Science: The Little Shota of the Maori Family

Second-hand furniture store.

After learning Officer Takagi's identity and purpose, the shop owner said, "You mean that sofa chair? I bought it secondhand from a customer yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Officer Takagi was stunned for a moment. "You just bought it and you're already selling it?"

The store manager shook his head. "No, Miss Hosono heard me say we'd need two or three days to sort it out after unloading. She said she was in a hurry and wanted us to deliver it to her the next day."

Officer Takagi wrote down, "So... Miss Hosono bought it and then left?"

The store manager thought for a moment and said, "She stayed in the store until we closed. The sofa chair had to be delivered the next day, so we loaded it directly onto the truck."

"Aside from your store employees, is anyone else able to get close to that truck?"

"That's absolutely impossible," the store manager replied confidently. "Because the trucks are usually parked directly inside the warehouse, and the warehouse is also locked. No one can get in without the key."

"That's right."

"So, before Miss Hosono ordered that sofa chair, the murdered old woman had already been stuffed into the sofa." Mitsuhiko pinched his chin and expressed his opinion to his friends.

Ayumi turned her head to look at him: "Are you saying that the original owner of that sofa chair is the murderer?"

"That's right." Mitsuhiko nodded.

After asking the store manager, Officer Takagi went to ask the deliveryman who delivered the sofa chair.

After hearing the police's intention, the deliveryman said a little embarrassedly: "Actually, that sofa chair is not second-hand furniture we bought from a customer."

Hearing this answer, not only Officer Takagi, but even the store manager was shocked. He quickly asked, "Mr. Hirose, didn't you say that the original owner of the sofa chair said that it would be fine even if we didn't pay for it, as long as we took the sofa away?"

The deliveryman apologized, "I'm so sorry. Yesterday afternoon, I went to the city to collect second-hand furniture from several stores. By the time I got back, it was already four in the afternoon. I found this sofa chair in the garbage disposal. It looked good, so I thought it would be a shame to throw it away, so I took it back. I'm sorry, manager. I shouldn't have lied to you."

The store manager patted his shoulder and comforted him, "No, I understand how you cherish these things and don't want them to be thrown away."

But this also increased Officer Gao Mu's doubts. He scratched his head and said, "If the sofa chair was picked up from the garbage dump, then it would be troublesome."

Seeing his embarrassment, Huiyuan kindly reminded him, "It's unlikely that the murderer would have moved the body to a faraway place."

Officer Gao Mu's expression froze, and he asked the deliveryman, "Excuse me, where was that sofa chair dumped in the garbage dump?"

The deliveryman replied, "It's on Street 3 in Shu Town."

Everyone present was surprised when they heard the address.

Mitsuhiko said loudly: "Isn't that near the crime scene?"

Several people hurried back.

Arriving at the garbage dump the deliveryman mentioned, Gao Mu felt helpless: "Now we have to start the investigation from the beginning again, but I think the murderer should live nearby. How can we catch him?"

"But why did the murderer put the deceased on the sofa?" Ayumi asked puzzledly.

Mitsuhiko seemed to have figured this out, so he explained to Ayumi in a serious tone, "The murderer must have thought that no one would take this sofa chair away, but he didn't expect that the final outcome would be beyond his expectations."

"Is that right?"

Just then, two middle-aged women walked out of the building.

One of them said, "You know what? I'm really scared of him. You know that Mr. Tokunaga was in that little restaurant this morning, drinking beer and laughing so horribly."

"Huh? He actually knows how to laugh." Another woman said, "He always has a blank expression."

"So, I think he must be very happy about something."

Hearing the conversation between the two, Huiyuan looked at Watanabe Toru: "They seem to be talking about the neighbor who lives next door to Miss Hosono."

·· ·Request flowers·· ······

"No, it's him." Watanabe Toru nodded slightly: "This Mr. Tokunaga seems to be hiding some secrets as well."

"Why are you guys here?"

Just then, a familiar voice was heard and Inspector Megure walked down the stairs of the building.

"Inspector Megure?" Officer Takagi was startled and trotted over, "Why are you here too?"

"I'm here to find someone." Inspector Megure said, "He can provide an alibi for Miss Hosono. There's a staff member at the cinema who happens to remember that she had been there."

"Really? That's great." A happy look appeared on Ayumi's face.

She had a good impression of Sanae Hosono and never believed that she was the murderer.

..... ... 0

"So, Mr. Tokunaga must have misheard when he said he heard a quarrel next door," said Takagi.

Inspector Megure nodded. "That should be the case. By the way, did you find anything?"

