autopsy results speculated that the deceased was the day before, that is, at nine o'clock in the evening on the 27th. Killed between ten o'clock." "Oh... I would also like to take the liberty to ask, what is the basis for you to judge the time of death?" Yatabe asked politely while scratching his head. "A small number of plaques appeared on the back of the victim Miyoko Sawada's body. Therefore, the forensic doctor judged that the time of death was four to five hours before the autopsy." "That means the victim died at the same time as Mioka was in the room, right?" "Yes, exactly." Plaques appear on the human body three hours after death.At the time of the autopsy, the victim's plaques were still very faint, so the forensic doctor speculated that the time of death was four to five hours before the autopsy. "What about the state of stiffness after death?" Yatabe continued to ask. "Haven't started to stiffen yet." "What about the temperature of the corpse?" Yatabe asked again. "Seventeen degrees five." The investigator in Kyoto replied, looking at his notebook. "It's so high, it doesn't look like the temperature of a body four or five hours after death." "Maybe it's because she's lying in bed." Hypothermia, body cools. 1. Under normal circumstances, it is 10 hours after death; 2. 3 to 4 hours in the case of thin outdoor clothing; 3. 8 to 10 hours when the indoor clothes are thin; 4. 10 to 12 hours when the room is covered with a quilt. The above passage is excerpted from "Scientific Search Essentials Forensic Science Knowledge".The situation of Miyoko Sawada is in line with Article 4. "Could it have something to do with the fact that the deceased just took a bath before being strangled to death? As soon as she warmed her body, she got into the bed and was strangled to death afterward. That's why her body temperature is so high?" "Maybe..." the investigator in Kyoto replied casually. "I'm really sorry for asking so many questions, thank you very much." Yatabe asked about the autopsy status of other police stations, and hurriedly bowed his head to express his thanks.The criminal section chief Yamazaki next to him also did the same. "Ah, by the way, I want to ask a question by the way..." Yatabe seemed to remember something suddenly. "Oh, what do you dare to ask?" "It's the wall on the west side of the backyard outside Room 208. It's also drawn on the floor plan. How tall is this wall?" "Two meters to one meter, look at the drawing." The investigator in Kyoto said, pointing to the drawing. "Ah, yes, it is indeed written," Yatabe raised his reading glasses and asked, "Then the prisoner climbed up from the inside of the fence, that is, from the backyard, and then jumped off the fence to escape?" "should be." "Mioka weighs 80 kilograms. Can he climb over a wall that is more than two meters high?" "Isn't it said that a dog jumps over a wall in a hurry? When people are in a hurry, they will burst out with supernatural power. Many people are like this when they escape from the scene of a fire." "Oh, I see……" Yatabe held up his hands.Mr. Yamazaki felt as if he was hugging something.After that, Yatabe tilted his head again and lowered his hands. "The road outside the fence is by the river, about one meter wide, right? Cars shouldn't be able to drive in such a narrow road, right?" "If you can't drive in, it's more like a path than a road." There are a lot of weeds growing on both sides. " "Weeds? Does that mean that if a car comes in, it will leave marks on the grass?" "No cars on the road. Weeds are not run over by wheels." "Is there any trace of someone jumping off the wall?" Yatabe asked.He just said "By the way", but he didn't expect the questions to be asked one after another, without any intention of stopping.The investigators from Kyoto also looked impatient. "Yes, we sent people to investigate after dawn the next day, and found that some branches of the bushes by the wall were broken, which should be the marks left by people when they jumped off the wall. Judging from the number of broken branches, the one who jumped off People should be heavy." "That's Ajika..." Yatabe muttered to himself.Yamazaki also nodded. "Yes, that's