Chapter 12 Corpse on the Central Knot

1 A week has passed. Director of the Hirose National Forestry Section of Nishichikuma County, Nagano Prefecture under the Iida Forestry Administration Bureau went to the mountains to inspect. It was at the west foot of Zhegumu Mountain (2,168 meters above sea level), separated by a canyon, facing Nangiso Mountain (1,676 meters above sea level).The main peak is Komayake, which runs north-south and forms part of the Central Mountain Node (Note: The mountain group in central Honshu, Japan, commonly known as the Central Mountain Node).There is a virgin forest on the mountain, and there are many miscellaneous trees, such as cypress, cypress, quasi-cypress, cypress, high wild podocarpus, and arborescens.

The west side of this terrain is mostly cliffs.Unique paleogenetic rocks are exposed on the cliff. There was a storm the night before, in order to check the damage, the district director came here to inspect.In this season, when there is a storm, the wind speed can reach 20 kilometers, the rainfall is 420 millimeters, and then it turns to the east.Therefore, the western foot of this mountain range, around Mt. Kiso, probably receives more rainfall throughout the year. The district director glanced around with his eyes, and suddenly stopped at the bottom of a steep slope.Under the forest, a granite fault is exposed.On the snow-white rock, there is a black thing.Yesterday's rain drenched the trees, and the water dripped down drop by drop.This unusual scene can be seen through the lush greenery.

The director of the pipe section began to walk down the steep slope, his rucksack swaying gently with his body.The feet are very slippery, and the water from the mountain gradually flows through the grass.He climbed the roots of the bushes, and walked cautiously down. After walking down for more than 20 meters, the object that seemed small just now became very large in his field of vision.The protruding rocks are steep and steep, forming several long and narrow platforms one after another.There was a man, with his hands and feet comfortable, lying motionless on it, clinging to the stone. Seeing this, the section director climbed up the slope again.He knew that the person lying there must be dead.It doesn't feel scary at all, his job is to patrol in the deep mountains and dense forests.This kind of thing has become commonplace. Suicides who have turned into bones can always meet several times a year.

He walked down the mountain, and it took him a lot of effort to reach the inhabited village.The village is located in a mountain depression 1,200 meters high, and there are about 20 families.There is only one road leading to the village, called Daping Street, which connects Kiso Valley and Ina Valley, and is located more than one mile east of Taizeng Peak (1,400 meters). Director Guan Duan told the villagers that there was a dead man in the state-owned forest.He himself was going to notify the police at the police station and ask the village head to pick some young people to carry the corpse.After speaking, he got into a truck loaded with cypress that had just come down the mountain.

Did something happen?asked the driver.A sweat towel was wrapped around his head, and his body smelled like sweat. It's nothing, someone died in the mountain, and I'm going to notify the patrol. The director of the section was sitting by the bridge with a cigarette in his mouth. Oh, probably because of the typhoon yesterday, I lost my way and fell off the cliff, right?Three or four days ago, the typhoon was forecasted in the newspaper, what kind of mountain to climb, what a fool! Hearing what the driver said, Director Guan Duan was also thinking, yes, judging from that posture, he fell off the cliff.The truck turned left and right on the winding mountain road, and finally climbed downhill.We drank some tea at a teahouse on the way, and when we arrived at Sanruno Town, we spent an hour and a half on the road.

The patrolman from the Sanruno Police Station immediately reported the situation to the Kiso Fukushima Police Station, and it was already two o'clock in the afternoon. The police station sent people to the scene for an autopsy, but it took a lot of time.That place is really remote and inconvenient.The police car went south along Kiso Street, staggered up Daping Street, and when it arrived at the village near Kiso Peak, it was already past four o'clock.The sunset in the mountains is early, and the surrounding is already a twilight scene. Director Guan Duan and four young people were waiting for the police and the group in the village.There came a policeman, two patrolmen and a police doctor.The director of the discovery department will lead the way.There is no decent road, because of the heavy rain yesterday, after walking for a long time, the whole group was half wet.

It takes an hour to walk from Daping Street to the scene where the dead bodies lie.The scene is deep in the mountains.The elderly policeman was panting. That's it.The director of the pipe section pointed to the past with his finger and said. The body was still lying there in its original position.A patrolman draws a terrain map.Another patrolman and four youths went down the steep slope. The deceased was a man in his forties.Wearing a dark green shirt, wet clothes clinging to the body. The police doctor who went down afterwards pointed to the back of the dead man's head and said, "As expected, he fell off the cliff."One part of the skin on the back of the head was split.

Sir, there was no bloodshed.said a patrolman. Maybe it was washed away by the rain? The police doctor started the autopsy while talking.The feeling in the hand is cold.It is presumed to have been dead for about 30 hours, due to a fatal accident caused by falling off a cliff.The height of the cliff is about thirty meters.The deceased was also carrying a deflated rucksack, which was empty.Open the lunch box, still empty. The body was wrapped in the rubber raincoat he had brought, tied with a rope and hung up the cliff.Then four young people carried them down the mountain on a stretcher made of bamboo on their shoulders.It was dark, so we had to use a flashlight to illuminate the way.The apes wailed in the trees.One of them sang loudly.There are often bears in this area.