Gao Mu reported: "We have found the origin of the sofa chair, so I think there might be witnesses nearby at the time. I want to look for them."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Brother Gaomu."

Just as Inspector Megure was about to leave, Mitsuhiko suddenly shouted, "I know who the murderer is."

All of a sudden, everyone's attention was drawn to him. Watanabe Toru glanced at him and didn't take his words to heart.

Instead, Ayumi and Genta exclaimed, "Really, Mitsuhiko? Do you know who the murderer is?"

"Yeah." Mitsuhiko nodded confidently. "Mr. Tokunaga said he heard an argument next door yesterday. I think he said that not because he misheard, but because the murderer is Mr. Tokunaga."

Ayumi and Genta were shocked.

Even Officer Takagi's expression changed: "You said Mr. Tokunaga is the murderer?"

"That's right." Mitsuhiko looked mysterious. "Before I tell you my reasoning, everyone, let's go somewhere first."

"Could it be that Mitsuhiko really knows who the murderer is?" Haibara whispered in Watanabe Toru's ear.

Watanabe Toru smiled and said, "If he can really solve the case, it would be a good thing."

400, a splash of cold water

Several people came to the small restaurant mentioned by the two old ladies.

After Officer Takagi treated everyone to a glass of juice, Yuantai asked the waiter for some information and then trotted back to his seat.

"How is it, Genta?" Mitsuhiko asked impatiently.

Yuan Tai said excitedly: "It's really just as those two old ladies said just now. This morning, the man named Tokunaga really seemed to be in a good mood."

Mitsuhiko showed an astonished expression: "This way, we can be more certain that Mr. Tokunaga is the murderer."

Officer Gao Mu still looked confused and couldn't help asking, "Why are you so sure?"

Mitsuhiko asked Watanabe Toru, who was sitting next to him: "Toru, if the murderer hid the body on September 30, why did he do that?"

Watanabe Toru said calmly, "Of course, I don't want the body to be discovered easily. Once the body is discovered, they'll find out where he lives, and then the police will investigate his friends. No matter how carefully planned, they'll find me sooner or later."

"That's absolutely right." Mitsuhiko agreed and nodded. "However, if you really wanted to hide the body, you could bury it in a remote mountain area, or even sink it to the bottom of the sea. These are both permanent solutions. But why didn't the murderer use this method?"

"That makes sense." Officer Takagi took a sip of coffee.

Mitsuhiko smiled confidently, "There's only one answer. I think Mr. Tokunaga originally wanted to take the body to the mountains or throw it into the sea, but the reality didn't allow him to do that."

"So, what is the reality?" Ayumi looked at Mitsuhiko without blinking, and obviously started to say the same thing.

Mitsuhiko continued, "He told us already, he said he works the night shift, so naturally he can't go far. So, Mr. Tokunaga had no choice but to stuff the old woman's body into the sofa."

"You mean temporarily?"

"That's right. When he gets back from work, he can take it to a distant place and dispose of it. But he didn't expect that when he comes back from work..."

"That second-hand furniture store had already taken the sofa away before him, right?" Yuantai answered first.

"Yes," Mitsuhiko confirmed. "I think Mr. Tokunaga must have been very surprised at the time, right? But besides being shocked, he also felt a sense of happiness that he couldn't hide. Who would have thought that God would send someone to help him dispose of the body, which actually saved him a lot of time? He was so happy that he ran here to drink and celebrate. But when he returned home after dawn, he discovered a shocking fact. The body that disappeared out of thin air had reappeared in his next-door neighbor's house after a night. However, after he found out that the police suspected Hosono, who first discovered the body, he deliberately followed the police's story and made up the story of hearing political rumors."

"In fact, he didn't mishear that at all. He deliberately said that to frame Miss Hosono in order to put the blame on her."

After hearing Mitsuhiko's logical reasoning, Genta immediately believed it: "This way, everything makes sense."

Ayumi also looked at Mitsuhiko with admiration: "Mitsuhiko, you are so awesome."

Mitsuhiko scratched his head and smiled sheepishly: "That's nothing."

Seeing that Watanabe Toru didn't say anything, he asked curiously, "Xiao Toru, what's wrong with you?"

Watanabe Toru said calmly, "Even if he really had to go to work tonight, why would he bother dragging the sofa outside?"

Officer Takagi nodded in agreement. "That's right. If we just leave it in the room and deal with it after get off work, no one should notice."

Yuan Tai's tone suddenly changed: "That makes sense."

Seeing that his reasoning was about to be overturned, Mitsuhiko quickly stood up and said, "Have you all forgotten? What is the purpose of our coming here today?"

