Chapter 9 Chapter Four

In the morning newspaper the next day, the incident between the two was only slightly reported.It only said that a high school student and a boy died unexpectedly in Ogikubo's own home, not to mention the details, even the names and photos were not published. It is said that Hisako Xiaoshan, the daughter of the chairman of the Mingyang Bank, used his father's connection to ask newspapers and broadcasting bureaus to report the incident as quietly as possible. That night, Kashiwagi met with Detective Eto in the criminal police room of Ogikubo Station and asked him about the follow-up progress of the incident.

For some reason, Kashiwagi cared about the boy and girl very much. "What about the results of the forensic autopsy?" "The death of both of them is estimated to be between two and four in the afternoon. The cause of death of both was stabbed in the left chest with a dagger. Judging from the shape of the wound, they both came from the same murder weapon. However, Masumi Onitou is He died on the spot, but Kaoru Shinoyama was still alive ten minutes after being stabbed." "You don't look very well. What's the matter?" "In fact, we discovered the suspicion that it was not a love affair but a homicide."

"——Doubts about the murder incident?" "That's right. Both Masumi Onitou and Kaoru Sasayama have injured their dominant hands, so they can't stab each other with a dagger in that situation. It is said that both of them sprained their hands during physical education class." "Is this true?" "We have confirmed with the doctor that it is true. That is to say, after the third party assassinated the two, they deliberately created the illusion of dying for love." "Where are the dagger's fingerprints?" "Only the boy's fingerprints. Although I don't know the order, the criminal wiped off his own fingerprints on the dagger after assassinating Shinoyama Kaoru and Onitou Masumi, and let the boy hold the dagger. However, it should be impossible for the prisoner to kill It's right for two people to die."

"What does it mean?" "First of all, about Kaoru Shinoyama. Kaoru came home at two o'clock in the afternoon, but no one was watching the back door until half past two, so between two and half past two, the prisoner might sneak into the house through the back door, no Let's kill Kaoru without anyone knowing about it. However, it's actually impossible. Kaoru called Aunt Kikuko at three o'clock, so at least she was alive until that time. Although it is speculated that Kaoru was assassinated He was still alive for ten minutes, but even if he was stabbed at 3 o'clock, the time of being stabbed would not be traced back to before 2:50. Moreover, Xiaoshan's house was completely monitored after 2:30. This means that the criminal can't kill Kaoru at all."

"Yes indeed……" "The next thing is about Masumi Oni. The time when Masumi arrived at Sasayama's house was 3:25. Sasayama's house was already under complete surveillance, and the criminals couldn't kill Masumi. Judging from the death on the spot, there was no possibility of it happening." After being stabbed outside, he finally came to Xiaoshan’s house and died. Since he died immediately, it means that he must have been assassinated after arriving at Xiaoshan’s house, but the prisoner can’t come in and out of the house at will under the supervision of you and your colleagues. In addition, it rained from 3:10 to 4:00 at the scene of the incident, which made the ground at the scene of the incident extremely muddy. After you and your colleagues found the bodies of the two, you also investigated the Xiaoshan house. In the courtyard, there are only your footprints on the ground. That is to say, the prisoner sneaked into Xiaoshan’s house before you and your colleagues began to monitor, and after killing the two, he was still lurking. Until you found the body at five o’clock, quietly The possibility of leaving—of course, this possibility has also been denied. If this is the case, the prisoner should have left footprints in the courtyard when he left."

"If it wasn't for love, the mystery of 'how did the prisoner escape our surveillance and enter and leave the Sasayama House' arises here." "That's right. It's like a murder case in a secret room in a detective novel. The investigation headquarters is also troubled by this." "Could it be that Kikuko was lying? In fact, the three o'clock phone didn't exist at all. Kaoru was killed at an earlier time—before the Sasayama's house was completely monitored at half past two." "Why lie?" "Because it might be Kikuko who killed Kaoru. After killing Kaoru before 2:30, in order to create an alibi, she lied and said that Kaoru called herself at 3:00. That would make us think that The crime was committed after three o'clock, as long as she creates an alibi for herself at three o'clock..."

"I also thought about that possibility of searching the headquarters. However, Chrysanthemum was seen by people from noon to three o'clock, and she couldn't kill Kaoru before two thirty. Moreover, from what you just said, she must Create an alibi for herself after three o'clock, but in fact she stayed at home alone at that time." "Even if Chrysanthemum is not a criminal, it might be to cover up the real culprit. In that case, even if Chrysanthemum has an alibi before three o'clock, it doesn't matter if she doesn't have an alibi after three o'clock, she may still lie and call Kaoru three Call yourself when it's time."

"It means that Chrysanthemum made up the fact that she called at three o'clock in order to cover up the prisoner?" "That's right. In that case, the culprits will be limited to the people Kikuko would cover up. That kind of people are probably my relatives. For example, my older sister—— Kaoru's mother Hisako." Eto smiled. "Even you have thought so far. However, the search of the headquarters also thought of it. Kikuko's relatives, including Hisako, checked the alibi of all people. As a result, the alibi of all people before 2:30 The proofs are all established. No one can kill Kaoru before 2:30."

