Chapter 19 Chapter VII

"Ahhh, the beer box is finally on the scene...!" Sayaka seemed to have found a friend she had been looking for for a long time, and made a happy voice. "I thought it would never appear like this..." Yes, don't forget.The beginning of this incident was the theft of beer crates. "So we've been looking for beer crates, haven't we?" Who stole this boring thing for what purpose?This is the heart of the puzzle.And Ukai has come up with a quirky solution that fits this wondrous puzzle. "The vending machine is taller than the average adult male, about two meters. On the other hand, there are seven beer boxes that were stolen. Each beer box is about 30 centimeters high, right? Seven stacked vertically is more than two meters. As a result, a huge wall three and a half meters wide and two meters high appeared at the entrance of an alley. This size was enough to hide the narrow alley. In order to build this wall, the murderer stole seven beer crates from the entrance of the Maruyoshi Hotel. The murderer mentioned here is of course It's Genji Fujiwara."

"Using two vending machines and seven beer crates, it is indeed possible to completely block an alley. Let's just treat it like this, but why? Why does Fujiwara Genji block an alley at the expense of doing this? That alley last night What happened?" "God knows, that's the problem. Actually, I don't know the correct situation. But the mastermind who blocked the alley with vending machines and beer crates couldn't just be secretly dancing naked on the other side. Blocking the alley without authorization and stealing the beer crates are obvious. It is a crime. In this case, it should be presumed that some kind of corresponding crime occurred in the closed alley. On the other hand, we know that Mr. Tanasho Seitaro, who lives at the bottom of the alley, just broke his appointment and did not contact us. If the alley yesterday If some kind of crime occurs later, of course it will be speculated that Mr. Tasho may be involved in the crime."

"I see. In fact, Mr. Tasho was dead when he was found. What kind of crime was he involved in?" "The exact situation is unknown. The police will definitely know after careful examination of the corpse, but we can only imagine." Ukai used this as his opening remark, using his imagination. "The place is on the road late at night, and the murderer is the manager of the real estate agent. The victim was an old man who lived in the same alley, and died of a fatal wound to the back of his head. Even so, it is impossible for the two to fight on the road late at night. Speaking of roads in the middle of the night, often What kind of case comes to mind first? It’s definitely not an assassination or a shooting.”

"Cases that often happen on the road, aren't they just car accidents? Could it be hit and run?" "Well, it's not quite right to describe it as a hit-and-run, but I think it's very similar. Mr. Tiansho was probably hit by a car driven by Genji Fujiwara. Although it was hit, it was only a slight bump and it didn't make too much noise, so the nearby Neighbors didn't notice. However, Mr. Tasho fell to the rear, and the back of his head hit the asphalt road and died. The startled Fujiwara Genji tried to hide the accident. I guess he drank a lot that day because he talked to him yesterday At that time, his breath smelled of alcohol. Depending on the situation, drunk driving may be the same crime as homicide, so he tried his best to think about countermeasures. If it was a normal hit and run, the murderer would just leave the body and flee the scene of the car accident, but this time the car accident happened in Next to Fujiwara Real Estate. The body fell on the road, and the blood flowed all over the asphalt road. If left alone, the matter would become a big mess after dawn. The people of Fujiwara Real Estate could not separate themselves from the car accident, and had to avoid this result. Therefore, he He planned to clean up the traces of the car accident left on the road, and did not tell his son and wife who lived on the opposite side, and cleaned it up by himself. Of course, this was a time-consuming task. Fortunately, it was late at night, so there was almost no need to worry about someone entering the dead-end alley. He probably thought there was a way to solve it. But he was concerned about the street in his dream. Even if there were no pedestrians passing by in the middle of the night, cars and motorcycles would occasionally pass by. One thing. So he thought of a way. In other words, one of the vending machines in his home has a special structure, and using that can completely block the alley... He immediately put this wonderful idea into practice , but in the actual implementation, he found that there was a gap between the two vending machines, which was not very ideal. At this time, he thought again, so to speak, there are a few beer crates outside the Maruyoshi Hotel... In short, Fujiwara Genji just like this Responsiveness, he managed to hide an entire alley in the dream station late at night, under the protection of the wall of vending machines and beer boxes, he secretly successfully cleaned up the scene of the car accident. That’s it.”

Ukai's reasoning rarely makes sense.The most important thing is that he has also clearly explained the purpose of the beer crate thief's crime, which has not been speculated so far, so his reasoning this time is highly credible.Not without doubt, however.Leveling asks questions about doubts. "However, wait a minute. Assuming Ugai-san's reasoning is correct, isn't it strange? Genji Fujiwara accidentally killed Seitaro Tasho with his car, and it's fine to get here. But not long after, it's Genji Fujiwara's turn to be slightly hit by a taxi. .The perpetrator of the first car accident became the victim of the second car accident. Is there such a coincidence?"

