Chapter 17 chapter Five

While in the studio, the door bell rang. Yuko put down the brush, the canvas hadn't painted any color yet.The dead body of Asami Uchino appeared in my mind from time to time, and I couldn't concentrate. Looking out through the peephole of the entrance door, Yuko sighed.Standing in the corridor was Neto Moriichi.It probably came according to the mutual agreement when we parted last night.As soon as the door opened, Moriichi bared his white teeth in a "ah". "Last night was really hard. After that, the detective came to my place too. I asked if it was true that I witnessed Asami Uchino's body falling with you. I said it was true."

"Thank you then. Well, what's up today?" "It's the same as yesterday, it's to let you come back to me." "Then, my answer is the same as yesterday. Rejection." "Please, don't think about it again. It's true that I used to..." At this time, three men appeared behind Moriichi.Sensing the movement, Mori turned his head.It was the detective Kusami who interrogated Yuko on the night of the incident, a criminal policeman who was about twenty-five years old and not energetic, and then a man with slender and clear eyes who was around thirty years old.

Nanjian greeted Yuko and said, "I was tired last night." After seeing Moriichi, he said, "Oh, you're here too. That's just right. This person said he wanted to ask you something. I won't have to go to your place again." When Nanjian said "this person", he pointed to a man in his thirties. "This is the person who assisted the police in their search." For some reason, Nanjian said with a straight face.On the other hand, the young detective showed a very happy expression. The man in his thirties bowed deeply and said, "My name is Secret Room Collector."

The man was so polite that he seemed unworldly. "—Collector of Secret Chambers?" Yuko looked at the other party dumbfounded. "What's your real name?" "A little person who doesn't deserve to be named." What is the background of this man?Yuko looked at Nan Jian for clarification, and the detective said reluctantly: "This is an expert in secret room murder, and he has provided us with a lot of advice. Anyway, please let us in first." Everyone sat down around the table in the kitchen dining room. "Then what is the question?" Mori asked anxiously.The Chamber of Secrets collector smiled.

"I heard from Mr. Detective, about Asami Uchino who was falling outside the window, you said that she 'suddenly opened her eyes', isn't that true?" "Yes, so?" The secret room collector looked at Yuko and said in a calm voice, "You were the one who killed Asami Uchino." Nan saw the policeman and the young policeman making a startled sound.The two of them didn't seem to hear anything they said to the Chamber Collector.Sen opened his mouth wide. "...Don't say weird things. I watched Uchino's body fall. If I were a prisoner, how did I get Uchino's body down? Also, the scene is in a secret room, right? What about this puzzle? Solution?" Yuko said desperately to maintain a calm expression.

"That's right, don't say strange things. You'll just report a strange name." Mori glared at the secret room collector. The unworldly man continued to say in a steady voice: "Then, let's tell the truth. According to the coroner, Miss Mami's body had a broken head, a fall on the face, and a fractured neck. It hit the ground First, the top of the head was broken, the neck was bent and the bones were broken, and at the same time the face was hit by the ground—that is, Mami's body fell head-on. "On the other hand, Moriichi said that the woman who fell from the window 'suddenly opened her eyes'. I heard that Mami-san has long hair all the way to the back, and if the head falls downward, the blown hair will cover the face and eyes. You shouldn’t be able to detect something like opening it suddenly. If you can see this, it means that the woman fell with her feet facing down.

"One with the head down and one with the feet down. What's the difference?" The two detectives showed a surprised expression: "Yes... yes! Why didn't you notice this difference..." "There is only one conclusion drawn from this difference. Miss Yuko and Mr. Moriichi witnessed the falling woman and Miss Asami are different people." "A different person...? But, Asami Uchino's body is lying where it fell from the window of the room on the sixth floor..." "The body of the woman who was witnessed falling was hidden before the police arrived, and was replaced by Asami's body. The bodies of the two were exchanged."

It's over, Yuko thought.The man has absolutely captured the truth. "Since the woman I witnessed was not Asami, she didn't die on the spot after being stabbed. Therefore, the fall from the sixth floor is not necessarily the result of the criminal. In fact, if she jumped to commit suicide or fell due to an accident, it is also possible It's not surprising. In this case, there were no prisoners in the room on the sixth floor. In other words, it was the woman who locked the entrance. "Besides, since Asami was not witnessed falling from the room on the sixth floor, it would not be surprising even if it actually fell from somewhere else. In Asami's room, I heard that the key to the door lock of the entrance door was missing. Before that , because the prisoner took the key and locked the entrance door. However, if there is no prisoner in the room on the sixth floor, the prisoner took the key and locked the entrance door. The key is provided by Asami The lady took it by herself—that is, Miss Asami took the key and left the room to go to work. Miss Asami was killed in another place on the way to work, and the key is still there, probably in the handbag she used for work. .

