Chapter 2 Lake Sagami Night

one It happened that Ah Wen was sweeping the floor at the gate, and immediately replied casually: Yes, live here. Awen is very delicate, and she can immediately remember the name of the guest she greets. Take the telegram! Ah Wen thought about it, the receiver was still sleeping, so he stamped his own stamp and accepted it on his behalf. I don't know if the guest is awake yet.The telegram appears to be from Tokyo.In any case, always check his movements first.So she went up to the second floor and walked between Feng. are you awake?She first entered the small room for receiving guests and asked in a low voice.no answer.

Asked again, this time hearing voices. Awen pushed the paper door open, and the guest's head was still buried on the pillow. Are the guests already awake? The passenger opened his eyes: I woke up when I heard someone greet me. Here is your telegram! What, telegram?Ah, when I came, I gave the address here, and sure enough, something happened.Where?Where? A hand stuck out from under the cover. Awen sat where he was and passed the telegram. The guest opened the telegram, looked up, and exclaimed in surprise: What, dead?As he spoke, he pushed the quilt to his feet. Lake Sagami is in the northern part of Kanagawa Prefecture.It borders Kita Tama County, Tokyo in the east, and Higashi Yamanashi County, Yamanashi Prefecture in the west.

According to the travel guide, the place is 1:02 minutes away from Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. There are cherry blossoms in spring, camping in summer, red leaves in autumn, and fishing in winter. Tourists go hiking all year round. The most suitable place for carpe diem. Sagami Lake is about five minutes south of the station, surrounded by mountains on all sides. From 1938 to 1947, 86 households from the Katsuse tribe were buried at the bottom of the lake. A total of 56 people died during the project before it was completed. It is a large man-made lake, its purpose is to serve as a source of running water for Yokohama and Kawasaki, and it is beneficial to the water control measures of the Sagami River. It is used as irrigation water for Sagamihara and has a multi-purpose dam that can generate hydropower.

The lake has different scenery throughout the year. There are many facilities that are opened according to the seasons, the Electrical Science Museum, the former residence of the first peoples, etc. There are many places to visit. Everyone can visit and have a lot of fun.Moreover, on the shore of Sagami Lake, there are Qingtian, Tengugafuchi, Katsuse Bridge, Yose Gonken, Yose Lake Pavilion, Benten Island, Obo Mountain, Arashiyama, and Ishilao Mountain, which are the eight scenic spots of Sagami Lake. (Guide explanation) Due to its proximity to Tokyo, some tourists often stay overnight by the lake and return the next day.So there are five or six hotels by the lake, and all of them have recently added new equipment for couples.

It was around six o'clock in the afternoon on February 6th.At the gate of the Bitan Pavilion Hotel, a male and female traveler came.The man is about forty years old, tall and thin.In his hand was a black bag.The woman is about twenty-four or five years old, with a slender figure, short hair and a small snow-white face, which fits well. A female worker greets you at the gate.The man asked: Want to have dinner!Do you have a room?The woman bowed her head in silence. Yes, please come in.The female worker prepared two pairs of slippers for them. Hotels in Lake Sagami are only busy in summer and autumn.As soon as winter comes, the business is light and there is no one to lodge.It was the same that night, the hall of Bitan Pavilion was empty.

The man was well dressed. The woman is wearing a kimono with black flowers on a red background and a white shawl over it.This contrast is particularly striking, so when the female hotel worker was interrogated by the police officer afterwards, she answered in detail about the clothing.The woman was holding a light gray Moxi coat in her hand. Heavy cloud cover low, the weather is quite cold. The staff of the Bitan Pavilion Hotel led the couple inside and found them the most beautiful room in the hotel, between the red leaves. The female worker first stoked the fire and then served the tea. Whether consciously or not, she always paid more attention to the female customer than to the male customer.

When the female worker is around, the female customer always hangs her neck. The female worker asked what kind of wine to drink, and the man asked for beer. The dinner that came was mostly dishes made from local fish. When the female worker opened the paper door to bring in the meal, the pair of men and women sat in their original postures, but they seemed to have stopped talking hastily. The man opened his eyes wide, looked at the female worker and asked: Scary, there are fish products here? Not really.The female worker replied and poured a glass of beer for the female customer. Please.The female guest nodded slightly.

Do you want anything else?After speaking, the female worker introduced some dishes.The male customer ordered several dishes. He was a man with a broad forehead and high cheekbones. It's cold in this place!He talked to the female workers. It seems to be very cold tonight.Tomorrow is the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar, and it should be cold.said the female worker. oh!Tomorrow is the first day of the first month.The man seemed to have just found out. The female workers came in one after another from the kitchen.Looking back at that time, the seat position of the male guest has moved closer to the woman, and the woman's manner and posture are not as strict as before.

