Qi lässt sich leicht weitergeben

Kapitel 94

"Arrived? ——"

Masuoka's spirit swayed continuously. The spiritual distance between Masuoka and Amamiya, which was originally infinite, was now rapidly shrinking.

"The arm in the incinerator, unlike the one that died en route to Lake Sagami, was still remarkably well-preserved. He arrived there when he met the arm—"

"—That is, the other shore."

"Ah ah."

Masuoka cried out, his right hand touching his forehead.

Then, trembling slightly, she said:

"Did that guy go there? And—he's planning to leave with that living arm. That will definitely kill the arm, but—he doesn't care at all, does he?"

Masuoka also reached that point.

"Probably. Amamiya was holding a box he'd retrieved on the road for his right hand, intending to put his left hand inside. At that moment, Suzaki arrived at the incinerator with the box containing Kanako. Suzaki must have been surprised, and immediately turned to rage. Of course. Because he was carrying out a criminal plan at the time. No matter how lax the security, opening the incinerator without any precautions, and even intending to take out his arm, was naturally an unforgivable act. Moreover, if he actually took his arm out of the incinerator, he would die very quickly, and the plan—would inevitably fail."

"So the two of them started arguing?"

Bird's Mouth—we did not reach it.

"No, Amamiya gave up temporarily after being reprimanded. However, he discovered a sacred relic that was even more impactful than the arm."

"Amamiya picked up the iron box that was originally intended to be used to store the arm and beat Suzaki."

—The angular, rod-shaped metal was actually a long, thin iron box. "We retrieved the Kasako and fled together."

"Aaaaaaah!"

Yoko contorted her face and let out an incredulous, shrill scream.

"Add rapeseed, add rapeseed—"

The patient has disappeared.

They really were taken away.

I've run out of ideas.

Suzaki was also killed.

Therefore, it's beyond repair.

"Aa ...

Yangzi held her head, releasing almost all the remaining life force within her body.

Kiba, who had been silent like a stubborn rock, finally spoke again after being baptized by her mournful cries.

"So what you said back then—what you said to me back then—wasn't a lie. No wonder you were hoping Kanako might come back alive. It seems what I thought was true really was. Your words—"

Kiba looked at Yoko.

"It touched my heart to some extent."

“That’s right. Unexpectedly, Ms. Yoko found herself in the same position as Ms. Kusumoto Yoriko. Two opposing emotions centered around Kanako—on the one hand, she hoped that Kanako would be discovered, and on the other hand, she feared that she would be discovered; on the one hand, she hoped that Kanako would live, and on the other hand, she hoped that she would die. Although the plan failed and Ms. Yoko lost Kanako, the kidnapping was successful on the surface, and she might be able to successfully extort the inheritance; at the same time, if she told the police the truth, she might be able to find Kanako, but it was hard to say whether she was still alive. If she were to obtain both Kanako’s remains and the mark of the perpetrator, it would be meaningless. Everything seemed unclear, and the vector of will always acted on both sides at the same time. These two women with strong opposing desires could only place themselves in an ambiguous position where they could retreat in either direction at any time.”

"Is it the same as Lai Zi?"

"However, people with ambiguous stances are often swayed by those with strong wills who are by their side. Yoko has someone beside her who desperately doesn't want their plan discovered and desperately wants the inheritance—"

Kyogoku-do stood up again, like a black crow.

"That's you, Mr. Mimasaka."

Mimasaka also stood up.

“That’s right! Chuzenji, what you said is absolutely correct, but there’s no evidence to prove your reasoning. I only harbored desires in my mind, and no one can punish me. I didn’t actually do anything, I didn’t say anything! Chuzenji, you just said it yourself, even if you all gang up on me, I won’t waver in my beliefs, and neither the law nor morality can punish me!”

"Of course I know about this little thing. But it's also true that your presence influenced Yoko, causing her to give false testimony. Enduring the police's harsh questioning and almost torture-like interrogation, your daughter told a lie she didn't have to tell in order to provide you with generous research funds, enduring unbearable suffering!"

The crow flapped its wings vigorously, watching the molting butterfly.

The white snake closed her heart and turned her head away.

"After a similar two-week period of hesitation, just like with Raiko, Ms. Yoko decided to swindle the inheritance. The catalyst was the security deployment diagram created by Inspector Ishii of the Kanagawa headquarters, who used all his failing memories. She could tell at a glance that the security was shoddy. She thought, 'If that's the case—it should be easy for outsiders to break in.' So Ms. Yoko lied, fabricating a fictitious criminal—frankly, it was just a childish lie—in an attempt to disrupt the investigation. What would have been a lie that could have been laughed off at most became incredibly effective in this bizarre and ambiguous incident. Things went much more smoothly than expected, which led to Masuoka coming forward to discuss the issue of proxy inheritance. Although she lost Kanako, the things she gained in return were considerable. Everything went better than expected, except for the active presence of Shutaro Kiba."