It was late at night when the body was transported to the Fukushima Police Station.Under the bright electric light, the police doctor re-examined the body.It was concluded that the fatal injury was a laceration to the back of the head when he hit the rock.The wound is two centimeters long and five millimeters deep.After taking off the clothes, there were abrasions on the elbows, back and feet.It was scratched on the rock when it fell.But for some unknown reason, the abdomen was abnormally sunken.From shirt, trousers, shoes, etc., there was no clue to ascertain his identity.The shoes I wear are not for climbing, but canvas shoes, and they are too big to fit.The rucksack was ocher yellow, old and dirty, and had no name.There was a lot of mud on the bottom, but there was nothing inside.The lunch box is as clean as it has been washed, and there is no mark on it.All in all, the forty-something victim was an unidentified individual.

Huh?At this time, the patrolman who came to see the autopsy let out a soft cry. This person seemed to be the one he was looking for in the notice. The elderly policeman asked: who is it? Forwarded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, a person is missing.Like a lawyer. The police told him to bring the document. It really looks like it. The police compared the body with the body according to the facial features and length written in the notice. Eighty percent of them are him.Let Tokyo know first.The police ordered to call the Metropolitan Police Department. When the detective organization received the report at eight o'clock in the evening, it immediately notified the family of Lawyer Senuma.The lawyer's brother agreed to go and identify the body.Due to time constraints, we decided to take the early train the next morning.However, the detection team was still dubious at this time.

It would be too bizarre to run to Mt. Kiso and fall to his death from a cliff.Could it be someone else?The detection team leader turned his head suspiciously and said. However, the team leader still takes this situation very seriously.If it is indeed the lawyer himself, it is the key to the case, so I sent the deputy policeman Ide and a criminal policeman to go with him. Together with the lawyer's younger brother, the three of them took the 8:10 express train at Shinjuku Railway Station in the early morning of the next day and set off.It was almost three o'clock in the afternoon and arrived at Fukushima in Kiso.The Fukushima Police Station sent someone to pick them up at the station.The body has been moved to a public hospital in the city.The Kiso River flows through the city, and there is an iron bridge over the river near the hospital. The body lay in a room in the hospital.Lawyer Senuma's younger brother looked at it and shouted: It is my brother.His face suddenly turned pale. The Ide policeman asked again: Can't be wrong, right? The lawyer's younger brother said firmly: There must be nothing wrong.However, she was much thinner than usual. The police from Tokyo listened to the old Kiso Fukushima policeman on the spot, and gave a detailed introduction to the situation at the scene with reference to the 1/50,000th map and the schematic diagram drawn by the patrolling police. There was a typhoon the day before, and the veteran police officer in Fukushima deduced that the person concerned was unable to go down the mountain due to the strong storm. He stumbled and fell off the cliff while wandering in the deep mountains and dense forests. However, the Ide police could not but suspect that after lawyer Senuma was kidnapped, he boarded the express train Saikai going south at Tokyo Station. Are the shirt, trousers, shoes, rucksack, and lunch box all Senuma-san's?The Ide policeman asked the lawyer's brother. No, my brother doesn't have such a thing at all.These clothes have never been seen before.The younger brother denied it. These clothes are not new, it is impossible for the lawyer to buy them on the road.It's a second-hand item worn by someone else.In other words, the clothes on the lawyer's body were all borrowed from others. The Ide police guessed intuitively that after a group of criminals kidnapped the lawyer, they forced him to change into the clothes they brought, and then dragged the lawyer into Mount Kiso and pushed him off a cliff. This speculation is reasonable.The police immediately demanded: Please do an autopsy immediately to find out the real cause of death. The police thought it would be nice if it was in Tokyo.Normally, this kind of untimely death can be sent to the Tokyo Forensic Hospital for autopsy, but now, is there really a doctor who is proficient in forensic medicine in such a rural hospital?He was honestly worried. The dean himself performed the operation.Gray hair, outstanding appearance.He first told his assistant what he saw on the outside of the corpse to make a record, and then, to the surprise of the police, he opened the internal organs of the corpse in an extremely skillful way.Take the initiative to narrate the internal observations of the corpse, and the assistant will still make records.He told the police: From the looks of it, this person was extremely hungry