Ke Xue: I picked up a bottle of sherry at the beginning.

"So the 'Hammer Man' is still in this room." Bai Quanyi shifted his gaze inside and became more alert.

"Is this a trap for us?" Sato Miwako was also surprised.

"No. I don't think he meant to set a trap."

When the two men came forward, they saw a man lying on the ground with a rope tied around his neck and a chair lying overturned next to him.

"He committed suicide?" Miwako's face changed.

"It's okay, his breathing is stable." Baiquanyi stepped forward and sniffed his breath, "Meihezi, call an ambulance."

The man was wearing a hat, so he couldn't have committed suicide by hanging. But why were there no marks of strangulation on his neck?

After Miwako put on gloves and took off the other person's hat, her pupils shrank.

"What... is going on? The man's head looks like it was struck by a blunt object, and there's blood. Did 'Hammer Man' 0.2 get hurt?"

"I know, the criminal is one of those three people." Bai Quanyi raised the corner of his mouth, his eyes flashing with playful eyes.

Baiquanyi took out his phone and called Takagi.

"Takagi, there were three people entering and leaving Hammer Man's room just now, right?"

"Ah... yes."

"Bring these three people here, I have something to ask them." Bai Quanyi ordered.

"Uh... well... however, it seems that the three of them are very busy! As for recording the testimony, they will talk about it after the work is finished. They have already left just now." Takagi said.

"Takagi, you're too unreliable."

"The other party seems very busy."

"You're a police officer... and you can't even handle this. I think you want to go fishing in Kagoshima."

"sorry."

Takagi's nervous voice came from the phone. He didn't want to be exiled from Tokyo to the frontier.

382. Boyfriend’s Responsibility

Inspector Megure, who came to support, learned about the situation and scolded Takagi Wataru harshly.

Takagi Shigeru looked embarrassed and apologized repeatedly: "I'm sorry..."

"Okay, Officer Megure, the most urgent thing is to catch these three people back as soon as possible!" Shiraizumi Masu waved his hand.

"Um……"

Inspector Megure nodded and turned his gaze to Takagi, "Who are those three people?"

"Yes."

Takagi, sweating coldly, took out a manual from his pocket.

"The courier was a big guy about 1.80 meters tall (a burly man), the motorcycle courier was a short woman less than 1.60 meters tall (a blonde woman), and the pizza delivery guy was a thin guy about 1.70 meters tall (a thin man)."

"But why did the criminal attack the 'Hammer Man'?" Takagi didn't understand.

"I'm afraid this was an act of revenge carried out by someone related to the victims of the four crimes committed by 'Hammer Man' out of hatred! Although none of the victims were fatal, all four were seriously injured."

What Sato Miwako said makes sense.

"So, the man heard about the incident nearby on the news, saw someone who looked like a police officer watching the apartment, and so he disguised himself so as not to arouse suspicion even when entering and leaving the room, and attacked the 'hammer man'. That's probably it!"

"But why did you let them go back without even asking their names?" Shiraizumi stared at Takagi like an idiot.

"Uh..." Takagi was helpless, "No."

"All three said there were receipts in the room, and their names and companies were clearly visible from them."

“It’s just a receipt for a pizza!”

Baiquanyi waved the receipt in his hand, letting Takagi see what a stupid mistake he had made.

"No!"

"Hey...Takagi."

Facing the murderous Inspector Megure, Takagi's face suddenly changed, and cold sweat quickly flowed down his face. "Ah... But... Since I have the pizza receipt, I can just call the store and find out if he is the criminal, hehe... hehe..."

"Then go quickly." Inspector Megure shouted to the sky.

"Yes." Takagi quickly retreated.

……

"Eh... he's not back yet. The guy who delivered the pizza hasn't come back yet?" Takagi looked at Inspector Megure and others beside him, laughed dryly, and asked anxiously.

　28 "Hmm... after receiving the reservation from the person who made the apartment, he left forty minutes ago and should be back by now... Could something have happened to the people in our store, Mr. Policeman?"

