The house where Mizuo Harutaro lives is very suitable for him. It is a mansion full of Japanese style. Cherry trees and pine and cypress trees are planted in the yard. It can be seen that the cost of garden pruning every month is also a considerable amount.
Led by the housemaid to the room used as a reception room, Fujiwara Yu noticed that there were five Noh masks of different styles hanging high up in the house. Among them were not only Buddha styles, but also Prajna styles. If you come to this room at night, it would be a bit scary.
Mizuo Harutarou smiled and asked everyone to take a seat. He asked the servant to make tea, then folded his hands in the sleeves of his kimono, knelt down and asked:
"Officer Takashi, Mr. Hattori, I wonder if there's anything wrong with you? Hmm? Mr. Hattori, are you injured?"
Apparently, Hattori Heiji, with the white bandage still tied around his forehead, stood out too much. He nodded and replied:
"Well, this wound is also the reason why I came here. Last night when I was leaving the teahouse, I was attacked by someone who was suspected to be the murderer of Mr. Sakura. If it weren't for Kazuha, I would probably have died there."
"Hey? You were attacked?" Abbot Long Yuan looked confused. He didn't expect that the murderer would attack a high school student. This made people somewhat puzzled about the murderer's purpose.
"Because the criminal who attacked me was wearing an old man's Noh mask, we came here without permission. We would like to ask Mr. Mizuo for his alibi." Hattori Heiji did not beat around the bush and chose to ask directly to see their reactions.
Fujiwara Yu's gaze fell on everyone's hands, trying to find the connection between them and Kyudo and Kendo. People who practice regularly will definitely have calluses or scars on their hands, which are unavoidable traces.
Just like him, sometimes when practicing Iaido, one would injure himself in the base of his palm if he was not careful.
"The old man's mask?" Mizuo Harutarou pondered seriously for a moment. He roughly guessed that the murderer wanted to frame him, so he simply told him his whereabouts last night: "When I left the teahouse yesterday, I went straight home to sleep. However, since I'm still single, my mother's room is some distance away from mine, so my alibi doesn't stand."
Fujiwara Yuu observed carefully and did not notice any traces of practice on their hands. He looked up at the two people in front of him and asked:
"Mr. Longyuan and Mr. Saijo, what did you two do after leaving the teahouse?"
"My situation is the same as his, because I live alone on the second floor of a shop on Teramachi Road." Nishijo Taiga tugged at his collar and answered naturally.
"After reciting scriptures in the main hall for a while, I went back to my room to sleep, so I have no witnesses."
None of the three had an alibi, and Miss Chiga Ling, who was not present, was also a major suspect. After all, there were marks on her hands from practicing Kyudo.
Seeing that none of the three could be ruled out as suspects, Hattori Heiji changed the question and asked:
"Then, excuse me, are you three practicing Kyudo?"
The three people's answers were different. Nishijo Taiga said that he had never practiced Kyudo, Mizuo Harutaro had played the Azusa bow on the Noh stage, and Ryuenju had experience in imitating bow drawing to exorcise demons.
Fujiwara Yu and Hattori Heiji looked at each other. Judging from their answers, neither of them met the characteristics of the murderer being good at archery.
This is absolutely impossible, unless the murderer is Qian Heling... But if Qian Heling is the murderer, there must be an accomplice.
Because before Sakura Masazo was murdered last night, Chiga Suzu left the second-floor room only once, and that was when Mizuo Harutarou went to the bathroom. She accompanied him because she was worried that the drunk Mr. Mizuo might have an accident.
Just as the two were thinking, a girl's voice came from the door. When they looked over, they found that it was a woman in kimono whom they had never seen before.
Fujiwara Yuu turned his head suspiciously and looked at Mizuo Harutarou who was sitting at the main seat, and asked curiously:
"Is this your girlfriend? Are we disturbing anything with our sudden visit?"
"No, Officer Takashi, she is Miss Chiga Suzu!" Mizuo Harutaro waved his hands quickly.
Fujiwara Yu and Hattori Heiji were both stunned. They didn't expect that the geisha would look so different after removing her makeup. She was like two completely different people.
However, just as he sat down, Fujiwara Yu's face darkened. It wasn't Chika Ling's movements that caught his attention, but someone else's. He had clearly said he had never practiced Kyudo, so why was he doing the half-foot support?
He did not tell Hattori Heiji about the contradictions he discovered. After all, this guy was still injured, and it was better to keep him away from dangerous things. Taking him along to investigate the case was already the limit.
After the visit, Fujiwara Yu was thinking about how to separate from Hattori Heiji. He had no choice but to pin his hopes on Kudo, so he slowed down and took out his mobile phone.
[I don’t want to work overtime today]: Kudo, where are you now?
[Holmes' Disciple]: I am at Shanneng Temple. The police are investigating the case here.
[Holmes' Disciple]: By the way, where did you and Hattori go?
[Don’t want to work overtime today]: No big deal, we’ll be back soon.
As Fujiwara Yu was not familiar with Kyoto, he saw Chika Ling heading in the same direction as him and asked:
"Ms. Chika Ling, could you tell me how to get to Sannoji Temple?"
Qian Heling walked slowly in her wooden clogs. After hearing the question, she counted on her fingers, recalling the nursery rhyme, and began to sing as she spoke:
"Sannoji Temple is on Rokkaku Road. We're passing Ebi River Road now... Marutake Ebisuji, Oshiomiike, Sister San Rokkaku, so Sannoji Temple should be on the sixth road."
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