at the time, so check his stomach later. The doctor removed the liver, stomach, heart, and lungs, and ordered his assistant to weigh them. After the internal organs were checked, the dean cut the skull again.The light brown brain is neatly folded and well-proportioned, covered with a thin paper-like meninges.Like precious fruit wrapped in wax paper. Dean, please check this place carefully.After the police finished speaking, the dean in a mask nodded. The dean observed carefully, poked lightly with his finger, and said to the assistant: No bleeding under the scalp.After finishing speaking, he looked closely with his eyes and said that there was no blow phenomenon. Dean, what does this mean?asked the policeman. If the back of the head is hit hard, generally speaking, there will be bleeding under the scalp, but this person did not bleed a little.The texture of the brain is very soft, if one side is impacted, the opposite side will have symptoms of being impacted, and this symptom does not exist here. Does a concussion have to have this characteristic? Yes. So, without these symptoms? Without these symptoms, it can still be a concussion.It is common for concussion cases to be dissected to find out the cause.However, there is no bleeding under this person's scalp. What's the reason?With such a violent impact, he should be bleeding. After examining the brain, the doctor cut open the heart, with a surprised look on his face. Hey, take your temperature.He told his assistant. The assistant took the temperature of the corpse with an anal examination, and when he told the result, the dean nodded slightly. This is a sign of freezing to death. Frozen to death? Very low body temperature.The color of blood in the heart is very different from left to right.The left side is very red, and the right side is black.Much like freezing to death. After listening to the doctor's words, the police remembered that there was a typhoon the day before the body was found.On a mountain nearly 1,500 meters high, if it rains overnight, it may freeze to death.The policeman thought to himself, wait a while and ask the weather station how much the temperature dropped that night at the scene. So the cause of death was freezing to death, not a concussion?asked the policeman. Whether it froze to death or not is still uncertain.I'm just saying that the symptoms are pretty close.As the doctor spoke, he opened his stomach again.so clean!Nothing digestible.Must be pretty hungry.As you can imagine, he was hungry and sleepy. The doctor proceeds to examine the bowels.The intestines are also completely clean.When the large intestine was found, the dean's expression became very surprised again, and he picked out a small black particle with the tip of the tweezers.There is a lot of this stuff in the large intestine. what is itThe policeman looked at him and asked. The small ones are wild strawberries, and the big ones are Tongcao seeds.After the doctor finished speaking, he turned his head and pondered for a moment, then said with certainty: Mr. Ide, the cause of death, it should be said that starvation is more appropriate. What?Is starved to death?The policeman's eyes widened. 2 Died of starvation, in the accident of the Ide policeman.He always thought that Senuma fell from a steep slope and died from a violent blow to his head.In fact, there was a wound five millimeters deep and two centimeters long on the back of the head. The dean died of starvation, can you further explain in detail the reason for starving to death? The police stopped and asked beside the dean.The conditions for falling to death and starving to death are completely different.He thought to himself, could it be that this country doctor lacks forensic knowledge?Because the doctor's profession is not forensic, no wonder the police are so suspicious. First of all, the stomach is empty and the intestines are completely clean.The doctor showed the opened stomach and intestines to the police.You see, the lower part of the intestine, just a little digested residue.At least that means he's in a state of extreme hunger.That's the basis. Afterwards, the doctor picked up the glass container again, pointed to the wild strawberries and sage seeds taken out of the stomach and said: These things hadn't been digested yet, and kept their original shape. It was conceivable that he was so hungry that he would pick wild fruits from the mountains to satisfy his hunger.Also, maybe ate tree roots and frogs and such. So, how many days does it take for a person to starve to death? If it takes a long time, it can be delayed for more than 20 days.If it is short, it will starve to death in two or three days.It depends on various conditions. Please explain, short-term starvation based on what conditions?asked the policeman. As if the question was a bit ridiculous, the doctor smiled and said: Speaking of short-term starvation, mental stimulation will also accelerate death.Such as terror, anxiety, extreme panic, etc. I see.The police imagined lawyer Senuma wandering alone in the mountains. Besides, the cold climate will also lead to faster death.Just now I mentioned that I have symptoms of freezing to death because the