"Karasuma-chan, have you ever seen a tree with only a trunk and no branches?"
Turning to look out the window at the dark streets, the boy called out Karasuma's surname very rarely.
"A tree without branches?" Xiao Karasuma was stunned for a moment. Although she didn't know that the boy suddenly asked this, she still thought about it seriously and then replied:
"I'm not sure, but there shouldn't be one, right?"
After all, trees that grow normally need branches to support and spread more leaves for photosynthesis and respiration. Even if the climate environment is different, the branches should only have big or small differences. There is no such thing as a tree with just a trunk. And a big tree without branches.
"Unless it has been artificially pruned." Xiao Karasuma added.
When she was in the United States, she would occasionally see some sanitation workers manually pruning the unnecessary branches of the big trees on the roadside.
"Yes, unless it has been artificially pruned." The boy nodded slightly as she said this.
"……Eh?"
There was obviously something in the boy's words, and Karasuma was stunned again when he heard this.
Trimmed by humans? What does this wooden man mean? What on earth was he trying to say?
etc!
Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind, and Xiao Karasuma suddenly understood.
"Mutou, do you want to say that someone was behind this case? The information we are investigating now was deliberately guided by the people behind the scenes?!"
"I do have this idea." The boy nodded slightly.
"One of the two important points in this case is the foreign school student who is said to have invited the deceased classmate Kyoko to spend the night at his home last night. Apart from hearing about it from the Muraki couple, we still don't know anything about it. to any clues related to it.
But even the Muraki couple only heard about this incident from the deceased's mouth, and did not know the specific situation of this so-called "outside school student". The teachers and classmates of the deceased in the school were even more confused about this. If you don't know anything, it's just a solitary proof.
Not to mention, the fact that the deceased had friends from another school was just a rumor spread by false rumors.
Analyzing from these perspectives, the credibility of the Muraki couple's information that "the deceased went to spend the night at a friend's house from another school last night" is extremely low, and since there are no other sources of information, we cannot even falsify this information.
This is the first point that makes me suspicious. The second point is Mr. Hanada. Although your reasoning just now is very good, Karasumaru, there are too many places connected by coincidence.
Mr. Hanada has an honest and cowardly character. Although he went to Muraki's house to ask for an explanation after the death of his daughter, after the police intervened and warned him, he quickly lost his voice and just drank and drank alone at home. He never went to find any trouble with the Muraki family again.
Unless a person with such a personality is suddenly greatly stimulated, it is impossible for a person to commit murder even if he is drunk.
According to the neighbors around Hanada's house, at least when Mr. Hanada came home from get off work last night, his mood did not fluctuate much, and he was as depressed as before.
Judging from the fact that he is still in the mood to cook for himself and keep his home clean, these neighbors must be right. "
"Then, could it be that Mr. Hanada was drunk at home last night, and someone suddenly came to instigate him and stimulate him, so that he..."
"Wouldn't this further prove that there are other behind-the-scenes masterminds behind the murder of Kyoko's classmate?" The boy interrupted Xiao Karasuma and asked.
"Yeah, that's right..."
"If my guess is correct, we may never find the missing Mr. Hanada..." The boy said suddenly as he looked out the dark car window again.
"Eh?"
"After all, if there are really other murderers behind this case, then Mr. Hanada can only be a poor man who is used to take the blame.
If he can be found by the police, the plot of the murderer behind the scenes will be completely exposed. Therefore, a Mr. Hanada who is on the run in fear of crime and disappears is the best.
This will not only draw the police's attention to him and protect the real murderer behind the scenes, but also prevent the police from ever catching the murderer and solving the case. As time goes by, this case will become an unsolved case. "
Just like the example the boy just gave, this case is like a "big tree that has been pruned by humans." Its trunk is extremely prominent, but there are no branches.
From the moment the investigation began, the police seemed to have walked into the road that had been paved by the murderer behind the scenes. All the "branches" that could be used for verification had been cut clean, and they could only passively follow this path. The only "trunk" is heading towards the predetermined end point, which can never be found.
"Then what should we do next?" Xiao Karasuma asked. It was her first time to participate in this kind of investigation and she had no experience in handling this kind of situation.
"Just continue the investigation." The boy said without any hesitation: "No matter how sophisticated the plan is, there will definitely be flaws. Don't stop searching for Mr. Hanada. Issue a wanted order and search as much as possible."
The boy obviously said this last sentence to the two detectives in the car.
"yes."
"What about me? What about me?" Xiao Karasuma pointed at himself and asked quickly.
"It's getting late, go back to bed." The boy glanced at her and replied.
"Huh?!" She suddenly felt unhappy, "Didn't you agree to let me investigate together?!"
"I will notify you when there is any progress. You can go to class as usual tomorrow. If you feel very free, you can investigate the information about the deceased's 'friend from outside the school' at school."
"I always feel like I was dismissed casually by someone..." Xiao Karasuma curled his lips immediately, but didn't bother anymore.
"parking."
The boy said nothing more and shouted to the detective who was driving.
The police car stopped immediately. Not far ahead was the cemetery where the deceased classmate Kyoko was found this morning.
The boy picked up the flashlight in the car, opened the door, and said at the same time: "I will go to the first scene to take a look, and you will send Miss Karasuma home."
"yes."
"I also……"
"Go home and sleep."
"Hello?!"
Without giving Karasuma any chance to speak, the boy directly closed the car door, and the police car immediately accelerated and sped out.
Watching the police car drive away, and looking at Karasuma's furious expression in the rear window, the boy's mouth corners rose slightly.
Immediately, he shook his head, turned on the flashlight, and walked towards the cemetery not far away.
This morning, he always felt that there was something strange about this cemetery, but he never thought of it after his thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of Little Karasuma.
Now is a good time to come over and take a look.
(˙ー˙)
(End of chapter)
