Tian Chunda's tone was cautious, and his eyes did not dare to look at the other person carelessly.
"I will answer your question right away. In order to prevent you from misunderstanding, I will say it first. When I saw the small report about He Chun's murder, I had a hunch that maybe the criminal police would come to me. It would be nice if the criminal could be arrested soon, but if the investigation takes too long, I would be a suspect too. I think that will be the case. This is asking for trouble, although I also tell myself that I don’t need to I care, but I think we should be careful in this situation, and it would be better to have an alibi."
"This is a good idea. If suspects are often like you, it will be of great help to the criminal police."
Maybe Ke Runze felt that Tian Chunda's words were sarcastic, so he continued without even smiling: "I remember our newspaper here published the report on the 10th. So where was I on the night of the 8th two days ago? , I can almost recall it completely.”
Tian Chunda opened a new page in his notebook. "So, where did you spend the night? I hope you can produce witnesses by the way."
"The witness was here until about seven o'clock."
"Um?"
"In order to make the dolls to be exhibited at the exhibition, and there were other things to do, and things were not going well, I stayed and worked overtime for a whole week. Because of this, the crime happened On the night of the 8th, I sat in this chair and continued working."
"Are you alone?"
"No, almost everyone here here works with me too."
Tian Chunda felt that his position had become very unbearable. I used to think that I was the protagonist acting, but I didn’t expect that the other person’s character was a higher level, and the audience had already known it.
If what Ke Runze said is true. If she really stayed in this shop until after seven o'clock, then she would not have been able to kill He Chun in Kanazawa.
"I would like to ask everyone, did you hear what Miss Ke Runze said just now?"
About five people nodded at the same time.
"Is what she said true?"
"Yes, that's right."
The middle-aged woman with fair skin and slightly chubby replied as if speaking for everyone. She seemed very sociable.
"I am the manager of this puppet production room, my name is Hu Wen. What Miss Ke Runze just said is true. I and several other people here were working here together at the time."
"I know, but how can you remember what happened so long ago? What's going on?"
Ms. Hu Wen had a friendly smile on her smooth and shiny face. "It was the second day or the third day after the case occurred. I don't remember the time clearly. But that day, while having lunch with everyone, Miss Ke Runze said, do you remember when I worked here together on the night of the 8th? ?At that time, of course she wanted to silently leave an alibi about herself. So, haha, what she said in that mood at that time was just now when I heard her conversation with Mr. Detective. , just noticed it.”
"Can you please be a little more detailed?"
"Tell me more specifically, what do you mean -"
"That is to say, for example, the weather was not good on the 8th, so I wore a raincoat, or we had soba noodles together for dinner. Well, that's probably what happened. Later, when I need to confirm the date, I just need to Writing down things like this will make it easier to remember.”
Her white face was slightly crooked, she turned her gaze to the wall, and fell into a brief silence. But I still couldn't seem to remember it, so I turned back to ask other partners for advice. "Does anyone have anything to say?"
"..." No one spoke.
"Mr. Police Officer, isn't this enough? It was a pity that we couldn't remember whether it was raining or windy on the 8th. It is absolutely correct that we had been working together that night. And Ke Runze talked to everyone during lunch It is true that what happened on the night of the 8th became a topic of conversation," Hu Wen said.
Judging from her description, these women should not have misremembered the date. Ke Runze paid attention to the case reported in the newspaper and prepared her own alibi. Such actions would inevitably cause unnatural feelings. On the other hand, she had the motive of hating He Chun, so she expected it to happen. If you are suspected, take this action first. If you take into account the cautious nature of women, all this is not surprising. Tian Chunda felt that Ke Runze had 80% credibility in his alibi. However, the partners here are all friends of Ke Runze. It's possible that she asked everyone to sympathize with her position, so they stood on the same front to drive away the detective for her. Tian Chunda hoped that at least there would be a fair third party to speak.
"Maybe it's a bit greedy. It would be better if other witnesses saw you besides everyone here."
When he said this, Ke Runze's big eyes suddenly dimmed. The movement of playing with a ball of sewing thread on her knees suddenly stopped.
"If Mr. Police Officer refuses to believe me, then I can't force him. Everyone is my friend."
"No, that's not the case-"
"But there was no one else. I went back very late that night, and the apartment manager didn't remember..."
"It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that it will be more convenient for the investigation. If there is evidence that clearly denies the suspicion, it will not only be helpful to you, but also to us."
Ke Runze lowered his head and thought for a while, while the other women continued to work in silence.
"...No, no matter what I think."
"It's really a pity." Officer Tian Chunda lowered his voice.
Tian Chunda bought a train ticket to Jingu at Nanguang Station.
Jingu is a simple little station, with only a waiting room that looks like a simple hut in the center of the platform. Most of the passengers who got off the bus were copper-skinned and strong fishermen.
After walking for less than five minutes, we reached the national highway along the coast.
Tian Chunda found Qiao Xiang's home. After he knocked on the door, a woman came out and looked up at him. She has small eyes and a small nose on her small face. She is an old woman with a short stature and a poor appearance.
"Excuse me, is Qiao Xiang at home?" Tian Chunda asked gently.
"What do you want from my son?"
The old woman who heard his question immediately responded and looked up at the detective with suspicion.
"I'm a detective from Nanguang City."
As soon as Tian Chunda said this, the old woman immediately held her breath in surprise.
"Miss He Chun was killed on the outskirts of Kanazawa. I came here to investigate the prisoner."
Tian Chunda said regardless of the old woman's expression.
"By the way, old lady, I heard that your son and Miss He Chun were engaged, right?"
"Yes." The old woman's tone became timid.
"Despite this, Miss He Chun unilaterally broke the contract... Your son must hate Miss He Chun, right?"
"Yes, it's true."
The old woman lowered her eyes, then immediately raised her little face, and said to Tian Chunda in a considerate and gentle tone: "You will get wet, come inside."
On the cement floor of about twelve square meters, there are two wooden dining tables and eight chairs. Bamboo chopsticks are randomly inserted on the ceramic chopstick holder. In a corner without a floor, there is a stove made of ceramic tiles, with a copper pot hanging above it, and the delicious aroma of oden wafting out from between the wooden lids.
Tian Chunda sat on the chair, opened the notepad on the dining table, and rested his elbows on the table. The old woman was still standing, staring at the detective warily.
"If my son had shortcomings, there would be nothing we could do if the marriage fell through. But she didn't mention any shortcomings. She canceled the engagement just because his personality was incompatible. They were obviously in such a good relationship when they were in school, but they only talked about it now. Personality incompatibility, this is really a strange excuse... The other party is such an outstanding person as a doctor of medicine. Rather than marrying my son and living as an insignificant office worker's wife for the rest of her life, it is better to live a wealthy life as the dean's wife. Alas, I only found out later I know this is what she really means."
"Yeah. New tragedies often have this kind of plot." Tian Chunda nodded sympathetically.
"After all, these are small towns. This rumor soon spread widely, and our mother and son became the laughing stock of this town. Although my son comforted me: 'It is the woman who deserves to be laughed at, who is confused by desire. The one with the wide eyes is He Chun. This world will not follow the rules. Mom, there is no need for you to be unable to hold your head up.' As he said this, he puffed up his chest and walked forward, but he must still be very lonely in his heart. See The way he looked at the sea in a daze made him feel so pitiful."