temperature is very low.In such a high mountain, with the storm blowing all night, that's what it must have turned out to be. At this time, the criminal police from Tokyo called the Matsuki weather station and reported to the police that the lowest temperature dropped to about 7 degrees in the mountains above 1,000 meters in the Kiso area on the night the typhoon passed. Sure enough, right?The temperature dropped so low, and with the storm coming, the result was predictable.The doctor said from the side. There is not a grain of rice in the lunch box, and the backpack is also empty.Of course, the rucksack was not always empty. It must have contained canned food and the like, and threw it away after eating it all.Looks like he's still starving. Dean, have you been dead for thirty hours?The police doctor who was doing the autopsy at the scene asked. Almost, according to the time of yesterday's autopsy, it has been thirty hours.The dean agrees with the police doctor. The policeman pondered.Assuming that the time matches, Lawyer Senuma should have died at eleven or two o'clock on the night of the typhoon.If he was hungry for three or four days, then he wandered in the mountains for a total of five or six days.What reason?Why did he wander alone on the mountain?The Ide police really can't figure out the mystery. At this time, the dean cut open various parts of the internal organs with a scalpel.He whispered: Too strange. The policeman had sharp ears and immediately asked: What's up?Dean. I mean, in his bladder, the Dean said, pointing to the bladder, very little urine.When I am very hungry, I will drink water desperately.But there was no urine in his bladder.Also, other organs seem to be dry. The dean asked the assistant to take the urine in a measuring cup.There are graduations on the cup.The assistant looked at the scale and said the urine output was 4 cc. Is oliguria related to the cause of death?asked the policeman. Not directly related.However, drinking less water will aggravate hunger. Why doesn't Lawyer Senuma drink water?The rainfall in the mountains that night was 420 millimeters, so there was no need to worry about running out of water. The old policeman of the Fukushima Police Station has been silent, listening to the conversation between the dean and the policeman.Then he opened his mouth and said: In fact, he must really want to drink water.However, although it rained heavily, there were rocks all over the place, and the rainwater flowed down the mountain, and there were no puddles.But under the scene where the body was found, there was a pool of water.This is how I imagined, Lawyer Senuma must have gone to drink the water flowing into the pond.When people are thirsty, everyone wants to drink water, but because the lawyer is hungry and sleepy, his body is weak, and he probably falls on the rock. Policeman Ide listened and thought, this inference is correct.After the fall, whether it caused a concussion or not, the person was immobile, and the cold made him starve to death faster.Police Ide should have thought of something more serious at this moment, but he was negligent. The police were trying to figure out why Lawyer Senuma went to Mount Kiso.So he asked the lawyer's brother: Does Attorney Senuma like climbing mountains?Does he go often? No, my brother has no such hobby at all.Naidi replied. Is there any kind of old-fashioned relationship in Kiso area?For example, do you know anyone who has been here before? No, it doesn't matter.Still no answer. The police were very puzzled. Since he could not climb mountains and had no relatives or old friends, what was the reason for the lawyer wandering around Zhegumu Mountain in the Central Mountain Knot for five or six days? Policeman Ide is still young, unfortunately, and loves literature and art.Thinking of the strange death of Lawyer Senuma, I couldn’t help but think of Hemingway’s Snow Mountain League (Note: The Snows of Kilimanjaro). Starring Greg Lebick, Eva Garner, Susan Hayward, etc.) The wedge of this novel. Mount Gilmanjaro is a mountain of 19,710 feet above sea level. Near the western peak, there is a dead leopard that has been dried and frozen.What is this leopard looking for when it comes to such a high mountain?No one can explain the truth of this. Why did Lawyer Senuma climb this mountain and starve to death here? The policeman recited to himself: Near the peak on the west side, there is a dead leopard that has been dried and frozen.What is this leopard looking for when it comes to such a high mountain?No one can explain the truth of this. However, the Ide police also know that Lawyer Senuma is not a leopard after all. He was kidnapped from Tokyo.It may not be his intention to climb a corner of the Central Mountain Knot.Of course they were taken to the mountain by other thugs. The police asked the dean to record the autopsy findings in detail and send them to the Metropolitan Police Department.Afterwards, with the assistance of the Fukushima Police Department, they searched for clues near the scene. The vicinity of the scene is just on the road from Daping Street to Shanli.There are a few houses dotted along the road.The families were far apart, and