Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Are You Lovers?
Isshiki Dudumaru pursed his lips and said, "Let's go, Lun, let's go to the hotel and ask the owner if he knows anything about the new hallucinogen."
"That's not the right way to ask it, Toto." Kamohashi Ron shook his head and said, "If the innkeeper knew there was a murder case involved, he might not tell the truth for the sake of business, so we have to ask it another way."
"Change the question?"
"For example, the recipes for the food in this restaurant twenty years ago," Kamohashi Ron said, "perhaps this person didn't realize he had created a new hallucinogen. Or, maybe the restaurant's recipes also contain hallucinogens. There's another possibility, but it's unlikely..."
"?" Isshiki Todumaru showed a puzzled expression. How could there be another possibility?
"The other day, Mr. Oda and his girlfriend had something like mushroom soup, but the mushrooms were not cooked... or something like that."
"Aren't all the mushrooms used in restaurants non-toxic?!"
“Some types are delicious when cooked, but can be hallucinogenic if not cooked properly,” says Kamonohashi. “Just like the texture of black honey varies from place to place.”
“What a concise and easy-to-understand metaphor!”
67
"Restaurant food recipes from twenty years ago? Why are you suddenly curious about this?" The innkeeper was a little surprised. "But now that I think about it... I feel like I've seen that gentleman registered as Oda twenty years ago... Ah! I know. He was a high school student back then, and he looked tall and strong for my young self."
Isshiki Todumaru observed the innkeeper for a moment. He hadn't shaved much, and his face looked weathered. He asked, "Were you still a child twenty years ago?"
"What's wrong with looking old? Twenty years ago I was only six years old!"
"She doesn't look like she's 26 at all!!" Isshiki Todumaru was even more shocked. "Why did she age so quickly?"
"It's just that there's no business, no business," the hotel owner said helplessly. "Ah, I think I know why you want the recipe from twenty years ago. After all, business isn't as good now as it was back then. It's because I simply can't make that euphoric feeling they say my dad made after eating the hotel food... Unfortunately, my dad died in a car accident. Since then, the recipe has become a complete secret to me, an insurmountable gap..."
"Died in a car accident?" Kamohashi Rin asked, "Has the driver been caught?"
The innkeeper shook his head. "No, but I've kept all of my father's belongings, including the desktop computer he used to play with. It's just that I don't know anything about computers, and I'm more used to using smartphones now."
"Aren't these two things similar in use?" Kamohashi Rin wondered.
"Not even close, okay?! Stop looking at things from a genius's perspective at a time like this," Isshiki Todumaru retorted.
"……All right."
"But I can lend it to you temporarily. It would be even better if you could find the recipe my father left behind on the desktop computer," the innkeeper continued. "I'd also like to know what exactly my father made everyone eat."
"Thank you very much."
"Don't say thank you and then go straight to the computer. No, how did you know where the desktop computer is?"
"I'm a relationship anchor, after all. And the live streaming computer at Kamonohashi Apartment isn't a laptop, it's a desktop. I can tell where it's located just by looking at the wiring," Kamonohashi's voice rang out from within the room. "But this computer is pretty old, too. It's from twenty years ago, no wonder. If it breaks, there's no way I'll get compensation, because this model probably isn't on the market anymore."
"Then try your best to avoid breaking it!"
"You two have a really good relationship, are you lovers?" asked the hotel owner.
"Huh?! Lovers?! No, Lun and I are friends."
68
Kamobashi Ronjin discovered an important clue in the computer left behind by the hotel owner's father. However, this important clue made his expression very solemn: "...I didn't expect to see it here."
"Ah, what did you see?" Isshiki Dudumaru came forward puzzledly. Well, now there were two people with serious expressions.
Hotel owner: "?"
The hotel owner was a little confused about what was going on with these two people and why their expressions were so serious. Then he took a look and his expression became serious too.
"Um... Boss, we're looking so serious because there's software in this computer that's related to a murder case we handled. May I ask why you're looking so serious...?"
"I don't know. I saw you all looked so serious after you finished looking at the computer, so I looked a little serious too," the hotel owner said shyly. "Actually, I didn't understand anything."
...Then why are you being shy? !
Then, about half a second later, the hotel owner suddenly jumped: "Wait, why didn't I know that the software on my father's computer was related to the murder case?!"
