Chapter 52: Holes in the Language
Chapter 52: Holes in the Language
It has been confirmed that Yuji Yokogawa did go downstairs to pick up the home delivery.
It takes 2 minutes to go up and down the stairs by elevator, so 4 minutes for the round trip.
If we take the emergency stairs instead, the time may be shortened even further, to within 3 minutes.
No matter how you look at it, he seems to be a suspect.
Seeing that Gao Mu seemed to be doubting him, Yokogawa Yuuji said, "I don't know what I ate today, but I have diarrhea all the time."
"After picking up the delivery, I suddenly felt a stomachache and went to the bathroom. If you don't believe me, Officer, I'll give you the box now and you'll know after you smell it."
"No, no need"
Gao Mu quickly waved his hand and said, "Let's go to the office."
"Okay, this way please."
As she spoke, Nishizawa Arisa made a "please" gesture.
"Eh?"
Ayumi seemed to have discovered something, "It's summer now, why are you wearing gloves, big sister?"
Nishizawa Arisa hesitated for a moment and took off one of her gloves.
It was not as smooth as ordinary people's hands, but rather very rough and thick. There were also several cracks on the hands, and the skin color appeared a little purple, which looked a little scary.
"When I was a kid, my hands got frostbitten and they looked really ugly. In order to avoid being laughed at, I developed the habit of wearing gloves, even in the summer."
The gloves that Nishizawa Yusa wears are made of ice silk, so they are fine even in summer and there is no need to worry about getting prickly heat.
The group arrived at the office area, which was much more spacious than the reception room, and the president's office and the staff area were connected.
"The president is a very suspicious person and a workaholic."
"We are usually required to collect all kinds of data and organize all kinds of information. We are not allowed to take a break."
"If he found out, we would be scolded or have our wages deducted. But fortunately, the president never treated us badly in terms of salary, so we stayed here."
"And if I choose to resign like this, other companies may directly refuse to interview me."
"After all, in this situation, people will think that the other party is irresponsible and not capable of withstanding pressure."
Anna Kurata's face revealed helplessness.
But she didn't know if it was her illusion, but the other party seemed to be relieved.
There is nothing special in the office area.
The only thing that is relatively conspicuous is the refrigerator placed in the staff area.
Although it is quite normal for a company to have this placed, it is usually placed in the tea room, which looks more beautiful.
"This one"
Nishizawa Arisa explained: "I asked the president for his opinion at the time. I actually thought it would be better to put it in the tea room, but he insisted on putting it here, saying it would be convenient for going in and out to get drinks and so on."
"And Mr. Yokokawa also agreed with the president's opinion at the time. After all, they both liked drinking milk. Perhaps the tacit understanding on this point made them choose this way."
In addition, there is a wooden table with drawers next to the refrigerator, which seems a bit out of place.
What is even more inconsistent is that in addition to the filing cabinet, there is also a large wardrobe in the president's office.
The reason for this is that the president simply uses this place as his residence in order to save on rent.
milk?
Conan jumped up and opened the refrigerator door, only to see that it was empty.
"Eh? Didn't I remember there was a carton of milk before I left?"
Looking at this scene, Nishizawa Arisa felt a little strange.
"Because we had guests coming, the president asked me to make a cup of coffee, so I added all the milk in it."
milk
If the murderer knew that the president liked to add milk to his coffee, then everything would be explained.
As long as you find the milk carton, you might be able to discover something from it.
Conan quickly asked: "Sister Kurata, do you remember where you threw the milk carton?"
“Just throw it in the trash can.”
Anna Kurata said, pointing at the trash can under the table.
Sure enough, an empty milk carton was thrown into the bucket.
Gao Mu picked up the milk carton and took a look at it. Unexpectedly, he found a small hole on the carton, like a needle prick.
"I'll send it for inspection now. Maybe we'll find some fingerprints on it."
Having said that, Gao Mu was about to leave, but was stopped by Qing Hai Chuan Tang.
"Officer Takagi, even if you send it for examination, the most you might find is Ms. Kurata's fingerprints on it."
"If the murderer wore gloves, fingerprints would not be detected. But she overlooked the fact that gloves also have textures, which can be counted as fingerprints."
"The amount of time a fingerprint remains on an item varies, and is affected by various factors. If it is the most recent fingerprint, it should be Ms. Kurata's."
"But if the glove pattern is detected on it, then the answer is obvious."
Nishizawa Arisa pointed at herself and said with a smile: "Are you saying that I'm the murderer? You know, you need to use your hands to put milk in the milk. After all, you can't use your mouth, right?"
"If I injected the poison, there should be a syringe or something in my bag. You can try searching it."
As she spoke, Nishizawa Arisa placed her bag on the table, opened it with her own hands, and placed the items inside in front of everyone.
Lipstick, headphones, wallet, keys. But there is no syringe.