"The body of the woman who committed suicide or fell due to an accident in the sixth-floor room in the secret room state was replaced with the body of Asami's assassination that fell from another place. Because it was mistakenly thought that Miss Mami's body fell from the sixth-floor room. Only then will the mystery of how the prisoner escaped from the secret room arise." The young detective listened with a sigh.Moriichi looked at Yuko hesitantly from time to time.Nan Jian folded her arms and nodded reluctantly. "—Admittedly, the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets can be solved if the two bodies are replaced. However, there are still many things that I don't understand. Who is the woman who witnessed the fall? Where is the body hidden? ?Since it is said that Asami Uchino’s body fell from another place, where did it come from? Why is Yuko Ibe said to be the culprit? In the first place, why did the female body that was witnessed falling and Uchino What about Mami's corpse?"

The secret room collector smiled slightly: "Let's answer them one by one. The first question - who is the woman who witnessed the fall? Let's call this woman X from now on. Regarding X, apart from the mystery of identity, There are two more puzzles. "(1) Did X commit suicide, or did he die in an accident? "(2) When did X go to Ms. Mami's room? Did she go there while Ms. Mami was still in the room, and stayed behind to guard the house after seeing off Ms. Mami who was going to work, or did Ms. Mami use a spare key to break into the room after she went to work. "First of all, in (1), the issue of suicide or accidental death, please note here, when X fell, when Yuko and Mori witnessed it, X suddenly opened his eyes, that is to say, he could see her Appearance. If Yuko and Moriichi in the building can see her face, that means she is falling facing the building. However, considering the situation of committing suicide by jumping from the window on the sixth floor, the suicide should be facing Jumping outside the window, that is, jumping facing the backyard. On the contrary, jumping facing the interior—that is, jumping facing the building is hard to imagine. Then, it is not suicide but the possibility of accidental death is high.

