Chapter 20 Nineteen, dark clouds

They helped the doctor up and went back to the place where they met the peasant before, but there was no sign of the peasant there.They split up and went to the nearby farms to search carefully, but unfortunately they found nothing.As long as you pass through the fields and forests, there are roads extending in all directions ahead.Now, even if the investigation is carried out with great fanfare, it is already a step too late. Therefore, everyone had no choice but to return to their original place dejectedly while taking care of Yoko.But in the process of looking for the murderer separately, everyone found that the assistant Nozaki was also missing.Did he go back first, or is he still searching carefully?No one knows this, but it should not be life-threatening.The more important thing now was to take care of Yoko, so the three cars set off first.Even if you don't get on the train, you can walk to the train station in Land O in 20 minutes.

What did Nozaki Saburo, who was left behind by everyone, do?A series of strange things disturbed his thinking, making him unable to think.In addition, he can't forget Kinue Satomi who turned into a mermaid in Enoshima Aquarium.The sweetheart turned into a mermaid, and the mermaid's beautiful chest gushed bright red blood.The person who made the attack is no different from a demon, they are clearly in front of them, but they are hard to find.Nozaki was thinking wildly and kept walking in the scorching heat of noon. Gradually, he felt his mind went blank. The muddy water in the paddy field is like boiling water.The winding country roads are as dry and hard as asphalt roads. The white walls of the farmhouses and the flags of the shrines at the far end are steaming under the bright sun, and the heat drives away passers-by.

Nozaki didn't seem to know that he was separated from his companions, and just walked along the road in a daze. Scattered farm houses popped up on both sides of the road from time to time.The dog stuck out its long tongue and collapsed on the ground as if suffering from heat stroke.Chickens lazily peck at the feed. Nozaki glanced dully ahead, and suddenly found a man squatting in a dilapidated farm warehouse facing the road across a low hedge. Nozaki was startled and stood there dumbfounded.That person was the farmer they met just now.He accidentally discovered the lair where the villain was hiding.

Nozaki was like a frog being stared at by a snake. Not only could it not move, it couldn't even move its eyes.He couldn't help but stare at the farmer's face. As for the farmer, he has been squatting in the dark depths of the warehouse, strangely motionless, like a dummy, and the other party is also staring at Nozaki.Are his eyeballs made of glass? Why didn't he blink for so long? The two were like beasts that met each other on a narrow road, staring at each other all the time, as if whoever blinked first would lose. After a stalemate like this for a while, unspeakable fear swept Nozaki's whole body, and his eyes began to blacken while he was dizzy.When he felt that he had endured to the limit, he saw a cold smile on the farmer's face...

There was a dusty grocery store in the middle of the town. He rushed into it and immediately asked the old lady who was in charge of the store: "Excuse me, the resident by the hedge, do you see that? Do you know the man standing in front of the warehouse, looking this way?" "Huh? What did you say?" The old lady was startled, looked Nozaki up and down for a while, and finally understood what he meant: "Ah, you ask that old man, his name is Zuo. Of course I know each other, we are relatives. What can you do with Zuo?" "I'm talking about the man. He's walking to the hedge now, the one who's staring at me." Nozaki emphasized again.

"Ah, that person, he is the owner of that house." The old lady replied. Nozaki felt that something was wrong, so he took a closer look, but whether it was the pattern of stripes on his jacket or the color of his slender belt, not to mention his appearance, no matter how he looked, he was clearly the farmer who was tidying up the ridges just now. "Has that person lived in that house all the time?" "Of course, his family lived there three generations ago. Did the old man get into trouble and offend you? Don't look at him like that, but he is a hard-working and capable person, but he is a bit unreasonable. His wife is more Hard."

This unexpected fact made Nozaki more and more flustered the more he heard it.But he still inquired about the man who claimed to be Inagaki on the day that the man who claimed to be Inagaki showed up at the Kanto Building, and the day that Satomi Kinue was lured out of the house by a fake letter, where was the farmer named Azuku, and the old lady confirmed that Azuku hadn’t been in this month. Take a step beyond the village. But then again, what happened to the man staring at him in the warehouse? "I don't know what you are asking him, but instead of asking me, why don't you just ask Ah Zuo?"