"Miss Arisa, you misunderstood. Carrying the tools of crime with you, the crimes that are not dealt with selectively are rare. After all, criminals are getting smarter and smarter nowadays."
This sounds like a compliment.
Then, changing the subject, Qinghai Chuantang asked a question that had nothing to do with the case.
"Miss Arisa, do you like winter melon and barley water?"
Nishizawa Arisa was stunned for a moment, but still nodded.
"But I can't say I like it. It's just that in the summer, I always drink some. After all, it has the effect of clearing away heat and relieving summer heat."
"You seem to like children?"
Nishizawa Arisa nodded without hesitation, her expression softening: "Every woman should like children."
Qinghai Chuantang was immediately choked by these words and almost didn't know what to say.
It’s not that she doesn’t like children, but she likes obedient and well-behaved children. If the child is naughty, she won’t like him even if he is her own child.
After coughing lightly, he continued, "Since you like children, why do you choose to work here?"
"I'm sorry, I don't mean anything else. I just think that as an adult, and a seemingly rational adult, you should know."
"Fraud, you mean?"
Nishizawa Arisa smiled and said, "I don't think so. After all, it's a voluntary act on both sides."
"If there is any further fuss afterwards, calling it 'fraud', I don't agree with that statement and think it is a bit unreasonable."
It sounds like Arisa Nishizawa is defending this training institution from the company's perspective.
But Qinghai Chuantang sounds like irony.
"Then let's change the subject."
"If a woman's husband is an entrepreneur, and he listens to a lecture by a success guru and is ready to go all out, but ends up not even making a splash."
"As his wife, and a pregnant mother, would she put the blame on the lecturer?"
"If we add one more thing, that the husband was devastated and unable to recover, and the wife was so sad that she had a miscarriage, wouldn't the hatred be stronger if we look at it this way?"
So strong that he wants to kill the other person.
"It's a very good story," Nishizawa Arisa praised with a smile, "It's enough to be written into a novel."
"Okay Miss Tang, let's stop chatting and get down to business."
Gao Mu reminded gently.
At the same time, he was thankful in his heart: Fortunately, Mr. Chuanxi was not there, otherwise, with his temper, he would inevitably send Miss Tang to the detention center for a few days on the grounds of "obstructing official duties."
"Officer Gao Mu, I actually think what Sister Xiaotang said makes sense."
"Because if you put these clues together, this is indeed a very likely statement."
Nishizawa Yusa squatted down and touched his head, and said with a gentle expression: "Little friend, everything must be based on evidence."
"We can't decide who is a good person and who is a bad person just based on what others say."
"If there is no conclusive evidence, making groundless speculation will only make others feel sad."
After hearing this, Qinghai Chuantang almost felt that he was really wrong.
She finally couldn't help but said, "Ms. Arisa, the reason why ice silk gloves can still be worn in summer is because they are light and thin.
"But this does not mean that it can be compared with surgical gloves. On the contrary, it is more likely to leave marks or even incomplete fingerprints."
"Besides, your ice silk gloves are lace-style, with a special texture. As long as we find a syringe and inspect it, we can definitely find fingerprints on them."
Nishizawa Arisa looked at her and said, "Then tell me, where is the syringe?"
"I don't know this yet, but I know other evidence."
Qinghai Chuantang walked into the president's office and opened the closet door.
I saw that except for a few coats hanging inside, the rest of the clothes were stacked together, with a lot of space left.
"It seems like it can just fit one person, right?"
Qinghai Chuantang took out a pair of tweezers from his pocket, picked up a hair from the cabinet, and then faced everyone.
"If we just test it, we can find fingerprints and stuff."
"Of course, you can say that the president asked you to help organize the clothes or something. After all, it is not ruled out that such a president exists. But... there is no way to deny the hair."
Unless there is Lao Wang next door, it would be about the same.
Nishizawa Yusa felt her legs go weak and she couldn't help but reach out to hold on to the table beside her.
"How did you figure that out? It seems like this is your first time here, and you haven't looked around."
Qinghai Chuantang looked at the other party and explained.
"When I found the refrigerator was empty, my first reaction was not 'Did any guests come?' or 'Did Mr. Yokokawa drink it?', but 'Why is the milk gone?'"
"As mentioned before, the ones who like to drink milk are the president and Mr. Yokokawa."
"It's like going to a supermarket to buy juice. If the juice you like happens to be sold out, your first reaction will naturally be 'Why is there no juice?'"
"But you have no feelings about milk, so naturally you shouldn't have such doubts."
"Besides, knowing that there were two people who liked milk, isn't it reasonable for the last box of milk to disappear?"
Actually, compared to the profile...Tang is indeed very sharp-tongued. In many anime, the main character's skill is to talk big (that's why it is said that she is the cutest when she is silent)
(End of this chapter)