Chapter 27 Chapter Four

The police car arrived at the police station twenty minutes later.This is a four-story building that has experienced many vicissitudes, and the walls are full of traces of staining. Jia Yezi walked into the investigation room and began to be questioned by Police Officer Mukai.Based on the fact that there were no traces of prisoners around the hospital, Mukai repeatedly asserted that Jia Yezi was the prisoner and forced Jia Yezi to surrender.Kayako still denied it at first, and gradually felt that she lacked strength. ——I killed Noriko Kasaka, and then completely forgot about it? This kind of thinking is more and more lingering, and the only one who still supports her in her heart is Qiusui's promise of "I will arrive in the afternoon". "Before this, hold me up no matter what, and you must not give up on yourself"-such words have been supporting her.

I don't know how long it took, there was a knock on the door, and a young criminal policeman opened the door and came in. "Police, there is trouble. The Chamber of Secrets collector has appeared and said he wants to meet the suspect." "—Collector of the Chamber of Secrets?" Xiang Jing tilted his face. "Aren't you telling jokes and legends? This character really exists—I can't stand it, let him come over." "—Who is the Chamber of Secrets collector?" Kayako asked timidly. "This is a character circulated among the police. He is a strange guy who looks like an amateur detective. He likes the murder in a locked room very much. I don't know where he got the news. Anyway, he is always indispensable at the scene of an accident. He may be related to the police. There must be contact with the high-level, probably for the purpose of the search, and it has something to do with the search headquarters."

"Haven't the detectives seen this man?" "Never before. This is the first time I've encountered it. So I was surprised just now. It turns out that there really is such a person. I always thought it was a joke or legend inside the police station." "So you don't know your real name?" "Strange man, he didn't tell me his name when asked. Just let everyone call him the secret room collector." There were two knocks on the door, and the door opened.Led by the young criminal policeman, a tall and thin man in his thirties walked in.The soles of the feet made cat-like footsteps, and moved to the side as if gliding.

On the face with regular features, there is a pair of clear and sharp slender eyes.He was dressed in a black sweater and brown trousers, holding a neatly folded coat in his left hand. "Please forgive me for this rude visit." He lowered his head deeply while talking, suddenly giving people a feeling of being out of the world. "No, in order to meet your request, I can only invite you here." Mukai Hidden replied, letting go of his unhappiness. "But this time it shouldn't be your turn, because this time it's not a secret room at all." "But I think this is a secret room. According to the police, Sasano Kiyako is considered a criminal here, but I think she is innocent. Then, if she is innocent and there are no criminals' footprints at the scene, Isn't it the best proof of the Chamber of Secrets?"

"I said you, you always talk about secret rooms and secret rooms. It doesn't make sense to create some kind of secret room? The surrounding area of ​​the scene was sealed by snow, and there were no traces of prisoners entering and exiting everywhere—so according to the general opinion, and The person who lived with the victim could be the murderer, isn’t it? There’s no need to embarrass yourself and think about the secret room!” "However, if you consider Kayako as a prisoner, isn't her behavior unreasonable? Since there is no trace of the criminal, she will definitely suspect herself in the end-this kind of thing is obvious at a glance-why not take the time to pretend What about the footprints? Besides, if she is a criminal, there is a whole night after the crime, why not leave the scene of the crime immediately? The police who regard her as a criminal are still at the scene after the crime. Is there a better explanation for this incident that lasted all night?"

Was anti-general ah.Mukai was speechless for a moment. "—it is true that she remained on the spot all night after the crime; it is indeed strange. But the time of the crime was seven o'clock in the afternoon, and it must be an unnatural hour to seek lodging in the country, If you take a taxi, your face will definitely be marked, and if you want to spend the night outdoors, it’s too cold—after thinking about it, the only reasonable option is to stay at the scene for the night.” "So that's what you said, and what you said makes sense. However, there is one more thing I don't understand. The reason why the police went to the scene this morning was because they received an anonymous call reporting that Noriko Kasaka was killed? So what is this report about?" What do people do?"