Ayumi replied, "We're here to investigate the recent gangster who's been breaking into houses so often."

"That's right. Mr. Tokunaga must have been found by the burglars who broke into the house, so he left the sofa outside..."

Yuan Tai suddenly realized: "That's right, if the criminals broke into his house and found a body, they would definitely call the police."

"That's right, that's right."

Just as Mitsuhiko was regaining his confidence, Watanabe Toru poured cold water on him again: "Then, Mr. Tokunaga, weren't you worried about the neighbors seeing you hide the body? Compared to the two, the former is more dangerous, right? Besides, when a person discovers that the sofa where they hid the body has suddenly disappeared, they're more likely to be worried than happy."

Mitsuhiko was speechless.

After Huiyuan finished the last sip of juice, she couldn't help but interject, "Besides, even if you have work, it's okay to take a day off occasionally."

Mitsuhiko: "..."

A few people walked out of the small restaurant and happened to see Tokunaga Kazuhiro walking down the stairs at the apartment building and walking towards a bicycle parked not far away.

Yuantai suddenly suggested: "How about we follow Mr. Tokunaga? Maybe we can get some clues."

Officer Takagi said, "According to what the apartment manager said, Mr. Tokunaga opened a small pub in the town next door. Although business isn't very good, I heard he hasn't taken a day off since opening. He's a very cautious person. He still has some preparations before the opening, so he goes out at this time every day."

Just then, a police car drove towards them, and the car loudspeaker played warnings.

"The Shuzhen Police Department is reminding all residents that there have been several break-ins in our area recently. We urge everyone to be mindful of the security of their homes when leaving home..."

Officer Gao Mu suddenly thought of something, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately ran to the road, opened his hands to stop the police car, and shouted: "Stop, please stop the car..."

The police car braked to a stop, and Officer Gao Mu ran towards the driver's seat. He took out his ID to identify himself to the two people inside, and asked, "Excuse me, were you two patrolling here yesterday?"

401: The Future of the Country

A police officer replied: "Yes, we came here for patrol ten minutes earlier yesterday than today."

"So that's how it is." Officer Takagi showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

Watanabe Toru saw this, smiled, and said, "It seems that Officer Takagi has already known the truth."

"Really?" Genta stared at Officer Takagi. "The murderer is still Mr. Tokunaga, right?"

"That's right." Officer Takagi nodded confidently. "After killing the victim, Mr. Tokunaga was thinking about how to dispose of the body when he heard the patrol car's announcement outside. Fearing he'd be discovered by the break-in, he stuffed the victim's body into the sofa that was originally in the trash."

"That's definitely the case," Mitsuhiko echoed Officer Takagi's opinion. "Officer Takagi, we have to find Mr. Tokunaga right away. Otherwise, he might try to escape, and that would be troublesome."

Officer Takagi nodded seriously.

Several people quickly came to Tokunaga Kazuhiro's hotel. Under the questioning of Police Officer Takagi, Tokunaga Kazuhiro could not bear the pressure and admitted his crime.

"Actually, I borrowed some money from her a while ago. However, when I asked her to give me a week's grace period, she came to my apartment angrily and threatened to confiscate my bar if I didn't pay it back on time. So...that's why I lost my mind for a moment. I really regret it..."

Seeing the tears flowing down Tokunaga and Hiroshi, Officer Takagi sighed softly: "Okay, Mr. Tokunaga, please come with me to the police station now."

……

Half an hour later, Officer Takagi drove several members of the Junior Detective League home.

Inside the car, Guangyan said in surprise, "Huh? You said that the burglar has been caught by you guys?"

Officer Takagi smiled and said, "Indeed, last week a man was arrested for theft. Under questioning, he confessed to the crime. However, perhaps due to our negligence, we didn't inform the Akebono police of this, which led them to believe the thief was still at large."

"What the hell?" Yuan Tai was rather disgruntled upon hearing that the burglar had been apprehended. "We were hoping to catch that thief, but now we've lost our bus tickets for nothing."

Officer Takagi laughed dryly.

He really wanted to say several times that the thief had not been caught yet and it was not business for you kids to worry about, but he knew that if he said that, he would be speechless after being refuted by these guys, so he simply kept quiet.

Ayumi then spoke up: "But now that I think about it, Mr. Tokunaga's hastily stuffing the body into the sofa in the garbage dump seems a bit unnecessary."

"I can only say that he has bad luck." Yuan Tai shouted, "But who says he is a bad guy? He just deserves it."

"That's right, that's right."