"Next, in (2), when did X go to Miss Mami's room. Please note here that X not only locked the door, but also put a chain on it. If it is to see Miss Mami away after leaving, stay If you stay at home, it is natural to lock the door out of caution, but what about the chain lock? Miss Asami will come home from get off work in the end, and the key to the chain lock is locked at that time, Miss Asami I couldn’t enter the room. Even so, X was still locked with the chain lock. In other words, she didn’t send Mami-san to stay at the house, but Mami-san used the spare key to break into the room after she went to work. "Then, from the fact that she used the spare key to break in while Miss Asami was away, and even put the chain lock on the entrance door, I guess X's purpose is to do something while Miss Asami is not around." "What are you doing while Mami-san isn't there? Stealing something?" "Yeah. So X, in case Mami-san came back suddenly, not only the door lock, but also the chain lock on the entrance door." "But, isn't it strange? If something was stolen when Mami went out, shouldn't Mami suspect the person with the spare key first? Didn't X expect that he would be immediately suspected?" "Of course I should have thought about it. X thinks it's okay to be suspected after he stole something from Mami-san's room." "what happened?" "After the theft, I was troubled by suspicion and reported to the police. However, even if X stole the target object from Mami-san's room, Mami-san could not call the police, so what?" "Can't call the police?" Nan Jian racked his brains, showing a sudden realization expression. "—Perhaps the so-called target is material for intimidation. Did Mami intimidate X?" "That's exactly what I thought. Even if X stole the threatening materials from Mami-san's room, Mami-san can't call the police. Because if she calls the police, she will be held accountable for the crime of intimidation. Therefore, once something is stolen, Mami will be punished. It doesn't matter if you know X." "So that's how it is... I can accept it so far. But, why did X die because of an accident? Why did the person who invaded to steal intimidation materials fall from the window?" "I thought that X fell to his death in order to steal the materials." "--Eh?" "How about the scaring material, stuck on the outer wall above the window where X fell? In order to hold that thing and step on the railing, you have to reach out to the side of the wall. Very unstable posture. If your feet are outside the railing If the test slips, it will fall with its feet down and face towards the building—just like X." "That's true... But, why did Mami stick the threatening material in such a strange place? It's not easy to get it myself, and most importantly, it will be blown away by a strong wind." "As you said, it would be silly to post threatening material in that kind of place. From this, I thought the threatening material was fake." "Why post fake threatening material in that place?" "Die to make X fall." "--Eh?" "Miss Mami died in order to make X fall, put fake threatening material on the wall above the window, and told X about this. According to Miss Mami's plan, X invaded when Miss Mami was away, and stepped on the window When the railing went to steal the intimidation materials, she fell to her death. If Mami-san returns home, if the fake intimidation materials are recycled, X’s death will only be considered an accidental death. Mami-san has an alibi for working in a bar .She doesn’t know if X will really fall and die, but if it doesn’t work, just create another chance. It’s the so-called crime of probability.” "Probabilistic crime? What is that? Anyway, it's too jumpy and I can't think of it." Seeing Nan Jian saying this, he suddenly seemed to have an idea. "—So, when I arrived at the backyard of the scene last night, an envelope was dropped. I didn't think about anything at the time, but now that I think about it, it's strange that an envelope was dropped in the backyard. Maybe..." He cut off the conversation, thinking with a toothache-stricken expression on his face.The young detective looked very excited. "That envelope is the fake threatening material pasted on the outer wall above the window! When X just wanted to take it off and pinch it with his fingers, his foot slipped and fell off. At that time, the envelope also fell off the wall, like someone chasing X. The same fell into the backyard..." The secret room collector smiled slightly: "Well, I thought so too. By the way, X probably put the spare key and his own house key in his trouser pocket. Because the prisoner who killed Miss Mami hid X's body , neither the spare key nor the key of X's own home could be found at the scene. X's wallet and coat were not left at the scene, because X always drove to the vicinity of the scene, so it is unnecessary. "So, so far, who X is can be narrowed down considerably. X is a woman, a character that Miss Mami would give her a spare key so intimately, a character that Miss Mami wants to kill, and a character that Miss Mami might intimidate .” "Who is this?" Nan Jian asked. "According to 'King's' mother-san, it is said that there is a character named Matsushita who is obsessed with Mami. Suppose that Matsushita is X?" "However, Matsushita is a man..." "It's okay for women to go to bars. Momma-san didn't say a word about Matsushita being a man, right?" Nan Jian showed an expression as if searching for memory and said: "Indeed, he didn't say a word that he was a man..." "Mom-san said about Matsushita's 'accurately not a male customer'. This is because Matsushita is a woman, not a male customer, and should be called a female customer. Matsushita is a woman with a special fetish for women. "As for the female customer, it's not surprising that Mami-san gave her a spare key. Also, because it is said that Matsushita designated Mami-san as the heir of the estate in the suicide note, Mami-san had the motive to kill Matsushita. Also, in some cases Now, an intimate relationship with a waitress can become a source of scandal even for men, and even more so for women. If you reveal to her that there is a photo that shows the intimacy of the two, Asami can tell Matsushita Threats were made. It is said that Matsushita drove a Renault, which is also consistent with the assumption that X drove a car until he came near the scene. "Let's confirm it." Nan Jian greeted Yuko first and said, "Borrow the