Chapter 513 Tomb of the Mermaid (2-in-1)

Chapter 513 Tomb of the Mermaid (2-in-1)

Shimabukuro Kimie first lied to obstruct the investigation of the old case, and then showed abnormal emotional changes. There are indeed many doubts about him.

Coupled with the scientific "intuition" brought by his many years of detective experience, Hattori Heiji had to suspect that this miko lady was the murderer.

But the job of a detective is to make bold assumptions and be careful to verify them.

Now that the bold assumption was over, it was time to carefully verify it, but he encountered a problem:

"There is no evidence, and all assumptions are empty talk."

"We couldn't even find the body of the deceased."

"The only clues at hand are these photos."

"And these photos."

Hattori Heiji stared at the photo in his hand with a deep look in his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking.

Vaguely, he seemed to have discovered some clue:

"Mr. Lin, let's go to the upper reaches of the waterfall to investigate the scene."

"Since the photo floated down from the upper reaches, the murderer must have been there before."

"Maybe we can find some clues there."

Hattori Heiji made a suggestion, and this was the only breakthrough they could find now.

"Yeah." Lin Xin nodded.

But he did not leave in a hurry, but looked thoughtfully at the death photo of Hisumi Ebihara.

Then, he looked up at Shimabukuro Kimie and Kuroe Naoko.

Shimabukuro Kimie is now shocked and saddened by the death of her second friend. Just like her previous behavior when she heard the news of Kadowaki Saori's death, ordinary people can't see anything wrong at all.

Kuroe Naoko's reaction was even more intense than last time.

The successive murders of Kadowaki Saori and Ebihara Hisumi almost caused this shrewd woman to almost have a complete mental breakdown.

In fear, she placed all her hope on the miko lady.

She walked towards Shimabukuro Kime with a pale face, stammering intermittently, as if she was begging in a low voice, asking the miko lady to ask the longevity mother-in-law to "cast a spell" to protect her.

"Miss Heijiang."

Lin Xinyi stepped forward with a subtle expression and interrupted the conversation between the two of them.

He looked at Naoko Kuroe with sharp eyes and asked straight to the point:

"Now Kadowaki Saori and Ebihara Hisumi are both killed."

"For their death, you."

"Do you know something?"

"I" Naoko Kuroe's tongue trembled: "I don't know."

"No, you should know something."

"Otherwise, there is no need for you to be so afraid of 'Mermaid Lord''s revenge."

"There are so many people on the island, why did it choose the three of you?"

Lin Xinyi asked without leaving any room:

"You said before that it was because you were disrespectful to the mermaid."

"Then can you tell me specifically what disrespectful things you did?"

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere suddenly became subtle.

Kuroe Naoko was trembling and said nothing.

The miko lady on the side who had been comforting Kuroe Naoko with kind words suddenly had a deep and complicated look on her face.

She looked at Kuroe Naoko quietly.

It seems that he is also looking forward to the other party's answer.

In other words, confession, introspection, belated remorse.

But Kuroe Naoko didn’t tell the truth in the end.

She just trembled and said in a nonchalant way: "No, it's nothing. We just made some remarks questioning Lord Mermaid. Those were all in the past. I didn't expect that it would cause such trouble now."

There is a strong sense of perfunctory and evasiveness in his words.

A trace of undetectable disappointment flashed in Shimabukuro Kime's eyes.

Lin Xinyi also gave up the idea of ​​prying open Kuroe Naoko's mouth directly:

"Well, since you are still so stubborn."

"Then please take care of yourself!"

"Master?" Kuroe Naoko was startled: "What do you mean?"

The master gave me this sentence: "Do it for yourself."

Just like when a doctor gets a test report and doesn't mention the condition, but first asks "Can you contact relatives?" it makes people feel chills running down their spines.

"You know exactly what I mean."

"Everyone who understands understands."

Master Lin’s words are enigmatic.

Kuroe Naoko became more and more frightened.

But even so, she still gritted her teeth and refused to tell the truth about that year.

Lin Xinyi frowned in disappointment.

Shimabukuro Kimie on the side did not react at all. At least, others could no longer read her emotions.

"Miss Heijiang."

Lin Xinyi sighed lightly.

He finally left her a piece of advice:

"I'm going to the mountain to survey the scene now."

"You stay here and don't move around. Stay with other tourists and villagers."

"We can talk about anything when we get back, do you understand?"

Kuroe Naoko was slightly startled.

How could she not understand that this was a way of survival pointed out to her by the master.

