In the courtyard surrounded by a low stone wall, the figures of the two people flickering like phantoms. 『』

One moment he was still at the door, and the next second he suddenly appeared a few meters away - this is a fast-moving footwork unique to the ancient martial arts of Okinawa, the shrinking method reads(); Favored - a famous doctor's concubine. With this footwork, it only took a few seconds for Nao and Yuto to reach the door of the separate Kanki hut in the corner of the courtyard, which was the guest room where Higa Soji lived.

Without waiting for Nao to make a move, the anxious Yuto jumped up the steps first by inertia and pulled open the sliding door with force-

Then there was a sharp inhalation like a whip whipping through the air.

As soon as Naofu, who was a step slower, stepped into the hallway, he frowned at the smell of wet rust in the room.

The small room was in full view in the daylight: it was a mess, the small tables containing the meals were overturned, and the pale yellow tatami mats were littered with food and soup. The window facing the door was wide open, and the saturated sunset poured into the room, dyeing the entire room an ominous red.

No, it's not just the sunset that fills the room.

This bright but incomparably heavy red was something that she hated so familiarly.

In the middle of the room, a woman in a black kimono curled up on the ground, her body twitching unconsciously, and streams of bright red liquid with a fresh smell of fresh smell gushed out from under her, smearing outward at a breath-stopping speed.

The costume and figure are the same as the one who was smiling a few minutes ago!

One second he was still entangled in whether his mother was the murderer, but the next second he saw such a scene, and the strong psychological contrast made the strings in Youren's brain break suddenly...... Like a frog that has been pierced into the spine by a probe, a deep paralyzing sensation explodes from the heart, and not only can I not move my hands and feet, nor can I even continue to breathe, but I can only make a penetrating "gurgling" sound from the blocked throat.

Nao secretly screamed in his heart that it was bad.

Judging from the color, it is obvious that arterial blood is flowing from Meizhi's body, and such a fast bleeding speed indicates that the injured place is very fatal, but judging from this amount of bleeding, this lady with excellent appearance and temperament has no possibility of survival.

Thinking to herself, she didn't slow down in her hand, and pressed her hand hard against Yuto's throat - the sudden and violent pressure made him unable to resist his body's conditioned reflexes, and he coughed heart-rending while retching.

Seeing that he was breathing, Nao didn't care about explaining, turned his head and quickly stepped into the room. She skillfully bypassed the debris and blood on the ground, reaching out and holding down Mieda's carotid artery—just as she expected, although her body's twitching reflex made her look alive, the pulse stopped beating.

She got up with a calm face and shouted to the crowd that came after her, "Don't go in to anyone!" Shiraishi took Yukari and left, Rin, this guy is handed over to you!"

"Oh, oh!"

Although Rin Heikoba didn't know what was going on, the tacit understanding for many years still made him quickly run up and grab Makiyo Yuto who was struggling to enter the house, and a wrong step knocked him to the ground, and his nimble arms locked him tightly like vines; Although it was only a glimpse of the door, the bright red and bloody blood of that place had already let them know the severity of the situation.

Nao didn't stop after speaking, ran straight to the back of the house, climbed over the two-meter-high stone fence, and chased in the direction of the window.

Based on the victim's near-death state, she can conclude that Mieda is definitely no more than two minutes away from being stabbed until now!The east and north sides of the Akamahama Pavilion are cliffs, and there are only two ways to go, the west gate and the south guest room wall, if the murderer leaves through the gate, he must pass through the dining room located in the middle of the entire guest house courtyard, but no one has appeared just now, which means that there is only one direction outside the wall leading to the miscellaneous woodsreads(); Besides, the miscellaneous forest is small but extremely dense, and it will definitely not go far in two minutes!

But many things in the world backfire.

Running all the way to the vicinity of the shrine, Nao didn't find any trace of the murderer.

The quiet woods can only be heard by deep insect chirping, and the last rays of the setting sun pull the tall torii into a long shadow.

"Damn it!"

The young police officer hammered the trunk of the tree in frustration. A few crows flew away from the treetops and landed on a dry well not far away, tilting their heads to look at her as if they were laughing.

When Nao returned to the guesthouse, everyone was waiting for her outside the door of the guest room where the crime occurred.