no clues were found as expected. Instead, I got a little information from the other side.There was a bus between Miruno and Iida, and a female conductor came to the Fukushima police station to make a report. About three days before the storm, the train from Nagoya arrived at Miruno Station at eleven o'clock in the morning.The second bus bound for Iida was her turn.The female conductor said that one of the passengers on the bus looked like the lawyer Senuma who was being searched.Asked how she knew, she replied that she remembered that the man was wearing a dark green shirt. Is this the person?The Ide policeman showed her a photo of Senuma, and the conductor said that he couldn't remember what he looked like. He was not alone, said the conductor, five or six people were with him. Oh, and he has companions.How old are those people? Not very old, um, less than thirty years old.I don't remember much of what they looked like. What was it like for them in the car? All talking.It was mainly about the things in the mountains, but I didn't pay attention to what it was talking about. Did the man in green speak with them? No, he was the only one who didn't speak.By the way, he sat away from the others, looking all alone. oh!So which stop did they get off at? In Kiso Peak Tunnel.Five or six people get out of the car together.The man in the green shirt is caught in the middle. and after? They walked towards the mountains.Line up in a single file, because the mountain road is very narrow. Let me ask, did the person in the green shirt walk ahead?or behind? Well it seems to be in the middle. The police were thinking, if they were caught in the middle, and there were people in the front and back, lawyer Senuma was kidnapped and dragged into the mountains by force after all. At that time, a lumber truck was coming from the opposite side to meet the bus.The truck driver was later found, and his testimony matched that of the conductor.Combining these clues, we can understand the following situations. 3 On the Chuo Line, between Nagoya and Shiojiri, there is a small station in the middle called Sanruno.Except for the Kiso River flowing behind the station, there is no special scenery, it is an ordinary mountain village station.In front of the station, walk south along the old Nakasendo, and there is a Magome Hotel not far away, which is Shimazaki Fujimura (Note: Shimazaki Fujimura (1872︱1943), Japanese writer and poet; there is a book of poems handed down such as Yiye Zhouxiacaoluomeiji , Shimazaki is also an excellent prose writer.) The stage before the dawn of the novel, only those who love literature will pay a little attention to this station name. After the train arrived at 11 o'clock in the morning, the bus waiting in front of the station had finished loading the passengers who got off, and then drove away immediately.The origin and destination of the car is Sanruno Iida.This line is a shuttle bus. It runs from Miruno in Kiso Valley to Iida City in Ina Valley. It has to cross the ridge of Mt. Komagatake. The whole journey has a total of 44 miles of mountain roads, and only three times a day. The conductor remembered that it was the 21st of August.There were fourteen or five passengers in the car at the time.There were five people in mountaineering attire, and the ticket was bought in Daping, so the conductor thought they were going camping.Among them were young and old.There was a lot of noise in the car, talking about things in the mountains. The car slowly climbed up the steep slope along the winding mountain road.In a village on the way, three people got off and one got on.Go ten miles further, and the one with a family on the hillside is Daping.The rest of the journey is all winding mountain roads, with narrow forests on one side and cliffs on the other, with no land below, only gurgling water.The cloud mountain on the opposite side changes strangely and treacherously. After driving for an hour, stop for five minutes.There is a teahouse on the opposite side of the canyon. Kisomi teahouse has arrived. Almost all the passengers got out of the car.Only a few people were left in the car.The driver got out of the car with his waist stretched, and the conductor jumped to the ground. Looking from here, Kiso Valley is at your feet, and you can see everything at a glance.The endless forest and the sea are so gloomy.The other end of the forest is connected to Mitake.The valley was full of sunshine, and the white clouds cast mottled shadows on the ground.The white mountain road is as thin as a sheep's intestines, with twists and turns.Only this mountain road is bright and bright. With the changes of the mountains, it is covered with shadows from time to time, which makes people have a three-dimensional illusion in an instant.Mitake and Mount Hodaka are layered on top of each other, colorful, and paint the sky into pieces. Some passengers walked into the teahouse to eat chowder, and some sat and watched the scenery.There are also people who climb the cliff with the sign of Mitake Haruka Shrine.The rest time is only five minutes, which is very short.The driver squatted down to tease the puppy, and the female conductor chatted with