Tokyo Mystery Writers

Chapter 111 Rigorous Elimination Method

Rintaro Hozuki and Inspector Hozuki returned to the execution ground once again.

Eighteen suspects stood in the execution ground.

Inside the execution ground, there was a tension that preceded the storm, yet also a calm that prevailed before the storm.

Although this atmosphere cannot be captured by the naked eye.

However, all eighteen suspects present could clearly feel this invisible pressure!

Rintaro Hozuki took a deep breath.

He repeatedly pondered in his mind whether there were any flaws in his reasoning: "First of all, before getting to the main point, there is one more thing I need to confirm."

"That's what Inspector Fujishiro did after the incident."

Upon hearing Rintaro Hozuki's words, everyone's gaze turned to Inspector Fujishiro's face.

Inspector Fujishiro, his face tense, asked in surprise, "My movements?"

Ignoring Inspector Fujishiro's words, Hozuki Rintaro turned to Chief Matsuyama: "Chief Matsuyama, you've been with Inspector Fujishiro the whole time. My question is, after you left the execution ground, did Inspector Fujishiro pass by any trash cans and throw away any items wrapped in newspapers?"

Upon hearing Rintaro Hozuki's words, Chief Matsuyama shook his head vigorously: "Absolutely not! Inspector Fujishiro and I never passed by the trash can, much less threw anything into it!"

Rintaro Hozuki smiled and nodded: "Very good, the logic is complete!"

As soon as Rintaro Hozuki finished speaking, the metallic scraping sound of handcuffs being opened came from Inspector Hozuki's pocket!

Rintaro Hozuki walked up to the execution platform, looked at the crowd, and said, "At 2:59 PM today, Ariake Shoji was poisoned here. The cause of death was nicotine poisoning."

"The method of poisoning was to put nicotine into a thermos."

"Although nicotine is a strong stimulant, the victim, Ariaki Seiji, was under extreme mental stress before his execution, so he did not notice the smell of nicotine."

"Since we cannot determine the perpetrator's motive, we will initially consider this case as a crime without a motive."

Rintaro Hozuki looked at everyone and, seeing that no one objected, continued his reasoning: "The most suspicious thing in the case is letting Shoji Ariake eat cake and drink tea, but this was a decision made by Chief Matsuyama on a whim."

"There are two problems here. First, it is not possible to obtain nicotine within the institute. Second, Director Matsuyama originally planned to send off Shoji Ariake with cigarettes, but because Shoji Ariake does not smoke, he changed it to cake and tea instead."

"To put it bluntly, the murderer decided to poison the thermos after seeing it at the execution ground at 11 p.m.."

"In other words, the murderer's use of a thermos to poison Ariake Shoji was a fluke, not a premeditated act."

Everyone booed when they heard what Rintaro Hozuki said.

They clearly have doubts about Rintaro Hozuki's reasoning.

But Rintaro Hozuki did not stop his reasoning: "Nicotine is a highly toxic drug that can kill people whether taken orally or injected."

"The fact that the killer brought a syringe also corroborates that the killer did not actually decide from the beginning to kill Ariake Shoji using a thermos; it is very likely that the initial method of murder was lethal injection!"

Rintaro Hozuki brandished the syringe and test tube in his hand and continued his reasoning: "The results of the search were almost exactly what I initially thought. We finally found the syringe and a test tube containing nicotine wrapped in newspaper in the main dumpster."

"Although we couldn't find any fingerprints on it, it's the most important piece of evidence in the entire case!"

Rintaro Hozuki's words left everyone somewhat puzzled, because in their view, the absence of fingerprints on the surface meant it would offer almost no help to the case.

Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, Rintaro Hozuki sighed and continued his logical reasoning: "Why would we find this syringe and test tube in the main dumpster?"

"The first reason, of course, is luck. We quickly found unprocessed syringes and test tubes among a large amount of garbage."

"But let's consider this: if we don't find it today, can we find it tomorrow? And the day after?"

"Most people here probably already know that, right?"

"The incinerator in the facility is being replaced and is unusable. If you want to dispose of the garbage, you will have to wait until the truck comes in three days to process it."

"So here's the question: if that's the case, why would the murderer ignore evidence that could be detrimental to them?"

"Should we leave it in the main trash can for three days?"

"The killer had absolutely no reason to take such a risk, did he?"

"To put it extremely, syringes and test tubes are the killer's lifeblood!"

"Even if there are no fingerprints, we can still use the serial number on the syringe to eventually identify the killer."

"Therefore, the most crucial question in this case is: why wasn't the murderer afraid of the evidence being discovered?"

"If we take all these issues into account, we can eventually arrive at an important conclusion."

"The murderer saw the incinerator near the main garbage bin, but did not know that the incinerator placed near the main garbage bin was not usable."

"Based on the above facts, I have come to a conclusion."

"The murderer was an outsider who knew absolutely nothing about the inside of the detention center!"

"Because anyone familiar with detention centers knows that incinerators cannot be used."

"So if the murderer was in detention, they certainly wouldn't have thrown syringes and test tubes into the main trash can!"

"In addition, there is another piece of circumstantial evidence: if the murderer was someone from inside the facility, then the murderer should have known that there was a paper shredder that could shred documents not far from the main trash can."

"In other words, instead of using a shredder to dispose of the syringes and test tubes, the killer threw them into the main trash can."

"It's because the murderer was completely unfamiliar with the detention center!"

Rintaro Hozuki took a sip of water to moisten his dry lips and continued to analyze the case: "Based on the above deductions, we can conclude that the murderer is an outsider."

"Then we can exclude Director Matsuyama, the eight executioners who participated in the death penalty, the head of the protection section, Sekine, the warden, Iwami, the head of the security section, Yamazaki, the head of the education section, Mibukuro, and the housekeeper, Minami."

There were fourteen people in total.

"Next, although the cleaning lady, Aunt Gao Feng, is not an internal employee, as a cleaning lady, she should naturally know that the incinerator cannot burn garbage, so she can be ruled out as a suspect."

"Although the instructor, Mihara, is not considered an employee of the detention center, he frequently enters and leaves the detention center to make confessions for the prisoners, so he should also have some understanding of the affairs of the detention center and is naturally ruled out as a suspect."

So now, out of the eighteen suspects, sixteen have been cleared of suspicion, leaving only two: Inspector Fujishiro and Clerk Hirose!

Hirose, the clerk who had been diligently recording Rintaro Hozuki's notes, suddenly stopped writing, a look of panic on his face!

However, Rintaro Hozuki did not consider Hirose's feelings and continued to reason: "But according to my previous inquiries, Inspector Fujishiro was always with Director Matsuyama and did not go near the main garbage bin, so he naturally had no opportunity to throw the syringes and test tubes into the main garbage bin."

"As for Hirose, who was the clerk, he was always by the side of Inspector Fujishiro because he needed to record what the Inspector Fujishiro said, so he also had no possibility of committing the crime."

Therefore, none of the eighteen people present at the scene who were involved in the case had the opportunity to commit the crime!

Mikoshiba Yasunori saw this and a puzzled expression appeared on his face.

"Eighteen suspects? All cleared of suspicion?"

"Is the problem with the detective?"

"Is there a nineteenth person involved in the case?"

Mikoshiba Yasunori raised an eyebrow and looked at the other six people around him, noticing that they all had furrowed brows as well.

Naturally too embarrassed to ask, Maijo Kyosuke, sitting leisurely sipping tea to the side, could only continue searching for the answer in the book.

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