"So, I really am a hindrance?"

After releasing everything, Yoko was left with only an empty shell, her transparent skin concealing a void.

"Of course not."

Kyogoku-do answered for her.

"Kusumoto Yoriko and Yuzuki Yoko, these two similar and two-faced women did indeed disrupt the case, but now another victim appears, namely Kubo-Jun-Kou."

——Jungong Kubo.

The fourth incident: the Musashino serial dismemberment murder case—

"Amamiya, carrying Kanako in the box and her hand, most likely escaped the scene by crossing the forest. He then arrived at the station, boarded a tram, and fled. However, perhaps he himself did not consider it an escape."

Aoki said expressionlessly:

"The investigators began to function approximately two hours after the crime occurred. Even if they were only walking slowly, they should have covered a considerable distance."

Bird Mouth continued:

"Besides, even if he was carrying that kind of iron box, I doubt anyone would have suspected that it contained a corpse. Surely—no one would have suspected him."

"It wasn't a corpse. Kanako was still alive at that time."

"Ahh!"

Yoko collapsed, limp and powerless.

"Why do you say she's still alive? But she's not out of the machine—"

I felt a chill run down my spine, as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water on me.

"Kanako has undergone surgery and hemostasis has been achieved. Her cardiopulmonary function is normal, and she won't die immediately. However, I'm not sure if she's conscious—"

Mimasaka gave a brief, extremely brief answer:

"He's conscious. He should be able to live for about a day—no problem."

So, so, that—

"Amamiya heads west."

The train carrying passengers returning home from the city was empty.

"It was an elopement trip with Kanako, who was in the box."

A man quietly sat down in the seat in front of him.

"The next morning, he met with Kubo Shunko, who was heading to Ise."

His skin was pale, making it impossible to tell whether he was young or old.

We met on the same train.

The man was carrying a box—

Kubo saw the contents of the box.

A sound came from the box.

"Jia Cai Zi is still alive"

There happened to be a beautiful girl inside the box.

Ah, so he's still alive.

For some reason, I became very envious of men.

"Was everything written in that novel—<The Girl in the Box>—actually true?!"

I'm the next one to collapse. It's what Natsuki saw, what Kubo saw, what he remembered.

Who is that girl peeking out the window?

Is it really Ganazo?

"The girl in the box also took the up-and-coming fantasy writer, who had led a twisted life, to the other side. Just like the characters in his novels, he was bewitched by Kanako's phantom and tried every means to get a girl like her. In the end, he decided to do it himself."

"Is this the motivation?!"

Aoki suddenly stood up, and the chair flew up and down with him.

"So, those girls really were hacked to pieces while they were still alive! That bastard! I absolutely cannot allow this to happen! It's so stupid, there's nothing to say about it. It's obvious he couldn't have done that! He's insane. The murder weapon was a machete; he used a machete to cut off their limbs at the joint—how could they possibly survive that! Waaah..."

Aoki shouted loudly but quickly squatted down, his expression one of extreme pain. His injuries were far from healed.

"No one would believe that something so illogical could be accomplished. Even Kubo wouldn't have believed it before he met Kanako. If he hadn't met Amamiya and Kanako, that demon wouldn't have befallen him."

Kyogoku-do glared at Mimasaka with a fierce look, his eyes gleaming with dark circles.

"You really didn't do anything."

Then he turned back to face everyone and said:

"Satomura's insight is absolutely correct. Kubo conducted experiments and tested the knife. I don't know if he tied the girls up or made them unconscious first, but he cut off their hands first, which was difficult. He failed to cut off the first girl because he wasn't skilled enough. At this stage, even if the girl was still conscious, she would probably lose consciousness due to the excruciating pain. After cutting off the second hand, he gradually got used to it. Although he became skilled at cutting, by the time he cut off the feet, the girl had already died from excessive blood loss. Kubo didn't rush to cut off the hands after killing them; rather, the girls gradually died as their hands and feet were cut off. He—had no intention of killing them."

"But...but if he didn't treat the wound at all, it will definitely..."

Bird's beak seems to be on the verge of collapse as well.

"When Kubo's finger was severed, it healed on its own without any treatment. Common sense tells everyone that losing a hand or foot will result in death. But this common sense has no effect whatsoever in the face of Kanako as living evidence!"

"Please, Mr. Chuzenji, stop talking."

Aoki pleaded with him while lying on the ground.

"I can't take it anymore."

"Alright, I'll stop here. That concludes the fourth incident. The protagonist of the final incident is you, Mimasaka Koshiro!"

Kyogoku-do said, his back to Mimasaka.

"Hey, there aren't only four incidents—"

“Didn’t I just say that? Sekiguchi, this morning—there are five of them. Alright, Mr. Mimasaka.”

"Let's hand over Kubo, who's been sitting there, to the police."