Chapter 11 Section VI

Yoichiro saw Mizushiro walking heavily from the other end of the corridor, so he got up from the bench and waited for him to come to his side.The lobby on the first floor of the emergency building happened to have no new patients, and it was so quiet that it made one's skin crawl, only the footsteps of nurses coming and going came into the ears occasionally. "Her arm was broken. To be on the safe side, a CT scan was also done, and the brain did not seem to be injured. The loss of consciousness was due to a mild concussion, and now she can speak normally." "Ok……" Yoichiro breathed a sigh of relief, and the sudden collapse made him fall down on the bench.

Shuicheng also sat down beside him. "She's on a drip now. I'm so sorry that I asked you to accompany me to the hospital." Yoichiro and Mizushiro boarded the ambulance carrying Aki and arrived at the Affiliated Hospital of Sagami Medical University.The light car that hit Aki was driven by a middle-aged woman. She was so flustered by the side of the road that she could hardly walk. I can't understand the words. "I just contacted the police on the public phone in the back. The woman driving said that Aki rushed out and hit her." "impossible!" "I don't know if it's true or not. I'll leave this kind of thing to the police."

Shuicheng's voice was full of emptiness, he stared at his palm, and slowly closed and opened it.Yoichiro didn't know what to say to comfort his old friend. "I'm Mao, sorry, can you go back first? I want to talk to Yaji." "Ok……" Yoichiro got up obediently, put his hand on Mizushiro's arm before leaving, and said: "Maybe you find it annoying, but if there is something I can help with, you're really welcome." "Thank you. I'll talk to you about Hui's funeral arrangements." Yoichiro asked Shuicheng to stay in the hall, and walked out of the emergency building alone.The outside of the building is full of bright sunlight, and the stone path connecting the buildings is shining like a calm sea. The yellow tulips planted neatly along both sides of the path, the huge flowers are fully enjoying the baptism of the sun.Perhaps because the climate this year has been quite cold from early spring to now, the flowers bloom later than in previous years.

Should I show my face in the psychiatric building?Yoichiro hesitated.This morning, both Tiandi and Takeuchi were concerned about the details of Kei's suicide.But if I went to see them now, I'm afraid I would have to tell all about Yaji's car accident.Yoichiro didn't have the confidence to explain this clearly, and he didn't know whether he should let them know. After thinking for a long time, Yoichiro decided to walk out of the gate of the University Hospital. He walked towards the university's research building. "Sir, you can't get in there." Just as Yoichiro reached out to open the door leading to the top floor, a voice came from behind.He looked back and saw a man in a suit walking up the stairs.The man was stout and had small eyes.He gradually walked towards Yoichiro, shaking his body from side to side with every step he took.

"I asked the school administrator to lock that door." After the man said this, Yoichiro realized that the metal door panel and the door frame were fitted with iron sheets, and there was indeed a combination lock between the iron sheets. "They said that this door has never been locked, and the original door handle and key can no longer be found. That's how it is. Things that are not used normally can't be found when they need to be used. Even this kind of highest institution is the same." The man Asayoichiro made a slight salute. "I'm Kumajima from the Hiratsuka Police Station."

After finishing speaking, Kumajima raised his thick eyebrows, as if he was looking at Yoichiro's details.Yoichiro reported his name to him and explained that he was a friend of Megumin Shuicheng. "I came here to see where she died." "Ah, so that's the case, please be sorry... If you want to go to the top floor, I will open the door now." "is it okay?" Yoichiro was quite surprised. "After all, it's not a homicide. The on-site evidence collection is just a routine, and it's over a long time ago. The lock is just to prevent it from happening."

"Prevention before it happens... What do you mean?" "How should I explain..." Detective Kumajima squatted in front of the door and fiddled with the combination lock, with a meaningful smile on his face. "I'm sure you've heard the phrase 'suicide is contagious'?" Yoichiro couldn't remember if he had heard this sentence before, but on some occasions, there might be some truth to this sentence. Kumajima unlocked the small combination lock with his big furry hands, and the two went up to the top floor. The wind is a little strong.Yoichiro looked around, seeing a gray concrete floor surrounded by an iron railing with mottled paint.The distance between the railing and the edge of the roof seems to be less than forty centimeters, the railing is not high, only a little higher than one meter, and the gap is also wide, nearly thirty centimeters, which looks very unstable.

"The roof of a five-story building like this is only surrounded by such railings. It's intentional..." Kumajima was about to say something unlucky, but stopped midway.He pointed to a certain place on the railing and changed his words: "It's right there." That side of the building faced a small patchwork of trees.Yoichiro put his body close to the railing and looked down.The fifth floor turned out to be so high, and Yoichiro couldn't help feeling a surge of fear in his chest.The ground between the walls of the research building and the woods is filled with cement and is about five meters wide.He saw bouquets of flowers at the foot of the wall directly below.

"Do you have a good relationship with Ms. Mizushima?" Kumajima asked while pulling his earlobe slowly.Yoichiro was about to correct him, it was Shuicheng, not Mizushima.But it doesn't make sense to think about it, that's all.For Yoichiro, this incident represented the sudden death of his friend, but for the police, it was just "another suicide case".Yoichiro replied briefly: "Yes." He left the railing and turned to his back.His family's apartment can be seen in the distance.In other words, Megumi jumped from here with his back to his apartment. Yoichiro walked slowly to the center of the top floor and found a small black stain on the ground under his feet. He immediately guessed what the stain was.

"That's where her blood and her new box knife were found, right?" Kumajima glanced up at Yoichiro. "You really know." "I just talked to her husband." "Ah, so that's how it is..., that's right, this is where the bloodstains and the utility knife are. Ms. Mizushima tried to commit suicide by cutting her wrists here, but she didn't succeed, so she had to climb over the railing and jump down." "Does this happen often?" "what?" "I mean that suicides change their methods midway through. Does that happen often?"

"Ah, yes." When Kumajima spoke, his voice rose, and his tone seemed contemptuous. "Especially the wrist-cutting suicide, the first successful cases are rare. If it is not determined, the artery is very difficult to cut. When cutting half-heartedly, only the peripheral veins are cut. There is a lot of blood but absolutely You can't die because the blood clots and seals the wound before you bleed to death." This is the most basic knowledge for Yoichiro, who was born in the medical department, but he still nodded seriously and said, "I see." Kumajima seemed to be more and more happy as he talked, and couldn't help but add another sentence: " That leaves the scars of failed wrist cuts." At this time, Yoichiro noticed that there was a huge square machine on the top floor, and there was one on each side of the attic room. Each machine was about the size of a tatami mat and about the same height as Yoichiro.He has never seen such a machine, and it should have been installed after he graduated from the institute. "What is that, please?" "Ah, that's the outdoor unit of the air conditioning system. It should be a heat storage type. It's very common these days." Kumajima seemed to expect that Yoichiro would not understand, so he immediately explained triumphantly: "The machine would run at night, store warm water inside, and use that warm water to raise the temperature in the room during the day. It does this because electricity is a lot cheaper at night than during the day." "An outdoor unit of this size is enough to heat the entire building?" "No..., looking at the size, it can only supply one floor at most. This system should only be used for heating on the fifth floor." Presumably in order to match the budget, each floor is installed separately. Yoichiro carefully examined the two square outdoor units in front of him. At this moment, an idea gradually emerged in his mind. huge machine. The huge machine next to the rooftop attic. Maybe take advantage of this. "Is it almost time to go? I have to go back to the office." Kumajima pretended to raise his watch and glanced at it. So Yoichiro left the top floor, and before leaving, Kumajima put the combination lock back on.