phone", then picked up the receiver and dialed. "This is Nanmi... I called the 'Emperor' bar where the victim worked, and I wanted to ask Mom-san about something... Now I'm in Yuko Ibe's room, and I don't know the phone number of 'Emperor'... Yes Ask me if the customer named Matsushita who is obsessed with the victim is a woman? Hmm, is it a woman... I will wait here until I hang up." Seemingly calling the investigation headquarters, Kusumi put the receiver on his ears while staring at Yuko sternly.It's over, Yuko thought.Everything became clear. "Well, Matsushita is a woman? Is that so... I'm sorry, when I went to 'Emperor' to inquire, there was an unexpected misunderstanding..." Nan Jian blocked the speaking port with his hands, and said to the secret room investigator with a blank expression, "It's the same as what you said." Then he put the receiver on his ear again, briefly told the secret room searcher's reasoning, and after answering "Understood", he put down the receiver. "We will investigate whether a woman in her thirties named Matsushita has disappeared since last night in the entire prefecture." That woman's name is Matsushita, Yuko thought.Yuko didn't know her identity either. "Let's continue with what we said before. The second question - where was Matsushita's body hidden? Right next to the scene, there is a suitable place to hide the body. It is the Kizu River. The body was tied with heavy objects and sank into the Kizu River. It looks like there is a pile of cement slabs in the backyard. If you take a few of them and use them as heavy objects, no one will notice." "—The body sank in Mujin River?" Nanjian hurriedly picked up the receiver and dialed. "I'm Jian Nan... I'm sorry again and again... Yes, that's what the secret room investigator said." As soon as Nan Jian put down the receiver, he let out a big breath. "The third question - where did Mami's body fall, and the fourth question - why did Yuko-san become a criminal. These two are the inside and outside of the same answer. "The prisoner hid Matsushita's body and replaced it with Asami's, pretending that it was Asami who fell from the sixth floor. From this, it can be seen that the prisoner knew about Matsushita's fall from the sixth floor—of course, probably I don't know her identity. Because I don't know that if Matsushita falls, the idea of ​​hiding her body and replacing it with Asami's body cannot be born. "So, the only people who know Ms. Matsushita's fall are Ms. Yuko and Mr. Moriichi who witnessed it. Then, it means that one of them is the culprit. "So, who is it? According to the testimonies of the two, after going downstairs to see the fallen corpse, Yuko said that if she told people to know about it with him in the middle of the night, she asked Moriichi-san to go back for fear of being misunderstood by her married partner. One person called 110. That means Mr. Moriichi didn't have time to change the body. Then, the culprit is Yuko-san. "Thus, Miss Mami's body fell from Miss Yuko's room on the fifth floor. Miss Mami visited Miss Yuko's room before going to work, and was stabbed to death there." "Then, the fifth question—why do you want to switch Matsushita's body and Asami's body?" "In order to create an alibi. After witnessing Ms. Matsushita's fall, she went downstairs to the backyard, and Ms. Yuko who saw the body suddenly had a plan in her mind. That is, by swapping Ms. Matsushita's body and Ms. Asami's body, let Mori Mr. Kazu thinks that he witnessed the fall of Mami-san's body. If he does so, for the witness Yuko, the alibi of the prisoner at the moment of Mami-san's fall is established. "Miss Yuko said at first that if people knew about the middle-of-the-night co-existence, it might be misunderstood by the married couple. She was the only one who informed the police and sent Mr. Moriichi away. No one found out about the body exchange. "Afterwards, she carried Ms. Matsushita's body to the embankment, tied the cement board to the body with a rope or something, and sank into the Kizu River. According to the mother of the 'Emperor', Ms. Matsushita had a slender and petite physique, in contrast Yuko-san is tall, with a burly figure like a female athlete, so she is physically strong enough. "Then return to my home on the fifth floor, and throw Miss Mami's body from the fifth floor. Because Miss Mami is only about 150 centimeters tall, this should be fully possible for Miss Yuko. Because Miss Mami's If the corpse replaces Miss Matsushita's body, it is necessary to give Mami's body the injury caused by the fall on Ms. Matsushita's body. It is for this purpose that Miss Mami's body is dropped from the window. "According to Ms. Yuko's testimony to the police, she said that she notified 110 immediately after discovering the body. In fact, she notified after completing these tasks. If Mori remembers the correct time when she witnessed the fall, she can find the witness There was still a long gap between the briefing and it might be possible, but Yuuko expected that Moriichi, who was drunk, would not remember the correct moment. In fact, it was exactly as she expected... "Besides, Ms. Matsushita's body was lying on her stomach, so she couldn't see her face. Therefore, even if the incident was reported on TV and Ms. Asami's face was shown, Mori would not be afraid to notice that it was different from the face of the dead body in the backyard. . "Removing Moriichi from the scene, this alone cannot be used as an alibi. Therefore, when Ms. Yuko was interrogated by the police, she deliberately let people know that someone was with her, but on the surface she pretended to be an alibi. Accidentally slipped his mouth, so that he could barely say that he was with Mori when he was held accountable. In fact, because Mami's room was locked, Yuko's testimony was doubted, and it naturally evolved into having to tell He Mori Together." Moriichi's face deformed.It seems that he realized that he was underestimated by Yuko and thoroughly used.Moriichi looked at Yuko with humiliation and terror in his eyes. Nan Jian spoke: "What is Yuko's motive for killing Mami? I have investigated Mami's side, and I have no contact with Yuko. They just live in the same apartment. Why do you have to kill her?" "Living in the same apartment, plus the rooms are adjoining - wouldn't that create a criminal motive?" "that is?" "If the rooms are connected up and down, there is a possibility of various