Higa Soji's room was locked, and Matakiyuto sat on the steps with his back to the door, burying his face deep in his hands and not seeing his expression, while Rin Hirakoba sat next to him, seemingly comforting but wary of his actions, lest he rush into the room again. Kuranosuke Shiraishi probably saw the scene of the crime, his handsome face was solemn, and he stood with Kite and Kai at the farthest point from the room, and Yuka stood beside him holding his brother's arm tightly.

Hearing the sound, Yuto raised his face as if he had woken up, and the remorse and killing intent in his eyes that he didn't have time to put away shocked Nao's heart.

"How's it going?" asked Rinokio Nao Heikoba eagerly.

Nao shook her head, "Didn't see anyone. ”

"How could it be!" Mrs. Mieda was obviously still ...... when we came," Rin glanced at Yuto again and again, "How could the prisoner have disappeared in such a short period of time?"

"Akahama Pavilion is surrounded by the sea on three sides, even if you can't walk a few steps from the wall, you will reach the cliff, and the final exit can only be the mixed wood forest in the west, and there is no possibility of chasing the wrong way. ”

"How do you ...... that?"

"Now, Matsuta-chan...... So, that, could it be that the prisoner is still in this homestay?"

Before Rin could finish speaking, Yukari suddenly spoke. Compared with his brother, the little girl who didn't see the tragic scene was like reading a thrilling but irresistible novel, with a scared and excited expression on her face.

In such a state of affairs, such an expression was a little out of place, but everyone's attention was drawn to the very possibility of what was happening in her words—except for Shiraishi Kuranosuke—and all of them showed almost exactly the same expression as her.

"That's right. ”

There's an unknown light in Matayoshi's eyes, and a grim smile appears on Mieda's handsome face.

"Higa Soji...... From now on, he will never be allowed to escape again. ”

"If you want to escape from this B&B with only one way, unless the prisoner knows how to fly or stealth. Kite Eishiro said meaningfully, "Otherwise...... Only by hiding in a hole like a rat will you not be discovered. ”

"Hey, as long as we search, that Higa Soji will soon run out like a rat filled with water!"

"That's right, Yujiro!" Rin patted Yuto on the shoulder, "Don't worry, as long as he's still in this homestay, he won't be able to escape!"

"Don't rush to conclusions just yetreads(); The maiden is reborn!"

Nao glanced at everyone with a cold look in his eyes. Facing her as if it were a substance, the teenagers only felt that their hot heads had cooled down inexplicably. The eyes of Eishiro Kite, who was invisibly suppressed, flashed, and he carefully observed the every move of the person in front of him with eyes as if he knew her for the first time.

I saw that the cross-disguised girl police officer opened her coat, took out a pair of white gloves from the placket, slowly put them on with slow but rhythmic movements, moved her wrist, and an awe-inspiring aura that was invisible to the naked eye but could not be ignored emanated from her body outward.

"Who killed Mrs. Mieda and whether the murderer is Higa Soji or not, it is not you who can make a judgment, nor me. She turned her head and looked deeply in a certain direction, "Before we act without conspiracy, we need to listen...... The voice of the parties. ”

Under the darkening sky, the small building with the door closed stood silently in the eyes of everyone.

The atmosphere in the courtyard cooled down. Kuranosuke Shiraishi stared at Nao with an indescribably complex gaze.

"I've been wondering if I've been in this situation since I learned your identity, but it's still a little hard to accept...... Doesn't it matter if you go in alone? Otherwise, call the police first, and let the police go in with you. ”

"No, not yet. ”

Nao crossed her fingers and squeezed hard to make sure the gloves were in the right position before lifting her feet up the steps, "The temperature in Okinawa is not gentle at all, and the sooner this kind of work is done, the better." Moreover...... Before the murderer is identified, for the next arrangement, it is still necessary to avoid startling the snake as much as possible, after all, I did not land on the island for sightseeing. Don't worry, I just want to be alone with Mrs. Mieda for a while, and I'll be in touch with the Naha Metropolitan Police Department after that. ”

At this, she paused as if she had thought of something, and looked sideways at Makiyoto who was sitting on the steps.

"Do you want to come along?"

At night, unlike the shopping streets that are getting darker, the Akahama Pavilion is brightly lit. Not only in the dining room and guest rooms, but even in the doorway with a signboard - everyone lit a bonfire at the door, and made a gesture of chatting at the door, but in fact watched out for any disturbances around them.