the old woman in the teahouse. A group of people in mountaineering outfits eating chowder.As soon as they entered, they asked if there were any noodles. It seemed that they were hungry.Only one of the five wore a dark green shirt and a green hiking cap.He didn't eat anything, and he didn't want to talk to this group of people, as if he was a person who was out of touch.Because he was wearing a pair of sunglasses, the driver and the conductor had a very vague impression of him, and they couldn't remember his appearance at all afterwards.In this season, it is common for buses running this route on the mountain to encounter such passengers. Five minutes later, the scattered guests boarded the car again, and the car set off again.Still like a patient panting, he climbed up the winding mountain road.Through the dense forest, solitary pedestrians are hardly seen.Occasionally, around a bend, a lumber truck would suddenly appear.Otherwise, in the field of vision, besides the mountains, there are trees, which will make people feel monotonous over time.Only the driver is nervous. There are wild boars on this mountain road at night.One passenger told the story of the bear on the road, another went on to tell the story of the antelope.It is said that monkeys dare to run out boldly during the day. Five men in mountaineering suits sat in the back of the car, talking and laughing along the way.Only the man in the green hiking hat, alone and silent, looked out the window. This mountain road has existed since ancient times, called Daping Street, connecting Zhongsen Road and Ina Street.Changing it to a road is just a little bit widening of the old days.It seems that the geology is weak, and there are landslides in many places.Where the soil has collapsed, the stream below can be seen straight up and down.Next to the stream is a dense mountain white bamboo.It takes more than three hours to drive to Iida Basin by car. The female conductor had nothing to do and sat next to the driver.Most of the passengers dozed off, opening their eyes only when the turbulence was too severe.Except for the mountains, there is nothing else, and the eyes that have just opened are closed again.The men in mountaineering suits are still joking.Only the driver kept turning the steering wheel, doing his duty. The mountain range borders the Kiso Valley on the west and the Ina Valley on the east. A fault subsides between the two valleys, and only the middle rises, thus forming this mountain.From north to south, there are Jingyue, Juyue, Nanjuyue, Nianzhangyue, Zhegumushan, Huinashan and other peaks.The car drives close to the south side of Zhegumu Mountain.Kiso Peak, 1,400 meters high, is the highest point of this mountain road.In November, traffic is usually blocked by heavy snow. Clouds float above.Two workers repairing landslides were squatting by the side of the road and smoking, and they were the only two people they saw along the way.Starting from Sanruno Station, we drove for an hour and a half, and the car kept climbing up the mountain. In the monotonous field of vision, there is finally a slight change.The tunnel ahead comes into view.The driver's shoulders seemed to have unloaded a stone and had reached the peak. Hello, parking, conductor.Someone shouted from behind. The female conductor stood up and turned around, asking behind: get off here? Five men in mountaineering outfits stood up noisily. Well, get out of the car. The driver was about to step on the gate, but unfortunately, a truck drove out from the dark tunnel entrance. Please wait a moment to reverse the car.The conductor stopped the passenger and said. It was a huge lumber truck with two people on it.The bus shook its body and gave way to the side.Tree branches on the side of the road kept beating on the roof of the car. Before the truck passed, five climbers jumped out of the truck.Only one is wearing a green hat, which is quite eye-catching.Passengers in the car and people on the truck can see clearly. Later, when the police questioned them, they all testified unanimously: I remember it very clearly. The five people dispersed and went their own way.If you look carefully, you will find that the man in the cuckold is caught in the middle, followed by a person. A person looked up at the top of the tunnel, where the words Kiso Peak were engraved, like a plaque. Another pointing to the path into the mountain, as if to say this way.After a while, five people lined up in a single file and climbed up the mountain.The green hat walks in the middle.At last they disappeared into a forest overgrown with mountain white bamboos, firs and cypresses.A person walking at the end turned around and waved to the bus.But no one in the car paid attention to him. After the driver got out of the car and released his hands, he held the steering wheel again.The conductor said he was thirsty. Just now a few guests were carrying water bottles, so they can ask for a few sips.The driver said while stepping on the accelerator. Except for these two sentences, the five people were not mentioned.The car went through the tunnel and continued the monotonous journey for another hour and a half. The police were trying to