Chapter 14 Chapter two

A group of members from Team 4 of the First Investigation Section of the Osaka Prefectural Police, where Tatsuo Kusami worked, arrived at the scene of the crime—the Inoue Building—at around ten o'clock at night. Inoue Building is located on the west bank of Kizugawa, a tributary of the Tosa River, just where it forked. It is a six-storey building about 100 meters south from Kizugawa Bridge.It doesn't look mottled, and it should only be built for five or six years.Judging from the mailbox in the lobby on the first floor, each of the first to fourth floors was rented out to a merchant, and each of the fifth and sixth floors had two households.

The uniformed police officers guarding the hall on the first floor led them out of the back door and into the backyard with an area of ​​30 ping (note: 1 ping = 3.306 square meters).The backyard was overgrown with weeds; the things on the ground were in a mess: piles of cement bricks, dirty watering cans, towels and envelopes thrown from the balcony window of someone.I really want to praise the cleanliness here and don't give people a chance.Across the backyard, on the opposite side of the building is a breakwater about three meters high, separating the land from the Kizu River.From the backyard you can walk down to the jetty via concrete steps.The left and right sides of the backyard are separated from the outside by a concrete wall more than two meters high.

In the backyard, several criminal policemen from the West Division of the jurisdiction had arrived.Nan saw a group of people and exchanged a few words with them briefly. "This is the dead man." The deceased lay down in the weeds, about one meter away from the building.He is petite, about 1.50 meters tall.Her long hair is loose on her back, her feet are facing the building, and her arms are stretched out in front of her. She is wearing a red sweatshirt and burnt-brown pajama pants. "The deceased was stabbed to death at home, and then the body was thrown downstairs." Squad leader Miyazawa asked.

"Yes. The deceased, Asami Uchida, was 25 years old. She was a hostess in a bar in Beixindi during her lifetime." Nan Jian looked up at the whole building.The wall facing the backyard is covered in ivy.From the windows facing this side, the first to fourth floors were rented out to merchants, so it was naturally pitch black at this time.The fifth and sixth floors are brightly lit.But no matter which floor, the windows are closed tightly. "Who is the discoverer?" "A woman who lived downstairs from the deceased, named Ibe Yuko, was a painter. When the witness was at home, she wanted to breathe fresh air, so she opened the window, but she didn't know that she witnessed the deceased falling from the window in front of her. Looking down, I found the deceased lying on the ground. Witnesses rushed to the backyard and found that the deceased had passed away, so they went back to the house and called 110 to report the case. Now she is staying at home and doing well.”

"I witnessed the whole process of falling right in front of my eyes. I must have been frightened enough. When did the deceased fall down the stairs?" "She was so frightened that she didn't bother to look at her watch. The exact time is not clear. The time we received the report was 9:38 pm. The witnesses saw the deceased fall seven or eight minutes ago. , Let’s guess around 9:30. After we received the report and rushed to the scene, we thought it was just a suicide or an accident. But after investigation, it was found that there was a stab wound on the back of the deceased. Since the murder weapon was pulled out immediately after the murder, the scar It's not obvious, you can't see it at a glance."

"Have you found the murder weapon?" "Not yet. It should have been taken away by prisoners." "Can you take us to the deceased's house?" "Actually, we haven't gone in yet." "...haven't gone in yet?" "The gate of the deceased's house is locked. When the prisoner left the scene, he may have locked the gate with the key of the deceased. Now the landlord is on his way here. His home is about 15 minutes away by bicycle from here." At this moment, the police officer in charge brought over a man in his sixties.He is the landlord of this building.

"Xiao Nan, investigate the room of the deceased." According to the Miyazawa Police Department.After Nan Jian borrowed the master key from the landlord, he walked to the sixth floor of the deceased's residence together with the criminal police from the West Department and the landlord. Since the first to fourth floors were rented out to various merchants, there was no one there during the time of the crime.This kind of situation, for the murderer, must have wished for it.Several people reached the sixth floor.On both sides of the corridor parallel to the Kizugawa, the side facing the Kizugawa is the residence of Asami Uchino, and another family lives on the opposite side.

"Have you talked to the family across the way?" "We have rang the doorbell several times, but unfortunately no one answered, it should be that no one is at home." Nanjian opened the anti-theft lock of Uchino Asami's house with the master key in his hand, and then held the handle to unscrew the door.However, because the door was blocked by something, it could only open ten centimeters.It turned out that there was a chain on the door. This was somewhat beyond his expectation.He exchanged glances with the criminal police officers of the Western Department.A chain was attached to the door, indicating the suspect was still inside.

"Police! Come out honestly!" He shouted into the house, but there was no answer.He called again, and again, but still no one in the room answered. "If you don't come out again, we'll cut the door chain and rush in!" Hearing his words, the landlord couldn't help shrinking his head nervously. Reluctantly, Nanjian had no choice but to ask the criminal police of the Western Department to call two criminal police to come for reinforcements and borrow a metal saw from the forensics department.He asked the landlord about the layout of the room, and after he had figured out what to do when the suspect broke through the door, he asked the landlord to go down to the first floor and put the metal saw blade on the door chain.

