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Because it would take some time for the cleaner to take effect, everyone followed their previous habit and went to the cafe upstairs to rest.
But I didn’t go with them, I went to Xiye Building…”
"Why do we want to go to Nishiba Building?" asked Suzuki Sonoko.
“Because around 3:50 yesterday, the president sent me an email saying that he had something to tell me and asked me to go to Xiye.
Now that I think about it, the president should have set the time to send this email in advance, right? After all, he was killed before three o'clock. No wonder I couldn't wait for the president yesterday..."
"Hmm..." Nodding, Suzuki Sonoko continued to ask according to Shizumi Shizuka's instructions: "Then Miss Kuramoto, when did you come back to the aquarium after you left?"
"It was probably a little after five. I couldn't wait for the president in Xiye, and the time for the neutralizer was almost up, so I went back to the aquarium and started to fill the tank with water, and then transferred the fish back to the tank. I was busy until about six, and then I left work."
"During this period, have you never entered that warehouse?" Suzuki Sonoko asked, pointing to the abandoned warehouse on the rock field on the left.
"No, we won't go..."
As if something was hurt by this warehouse, a trace of gloom flashed in Kuramoto Reika's eyes.
Chapter 268: Case closed, detective game ends here
"Why was this warehouse abandoned? Can you tell me the reason?" Suzuki Sonoko asked. This was one of the things that Shizuka Shizuka wanted her to understand.
"Well, can I not answer this?" Kuramoto Reika replied, looking away.
"Please! Miss Kuramoto! This is really important!" Suzuki Sonoko raised her hand and pressed her shoulders again, begging.
Seeing her like this, Kuramoto Reika sighed softly, organized her words, and said:
"In fact, this is no secret in our company. Last year, one of our breeders...became the president's mistress."
"Ugh?"
"It was a very old story, just like those on TV. She thought the president would divorce Mrs. Mieko and then marry her and make her the new 'Mrs. Moriyama'.
But she had no idea that the president was a playboy, and he had sex with her with the intention of playing with her from the very beginning...so it was no surprise that she was abandoned by the president who had tired of her not long after.
In the end, she was so frustrated that she hanged herself in the warehouse. It was her own fault...
Because it was suicide, the police closed the case quickly, and it didn’t cause much of a stir. If there was any change, it was that this warehouse, which was originally quite convenient, was abandoned. We had to go to the control room on the first floor of the aquarium to get the cleaning tools, which was quite troublesome…”
"Sorry, Miss Kuramoto..." Seeing Kuramoto Reika's sad expression, Suzuki Sonoko was also somewhat affected.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Do you have anything else you want to ask?"
"Well, there is one last one." Nodding, Suzuki Sonoko asked, "Who was the first person to arrive at the aquarium this morning?"
"Usually it's the breeders, and today I just happen to be the first one to arrive." Reika Kuramoto replied.
"So did you notice anything special this morning, Miss Kuramoto? Anything is fine, as long as you feel it is different from usual."
"Anything special? It seems not... Oh, by the way, someone shut down the aquarium's surveillance system last night, and... the long hook in the control room on the first floor got wet, does that count?"
"The long hook is wet? Is that weird?"
"Yeah." Nodding, Kuramoto Reika explained, "The long hook was originally used to pick up debris from the sink, but because we cleaned the sink yesterday, we didn't use it yesterday and it has been placed in the control room.
But when I arrived at the aquarium this morning, I found that it was covered with water, which felt a bit strange.
Because if it was used by the security guard who was patrolling last night, the water stains on it should have dried up overnight.
But it’s not true to say that someone used it this morning, because when I arrived at the aquarium this morning, no one was there...!"
As she spoke, Kuramoto Reika's face turned pale. She seemed to suddenly realize something, stood up abruptly, and quickly left the rock field.
"Hey? Miss Cang Yuan?"
Looking at Reika Kuramoto walking away on her own, Suzuki Sonoko was a little confused, but she didn't chase after her. After all, she had already asked all the questions that Shizuka Shizuka wanted her to ask, and now she had to tell her brother-in-law about Reika Kuramoto's answers.
"I think Miss Kuramoto must have known how the murderer hid President Moriyama's body and was anxious to preserve the evidence." After listening to Suzuki Sonoko's description, Shizuo Shizuka said with a smile.