"It would be abnormal if you knew. If you knew, you would be called to the Metropolitan Police Department for questioning." Kamohashi Ron said.
"Oh, that's true. It's better not to know. I don't want to go to the Metropolitan Police Department and eat pork chop rice at such a young age."
At such a young age...
Isshiki Todumaru thought about the innkeeper's face, and then thought about his age.
He could only say that human beings were truly amazing creatures.
69
The reason why Kamohashi Ron and Isshiki Totomaru had serious expressions was that they found the Liar software in the computer left behind by the hotel owner's father.
"It's just like its name, it's everywhere, penetrating every pore." Kamohashi Ron gritted his teeth, "It's a bit too annoying."
"If it's Liar, then that means..." Isshiki Totomaru said, "It might be what you said..."
"It's confirmed that she's related to them." Kamohashi Ron showed Isshiki Totomaru the remaining conversation in the Liar software. "The person who spoke to the innkeeper's father was named Ito Mari."
"This name...ah! Moriarty's name, a name made up of scrambled Japanese romanizations!"
After a long time of operation, Kamohashi Ron finally found the conversation left by the hotel owner's father and Ito Mary. Although it seemed to be just some conversations between buyers and sellers, the conversations in it were intriguing enough. What kind of strange things did the buyers and sellers trade that they even used such vague terms to refer to them?
He shared the information with Isshiki Totomaru: "Toto, read it out."
"Me?!"
"After all, this looks like important evidence."
"So you're just going to do whatever you want with it? Eh... but..." Isshiki Totsumaru finally said aloud, "This isn't right. This guy is questioning what Ito Mari sold him, 'I just want to buy some better quality seasonings, I don't intend to use customers as guinea pigs. Just wait and see, I'll call the police!'"
"Later, Ito Mari seemed to have deleted the innkeeper's father, and not long after that, the innkeeper must have been in a car accident."
"Why are you so sure?"
"Because that's what the M family does. They'll kill anyone who knows about their crimes. That's why the police haven't caught them yet, and why they're still standing."
"...If I kill all the witnesses, I won't have committed a crime?" Isshiki Todumaru said. "They'll actually dispose of the dead as well, right?"
"Well, but five years ago, I made a major mistake in their nearly perfect crime." Kamohashi Ron showed the scar on his neck. "This tattoo is not just a simple tattoo, it's a medal of victory, Toto."
70
Lun mentioned what happened five years ago again. What exactly happened five years ago? Isshiki Totomaru sighed. He really wanted to know, but every time he wanted to ask, he would wonder if it would expose Lun's scars too much. After all, Lun was only now truly returning to detective work.
He has been troubled for a long time by the strange disease that can kill murderers.
"Let's deal with Mr. Oda's problem first." Kamonohashi Ron said, "After all, he has been troubled for a long time because his girlfriend's death was an accident."
"It's very clear. It wasn't suicide." Isshiki Totomaru said nervously, looking at everyone gathered by Kamonohashi Ron. "It was because Mr. Oda and his girlfriend unknowingly took hallucinogenic drugs. After climbing the mountain, his girlfriend saw something and jumped off the cliff. Mr. Oda then hallucinated that someone had pushed his girlfriend off the cliff."
"In other words, although my girlfriend didn't commit suicide, it was an accident?" Oda asked.
"No, it's not an accident." Isshiki Totomaru said, "Because we found a chat record in the computer of the hotel owner's father-"
After seeing the chat history, Yu Gong and Feicui Chenji were both stunned: "Liar?! This thing again!"
"Hmm? Does Officer Hisui have any leads on Liar?" Kamohashi Ron suddenly asked. "This is related to a murder case the Metropolitan Police Department is investigating... Hey, come to think of it, why is there no follow-up after the young lady's boyfriend was confirmed guilty? I was the one who reported the case back then."
"The case you reported was clearly a fraud case. Mr. Yafu's words are just a lie." Amemiya said, "But the murder case is not without follow-up, it's just... I can't talk about it casually."
"Am I that easily fooled?!"
"He looks like he has a face that is easily deceived." Kamohashi Ryunya said.
"Hey, Lun, which side are you from?!"
"So, Officer Amamiya," Kamohashi Ron suddenly asked, "is the reason you can't talk freely because it's related to the M family?"
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