him. A weight of 80 kilograms is just enough to leave that kind of mark." The investigator from Kyoto said. "What about the shoe prints?" "There are no shoe prints. The path was not paved, it was muddy, and the ground was not very hard, but we couldn't find any shoe prints. We speculated that the prisoner was not wearing shoes. He took the shoes in his hand and ran away barefoot." Yes. But we didn't find footprints either..." "If he climbed over the wall with the shoes, he might have tied the two shoes together with shoelaces and hung them around his neck, or he might have thrown the shoes out of the wall first, and then climbed over the wall by himself... ..." "The former is more likely. After all, the road outside the wall is very narrow, and if you are not careful, your shoes will be thrown into the river." "right……" Yatabe stared at the floor plan through reading glasses and folded his arms. "And taking off his shoes and jumping over the wall is not inconsistent with Mioka's subsequent actions. Didn't he buy a new pair of socks at the shop in front of Demachiyanagi station? He didn't wear shoes when he walked on the path, and the socks must be stained So...everything is on the right track." Yatabe said absent-mindedly, his eyes still looking at the floor plan. "Just now you said that the road outside the wall is very narrow. If you throw your shoes outside the wall, the shoes are likely to fall into the river, right?" "yes……" "How wide is that river?" "It's not written on the picture, it's about five meters." "How deep is the water?" "It's quite deep, about 1.2 meters." "One meter two, so it just doesn't reach the neck... Isn't the bottom of the river full of potholes?" "No, the river bed is quite flat, and there are small stones washed up from the upstream. But the river bed slopes towards the downstream, so the water is still relatively strong." "What is the approximate slope of the river bed?" "This...we haven't measured it, but the slope should not be particularly large." "Across the river is the slope of the mountain, right?" Yatabe said, pointing to the floor plan.Yamazaki leaned over to take a look. "Yes, it's the foot of the Kurama Mountain block." "Is there a road on the slope by the river bank?" "There's a walking path." "Oh? Where is the entrance to the road?" "It's on this Kyoto prefectural road. Go around a hundred meters south of Hongyezhuang Hotel, just across the bridge." "Oh, so, there is a fork in front of the pier, and one of the roads is the small road outside the wall of Hongyezhuang Hotel, right?" "yes." "There should be no one in this area at night, right?" "Indeed, there are only a few people on that promenade during the day. The government road is deserted after ten o'clock in the evening. The windows and doors of the houses on the side of the road are closed at eight o'clock..." "What about the car?" "There are cars, because there is a village nearby. Anyway, after Mioka escaped from the Hongyezhuang Hotel before ten o'clock, no one saw him walking along the government road. He didn't take the car at Guichuankou Station, but ran to Kurama Station Get in the car." "How do you know he got into the car there?" "The penultimate train from Kurama Station to Demachiyanagi Station departed at 10:30 in the evening. The steward said that there were a dozen passengers in the car, and one of them kept facing the window with his head down, fearing others See yourself. His figure and clothes fit Mioka exactly." "Oh, so that's how it is... Is there a sightseeing poster of Mount Kurama on the bus?" "The poster of Mount Anma? It's not very clear..." In the pocket of the drowned Mioka, a water-blue sock wrapped in a sightseeing poster of Mount Kurama was found-Section Chief Yamazaki and Yatabe Detectives did not tell the investigators from Kyoto about this.So when Yatabe asked about the poster, they were also at a loss. "Oh...thank you very much." Yatabe put away his reading glasses and bowed to the three Kyoto investigators. "Chairman." Chief Criminal Officer Yamazaki listened to Yatabe's question without saying a word.At this time, the director of the Kyoto investigator finally spoke. "...The information