Chapter 21 fourth quarter

"So, we'll do it all at once. Otherwise, it would be very troublesome to analyze it after returning to the police station, because this place is in the mountains—" "To save time going back and forth?" Song Yue said in a cold tone.Detective Tanio and the others have just completed a simple analysis of the character "ㄑ" in the parking lot and the tea-brown spots found on the lotus seat of Avalokitesvara, and they are explaining to Songyue. "--What was the outcome?" Song Yue asked without changing expression.Detective Tanio didn't say hello, he took out a notepad from the breast pocket of Detective Zhuli's suit and flipped through it.The forensic staff stood behind them, and Torii and Wei Ze stood at the back with depressed faces, without saying a word.

"I've already told Mr. Torii and Mr. Weiser about the situation—first about the parking lot. It's just ordinary paint, it should be red paint." "I suppose so too." Song Yue nodded in agreement. "Yes, Mr. Torii and Mr. Weiser said the same thing. This red pigment - often used in red brick walls or paving red brick roads, is not an uncommon pigment. It may be an unintentional joke. The air in winter is very dry, and the paint is completely dry, so it is impossible to speculate when it was written—Master Satsuki, do you also use red paint here?" "It's used when painting Buddha statues, and that pigment has an antiseptic effect."

Oh, that's right. ——What exactly is this, you and Wei Ze should be very clear—— What Songyue said originally meant that it was something they were usually familiar with, so it should be very clear. "If you want to see, there are raw materials that have not been dissolved in water-" Songyue was about to go to the depths of the workshop, but the Tanio detective stopped him. "Just now we heard that Mr. Wei Ze is responsible for the management of commodities and raw materials, and we have already asked him to show it to us—there are undissolved powdered pigments in tin cans on the shelves inside. Please also ask Mr. Wei Ze to confirm the contents inside. Are there any reductions in ingredients—”

Detective Guwei said, and turned to look at Wei Ze.Wei Ze lowered his head and said: "I'm sorry, I don't know too well. It seems that there is less, and it seems that there is not less... because compared with the inventory, the amount used in the parking lot is too small." "Well—this is also impossible." Song Yue seems to accept. "In short, the final conclusion is that there is nothing wrong with it, right? It's just someone playing a prank in the parking lot—that's all. I'm sorry, but I'm sorry, but I'd like to ask you to make a special trip, so you can go back and rest."

Matsuyue turned sideways to open the way for the detectives, but detectives Tanio, Takenashi and the forensics department stood still. "There is another thing." Detective Guwei shrugged his shoulders, "It is the abutment where Avalokitesvara stands. The lotus platform, no, it seems to be called the lotus seat—right?" Songyue didn't answer, and detective Tanio continued: "It doesn't matter, anyway, it's human blood." Song Yue raised her eyebrows. "That's blood. Not only that, but we found another drop of blood elsewhere." "Another drop—?"

"Yes, right above that Buddha statue." "Directly above is—" Songyue asked tentatively, and detective Guwei pointed his index finger at the top of his head and replied, "It's the ceiling." "You'll see when you take a look. There's a little blood on the ceiling right above the Buddha statue. How should I put it, it seems—it was accidentally wiped." Detective Tanio explained with gestures.At this time, I suddenly remembered the strange behavior of the old house owner Songyue in the shelter yesterday—he was staring at the ceiling intently.Although I didn't notice any abnormality at all——but in the eyes of the old owner of Songyue, who has worked in the workshop for many years and knows the environment like the back of his hand, he may have seen blood stains on the ceiling.

"Why is there blood on the ceiling...?" Song Yue murmured.Detective Guwei tilted his head and said, "I don't know." Then, the two fell into silence. At this moment, Detective Zhuli asked: "I've already asked for advice just now—I heard that a Buddhist statue maker named Okajima in this workshop disappeared a week ago?" Songyue's eyes immediately turned to Torii and Wei Ze, and the two lowered their eyes in embarrassment.Songyue turned her eyes back to the detective and replied in a loud voice: "It's not missing, but going out for a while."