"Huh? It sounds like you, brother-in-law, already know who the murderer is?!" Suzuki Sonoko asked excitedly.
After she finished speaking, Suzuki Ayako and Mao Li Ran, who had been just listening quietly, also looked at Shimizu Shizuka curiously.
"Yes, I understand. The murderer is indeed among the three suspects."
"Brother-in-law! Tell me now!"
"Shizuku-kun." Suzuki Ayako gestured to the police who were still in distress not far away, and her meaning was very clear.
"Ah."
Nodding to her, Qing Shuijing sorted out his thoughts in his mind and said:
“First of all, it was President Moriyama. The reason why his body was in that strange posture was indeed intentional by the murderer. Of course, this was not some evil ritual, but the murderer had to do it.
Yesterday afternoon... I personally speculate that it was after four o'clock, when neutralizer was sprinkled in the aquarium's tanks and all the keepers left, the murderer and President Moriyama arrived at the rock field on the second floor of the aquarium one after another.
Here, the murderer, who had some evidence on President Moriyama, first pushed him off the rock when he was not paying attention, and after teasing him for a while, he lowered the rope and pulled him up.
That's how the tears in President Moriyama's clothes and the scrapes on his knees and elbows were caused.
Of course, the murderer did this not to humiliate President Moriyama, but he had to do it, just like killing a fish alive. Only by letting President Moriyama's body undergo enough exercise can the murderer be sure to deceive the police autopsy. "
"Live kill" is a fishing term, which means that if the fish is left to jump around after being caught, rigor mortis will appear earlier, which will greatly affect the quality of the fish. Therefore, in order to ensure the freshness of the fish to the greatest extent, it is chosen to kill the fish immediately after being caught.
The same situation would apply to humans.
In the process of pushing President Moriyama into the water tank and finally making him climb up with difficulty along the rock field with slippery neutralizer, President Moriyama's body, which had been fully exercised, had accumulated a large amount of fatigue substances.
If he were suddenly killed at this time, then under the influence of these fatigue substances, President Moriyama's body would inevitably develop rigor mortis faster than normal, thus misleading the police in their judgment of the time of his death.
This would be difficult to detect without a more professional and detailed autopsy. Coincidentally, due to various reasons, there are very few forensic doctors in the Japanese police force, and many times they do not even perform autopsies on the bodies of the deceased.
"That is to say, the police's previous conclusion that President Moriyama was killed between 1 and 3 yesterday was wrong. He was actually killed between 4 and 5 o'clock when all the keepers left the aquarium."
Qing Shuijing smiled and told this inference to the three people beside him.
"Of course, the murderer did this not only to provide a false alibi for himself, but also to leave the rock field, which was also his biggest flaw."
"Leaving the rock?"
"Well, the rock field here is divided into two large areas, with the closest distance between them being about 1.6 meters. When the keepers were cleaning the water tank yesterday, there should have been a stepping stone placed here to facilitate their return. However, I think Miss Cang Yuan must have put the stepping stone away when she left work yesterday.
For a normal adult, it would not be a problem to jump this distance even without a pedal, but unfortunately, the murderer could not do it.
So after killing President Moriyama, the murderer took President Moriyama's body and hid in the abandoned warehouse. Due to the special nature of this warehouse, the murderer was not worried that anyone would find him.
He waited until Miss Kuramoto and the other breeders had finished get off work before he took President Moriyama's body out of the warehouse. He used the quickly stiffening corpse as a stepping stone and successfully returned from the left rock field to the right rock field.
Finally, the murderer disguised President Moriyama's body, threw it into the tank, and left the aquarium. As for the method of disguising the body, I think Ms. Kuramoto should give us the answer soon.
So, who is the murderer? You should all know now, right? "
After Shizuka Shizuka finished speaking, she turned to look at the technical director Takashi Yaguchi, who was standing among the police, leaning on a crutch and having a disabled leg.
[Okay, the detective game ends here. Now it’s time to find the person hiding behind you.]
Chapter 269 I am Vodka (Confirmed)
In the end, Takashi Yaguchi, the murderer of Hiromichi Moriyama, was arrested by the police.
Just as Shizuka Shizuka speculated, he did indeed lure Hiromichi Moriyama into the aquarium and kill him after four o'clock yesterday afternoon when all the keepers were away.