you provided makes us more certain that the prisoner who strangled Miyoko Sawada at the Hongyezhuang Hotel was Masahiro Mioka. It is a pity that he has committed suicide by throwing himself into the river... The reason why Mioka suffered from a nervous breakdown must be because of his fault The torment of guilt. Actually, there is another strong evidence to prove it." "Evidence? What evidence?" Both Yamazaki and Yatabe turned their attention to the director. "Mioka stayed at Hotel K in Kyoto from the 26th to the 27th, and the room manager there told us that on the night of the 26th, Mioka took away the artificial flowers in the room without authorization. I even took a taxi to go out, trying to get rid of the fake flowers." "Fulang fake flowers?" "Yes. It's a decoration in the bathroom of the room." The investigators in Kyoto told the two policemen about the "false flower incident" inquired by the K Hotel and the whole process of the driver sending the fake flowers back to the hotel. "...the fake flowers are not valuables, the key is that they are gerbera flowers". " Ajika, who was drowned, also had "Furo Fake Flowers" in his jacket pocket.They also did not tell the investigators in Kyoto. It is impossible for the fake flowers of the Kyoto Hotel to appear in the pocket of the deceased.Even if it is the same fake flower, it cannot be the same flower. When Yamazaki and Yatabe heard the word "fake flower", they immediately became nervous. "How do you say that?" the investigator in Kyoto asked. "...On June 10th, a male body was found on the roof of the Shenbang Building in Marunouchi, Tokyo. The deceased was named Yanagihara Kosuke. After being strangled to death, he was transported by three people pretending to be porters from a construction company. On the roof of the building. You must have heard of this, right?" "It seems to have been published in the newspaper. However, neither the Metropolitan Police Department nor the county police station asked us to assist in the investigation, and we don't know the details of the case." Section Chief Yamazaki said worriedly. "The prisoner in that case was also arrested. The police conducted the first on-site investigation on the 10th. Unexpectedly, when they went to the mechanical room on the roof to investigate again on the 11th, they found something that was not found the day before. Something... there is an extra gerbera flower in the corner of the scene." "Huh? Are those fake flowers too?" "No, those are real flowers." Facing the two “rural” policemen in Shizuoka who knew nothing about it, the investigators from Kyoto showed sympathy. "No one knows who that flower was and when it was placed. Whether it is a fake flower or a real flower, it is a gerbera flower, and that is the point of the problem." "..." "The victim of the Murder at Hongyezhuang Hotel, Miyoko Sawada, was the secretary of the Dongmei Economic Research Institute, and the research institute was located in the Shenbang building. On June 10, the day when the body of Takasuke Yanagihara was found on the roof, Sawada A vase happened to be placed on Miyoko's desk, and there was a gerbera flower in the vase." "What the hell is going on here?" Yatabe, who had always been calm, panicked.The investigator in Kyoto glanced at Yatabe out of the corner of his eye and said: "We don't know the connection. But when Mioka was staying in the hotel in Kyoto, he took out the fake flowers in the room. The key to the murder case in the Shenbang Building... Section Chief, I suggest that you should report the case of Mioka's drowning to the police immediately." This is the advice of the investigators in Kyoto. Before the investigators from Kyoto left the police station, they asked the Minister of Oishi Road Construction of Sunstar Construction about the situation in another room. The Kyoto side became more and more certain that Ajika Masahiro was the prisoner who killed Miyoko Sawada at the Hongyezhuang Hotel.They may announce this news in the near future: the person who committed suicide by throwing himself into the river at the Chuanming Dam is the prisoner in the Hongyezhuang case. They wanted to ask Mioka's wife for more information, but