Nanjian put all her strength into the hand that saw the chain.Finally, after a blunt sound, the door chain snapped in two.Nan Jian immediately opened the door completely and rushed into the house.The criminal police of the West Department stayed in the corridor to guard, while the two reinforcement criminal police followed Nanjian into the room. After entering the door, the first thing you see is the dining room, with tables and chairs, a sideboard, TV, and kerosene stove, but there is no one there.Nan Jian quickly looked around.A door on the right-hand wall leads to another room, and two doors on the left-hand wall lead to the toilet and bathroom respectively.Nan saw that he opened the door on the right hand side, while the two criminal police who came to reinforce opened the two doors on the left hand side respectively.

Nanjian opened the door and found that the room was a bedroom with a bed, a dresser, and a row of wardrobes.He checked under the bed, in the closet, but still found no one.Facing the door of the dormitory is the French window leading to the balcony, which is now also locked with a half-moon lock.Nan Jian unlocked the half-moon lock, opened the window, walked to the narrow balcony, and found that there were clothes that were not dried on it.The clothes are still drying at this time, and the clothes are still not dry, which means that the clothes should have been washed in the evening.There was also no one on the balcony.There is also a window on the side of the house facing the Kizu River, and the half-moon lock on it is also locked. Nan Jian returned to the restaurant, and the reinforcement criminal police who searched the toilet and bathroom reported to him that there was no trace of the prisoner in the two places.On one side of the bathroom, there is an electric washing machine.Just in case, Nanjian also peeked into the inner tank of the washing machine, but naturally no one could see it.After all, such a small space cannot accommodate an adult at all. The windows facing the Kizugawa in the restaurant are open.The deceased was pushed down from this window.There is an iron railing under the window; from here looking down, forensic officers can be seen investigating the dead by the light of searchlights.Nor did the prisoner hang from the window by the railing. There was no one in the room.Several people had to look at each other. It is very simple to just lock the anti-theft lock of the gate, as long as you get the key of the deceased and lock it from the outside.But the problem is, hanging the door chain is not so simple.The door chain can only be hung from inside the house, but even so, the prisoner cannot be found inside the house. "Did he escape through the open window?" said the police officer who came to reinforce him. "This is the sixth floor. It's such a high place, how can it be okay to jump off." "Could it be that he escaped to the rooftop?" "It makes sense!" Nan Jian said as he rushed to the corridor and stepped on the steps leading to the roof; the door leading to the roof was also locked with an anti-theft lock.Nanjian opened the lock with the master key.The prisoner could only escape here.He opened the door and took a cautious step. There is a waist-length railing around the roof, and there is nothing on it except for a huge water supply tank, not even a person.They looked again at the back of the jug, but found nothing. "Did the prisoner blow away with the wind like smoke..." The criminal police who came to reinforce couldn't help whispering.Nan Jian thought to himself, how is this possible.The November night suddenly seemed icy cold.Looking around, every house here is brightly lit, but now he is not in the mood to appreciate the beautiful scenery in front of him. After Nanjian and the others returned to the scene in the backyard, the Gongzawa Police Department stepped forward and asked, "Where's the prisoner?" "—can't find it." "Can't find it? What does that mean?" Nanjian told the Miyazawa Police Department about the search process from the house to the rooftop.After hearing this, the Miyazawa police department couldn't help crossing their hands on their chests. "The search itself is foolproof, how could it be such a result..." At this time, the forensic officer stood up from the corpse and walked towards the two of them. "What's the condition of the deceased?" Miyazawa Police Department asked. "There was a stab wound caused by a thin-edged knife on the back of the deceased. In addition, apart from the fractured skull, the deceased had abrasions on the face and fractures in the neck. It can be inferred that the top of the deceased's head directly hit the ground when he fell to the ground, resulting in a fractured skull, Fractured neck followed by a face landing resulting in abrasions on the face. On examination, the stab wound on the back showed a living reaction, but the abrasion did not. This indicates that the deceased was stabbed to death by a knife and was no longer alive when he fell to the ground gone." Originally, Kusumi suspected that the stab wound on Uchino Asami's back was newly stabbed on her body by Yuko Ibe after she witnessed her committing suicide by jumping off a building.But since the wound was detected to have a living body reaction, this hypothesis is self-defeating. "What about the estimated time of death?" "The exact time is uncertain, and further judicial analysis is needed. But it should be between 5:30 and 6:30." "Between 5:30 and 6:30!?" The Miyazawa Police Department looked at the watch and said: "Yuko Ibe saw her fall from the building at 9:30, and it took three hours to say the least. And that is to say, after the criminal assassinated her, he waited for at least three hours." Only then did she throw her body downstairs, but the prisoner disappeared from her room in a wisp of smoke." "Turn into a wisp of green smoke, see what you said." A look of disbelief appeared on the forensic officer's face.When Nan saw him, he told him that the murderer could not be found anywhere in the house of the deceased or on the rooftop. "Hey, it's almost like a