Cypress smiled bitterly.So, what I can think of, of course the experts in the first search class can also think of it, right? "Considering that the phone call at three o'clock was Kikuko lying, it could indeed solve the mystery of Kaoru's death, but Kikuko has no reason to lie at all." "Then, how about the prisoner recording Kaoru's voice and playing it to Chrysanthemum through the microphone at three o'clock? That way, Kikuko will be able to think that Kaoru is still alive before three o'clock." "That's impossible. After saying 'I'm going to a far away place from today', Kikuko asked 'Where is the far away place', and Kaoru answered naturally, 'I will notify you when the time comes, I can’t say it yet. I can’t do it with a tape recorder, can I?”

"But what's the point of saying 'From today I'm going far away' if the two are not planning to die in love?" "I'm afraid the two are planning to elope." "--elopement?" "Yeah. I heard that Kitosen has been violent against Masumi, and Kaoru Sasayama is very sympathetic to that. From the narration of the forensic doctor who performed the judicial autopsy, I know that Masumi's body has many bruises from being beaten by his father." "Doesn't the school know about this?" "I vaguely knew it. Masumi's homeroom teacher when he was a freshman in high school didn't know the horror of those special attack team veterans, so he went directly to negotiate with Kitou Xianyi. However, the next day, on the way home from the homeroom teacher, he was beaten by a group of hooligans." I was hospitalized for a month. Since then, the school has never been involved in Masumi's housework. Xiaoshan Kaoru sympathizes with Masumi very much, and Kaoru himself is also opposed to his mother's remarriage proposal. He has always wanted to run away from home. He plans not to go to high school , the two of them went to work and live in a distant place... The above is the testimony of Kaoru's classmate."

It is easy to laugh at the childish dreams of a virgin girl.However, in Kashiwagi's view, it is an irreplaceable and important treasure. "Where are the two planning to elope?" Jiang Teng shook his head and said that he didn't know. "Yesterday, how did the investigation of the past where the two went to Xiaoshan's house go?" "Yesterday was Saturday, and get out of class ended at 12:40. While the other students were going home, a classmate witnessed the two of them talking with each other in the corner of the classroom. Masumi said, 'I can't stand my father's violence anymore. Kaoru seemed to be making some kind of proposal. It was probably a proposal to let Masumi run away together. After that, the two bought bread at the commissary at one o'clock, and left the school's main gate at 1:20. It is the testimony of the store owner and the doorman. The Chuo Line Kunitachi Station area where the school is located is 40 minutes away from Ogikubo by tram and walking. This means that Kaoru went home immediately when he left the school. And no one knows Masumi's whereabouts from the time he left school until he showed up at Xiaoshan's house at 3:25." From the time when Onitou Masumi left school at 1:20 to when she showed up at Sasayama's house at 3:25, there was a gap of two hours.What happened to this void? "Maybe Masumi Onitou went to buy a travel bag for elopement." Hearing what Kashiwagi said, Eto nodded. "The search headquarters also thought of the same, so I asked the clerk at the backpack shop near the school with a photo of Onitou Masumi, but they all said that they had never seen the person in the photo. Moreover, from the scene, we couldn't find any travel bags. It's hard to imagine that the prisoner took it, and I'm afraid there was no travel bag at all from the beginning." "Then, what on earth was Masumi Onitou doing before 3:25..." "It's not clear yet." However, what is even more unbelievable is what happened after the two entered Xiaoshan's house. Kaoru Xiaoshan came home at two o'clock, and called her aunt to say goodbye at three o'clock. Onitou Masumi came to Xiaoshan's house at 3:25.Afterwards, the prisoner killed the two, and made the boy and the girl hug each other tightly, pretending to die for love.However, how did the prisoner escape Kashiwagi and the others' surveillance and enter Sasayama's house? "Besides, there is one more thing. There was a strange thing after the incident. According to Guitou Xianyi, this morning, a man's voice, who claimed to be a reporter from the morning newspaper, called and asked, 'Before your child died. Did you write anything down?'. Gui Touxian immediately yelled, 'Go to hell', and then hung up the phone. After hearing the news, the search headquarters sent someone to the morning newspaper to ask what happened, but the other party said there was no Which reporter has made such a phone call." "So, it's the prisoner who called?" "The possibility is very high. After all, the surname 'Onito' is very rare, and you can find it immediately by looking through the phone book. The prisoner is probably worried about whether Masumi Onito wrote down the prisoner's name or something? However, when we asked When Kaoru Shinoyama's mother received the same phone call, she said that there was no such thing. That is to say, the prisoner obviously didn't have any doubts about "whether to write something" to Kaoru Shinoyama, but he had doubts about Masumi the Onitou. There is this question. Where does the difference come from?" (Translator's Note: The above part has given enough clues, and the following part is the answer part. If you are interested, you can try to pause and read your own reasoning, and then continue to read the following after thinking about the answer.)