"Exactly." Nozaki was at a loss, and before he had time to sort out his thoughts, the old lady was probably eager to show her cleverness, and waved and shouted at A Zuo who was standing by the hedge and looking this way. The farmer dawdled for a long time for some reason, and finally seemed to have the courage to turn around and return to the warehouse. After a while, he stepped over the hedge and walked slowly towards this side, clutching a black and smeared thing. "This gentleman said he has business with you." When he came to the grocery store, the old lady said.

"Sorry. I thought I didn't want this thing, and it doesn't matter if I take it away. Are you here to find this?" Hazuo went straight to the point, and handed Nozaki what was in his hand. It was a crumpled black suit covered in mud.Nozaki took it and took a look. That's right, this is exactly the costume worn by the little hooligan when he was filming the location.You can't go wrong, because even the black hood is there.In addition, there is one thing - although I have not seen that thing before - a well-thumbed map of Tokyo. "That is, you found it and hid it, didn't you?"

"Well, people really can't do bad things. Two or three gentlemen in suits came to my door just now. They delayed for a long time. I wondered if they were looking for this? So I stayed at home in fear. Dare to move. In fact, this thing is not worth my effort, so take it and return it to you." "No, that's not necessary. If you want this dress, you can keep it. But I do have something to ask you. You may not remember that when you were tidying up the field row, there was a car full of cars passing by , the people in the car asked you about the whereabouts of the previous car. I was in the car at the time. In fact, the previous car was the murderer, and we are chasing him. Do you understand? This matter is very important, please Please remember carefully before answering me. When the previous car passed by you, was there anyone in the driver's seat?"

"Of course. How does the car work without a driver?" "In theory, but did you actually see the driver?" "Of course I saw it. Later, when the car drove two or three miles forward, the suit flew out of the car and fell into the field." "It was thrown away, right?" "I thought the same way. I thought it was a pity to lose the clothes, so I picked them up." "Forget about that. But, did you really see that car go away?" "Well, I stared at the car until I couldn't see it." "During this period, didn't you see someone jumping out of the car?" "No, no one jumped off at all." Questions can only be asked here. After a while, Nozaki walked out of the grocery store and staggered down the country road under the sun again.The clothes are left to the farmer named A Zuo, he just needs to return the map of Tokyo and put it in his pocket. There was nothing suspicious about the clothes.The murderer first stole the costumes worn by the person who played the opposite role with Yoko, disguised himself as an actor, and drove away with Yoko.After that, he took off his clothes and threw them on the side of the road, probably because he was afraid that the police would follow the clues of his clothes and find him. But what is puzzling is that Ah Zuo didn't see the gangster jump out of the car.There is a small hill outside the two towns, and it is true that the scenery outside the hill cannot be seen from the position of Azusa Station.But the car passed the hill and only went one town further, and there was no place for people to hide in between.If he jumps out of the car, it is impossible not to be discovered by Nozaki and his party who are chasing after him.Dr. Pan Liu suspected the farmer Ah Zuo precisely because there was no one else in that large area except Ah Zuo. Regardless of the characteristics of the terrain or the time, it is obviously impossible for the little hooligan to escape from the eyes of the pursuer, unless the hooligan disguises himself as Ah Zuo.However, no matter from which angle you look at it, Ah Zuo is just a dull farmer.Besides, the old lady in the grocery store also said that Ah Zuo hadn't left the village for a month, so it's impossible for her to be an accomplice of the murderer, right? "So? So?" Nozaki couldn't help but blurt out.He was unable to solve this riddle, but in the process of thinking, an indescribable fear suddenly hit him.The cloudless blue sky was suddenly covered with dark clouds, and there seemed to be rumbling thunder in the depths of my ears. This was a daytime nightmare. Since he was born, he had never met the real fear in his heart.And it is precisely because the original form of fear cannot be clearly grasped that the fear is made stronger.He was unable to think, and just wanted to escape to the ends of the earth.He didn't want to go back to Dr. Pan Liu's office to report this terrible fact, and even became afraid of the detective agency.