Chapter 22 Section five
In the early morning of the next day, two criminal policemen, Guwei and Zhuli, led ten policemen to Ruixiang's room again.Detective Guwei said at the beginning that he did not apply for a search warrant, so everything was searched with the cooperation of Ruixiang Fang.
"So, please continue to work as usual."
I, Mabi, and Rintoko carefully observed the young policemen's neat search under the command of the two detectives from close to and from afar.Although they don't know what instructions they gave in advance, they searched very carefully.
Kobo—No abnormalities were found.
The storage place—there was nothing abnormal, and nothing was found in the simple toilet and dry paint room next to the workshop.After careful inspection of each commercial vehicle, no suspicious items were found.Except for the word "ㄑ" in red paint, there is nothing suspicious in the parking lot.
When I walked into the shelter, I looked up at the top of Avalokitesvara.Detective Tanio was right, there was indeed a faintly visible tea-brown stain on the ceiling.Why did the blood get there?
In the studio there is a huge statue of Avalokitesvara that I have seen before. It was carried back from the temple in Kyoto by Songyue and the abbot of Ji'an yesterday.It turned out that there was no hand in front of the left wrist, only a neat section was exposed.Songyue is carving the left hand to be attached to the left wrist in front of the workbench.Although he only started carving yesterday, he has already completed the basic shape, which is indeed admirable.
"By the way, Mr. Michio, that strange sentence that the abbot of Ji'an said yesterday—what does it mean?"
When I walked out of the workshop, Rin asked me in a low voice.
"Ah, does it mean that the owner of Songyue is related to Avalokitesvara Zhunzhi? I don't know, but there seems to be something about his ex-wife."
"what are you guys saying?"
Mabei seemed very interested, so I told him what I had talked about in the restaurant yesterday morning, but Mabei's answer was surprising.
"So that's what happened..."
"Ah? Teacher, do you know what it means?"
"It should be more or less the same," Mabe shrugged and said, "I think I should know the reason why the owner of Songyue and Mrs. Mio divorced."
"Do you know why he is alone?"
I couldn't help but say such vulgar words, I hurriedly turned my head to look at the studio, but Satsuki probably didn't hear it.
"Yes, and the truth about the little red dot on the left arm of the owner of Songyue."
"What's the meaning?"
I asked Mabi as I left the workshop door.Mabi gave a mysterious answer.
"I think the owner of Songyue should be ╳two."
"Huh? So, he had another wife before? Or did he marry after Mrs. Mio?"
"No, that's not what I meant..."
Really ambiguous.I clenched my teeth tightly, and he rarely showed a embarrassed expression.
"Sorry, I didn't say it. It should have nothing to do with this incident. I shouldn't say these unnecessary things. Please forget it."
In the end, he really didn't say anything.
"Mr. Takeli, excuse me."
When the criminal police led the police to complete the search of the workshop and walked towards the depths of the garden on the gravel road, Mabi called the criminal police to stop him.Under the leadership of Detective Guwei, about ten policemen lined up and continued to move forward, while Detective Zhuli left alone.
"Are you Mr. Mabi? What's the matter?"
"I want to ask you about the progress of the search. How is the situation? It seems that you haven't found anything yet."
Detective Zhuli touched his bald head and said:
"Wouldn't it be nice not to find anything?"
"yes?"
"of course."
"In this way, won't the purpose of searching be achieved?"
"Purpose?" Detective Zhuli showed a surprised expression and smiled again.
"Our purpose is to give citizens peace of mind."
Not only the Guwei detective, but also the Zhuli detective in front of him seems to be a fuel-efficient lamp.
"Mr. Zhuli, there is one thing I can't figure out - a big man in his forties disappeared, and a blood stain with the same blood type as his was found in his work place, and the blood stain was very small. Although the parking lot wrote a strange words, but just ordinary paint."
"Yes, that's right."
"I think this situation doesn't seem to be commensurate with the big battle in front of me—"
Mabei looked at the face of detective Takenashi and waited for his answer.Detective Zhuli frowned in embarrassment, and looked in front of Shizilu.Detective Tanio was leading the other policemen in the middle of the garden.
"Maybe it's intuition." Detective Zhuli blinked slowly and said, "Mr. Guwei's intuition is very accurate every time - I just follow his feeling."
After Zhuli finished speaking, he turned around and left us, jogging all the way, catching up with the team led by the detective Guwei.
"Intuition..." Zhenbei muttered to himself.
The policemen were divided into two groups in the center of the garden.Detective Takenashi leads two police officers, and the others are in a group with Detective Tanio.
The group of detective Tanio went to the stepped kiln on the left, and we followed.From the conversation that I accidentally overheard, I discovered that a group of Takenashi detectives were going to search the outside of the garden.
"Don't you find it strange?"
I really prepared to tilt my head and ask.
"Strange—what's strange?"
"The Zhuli detective and the three of them are going to search the periphery, and the Guwei detective is leading a large number of people to inspect the stepped kiln—I think the distribution of personnel seems to be reversed."
I see.Only three people searched the vast outer area, but it was really unnatural for so many people to search the stepped kiln with a small space.
"It must have something to do with the detective's intuition."
Really ready to say.
"This is a logical conclusion. When we came here the day before yesterday, didn't there be crows gathered by the road?"
"Oh, you mean the crows that gather around the fox."
"Those detectives should be very familiar with the ecology of crows in this area. In other words - if there are big foxes in or around the garden, crows will definitely gather. But there are no crows here, so..."
I understand what Zhenbei wants to express.
"So, the big fox—probably burned!"
"Yes, I think they think so too."
We quickened our pace and headed towards the stepped kiln where the detectives at the end of the valley and the others were headed.
