Chapter 3157 3169 [Peeping from behind]
"Is something holding me down?" Inspector Yokomizo nodded. "It would be hard to outrun the rising tide if you were wrapped in a fishing net and held down by something heavy... But if you want to hold down a man of that size, you'd need something big and heavy."
He suddenly turned to the three fishermen and asked them sternly, "Tell me! After you arrived at the scene, where did you secretly throw the things that were pressing down on the dead body?"
The man in the blue vest was so anxious that his eyes widened. "Don't spit blood on us! After we found the body, we immediately called the police. We didn't touch anything at the scene. If you don't believe me, you can ask other passers-by!"
Inspector Yokomizo narrowed his eyes and asked, "If you hadn't taken it, how could the object that was pressing down on the deceased suddenly disappear?"
The red vest said angrily: "Why do you believe whatever that young man says? - Maybe he is just guessing! You are a policeman, why do you listen to everyone!"
"'Listen to everyone'?" Suzuki Sonoko's forehead was throbbing with a vein. "Don't you read newspapers? This is Jiangxia! He has solved more cases than you've ever seen in the news!"
She said what Inspector Yokomizo wanted to say, but she had to admit that the other party's doubts had some truth: Where was the object that was pressing down the dead body?
Inspector Yokomizo quietly looked at Jiang Xia again.
Jiang Xia did not disappoint his expectant look: "No need to come specially to move it - wait until the tide rises, and after the deceased is drowned, the heavy objects will move away by themselves."
"Moved away by himself? Are you saying that an accomplice stayed and held down the deceased?" Inspector Yokomizo was shocked at first, and then he realized from Jiang Xia's expression that he seemed to have guessed wrong.
He quickly scratched his coral-like curly hair, thinking urgently, and then suddenly an idea flashed in his mind and he had the answer: "Move it yourself... I understand, the thing that pressed the dead person was that boat!"
Jiang Xia nodded with relief: "After the murderer wrapped Mr. Araki's fishing net and placed it in the sand pit, he brought this small wooden boat and pressed it on the victim."
"With the rising tide, the water level continued to rise. Even during this process, the deceased found himself being submerged in water. He was unable to push away the boat that was pressing on him due to the restrictions of the fishing net and the sand pit."
"When the water gradually covers the head, the deceased will drown in the water. After that, the sea water continues to rise, and the boat on the deceased will be lifted up by the water and drift to another place."
"During this time, the murderer did not wait nearby. Instead, after putting the boat away, he quickly rushed to the restaurant to find an eyewitness to prove his alibi."
He suddenly looked at the red vest: "That's your plan, Mr. Shimojo."
Noboru Shimojo: "?!"
Blue vest and dark fisherman: "?!"
After a moment of stunned silence, the man in the blue vest came to his senses first: "This is impossible! Besides, if Huang Juan had been pressed under the boat, how could his shoes and buttons appear in the cabin?"
Jiang Xia: “After setting up the killing device with the help of the tide, Mr. Shimojo left the beach and went to the restaurant, and then led his two companions to discover the body with him.
"In order to have an alibi, he had to stay with the others during the period when the deceased was gradually drowned by the rising tide, and he could not return to the crime scene to operate anything.
"In this case, he could not guarantee that the boat used to crush the deceased would be carried far away by the sea - in other words, he had to be prepared for the police to find the boat."
"In order to prevent the police from thinking that the boat was crushing someone, Mr. Shimojo deliberately threw some of the deceased's belongings into the cabin, hoping to create the illusion that the deceased was sitting on the boat instead of being crushed under the bottom of the boat."
"..." As Shimojo Noboru listened, beads of sweat slowly slid down his forehead - for a moment, he suddenly wondered if there was someone watching him when he was killing people, and not only saw his methods, but even saw through his thoughts.
This incredible thought flashed through his mind like lightning, and he quickly threw it out of his mind. He took a deep breath and clenched his fists: "This method does sound feasible, but why do you say I am the murderer? - Maybe someone wants Huang Juan to die, but doesn't want to kill anyone, so he used this method to kill the person after he leaves."
Jiang Xia: “During the day, Hattori was playing with this boat in the sea, and you said it was against the rules, so you and Mr. Yoshizawa took the boat away and disposed of it - the person who knew about and could use this boat is probably among you.
"Besides, you just let it slip yourself."
He pointed to the evidence bag in the police officer's hand and said, "You seem to be very familiar with the order of the call records in the deceased's phone. For example, you just said that you called the deceased after Mr. Yoshizawa."
"What's wrong? Didn't you listen carefully to what we said just now?" Shimojo Noboru snorted and pointed at the blue vest. "Didn't Yoshizawa just say that he called Aramaki before arriving at the restaurant? And I called after I arrived at the restaurant. I knew it was him who dialed the number. Isn't that normal?"
Jiang Xia shook his head: "Mr. Yoshizawa arrived at the restaurant at 8 o'clock in the evening, and you were there at 7:20. The time you made the first call was 7:47 in the evening.
"Mr. Yoshizawa just said that he called the deceased because he was worried that he would not come. According to the habits of most people, this kind of phone call to urge and remind others to keep an appointment is usually made after they go out.
"But why are you so sure that Mr. Yoshizawa's call was not made between 7:47 and 8:00, but must have been made earlier?"
Shimojo Noboru was stunned for a moment, then realized something and his face suddenly changed.
Jiang Xia: "Because you knew the order of those calls through other means - for example, when Mr. Yoshizawa dialed the number of the deceased, you happened to be standing next to the deceased and saw the call on his phone."
Inspector Yokomizo suddenly realized what was going on. He felt that all the clues had been connected into a straight line leading to the goal: "So that's it!"
"What do you mean?" Shimojo Noboru was sweating profusely. He forced a smile and interrupted, "I did say that Yoshizawa's call came before mine, but so what? It was either before me or after me, it's just a 1-out-of-2 probability. I just happened to guess right, isn't that okay?"
"Besides, I know Yoshizawa. I know he is a thoughtful person. He would not think of calling to urge people just before they leave. He must have called earlier. Since you don't understand the situation, don't say anything nonsense!"
(End of this chapter)
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