Chapter 40 Chapter fifteen

If I do not confess the truth, will it lead to irreparable consequences in the future?Will I be considered as one of the suspects in this murder?Thinking about it this way, I feel that it is better to tell the secret of the peeping mirror.However, once the people in the lakeside pavilion knew that I was peeping into the locker room, the shame made me even more ashamed.In desperation, which way to choose really troubled me, and I was so cowardly that I couldn't get over my shame in the end. Even though I knew it was a risky move, I couldn't help but lie: "I thought I forgot the soap in the dressing room, but I didn't. But when I was about to wash my face in the morning, I still felt that I should have left it in the dressing room, so I decided to look for it again. I didn't expect to find the blood. Accident."

I explained and winked at Kono next to me.In case he tells the truth afterwards and all previous efforts are wasted, I hope he can keep it secret for me and give the same confession as me.Astute, he seemed to grasp the subtle meaning conveyed by my eyes immediately. Then, headed by the owner of the Lakeside Pavilion, the shopkeeper, maids, servants, and even the lodgers were called by the criminal police to question.Since the prosecutor has not yet arrived at the scene, this can only be regarded as a temporary interrogation, and the scene was not specifically cleared. Instead, people were called one by one and questioned in isolation in the utility room, so I could hear all the statements standing next to me.

Kono complied with my silent request and lied for me.After listening to his speech, the big stone in my heart finally let go.The confessions of the boss and other hotel staff did not mention any new evidence, and it was all the same as what we had heard before.Based on these statements, the police can only suspect the gentleman who left in a hurry with his suitcase in the middle of the night. Needless to say, the crime scene was also inspected extremely closely.As the first people who discovered the murder, we obtained permission to investigate with the police. An experienced criminal policeman saw the traces on the wooden floor and immediately confirmed that it was blood.We later learned that, for the sake of prudence, at the request of the prosecutor in charge of the murder case, the police wiped off the blood and immediately sent it to the local medical university for examination to confirm that the criminal policeman’s identification was correct—it was not animal blood, it was indeed human. of blood.

Immediately afterwards, according to the criminal police's speculation, judging from the amount of blood left on the floor, the victim may have died, and the murderer must have disposed of the body in the shower room of the bathing place. In order to find the murder weapon and other leftover items, the police began to investigate around the bathing place. A carpet search was also carried out in Room 11 where the suspect gentleman stayed, but they did not find any items that could be clues. As for the background of the suspected victim Changji, we only learned the details from her employer, Nakamura's proprietress, who just arrived at the Lakeside Pavilion.At that time, the proprietress of the Nakamura family gossiped about a lot of things, but unfortunately, based on her testimony, there was no fact that was particularly worthy of our suspicion.Changji transferred to Nakamura's family from a small town in the same district to work a year ago.Let's not talk about the past, but after she came to Nakamura's house, there was nothing suspicious.As a laughing woman, her personality is indeed relatively gloomy and introverted, but this can be regarded as her characteristic.In addition, in terms of affection, she seems to have no more intimate objects than ordinary regular customers.

"Because there was a group banquet here last night and we needed geisha. Toji of the Tsuta family also came here with Changji. The two left the town around 8 o'clock. When they went out, it was no different from usual. I heard that nothing happened at the banquet. Something unusual." The proprietress's explanation was so rambling.At this time, the director pointed out what happened between Changji and the suitcase gentleman (the name on the accommodation register is someone Matsunaga, and the man who seems to be a follower seems to be called Kimura. However, the whereabouts of the two have been unknown since then, so there is no need to clearly point out Their names) were unhappy, so I asked the proprietress of the Nakamura family if she had any clues. Unfortunately, the proprietress had nothing to add to the director's question, except for the already known fact that Changkichi had been called by someone from Matsunaga two or three times to accompany him. new evidence.Then, according to the testimonies of the hotel manager and the geisha named Doji, the relationship between Matsunaga and Nagayoshi is indeed limited to only drinkers and drink girls.