The pocket watch on Hiromichi Moriyama's body, which stopped at 6:10, was broken when Takashi Yaguchi pushed it into the sink.
As for the method he used to hide Hiromichi Moriyama's body, it was actually very simple.
Before pushing the body into the sink, Takashi Yaguchi wrapped it with a piece of camouflage cloth he had prepared in advance, which was very close to the light and shadow in the sink, in order to confuse the security guards who would come for patrol at eight o'clock in the evening.
Then the next morning, he came to the aquarium early with the key, and used the long hook in the control room on the first floor to hook away the camouflage cloth. He then temporarily stored it in the locker in the control room together with the long hook. He probably wanted to dispose of it quietly after the matter was over.
However, this decision became the biggest loophole in his entire plan.
When the keeper Reika Kuramoto came to the aquarium's control room this morning, she not only noticed the wet long hook, but also noticed the water stains on the floor of the control room that extended to the front of the locker.
But she didn't think much about these anomalies at the time. It was not until Suzuki Sonoko asked her about it that she suddenly realized the secret hidden in it.
During the police inspection, Takashi Yaguchi's fingerprints were found on the long hook, locker and camouflage cloth.
Not only that, other surveillance cameras in Clover Villa also showed Takashi Yaguchi at the time of the crime yesterday and at the aquarium this morning.
Most importantly, the police also found a record of the note that Yaguchi Takashi faxed to Hiromichi Moriyama's office in the internal network system of Clover Villa.
That's right, the note used to threaten Hiromichi Moriyama to go to the aquarium was printed by Takashi Yaguchi using the company's fax machine.
Faced with such sufficient physical evidence, Yaguchi Takashi had no way of defending himself and finally pleaded guilty and was arrested by the police.
The motive he gave for the murder was his hatred for Moriyama Company.
According to him, the company had long since become a dark and corrupt evil consortium that would do anything for profit.
Every day he worked in this company, his conscience was tormented.
Not long ago, unable to endure this kind of pain any longer, Takashi Yaguchi submitted his resignation to Hiromichi Moriyama, hoping to return to his hometown and start his own company.
However, his request was rejected by Hiromichi Moriyama. Not only that, Hiromichi Moriyama also threatened him that if Yaguchi Takashi dared to leave President Moriyama, he would work with other companies to completely "ban" Yaguchi Takashi.
By then, Takashi Yaguchi would not be able to start his own company, and it would be difficult for him to find a job elsewhere, as there would be no place for him in the industry.
Finally, forced into a corner with no way out, driven by rage, Takashi Yaguchi planned the murder.
After this tear-jerking confession, Yaguchi Takashi was taken away by Inspector Megure and others.
As for what he said about Moriyama Company's illegal business operations, this is not the responsibility of the First Investigation Division. Officer Megure will report the matter to his superiors in the Metropolitan Police Department after returning, and other police officers will naturally come to investigate at that time.
As for Shizuka Shizuka, she didn't care at all about what Yaguchi Takashi said. She had already found the person anyway. No matter whether what he said was true or false, after he left Clover Villa, the organization would have plenty of ways to make him beg the organization to listen to his truth.
"You're amazing, big sister. Why didn't I realize you're so amazing before..."
At the rock climbing site, as the police left, Hattori Heiji and Conan surrounded Suzuki Sonoko, exclaiming in amazement.
"Ahaha, it's nothing, it just suddenly dawned on me, and then I thought of it, hahaha..." Suzuki Sonoko felt a little embarrassed by the questions from these two people, and scratched her head and laughed.
Behind her, Shizumi Shizuka and Suzuki Ayako stood up and left the rock field. Before leaving, she glanced at Mao Lilan who was hesitant to speak, and said with a smile, "Don't tell anyone, Mao Li-san."
"Huh? Hmm..." Mouri Ran looked at her, then looked at Hattori Heiji and the other person who were circling around Suzuki Sonoko. She hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded.
Considering the possibility of the existence of organized hostile personnel on the island, Qingshui Jing did not want to be too conspicuous and thus attract their attention in advance.
But if she was asked to do nothing and just wait for the two detectives to slowly solve the case, she would really feel uneasy.
The death of Hiromichi Moriyama was the beginning of those people's actions. Who knows when their next move will be? She had to find the murderer quickly and send him out so that the organization could see if they could dig out some useful clues from the murderer.