Early the next morning, Sotakuya took Toru Amuro and a large number of police officers to land on the American island.
As the Mermaid Festival approaches, the number of tourists on the American island is gradually increasing.
The annual Mermaid Festival is the busiest time for the villagers on the American island.
American Island is a village that has transformed from the fishing industry as its mainstay to tourism. It can be said that most people in the village rely on this period of time to enrich their pockets.
A small number of people in the entire village continue their ancestral business and make a living by fishing, while a larger number are doing supporting work for the Mermaid Festival.
For example, there are hotels everywhere on the island and restaurants with mermaid elements everywhere.
The food is still the same food that can be found everywhere in Tokyo, but with the addition of mermaid elements, the price can be a little more expensive.
Anyway, American Island is just a small isolated island in Wakasa Bay. As long as the prices on the island are unified, these tourists who come here can only hold their noses and admit it.
Except for Sotakuya and Toru Amuro, the remaining police officers from the Metropolitan Police Department broke into pieces as soon as they arrived on the island and blended in with the tourists.
As the Mermaid Festival approaches, the number of new faces on the island increases again, and the addition of these police officers is not surprising.
Of course they came on the Metropolitan Police Department's own ship.
Otherwise, if a group of people in suits and ties who look very difficult to mess with suddenly gather on a ship, everyone will feel that something is wrong.
This scene is as crude as a boatload of small flat-headed fishermen speaking with Sichuan accents.
"So we need to go to the Mermaid Shrine first?"
"No, let's go to the village office here first." So Takuya rejected Amuro Toru's suggestion and said while looking at the map of the American island he just bought:
"I'm a little concerned about the mermaid skeleton found on this island three years ago.
I think the village chief here can definitely answer my questions. "
When Sotakuya and Toru Amuro arrived at the village office, all the staff inside were busy.
The approach of the Mermaid Festival and the increase in tourists on the island have made the usually laid-back staff start to get busy.
Although these people are busy, they have no complaints.
Everyone is born and raised on the American island. The busier they are, the better the life of the family on the island will be.
So even though everyone's feet basically didn't touch the ground, everyone was happy with it.
"Village Chief, these two are tourists from Tokyo and want to see you."
Under the guidance of the staff, Sotakuya and Toru Amuro successfully met the village chief of the American Island.
From the appearance, the mayor of the American island village is about sixty years old, and he is about to reach the age of retirement.
Although he looks quite old, the village chief looks very energetic.
"It turns out that we are two guests from afar, welcome to you." The village chief welcomed the arrival of Zong Takuya and the two, and then asked them why they came to see him.
"We want to know what happened to the mermaid skeleton three years ago. Can you help us solve the puzzle? Village Chief?" After Zong Takuya unceremoniously stated his purpose, the atmosphere in the village chief's office changed. It was visibly stagnant to the naked eye.
The original kind and kind smile of the village chief of America Island, after hearing Sotakuya's question, immediately put away the smile on his face and responded to Sotakuya calmly:
"That's just a rumor passed down by rumors. In fact, there are no mermaid skeletons at all. If you just want to inquire about the mermaid legend, then you have come to the wrong place.
I think the villagers on the island are more willing to talk to you about these things.
I still have work, so if you don't have any other questions, please feel free to do it. "
After talking for a while, the village chief closed the door to see off the guests, and the staff who had been waiting for the village chief's instructions at the door were ready to come in and invite Sotakuya and Toru Amuro out.
Just when the staff was about to take action, Toru Amuro stepped forward and forced the staff at the door to retreat.
And So Takuya took out his ID and threw it in front of the mayor of Mishima Village.
"I'm not interested in finding those villagers to listen to the urban legends that have been constantly refined over the years. The incident three years ago is very likely related to the case I am investigating now.
Village Chief, I wish you could be more serious. "
Seeing Sou Takuya's police officer certificate being thrown in front of Sou Takuya, Murakami subconsciously picked it up and took a look at it, and then he was shocked.
The village chief, who has worked as a grassroots civil servant in the American Island all his life, could not have imagined that Sotakuya in front of him was so young and already a police officer of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Replaced in the government system, Zong Takuya can also be regarded as a high-ranking official for the village chief.
But soon, the village chief of the American Island calmed down.
Due to the proliferation of rice flower murders and detectives in the Kexue world, the public and grassroots civil servants like the mayor of the American island village naturally lack awe of criminal police.
As the saying goes, distance creates awe, but detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department are beaten up by detectives every three days. How can this make people awe?
Considering Sotakuya's current age, although his position is frighteningly high, the mayor of Mishima Village is also about to retire.
As long as I don't want to mention the minor subject, I will be the right person in the unit. This sentence is suitable for the village chief.
The village chief has no desires and needs. The certificate Sotakuya threw over really didn't scare the village chief who was about to retire.
"Police Inspector Zong is really good at joking. Wasn't it someone from your Metropolitan Police Department who came to investigate the incident three years ago?"
The village chief of Mishima pushed the certificate back to Sotakuya and said nonchalantly: "If you really have any questions, you can go back to the Metropolitan Police Department and retrieve the original files yourself.
I'm just an old man who's about to retire, and my memory gets worse as I get older.
Sorry, I can't help you at all. "
The words of the mayor of the American island village are full of thorns, and he is simply an outstanding representative of hidden needles.
Facing the village chief who was ready to show off in front of him, Zong Tuozai smiled contemptuously - haha, no one can show off so easily in front of him.
"Of course I have accessed the Metropolitan Police files.
After forensic testing, the skeleton belonged to a middle-aged woman. At that time, the police concluded that the tourists who had not obtained the dugong arrows had a grudge and sneaked into the warehouse late at night.
As a result, a fire was accidentally caused, causing the warehouse beam to burn out and he was trapped in the warehouse, unable to escape."
After hearing this, the village chief nodded repeatedly and said that there was nothing wrong with what Sotakuza said. This was the conclusion of the police investigation at that time.
"But don't you think it's strange, village chief?"
"What?"
"Perhaps there are not many murders in Fukui Prefecture, but looking at the whole of Japan, especially in Tokyo's Mika Town, unexpected murders are not particularly rare."
"If it's not unusual, why did the media suddenly start reporting on it?"
So Takuya sat on the chair opposite the village chief and leaned back with his body relaxed, and said playfully to the village chief of the American island in front of him: "Maybe the media that reported on the mermaid are following suit.
But I really want to know the media who were the first to report this accident on the mermaid legend from the very beginning."
"Did they think divergently and think of the mermaid legend, or did someone deliberately control them and influence the direction of their reporting?"
"Village Chief, once this matter is revealed, I think you don't want to see the tourism industry in the American Island suffer a major blow and the village changes back to what it once was, right?"
(End of chapter)