"understand!"

"I will definitely stay here and not go anywhere, stay with other people!"

After placing Kuroe Naoko properly, Lin Xinyi and others finally left the Mermaid Falls with confidence and went up the mountain to survey the scene.

This time they did not climb directly from the waterfall rock wall.

First of all, not everyone can imitate Lin Xinyi's operations.

Secondly, they also wanted to practice for themselves how long it would take to climb from the bottom of the mountain to the upper reaches of the waterfall on the mountain.

The mountain is not too high and the road conditions are pretty good.

The smooth cement road has been built all the way to the mountain, and only the last short section of the road to the upper reaches of the stream is a dirt road with wild grass growing on it.

But even so.

"It took us more than ten minutes to walk from the bottom of the mountain to here."

"In addition to the ten minutes of walking from the village shrine to the foot of the mountain outside the village, it adds up to almost half an hour."

As soon as Yuan Shan and Ye climbed up the mountain, they felt something was wrong:

"But Ms. Shimabukuro only 'disappeared' for an hour before."

"This hour is barely enough just to travel back and forth, let alone how to sneak out of the shrine, kill Ebihara Hisumi, take photos of those deaths, and then rush into the mountains with the photos."

"How can this time be enough?"

"Heiji, did you guess wrong?"

"Miss Shimabukuro can't be the murderer, right?"

"Or does she have an accomplice?"

"Idiot Kazuha." Hattori Heiji smiled and shook his head: "Have you forgotten that we walked all the way with our legs?"

He stepped on the cement floor under his feet:

"It takes an hour to walk back and forth on your legs."

"But what if Ms. Shimabukuro has prepared transportation in advance?"

"If you use a car or motorcycle, including the last short section of dirt road that can only be walked, the round trip can be shortened to fifteen minutes."

"And it won't be difficult for her to sneak out of the shrine."

"We all missed one thing in the beginning:"

"Shimabukuro Kimie's disguise and acting skills are so good that she can play the role of a 130-year-old mother-in-law without being discovered by young islanders and foreign tourists for several years."

"With her ability, if she disguises herself as a shrine priest and enters the shrine, we probably won't notice at all."

Hattori Heiji said this with emotion.

Disguise is really the enemy of detectives.

Eyewitness testimonies and surveillance videos will all be ineffective in the face of this bug technique.

Even his own eyes couldn't believe it at all.

He could only accept this setting and adjust his thinking to analyze:

"If Shimabukuro Kimie was the murderer, she could have prepared masks and costumes for disguises in advance, as well as the murder weapon, crime location and transportation."

"And in the name of the longevity mother-in-law, I tricked Ebihara Hisumi into going to that convenient place in advance."

"This will save her more time."

Because of superstition, Ebihara Hisumi is extremely dependent on her longevity mother-in-law.

And before she was alive, she even entered the inner room of the shrine and had a private chat with the longevity mother-in-law.

If Shimabukuro Kimie, as the longevity woman, had ordered her to go somewhere alone after the first half of the festival, she would have obeyed.

Calculating with intention but without intention, the person who calculates is still a guy who obeys his own words.

Killing people will naturally become very easy, saving effort and time.

"A carefully crafted murder plan using disguise, acting and deception?"

"This is indeed a smart idea."

Belmode commented in a playful tone.

Then she leaned into Lin Xinyi's ear in a low voice and said:

"Your student is right."

"One hour is enough to implement this technique."

"If it were me, it could be solved in half an hour."

"Well, if you pair it with a motorcycle with good performance, you can save another 5 minutes on the mountain road."

Belmode used his own professionalism as an example.

Lin Xin nodded:

From this point of view, the suspicion of the miko lady has not been alleviated at all.

Not only could it not be alleviated, but everyone also quickly discovered traces that were even more detrimental to Shimabukuro Kime:

"Look, this dirt road ahead"

"There are footprints!"

They asked the locals before coming, and no one usually came to this mountain.

Not to mention leaving the cement road, stepping on the mud, and walking into this deserted old forest.

Now that we have found footprints on this mud path, it is very likely that they were left by the murderer who came to the upper reaches of the waterfall to throw the photos.

"They are size 35 shoes."

"Men's shoe sizes are generally above 37."

"The owner of this footprint is most likely a girl with smaller feet."

Lin Xinyi simply measured the size of the shoe print with his eyes.

Then, he gently tugged on the dog leash he had been holding:

"Caesar, come and smell it."

Caesar, the police dog who had been following him obediently, finally waited until it was time for him to go to work.