Women workers are used to such situations.As far as she thought, when there was no one else, the male guest must have hugged the woman's shoulders. So, towards the end of the meal, the female worker asked the male guest in a low voice: Excuse me, are you staying here tonight? The man glanced at the woman and replied: This? Let's decide later.He hesitated to speak. From the look of it, the relationship between the man and woman was not that deep, and it was probably the first time he tried to bring her here.But wait a minute, the male guest must have persuaded her to stay with him.

There are not many guests in winter, and there are only three female workers in the hotel.It was Meizi who greeted the guests just now. While watching TV with her colleagues, she was chatting about the situation of the man and woman in Between the Red Leaves. Thirty minutes later, there was a phone call in the room. Meizi took the utensils and went into the room to clean up the dishes.Sure enough, as she expected, the situation of the two guests was quite different from before.The female guest tilted her body, her face was still a little shy, she lowered her head and said nothing, she was clearly not used to this kind of occasion.

The male guest peeled the tangerine and said to Meizi: The two of us went out for a walk. Meizi looked at her watch, it was already seven twenty-five: ah, it's dark outside. Are there street lights on the road? Yes there are, go out at night, you can't see anything! It doesn't matter.We just went to the lake to have a look.Anyway, night view is always good. Lovers are always willing to go to dark and deserted places. OK, I'll prepare the shoes at the gate.After the female worker Meizi finished speaking, she thought to herself, these two people must be staying here tonight. Meizi went to the male guest and asked about the matter again. Unexpectedly, the male guest opened his eyes wide, as if he was unwilling to let the female guest hear, he replied in a low voice: "It hasn't been decided yet, wait a little bit, and it will be decided when we come back from the walk." Judging from this tone, the woman has not agreed to live together, and he will use the convenience of a walk by the lake to persuade him. Meizi walked out of the room first, and waited at the door. Soon, the two guests also came out. The female guest put on the Moxi coat that was held between her arms just now. two An hour passed.The two people who went out for a walk have not yet returned to the hotel. What are these two doing?Meizi looked at the dark roadside, they really had time to spare. A man and a woman went to a dark place, what good things do you think!The older female worker had an obscene smile on her face. Maybe I'll come back after finishing it outside. Yeah?Meizi denies it.In the room just now, the male guest repeatedly wanted the female guest to stay, but she never agreed.When he was about to leave, he still couldn't decide whether he was staying here tonight.In my opinion, there is something else. Do you understand?It was still the older female worker.The recent men and women have thick skins! After finishing this paragraph, another thirty minutes passed, and the two of them still hadn't returned. The old man reminded Meizi: You should go to the room to see what's going on. Meizi went to have a look, and there was nothing unusual. The black handbag that the man brought was still leaning against the wall. The big clock struck ten, and the people at the hotel began to worry.It had been two and a half hours since the guest had been out for a walk.The night is different from the day, and it is absolutely impossible to play around for such a long time. The worst estimate is love death. Maybe it was an accident: the guests were walking by the dark lake, and one of them made a mistake and fell into the lake. All in all, it is by no means unusual that the guests have not yet returned. When the hotel owner heard the news that the guest was missing, he immediately ordered his subordinates to report to the police station. Although the man and woman only stayed in the hotel for an hour, the guests were guests after all, and all the male workers of the hotel were dispatched to look for them in nearby areas. When the police station heard the news, it also treated it as a major matter, and called the surrounding youths to search around the lake. At this time, it was almost eleven o'clock.The search party set off with flashlights and paper lanterns.The reflections of countless lights immediately reflected on the dim lake. Sagami Lake is very large, and there is a long bridge leading directly to Benten Island in the middle of the lake. In summer, the island is a good place for night camping.The woods by the lake are so gloomy that you can't see the end at a glance.If the couple died in love, either by throwing themselves into the lake or dying in the forest by the lake, it would be difficult to find.Although the search team was sent out with lanterns, they had to wait until dawn to get specific clues depending on the situation. However, the search party quickly finished its work. On Benten Island, there is a small hill named Shilaoshan, and a row of bungalows are built on the hillside.A firefighter walked by with a paper lantern and stumbled across the lying dead body of a man. With a call, everyone gathered around the corpse, and the police rushed to it.With a flashlight, there were three layers of thick hemp rope around the man's neck. The corpse appeared to be looking up at the sky, its eyes were wide open, its lips were parted, and its arms and legs were stretched out. The body of the woman who was with him was never found, no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find it. That night, local youths guarded the scene to preserve the scene, and the head of the police station also arrived to investigate. The black handbag in the