At six o'clock in the afternoon, Nao, Shumi, and the client, Inao Kai, marched towards the residential area of 6-chome in Kakudo Town.

The residential area is much older than the three-chome where Nao lives, and the roads are narrow enough to accommodate a single car, and the two-storey buildings are invariably seated in a canopy of low-level wires, in contrast to the nearby Kabido Avenue and the newly renovated Nabido Central Hospital, as if they were stout spiders and small insects glued to their webs, waiting to be killed. Luckily, rows of lush holly trees and a shallow river weave through the residential area, giving this residential area some life that is more of a retro than a quirky one.

"Ah, there are fish in such a shallow river!" Shumi said in surprise as she walked and looked at her feet, "and there are no aquatic plants, and it looks like a drainage canal, which is incredible." ”

"It's not 'it looks,' it was originally a drainage canal built during the Meiji period," Inao Kai gently picked the corner of his lips, "There used to be several paper factories in this area, and this is where the wastewater from the factories flowed to the Tsutsumi River." However, in recent years, most of the factories upstream have been demolished, the river has become cleaner, and the fish in it have only appeared in recent years, probably swimming down the river from the upstream. ”

"A drain about a meter and a half wide, with holly bushes along the shore," Nao recalled, "So what you said earlier about the drain under your eldest brother's window was referring to this one, right?"

Inao Hai nodded, stretched out his arm and pointed to a small building not far in front of him and said, "That's my house." ”

Following the direction Inao was pointing, Nao and Shumi looked up together, and an ordinary two-story building came into view: chocolate-colored roofs, cream-colored walls, and shelves on windowsills covered with green foliage plants...... At first glance it is a warm and lovely building. But as the footsteps of the crowd got closer and closer, the pores of Nao's whole body gradually received an aura full of oppression that was incompatible with it—it came from the half-open window on the second floor, and the half curtain that fluttered lightly outside the window.

"That's my big brother's room. ”

Inao said with his face raised, the long brim of his baseball cap obscuring his expression. Nao bowed her head in silence and walked to the bottom of the window across a clump of holly trees and a drain.

Although the Inao House is close to the road and has no walls, it is not easy to invade without leaving a trace, and the French holly, which is neatly manicured and clings to the second-floor window, and the river next to the trees, form a height of about a person. The three-metre-wide natural barrier makes it impossible to climb the fragile holly branches, and it is not easy to cross the slippery river on both sides of the river without a run, not to mention the fact that on the other side of the river is a high fence except for a narrow road that can only be used for one car to pass through the guò.

"On the side of the canal near the house is a dirt ground planted with trees, and the neatly manicured trees show no signs of being damaged, so it seems that it is indeed difficult to invade from the outside, as determined by the Metropolitan Police Department. Nao observed the situation outside the house, turned to Inao and asked, "By the way, when was the last time this row of holly was pruned?"

"A week ago, and then it hasn't been touched ever since. ”

"Well," Nao sighed, "then let's go to the scene." ”

Inao nodded.

The three of them changed their slippers in the hallway, and instead of stopping in the living room, they ran directly to the bedroom on the second floor where the body was found.

The windows of the room were ajar, and the soft wind shook the light curtains, casting swaying shadows in the room, and the white balls that rolled down the floor everywhere also appeared and disappeared under the shadow of these shadows. Yuki Inao's body had been removed, except for the plastic plaque with numbers on the floor and the white lines on the floor, testifying to the unfortunate events that had taken place here - especially the floor under the four-bladed fan and the desk on the right side of the room against the wall - the irregular shape of the thick white wire and the plastic plaque with the numbers written on it, like two large distorted mouths with sticking out their tongues.

"The floor in the center of the room should be where the remote control is, and the desk there is where the suicide note used to be placed. Nao raised his head and frowned suddenly, "The rope hanging from the fan is gone, so there are only three evidences, what about the key key case?"

