Chapter 431 Another accident
Asai, Sato, and Takagi entered the alley.
This alley is both a murder scene and a fire scene.
On the left and right sides of the alley are the Diaosi version of one-family houses without a yard. The distance between the buildings is relatively dense.
The fire broke out in the small building on the side of the alley, and soon it was like Li Mei's barbecue.
Fortunately, the firefighters arrived quickly and extinguished the fire in time, preventing the fire from spreading to the entire nearby residential area.
Because the body fell in the middle of the alley, it was not affected by the fire.
But the position where he fell to the ground was right in front of the small building where the fire broke out, only a few meters away from the fire point.
This makes it easy for people to think whether his death may be related to the arsonist.
"So, it's been determined that this was arson, right?"
Miwako Sato asked the police present somewhat uneasily.
They were all police officers from the nearby police station and rushed to the scene shortly after the fire broke out.
"That's right, Officer Sato."
The local police officer gave an affirmative answer:
"We found an empty gasoline barrel left by the murderer next to the fire scene. This was obviously arson."
"And the method of committing the crime is the same as that of the recent serial arsonist who caused chaos in Tokyo, so we speculate that this is probably what that guy did, and it is his fourth crime."
"Yes." Sato Miwako nodded and turned her attention to the body on the ground:
"What about the deceased?"
"How did he die? Did any witnesses see the situation at that time?"
"This." A local police officer stood up:
"When the fire broke out, I happened to be patrolling nearby. When I saw black smoke coming out, I rushed over as soon as possible."
"When I arrived, what I saw was what it looked like now, a body lying in a pool of blood."
"At that time, there were already a few passing citizens gathered in the alley."
"I asked them about the situation at that time, but they all said that they had just arrived after the fire and did not see what happened."
Hearing this, Miwako Sato and Wataru Takagi both had serious expressions:
"In other words, there are no witnesses to this case, and no one knows how the gentleman died?"
"You can say that."
The local police officer nodded:
"I couldn't get anything out of the mouths of the citizens at the scene."
"But for the sake of safety, I still kept those citizens and didn't let them leave."
As he spoke, he pointed to a few citizens who were carefully guarded by the police and remained at the scene:
"Officer Sato, if you have any questions, you can ask them again."
"Thank you." Sato Miwako nodded approvingly.
The police officer rushed to the scene as quickly as possible and controlled all the onlookers at the scene in time, preventing them from leaving at will.
This will be very helpful in handling cases.
Miwako Sato praised the police officer's professionalism, but at the same time, she was not in a hurry to ask the witnesses at the scene who had not witnessed anything.
She just continued to ask with concentration:
"Has the identity of the deceased been confirmed?"
"Sure." The answer from the local police officers did not disappoint:
"The deceased's name is Shun Iida, 28 years old. He used to be a criminal police officer at the Mihua Police Station and now works in a private security company."
"He is single and living alone. He should still be working in the company at this time."
"But today he had a date with someone, so he came home from get off work early, and then he was found lying here."
"Here" Takagi Wataru, who was silently taking notes on the side, stopped writing and couldn't help but asked:
"It's only been more than half an hour since the incident happened, right?"
"How did you find out the identity of the deceased so clearly?"
"It's very simple."
"Because the deceased Mr. Iida's home is here."
"After we arrived at the scene, we quickly found out his identity from his neighbors and found a way to contact his company colleagues."
As he said that, the local police officer pointed to a small building next to him.
This small building is opposite the fire scene, across an alley from the fire point.
It was precisely because of the obstruction of this alley that this small building was completely preserved and was not affected by the fire.
"This is Mr. Iida's home."
"He died on his doorstep."
The officers at the police station shared the information they had.
Immediately afterwards, they expressed their speculations:
"Mr. Iida is a former policeman and must have a strong sense of justice."
"Neighbors also say that he has a warm and straightforward personality and likes to fight injustices on behalf of others."
"In addition, the arsonist set a fire opposite his house this time, and the fire will also threaten Mr. Iida himself."