"That is……" "If this is a normal case, it is normal for a third party to pass by the scene and find the body, and then report to the police. However, in this case, isn't there snow around the scene? The criminal's footprints I haven't seen it, and likewise, there are no footprints of the third party who happened to pass by the scene and found the body? So how did the anonymous informant know the whole case?" Mukai frowned and fell silent. "The prisoner is the only one who understands the whole thing. Therefore, we can only assume that the anonymous informant is the prisoner himself. The prisoner is someone other than Kayako, and he planted the blame on Kayako."

"But... but can you explain that there is no criminal footprint on the snow? If you can't explain such a thing, you have to continue to consider the possibility that Kayako is a criminal. Can you explain it?" "Not yet. So, I need to ask Kayako in detail. Is it possible?" "...No way. Do as you like." Mukai agreed unhappily. During the follow-up questioning by The Chamber of Secrets, Kayako started talking about her intention to commit suicide by using sleeping pills in the forest on the evening of New Year's Day.Sometimes he would ask a few questions in a steady tone, but most of the time he just listened quietly.As the conversation progressed, Kiyako's uneasiness gradually disappeared, and this man seemed to have a reassuring ability.Although I still care a little bit, I have said everything up to the reason for my own suicide.

"How about it, now can you explain the reason why there is no trace of the prisoner?" After Kayako finished speaking, Mukai challenged the secret room collector like a mockery. "It's not impossible to explain." The Chamber of Secrets Collector replied with a smile. "Hey, it seems very interesting, it seems that you must listen carefully." Mukai said hypocritically. "Before that, can I have a look at the relevant photos of the shoe prints of the victim who went to a nearby supermarket to buy milk at 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon?" Mukai gave instructions to the young detective and retrieved the photos from the forensics department.The Chamber of Secrets collector took the photo and looked at it carefully as if appreciating a work of art.

"It turns out that the shoe prints when you go out and the ones when you go home don't overlap." "So what?" "Just an interesting clue. So where do the remaining tracks go?" "Extending to the two lanes directly opposite the gate of the scene, the shoe prints before that have not been erased by passing vehicles." "Are the victim's boots and shoeprints exactly the same?" "It is corresponding, exactly the same." "Judging from the shoe prints, the appearance of the entire sole has been clearly recorded. There is no sign of damage. It feels like a newly bought boot. For old boots, depending on the degree of wear and tear, the traces on the sole should be It is more characteristic. In that case, the shoe print alone is enough to tell which pair of boots it is. However, this kind of distinction is invalid for new boots. Even if the shoe prints are exactly the same, it is equally possible on the spot. It is a mark left by wearing other boots of the same type as the victim, and cannot be limited to the victim's boots."