"Good question. This seems to be an overly perfect coincidence, but it is a coincidence based on some reason. No, this is not a coincidence, and it should even be described as a causal relationship." "What kind of causality?" "Why do taxi drivers go the wrong way? As I said just now, it is because an alley was hidden by vending machines and beer boxes last night. Taxi drivers entering Dream Street from Chaori Street follow the 'turn left at the third alley' According to the instructions, turn into the four alleys. The problem is the return journey of the taxi. At this time, Fujiwara Genji just finished cleaning up the car accident scene in the alley. Reappeared in Mengtai in its original form. The return taxi came just at this time, this time it should be 'turn right at the third alley'. The driver who thought so, turned the steering wheel at the third alley, In the end, for some reason, it wasn’t Chaori Street that he was going to go, it was an alley, and there was a middle-aged man on the road.”

"Is it Genji Fujiwara after the evidence was destroyed?" "Yes. He was probably standing in the middle of the road for a final inspection, when the taxi came over. The driver stepped on the brakes quickly, but couldn't stop, and the taxi hit him slightly. This is the truth of the second accident. In other words , The perpetrator temporarily hid in an alley, and later restored to the original state, so he led the taxi into the alley, and he became the victim of the second car accident. How, is it really karma? People really can’t do bad things.” After listening to Ukai's explanation, Liuping recalled the scene during the day.In front of them, Genji Fujiwara, in a somewhat exaggerated tone, described the incident of escaping after the taxi hit him.Looking back now, it should be that he planned to emphasize that he was a victim and conceal the other side of his perpetrator.Although it only caused counterproductive effects, it was a desperate act from the murderer's standpoint.

"Okay, this is the end of the general explanation. In a word, the above is my reasoning. But this reasoning has no way to prove it. The taxi took the wrong alley, and it is very likely that it is simply a driver. If this is the case, what should I do? It is best Let’s find the body? But of course, the premise is that Mr. Tiansuo really died in a car accident.” "That's why we ambushed and monitored tonight?" "Yes. The perpetrator probably didn't have enough energy to eliminate the traces of the road accident last night. He definitely didn't have time to dispose of the corpse. Besides, there were seven beer crates. The murderer didn't return the stolen beer crates to the Maruyoshi Hotel, which means the beer crates are still hidden in the hotel. Somewhere in the building. Since it needs to be disposed of together with the corpse, ordinary vehicles cannot carry it, at least a small truck is needed. Is there really a small truck for moving the corpse hidden in the garage with the iron rolling door? Even if it is me, in Before confirming this point, after all, the uneasiness cannot be increased.”

That being said, the moment the pickup truck emerged from the garage, Ukai clearly showed joy.He was sure of victory in that split second before being hit by the pickup truck.For the murderer in the driver's seat of the pickup truck, this accident must never have happened.If it came to the police, the body on the cargo box would be exposed, and he would be finished.Driven by terror, Genji Fujiwara turned the steering wheel indiscriminately at this moment, unfolding an escape scene that seemed to be self-defeating. "I was almost involved in the act of a self-destructive murderer and died." The revived terror made Liuping tremble. "Speaking of which, please tell me one last thing. Why is Tasho Seitaro wandering around in pajamas late at night? If he sleeps at home obediently, he won't be in a car accident, right?"

"Ah, you want to ask this? The answer came from Mr. Tasho's phone call. In the end, what did he want to entrust the Ukai Detective Agency with?" "Hmm... I remember helping to find the missing cat... Ah, that's right!" "Well, it's basically true. Mr. Tian Suo heard a cat meowing late that night. This old man who loves cats couldn't hold back anymore, so he went out looking for cats in his pajamas, and thus encountered an unexpected tragedy." It turned out that this is indeed a tragedy.However, Tian Zuo called the detective agency the day before his death, which was a blessing in misfortune.As a result, although Ukai didn't look for the cat, he looked for the beer crate instead, and finally found Tiansuo's body.

And just like that, all the mysteries about the beer crates were solved.Whether Yukai's reasoning is true or not should be revealed gradually after the police start handling the case.In short, the puzzle solving in the middle of the night is over.Thinking so, Liuping looked at Sayaka who was sitting next to her, and found that for some reason she opened her mouth slightly with an off-line expression, and looked at Ukai and Liuping alternately. "What's wrong?" Sayaka heard Liuping's inquiry, and screamed out belatedly. "Ukai Detective Agency? Ukai Detective? Huh, no way? That's Mr. Detective..." The detective she was pointing at showed a puzzled expression and pressed her chest. "So, I don't seem to have mentioned it? Well, yes, I am the most brilliant detective in this city, the director of the Ukai Detective Agency, Ukai Dofu. Are you surprised? But little sister, please don't worry , this case is always just my intervention based on the detective's curiosity, and I will not ask you for payment at all." Ugai beautifully solved the mystery of the beer crate, while maintaining a modest and gentlemanly attitude. I don't know how Sayaka Yoshioka feels in her eyes. In short, in Liuping's eyes, Ukai is just sitting on the back of a panda and playing handsome...