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墨書 Inktalez
Ito has determined that Ueno To has been murdered, with the body dismembered and the arms thrown into the sea. However, the whereabouts of the other body parts remain unknown. Lost in thought, Ito paces back and forth with his head down, while his colleagues watch him in silence, afraid to disturb his contemplation. Suddenly, Ito's phone rings. The urgent voice on the other end reports, "We found him. Ueno was last seen at the city's broadcast TV center, supposedly participating in a food program..." "Let's go. We'll go to the broadcast TV center and find out what happened that day," Ito says to his colleagues after hanging up the phone. As they are about to leave the room, Ito looks around again. Seemingly hesitant, he casually tucks the red rope from the bathroom into his pocket.
After communicating with the staff at the broadcast TV center, Ito becomes more convinced that Ueno To is dead, and the prime suspect is the peculiar food connoisseur present at the time: Sagawa Shinsuke. There were two suspicious points during the program that all the audience noticed. First, someone handed a note to Sagawa that clearly shocked him. Second, despite Sagawa trying to remain composed and continue with the program, his reaction upon seeing Ueno To was clearly unusual, indicating that they knew each other. As a result, they rushed out of the studio. Where did they go, and what happened next?
From Ueno's residence to the TV center, Ito did not rest along the way. Now he seems a bit out of breath as he found a seat in the audience area. His mind has been pondering these two mysteries, and it seems that in order to clear things up, he must first find the key figure, Sagawa. He waved to his colleague, who quickly interrupted the staff member they were questioning and hurried over to Ito.
"Have the department check Sagawa's background information, and also find out where he lives. We need to locate him," Ito said calmly.
Time passed quickly, and by around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Ito and his colleague had traced Sagawa's residence to a small estate in the Machida City area along the Yokohama waterway. There are approximately three or four schools nearby, including Tateshita Elementary School, Kanagawa Institute of Technology, and a driving school for learning to operate automobiles. This small estate stands incongruously in the center of it all.
"Ding dong~ Ding dong." Ito pressed the doorbell, eyes fixed on the camera above the door frame.
"Who is it?" A hoarse and deep voice came from the intercom, seemingly very wary of these unexpected visitors.
"Deputy Police Inspector Ito Kenjiro from the City Police Department, I have a case to inquire about. Is Sagawa Shinsuke available?" Ito replied coldly.
The walkie-talkie suddenly went silent. Ito seemed a bit taken aback at first by this impolite response, then became a little impatient, and quickly pressed the doorbell. This time, there was no response. So he took a few steps back from the door and shouted towards the estate's wall, "Please open the door now, there's something that needs to be investigated. Please cooperate!" His colleague next to him also didn't stand idle, and vigorously knocked on the door as if trying to break it down.
At that moment, the door suddenly opened.
The person who opened the door was an elderly man in his seventies, slightly hunched, but with a somewhat nervous expression. The wrinkles on his face resembled the ravines of a plateau, and his eyes were squinted. He stood at the door with a cane, saying nothing, and looked at Ito.
Ito approached and glanced inside. He said, "Is Sagawa Shinsuke here? There is a missing person case related to him, and I need to understand the situation." The old man remained silent, bowing his head and gesturing for them to come inside to talk. Ito didn't hesitate and walked straight in.
The interior of the mansion was exquisite, seemingly designed by a foreigner in a typical American Southern style. White columns stood tall, with marble swirling in snow-white patterns. The ebony doors and windows were finely carved, and the villa was surrounded by lush trees, adding to its grandeur. In front of the villa was a round fountain pool with several koi swimming inside. Perhaps only someone with a prominent background could own such a magnificent estate.
Ito looked around and thought to himself that the old man was probably Sagawa Akihide. Sagawa Akihide was Shinsuke's father and a renowned entrepreneur responsible for the local sewage treatment business (President of Awata Industry Co., Ltd.). After the end of the Showa era and World War II, Japan was in need of development, and Sagawa Akihide seized the opportunity, gradually accumulating capital and maturing his business operations. However, in recent years, he suddenly announced his retirement and transferred the company, with the reasons behind it remaining unknown.
Sagawa Akihide made a gesture of invitation and walked straight to the living room. At the same time, a middle-aged woman also walked out of the side building, looking unwell and not very agile. She lowered her head and entered the living room with a tea set in her hands.
In the living room, Sagawa Akihide was already sitting cross-legged in front of the coffee table, and Ito and his colleague also sat down without hesitation. They began to ask questions directly.
"Where is he?" Ito asked nonchalantly.
"Who?" Sagawa Akihide responded with a bewildered expression.
"Sagawa Shinsuke, your son. Where is he?" Ito's colleague, clearly accustomed to this kind of evasive behavior, pressed on.
"He's not at home, he hasn't been back for a long time, not sure where he went. We rarely ask." Sagawa Akihide replied, then with a very concerned and anxious look, asked, "Please, what happened to him? Is something wrong?"
"Oh, it's like this. Your son seems to have some entanglement with someone named Ueno To. We received a report a few days ago, found an arm, and later found out it was Ueno To's. And when we went to his place, this person had already disappeared. The last time he was seen was when he disappeared with your son." Ito took out a photo of Ueno To from his briefcase and placed it on the coffee table, pushing it towards Sagawa Akihide.
The woman standing beside also bent down to add water to the tea set. Although the entire process was unremarkable, Ito noticed every tiny detail. The woman glanced at the photo while pouring water, and a hint of fear quickly flashed across her face, immediately returning to composure.
"Who is this?" Ito asked, looking at the woman.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce her. This is my wife, Kaiko," Sagawa Akihide turned his head and glanced at Kaiko, then replied.
Ito picked up the teacup, took a small sip, and stood up. With a smile, he said, "Why don't you two show me your son, Sagawa Shinsuke's room?"
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