after she retrieved the body in Hamamatsu City, she went back to Tokyo.After the autopsy is completed, the police will also temporarily bury the remains, and there is no need to detain the remains. "I also want to say goodbye and go back to Tokyo..." Oishi asked Yamazaki Criminal Section Chief to return to Tokyo.Dashi is taking care of his neurasthenic boss, and he has to face the death of his boss. He has also accepted rounds of investigations by the police, and he is already exhausted physically and mentally. "I'm really sorry, thank you for cooperating with our agency in your busy schedule. I'm really sorry for delaying you for so long." "No, it's Mioka from our company who caused trouble for everyone. I'm really sorry. There are still many things waiting for me in Tokyo. I have to go back to the company quickly. If you need me, please call me at any time , if the police station is going to send investigators to Tokyo, please feel free to ask me if you need my help." "Then please. Thank you." Yamazaki bowed his head respectfully.Yatabe did the same.The section chief watched Dashi's taxi leave at the gate of the police station. The next day, Yamazaki was drinking tea in the office when Yatabe suddenly rushed in with a small bag wrapped in a handkerchief in his hand. "Leader, look at this!" He put the packet on the table and untied the handkerchief.It turned out that there were two kraft paper packets in the cloth bag.When I opened it, it was filled with dry taupe soil.There is a piece of paper in each of the two packets, with "Left" and "Right" written on it with a marker. "What's this?" the section chief asked, looking at the dirt on the table. "It's the mud in the shoe of Ajika who drowned. When he was floating in the water, the mud got in through the gap between his foot and the shoe. This is the mud from the right shoe, and this is the mud from the left. The mud poured out of the shoes has dried up. The shoes are returned to Mioka's wife." Yatabe replied pointing at the mud. "Hmm... So much mud has entered... Because of the rain, the mud, sand and stones washed down from the upper reaches of Tianlongchuan along the river." "The water in Dam Lake is also very turbid. And Mioka's body is floating on the shore, and there is a lot of sediment on the shore. There are also small pebbles as fine as sand." Yatabe poked the dirt on the kraft paper with the tip of a pencil.He spread a sheet of white paper on the head of the class's desk, picked up seven pebbles the size of sand grains and placed them on the paper. "Some are black, some are blue." The head of the class thought that they were just ordinary pebbles, and it was no big deal. "I asked the experts to look at it, and they said it was sedimentary rock and andesite. But look, there is a small brown stone in it, the biggest one. It was found in the right shoe." "Well... only the color of this stone is different, what kind of stone is this?" This is an oval stone with a diameter of three millimeters, and the corners are very sharp. "It's a beautiful color, but it's just soiled. It's not a common stone in this area." "Really? In my opinion, these stones are all similar..." "Please take a closer look, this small stone is not broken in the natural environment. For example, the surface of the pumice at the bottom of the river will be smoother, but the corners of this stone are very sharp. Look, the stone here is Is it smoother? It was washed by the river. But this brown stone is not so smooth." "I guess it fell into the river somewhere? The stone must have been drilled in when the body was floating in the water. If he was still alive, there was such a stone in his shoe, he must not be able to walk, it hurts." It hurts too." "No, the stone should have been inserted into the shoe when Mioka-san advanced." "how do you know?" "It's written in the autopsy report, listen to it." Yatabe opened his notebook and read a sentence he copied from the autopsy report. "There is a stab wound several millimeters deep on the sole of the right foot, and there is a living reaction." "That is to say, this brown stone stabbed the sole of Mioka's right foot?" There was a slight change in