"Where are you going?" This sudden question made Satsuki purse her lips tightly, and then silently shook her head. There was movement from behind.Looking back, the wooden door of the drying room was opened a crack, and Maya poked his head suspiciously.She looked at me with questioning eyes, and I didn't know how to answer, so I waved to her.Maya came out, stood beside Songyue, and said softly: "Thanks for your hard work." Songyue shook her head slightly as a response. After a pause, detective Tanio looked at the notepad and asked. "Do you know what blood type this Mr. Okajima is going out?"

It is type B.The morning Okajima disappeared, I remembered Maya saying he was a "typical Type B guy." "It should be type B, right? Mr. Torii and the others said just now that Mr. Okajima should be type B—isn't it wrong?" Hearing Detective Tanio's question, Torii and Wei Ze nodded stiffly. "Just now we tested the blood types of the two bloodstains found in the room. The Scientific Research Institute of the Kagawa County Police has recently developed a biochemical method that can measure the blood type. Let's not discuss any methods. In short, the conclusion is-no matter the lotus The ones on the pedestal or the ceiling are all Type B. Are there any other Type B people working in this workshop?"

Detective Guwei asked everyone, and everyone shook their heads ambiguously. "This kind of thing, Maya should know?" Father Tang Jianmu said in a confused voice that didn't match the atmosphere of the scene.Maya, whose name was suddenly called, froze for a moment, then nodded vigorously. "Maya? Uh..." Seeing detective Tanio looking at him, Maya quickly bowed and said, "I am Maya Nogata." "Miss Nogata, if you know, could you please tell us? Is there anyone else who is Type B—?" "No." Maya replied without thinking.While her answer was clear, her tone was disturbing.

"Can I trouble you to tell me everyone's blood type?" Detective Tanio opened the blank page at the back of the notepad and handed it to Maya along with the ballpoint pen.There was already a whole row of related people's names written on it, including the abbot of Ci'an, the old house owner of Songyue, Aunt Yi and Tang Jianmu's father.The names of the three of us are also written at the bottom, probably Torii and Wei Ze told them. Maya neatly wrote English letters next to each name, and Rin told her our blood types.Among the staff of Ruixiangfang, apart from the missing Okajima, there is really no type B person.Type O accounts for the overwhelming majority. Except for Songyue who is type AB and Songyue's old homeowner who is type A, the others are all type O. "Okay, thank you." Detective Tanio glanced at the notepad in his hand, then put it back into Detective Takenashi's chest pocket.He pulled his earlobe with the hand that already had age spots, as if he was thinking about something.Then, at last, he raised his head and said: "Homeowner Songyue, are you the person in charge here?" "yes." "I'm going back to apply for a search warrant - no problem?" For a moment, Songyue didn't seem to understand what he was saying, her beautiful eyebrows frowned, and she quietly stared at the face of detective Guwei. "--why?" "Because, something bad may have happened here." The corner of Guwei detective smiled, and said in a persuasive tone: "Your apprentice called the police and said, 'there is a strange red letter in the parking lot, and a red dot was found in the work place. Could be human blood, please investigate', we are here. Half of what they say is right, so even if we search, it is normal, don't you think so? Or say ,have what--" Detective Tanio hadn't finished speaking, and Songyue sighed weakly. "You can do whatever you want." He said in a low voice, "I don't care, but if this continues, my apprentices will feel uneasy. Please search every corner of the workshop, You want to pry the floor open, knock the wall open, or dig up the dirt." "Check? Check what?" Detective Tanio deliberately showed a surprised expression, and Matsuyue was speechless for a while, and then replied angrily: "It's what you're looking for." Watching their conversation, I have a question from just now. Matsuzuki, Torii, and Wei Ze seem to have known from the beginning that the words in the parking lot were written in red paint.Although Maya didn't mention it herself, she usually uses these paints, so when she saw it, she should know that it was red paint.All four of them knew it wasn't written in blood.But, in this case—why did these four people feel frightened when they saw the scarlet letter?