middle of the red leaves of the Bitan Pavilion Hotel is the only clue to investigate the victim's life experience. The handbag was full of printed matter, and when I took it out, it was all traffic reports, a small professional newspaper with four pages each.The publication date is February 11, and there are about twenty copies.In addition, there are notebooks, traffic regulations, and printed materials about the business conditions of taxis, trucks, and coaches in the bag.The deceased must have been a staff member of the traffic report.The publisher and editor-in-chief of the newspaper read: Takeo Doi. Later, a business card was found in the pocket of the corpse's jacket, which proved that the deceased was Doi Takeo himself.In the pile of business cards, in addition to the business cards of other people who were exchanged, there were as many as 20 business cards of Takeo Doi. The life experience of the deceased is already known, but contact with his newspaper office at No. 37, Yamabucho-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, or his residence at No. 2-303, Eifuku-cho, Suginami-ku, Tokyo has to wait until dawn. The problem was the woman of four or five and twenty who was walking with the dead man.There was no trace of her body.Under such circumstances, the woman who disappeared had a major relationship with the murder case, which anyone can imagine.Perhaps, she herself is the murderer! three The police immediately went to Sagami Lake Railway Station to investigate. The first thing I asked the station attendant was whether there was a woman who got on the train at the station between 7:25 and 11:00.During this period of time, there were nine trains going back and forth.It was freezing cold, and few people got on the train at this station.Both platform ticket cutters said they had never seen such a woman. The female work card of the Bitan Pavilion Hotel shows that the woman is wearing a black flower kimono with a red background and a white shawl on top, and besides the kimono, there is a gray Mashi coat. However, Meizi, the female worker in charge of the room, felt a little embarrassed when asked about the features of her face. I remember that she was very beautiful, and she seemed to be very shy. She always lowered her head in front of me, so I couldn't describe her appearance very clearly.However, the skin is very fair, the face is small, very dignified, and not too rustic.It's not like someone who has never seen the world. She kept her head down shyly all the time. In fact, the woman didn't want to let the female workers see her face clearly. But, all in all, there was not a single young woman in a kimono over a maki coat that the train station attendant could remember.There are very few passengers getting on and off the train at the station. If she enters the station through the platform ticket office, the station staff will definitely have an impression.So, the woman didn't take the train at all. Of course, there is also the possibility of escaping by car. Speaking of cars, when the couple went to Bitanting Hotel, they took a long-distance business car.When the female worker was picking up the passengers, she also told the driver about her hard work and gave a small account for her reward and guidance.Not only that, but the female worker asked where she was from, and the driver replied that he was from Shinjuku District, Tokyo. Meizi also raised her observations as a reference. Those two came out to play for the first time, and it seemed that the man persuaded the woman to come here.So until the two of them went out for a walk, they still couldn't decide whether to stay that night.I sent the things to the room, and the two of them stopped talking. It was just the male guest discussing the food with me, and the woman remained silent and bowed her head. Judging from the circumstances before and after, it can be said that after the woman hanged the man, she escaped without a trace.As for the reason, it is probably the peachy incident.The local police station set up a search team at the scene. The first task of the search team was to assume that the woman was also buried in the lake, so they searched by the lake.But the boat was sent to salvage all day, but the body was not recovered. The driver who drove the couple to the Bitan Pavilion Hotel was found.According to the sentence that the vehicle was going to Shinjuku, he was found. The driver works for a car company in Kotakibashi, Shinjuku, and is very serious.He testified to the police investigation as follows: The man borrowed a public telephone to call the car company, explaining that he was now at the west exit of Shinjuku Station and wanted a car.After the car drove to the west exit according to the instructions, there was a man with a black handbag waiting for the car. On the phone, the guest had explained that he would go to Lake Sagami.Therefore, after the driver received the guests, he immediately replenished the gasoline. Anyone who goes to Lake Sagami always takes the train, which is not only fast but also cheap.Those who specially call for a car are not particularly luxurious passengers, or those who have other appointments and are not suitable for taking the train. As expected, this assumption was confirmed. The car drove near the Koenji 1st Street tram stop, and the customer ordered it to stop. Standing by the side of the road was a girl in a gray coat, who hurried over.The guest said that this was his girlfriend who was going to Lake Sagami with him, so the driver got out of the car and opened the door for her. The driver couldn't hear the conversation between the two of them in the car.Both men and women seem to realize that the driver has ears and refrain from speaking loudly.The driver sometimes took a look in the rearview mirror, and the two of them leaned side by side on the cushion, looking very intimate. The male guest also