The doors and windows of the guest room where the crime occurred were closed, the vertical air conditioner in the corner of the wall was fully powered on, and the 16-degree cold wind blew people to stand on end.

He sat on his knees in the corner of the wall that had not been touched by the blood, and a screen isolated the corner from the world, except for the figures reflected on the screen and the occasional voice outside the screen.

He clenched the pen in his hand and followed the emotionless undulating voice, trembling but determined to record it in his notebook.

"The victim died at about 7 p.m., the cause of death was massive hemorrhage caused by a sharp object piercing the heart, and there were three stab wounds to the chest at angles of about 78°, 75° and 73°, and there were no other visible external injuries. ”

Outside the screen, Nao stared at the wound on Lady Mieda's chest and slowly lowered the camera in her hand.

Something is not quite right, this wound. She narrowed her eyes.

If she remembers correctly, Soji Higa was unable to exert his strength because of the injuries he sustained in the tragedy ten years ago, which caused his hand, that is, his left hand. However, Mieda's chest wounds are all slightly to the right, indicating that the person who stabbed her to death was a left-hander...... According to what was described in the report of the examination of the Emperor of Higa, his left hand had reached the point where he could lift a little weight and get rid of it, so why was he still able to hold on to a sharp blade and kill with a force that could penetrate the bones?

Or maybe it wasn't Soji Higa who stabbed Mrs. Mieda to death, but another unknown left-handed murderer?

Or rather......

She stood up and observed the direction of Mieda's blood splattering from her sting—it was directly facing the window, and under the windowsill there was only a small table with food that had been overturned; Pamper the lazy concubine. Black tuna sashimi and sea grapes were scattered on the ground, while other bowls resembling side dishes and rice were upside down, and a stream of blood that had turned dark red covered the food in an irregular fan-shape—indicating that there was no one in front of Mieda at the time of her assassination.

So......

"The victim's arterial hemorrhage was intact and unobstructed. It is preliminarily inferred that the murderer restrained the victim's movements from behind with his left hand, and stabbed the victim in the chest three times with the murder weapon in his right hand, rupturing his heart and dying. ”

Ignoring the sound of the tip of the pen cutting through the paper on the other side of the screen, Nao bent down and pulled up the placket of her black kimono, gently covering Lady Mieda's blood-stained whiteness*. She walked peacefully, as if the murderer's first knife had stabbed her in the heart, and she quickly lost consciousness without much torture, and even had a slight smile on her face - Nao could think of the scene - she walked to the window with a small table, but was hugged by the murderer from behind, but instead of panicking, she showed a sweet smile, and-

A lover?, Nao's eyes widened slightly.

She leaned over to carefully observe Mieda's expression again, as well as her fallen posture, limbs, and hands.

"It's ......"

Breaking open Mie's clenched left hand, there was a piece of flesh that had been pinched to the point of finger marks, but the color still showed a fresh red color.

"Hey, Yuto, where did you get the tuna sashimi for dinner today, and did you buy it?"

The person on the other end of the screen seemed to be thinking, and after a few seconds, Yukito's trembling voice, which was clearly suppressed by gnashing teeth, rang out.

"It was given by someone else. Yuto took a deep breath, and his voice sounded normal, "I heard from my mother, it was Kaneshiro Lightyear, the caretaker of the lighthouse on the cliff, who had just caught it. ”

"He often sends things?"

"It seems...... It is a frequent coming. Yuto recalled, "About three or four times a week." That guy probably wanted to pursue my mother, so he was always courteous. ”

"Pursuit...... ? Nao laughed mockingly. Maybe you've already caught it!

(-and, in this capacity, approached and killed Mrs. Mieda.) ）

"What's wrong?" Yuto asked sensitively when he heard her laughter.

The young police officer took off her gloves and pushed her glasses with her index and middle fingers, and her eyes under the lenses were frighteningly sharp.

"The suspect has been found. She said.

And it is another victim who did not die in the tragedy ten years ago, except for Higa Soji and Makishi Mingjia.

The author has something to say:

I'm back!! so it's finally starting to die!!

The next chapter continues to die!!

Oh, hehehehehe―――――― (This person has gone mad.)