The manager of the pizza shop asked, perhaps sensing something was wrong.

"Uh...no." Takagi shook his head.

"In this case, what we can imagine is that the criminal pretended to be someone from this store, called to order a pizza, hijacked the delivery man on the way, took off his work clothes, and then disguised himself as the delivery man to sneak into this room," speculated Miwako Sato.

"In that case, the person delivering the courier and the person picking up the motorcycle package were just accidental." Inspector Megure also agreed with the other party's words.

Sato said, "It could also be a sleight of hand. If there was only one pizza delivery person, it would be too obvious. When all three said they were taking the order, the voices on the phone were very hoarse. It's possible they deliberately pretended to be that way to disguise the sound. The last pizza delivery person to come in would be able to destroy the receipts from both the courier and the motorcycle courier."

"No, I don't think that's the case." Bai Quanyi suddenly spoke.

"What do you mean?" Sato asked in confusion.

"Because the first deliveryman left a note on the door before entering the room, saying 'I have a cold and am sleeping. Please go in and do your work.' He said he put the things in the room according to the instructions. I don't think the last pizza deliveryman would have left this note!"

"Indeed!" Gao Mu looked at the note in his hand, "The only one who can do that is the courier."

"In other words, pretend to be a delivery person, then force your way into the room, knock down the 'hammer man', and leave a note like this when you leave the room, so that the person who comes to pick up the motorcycle courier and the pizza delivery person can come in smoothly, and you won't be a suspect." As soon as Inspector Megure finished speaking, he was denied by Sato Miwako.

"But if that's the case, the receipt for the motorcycle courier should still be in the room."

"Oh……"

"The only person who could secretly destroy the express delivery and motorcycle express delivery receipts is the one who picked up the motorcycle courier or the pizza delivery."

"But if the pizza was delivered by a prisoner, why did he leave his receipt?"

"The only person who can handle the last pizza delivery person's ticket is the pizza delivery person, so he might have left it on purpose."

Takagi's doubts seemed to be dispelled by Sato Miwako.

"Is that so?" Inspector Megure nodded. "Which of these three people is the criminal?"

The matter of the three couriers was left to other police officers. Now, Bai Quanyi and others began to investigate the room.

"Hmm...it's so clean." Bai Quanyi nodded.

"Clean?!" Miwako was puzzled.

"Hmm..." Bai Quanyi pointed to the restaurant. "Look, this place is a mess, but the toilets and baths are very clean. Isn't it strange?"

"And the dot razor on the sink."

"Order razor?"

"It's supposed to be charging but it's not plugged in. There's shampoo, soap, and toothpaste, but there's no toothbrush. Isn't that strange?"

"Yes... yes!" After hearing what Shiraizumi Mashi said, Sato Miwako also felt something was wrong. "It's quite inconsistent!"

"And here." Bai Quanyi pointed again.

"The drain of the bathtub?" Sato Miwako raised her eyebrows and looked at Shiraizumi Masu in confusion.

"Well... there's not even a hair or anything!" Bai Quanyi reminded.

"Ah...really." Sato Miwako was surprised.

"Inspector Megure," Takagi suddenly said, "I found a blood-stained glove."

"Oh...where did you find it?" Inspector Megure was delighted.

"Here." Takagi brought Inspector Megure to the discovery site. "When we were checking the washing machine and dryer, we found this glove mixed in with the clothes."

"Sure enough, the man lying in this room is the 'Hammer Man', and one of the three people who came into this room must be the criminal who attacked the 'Hammer Man'!" Bai Quanyi thought to himself.

"Hmm... If the forensics department confirms that this bloodstain matches that of last night's victim, then we can conclude that the person collapsed in this room is the 'Hammer Man.'"

"All that's left is to find the evidence left behind by the criminal who attacked 'Hammer Man,' and we can follow the clues."

Taking the bloody glove, Inspector Megure said seriously.

"Hmm...that's strange, why are those things not here?" Bai Quanyi squatted down to check the clothes and unexpectedly found something suspicious.