mystery novel." "I don't have time to joke with you now!" Miyazawa Police Department said with a painful expression.At this moment, he seemed to remember something. "By the way, can we think about it this way. The deceased did not die immediately after being assassinated by the prisoner, but fled to her own house. It wasn't until she locked the security door, put on the chain, went to the window facing the backyard, and leaned against the window. Death. At that moment, the deceased was positioned against the window just enough to keep her from falling through the window. Three hours later, as rigor began to break that wonderful balance, the body fell into the backyard..." "impossible." "Stop thinking about it." Nan Jian and the forensic officer denied his opinion together. "The two of them objected together. What's the reason?" Miyazawa raised his eyebrows rather dissatisfied. The forensic officer explained it to him. "The deceased almost died on the spot after being stabbed. It is impossible to lock the anti-theft door and hang the chain on the door." Then Nanjian also gave his reasons. "The lower edge of the window facing the backyard is more than 90 centimeters high. However, we saw that the deceased was only about 1.5 meters tall. Such a short person, no matter how leaning against the window, it is impossible to fall out of the window, right?" "……makes sense." The Miyazawa Police Department frowned, pondered for a long time, and finally said: "So, there is only one possibility left - the eyewitness Yuko Ibe did not tell us the truth. If the deceased is indeed from the window on the sixth floor Falling as a premise, then there will be the mystery of how the murderer disappeared from our eyes. But if this premise is not true, then everything makes sense." Kusumi went to Ibe Yuko's room on the fifth floor.This female painter is nearly 30 years old, her eyes are piercing, and her appearance is quite exotic.Coupled with her tall and fit figure, people can't help but think of the women's volleyball player who won the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics last year. "It must have frightened you to witness that scene. Were you and the dead man on good terms?" "It's not very good. It's like saying hello when you meet in the corridor, and you almost never talk at ordinary times." "I'm sorry, but I would like you to repeat to us what happened when you witnessed the fall of the deceased." Nan Jian asked.Yuko repeated what she heard at the time.Judging from the confession, there is no contradiction with the facts. She was also shocked to hear that Uchino Asami fell from the window after being stabbed to death. "—was she assassinated? I didn't notice that at all..." "The prisoner had already pulled the knife out of her body, and she was wearing a red undershirt, and it was so late, so you could see that it was an assassination and it was hard for you." Next, Kusumi told her that the anti-theft door of Uchino Asami's room was locked and chained, that all the windows were locked except for the window where the body fell, and that even so, she was still looking for her in the room. Not to the prisoner.Yuko's face changed, as if she also heard the meaning of the words. "In this way, there is only one explanation—you didn't tell us the truth. It's a lie to us that the dead fell from the window downstairs." "I'm not kidding you. Miss Uchino really fell out of the window." "In this case, why did the prisoner disappear from the house of the deceased?" Yuko pursed her lips tightly and said nothing.No matter how you think about it, she must be lying, but her motive for lying that the deceased fell from the upstairs is still unknown.In addition, if the incident of the deceased falling from the building did not happen, the mystery of the prisoner escaping from the victim's room would also disappear, but how the chain on the security door of the victim's house was attached is still a mystery. Yuko's lips were trembling.Nan Jian stared at the painter closely, looking forward to when she would reveal the truth.But after she hesitated again and again, what she said was beyond Nanjian's expectation. "...Actually, I was not the only one who saw it at the time." "what?" "I was not the only one who saw Miss Uchino fall from the window. At that time, there was another person beside me." "Why didn't you tell us?" "Actually, I've already decided to get married next month. I'm still in my house with another man so late at this time, I'm sure it won't feel good if it gets out...but there's nothing between us. Although Mori is my Ex-boyfriend, but now there is no relationship between the two." "If there is nothing between you now, why did he show up at your house then?" "When I heard that I was going to get married soon, Senyi came over and asked me not to get married and be with him. He forced me again and again, and I refused every time. After a while, maybe he also Getting impatient, he stood by the window, opened the window suddenly, drew the curtains, and threatened me that if I didn’t follow him and him, he would shout out of the window. What else was said by my fiancé Knowing that I am with a man other than him so late, what will he think or something. I am afraid that if he really wants to be like this, I will feel better, and the marriage may really fail. So I immediately ran to the bedside, Pressed his shoulder. Just then, we saw Asami Uchino fall from the window... Looking down from the window, we saw her lying motionless in the backyard. Moriichi and I closed the window and locked it door, and hurried to the backyard together.” "Did you tell us the truth this time? Did you not hide anything from us?" "No more. What I told you this time is the truth, please believe me!" When she said this, Yuko's expression was quite serious. "In your room at the time, there was a man named Moriichi Neto. We had to ask him to be cautious. Where does he live?" "I don't know where he lives now. When we broke up with him two years ago, he lived in an apartment called 'Senrakuso' next to the Hanshin Nishi-Osaka Line Chuanfa Station."