"So, Officer Sato, we think:"
"He probably happened to see the murderer setting fire to the house when he was returning home from get off work, so he acted bravely and rushed to fight with him, trying to stop the murderer."
"result."
Looking at the body lying in a pool of blood next to him, the result is self-evident.
After hearing this speculation, Sato Miwako and Takagi Wataru also nodded:
Indeed, Mr. Iida died right in front of the fire.
Not long after the fire broke out, nearby onlookers came and saw the body of Mr. Iida.
The arsonist must have just left at this time.
Mr. Iida's death happened to be at this time, making it difficult not to associate his death with the arsonist.
This statement of courage can explain everything.
"However, we still can't draw conclusions so easily."
Miwako Sato still did not let down her guard.
After being taught a lesson by Lin Xinyi before, she realized more deeply:
The police cannot make preconceptions when handling a case, let alone just to save trouble by making a superficial conclusion.
"Asai, what do you think?"
Sato Miwako set her sights on Asai Narumi.
While she and Takagi were asking the local police officers about the situation, Asai Shigemi, as the coroner, had already been busy doing a postmortem examination on the body.
Sato Miwako wanted to hear the coroner's opinion before judging whether this was an accident caused by a righteous act of bravery.
"So far, it seems that the deceased did fight with someone before he was alive."
Asai's answer was very cautious.
He offered no speculation, simply stating his findings:
"First of all, there was a deep scratch on his right wrist. This may have been caused by the opponent forcibly restraining his wrist during a fight."
"There was a strip-shaped contusion wound on the back of the occipital part of the head. There were many bridges between tissues in the wound cavity. The wound opening was not obvious and the amount of bleeding was small."
"This should have been formed by hitting it with a wooden stick."
"In other words, he was hit on the back of the head from behind with something like a wooden stick."
"But that probably didn't kill him."
"Because the real fatal injury is that everyone should be able to see it even if I don't say it."
The deceased was lying prone in a pool of blood.
There was a dagger stuck in his chest, and the dagger was still on the body, making the cause of death obvious.
"That"
Miwako Sato still didn’t get the answer she wanted:
"Then is this an accidental death caused by a righteous act of justice?"
"I have no idea."
Asai Narumi’s tone is still so cautious:
"But for now, it kind of looks like it."
"Because the amount of bleeding tells us that the deceased, Mr. Iida, did die here, in this alley."
The pool of blood under the body was very large.
This shows that he was stabbed here and a large amount of blood gushes out when he is about to die, which is why such a pool of blood is formed.
And if someone stabbed him to death elsewhere, bring the body here.
That person was already dead, so it was impossible for him to bleed so much and form such a large pool of blood.
"In other words, this is the scene of Mr. Iida's death."
"And then let's connect it to the arson case that happened here at almost the same time."
"The possibility of being brave enough to speculate is indeed very high."
Narumi Asai gave his own opinion.
Sato Miwako and Takagi Wataru finally felt relieved:
"It seems that Mr. Iida was killed by the arsonist."
The murderer has been identified, and the remaining question is how to find him among the vast crowds in Tokyo.
This is the real dilemma.
"No, don't worry about catching the arsonist right now."
Narumi Asai calmly said shocking words.
"There may be another possibility in this case."
"Huh?" Sato Miwako was slightly stunned:
"Asai, you mean this might not be an accident?"
"No." Asai Narumi did not produce any convincing evidence.
He just said seriously:
"My autopsy isn't done yet."
"Until the autopsy is completed, no, until the case is closed, there will always be another possibility."
Saying that, Asai Narumi continued to examine the body.
He patiently followed the procedure and checked it inch by inch.
Sato and Takagi were waiting patiently next to them.
finally
Asai Narumi was slightly startled.
"Did you find anything?"
Miwako Sato asked curiously.
Asai Narumi didn't answer, but turned around quickly and took out the alcohol from the survey box.
He smeared alcohol on the deceased's back.
A relatively eye-catching red scar suddenly appeared on the skin that was originally just a faint mark.
"This case..."
"has a problem."