"Indeed, as you said, the victim's boots were newly bought. The footprints were left by the murderer. In other words, the murderer prepared the same type of boots as the victim, and entered and left the scene by stepping on the shoe prints left by the victim. You want to say this, right? But it’s impossible. If you step on the old footprints, no matter how careful you are, there will be traces of double trampling, but the footprints left at the scene show no signs of this at all.” The Chamber of Secrets collector smiled. "No, I'm not thinking about that at all." "So, what are you thinking about?" "The first thing that needs to be determined is whether the hospital where Kayako fell asleep last night and the hospital where she woke up this morning may not be the same one." "I fell asleep last night and woke up today, isn't it the same hospital?" "Yes, we went to another hospital. Let's call the hospital where Kayako fell asleep last night as A, and the hospital where she woke up as B. It is possible that the prisoner took Kayako with her body from hospital A after she fell asleep. Transported to hospital B, and then left. In this way, what I saw this morning was not the footprint left by the victim who went back and forth to the supermarket to buy milk at 5 pm yesterday, but the footprint left by the prisoner who carried Kayako and the body and left. In addition, in order to make the two places look like the same place, there should be no interference from other shoe prints around the hospital except for the victims going back and forth to the supermarket. "Since we have carefully observed the shoe prints and found no overlap between the two rows of shoe prints going back and forth, then it is not reasonable to think that the shoe prints that are considered to be going out are actually coming home, and the shoe prints that are returning home are actually going out. Strange. The shoe prints of the victim who went out to shop actually left the scene, while the shoe prints of the victim who returned home from shopping came to the scene. "Furthermore, the victim's boots were brand new, and the shoe prints at the scene did not leave any characteristics, so it is natural to guess that the prisoner was wearing the same type of boots." "Do you really think so? Of course such a thing is impossible. It would be absurd to find another hospital with exactly the same appearance." "It doesn't need to be exactly the same in appearance. Kayako didn't leave the ward all day yesterday. It's of course good to be exactly the same, but as long as the ward is exactly the same, it's not difficult." "Your statement is still unreasonable. There is only one line of shoe prints entering and exiting the scene, so if it is left by the prisoner, then he can only go to the scene once. But according to what you said, the prisoner needs to take Kayako and the body If they were all transported into the scene, the result would be that the prisoner carried two people at once. How much force would it take to do this? It should be impossible to hold two female adults at the same time.” Hearing this, the Chamber of Secrets collector lowered his head with a smile. "As you said, this statement is quite absurd." "So, is there any more reliable statement?" "Then what about this? When you and Kayako found the body in the morning, the prisoner was actually still hiding somewhere in the hospital. Since the scene is used as a ward and a bedroom, there should be some space for hiding, right? Then wait After the search team arrived at the scene, the murderer managed to sneak into the criminal police, and then left the scene." Mukai shook his head. "It's no use. If this statement is true, then the searchers will have one more person out of thin air on the way. I observed carefully when the search team got out of the police car. The number of people who got out of the police car did not increase." "Let's put it this way. There are only footprints left by the victim at five o'clock in the afternoon on the so-called snow at the scene—is that true? Didn't your Excellency realize that there were other things?" "other things?" "For example, this morning, the footprints of the criminal police who came to the scene after receiving an anonymous report." "——what on earth are you trying to say?" "The prisoner walked into the scene on tiptoe last night, turned around and left immediately after committing the crime. Then this morning, when he received the notification, he naturally stepped on the shoe prints that were on tiptoe last night and entered the scene, which makes sense Right? The shoe prints on the feet are smaller than normal shoe prints, so it is reasonable to be covered and disappear." Mukai glared in the direction of the Chamber of Secrets collector. "—So in your opinion, I'm the real criminal, huh?" "This is just an explanation for the disappearance of the criminal's footprints, please use it as a reference only." "I really have an alibi. I was busy sorting out books and periodicals in the police station at seven o'clock last night. My colleagues who worked together can also testify." "That's really disrespectful." The Chamber of Secrets collector bowed his head and apologized.Mukai said impatiently: "In short, if I'm not a prisoner, can you have any new explanations?" "In this case—" Just as the Chamber of Secrets collector was about to speak, there were two knocks on the door, and a young criminal policeman poked his head in. "Police department, a woman named Akiho Misawa asked to meet the suspect. She said she was a relative or friend of the suspect." Qiusui really came all the way here, and Kayako couldn't help feeling hot. "Friends and relatives? Call her over." A minute later, Qiusui walked into the investigation room. "Kayako, are you okay?" "Qiu Sui—" "Have you been bullied? Have you encountered anything excessive?" "Well, I'm fine." Akiho turned around and glanced at the room, and finally fixed his eyes on Mukai and the collector of the secret room. "Are you guys the ones who suspect Akiho? Can Kayako kill people! Are you all blind?" Mukai was at a loss for words for a moment, not knowing how to respond. The Chamber of Secrets collector stepped forward. "Your Excellency is right. Ms. Kayako is indeed not a prisoner." "Who are you?" Qiu Sui still said angrily. "I'm just a nobody." "If Kayako is not the prisoner, then tell me, who is the prisoner?" "The prisoner is Your Excellency, Ms. Akiho Misawa."