chatted with the driver.It is quite a distance from Koenji Temple to Lake Sagami, and it takes about two hours by car.Most of the problems that male guests chat with drivers are in the case of long-distance commercial buses and taxis in the city.The man knew this industry well, and from time to time used some proper terms that laymen couldn't tell.The driver thought to himself, this customer is probably the boss of a certain car company.The guests spoke very frankly and happily, and their attitude was also very happy. The woman keeps her head down.Even in the conversation, the man whispered to her, but she only replied with a few words. However, there was nothing unusual about the appearance of the male guest.When the car arrived at Bitan Pavilion Hotel, he paid the fare according to the meter, and also gave him a considerable small bill. The above is the material provided by the driver of the car. The police speculated that the man got on the bus from Shinjuku, and the woman got on the bus from Kouenji. It was clearly agreed in advance to get on the bus separately to avoid people's eyes and ears. Judging from the testimonies of the female worker of the Bitanting Hotel and the driver of the car, one can imagine the relationship between the two. On the other hand, the police are also investigating the identity of Takeo Doi. According to the business card on Takeo Doi, he is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Traffic Report, a small professional newspaper.This newspaper is mainly targeted at the transportation industry such as taxis, coaches, buses, and trucks. The address of the newspaper printed on the business card was Yamabushi-cho, Shinjuku District. It was on the second floor of a small building with only two young clerks. After hearing the news, the deceased's wife and daughter hurried to Sagami Lake to recognize the body, tears streaming down their faces. His wife's name is Changzi. According to her, Takeo Doi is thirty-nine years old and has only one child under his knees.Doi worked in an automobile factory before the war, was drafted into the army during the war, and returned to Tokyo after the war to work as a taxi driver.However, his life in the past was very luxurious, and the driver's income could not satisfy him, so he founded a small newspaper, which used to only use one person, and only added two clerks until last year. His wife, Chang Zi, said: My husband’s income is not constant, but he gives me 50,000 won (approximately 800 Hong Kong dollars) every month.From time to time, however, another large sum was brought home. According to her confession, when the deceased left home that morning, he explained that he might come back later that night, and if he did not go home, he would go to a second place to stay overnight.Due to his professional relationship, Doi often lives outside.As for the relationship with women, there used to be, but now it seems that there is no relationship. Traffic Report is a ten-day newspaper with a circulation of 3,000 copies. The sales of this kind of newspaper depend entirely on other people's care.Ask a certain boss once or buy 20 or 30 copies per issue.This is still in the form of purchase, and there are also forms of donations in other names such as advertising fees. This is because this small newspaper can use other methods. If anyone does not pay, the newspaper may not be polite to him. The police also took this issue into consideration, so they investigated Doi Takeo's foreign relations. However, when everyone mentions Doi Takeo, the general impression is good. It is said that the traffic report is quite conscientious, and Doi is very enthusiastic. Even if he asks others for support, his style is quite gentlemanly. The reports in the newspapers are generally correct. This is because Doi himself has worked for an automobile manufacturer in the past and has a lot of experience.The layout of the newspaper is also quite fair. Moreover, there is one more thing that must be mentioned here.About two years ago, a commentary was published in the traffic report, criticizing the Land Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport for having secretly dealt with some powerful people in the automobile company. In this report, he also tried to maintain a fair position.He condemned some bosses for forming cliques with officials of the Land Transportation Bureau for private interests, and various malpractices occurred. His intention was mainly to speak on behalf of small and medium-sized companies and drivers. Traffic reports not only published criticisms, but also used a considerable amount of space to publish the opinions of the parties attacked, that is, the opinions of the big bosses and government agencies.On the page, although it seems balanced, some people think that the later trend is a bit speaking for the big boss and the official. In addition, the business situation of traffic reports is now slightly profitable, although not much. The investigation by the police authorities on Takeo Doi's work is roughly as above. The two clerks had no knowledge of the background of the murder.Most of the interview work and negotiation work are done by the president Takeo Doi himself, and what the two of them know is only a part of the affairs. The search team focused on the woman who went to the Bitan Pavilion Hotel with Doi Takeo. If she fled to a distant place, since she did not take a train, she must have used a car as a means of escape.However, there are no clues to check the operating car companies in detail.All that remains are private cars. However, when they came to Lake Sagami, they hired a commercial car in Shinjuku, so they did not go there by private car. The police asked Doi Takeo's friends and guessed who the woman was.The answers are all the same.Doi doesn't have such a girlfriend, so he can't guess.It must be a new woman we haven't met yet.