the teacher's eyes. "It should be. The wound on the sole of the foot should be caused by this stone." Yatabe said with a frown. "But if Mioka had had this stone in his shoe before he died, wouldn't he have taken off his shoe and poured out the stone? It's so sharp that it could cut through the skin, that's what anyone would do Besides, he couldn't walk if there was a stone in his shoe. Ajika walked five kilometers from Ermata to Daba Lake in the heavy rain. He couldn't walk five kilometers with this stone, right? Even if the stone fell into the shoe halfway, it is impossible to endure it for so long..." "I think so too. So whether Mioka actually walks in these shoes is open to question." "Could it be that he was walking in another pair of shoes?" "Will a person who commits suicide by throwing himself into a river prepare a spare pair of shoes?" "Then what do you think?" "I haven't figured it out yet. In short, it is necessary to find someone to ask what kind of mineral this brown pebble is." "Well, then ask the science teacher in high school, just ask the teacher in my son's school." Section Chief Yamazaki wrapped the brown pebbles with the white paper used for calligraphy, and made another business card case, put it in, and closed the lid.Then, he picked up a piece of letter paper and briefly wrote down the question he wanted to ask. "Chairman, by the way, how did the stone break?" Yatabe asked. The head of the section called a young police officer and asked him to take a business card case and an envelope to the high school and show it to the science teacher. After the police officer left the office, Yamazaki stared at Yatabe and asked, "I have something to ask you." "Ah? What's the matter?" "Didn't you ask his wife Ajika if she was left-handed last time? Why did you ask that?" "Because there were two abrasions on the palm of Mioka's left hand. During the on-site autopsy, the forensic doctor judged that they were wounds caused during his lifetime, and the autopsy report also said so. But there was no wound on the palm and wrist of his right hand, so I suspected Weigang Are you left-handed? If you are right-handed, the defensive injury should be on your right hand." "Defensive injury? You mean when he jumped into the water, he pushed aside the branch with his hand?" "Not only branches, but as long as there is something that is likely to touch the face, people will instinctively reach out to block it. The scratch on his hand should be like this. Mrs. Weigang said that her husband is not left-handed, but It's right-handed." "Then why doesn't he use his right hand to block?" "It should be because he didn't use it on purpose." "Not on purpose? Why?" Yatabe wiped his flat nose. "If you don't use it when it should be used, it only means that he can't use it." " The head of the class said dumbfoundedly: "Could it be...you..." "That's right, I think Mioka's right hand is bound." "Did someone grab his right hand?..." "This possibility is very high. We have always believed that the wound on the palm of his left hand was scratched by a branch in the water when he jumped into the river, and it was just a coincidence that the wound was concentrated on the palm of the left hand. But I heard that the right hand of the deceased The brown pebble was found in the shoe, and there was another stab wound on the sole of his right foot, so I became suspicious. If there was a pebble in the shoe, no matter how much he could bear it, he couldn’t walk ten steps, right? But he didn’t get the stones out of his shoes, why? Because he couldn’t take off his shoes! This is the same as his right hand being bound.” "Then do you think someone grabbed his right hand?" "Not just his right hand, I suspect his whole body was tied up." "But...but," Yamazaki said in panic, his face flushed red, "but even if someone holds his right hand, he can't walk, right? The stones in his shoes will hurt him! Ajika Wouldn't you tell that person that you got a stone in your shoe and want to pour it out?" "If Ajika hadn't walked, there wouldn't be that need." "What? Ajika didn't walk?" Yamazaki stared at Yatabe. "The right-handed man only uses his left hand. A small stone got