Chapter 185 The already stooped back is even worse now.
December 24, 2000, Christmas Eve.
It is rare that Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday, but ordinary working-class people and students can enjoy the atmosphere of Christmas Eve. Many pedestrians on the street are buying items to decorate Christmas trees. It can be seen that they are very enthusiastic about celebrating this holiday. Many of them are
In order to compete for business, stores also launch various Christmas promotions in an effort to attract consumers' attention.
The gray-haired Akashi Mari is 69 years old this year, and will enter the 70-year-old threshold this year. She does not count numbers and look forward to growing up like young people, but counts her fingers to calculate how long she can live.
Akashi Mari, who has weak legs and feet, walked hurriedly on crutches, with a look of worry on her face. You must know that her baby daughter had agreed to meet at the entrance of Nakanoshima Subway Station at nine o'clock in the morning, but now more than two hours have passed.
No one was seen either.
What worried her most was that both her mobile phone and the landline at home were unable to get through. Worried about something going wrong, she had to rush to the house near the subway station based on her memory, praying in her heart that her precious daughter just slept in and forgot about the appointment.
Akashi Mari came to the door of a house in Nakanoshima 4-chome. Although the iron door outside was closed, she found that it was not locked after she pushed it lightly. She couldn't help but feel nervous, out of worry
I had no choice but to suppress the fear in my heart and walk towards the entrance. After confirming that the front door was locked, I let out an inexplicable sigh.
But she only relaxed for a moment because she remembered her daughter's house and the backyard. The backyard had a sliding door that could directly lead to the living room. Thinking of this, she once again became vigilant and stepped forward. When she saw the open glass sliding door
Finally, the hand holding the crutch trembled greatly, and the secretion of adrenaline increased at this moment.
"Hiss...hoo..."
Even though Akashi Mari was very nervous, she did not become stupid because of her age. She carefully avoided those muddy footprints, mustered up the courage to walk towards the house, and followed the footprints all the way to the place where she came to her daughter's bedroom.
When she smelled the strong smell of blood and her naked daughter lying on her back on the bed, she pulled the fabric on her chest hard with her trembling hands, trying hard to suppress her tears. She took heavy steps outside and fumbled for her flip phone to call the police.
.
"Hello, this is the Osaka Police Headquarters. Is the reason for calling the police an incident or an accident?"
"Yes, it's an incident. My daughter... was murdered."
"Where is the location? What are the specific conditions?"
Akashi Mari knew that this was the basic procedure for calling the police, but she did not have the courage to confirm her daughter's life or death. In other words, as a retired nurse, she had studied anatomy and could tell what happens after death.
She knew that her daughter looked like she was in a state of rigor mortis, so there was no need to confirm. She just wanted to know who killed her daughter as soon as possible, and she was also worried that the longer time passed, the harder it would be to detect the case.
"No. 92, 4-chome 10, Nakanoshima-cho, come here quickly... please."
"Understood, the police have been arranged to go to the scene. Please be sure not to allow idlers to enter the scene of the incident."
"good."
After hanging up the alarm call, Akashi Mari caught a glimpse of the photo sticker on the back of the flip phone. It was taken by her daughter five years ago when she dragged her old age to the photo sticker machine. After the photo was exaggerated, it was impossible to tell her actual age.
The two people on the photo posted a bright smile, but the person looking at the photo on the photo couldn't hold back his emotions and covered his eyes with his hands.
My back, which was already stooped, was even worse now.
——
Osaka Police Headquarters.
It is normal for police officers to still go to work on Sundays, and there is no Christmas Eve atmosphere in either the office or the cafeteria, but this does not prevent someone from secretly turning on a stove.
If you don't take a good rest during the lunch break when there are no pieces of evidence, Ishibashi Iku, the leader of the Ishibashi team of the Investigation Section 1, held two large plastic bags in his hands and put down the things in his hands with a smile on his face. He knew what was inside without having to guess.
, that rich smell of fried chicken has replaced the smell of nicotine in the office.
"Everyone has to work hard on Christmas Eve. I bought some Kentucky Fried Chicken. If you want to eat, you can come and get it yourself. You're welcome, I bought it for the whole office!"
"Wow, it's KFC's fried chicken. It's so good that we finally have the Christmas atmosphere. Today, the cafeteria doesn't even have fried chicken nuggets. I'm going to give it a bad review."
To be honest, I have been reading books recently to catch up on updates, switch sources, read aloud with many sounds, and it can be used on both Android and Apple.]
"Yes, yes, Sakata, do you want a piece? I'll bring it for you!"
The atmosphere in the Search Section 1 office instantly became lively. Otaki Goro smiled and helped take a box and put it on Takaji Sosuke's desk. Seeing that he was still immersed in sorting the files, he said:
"Takaji, please put your work aside for a while and eat the fried chicken while it's still hot."
"Thank you, senior. I'll finish it soon. I'd better..."
Before he finished speaking, the landline phone on the table made a harsh sound. He put down his hand and quickly connected it, his brows getting tighter and tighter because of the content coming from the phone.
Fujiwara Yu hung up the phone and stood up quickly, picked up the suit jacket on the side and put it on, and said with a wry smile:
"Senior, there is an emergency in Nakanoshima. I'm afraid we have to wait until we get back to eat the fried chicken."
"Eucalyptus is important, let's go!"
Ishibashi Ikuji still had fried chicken legs in his mouth. He shook his head helplessly after watching the two people leave. He didn't know if it was his own imagination. He always felt that this newcomer with strong crime detection ability had been killed after joining the search class.
too much.
He picked up the fried chicken box on Sosuke Takaji's table, handed it to his subordinate Yusuke Sakata, and ordered:
"Yousuke, you put this in the refrigerator and heat it up for them when they come back."
"Okay, police department."
It is indeed difficult to have a case to be investigated on Christmas Eve, but what is even more uncomfortable is that the victim loses his warmth and everything in the lively atmosphere of celebrating the holiday. She feels it more than anyone else.
Wearing a dark gray suit with vertical stripes, Fujiwara Yu arrived at the scene as quickly as possible. He took off his motorcycle helmet and walked directly to a house without caring about his messy hair.
Perhaps she heard the sound of the motorcycle's engine and realized that the police had arrived at the scene. Akashi Mari, who was on crutches, stood up quickly. When she saw the purple-haired young man, she subconsciously took a step back.
When Fujiwara Yu walked into the iron gate, he was greeted by the weather-beaten old face. When the cloudy eyes touched his own, they revealed not surprise but fear. He knew very well that the old lady had misunderstood his identity.
"Grandma, are you the reporter? Don't be nervous, I'm a detective from the Osaka Police Headquarters." Yu Fujiwara did not walk in but kept a distance that made the grandmother feel at ease. He took out his police officer ID and explained.
When she saw the Sakura Police Badge, Akashi Mari's eyes moistened and she said:
"Young police officer, my daughter was murdered. You have to help find the murderer... I'm begging you."
"Grandma, don't cry, I will help you." Fujiwara Yu was most afraid of others crying, because his mouth was stupid and he was not good at comforting others, so he had to change the subject and asked: "Grandma, you went in through the front door and found the victim.
The remains of the deceased?"
Akashi Mari tried hard to control her emotions and raised her index finger to point to the backyard. This action could convey what she wanted to express faster than words.