Karasumaru's answer was confusing.
She first focused on the boy's indifference to others and talked about his shortcomings. Then she circled back to Hatoyama Keiko and said that the boy was very good to Hatoyama Keiko. Finally, she expressed her regret in a very embarrassed manner. The boy thanked her for saving her life just now. In turn, the boy was actually a very good person...
What stood out was an inconsistency, but Karasuma himself was completely unaware of it.
And this kind of contradiction that I don't even notice is often caused by my insufficient understanding of some of my own hidden emotions.
Keiko Hatoyama listened quietly, just smiled and raised her hand to touch her head, and said nothing in the end.
"..."
After the boy came back from taking notes, the incident was officially over.
Everything was just as the boy had inferred. Mr. Poplar, the murderer who had always loved the deceased, went to the deceased's room last night to confess to the deceased again, and was sternly rejected by the deceased again.
That night, Mr. Poplar, who had been rejected many times by the deceased, lost his mind in anger and hit the deceased hard on the head with an ashtray in the room.
After the deceased slowly fell to the ground, Mr. Poplar, who finally calmed down, was so frightened that he didn't even deal with the scene and fled back to his house in a panic.
The next day, with the arrival of the police and the boy's reasoning at the speed of light, Mr. Poplar, who knew he could not hide it, became more and more frightened. Finally, after his identity was revealed by Kokarasuma, he lost his mind again. He tried to hold Xiao Karasuma hostage with the dagger already hidden in his pocket, tried to confront the police and fled the scene.
Of course, in the end, he was easily knocked down by the boy...
For the boy and Hatoyama Keiko, this is just a small episode in life. The two have seen too many similar cases in the past few years, and they are not even enough to cause any waves in their lives.
After the case, everyone's lives returned to their former peace. The boy still maintained his two-point and one-line life between the crime scene and the university. Karasuma would often come to the university to look for the two of them.
A peaceful life slowly accumulated, and finally, half a year later, the event that caused a qualitative change came.
"..."
"When is the time of death?"
It was one early morning half a year after the incident on the set. In a cemetery where several police cars were parked outside and cordoned off, the boy half-crouched next to a strange-looking corpse and spoke to the detective next to him. asked.
Half a year passed, and it was freezing cold again in Tokyo. The boy was wearing a black windbreaker and thick gloves on his hands.
"Preliminary speculation is that it was around two or three o'clock in the morning last night. Due to the temperature, the specific time of death may be different." The detective on the side replied.
The boy did not respond when he heard the sound, but still carefully observed the strange corpse in front of him.
The reason why it is said to be strange is that when the body was discovered, it was not prone or lying down like people generally thought.
It is kneeling.
Kneeling like the Virgin Mary praying to God.
The corpse's legs were close together, and the knees and thighs were tightly wrapped with black strings, fixing them in a kneeling position.
The arms are also tightly connected from the elbows to the wrists, and the hands are clasped together. They are also wrapped in black strings, maintaining a Christian prayer posture, and are tightly tied to the chest.
The only thing that is different from the "praying" posture is that the head of the corpse is not lowered, but is still raised high under the pull of the black string, which is very strange.
The murderer made full use of the surrounding tombstones. Using these tombstones as fulcrums, he used black strings to repeatedly tie and pull the deceased's body from all angles, eventually forming this weird posture of "head held high, kneeling down to pray." .
I have to say, this is very technical.
The deceased was a female. Judging from her face and physical development, she was probably in her teens and should have been a female high school student.
The reason for adding "physical development" is because the deceased was completely naked and could be seen at a glance.
There was only one obvious fatal injury on the body, which was the long wound on the neck of the deceased.
According to existing clues, it is speculated that the deceased was brought here by the murderer around two or three o'clock in the morning last night. He was first tied up like this, and then his throat was slit with a sharp weapon. He died of excessive blood loss.
The reason why it was certain that he was tied up first and then killed was because where the blood of the deceased flowed down, the black strings also had corresponding traces of coagulated blood, so it was confirmed.
At the same time, the deceased should not have made any struggle during the entire death process.
The reason is simple, because the deceased is naked, and if there was any struggle reaction during his lifetime, it will be directly reflected on the skin of the deceased.
However, the fact is that in all the places where the black strings were tied, there was only a deep and thin mark on the skin of the deceased, and there were no other marks.
This shows that the deceased was most likely to have completed this series of arrangements by the murderer without consciousness, and was eventually killed.
"Who discovered the body first?"
After roughly understanding the situation at the scene, the boy asked.
At the same time, he changed his angle slightly and glanced at the name on the tombstone facing the deceased's body.
Due to the drop in temperature, coupled with the fact that it was naked and outside, the temperature of the corpse dropped very quickly. In just three or four hours, the temperature of the corpse was close to the surrounding temperature, and it felt extremely cold to the touch.
The blood flowing out from the wound in the throat of the deceased's body had already spread on the surrounding ground and solidified into a large, almost black "carpet."
Fortunately, it was winter now, so the smell of blood was not too obvious.
"It's the gravekeeper of this cemetery. He was the first person to discover the body. He also reported the case to the Metropolitan Police." A criminal policeman replied.
"Bring him to see me. I have some questions to ask him." The boy said, squatting behind the corpse and observing carefully.
"Yes." A criminal police officer turned and left.
But the boy seemed to have something in his heart at this moment, looking upward as the corpse raised its head forward.
Behind this cemetery, in the direction where the face of the corpse is facing, is a mountain with dense woods.
"Blockhead?!"
Just when the boy wanted to further think about whether there might be any connection between them, a familiar voice suddenly sounded behind him.
The boy looked back and saw two young girls in school uniforms outside the police cordon, one of whom he happened to know.
It was Karasumaru.
(˙ー˙)
(End of chapter)