into his shoe, and the sole of his foot was injured by the stone, but he still came to the shore of Dam Lake, which is five kilometers away from Ermata Feiliu Pavilion. From this point of view , Mioka probably went there by car, not on foot." The section chief crossed his arms and stared at the ceiling for a long time.He couldn't sit still any longer, stood up, and walked to the window. The window of the office is facing National Route 152.This road passes the scene of the crime of the Funaki Dam, passes through the Akiha Dam, then to the Sakuma Dam, and goes north along the Tenryu River to Iida City, Nagano Prefecture.The sky is clear today, and trucks, taxis, and cars are coming and going in the sun. "Chairman." Yatabe walked to the head of the section and looked out the window, "Mioka didn't commit suicide. Although he was a little nervous, he certainly didn't have the idea of ​​suicide. Of course, the basis of my judgment is not only that he didn't leave a will ——Many people who commit suicide do not know how to write a will. On the morning of the 28th, he called home from the K Hotel in Kyoto, saying that he would be home at eleven o’clock tonight, and asked his wife to prepare a bowl for him Cold noodles for supper. Not only that, but he also told his wife not to cut the dog’s hair, and let him cut it when he went back. People who want to commit suicide would never say these things. He thought he would be safe and sound. I went home with the accident. As I told you before, I firmly believe that he did not commit suicide." "If Mioka was really driven to the Funaki Dam, what kind of car would it be?" the section chief asked looking at the busy traffic outside the window.With that look, it seemed that the car that Mioka was riding in was running on the road. "The place where people can sit in that car should be very narrow." Yatabe also said looking at the traffic. "A car with a narrow seat?" "It's not necessarily a seat"... Anyway, the place where Mioka sits must be very narrow.And as long as he moved a little, he would bump into something hard in front of him. " "Something hard?" Yatabe opened his notebook again and read: "The autopsy report says this: the corpse had slight abrasions on the palm of the left hand and the skin of the right knee joint, and it was confirmed that there was a living reaction." "Ok……" "That is to say, when he moved his right knee, he hit something in front of him and scratched his foot through his trousers. This shows that the place where Mioka sits is very narrow. No matter how narrow the seat of a car is, that's not the case. There will be a leather panel between the seat and the front driver's seat, and you won't get scratched just by moving your knees. This means that there must be something hard and angular in front of Mioka." "..." "This is also consistent with the wound on the palm of his left hand. There is also that kind of hard thing right in front of his face. The car will keep shaking, and it will touch his face if he is not careful. That's why he stretched out his hand to protect it." He had to hold his face, so the palm of his hand hurt. He should have stretched out his hands, but his right hand was tied, so he could only use the palm of his left hand." "Then...you mean Mioka is riding in a truck?" "Yeah, I think the truck is very likely." "Hmm... the truck... but Yatabe, Mioka slipped out of Hiryuke in the dead of night by himself. You know, there is no sign of a fight in the room, and he doesn't look like he was kidnapped. After all, there was no sign of intrusion in the room. At least Mioka walked out of the back door of the hotel on his own will. Then why was he tied up and thrown on the truck afterwards?" "This is the crux of the problem! I can't figure it out either." Yatabe lowered his head, stretched out two fingers and rubbed the base of his nose, as if he was giving a massage. At this time, a policeman opened the door and walked in. "Section Chief, people from the First Search Section of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department are here." The police officer holds a business card in his hand. The two visitors to the Metropolitan Police Department