After learning the true cause of Inao's death, Haruka Shintsu's attitude became positive. Under Sato's questioning, he recalled the alibi on the night of the crime, which raised some new suspicions and brought a new clue to the two.

At around 9 p.m. on July 20, less than 20 minutes before the victim's death, he passed by the vicinity of Inao House and saw a somewhat suspicious female figure.

According to Shinjin Haruka's testimony, the woman stood near the Inao house with her mobile phone and seemed to be hesitating about something, and looked at the window of Inao Yuki's room from time to time, because the house lived with a well-connected senior, so he subconsciously looked a few more times and remembered the appearance of this woman.

He is about 150 cm tall, with curly hair, a pointed chin, and blue-purple eyes...... After he said these key words one by one, a complete image appeared in Nao's mind.

Ayana to the sun!

This discovery made Nao's heart jump, but at the same time, he sighed deeply.

If Ayana Mukai is indeed related to the murder of Yuki Inao, can she really take the sister of the first friend she identified as a suspect after coming to Tokyo?

If Ayana Mukai is really the real murderer of Inao, what kind of expression will she put on to face her friend?

"How could it be...... It's like this......" Nao shook her head with a wry smile.

"What's wrong?"

"No, nothing. ”

Nao pursed her lips, retracted her divergent thoughts, and focused her attention on the case again, "Although Shinjin Haruka's testimony points out the suspicion of Ayana's alibi to Mukai, his own actions also need to be investigated in depth. ”

Haruka Shinjin's own alibi is also quite intriguing.

He claimed to have seen Ayana Mukai on his way home from a part-time job. Although there were two ways to get home from where he worked, the nearest road didn't need to pass through that residential area, so why did he choose the road that passed through the 6-chome of Kakudocho?

"In this regard, it seems that the road he usually takes home is being repaired, so he can only take the one near Inao's house...... By the way, didn't we pass by in the morning! The intersection where the entrance is blocked and there is a sign next to it!"

"Speaking of which......" Listening to Sato's words, Nao recalled the intersection he had passed by in the morning, "The construction time written on the sign happened to be from July 20, which means that Shintsu took another road for the first time on the day Inao was killed, and thus witnessed the appearance of Akina Mukai...... Is it a coincidence?"

"The construction team would not have deliberately chosen to start building the road on that day because they wanted to cooperate with Xinjin's actions, and there is no other explanation than a coincidence. Sato took out the map from the car's toolbox, "The place where Haruka Shinjin works is the temple next to Minami Kakudo Station, and the time for the part-time job to end is half past eight in the evening, and it takes half an hour to walk from the temple back to his home in Sanchome, and it takes about fifty minutes to walk a little further, which is just the right time." In addition, didn't Xinjin's mother also say that she had to take medicine at half past nine every night, and the time when Xinjin arrived home that day was just the time when she took medicine...... If his testimony is true, then the possibility of his crime is basically ruled out. ”

"In any case, we still need to go to the monastery where he works, otherwise we won't be able to prove that what he says is true or false. And also...... I also have to go to the Hichi's house again and ask for the alibi of Hinata Ayana. Nao rubbed her temples, her golden-green eyes full of exhaustion, "Sato, let's go." ”

Sato looked at Nao's appearance, a light quickly flashed in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled slightly.

"That's it, let's divide into two ways, you go to the temple where Xinjin Yao works, and I'll go to ask the Rijia about Ayana Xiangri, and strive to ask all the people involved within today. The short-haired policewoman patted Nao's shoulder vigorously and smiled brightly, "Maybe after solving this case, you will be able to graduate from the cultivation class!

"Sa, Sato ......?"

Nao looked up in astonishment, facing Sato's jet-black eyes that shone with a gentle light.

"For the investigation of a case, the most important thing is the evidence, followed by the reasonableness, and the last thing is the testimony, and it is also our job to use evidence to confirm the reasonableness of the testimony and distinguish the truth and falsity of the testimony. ”

Sato touched Nao's red head and smiled at her, "The truth is not something given by others, and every qiē has to be obtained through your own hands." Is it necessary for the red-haired pirate queen to care about these things that have not yet been discerned from them?"

When the truth is not revealed, the lies of the prisoners are also true testimony, and the work of bringing these "testimonies" back to their original form is not what she needs to do now?

Nao let out a short laugh.

So, what is she worried about?

If you don't believe it, go for evidence to disprove it!

No matter how much she cares and how secretive she is, the truth is the only one that will never change.

"I know what to do. ”

She squeezed the note in her hand, and her slender phoenix eyes were full of determination, "Thank you, Sato さん." ”

After separating from Sato, Nao went to the temple where Haruka Shintsu worked, "Kurithiroji Temple" located next to Minami Kakudo Station on the Toto Ring Line.

