After creating the vest, I joined the script team

The first crime committed by Button was 16 years ago. Because the murderer had been quiet for the past two years, the files about him were not turned over again, and a thick layer of dust accumulated.

"Cough cough." Somewhat unaccustomed to covering his mouth and nose, Keigo Higashino coughed lightly and pressed the chandelier button on the right.

"Sorry, Mr. Dongye." The policeman said apologetically, "Because there are unresolved unsolved cases here, no one has come to clean them up for a long time."

"Ah, it's okay." Nodding in understanding, Keigo Higashino retreated to the door again, took a light puff of the lit cigarette to suppress his excitement.

The truth was in sight, so forgive him for jumping up.

"I'll open the window to let the wind out."

The police pulled back the black curtains and opened the windows to let in the strong winter wind, but after 10 minutes people were frozen like dogs and the dust piled up.

"Forget it, don't waste time, close the window and look for it directly." Higashino Keigo stubbed out the cigarette, threw the cigarette butt into the dusty trash can, and walked straight in.

He took out the plastic strap from his pocket and squatted down, not caring that his windbreaker was covered with dust, he casually dug out a file bag from the first bookshelf.

"I'll help." After rubbing the back of his cold palm, the policeman squatted down and began to look through the documents.

"You are from a police family, do you know anything about the button case more than ten years ago?"

After glancing at the files in the file bag, Keigo Higashino returned them to another bookshelf to look at the second file.

"You can see that our Jiang Chuan family is quite famous in Osaka. I succeeded my father's wish and continued to be a police detective. As for the buttons..."

Mentioning this vicious prisoner, Detective Jiang Chuan's expression became solemn, "My father was also involved in this case, and the entire criminal police team in Osaka was transferred here, but there was no clue to let that guy escape for so many years. "

"Is that so?" After finishing this sentence noncommittally, Keigo Higashino put down the file bag, stood up straight and walked to the second bookshelf, and took out a file with a clear purpose. He glanced at it casually and waved it. Said, "I found the information, come and help me get it to the interrogation room."

Pulled out the materials that had been preserved for ten years from the bookshelf, and stacked them one by one on the table in front of the window, Keigo Higashino glanced to make sure that nothing was missed, took some materials and walked out of the archive room and stood at the door in vain. Detective Jiang Chuan, who hadn't reacted yet, was left stunned.

"Hurry up and lock the door and go, I still want to eat dinner." Keigo Higashino urged, glancing at the watch on his wrist.

"Oh, okay." Detective Jiang Chuan didn't expect that the other party found all the information so quickly before he found the way.

The police detective, who felt that his speed was too slow, shook his head, picked up the documents next to him, closed the door of the archive room, and led the way.

"Detective Jiangchuan..." Keigo Higashino narrowed his eyes and glanced at the file, and asked casually, "Did your father record everything when he sealed off the scene?"

"It's impossible to keep everything, but the records must be recorded. This is my job." I don't know why the other party asked this question, but Detective Jiang Chuan still answered obediently.

"Is that so?" Higashino Keigo showed a cheerful smile, and followed the detective into the interrogation room.

The configuration of the interrogation room in each police station is similar. There is an iron railing, a table and chairs, and there is nothing else clean. The table is placed in front of the railing. Higashino Keigo declined the company of other policemen and sat down. Opposite Murakata Ao.

"Mr. Tono, you are here."

"En." Responded lightly, Keigo Higashino wiped off the dust on the file bag and slowly took off the cover, took out the documents and placed them on the table according to the time of the crime.

The first case was in May 16 years ago, the second case was in May ten years ago, and the first case was in June six years ago. The interval between cases since then is not too large.

Putting all the photos taken by the police on the table, Keigo Higashino closed his eyes and reconstructed the scene of the crime in his mind.

After a while, he opened his eyes and asked: "The previous case is the easiest to see the criminal's actions. Your mother is the victim of the first case. Can you tell me what you found?"

"My discovery?" Murakami stood up, staring at Keigo Higashino, her voice raised unconsciously, "Mr. Higashino, do you see anything?"

"Well, sort of. Look here, the neck was cut open, the shirt was pushed to the chest, and there were more than 20 stab wounds on the upper body. It didn't look different from the subsequent cases, but here—"

Keigo Higashino picked up the photos and documents of the first case on the table and pointed it to the other party, "The crime scene was too messy, and all subsequent crime scenes were not as messy."

Regardless of the other party's reaction, he reasoned on his own, "The victim is a single woman who is divorced. Although it is recorded in the file that she has no job, but her index finger and knuckles have protrusions, she should have been a worker.

Judging from the scattered books at the scene, they were probably lawyers. Lawyers generally have occupational diseases. They would pack their things properly, but the scene was too messy. "

"The chaos is abnormal. This is not a scene where the prisoner and the victim fought. Instead, it looks like the prisoner killed the victim to hide the clues after he was found stealing from the victim's house."