are from the sixth team of the first search section, and one is the team leader, whose position is filled by the police department.The other was the Minister—a seasoned veteran known as the "Old Inspector." The two asked Yamazaki and Yatabe about the details of Ajika Masahiro's drowning incident. However, the Metropolitan Police Department did not seem to have much interest in the drowning case, and the two officers did not ask too many questions.They just came to understand the situation and use it as a reference. Instead, Yamazaki and Yatabe took the initiative to ask many questions. "We found a fake gerbera flower in the pocket of Mioka's dead body. As you two know, there was a commotion over the gerbera flower in the K Hotel in Kyoto where he was staying. On June 10, In the mechanical room on the roof of the Shenbang Building in Marunouchi, Tokyo, wasn’t a dead man named Kosuke Yanagihara found? When the police conducted an on-site investigation on the 11th, they also found a flower that was not found in the previous day’s investigation. Lang Hua, does this have anything to do with the fake flowers we found?" "There should be no direct relationship..." Most of the questions were answered by the leader of the sixth team of the first search section, and the minister would occasionally add something. "...Kosuke Yanagihara, who was strangled to death, had been dead for three full days when he was found. He was moved to the mechanical room on the roof of the building after he was killed elsewhere. We haven't found out where the murder scene was. .Although there are witnesses who saw the group of people carrying the corpse, their identities have not yet been ascertained. , that's too inexplicable..." "Who was the one who threw the Fulang flower at the scene the next day after the incident, and for what reason?" "We don't know who did it. In fact, we are not sure if someone threw the flower at the scene on the 11th. The body was discovered by the building maintenance personnel during patrolling, and it was found in the afternoon of the 10th. Around 5:10. After receiving the report, the police rushed to the scene for a preliminary investigation, and then sent the body back to the Metropolitan Police Department’s Surveillance Medical Center for autopsy. The team was closed at around 8:00 pm.黑了，详细的现场调查是第二天上午十点开始的。所以我们收队之后，也就是十日晚上八点到十一日上午十点这段时间里，谁都可以把花丢到机械室里去。” “那段时间里没有派警员保护现场吗？” “那地方没必要派警员彻夜看守。拉条禁止入内的绳子就够了。” 警视厅的来客显得不太高兴。 “会不会是和被害者柳原孝助有关的人来悼念的时候留下的啊？” “和被害者有关的人？”警视厅警官看着矢田部回答道，“我们一开始也考虑过这个可能性，而且得到了有力的证词。十日下午四点半左右，那时尸体还没有被发现，在神邦大楼七楼某家公司上班的一名女员工坐电梯上楼，当时电梯里还有一个五十多岁的肥胖绅士跟她一起上了七楼。” “五十多岁的肥胖绅士……听上去和味冈很像啊。” “没错，他就是味冈。我们向日星建设要来了味冈的照片，给那名女员工看过，她一眼就认出那就是和自己坐同一部电梯上楼的人。” “那就是说，味冈在维修人员发现尸体之前去过屋顶机械室吗？” “不，我们并不能确定他究竟有没有去机械室。到七楼之后，那名女员工就下电梯了，一直没有回头，她也不知道味冈究竟是往哪儿走的。” “可味冈为什么要坐电梯上七楼呢？莫非他要去七楼的某家公司吗？” “不，我们问过日星建设了，七楼没有和他们有生意关系的公司。味冈的行动的确令人费解，但我们也的确没有证据证明他去过屋顶机械室。” “味冈既然去了七楼，即便没有确凿的证据，他去机械室的可能性还是很大的吧？” “说不定他没有下电梯呢？” “什么？没下电梯？” “味冈的可疑举动还不止这些。六月十日送味冈专务去神邦大楼的日星建设的司机作证说，那天味冈去了神邦大楼两次。第一次是下午两点五十左右，从有乐町和大手町中间的铁桥下的一家名叫DATE"的咖啡厅出发的，车子在咖啡厅旁边的停车场里等了足足两小时。 " “他在铁桥下的咖啡厅里等了两个小时？” “不只是味冈，还有另外两家建筑公司的高层干部。公司的名字和干部的名字我们都打听到了。其实他们是约在那家咖啡厅见面，然后一起去神邦大楼里的某家事务所。他们之所以会在咖啡厅里等两个小时，是因为他们要见面的人还没有回办公室。DATE"的服务员说，他们中的一个在两点四十分左右给外面打了个电话，过了一会儿他们三个就走了。只有味冈被一个满头白发的男人叫了出去，站在路边谈了十分钟。 " "what the hell is it?" “建筑行业还保留着旧式的习惯，在投标公共事业的时候，总会搞围标"。当然你即使去问建筑行业的人，他们也不会跟你说实话的。 " “啊，原来如此……三家一流建筑公司的高层都来了，看来那一定是个大项目吧？” “好像是连接R县和J县的收费道路工程。施工主是两县的道路公社，不过国库会出一部分补贴，所以还是由国家在管理。围标的规模肯定也不小。” “连接R县和J县的收费道路？造了干什么啊？” “表面上是促进地区开发，其实是条观光道路。R县稗津、鹿山、刈野、那珂山这四个温泉胜地，也就是所谓的北国温泉乡"。那群温泉旅馆老板希望能够建成一条直接连接温泉乡和名古屋的道路，吸引东京和关西来的游客。 " “刈野温泉……” 辖区警署的两名警官朝对方看去。 警视厅的警官继续说道：“我都说到这个份儿上了，想必两位也能猜出这三位建筑公司高层去了神邦大楼的哪家事务所了吧？” “报上说，在京都被杀的泽田美代子在神邦大楼的东明经济研究所工作。” “没错，研究所的所长叫巨势堂明，是建筑业人尽皆知的怪物"。用报纸上的话说，就是所谓的幕后黑手"。泽田美代子是东明经济研究所唯一的员工，整个事务所就她一个人，也只有一部电话。也就是说，泽田美代子平时就用那部电话和外界联系，所以巨势堂明非常信任这位女秘书。” 警视厅的两位警官将柳原孝助一案的调查结果告知了两位乡下警官——当然是在一定范围之内。 “六月十日味冈的可疑举动，就是和其他建筑公司的高层一起，拜访了那位巨势堂明的事务所吗？” “不，那是他们三个人一起去的，算不上可疑举动。他们谈话的内容当然另当别论……三点半左右，味冈和其他人一起离开大楼，与另外两人分手之后，上了他们公司的车，但就在车子往公司开的时候，他突然命令司机掉头回神邦大楼去。” “这是为什么啊？” “我们也不清楚。司机说当时他都开到东京站八重洲口附近了，可味冈突然命令他回神邦大楼，好像是忘了拿什么东西一样。味冈回到神邦大楼之后，半天没出来，一小时后他才回到车上。” “味冈去楼里干什么了啊？”辖区警署的两名警官两眼放光。 “哦，大楼地下街的咖啡厅服务员告诉我们，味冈在店里跟一个满头白发的男人聊了很长时间。” “满头白发的男人？