[Toru Amuro] Those years when I worked at Poirot

"I'm really sorry, I encountered a traffic accident at the other end of the park and was delayed."

Erica said sorry, and sat down at a round table near the flower garden in the open-air coffee shop, the girl opposite her waved her hand indifferently: "Oh, it's okay, it's not that you don't know me, I just appreciate it for a while The scenery."

Erica smiled: "Yeah, we are at the same time, and we are studying the same major at the same university. We can't understand each other anymore."

"Yes, yes. By the way, I heard that you caught that serial killer?"

"It was caught, but it's a pity that the case became more complicated."

"How to say?"

"That guy only claimed the first four incidents, and he didn't commit the last one. The evidence is solid."

At this moment, the waiter came to order, Erica ordered an espresso, and another girl ordered bourbon.

"Drinking so early, be careful of alcohol poisoning, Judy." Erica smiled.

"People who eat too much sugar are not qualified to blame me." Judy scratched her short hair and suddenly remembered something, with a rippling look on her face.

"He... doesn't like whiskey very much. I want to get closer to him... Let's start with hobbies." She muttered to herself, completely different from her usual bold and lively style, and her eyes suddenly became gentle and affectionate.

"Him?" Erica thought for a long time before she understood what Judy meant, "You mean Mr. Akai. Hey, are you shy sometimes? If you like him so much, go and confess, I believe you can do it."

"Fool, I didn't confess because I was shy and afraid of being rejected or something. I was worried about you." Judy almost spit out her wine.

"Worried about me?" Erica was a little taken aback.

Judy said hesitantly: "Look, you and him have been crowded in the same car for a lot of time in the past six months, or you just ran around together, and occasionally stayed in the same hotel at night, so it's inevitable that nothing will happen. Huo Hua, if you are also interested in Mr. Akai, I will immediately change the target, anyway, my liking for him is only superficial..."

"Stop." Erica grabbed Judy's hand and shook it vigorously, "Don't make strange guesses, I don't have the kind of feelings you said for Mr. Akai, we are just partners, and don't worry, he treats me too I agree. Our personalities are too boring, and we are more suitable to find a partner like you, ah ha ha ha ha..."

"Really? Then I'm ready to confess." American women have always been straightforward and bold in doing things.

"I'll help you observe the timing and choose a good time for you." Erica said with a smirk.

Judy happily made an OK gesture, and suddenly thought of the case that was just half discussed.

"By the way, I remember that the media seemed to say that the victims were all branded with a swastika on their chests. It was suspected that Nazi worshipers did it, because the dead were all Jews."

Erica spread her hands: "Those media will make up random things, what is branded, what is Jewish, it is obviously blind——"

She stopped abruptly.

"Wait, do you remember what else the media said? About the manner of death."

"Oh, don't worry, let me think about it, the mainstream theory is what I just said, and some youtubers say that the deceased's tongue was gouged out because they always like to chew their tongues, and that the deceased are all lesbians... "

Erica stood up with a whoosh.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Judy looked at her puzzled.

Erica stared into the distance, thought for a few minutes, then grabbed her bag and was about to leave.

"I'm sorry, my dear, I thought of who the murderer might be. I have to go to Mr. Akai immediately. He should have guessed it long ago. I can't delay the progress of the investigation because of my slowness!"

As soon as he said that, he wanted to leave in a hurry.

"Wait, wait, I'll go with you!" Judy also grabbed her limited-edition sheepskin bag and walked through the leisurely crowd with Erica, "What's going on? How did you suddenly become enlightened?" ? Who is the murderer?"

"Judy, you are also the FBI. Naturally, we know that we will not release the real details of this kind of abominable serial murder to any irrelevant people. First, we are afraid of causing panic, and second, we are afraid that someone will be distracted. This case is even worse. , we did not provide too many details to the local police, let alone various media, they only know a few dead, the cause of death is a bit special, and they don't even know the home address of the deceased, of course it is not difficult for them to find out this, you It’s not true what you just said about scalding with a branding iron, tongue digging, and Jews, that’s not how they were killed.”

"So?" Judy still didn't understand.

"So, how did the murderer who killed the last person know these details, and imitate them so that we professionals can't tell the difference?"

Suddenly, Judy clapped her hands and made a crisp "pop".

"You mean, he is one of the rare people who saw the bodies of the first four dead!?"

Erica nodded: "Very likely. So the scope of the murderer is much narrower. So far, the suspects include the first discoverers of the four murders and their relatives, the coroner and other police officers who have seen the photos of the scene. The staff...maybe even me and Mr. Akai, because we've all seen the photos. Don't take it seriously, I'm joking."

"I see. Is it possible for the relatives of the deceased?"

"Unless they are the first to find out. We didn't show the photos of the death scene to the relatives, but just told them the general cause of death, and none of the relatives was strong enough to ask for details. They just knew that the deceased was crossed on the chest, but this They don't know how big, how wide, how deep the cross is, and what tools are used to draw it."

"And you didn't find any obvious difference between the fifth corpse and the first four throughout the investigation, which shows that the murderer imitated it almost exactly." Judy sighed.

"Exactly. So I suspect he must have seen the scene. For example, the cross was also carved with a chainsaw. How did he know to use a chainsaw instead of a dagger or a paper cutter?" Erica said at this moment Already trotting up.

The final facts proved that the murderer was the first person to discover the third death scene.He was a sewer repair worker. After rushing to the deceased's house as agreed in advance, he found the door of the deceased's house unlocked and went in. Then he saw her bloody corpse in the living room.

He was greatly stimulated, even a little deranged.Coincidentally, he happened to have a secret lover who was also the fifth victim who kept asking him for money and threatening him. He had enough and decided to copy the crime and put all the blame on the serial killer.

It took only three days to solve the subsequent case.In fact, when driving on the highway yesterday, Akai had already thought of this, but he didn't say it clearly, he didn't want to take all the credit on himself, and he felt that Erica had the ability to draw conclusions by himself, so he There is no challenge.

When Erica called to tell him this, he had already investigated the information of all relevant personnel and conducted a preliminary investigation on the alibi, leaving only three suspects, which greatly increased the efficiency of the investigation.

On the night when the final investigation report was handed in, Judy confessed to Akai, and the two were together.

Because the follow-up time of this case was relatively long and the result was very successful, the boss gave them half a month's leave.Erica originally wanted to go to Europe with Beth, but Beth and Gene were in love, so she had no time to take care of her, and she didn't want to be a light bulb, so she traveled to Japan alone.

Her mother is Japanese, she can speak Japanese fluently, but it is the first time to go to Japan.

She had a great time, and in the process of playing, she also encountered a small case.However, it was a ten-year-old boy who broke the case. When the boy was attacked by the furious prisoner, she kicked the prisoner away with her feet.

She decided to come to Japan to play again when she had the chance.It's really amazing here.

However, she did not expect that seven years later, she would go to Japan alone to track down that woman, and die in an unknown sea.