“Could it be that…”

Bai Quanyi realized something, and under everyone's surprised eyes, he opened the shoe cabinet, took a closer look, and finally...

"Ah...his shoe, that's got a patch on the left toe!? That's the only shoe with a patch."

"Hmm...what happened to 'Hammer Man's' shoes?" asked Inspector Megure.

"No, these are not the shoes of the 'Hammer Man'." Bai Quanyi shook his head.

"what?"

"'Hammer Man' doesn't exist at all." Bai Quanyi said with a joking smile.

"what?"

"Hakuizumi Mashi, what does this mean? Why doesn't the 'Hammer Man' exist at all?" asked Sato Miwako.

"Think about horror stories like the Slit-Mouthed Woman and the Human-Faced Dog. They're all exaggerated, right? Similarly, stories like the Hammer Man running 100 meters in 11 seconds and standing 1.8 meters tall...they're all exaggerated to scare people."

"But Shiraizumi Mashi, unlike the slit-mouthed woman and the human-faced dog, four people have indeed been attacked by the hammer man. It's hard to say that this is fiction!" Inspector Megure said seriously.

"Actually, there was just a bad guy who attacked long-haired women with a hammer. No one can say for sure whether he was the 'Hammer Man'!" Bai Quanyi changed the subject.

"If hitting someone with a hammer isn't called 'Hammer Man', then what is it?" Sato Miwako didn't understand what Shiraizumi Masu was saying.

"And if 'The Hammer Man' is just a legend, then who is the man who was attacked and lies in this room?"

"In my opinion, this can only be revenge carried out by one of the three people who came here." Takagi said.

Bai Quanyi shook his head with a hint of regret and said, "Please think carefully again. In what order and why did those three people enter this room?"

"Hmm..." Gao Mu took out his manual again and read, "I remember the order is the big male courier who is 1.8 meters tall, then the small female motorcycle courier who is about 1.6 meters tall, and then the thin pizza delivery guy who is about 1.7 meters tall!"

"The reason the three people entered the room was because of a note left on the door saying, 'You are in bed due to a cold, please go in and take care of yourself.'"

"The only one who can leave this note is the first courier who arrives. Is that okay?" Bai Quanyi said.

"Also, the only people who can destroy receipts for courier and motorcycle couriers are the subsequent motorcycle couriers or pizza delivery drivers. Is that okay?"

"That's right." Sato Miwako didn't understand why Shiraizumi Masu mentioned this, but she still answered honestly.

"Hmm..." Bai Quanyi nodded. "But if we think about it another way, maybe it will make sense. As long as we assume that the person who left the note and destroyed the receipt are both the 'hammer man' in this room."

"This...this doesn't make sense!" said Inspector Megure.

He could understand why the Hammer Man was afraid of the note, but why would he destroy the receipt? It didn't make sense!

"To prevent us from contacting the other party to quickly confirm his identity, and at the same time, to prevent us from discovering his next identity swap."

"What!? Identity swap, is that true?!"

After hearing what Shiraizumi said, Inspector Megure realized something and his face was filled with surprise and astonishment...

"Are you saying that 'Hammer Man' has switched with one of the three of them!?"

"bingo."

Baiquan Yi snapped his fingers and smiled at Sato Miwako, but the other party could only smile bitterly.

"That's right. 'Hammer Man' called in the courier, the motorcycle courier, and the delivery man to swap identities. So the person collapsed in the room was one of them!"

Sato Miwako pondered for a moment, then looked up and said, "I understand. The person he called by phone followed the note on the door and entered the room, where he was attacked. He was then dressed and left in the room as if attempting suicide. He himself then changed into a uniform and swaggered out of the room."

"Excellent." Shiraizumi Mashi gave Sato Miwako a thumbs up.

"So the male courier who arrived first has to be ruled out as a suspect because he was physically different from the man who collapsed in the room. He also couldn't have taken the receipts for the subsequent motorcycle deliveries and takeout."

Shiraizumi showed a hint of annoyance at Takagi interrupting them.

"In that case, 'Hammer Man' must be the pizza delivery man," Inspector Megure asserted.