……莫非是味冈在那家有乐町铁桥下的DATE"咖啡厅的时候，喊他出去说话的那个人？ " “是的，他的名字我们也打听到了，也是建筑业的人。当时他还不能进出巨势的东明经济研究所。其实东明经济研究所是个挂羊头卖狗肉的地方，它其实是个叫南苑会的组织，直接由巨势堂明领导，是个进行建筑行业围标的机构。虽说是围标，但并不是决定投标金额这种细节。巨势堂明在大藏省和其他政府官厅的高层那儿相当吃得开，南苑会就是个高级的中介机构。所有人的口风都很严，不肯透露详细情况。” 在两位“乡下警察”看来，警视厅已经查出不少情报了，可他们究竟有没有把所有调查结果都告知京都警署呢？Hard to say.在对等的局面下，警署的“领地意识”就会发挥作用，两者互不相让。不过矢田部和山崎是“乡下警察”，所以警视厅的人才会放心大胆地把情报告诉他们吧。 “那个满头白发的建筑业人士特别想进南苑会，一直拜托味冈介绍自己和巨势堂明认识。” 这条信息，肯定是警视厅从其他建筑业人士那里打听到的。 “……味冈和白发男子去大楼地下的咖啡厅谈话的时间大概是下午四点五十分。从时间上来看，应该是在味冈从七楼下来之后。” “哦……那味冈去七楼的目的究竟是什么？” “我们推测，也许味冈和那个白发男子约好了在七楼见面。味冈之所以要折回神邦大楼，是不想让另外两位公司高层发现这场会面。所以他装作离开大楼的样子，与另外两人分别，等他们回公司之后，味冈再装作忘拿东西的样子，命令司机折回神邦大楼。那个白发男子，不是和味冈在铁桥下的咖啡厅外悄悄聊了一会儿么？” 知道味冈和那个白发男子站在“DATE”咖啡厅门外谈话的人，是大东组建设的成濑敬一和共荣建设的中原武夫。警视厅应该向他们中的某人或是两人了解过情况。当然，他们是不会提供有关巨势堂明和南苑会的情报的——这方面的消息，应该是从没能加入南苑会的建筑业人士打听来的吧，正所谓“吃不到的葡萄酸”。 “难道味冈和屋顶机械室的那具尸体没有什么关联吗？” “应该没有。味冈的司机说，他坐在车里等味冈回来的时候，发现有好几辆警车和报社的车往神邦大楼那边快速驶去，他就跑去凑热闹了。围在大楼门口的人说，屋顶上发现了一句尸体。他本想多看一会儿，可一想到专务随时都可能回来，就回去了。走到车子附近一看，发现专务正站在附近躲雨，把他吓得不轻。味冈在车里问他，你究竟干什么去了？"司机就一五一十地告诉了味冈。味冈听说楼顶发现了一具尸体，大吃一惊，还问他死者是男是女呢。要是味冈和屋顶的那具尸体有关联，那他肯定知道死者是个男人，不会向司机提出那种问题的。这应该不是味冈故意演戏给司机看的，而是他随口问出的问题。至少司机是那么说的。 " “你们应该打听到那个白头发的建筑业人士的名字了吧？能不能告诉我们啊？” “他可是案情的重要知情人，不能随便透露他的情报。” 警视厅调查员撂下这句话后，便踏上了归途。 高中理科老师对“小石子”的分析如下： 您给的小石子是“辉绿凝灰岩”，由碱性凝灰岩变质而成。极少情况下会与玄武岩、辉绿岩、细碧岩一起出现在海底堆积层中，多见于秩父古生层与中生层。本为暗绿色，但还会发出红色等颜色的光芒，所以也被称为“五色石”。石质不硬。在飞騨、越前、加贺地区很常见。在我们三河、骏河地区没有这种石头。您的小石子应该不是在自然状态下变碎的，而是人为弄碎的。 装有小石子的名片盒也被送了回来。山崎课长从盒子中取出石子，放在掌心看了又看。直径三毫米、呈椭圆形的石子看上去是茶色的，可是放在阳光下就成了红色。 “辉绿凝灰岩，俗称五色石。” 他一边自言自语，一边用手指抚摸着石头——它的表面很光滑。 那是人工弄碎的石子，难怪会变成椭圆形了。 “这种五色石能变成这么碎吗？” 矢田部歪着脑袋。他在想事情的时候总会皱起眉头，扁平的五官缩成一团。 “这就不清楚了。新潟县出产的翡翠会在丝鱼川附近加工成领带夹、袖扣、戒指、皮带扣什么的。信州的松本地区会用黑曜石做装饰……” 山崎的老家就在新潟县。 “可五色石不是什么贵重的宝石吧？” “是啊，要是用来作装饰，就不会变成这样的碎石子了。” “碎石？” 矢田部动了动眉毛。他又扫了一眼高中老师的信。 “老师的信上说，这一带压根就没有五色石啊。” “天龙川上游呢？” “不清楚啊，我也没听说过。况且这石子肯定不是顺着河水流下来的。味冈下水之前，它就在他鞋里了，所以他的脚底心才会受伤。” "Ok……" “石头会不会是从越前、加贺、飞騨那儿运来的？” “难道就运这一小块不成？” “当然是和其他石头混在一起运的，课长您刚才一说碎石"，我就想起来了。 " “碎石是制作水泥的原料……”山崎也明白了。 “不只是水泥。铺路的时候，也会用碎石代替沙土。” “味冈是建筑公司的吧？” “是日星建设的专务。” “如果你的推测没错，那就相当可疑了啊，”山崎细长的眼睛闪着光芒，声音中气十足，“你的意思是，有人把味冈丢在装有五色石碎石子的货车上，再用车把他从二俣的飞流阁送去大坝湖的现场？” “不一定是那种专门运沙石的货车，但很有可能是和建筑行业有关的车子。” “可座位底下会有这种碎石子吗？” “这么小，没人会注意到的。也许它原本在后面的货架上，在司机或工人搬运的时候嵌进了他们的鞋底，然后就掉在驾驶座的地板上了。被绑住的味冈不断挣扎，小石头很有可能就这么滑进鞋子里了。因为他是坐车去的，所以鞋子里有小石子，也能顺利到达船明大坝的湖畔。” “没想到就因为这么一颗小小的五色石……话说从飞流阁到大坝的这段国道上，还有味冈落水的现场，就只发现了这一块五色石吗？” “这块石头应该掉在驾驶座地板上的，国道上和落水点附近应该没有。况且车上装的不只是五色石的碎片，肯定还混有其他碎石子。也就是说挖出那块原石的地方，正好卡了一块五色石。” “那就很有可能是从飞騨、越前、加贺地区运碎石子过来的卡车吧？” 山崎为了稳定自己的情绪，点了根烟。 “也不一定。凶手为了行凶，可以从任何地方调一辆车过来。” “任何地方？啊，反正他的目的是行凶，车上不装碎石子也没关系是吧？” “是的，即便那辆车真是专门用来运送碎石子的卡车，那上面也不一定就装了石子。况且空车开起来更快。” “可座位地板上有五色石的碎片，那碎片还进到味冈鞋子里了呢。” “这就说明味冈坐的那辆车，是从工地直接开来二俣的。否则肯定会有人洗车，顺便把地板上的石子也扫走。” 山崎靠在椅背上，闭上眼睛，吞云吐雾。老旧的派出所大楼，原本白色的天花板已经变灰了，角落里还出现了好几条裂缝。 “味冈的日星建设是不是看上那条R县和J县之间的收费道路了？”他面朝天花板说道。 “是的，就在飞騨、越前附近。” “可那项工程还没动土呢。各家建筑公司还在商讨竞标事宜，应该没有正在开工的工地啊。” “的确还没有开工，也许各家建筑公司正在进行摸底调查。” “大石道路建设部长说，味冈去京都参加高尔夫球会之前，大石带着另外两名技术人员去金铃湖畔考察了，收费道路就建在那里是吧？” “是的。大家都还在考察呢，没有一家公司开工……也许只是我多心了吧……” "how do I say this?" “从味冈鞋子里的五色石，也就是辉绿凝灰岩的小碎片，推测出这么多东西来……” “反正是推测嘛，调查的时候不能主观臆测，但推测和想象总是越多越好的，说不定就打开新的调查思路了呢。” 课长安慰着自己的部下，靠在椅背上前后摇晃。 矢田部沉默不语。课长不停地抖动双腿。突然他停了下来，说道：“矢田部啊，日星建设的大石部长说，味冈和大石还有另外两个技术人员一行四人视察过金铃湖畔之后，也就是六月二十五日，去刈野温泉住了一晚。那天晚上他们大摆筵席，还喊来了温泉艺妓，其中一个就是金弥。味冈和那个金弥睡了一晚……第二天，大石部长他们就回东京去了，味冈则前往京都参加高尔夫球会，住在京都的K酒店。酒店前台员工称，二十七日晚上一个自称金弥的女子给味冈打了个电话，约他去贵船的红叶庄酒店见面。他在那家情人酒店里，杀死了泽田美代子。味冈逃跑了，可自责和对警方的恐惧心理让他患上了神经衰弱——以上就是京都警局给我们提供的资料。” "Ok……" “味冈是被自称金弥的人叫出去的，而他在二俣飞流阁的时候也喊出了金弥的名字。” “没错，味冈是二十八日晚上从馆山寺温泉的湖翠阁转移到二俣的飞流阁的。” “他之所以要逃离湖翠阁，是因为看见晚报上刊登了红叶庄发现泽田美代子尸体的消息。他拼命擦房间，就是为了抹去自己的指纹。之后他转移去了飞流阁。当晚，味冈、大石和旅馆老板山根一同用餐，还从滨松喊来了一个叫文吉"的艺妓，可味冈一看见那位冒雨赶来的艺妓，就轻声念叨金弥"二字。” “大石和旅馆老板山根都能证明这件事。” “在大石的证词里，金弥"这个名字出现了两次，当然，在二俣的飞流阁出现的，是和金弥长得很像的滨松艺妓。”山崎说道。矢田部刚想点头，却停了下来。他不太明白课长的意思。 “在京都，金弥是引诱味冈出门的诱饵。”山崎缓缓说道。 "Oh……" “按照你刚才的推理，不，就当是你的想象好了，味冈被人丢进一辆与建筑工地有关的车里，从飞流阁后门出发，行驶了五里路来到船明大坝。可是，这趟路程的起点是飞流阁的后门"，而不是味冈所在的桐之间"，带走味冈的人没有进飞流阁一步。如果有人闯进房间，味冈肯定会反抗，也肯定会有人听见房间的动静，可事实并非如此。二十九日那天我们不是去桐之间"看过吗？房间里也好，从房间到后门的那段路也好，都没有留下任何争吵的痕迹或脚印。那条走廊是有屋顶的，所以脚印不可能是被雨水冲走的。可惜出了后门就没有屋顶了，前一天晚上的大雨把脚印和轮胎印都冲走了。 " “课长，味冈为什么会走出桐之间"，来到后门，又从屋里打开门锁出门——这个谜题已经解开了。他肯定是被金弥叫出去的！被金弥的幻影叫出去的！ " 矢田部兴奋异常，激动得满脸都是皱纹。他站起身，走去课长的办公桌前。 “可是他出门之后呢？……还是没解释清楚啊。” 矢田部发疯似的在房间里来回踱步。突然，他将双手撑在山崎的办公桌上，大声说道：“课长！请给我两天时间出差一趟吧！我定会查清事情的来龙去脉！” “出差？去哪儿啊？” 矢田部一把抢过桌上的纸笔，龙飞凤舞地写下他准备去出差的地方。 “好吧。”山崎瞥了一眼，便同意了。