The area of Licheng Temple is not large, and the resident staff of the temple is only one abbot and three disciples, which is very deserted compared to other temples in the capital, but surprisingly, the incense here is very strong. When he was still two or three hundred meters away from the temple, Nao smelled the distinctive smell of incense.

"This taste ......"

Nao sniffled and sneezed firmly.

"Oops, dragon-like sneeze......"

Just as Nao rubbed her nose and told who was talking about her, a casual joke sounded from behind her.

Listening to this familiar voice, the red-haired girl with her back to him showed a look of surprise. She slowly turned around in the footsteps of the other party getting closer and closer, and what caught her eye was indeed the slender figure with her back slightly hunched in her heart.

A white shirt, a striped tie, dark blue uniform trousers, a black tennis bag slanted diagonally over his shoulders, and his short silver hair fluttered gently with his steps......

"Standing in front of the temple and sneezing, which way is the fairy thinking about you~"

The young man who was against the light walked up to Nao step by step, and the green eyes raised in the corners of his eyes were full of smiles.

"Am I right, Miss Detective?"

"Werewolf さん?!"

"Hi hi, it's me. The silver-haired boy raised his hand and waved, "Why, on a rare rest day, Miss Detective didn't rest at home but came to the temple to pray for blessings?

"It's a case, it's a case...... Nao couldn't help but have a black line when he listened to the other party's ridicule, "It's you, come to Tokyo to visit the temple on your day off?"

"It's not Bunta yet. Nioh pouted, "I said I came to Tokyo to buy tennis shoes, but I ended up buying some limited cake and went to the Rice Flower Hotel to eat...... Luckily, Kuwabara from our department was with me, otherwise I would have died at the cake shop! It was better to stand next to the station than to stay in a sweet and greasy place, so I left early. ”

Nao looked at Nioh's sad expression, and couldn't help but think of the last time he let Nioh, who was pretending to be Yagyu, drink super sweet coconut milk, and a smile flashed in his cold eyes.

"It's really hard for you. ”

"And what about you, the so-called 'case' ......" the temple of the Ren Dynasty pouted, "related to the monk?"

"Not really. Nao shook her head, "I'm here to corroborate the testimony of someone involved." ”

"It's still early before the meeting time, let's go up together, and tell me about your case by the way. ”

Nioh looked at his watch and said to Nao.

On the way to the temple, Nao succinctly introduces the case to Nioh. Perhaps it was because Nioh, as a man, had a different focus from women when considering issues, and he didn't think of the alibi of the person involved, but the location of the crime that was set up as a secret room.

"The location of that key bag is suspicious no matter how you think about it. Nioh looked at the schematic diagram of the scene drawn by Nao, pulled up his pigtails and swept the corners of his lips and muttered, "You just said that you guessed that the prisoner threw the key case into the room through the window, but because the key case is not elastic and the key bag fell at an angle to the window, you ruled out this possibility, right?"

Nao nodded, "So what?"

"But in the world of ball games, it's possible. ”

Nioh narrowed his eyes, took the pen in Nao's hand, and marked it on the diagram, "First of all, let's assume that the prisoner threw the key bag into the room from the drain outside the window, and in order to aim at the gap in the window, which is less than thirty centimeters, he must have been standing directly facing the window, which we call 'Point A'. ”

He marked a distinct A next to the drain in the schematic diagram.

"According to the assumption just now, there must be a gap in this window in the line of the key case to guò, and we set it to 'point B', and together with the final landing point of the key case, which is the bed to the right of the trajectory of 'point A' and 'point B', we call it 'point C'. ”

Nioh drew three points A, B, and C on the map, then connected them with a line, and hooked his lips at Nao, whose expression was becoming more and more shocked, "First in a straight line, and then suddenly turned when he arrived at the intended place...... You see, it's a perfect curved ball!"

In other words, there is no need to bounce back to achieve a secret room arrangement...... ? ”

Nao seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, "If you understand it this way, the possibility of Akina committing the crime is much lower." ”

"But again, the suspicion of the deceased's younger brother Inao Kai has risen a lot. Nioh played with his pigtails and said nonchalantly, "I remember, he's a left-handed pitcher, right? And this is a standard left-lane pitcher...... The younger brother of a genius pitcher, there is no reason why he can't shoot this kind of ball. ”

"So, he did say at the time, 'If you don't bounce back, you can't fall in that place.'" Nao frowned, "What is this? Misleading to divert our minds away from the possibility of a curveball?"