Lin Xinyi wanted to let it smell the smell on the footprints to see if it could smell the human scent and enter the "online" state.

If there is still a scent left in the footprints that can be picked up by police dogs, then things will be easier to handle.

Let Caesar try to smell Shimabukuro Kimie when he gets back. If the source of the smell can be successfully compared, then the suspicion of the miko lady will be basically confirmed.

Lin Xinyi believed in Caesar's ability.

But this time.

"no response?"

Caesar sniffed the dirt footprints for a long time, but in the end he just raised his head stupidly and stuck out his tongue in a daze.

There was absolutely no smell or sign of excitement.

"The smell left in the footprints can no longer be captured?"

Lin Xinyi frowned thoughtfully:

Earth is a good carrier of odor molecules.

The odor left in soil footprints can generally be retained for several hours or even more than a day, and can even be captured by police dogs.

But this time, Caesar couldn't pick up the scent from the dirt.

"It seems something went wrong."

To name the problem, there are too many problems that can arise.

Dirt tracks do retain scents relatively long-term, but that's under "average" conditions.

In specific practical applications, can police dogs successfully identify odors from footprints?

In addition to looking at the time, you also need to look at:

On-site environmental conditions such as soil quality, temperature, wind conditions, plants, microorganisms, and whether there is odor interference.

The material of the soles of the murderer's shoes, the strength of the step, the time of stopping, as well as objective conditions such as whether the murderer washes his feet and whether the feet are smelly enough.

There are also subjective conditions such as the physical and psychological conditions of the police dog, whether the dog's food is in place, and whether the poop officer has touched it before going to work.

In short, any of these conditions may cause the police dog to fail to identify the sniff source.

Although Caesar is a distinguished ace in the forensics class, he is still a dog after all.

Dogs all have their limits, and it is normal for them to miss occasionally.

"That's fine."

Seeing that Caesar failed to help, Lin Xinyi did not make it difficult for him.

He gently stroked Caesar's silly big head and let it return to his side.

Then Lin Xinyi went into battle in person and made a more detailed observation and analysis of the footprints:

"Concentrated indentations on the forefoot, light pressure on the heel, strong rising and landing feet, and strong jumping ability are the gait characteristics of young people,"

"Considering that the shoe size is only size 35, it is initially speculated that the owner of the footprints is a young woman."

The criminal profile is getting closer and closer to Shimabukuro Kimie.

"The left step has a big foot, the right step has a small foot, the left step is wide and narrow, and the right step is wide."

"The left step is obviously longer than the right step. The left foot exerts heavy external pressure, while the right foot exerts relatively even pressure."

"It seems that when this person came here, he was carrying something heavy in his right hand."

Lin Xinyi analyzed this.

Hattori Heiji followed curiously and thought:

"Is the person coming here carrying something heavy?"

"Could it be those pictures?"

"But if it's just a photo, can it be considered a 'heavy object'?"

There was a trace of doubt in his eyes.

Lin Xinyi was unable to give an answer and just said:

"Come on, let's go to the front and take a look first."

"First find out where the murderer dropped the photo and how he dropped it."

"Yeah." Hattori Heiji nodded.

The group of people continued to move forward, following the footprints.

Within two minutes, they saw the mountain stream.

There is also a small stone bridge covered with moss.

The footprints of the "murderer" stopped here, but the stream ahead looked nothing special.

The only thing that attracts attention is the small stone bridge spanning the stream.

"As expected."

Before others could understand, a confident smile appeared on the corner of Hattori Heiji's mouth:

"I expected that there must be something above the stream where the murderer dropped the photo."

"It's not a branch, it's a small bridge."

"What do you mean?" Lin Xinyi looked over with some confusion.

Hattori Heiji took out a photo of his death that he had taken out of the water from his arms, pointed to the surface of the photo and explained:

"Mr. Lin, look."

“Is the surface of this photo slightly yellowed and frizzy?”

"It's like being burned by something hot."

"Huh?" Lin Xinyi realized something: "You mean, these photos were burned by fire?"

"Yes, the answer is actually very simple:"

"This is actually a little trick played by the murderer."

"He first put those photos in plastic bags, and then tied the plastic bags to the stone bridge."

"At the same time, put a timed ignition device into the plastic bag - this ignition device can be made with dry batteries, tinfoil, wires, and an electronic timer. Ordinary people can do it with a little research."

Relying on his rich detective experience, Hattori Heiji could see the murderer's deception at a glance:

"The murderer sets up these traps so that he can escape."