Higashino Keigo unconsciously tapped the desktop with his left index finger, and he pulled out the information of the second case, "The time between the second case is too long, although it is similar to the first case, the knife wound on the victim's body is owned by everyone. The one with the most number of stab wounds was fatal, and the other stab wounds on the upper body were even more venting from the angle and depth."

"This is a crime of passion. The prisoner is mentally stimulated and his control over his behavior is weakened. There are two situations in the murder of passion from the criminal intent in the heart to the completion of the behavior."

One is the criminal behavior caused by the immediate criminal impulse at that time, and there is a lack of cooling time between the stimulus and the behavior;

The second is the long-term smoldering of bad emotions. Under the trigger of appropriate clues, the long-term accumulated emotions will be released in an instant. When the accumulation exceeds the endurance of the perpetrator, the act of killing with passion will erupt under the impetus of accidental events.

"The prisoner broke out after suppressing his bad emotions for a long time. Compared with the other victims, I only found a little difference. The nails of the second victim had red nail polish."

Holding his chin, Keigo Higashino looked directly at Ao Murashita with black eyes and asked, "Does Murashita-kun's mother like red nail polish?"

"Mum does love nail polish, but there's no way she's going out to work that day!"

"So who did your mother meet before? Who did she meet when she was wearing white clothes and nail polish?" Keigo Higashino asked.

"I don't know. My mother works at the power supply bureau and sees many people every day."

Murakami sat back a little at a loss, obviously there was a clue, but the clue slipped away in front of him like this, this feeling——

"Don't worry, let's investigate one by one, Detective Jiang Chuan..." Higashino Keigo waved and shouted to the police detective who was looking in, "Please call and ask the family members of the other victims, does the victim like to paint red?" nail polish, and also ask who the victim was in contact with while wearing white clothes and nail polish."

"It's been a long time, I can't remember this kind of thing clearly." Jiang Chuan said with some embarrassment.

"I don't need to know who the victim has seen, just give me an approximate occupation."

"Ah, okay." Mr. Detective, who saw the hope of solving the case, took down the phone number and went out to check one by one.

Detective Hattori Heiji, who was next to him, also walked in, and said with bright eyes, "Mr. Higashino is very powerful, have you found a breakthrough yet?"

"As long as you observe carefully, you can always find evidence..." Keigo Higashino said in a guiding tone when he calmed down, "All criminals try to cover up their crimes, and they will not leave evidence where anyone can easily obtain it. places, but many clues cannot be covered up, and you can find clues with keen observation.”

"You are still very young, maybe there will be a day when you surpass me."

"Mr. Higashino said that..." Hattori Heiji said a little funny, "You are only 20 years old, why do you speak so old-fashioned?"

Keigo Higashino raised his eyebrows and said calmly, "Be patient with the younger generation."

After all, it is a seedling.

"By the way, Murashita-san..." He looked back at the person in the prison and asked, "When are you going to confess?"

"I, I——" Under Keigo Higashino's sharp gaze, Murakata Ao, who had nowhere to hide, covered her face in embarrassment, unable to utter a word for a long time.

"Why are you moving?"

"Button, I want to find him!" As if he finally found a way to vent his anger, Murakami shouted with a ferocious face, "I want to find him! I want to catch him!"

"Hush, listen to me first." Putting his index finger in front of his mouth to signal the other party to shut up, Keigo Higashino leaned on the back of the chair bored, watching Murashita Ao slowly ask mean words, but his expression was nonchalant.

"Is that why you and the 'victim' lady came to disguise buttons? Would you reoffend if you didn't attract buttons in this case?"

"This..." Murashita Qing hesitated with a struggling expression on his face.

"You will still commit crimes, you will learn the button method to kill innocent people and become the next button." Keigo Higashino asked softly while pressing on the table, "What is the difference between you and him?"

"I just want to catch him! I'm just, I'm just!" Ao Murashita shouted sharply.

"Really?" Higashino Keigo asked with a smile, "Are you really for justice?"

"Uh……"

"If there is the first one, there will be the second one. Admit it, you are just trying to satisfy your own selfish desires. Murakami Ao..." Higashino Keigo called out the other party's full name for the first time, and said with a compassionate expression, "You are Buttons."

You are both a victim and a perpetrator, and your justice has been completely distorted. Aren’t you the murderer who imitated the other party’s behavior?

As he asked, an almost gentle sadness filled his heart inadvertently. He was feeling sorry for the other party. He clearly had the right starting point, but ended up going astray.

Ah, what a pity.

"I'm not, I don't want to!! I'm not, I'm not—" Murakami knelt on the ground and roared as if she had lost her mind.

