Chapter 1698 The mystery of the will-o'-the-wisp (1)
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Koshimi Nanatsuki sitting up suddenly, Karasawa quickly put down the teacup in his hand and asked.
The other party's reaction must be because there was big news that made her react like this.
"Senior, I found some interesting news."
Koshizui Nanatsuki showed his mobile phone to Karasawa: "Look at this, many people on the Internet said that they saw will-o'-the-wisps in the izakaya street!
We also burned nearby garbage dumps and some debris from izakayas.”
"What the hell? You were so startled just now that you made me think something earth-shattering happened.
Hearing this, Tang Ze drooped his eyelids, glanced at the other party and said speechlessly: "In the end, I even got the adjective wrong, so it's not a will-o'-the-wisp at all, okay?
Normal will-o'-the-wisps are luminous phenomena caused by plasma.
Simply put, it is the state in which the nuclei and electrons of atoms or molecules in the atmosphere are separated.
When they return to their original atomic state, they will glow and cannot burn objects.
Yueshui, you are also a member of Kesouyan after all, so please be more careful with your words."
"Of course I know. You don't need to explain it in as much detail as on TV popular science programs."
After complaining, Nanatsuki Koshizui said: "This will-o'-the-wisp is not the other will-o'-the-wisp. It's what people on the Internet call it because they think it's evil."
According to online witnesses, the flames in that area would suddenly appear near the surface and then disappear immediately.
And it is said that it has happened more than ten times, and coupled with the rumors in the past, it is called a will-o'-the-wisp."
"Rumors? What rumors?" Hearing this, Tang Ze became interested.
Generally speaking, cases involving ghosts have a legend, and behind them are the criminals who use this rumor to do strange things.
So after hearing Koshimi Nanatsuki's words, Karasawa also felt that this matter might be the beginning of a certain case, so he gradually paid attention to it.
"It is said on the Internet that during the Meiretsu Fire in the Edo period, there was a fire that killed more than 100,000 people, and that was where the largest number of people died."
Koshizui Nanatsuki said: "Perhaps it is because of this that people call it will-o'-the-wisp. There are also people on the Internet who say that those who were burned to death turned into will-o'-the-wisp and set fire to it."
"There are eyewitnesses and previous rumors, so it's no wonder they call it a will-o'-the-wisp."
Tang Ze placed his index finger on the person, held his chin with his thumb and said in deep thought: "Interesting, it seems that there is something behind this "will-o'-the-wisp" that others don't know.
Although I am more inclined to believe that it is a prank by some young gangsters, I cannot rule out whether this rumor was deliberately created and then caused a big stir."
"I heard what you said, senior, are you planning to go check out the situation?" Koshizui Nanatsuki said with great interest after hearing this.
"Well, I have nothing to do. Come over and take a look." Tang Ze said.
"Okay, let's go then!"
Hearing Karasawa's words, Koshimizu Nanatsuki stood up excitedly and went out with Karasawa.
Although this investigation was entirely because she encountered something interesting on the Internet, it was precisely because of this that she was happy and made her feel like she was still a detective.
Investigate when you encounter something curious rather than waiting for the case to happen. This is the biggest difference between detectives and criminals!
The two of them arrived at the izakaya street. The whole street was deserted, with very few pedestrians.
This is natural. It is still early and many shops may not open at noon and do business in the evening and late at night.
So it's not as lively as it is at night during the day.
The two of them walked all the way and found that the streets along the way were not open and there was no one they wanted to ask. This was a bit embarrassing.
"How about we go to the places where we saw will-o'-the-wisps first?" Koshimizu Nanatsuki suggested.
"Okay." Tang Ze nodded, and the two of them walked towards the inside of the street.
Although there are basically no people here during the day, it is not that there is no one at all.
Soon, the two of them saw a round-faced aunt sweeping the floor near the fire.
"Hello, are you a store owner near here?"
After Koshizui Nanatsuki saw the other party, he directly asked: "I would like to ask, do you know about the rumors of will-o'-wisps?"
Then Koshimi Nanatsuki told the other party the rumor.
"I don't know about will-o'-the-wisps, but there are indeed more than a dozen small fires happening nearby."
The round-faced aunt heard this and said, "But I think it's not a will-o'-the-wisp, but because many people throw cigarette butts everywhere."