figure it out. The lawyer was dragged into the mountain by a group of people. He took both a train and a bus along the way. Why didn't he call for help?As long as you shout, others will know.However, he didn't make a sound, presumably his life would be in danger if he made a sound. But why did they pull Senuma into the mountains?It's really puzzling.Senuma was the last person to starve to death in the mountains, and the group must have kept him behind, and then they all withdrew.However, is that mountain a remote mountain and valley where people can starve to death?The police raised their doubts, and a criminal policeman who was familiar with the terrain in that area replied: There is hardly a decent mountain road in that mountain.Moreover, the fog is heavy and the weather is changeable. The weather was clear just now, and the clouds rolled over in an instant.Therefore, mountaineering experts will also get lost, let alone those who have no mountaineering experience.When a person loses his way, he gets farther and farther away from the crowd.Besides, there is a vast primitive forest. 4 The detection team held a meeting as soon as the Ide policemen returned to Tokyo. Ide reported the situation one by one.The section chief of Detective No. 1 Kelili Village and the team leader Yaguchi who was in charge of the case took notes while listening.They carefully studied the doctor's autopsy report. Can you starve to death in four or five days?The team leader raised his head and asked, he couldn't help but have some doubts about the starvation section. Therefore, the Ide police recounted the conditions for short-term starvation to death by the director of Kiso Fukushima Hospital during the autopsy. The team leader left his seat without saying a word, as if to make a phone call, and consulted Dr. Kojima, who often performed autopsies on such fatal corpses.After a long while, the group leader came back and sat down, looking contemplative. I have organized the situation about Senuma into the following points.The team leader wrote down one by one while talking: 1. Senuma took the train at Tokyo Station and headed south along the Tokaido, and the destination was tentatively set as Nagoya. 2. Senuma changed to a bus at Sanruno Station on the Chuo Line. This was his first appearance, and it had been a while since he disappeared at Tokyo Station.It is estimated that he was imprisoned by the kidnappers during this period.But where? 3. At first, I took the train to Nagoya, and then changed to a bus at Miruno.Based on this, it is speculated that the place where he was imprisoned should be between Nagoya and Kiso on the Chuo Line. 4. For what reason did the criminal take Senuma into Zhegumu Mountain?Is its ultimate purpose to starve it to death? 5. When did they abandon the lawyer alone in the mountains?If the purpose is to starve him to death, then it is an indispensable condition for him to lose his way in the mountains and wander for several days.The accompanying group of people must also monitor him in the mountains for several days until he starved to death.Otherwise, Senuma escaped from the mountains, for them, the consequences would be unimaginable. Sixth, the last point, why take the method of going into the deep mountains and starving him to death?There could have been a simpler and commoner way.What is the reason for this? The investigative meeting centered on the above-mentioned issues, each expressing its own views.The team leader was smoking a cigarette. Although he listened to everyone's speeches, he always felt a little disapproving of starving to death.For some reason, he felt that there seemed to be some irrational factors hidden in it. However, in fact Senuma did starve to death in that mountain.What happened on the bus is obvious to all, and wild strawberries and sage seeds were also found in the intestines of the corpses.This is an undeniable fact.However, the team leader heard a criminal policeman ask a strange question: According to anatomical observation, the urine output is very small, and all organs lack water.Why didn't Lawyer Senuma drink water before starving to death? 5 Newspapers in Tokyo reported the Shinjuku murder case for two consecutive days. One is that the investigating authorities found out the origin of the stretcher and the pistol, as well as the real name of the murderer. It is reported that the murderer was employed in the Red House Bar as a bartender, and he was called Yamamoto.It has been found out that his origin is Yokoori, Haruno Village, Minamisaku County, Nagano Prefecture, and his name is Kenkichi Kuroike (32 years old).In 1947, the prisoner worked as a substitute teacher at the local Chunye Middle School. In 1948, he resigned and went to Beijing. Since then, he has not been heard from.There are no relatives of origin.It has been four months since the incident occurred, and the investigating authorities are now gaining confidence, and the arrest of the murderer is just around the corner. The next day, various newspapers continued to report on the death of Lawyer Senuma as follows: Lawyer Senuma died of starvation on Zhegumu Mountain. The reason is really a mystery.The authorities