We followed the police and went down the steps next to the stepped kiln.There are a total of five off-white kilns in the stepped kiln, which are connected in a string along the slope.
"It looks like fish board and hot spring steamed buns."
Rin's description is apt.Among the five kilns, the top four are like fish boards placed horizontally, and the bottom one is like a huge hot spring steamed bun.The fish board has a big hole in the wall on the side of the ladder, so you can see what's going on inside.The things fired in the kiln should have been shipped from here, but there is nothing now.The floor of each kiln is paved with red bricks, but the terrain is uneven, and there may be some reason for it.
Going down the stairs, on the front of the bottom steamed bun, there is an arched hole just big enough to accommodate a volleyball, and a lot of firewood tied with wire is piled up beside it.There seems to be a place to burn firewood.
"Throw firewood through this burner, and the kiln above will be able to produce works. Those with good skills can heat the kiln to 1,200 degrees."
"Mr. Tang Jianmu, so you are here."
"Yeah, they say, it's business as usual, so I'm dangling around like normal."
Father Tang Jianmu was carrying a bamboo broom, and stood beside the pile of firewood in his usual attire.He didn't look at us, but looked at the policemen suspiciously.
"Although I don't know what they are looking for, there are still a lot of people."
Detective Guwei seemed to have heard his words, turned around and walked over.
"Hello, uh——you are Mr. Tang Jianbu."
"Hello, uh—you're Mr. Cooper."
Guwei detective probably just accidentally misremembered Tang Jianmu's name, but Tang Jianmu obviously said it wrong on purpose.
Detective Guwei "haha" smiled wryly and touched his forehead with his hand.
"Sorry to bother you early this morning."
"It doesn't matter. You are also on official business. The Buddha statue master is carving Buddha statues. I plant my tree, and you are looking for corpses."
Tang Jianmu's father said amazing words in a tone that seemed to be talking about the weather.Detective Guwei couldn't help frowning, and looked at him with folded arms, but the corners of his mouth still kept smiling.
"Mr. Tang Jianmu, do you think we are looking for a corpse?"
"Isn't it? I think you're looking for Mr. Okajima's body."
Father Tang Jianmu replied sarcastically like a child.
"Our job is just to reassure everyone."
Detective Guwei said the same thing as Detective Zhuli just now, then turned and left to work with other policemen.Father Tang Jianmu snorted angrily.
"Can we visit the kilns too?"
When Zhen Bei asked, Father Tang Jianmu immediately returned to his usual indifferent expression and nodded to us.
"Be careful when you go into the kiln, because the ground is very uneven-oh, idiot, I did trip over."
With a "snap", the upper body of a policeman rushed out of one of the kilns on the slope, and he seemed to have accidentally tripped.Detective Guwei calmly reminded him.
"The kiln is paved with red bricks, and the terrain is deliberately uneven, because it helps the temperature in the kiln rise."
It turns out that the unevenness of the ground has such a special purpose.
"Let me see—"
Mabe bent his slender body, and looked at the stepped kiln at the bottom.
"It turns out that this is the burning mouth, firewood—is this red pine?"
"Yes, the resin of the red pine can make the fire just right."
Rin and I also put our heads together and looked at the kiln at the bottom.The width and height of the arched crematorium are both 30 centimeters. Of course there is no firewood inside, and there are only dusty red bricks on the ground.The part connected to the next kiln at the rear is separated by a grid-shaped iron frame that has been smoked black, and the gap in the grid is almost just enough to accommodate a person's arm.
"The kiln at the bottom cannot burn large items."
Mabi said in a low voice, and Rin and I nodded silently.If you have ever burned a large item, it should be one of the four kilns above.
"How to use this stepped kiln?"
"Let me explain it to you."
Old Tang Jianmu, who was standing behind us, tapped the broomstick on the ground with a smug expression on his soybean-like face.
"First of all, let me introduce the names of each kiln-the bottom round kiln is called the combustion chamber, and the four above are called the firing chamber. The firing chambers are called the first chamber, the second chamber, the third chamber, and the fourth chamber from bottom to top. , because the four chambers are connected with the chimney and the temperature is unstable, so it is usually not used for firing, also known as the abandoned chamber. The method of use is very simple, just put the glazed Buddha statue into the firing chamber, and use clay Plug up the hole in the side wall—plug up..."
Father Tang Jianmu stopped suddenly, staring blankly at the sky with his wide eyes.He opened his mouth wide and seemed to shake his body because of trembling, but unexpectedly he sneezed loudly.
"Ah chirp!——ah, I'm sorry. After putting the Buddha statue in and blocking the wall with clay, it's all right to burn firewood in the combustion chamber. But if you don't pay attention to the temperature of the fire at all times, you can't burn good works. But because When accidental factors change, Buddha statues with unexpected effects will be produced. This is called kiln transformation, and many famous ceramics are born because of this accident—how, has this little common sense come in handy?”
"Well, it has benefited me a lot."
"That's what everyone says."
Father Tang Jianmu laughed contentedly.
"The firewood needs to be burned for three days and three nights before the work can come out of the kiln. After the kiln cools down, the wall of the firing room is broken. Although it is broken, the action must be very careful-then, take out the Buddha statue inside , clean up the ashes, and you're done."
Five minutes after Father Tang Jianmu finished his explanation, the search for the stepped kiln came to an end.The police seemed to find nothing, and while I breathed a sigh of relief, I was also a little worried.
The Guwei detective went to Tang Jianmu's father and said:
"The place where the items to be burnt are placed—is it called the burning room? We'll take the ashes on the floor of the four burning rooms back for sampling and analysis, isn't there any problem?"
Father Tang Jianmu didn't look directly at the other party, so he replied, "Please go ahead."
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