conflicts. For example, it may be that Mami keeps dropping things on the floor, which will cause noise in Yuko's room. Or, Mami may drain the water from the washing machine. It overflowed and flowed into Yuuko's room, and it might damage Yuko's important things." "...As you said." Yuko whispered.She was silent the entire time, and when she opened her mouth, the detective and Moriichi were taken aback, and they stared at Yuko intently.It's time to say it, Yuko thought.I'm tired of hiding it. "——Yesterday evening, I was very tired from painting the paintings to be exhibited in the solo exhibition at the end of the year. I left the room used as the studio and went to the dining room to have a cup of tea. After returning to the studio for a while, the water flowing from the ceiling splashed on the paintings... …Although I hurriedly took down the painting, it was already damaged. In order to catch up with the time for the solo exhibition, the painting was damaged for nearly a month even when I was sleeping. I was at a loss for a while. The water can be washed The smell of potion, I immediately understood what happened. The woman upstairs overflowed the washing machine. Moreover, it makes sense for the water to flow to the restaurant directly below, but it just flowed from the ceiling to the top of the painting..." Mori seemed to understand: "You said that if you don't paint for a day, your hand will be born. So when I saw that there was no canvas on the easel, I wondered what happened to you. It turned out that the water leak in the upper room damaged the painting!" " "Yes. Although she went to protest immediately, the woman pretended not to be at home and did not go out. There was no way to go back to the room, and she sat on the chair without any motivation. At about six o'clock, I heard the stairs in the corridor There were footsteps coming down the stairs. I thought it might be her, so I went out to have a look. It was her. She seemed to be going to work in a bar, wearing a coat and holding a handbag. The woman noticed me, although she turned her face away and wanted to pass by , as soon as I said, "Come into the room if you have something to say", she still nodded angrily and entered my room. I put out the broken painting and blamed her, but she didn't even apologize, what did I say? It was because the building was not built properly, and at the end she sneered and said, "There are so many complaints, don't you just want me to buy the painting?"...Suddenly, when I noticed , I stabbed the kitchen knife in the woman's back..." After that, Yuko didn't know what to do, so she let the corpse lie in front of her and sat down blankly.Because the washing machine leaked in the evening, I haven't told the landlord about the leak.In this way, Yuko will be deemed to have no motive, and Mami's body will not be suspected immediately after her body is found. No, although I didn't tell the landlord about the leak, Yuko immediately went to Mami's room to complain after the leak.Although Mami pretended not to be at home, at that time, the people who lived across from Mami might have heard Yuko's protest.That way, the police would always know she had a motive. What should I do?correct.If you can't find the body, you don't know you killed someone.How can people not find the body? Dismembering the body and throwing it away was the thought that came to mind at that time.Even she thought it was too scary, and Yuko trembled in fright.However, there is nothing else to do.After hesitating for a long time, he moved the body to the bathroom, ignored the blood, and took off his clothes. Moriichi came to visit and rang the bell of the entrance door, just at this moment.Yuko wanted to ignore the fact that no one could enter a room with a dead body, but Moriichi, who secretly made a spare key, came in on his own initiative. "So, when you said 'I just wanted to go to the bathroom to take a shower', did you mean you were about to dismember the body in the bathroom?" Mori muttered palely. Moriichi threatened, "If you don't agree to get back together with me, I'll yell out loudly. If that happens, someone will come. If it is found out that you are with someone other than your marriage partner in the middle of the night, your What will your partner think?" At that time, what Yuko was afraid of was not that if he did such a thing, he would break off the engagement with his marriage partner, but that if someone came over, he might find Asami's dead body in the bathroom. When arguing with Moriichi, Yuko saw a woman fall out of the window, and Yuko was so shocked that her heart stopped beating.He Senyi hurriedly went down to the backyard, and the woman who fell on the ground was a woman he had never seen before.but…… —Who is this girl?I think it's the person who lives in the room above you, do you know him? When Moriichi asked, "...a person named Uchino Asami. Waitress." Yuko lied.At that moment, a criminal plan flashed in his mind. Just sink the woman's body into Kizugawa and replace it with Asami's body.In this way, Yuko and Moriichi will be considered to have seen Mami's body fall.Alibi established.Even if it is known that Yuko has a motive, it is no problem to have an alibi to guard.It was a much better plan than dismembering Asami's body and throwing it away. Mami's room turned out to be locked with the lock and even the chain lock on the entrance door, and it became a secret room, which Yuko never dreamed of.Yuko was shocked when she heard about Lian Suo.If the situation of the secret room is solved, I am afraid that the truth about the replacement of the corpse will be discovered.The establishment of the secret room situation may in turn strangle Yuko.As a result, this worry was correct. Even so, what a wonderful coincidence that the woman named Matsushita was killed by Asami, and that Asami was killed by Yuko.In the end, Matsushita's body was used to create Yuko's alibi when Mami was killed.It's as if Panasonic wants to take revenge on Mami and protect the murderer who killed Mami... "Hey, where did the Chamber Collector go?" Listening to Kusumi's flustered conversation with the young detective, Yuko looked at the canvas which had not been painted in any color.Although I have lost my marriage partner and my future as a painter, no one can take away the only thing I can do is painting.If you can get permission, take that canvas to jail.There, paint a picture just for yourself.