"Restore the original place on the bed," Inao Hai smiled bitterly and pointed to the single bed against the left wall, "Because the police almost immediately determined suicide, they only took the evidence related to the suicide." I didn't trust the police's judgment, so nothing else was touched at all. ”

In other words, "As she spoke, Nao was already wearing snow-white gloves. She bit her teeth down on the edge of the glove and pulled the corners of her mouth at Inao with a sideways look, "The room is basically the same as it was at the time of the crime...... What do you mean?"

"Nai, Nao!" Shumi trembled her fingertips and pointed at Nao's gloves out of nowhere, "Why do you carry this kind of perverted thing with you?!

"Idiot! You can't directly touch anything at the scene of the crime, this is the basics of criminal investigation!" Nao rolled her eyes and muttered in a low voice, "Although it was forced...... The perverted uncles in those training centers......"

Just as Nao was scolding the instructors at the incubator while picking up the ball-shaped key case on the bed and taking a closer look, the electric bell rang in the entrance - a short-haired woman in a neat professional skirt stood outside the door, holding a stack of documents in her hand, and looked at Inao Kai who opened the door for her with a frown.

"Hello, I'm Sato from the Metropolitan Police Department. The woman showed her badge and said to Inao, "Regarding the case from two days ago, we found something that we are not sure about, so I would like to ask for some details about that case again." ”

"Don't you think it's too late to find out what you are not sure about after two days?" the handsome young man looked at her sneeringly, and said mercilessly, "Even as a middle school student, I can sense that something is wrong, you police actually made such a ridiculous conclusion on the spot that my eldest brother committed suicide, and what do you want me to believe you now?"

"No, I noticed something was wrong when I went back," Sato said with a look of embarrassment, "It's just that it's a little difficult to re-investigate the case that has already been closed, so I want to apply for ......."

"So, what do you think of my eldest brother's life! Settle the case like a play, and then re-investigate it on a whim?" the fourteen-year-old boy became excited, tears welling up in his eyes. He rubbed his eyes rudely, puffed up his chest and said to her stubbornly, "I want to find out the truth about my eldest brother's death in my own way, and I am not sensitive to your police uncle's 'help'!"

"I'm not kidding!"

Sato's firm proclamation echoed heavily in the air, and his serious eyes seemed to penetrate Inao Kai's fragile soul, making him stand dumbfounded and unable to move. She took a deep breath and bent down to the boy in front of her, who seemed to be going to cry in the next second, and the deep voice sounded thick in his ears.

"I'm sorry, but it was the police's fault that we didn't investigate the evidence carefully, but we have realized our mistake, so I'm here. Please give us another chance to find the real culprit for your dead big brother!"

"Find out...... Really a murderer?" Inao Hai murmured, "You...... My eldest brother, he really didn't commit suicide?"

"I can't be 100% sure, but I think there's a good chance that your brother was killed. ”

"It's not suicide...... It's good," there seemed to be some kind of relief in Inao's voice, he sniffed, and suddenly bowed deeply to Sato, "I'm sorry, I had a bad attitude just now, and when I think of my eldest brother's death, I unconsciously ......"

"It's okay, don't take it personally!" the beautiful policewoman smiled at him and winked, "As the saying goes, a child's love is as changeable as the weather!"

"I should say it the other way around, right......"

The red-haired girl threw the ball-shaped key case and paced down the stairs slowly, "I'll just say why it's so noisy downstairs all of a sudden, it's Officer Sato, you're here." You've just arrived at the right time, and I just wanted to contact you. ”

"Hey, isn't this Nao!Why are you here?" Sato looked at the girl who suddenly appeared in surprise, "And this dress...... Wearing white gloves and holding key evidence, can you say?"

"If you ask if it's 'that' training, my answer is 'no'. Nao shrugged, "It's just that our school seniors have entrusted me with this case - in the case that you've closed it." ”

"Ah, that's really a mistake in the judgment of our Metropolitan Police Department. Speaking of the mistake at work, Sato's expression became stern, "The wooden police department in charge of this case has just been transferred to the first and third departments of the search section, and it is still a little unsuitable for work, so the Twilight Police Department asked me to act with him temporarily, but this case even I was misled...... It's embarrassing. ”

"Misleading?" Nao's eyes narrowed, "So you can be sure that this case is a homicide?"