confirmed that a week ago five or six people in mountaineering attire got off at Sanruno Station on the Chuo Line, changed to a bus bound for Iida, and got off at Houdaping Street near Kiso Peak. One of them was identified as Seto. Marsh lawyer.Not only did the dates match, but it was also confirmed by the car conductor and others.Four or five of the group were suspects who kidnapped the lawyer and left Tokyo Station, and the authorities are currently searching.In addition, the Senuma lawyer's case is related to the Shinjuku murder case, so hunting down the murderer Kuroike Kenkichi is a top priority. Hagizaki Tatsuo saw these two pieces of news at his apartment. It has been more than a month since he took the Chuo Line to Mizunami Town, Gifu County, went back and forth in vain, and returned to Tokyo. As soon as Longxiong arrived in Tokyo, he called the newspaper office to find Tamura.The telephone operator then told him: Mr. Tamura is on a business trip. Business trip?to where?Long Xiong wondered in his heart, did he go to Nagoya again? Kyushu. Hearing about Kyushu, Long Xiong felt a little surprised.The head office called him back because of the corruption case, and maybe sent him to interview. Where is Kyushu? do not know.Probably related to the confidentiality of the interview, the telephone operator replied coldly. During Tamura's absence, there were new developments in both cases.Apart from the news in the newspaper, Long Xiong had no way of knowing any inside information.If Tamura was here, he would definitely come sweating profusely to report the situation. Looking at the newspaper, Long Xiong couldn't help admiring it. The police are experts after all.Although they took a step or two first, but when they hesitated to move forward, they were solid and went deeper step by step.Although I also expected that what I did would be in vain before, it has been proved by the facts now.No matter how anxious I and Tamura are, they will never achieve such a result.Experts set out to investigate, and they can rely on organizational strength. They are laymen, and they are really powerless in comparison.Long Xiong cannot but be deeply touched by the limitations and powerlessness of outsiders.For some reason, a fire of ignorance rose in my heart, and I completely felt that I had lost the battle. Kenji Kuroike.Kenji Kuroike.報紙上的這四個鉛字，在龍雄腦海裡留下強烈的印象。 正是這個人逼得關野科長自殺了。用狡猾的手段，騙走三千萬元支票，連累專務董事也降了職。這個名字，在龍雄的記憶裡終生都抹不掉。瀨沼律師的奇異死亡，對龍雄來說反正一樣。使他感到義憤填膺的，是犯人還逍遙自在，呼吸著同一大地上的空氣。 龍雄下意識地反覆唸了幾遍，原籍：長野縣南佐久郡春野村橫尾里。驀地心裡一驚，剎那間神思飛越，聯想到另一個相似的地址。 龍雄急忙從衣袋裡掏出記事本，迅速地翻到這一頁： 山梨縣北巨摩郡馬場村新莊吉野定子 這是在瑞浪郵局一張匯票上看到的收款人名地址。那時他認為取款人可能是上崎繪津子，同龍雄去郵局前後相隔不久。 龍雄憑直覺，覺得山梨縣北巨摩郡，同長野縣南佐久郡，應該相距不遠。 龍雄為了弄清底細，便到附近一家書店買回長野縣和山梨縣兩張分縣地圖。 長野縣南佐久郡春野村，位於長野縣的南端，接近山梨縣，地處八岳之東。但龍雄沒有找到山梨縣北巨摩郡馬場村的村名。恐怕這個村名和吉野定子這個人名都是偽造的。但是北巨摩郡處於山梨縣北部，同長野縣南佐久郡接壤。 Could it be a coincidence? 龍雄攤著地圖，一邊吸煙一邊沉思起來。 匯票是躲在瑞浪鎮上的黑池健吉，指使上崎繪津子去郵局提的款。那麼收款人的姓名和地址當是黑池想出來的，由上崎繪津子填寫的。他們二人之間，為了什麼緣故，採取這種做法呢？真不知葫蘆裡賣的什麼藥。這一點倒大可以進行推測。 人，不論是誰，造假地址，總是記憶中曾有過印象的地方。設身處地，試想一下黑池的心理。他熟悉的地方，只有出生的故鄉和混飯吃的東京。他知道自己在被追捕之中，寫這兩個地址時便會舉棋不定。這兩個地名，牽連到他過去的生活，不免有種本能的恐懼。他怕空穴來風，從長野縣和東京的地名，給人發現什麼線索。 因為做賊心虛，黑池健吉便把長野縣改成山梨縣。只要縣分不對，便可以心安理得。他之所以對山梨縣記憶深刻，是因為鄰郡北巨摩郡在山梨縣治內。他必定是順手寫下北巨摩郡的郡名，然後又胡亂編造一個村名。 龍雄對著兩張地圖，思前想後，最後便推測出這樣的結論。他對長野縣春野村感到了濃厚的興趣，當然知道黑池健吉現在根本不會在那裡。但黑池健吉在那裡一直住到二十三歲，在中學當過代課教員，他的以往跟那塊土地是密切相關的。那裡還保留著他的過去。 好吧，先去看看。龍雄打定了主意。 報上說，逮捕兇手黑池健吉當指日可待。或許偵查已趕在龍雄之前。假如黑池落網，當然最好不過。自己同偵查當局有什麼可競爭的呢？為什麼非自己親手捉拿他不可？龍雄覺得自己不同於田村，不是新聞記者。即使黑池落在搜查者的手裡，自己也絲毫沒有可懊惱的。不管怎樣，先親自實地看一看再說。 查了一下火車時刻表，恰好十二點二十五分有一班快車，由新宿站發車。龍雄打點一下，趕到車站。 他先給田村的報社打了一個電話，心下想，萬一田村回來呢？可是電話員回答說： 田村先生出差還沒有回來。 龍雄覺得他這次出差真夠久的。走出電話間，陽光照在車站前的廣場上，經過最近的一場颱風，天氣已頗帶些秋意了。 車過甲府，四點十九分到達小淵澤。去長野縣春野村，應在這裡換車，搭乘開往小諸的小海線。但這條線很不方便，要等四小時才有車。於是龍雄繼續坐到富士見一站，下車遊覽了一番。 站在白樺林裡，朝對面山坡望去，是一排排房舍櫛比鱗次，紅白相間的屋頂，瀟灑別致。高原療養所，是一幢白色的建築物。夕陽返照在玻璃窗上，光輝奪目。登高遠望之際，龍雄忽然想起位於瑞浪鎮郊外山腰上那座陰暗的精神病院。 後來龍雄重返回小淵澤，搭乘小海線，在佐久海口小站下車時，已將近夜裡十點了。黑暗之中，山裡的夜氣淪肌浹髓。 火車站前有一座小樓，底層是小吃部，二樓兼作客店，窗上洩出了燈光。 老嫗把龍雄引進一間燈火昏暗的小房間，端來一杯溫吞吞的茶水。 伯母，這麼晚來，給您添麻煩了。這裡到春野村還有多少路？Long Xiong asked. 到春野村還有二里路。在春野村什麼地方啊？ 橫尾。 哦，到橫尾？那還要走上一里路哩。 那兒有個姓黑池的人，您認識嗎？八、九年前，在春野中學當過教員。龍雄又問。 老嫗搖搖頭說不知道。 第二天一清早，龍雄就醒了。昨天夜裡下車時，漆黑一片，什麼都分辨不出。現在走到樓外一看，夏日的清晨，空氣清新爽人，八岳山腳下的原野近在眼前，顯得十分開闊。平時看慣了山的西麓，而今山後又是一番景致，迥然不同。 吃過早飯，龍雄去等公共汽車。不論多麼僻遠的山村，都有公共汽車，倒是相當方便。 汽車在高原公路上搖晃了四十分鐘，到一個有村公所的鎮上停了下來。大概是村中心，有兩三家賣農具和日用品的雜貨店。 在狹小的村公所裡，有五、六個公務員像影子似的，坐在暗處辦公。 龍雄走到掛著戶籍牌子的窗口前，問一個老公務員： 我想看一下戶籍行嗎？ Can.who? 本村橫尾里黑池健吉的戶籍。 龍雄付過四十元閱覽費，老公務員便從架上取下一本厚厚的戶籍簿，用粗手指打開後，翻到一處指著說道： This is it. 龍雄看了起來。根據記載，黑池健吉生於一九二五年七月二日。父母雙亡，兄長一人，也已亡故。龍雄看到旁邊欄，眼睛給吸住了，凝目注視了一會兒。 然後又回過來查健吉母親一欄。母親名安子，是梅村寅松的長女，也是橫尾里人。 請讓我再看一下梅村寅松的戶籍。 龍雄剛說完，老公務員便站起來，從架子上抽出一本戶籍簿。 是這一頁。他的粗手指打開了那一頁。 梅村寅松有子女二人。長女即安子，下面有兄弟一人，已經死去。但生有一子，名音次，生於一九一四年四月十七日。龍雄將其名字記到本子上。 您是調查什麼事嗎？老公務員合上戶籍簿問。 高原的夏日，氣候乾燥。龍雄走了一里路，前往橫尾里。 橫尾里座落在山坳裡，只有三十來戶人家，都是一些貧寒的農家。當地沒有店鋪，龍雄無處可打聽。恰巧路旁有個七十多歲的老漢，坐在那裡抽著煙袋。龍雄走上前去問道： 黑池健吉的家已經沒有了吧？ 那老漢鬍鬚很濃密，擡頭看著龍雄說道： 黑池家已經沒有了。不久前，派出所帶著東京警視廳的人，來調查關於健吉的一些事，先生也是警察嗎？ 不，我不是警察。 聽說健吉幹了壞事。那小子一到東京就學壞了。 梅村家在什麼地方？龍雄換了話題。 梅村家，誰呀？ 叫音次的。 他又盯住龍雄說： 阿音家也沒有了。阿音十五、六歲時離開村子上了東京，至今不知死活。小時候是個挺聰明的孩子，現在也不知他怎麼樣了。 說話的時候，有個拉大車的人走過來，向老漢打招呼說： 您早哇。 啊，你早。 車上放著三個大酒罎一類的東西，外面包著菰草。菰草沒有包緊的地方，從露出來的罅隙處可以看得出是陶質的。 What is that?Long Xiong asked. 硫酸。村邊上有個小皮革工廠，廠裡用的。 大車在山野小徑上漸漸遠去，龍雄迷惘地目送著遠去的大車。 高原上氣候很涼，只有陽光燦然四射，草場上泛出一片金光。 炎夏碧野橫無際，唯見麗日空寂寂。 龍雄隨口吟出一句詩，日影中似乎浮現出上崎繪津子的綽約風姿。