People with paranoid personality disorder are quite stubborn, sensitive and suspicious, and breaking their cognition will become like this.

Higashino Keigo looked back at the silent Hattori Heiji and put on a soft smile again: "Did you scare me? Call a policeman to make a statement. Let's go out first, just in time to have dinner with me."

"I've been hungry for a long time." He complained half-truthfully, and pulled Hattori Heiji out.

He was silent all the way, until Hattori Heiji came out of the gate of the police station to respond to the same opening.

"Mr. Tono, did you do it on purpose?"

"No, it's just that some criminals won't tell the truth if they don't break the other's understanding." Higashino Keigo took a look at the other party and comforted him, "I'm just a detective, so don't worry. "

He knew what Hattori Heiji was worried about, his talent was frightening, he was extremely calm and rational in the face of evil, and he spoke unceremoniously, looking like a person who has been in the gray area all year round.

The child was afraid that he would fall into the abyss.

But Keigo Higashino has already made a decision. He is a detective, just a detective. This is a matter of principle.

"That's great..." Putting down the worries in his heart, Hattori Heiji said with a smile, "We also have an extra detective in Osaka, now the policemen in Yokohama can't show off Mr. Edogawa."

"Edogawa-kun, I'm very curious about him, I've always wanted to meet him." Keigo Higashino couldn't help touching the cigarette in his pocket once he got emotional, he suppressed his excitement, but his eyes were filled with anticipation "I plan to go to Yokohama to meet him after this investigation is over."

"Meet me, I also want to go and have a look. After all, they are two detectives. It's a pity..." As if thinking of something, Hattori Heiji became serious, "Mr. Higashino, you'd better be careful, Yokohama is a bit messy recently."

"Chaos? Is it because the financial leader in Yokohama who was in the newspaper a few days ago was seriously ill?" Higashino Keigo asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, because of my father, I also know people in Yokohama. I heard that the gangs in Yokohama have started to mess up recently, and they seem to want to seize the funds."

"I see, then I have to hurry over."

"Hey, it's all messed up, Mr. Dongye, do you want to go there?"

"It's just a bit of a mess now. Nothing will happen to the financial boss before he dies. But after that, he will sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. The biggest one in Yokohama won't be watching all the time. It won't be long before Edogawa-kun will be left, so I have to go and see first..."

Whispering and swallowing the rest of the words, Keigo Higashino didn't answer the puzzled Hattori Heiji this time, but just asked if there was any delicious dinner nearby.

Fortunately, Hattori Heiji is not someone who likes to get to the bottom of other people's lives. He scratched his head and took Keigo Higashino to a ramen restaurant in a nearby street.

During the meal, Keigo Higashino casually chatted about some common sense about investigating crime scenes, and felt that Hattori Heiji looked at him with eyes as bright as a dog looking at a bone, which made people feel chills all over.

Not used to being looked at like this, and it was already eleven o'clock at night, so he decided to call the police to send them back.

Detective Jiang Chuan, who had helped them before, sent the two of them back. After starting the car, the honest detective asked hesitantly, "Murashita has already pleaded guilty. Will you come tomorrow?"

"No, I plan to go to Yokohama tomorrow, but if the police station needs any help, you can come to me..." Keigo Higashino looked at the scenery flying by outside the window and said, "I am a detective, and I will go wherever I can."

It's a detective's instinct to pursue puzzles.

"That's it, I'll trouble you." Detective Jiang Chuan smiled coyly, and didn't say anything more along the way.

After saying goodbye to the two people in the car, Keigo Higashino returned to his warm residence. After cleaning his coat, he sat on the sofa and let himself look at the white wall in a daze.

I'm going to see Ranpo Edogawa tomorrow, but I have nothing to do the day after tomorrow, so annoying.

"Ding ding ding——" the phone on the table rang, and he looked at the encrypted raised eyebrow and pressed the answer.

"Moshi Moshi—" Miyazaki Tomomori's overly cheerful voice came from the other end of the phone.

"What's the matter with you, call me so late, it's almost twelve o'clock." An ominous premonition shrouded his heart, Higashino Keigo rubbed his eyebrows and tried his best to maintain a calm tone.

"Hee hee, there is a surprise, you will find out tomorrow, by the way..." The person opposite seems to be in a lively place, and there are always noisy voices from time to time, but Higashino Keigo can still hear the other party's gentle voice. Said in a calm tone, "Remember to take good care of him tomorrow—"

"Him? What are you going to do? I remember that the energy value is not enough. Even the remaining ability value from last time plus my energy value for solving the case this time is less than [-]. You won't plan to make trouble again. "

"You'll know tomorrow." Miyazaki Tomomori hummed and hung up the phone in his own way, leaving Keigo Higashino on the other end of the phone so worried that he didn't sleep well all night.