"That's basically it. Sato walked to the coffee table in the living room, took out a stack of photos of the exhibits from the information bag and put them in front of Nao, she pointed to the top photo of the exhibits and said, "This is a knot wrapped around the four-leaf ceiling fan, and this way of winding makes me suspicious......

"Wait a minute!" Nao suddenly interrupted her, turned her head and said to Inao Hai, who was staring at the photo of the evidence, "Inao senpai, can I trouble you to make a cup of tea?" I'm a little thirsty. ”

"Oh, yes. ”

Inao Kai was regained attention by Nao, and his somewhat dilated pupils regained his clarity, and he reluctantly rubbed into the kitchen.

"Wild boar, you go and help!"

"Eh, am I going too?" Shumi, who listened with relish, complained loudly, but was silenced by Nao's threatening eye knife, "...... Okay, okay, I'll just go. ”

Seeing the two of them walk out of the living room step by step, Nao turned his head and met Sato's meaningful eyes.

"W-what, that kind of look!"

"Hmph, nothing. Sato chuckled twice, "I just think you're such a gentle child, you." ”

"They didn't do much to discuss the case, they just got in the way. ”

Nao coughed uncomfortably twice, picked up the photo of the evidence and continued to look at it, but the tips of her ears were a little hot. But for a moment, she was drawn to the marvelous state of the straw rope wrapped around the four-leaf ceiling fan in the photo.

It was a thick straw rope about four centimeters in diameter, and the loop that was tightly attached to one of the fan blades was U-shaped, and then the two ropes that formed the rope loop interlaced each other to take on the shape of a ∝, and the rest of the rope was wrapped around the rotating axis of the ceiling fan like a whirlpool, and a rope loop large enough to wrap around the neck of the deceased was hung under the fan blades opposite the previous rope loop - and the deceased Inao Yuki was suspended to death by this rope loop.

"This rope ......" Nao frowned, her eyes flashing thoughtfully.

"It's this knot that cares about me. Sato pointed to the hanging loop, which was connected to the thick straw rope by a strong knot in the upper part of it, "According to the testimony, the deceased was left-handed, and the nerves in his left hand were injured quite severely...... How does a man who is so injured and unable to exert force with his hands make such a strong knot that he can be lifted without loosening?

"So this is the www.biquge.info of the pen that makes you suspicious," Nao took off her gloves and tapped her fingers lightly on the table, "but it's not impossible to do it with your teeth......"

"Yes, that's what I thought. Sato agreed, "So I immediately asked someone from the forensic department to examine the ends of the knot, but they didn't find any tooth marks or saliva at all." ”

"This is only one of the points, but it is enough to prove that the deceased did not commit suicide......"

"One of them?" Sato was a little surprised, "Is there anything else?"

"Of course, it's obvious, isn't it?" Nao smiled softly, "First of all, the way the deceased died was just like you investigated before, someone pressed the remote control of the four-bladed ceiling fan to make the rope around the deceased's neck tighter and tighter until he died. She pointed to a photo showing the victim's state of death and said to Sato, "When hanging, as long as the cervical vertebrae are angled, even if they are only 20% of their body weight, the blood flow in the cervical artery and the internal vertebral artery will be cut off immediately, and the person will lose consciousness in an instant, so it is not valid that the deceased will cut off the power supply of the ceiling fan after being hoisted." ”

"I see......," Sato nodded, "However, this point is limited to inferring that the deceased did not commit suicide but homicide." ”

"That's right, but the killer left a second clue. ”

Speaking of this, Nao confidently raised the corners of her mouth.

"That's -- he's also left-handed. ”

The author has something to say: stumbling, changing and changing, I finally changed this chapter by 4000+, oh hehehe~~~

It's really hard to write the first chapter of the case, but the next chapter will be much smoother.

Although this case is relatively simple, it is not easy to write at all, and it is completely two feelings to conceive and really write it down, Ah Khan~ I also ask the girls to give more opinions, so that I can improve TAT~~~

Above.