Tokyo Mystery Writers

Chapter 112 A Logical Feast for Identifying the Real Killer

"Everyone has been cleared of suspicion?"

Upon hearing Rintaro Hozuki's deduction, everyone's faces showed surprise, clearly indicating that they strongly questioned Rintaro Hozuki's reasoning!

Seeing everyone looking at him with skepticism, Rintaro Hozuki smiled faintly and said, "At first glance, my reasoning seems quite unreasonable."

"The person who put nicotine in the thermos must be among the eighteen suspects, but I have ruled out all eighteen suspects."

"You'll all think, isn't there a flaw in my reasoning?"

"While my words may sound arrogant, I can say with absolute confidence that it is not true!"

"My reasoning is entirely based on facts, and I conduct rigorous reasoning through the evidence and clues in the case."

"Moreover, there is no element of wishful thinking involved."

"In other words, the person who killed Ariake Shoji was definitely an outsider who was unfamiliar with the internal affairs of the detention center, and it couldn't possibly be Inspector Fujishiro or Clerk Hirose—"

Upon hearing Rintaro Hozuki's words, Inspector Hozuki frowned and said, "Wait a minute! Rintaro!"

"You've forgotten, there's a nineteenth person still present at the execution ground today!"

"Although this person is in detention, he is unaware of the affairs within the detention center. While he cannot possibly be here now, we cannot rule out his suspicion!"

"This person is the death row inmate himself! Ariake Shoji committed suicide!"

"I am confident and well-prepared," said the police inspector.

Hearing his father's words, Rintaro Hozuki's face showed a helpless expression: "That's impossible, Father. Your thinking has seriously deviated from the right path!"

"How can you throw syringes and test tubes into the main trash can if someone is already dead?"

"Father, you must know that Ariake Seiji is the only one who could not walk out of the execution ground by his own will!"

Police Inspector Fa Yue was about to speak when he heard his son's words.

But Rintaro Hozuki interrupted him again: "And don't bring up the accomplice theory, I've already said that."

"Of the eighteen suspects present, sixteen were staff members of the detention center. The remaining inspector, Fujishiro, and clerk, Hirose, were unable to dispose of the syringes and test tubes into the main trash can."

"Therefore, there are absolutely no accomplices in this case, and it is absolutely impossible for Ayaka Seiji to have committed suicide!"

Rintaro Hozuki pondered for a moment, then continued, "Let me reiterate my reasoning."

"The murderer of Ariake Shoji was an outsider who knew nothing about the affairs of the institute. Moreover, after poisoning the thermos, he threw the syringe and test tube into the main garbage bin on the first floor when no one was watching."

"This is the minimum requirement for identifying the killer."

"But none of the eighteen suspects present met the criteria."

"Following this line of thinking—there is only one conclusion—"

Rintaro Hozuki looked at everyone and continued, "Before we reach this conclusion, we need to do some reasoning."

"This reasoning is different from the previous conclusion, but it is very important because it can identify the only culprit and exclude the other seventeen people."

"This reasoning is based on the fact that there are no fingerprints on syringes and test tubes."

"The absence of fingerprints on the syringes and test tubes indicates that the killer wiped them with a clean cloth when discarding them, or that the killer did not leave fingerprints on them in the first place."

"But please think back carefully."

"As I said before, whether there are fingerprints on the syringes and test tubes or not, we can eventually find out who the murderer is based on the serial numbers on the syringes and test tubes."

"But the killer didn't remove the serial numbers from the syringes and test tubes, which shows that the killer wasn't afraid of the serial numbers being discovered."

In other words, the killer must have assumed that the syringes and test tubes would be destroyed in the incinerator and would not be discovered.

O

"So here's the question!"

"Since the killer assumed that the syringes and test tubes would be destroyed in the incinerator and did not scrape off the serial numbers on them, then the killer also had no reason to wipe off the fingerprints on the syringes and test tubes."

"Because their thought processes are exactly the same, it's impossible that the killer only wiped the fingerprints off the syringes and test tubes but didn't erase the serial numbers!"

Upon hearing his son's words, Inspector Hozuki's face lit up with a look of sudden realization: "Rintaro! You mean...?"

"The killer's hands never touched the syringe or test tube?"

Rintaro Hozuki shook his head and pointed to the syringe and test tube: "The syringe has not been used, which means the murderer really did not touch it with his hands, but the murderer wanted to pour the nicotine from the test tube into the thermos."

"The process of opening the thermos flask, pouring the nicotine from the test tube into the thermos, and then storing the test tube away requires such a quick and precise operation that the killer couldn't possibly do without touching the test tube!"

Rintaro Hozuki's gaze swept across the crowd, his face gleaming with the light of impending victory: "Since the murderer didn't deliberately wipe the fingerprints off the test tube, and there are no fingerprints on the test tube, then there's only one possibility left."

"The killer was wearing gloves while committing the crime!"

"I have emphasized this repeatedly: the murderer is an outsider who is unfamiliar with the affairs of the facility."

"Among the eighteen suspects, only the inspector Fujishiro and the clerk Hirose were outsiders, and after they were ruled out as motives for the crime."

"Then there's only one possibility left."

"People outside the detention center secretly entered and replaced the identities of sixteen people inside."

"After murdering Ariake Shoji, he threw the syringe and test tubes into the main trash can!"

"And the murderer, in order to conceal his identity, must be fully disguised."

"But disguise will inevitably arouse suspicion from others."

"So, is there any way to prevent someone wearing gloves and disguising their face from arousing suspicion?"

Rintaro Hozuki walked into the crowd without any hesitation.

They ripped a white headscarf and a large mask off the janitor who was trying to hide her body!

The middle-aged woman, whose disguise had been ripped off, let out a loud scream!

He squatted down and covered his face with his hands, which were covered with plastic gloves, but it was too late!

The executioner, Nakazato, staggered out from the astonished crowd.

With an expression of disbelief on his face, he knelt before the murderer who was sobbing softly.

He then grabbed the murderer's wrists with both hands and pulled them off her face.

Looking into the woman's tearful eyes, Zhongli shook his head desperately, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Mommy! Mommy! Why?"

Jiang Liumei saw the truth of the matter, and her already large almond-shaped eyes became even larger with shock!

Because in the story of "The Mystery of the Death Row Inmate", Kyosuke Maijo achieved two perfect logical reasoning feasts!

First level of logical reasoning:

The killer could have used a shredder to destroy the syringes and test tubes, but instead chose to throw them into the main trash can.

This indicates that the killer was unaware of the existence of the paper shredder, the incinerator's inoperability, and the regularity of the main garbage bin's emptying process.

This leads to the conclusion that the murderer was not an employee of the detention center, but an outsider!

Second layer of logical reasoning:

Since the murderer believed the incinerator was usable, he assumed the syringes and test tubes would be destroyed by the incinerator that day, so there was no need to scrape off the numbers on the syringes and test tubes.

There is also no need to wipe fingerprints off syringes and test tubes.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the killer did not intentionally wipe away the fingerprints on the syringe and test tube.

In other words, the killer was wearing gloves, and the killer was a janitor in disguise!

Jiang Liumei was completely stunned by these two perfect logical reasoning feasts!

Because of these two perfect logical feasts, it not only pays tribute to Ellery Queen, the "King of Logic"

In a very short space of about 50,000 words, it conveyed a huge amount of information from Ellery Queen's long story!

Surpassing! Whether in terms of word count or logical reasoning, it is a complete and utter surpassing!

Now, there is only one problem troubling Jiang Liumei.

Why would Nakazato's mother poison a death row inmate who was about to be executed?

What was her motive for committing the crime?