"When everyone goes to the lower reaches of the waterfall to hold a festival, when the set time comes, the igniter will light the plastic bag on fire from the inside."

"Because flimsy plastic bags are more likely to ignite than photo paper."

"So the bottom of the plastic bag will be burned first, and then the photos inside will fall out from the burned gap, fall into the stream below, and then flow down the waterfall, appearing in front of all of us. in front of me.”

With a plastic bag and a timed ignition device, you can easily realize the function of "timing no one to scatter photos".

“Plastic bags burn quickly after photos are spilled.”

"Residues such as dry batteries and wires will also fall into the stream and be washed away by the relatively strong current."

"Only some black residue from burning plastic will be left on the stone bridge. If you don't pay attention, you won't be noticed at all."

"So people subconsciously think that the murderer personally went upstream to scatter the flowers while the festival was being held."

"This way."

"The real murderer at the downstream festival has a perfect alibi."

Hattori Heiji exposed the murderer's trick.

And this also secretly proves one point:

The murderer who caused this case was someone at the festival at that time.

Otherwise, there was no need for him to go to such great lengths to set up a mechanism for releasing photos on a regular basis - the only purpose of this mechanism was to create an alibi for him.

Although there is no solid evidence yet.

But after such an investigation and analysis.

The image of the miko lady has become closer and closer to the murderer.

"Mr. Lin." Hattori Heiji suggested seriously: "Let's go back and keep an eye on Shimabukuro Kimie."

"I have a hunch that she may continue to commit crimes."

"Wait a little longer." Lin Xinyi seemed to be hesitant.

He walked slowly by the stream, and finally turned on the flashlight and once again illuminated the murderer's footprints on the ground:

"Look, the murderer set up a trap here and left footprints on his return trip."

"Did you notice anything wrong?"

"This" Hattori Heiji's pupils shrank.

He observed carefully and concluded:

"When the murderer returned, his left and right gaits were still significantly different."

"In other words, he was still carrying heavy objects in his hands at that time?"

Hattori Heiji originally guessed that the heavy objects the murderer was carrying when he arrived should be equipment used to set up mechanisms.

But now I come back to my senses and think about it carefully:

Plastic bag, photo, timer ignition device.

These gadgets add up to nothing, so how can they be considered "heavy objects" that can change a person's gait?

Moreover, the murderer had already set up a trap and left the plastic bags containing the photos on the bridge. Why was it that on the way back, his gait still showed that he was carrying heavy objects in his hands?

"Could it be."

Hattori Heiji quickly reacted:

"When the murderer came to the scene to set up traps, did he bring anything else with him?"

"What could this be?"

If the murderer came here just to set up a trap.

In that case, there is no need for him to bring anything else except photos, plastic bags and timer ignition devices.

But the other party just took it.

this means

"The murderer came to this mountain for other purposes besides setting up traps?"

Hattori Heiji understood what Lin Shinichi meant.

"That's right." Lin Xin nodded: "Let's go, let's follow his footsteps on his way back and take another look."

The group continued to follow the footprints.

But as they walked, they soon discovered something was wrong:

These footsteps on the return trip did not lead directly to the cement road, but instead led to a deeper and quieter dense forest without even a mud path.

Everyone followed the footprints into the dense forest, and after a few minutes of groping, suddenly...

A strange scene appeared ahead:

In the depths of that inaccessible dense forest, there stood such a desolate small tomb.

There is no tombstone on the grave, and there is no name.

But in front of the tomb, there was a pile of stones carefully and neatly placed.

Apples, oranges, bananas and other sacrifices were placed on the stones, and they all looked fresh.

"The murderer is here"

"Are you here to visit the tomb and offer sacrifices?"

Everyone was shocked:

"By the way, Shimabukuro Kime said before:"

"The 'mermaid corpse' from three years ago was secretly hidden deep in the mountains by 'Grandma Longevity'."

"This" looked at the tomb in front of him and the sacrifices placed in front of the tomb. Everyone quickly realized something:

"This is the 'Tomb of the Mermaid'."

"Buried inside is Miss Shimabukuro's mother!"

The murderer's footsteps lead here.

While he was committing murder, he never forgot to come to the tomb to deliver offerings.

It was like reporting what he had done to the deceased, and using the blood of those victims to pay homage to the spirit of the deceased in heaven.

And the deceased buried in the tomb happened to be Shimabukuro Kimie's mother.

In this way, the guess was completely proven:

"The murderer is really Shimabukuro Kime!"