As soon as he finished speaking, a cigarette butt suddenly bounced in the distance, bouncing directly onto Koshimizu Nanatsuki's shoes.
"Hey! You guy! Do you have a sense of public morality!!"
After being almost injured by the cigarette butt, Koshimi Nanatsuki was naturally very angry. He turned around and scolded the yellow-haired gangster with the hedgehog head next to him.
"That's right, and didn't you see that I'm still sweeping the floor?" The round-faced aunt also said angrily: "Don't throw cigarette butts everywhere!"
"Huh? What did you say?"
The gangster was very unhappy after hearing this, and walked straight to his car and took out the ashtray from the passenger seat.
"Hey, Chongshan, you know I hate the smell of cigarettes the most, right?"
The woman sitting in the passenger seat saw the man pull out an ashtray full of cigarette butts, and frowned at the smell. She quickly took out the deodorizing spray and started spraying it in the car.
"Okay, shut up, I'm going to throw it away."
The young gangster named Chongshan replied impatiently, then turned to look at the round-faced aunt with an ashtray full of cigarette butts, showing an arrogant and evil smile: "You like sweeping the floor, right? Then clean up this one too!"
As he spoke, the little gangster poured all the cigarette butts in the ashtray onto the ground, causing a cloud of cigarette ashes to rise.
"Haha, clean it up, I'll come back and throw it away tomorrow." The gangster named Chongshan showed a provocative smile to the three of them, and then drove away with a big smile.
"Damn, this guy is so incompetent!!"
Koshizui Nanatsuki was furious when he saw this: "I really don't know how this guy found a girlfriend!
Moreover, he has a girlfriend who hates the smell of cigarettes. Such a person should remain a bachelor for the rest of his life!!"
Having said this, Koshimizu Nanatsuki looked at his shoes and found that there were smoke marks on them, full of anger.
"It's okay, don't be acquainted with people like him, it will be bad if I find trouble with you again." The round-faced aunt smiled and comforted the two of them.
"But he is really too bad." Koshimizu Nanatsuki said angrily: "It's not a joke to flick a cigarette butt like this if it hits someone."
"The fire of cigarettes can reach as high as 700 degrees. If this temperature touches the human body, it is no joke." Tangze frowned and said.
"Damn it, next time I see him, I must give him a good education!" Nanatsuki Koshizui clenched his fists as he said this, and the more he thought about it, the more angry he became: "Why is that guy so unqualified!"
"Maybe it's not just a matter of quality."
Karasawa placed his index finger on the philtrum and supported his chin with his thumb: "Maybe there is also a "broken window effect" factor."
"Yes, there is indeed the influence of this factor." Koshizui Nanatsuki glanced around and then nodded in agreement.
Seeing the confusion of the round-faced aunt, Tang Ze also explained it to her.
The so-called broken window effect is that if a window in a building is broken but not repaired in time, it will make people feel that the building is not cared for, so someone will destroy it, and gradually it will become more and more dilapidated.
.
The same applies to this business district. If no one cleans the floor, it means there is nothing wrong with throwing garbage here.
As a result, the entire neighborhood will become dirty and become a hotbed for crime later.
"Yes, if the people in this izakaya don't unite together and jointly maintain the environment here, there will be guys who do whatever they want like before."
The round-faced aunt agreed: "There was a robbery at a convenience store last week, and this area is really getting worse.
Cigarette butts, chewing gum, advertising leaflets, all kinds of garbage and even bicycles were thrown here.
If one person throws garbage, others think it is okay to throw garbage here, so I clean here.”
"But it seems that no matter how much we sweep here, we can't finish it," Koshimizu Nanatsuki said with a frown as he looked at the garbage piled up around him.
"Nothing like that."
The round-faced aunt said with a smile: "Everyone on the street also feels that we can't go on like this, and we are discussing ways to do it.
I just couldn’t sit still, so I started cleaning in advance, and I also wanted to set an example for others.”
"I will also give instructions to the patrols in this area later, asking them to hang around here more at night to prevent fires, and also ask them to stop guests from throwing garbage."
Tang Ze heard what the round-faced aunt said and said with a smile: "In addition, I will also ask people from the fire department to come and investigate to prevent arson."
After hearing what Tang Ze said, the round-faced aunt looked at the young man in front of her in surprise, wondering why the other person spoke so loudly.