"It's not impossible. ”

Nioh laughed silently and tapped Nao's head with the barrel of his pen, "But Miss Detective...... You know, for an athlete, the sport you participate in is the most sacred thing? Having an older brother who is a talented bowler and a talented baseball player who loves the sport himself is not a strange thing to subconsciously rule out the possibility of a baseball-related crime? ”

“...... So, is it psychology again?"

Nao sighed, "Anyway, let's meet the head of this temple first...... The reasoning just now is only a hypothetical stage, and there is no evidence. ”

"Seconded~" Nioh shook his paws.

Subsequently, the two met Master Kunhai, the presiding officer of this monastery.

Master Kunhai is a somewhat shriveled old monk, with a broad bean-like face full of folds carved by time. After Nao showed him what he was going to do, a loving warmth appeared in Kunhai's flaccid eyelids.

"Ah Yao is a hard child. Kun Hai touched the white beard hanging down to his chest, and said with emotion, "His family is not good, he has been helping me since last year, although I am far away from his house and the salary is not high, but he has not complained once......

Listening to Kunhai's words, the two of them gradually figured out the relationship between Shinjin Haruka and this temple.

Xinjin Yao's home is far away from here, and the environment at home is not very good, so he often lives in the temple after the part-time job, for which Kunhai also prepared a small room for him. Because he was very polite and a quick learner, the whole temple liked him. The monk who managed the courtyard even opened up a small area in the backyard for him to practice baseball after learning that he had no place to practice baseball...... For these monks, Haruka Shintsu, a first-year year of high school, was like their child and younger brother, allowing him to be pampered in the monastery in a way that he could not taste at home.

On July 20, the day of the incident, Haruka Shintsu, who had been staying at the temple for the Obon festival a few days earlier, asked to go home to see his mother, so he set out from the temple at 8 o'clock sharp, but he did not bring his training equipment with him as usual. According to Kunhai, it seems that the road leading to Haruka Shinjin is under construction, and it would be inconvenient to carry those baseball supplies on his back, so he left them in the temple.

That is to say...... Did he know that the road would be built before he left?"

"Yes, the engineering team put up a sign of the construction schedule at the intersection of that road two days in advance, and everyone in the neighborhood knew about it. Kunhai nodded.

"That's right......" something flashed quickly in Nao's eyes.

"I'm sorry, can we go to Shintsu's room?" Nioh looked at Nao, who was lost in thought, and turned to Kunkai and asked.

"Yes, the child's room is usually not locked. Kun Hai bowed his head and pointed in the direction of the temple courtyard, "There is a small forest over there, and the house next to the forest is his room." ”

"Well, it's rude. ”

Nioh thanked Kunkai, picked up Nao, and walked towards the woods.

"Is this the so-called 'old age and refinement'? It's really terrible......

“...... What?"

Nao looked strangely at Nioh, who was shaking his head and muttering to himself as he walked, and a question mark popped up above his head.

"Oh, have you finally come back to your senses?" Nioh paused, raised the hand that was holding Nao's wrist, and smiled narrowly at her, "Look, it's taken so long to react, and your vigilance really needs to be raised!"

"Huh?" Nao opened her mouth and uttered an inquiring syllable.

The silver-haired young man looked at the rare ignorant appearance of the girl in front of him, and suddenly became playful.

He slowly lowered his head and approached the girl's cheek inch by inch, watching her suddenly constricted pupils reflect his approaching green eyes, and a small smile curled up on his lips.

“...... Be careful that one day someone will be dragged away by the hand like this, and you may eat it. ”

He whispered in her ear, as soft as a feather.

The hot breath exhaled by the boy swept across Nao's neck like the cushion of a cat's paws, causing her hairs to explode. She looked at the increasingly soft gaze that even the other party didn't even notice in a daze, and her tense muscles gradually relaxed incredibly.

The red-haired girl did not dodge, did not look away, but stretched out her fingers and clasped the palm of the boy's hand.

The boy's palms were covered with sweat, damp and burning. She gently moved her fingers and rubbed them, and the rough and unfamiliar touch between her fingers made her laugh.

Her laughter made the boy's whole body stiffen.

And she saw her slightly malicious smile in the other party's pair of turquoise eyes full of astonishment.

"Now, werewolf. ”

Nao looked him straight in the eyes, leaned close to his cheek as he had just done, and whispered in his ear, "'Dragged away by the hand and eaten', is it telling me to be careful of the 'werewolf'?"

The author had something to say: he slowly lowered his head and approached the girl's cheek inch by inch, watching her suddenly constricted pupils reflect his approaching green eyes, and a small smile curled up on his lips.

It took so long for me to play...... Have you thought of a punishment?

Above......