Chapter 1988 1996 [Don’t expose me]
Inspector Megure was stunned. He looked at the young man who jumped out on his own initiative, and his eyes gradually became suspicious: "You can be accurate to the minute, you are amazing."
The director of the cinema saw his suspicion of the male college student and quickly tried to smooth things over: "Mr. Ide is a fan of special effects movies and knows the movie schedules better than we do. It's normal for him to remember the time."
Inspector Megure secretly glanced at Jiang Xia.
Seeing that Jiang Xia seemed to be still waiting for clues and did not doubt the intention of the male college student, he nodded calmly and did not hold the student accountable.
He asked someone to inquire about the time he had just obtained. Not long after, a young police officer came running back with a notebook in his arms: "Captain! We have obtained the testimony provided by the ticket office - around the time of the deceased's death, there were only Jiang Xia, the children, three employees of the theater, and a male college student who often came here in the cinema. In addition..."
He hesitated and said, "Ten minutes ago, three people left the theater in a hurry."
"Oh?!" When Inspector Megure heard the word "hurried", the police instinct engraved in his DNA was activated. He wanted to wave his hand and immediately have his subordinates bring the three people back for questioning.
But soon, he remembered something, sighed again, and waved his hand: "Let's focus on investigating the cinema first."
Numerous witnesses confirmed that the shadow on the screen appeared at 12:44: this means that the murderer hung the body up at this time, blocking the projection. Moreover, after turning on the light, the hanging body was still shaking slightly, which further proved that the murderer was not too far away at the time, otherwise the body would have been still long ago.
Therefore, those who left the cinema before this would naturally not be suspected.
It’s better to screen from inside the theater. There are only four people besides Jiang Xia, and he is very familiar with this kind of number of people.
Thinking of this, Inspector Megure confirmed with the young police officer: "Is the testimony reliable?"
The young police officer nodded. "After the movie started, the ticket seller stood in the passage outside the main door. By the way, this lady also said that the deceased often came to this cinema to cause trouble. Every time he came, many audiences hurriedly left. So the three customers who ran out at that time should have been the same."
Inspector Megure nodded and accepted this statement.
However, a primary school student nearby pricked up his ears silently.
Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya: “…” I remember that a couple was indeed scared away by the dead person, but…what about the person I met when I went to the toilet?
If I remember correctly, the man dressed in black, with a hat and sunglasses, who looked like a villain, did not touch the deceased at all, but turned around and ran away as soon as he entered the door. This guy was obviously different from other customers.
Should I say it...
Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya was eager to make a move, but he was worried that he had no evidence and would be considered to be causing trouble, so he hesitated for a moment.
Compared with his dilemma, the police's goal next to him was much clearer.
Inspector Megure glanced at the theater director, the saleswoman, the projectionist, and the male college student who was more familiar with the theater than the employees. Under the nervous gazes of the four people, he spoke calmly: "Brother Jiang Xia, what do you think?"
Male college student: "..."
He pushed his glasses and couldn't help but look at Jiang Xia a few more times: No wonder he could control a group of scary six or seven-year-old kids—even the police obeyed his words, so the words of a private detective were so effective?
Jiang Xia came over after hearing this. Before she could say anything, the ticket seller couldn't help but ask: "Why did we have to kill someone? Couldn't that nasty guy have hanged himself?"
The projectionist also said, "Look at us. The director has to use a cane to walk, the ticket seller can't even straighten his back after carrying a box of snacks, and Mr. Ide is as thin as a stick. How can he have the strength to hang that guy up?
"I'm the only one who has the strength, but I stayed in the screening room the entire time. I never went out. Excluding the four of us, the truth is obvious. Either that bastard committed suicide, or these kids and the detective killed someone - it can't be that the detective killed someone. To me, this is suicide."
When the ticket seller heard that he had rescued everyone in the theater, she was immediately moved and helped each other: "I can prove that Mr. Gu Qiao is innocent! The time you mentioned was when the body blocked the screen. I happened to enter the projection room to bring Mr. Gu Qiao a lunch box and tea. He was busy working at the time and never left."
Inspector Megure stroked his chin and said, "Then the suspicions of the two of you can be ruled out. The only suspicious persons left are the director and the college student in the screening room... I understand!"
He looked at the two men and said, "Although you don't seem to be very strong, you are two men after all. As long as you work together, it won't be difficult to hang the dead man there!"
Male college student: “…” No wonder these policemen listen to the detective.
He was not panicked at all. He sneered and took out his precious digital camera: "Don't jump to conclusions so quickly. I also have an alibi."
Jiang Xia walked over and looked at the camera footage he had called up.
The shot was a close-up of the elf comforting Gomera. The beautiful elf opened her arms towards the screen, which should have been a pleasing picture, but unfortunately the whole picture was half blocked by a black shadow - judging from the shape, the black shadow should be the skull of the deceased, and a piece of rope extending from the top of the head.
Inspector Megure also came over. He felt that this male college student who could remember the time of death was very suspicious from the beginning: "But this is just a still photo, and your seat is very far back. You could have hanged him and then rushed to the seat and took the photo."
The male college student was startled, and his calmness just now disappeared a little. He quickly added: "You can turn it back! All the photos were taken from the same angle. My camera is relatively old and does not have an automatic continuous shooting function, let alone a remote control. These photos are enough to prove that I stayed in my seat at that time!"
Inspector Megure was somewhat convinced, but suddenly, he remembered a case that his brother Jiang Xia had helped another policeman solve when he was traveling. The murderer in the case seemed to have thought of using a similar method.
His eyes suddenly became stern. "No, this camera doesn't have the function of recording the shooting time. And I heard that you used to come to this theater frequently. You could have taken the photos in advance at other shows and then pretended that they were taken today."
The male college student was stunned.
Didn’t this policeman look like he was easy to fool just now? Why did he suddenly become so strict when it came to me?
He was stunned for a moment.
At this moment, Jiang Xia suddenly said, "This should be the new photo taken today. We are in front of him. If you look closely at the shadow at the bottom of the photo, you can see that I and a few children are also in the photo."
Male college student: "!"
For a moment, he felt that this private detective was shining with golden light of merit.
(End of this chapter)
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