On the side, Koshimi Nanatsuki smiled and introduced Karasawa's identity, and then received continuous thanks from him.
"You're welcome, this is also crime prevention."
Tang Ze waved his hand and said: "To be honest, I'm really afraid that this small fire will turn into a big fire someday, so I'd like to ask Auntie to inform the merchants to pay more attention.
In addition, if there is another fire, please contact me in time."
Afterwards, Karasawa exchanged mobile phone numbers with the round-faced aunt and learned the other person’s name, Yoshikawa Shizuko.
After bidding farewell to each other, the two of them separated and went directly to get off work.
Of course, Tang Ze did not forget to call the "Fire Daddy" Gongchang Police Department to tell them the news.
However, it is obvious that the Gongchang Police Department has noticed the situation here. After all, although there has been no accident every time, there have been more than 10 small house fires in succession, which is worthy of their attention.
After learning this, Tang Ze smiled and asked the other party to tell him if he had any information before hanging up the phone.
Early the next morning, Tang Ze got up early to prepare for work.
But what he didn't expect was that before he drove to Kesouyan, he actually received a call from Shizuko Yoshikawa, saying that they encountered another fire there.
And this fire was very unusual.
After receiving the news, Karasawa did not hesitate and directly contacted Koshizu Nanatsuki, picked her up and went directly to the scene again.
"Aunt Jingzi, are you sure the fire you saw last night can escape?"
Although the other party had already told him when he called, after meeting the other party face to face, Koshimizu Nanatsuki couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, I saw that "will-o'-the-wisp" running on the ground at a very fast speed."
Yoshikawa Jingzi nodded and said: "This morning when it was still a little dark, I went to take out the garbage.
Then the flame hit the pile of rubbish piled at the rubbish spot at an alarming speed.
Because today I threw away the pallet and foam, a big fire started immediately.
Fortunately, I discovered it in time and quickly called someone to find a fire extinguisher to put it out."
After following Shizuko Yoshikawa to the garbage site, you can still see the charred traces of the place.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Tang Ze touched his chin and pondered.
Generally speaking, most of the causes of fires are man-made arson.
Setting fire to rubbish for fun is also a typical characteristic of "happy arsonists".
Judging from their conversation with Yoshikawa Shizuko yesterday, this aunt does not seem to be a liar.
In other words, she really saw the flames that could move quickly on the ground.
But Tang Ze had never heard of this phenomenon.
"Ah ah ah ah ah!!"
Just as Tangze was still deep in thought, a sudden scream of terror pierced the sky. The three of them were instantly startled and reflexively looked in the direction of the scream.
"Fire! The car is on fire!!"
Tangze heard the noise and ran towards the source of the sound, but before he could get close, he heard a woman's frightened scream.
"Hey, senior, that car is"
Nanatsuki Koshimizu, who was following Karasawa, was instantly shocked when he saw the burning car.
"It's the car where the gangster threw cigarette butts yesterday!" Tang Ze had already approached the car when he spoke, but his expression suddenly changed.
Because he discovered that the gangster named Chongshan was still in the car at this moment!
"Hurry up and save him!! Chongshan is still in the car!!"
When the woman saw Tang Ze and others arriving, she subconsciously wanted to help her boyfriend who was trapped by the seat belt, but Tang Ze grabbed him and kept him away from the vehicle.
"boom!!"
Almost as soon as Tang Ze dragged the woman away from the car, a huge explosion sounded, and the strong waves made everyone unconsciously avoid their eyes.
"Go out of the water and go to a nearby store to get a fire extinguisher!"
Tangze had already started to take action when he spoke. He looked at the two dumbfounded women and said, "Aunt Jingzi also goes to get the fire extinguisher. That woman, hurry up and call an ambulance!"
After hearing Tang Ze's arrangement, the two women who were stunned on the spot seemed to have a backbone and quickly followed Tang Ze's instructions and started to take action.
Although Tang Ze and others picked up the fire extinguisher, it was still a drop in the bucket compared to the intensity of the fire after the entire car exploded.
Fortunately, we were able to control it a bit and waited until the fire truck arrived in time to finally put out the fire.
Not long after, Officer Megu also came with his people. After all, the timing of the fire being ignited was too strange. It was actually in the car.
In this case, it is difficult not to think of murder.
After all, this fire came from a very strange place.