Tokyo people don't talk about Wude

Chapter 335 332. The Third Target

"The man you described was here. He lived here for more than half a month." Under the care of several thugs, the manager and two detectives came to the door of an employee bedroom in the gym:
"This is where he lived before. He just moved out two days ago. He cleaned the room very well before leaving and left almost no personal belongings."

Xi Shenjian opened the door and found that the room was meticulously tidy. There was nothing else except basic furniture such as the bed, wardrobe, table and chairs.

"He just moved away two days ago?" Jiuzhou Cheng pinched his chin and thought, "After he killed Mizhi and Ushimura?"

"That should be the case. He expected the police to follow the clues and investigate." Xi Shenjian scratched his hair irritably. "Damn it, our actions were countless times faster than the police's routine procedures, but we still missed it. Is this bastard so cautious?"

"The murderer is very cunning. It is difficult to conduct an investigation in an old town like this. He happens to live in a gray industry shop that is in collusion with the local police. According to the regular procedures, it will take the police at least more than a month to search here, right?" Jiuzhou Cheng turned to look at the manager and asked:

"Mr. 'Manager', how much do you know about that man?"

The manager thought about it and shook his head:
"I don't know his background either. I only know that he got some connections from someone and asked me to let him stay here for half a month. During that time, we didn't even go into his room, nor did we communicate with him much. I had no idea that he was the serial killer you were looking for."

"Did he say where he was going next?" Xi Shenjian asked.

"I have no idea. He left in a hurry without even saying hello." The manager snorted helplessly and still shook his head to deny: "I emphasize again that this matter has nothing to do with us. Don't put the blame on us."

"Don't worry, we'll leave after we ask." Xi Shenjian paused and added, "The premise is that you 'only' let him stay for more than half a month without knowing it."

Jiuzhou Cheng searched the bedroom carefully and found no trace of the previous resident. And the other person should have short hair, so it was difficult to find his hair on the ground.

"I do know something." At this time, the gangster next to him said:

"I remember that Ito, who was in charge of cleaning, once entered his room by mistake, but was immediately kicked out by him. I remember Ito said that the man's room was like a detective's cabin in a suspense drama, with sticky notes and red lines hanging all over the walls."

"That should be an investigation he conducted in advance in order to kill someone." Xi Shenjian nodded and said in a gentle and persuasive manner: "Then, did he see anything that concerned him?"

"Well, Ito said he hung three photos on the wall, all of them looked like teenagers." The gangster wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued, "He said there were three names written under the three photos, namely Niucun, Mizhi, and Qingchuan, two boys and one girl."

"Niu Cun, Mi Zhi, Qing Chuan. Could it be that these three are the targets of the murderer?" Jiuzhou Cheng reacted to the first two names: "Let's not talk about the first two, but who is the third Qing Chuan?"

"Qingchuan. Qingchuan." Xi Shenjian racked his brains for a moment and suddenly looked up: "Could it be Qingchuan Shao's daughter?"

"Who is Qingchuan Shao?" Jiuzhou Cheng asked.

"Ah, it's normal that you haven't heard of it. I also heard about it from Officer Takagi." Xi Shenjian explained:
"Aokawa Shao is the strongest candidate for the next Superintendent General of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. If nothing unexpected happens, he will be the next one."

The Superintendent General is the highest position in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, equivalent to the "Director General".

Jiuzhou Cheng asked curiously: "So, Qingchuan Shao has a daughter?"

"Of course, he has an only daughter, who should also be considered a [bully]." Xi Shenjian raised his chin and recalled: "It is said that she became a bad person in high school. It seems that she bullied her classmates and got into trouble at school and was persuaded to drop out. This is one of the few black spots of Qingchuan Shao."

"I see, she's also a bully. So, Ushimura and Miji's fathers are both high-ranking officials, which is one of the things they have in common. No wonder you have such an association." Kyushu Makoto thought seriously and asked again:
"We have not received any news of Qingchuan Shao's daughter's death. According to what you said, the murderer's next target is her? Or has she actually been killed by him?"

"I'm not sure. I need to ask more." Xi Shenjian took out his phone, searched online, and then showed it to the 'manager': "Can you ask your cleaner if the [Qingchuan] he saw at the time was similar to this photo?"

Xi Shenjian's phone displayed a photo of a girl in a high school uniform - long black hair, narrow eyes, a hooked nose, a frowning brow, and a somewhat sour look.

"This is Qingchuan Shao's daughter, Qingchuan Xiangzi." Xi Shenjian explained, "She is a child of an important person. You can find her photo with a little search." The manager looked at the photo and ordered the thug next to him, "Hey, go show the photo to Ito."

A moment later, a half-drooped man in a cleaning uniform ran over. After looking at the photo, he rubbed his chin and tried to recall: "Ah, although I didn't pay much attention at the time, I feel that the appearance in the photo is somewhat similar to what I saw."

"I understand, thank you for your cooperation." Xi Shenjian nodded, and then sent a few text messages to Officer Takagi.

After that, the two asked the manager some more questions and searched the room several times until they were sure that they could not find any useful clues, and then they left.

It was already evening when I left the gym. As winter was approaching, it got dark much earlier than before, and the old-fashioned street lamps on both sides of the street were already lit up in rows.

The two walked out of the old town along a slightly dim path and saw Officer Takagi's car outside a street.

As soon as we got in the car, Officer Gao Mu in the driver's seat spoke up: "According to your request, I have just checked Qingchuan Xiangzi's information."

His tone was a little low and nervous: "As you guessed, Qingchuan Xiangzi was involved in school bullying in high school."

"Five years ago, she led a small group in the class to bully a girl in the same class, and eventually forced her to jump off the building. Although the girl did not die, and the Qingchuan family also used money to settle the matter, the incident was a bit serious, so Qingchuan Shao arranged for her to transfer to another school."

"She is indeed qualified to be the target of the [Bully Butcher], and she may be the protagonist of that photo." Xi Shenjian said solemnly:
"But there is one thing I don't understand. Why did [Bully Butcher] return to the human world after disappearing for so many years, and why did he choose these three people in particular?"

"Perhaps it has some political purpose?" Jiuzhou Cheng speculated with divergent thinking: "I don't really understand. If there is a common point between these three people, besides having led or participated in school bullying incidents, they all have parents who are high-ranking officials with considerable backgrounds."

"And Mr. Xi Shen also said that when you were framed, you seemed to be involved in some kind of political conspiracy."

Xi Shenjian nodded: "I did say that. Although as a detective, the truth I can access is very limited. So limited that I can only know a small part of the inside story indirectly to this day."

"But this is a very interesting idea." Officer Gao Mu narrowed his eyes and thought meaningfully:
"The Bully Butcher, who wears the halo of justice, is actually a tool used by a certain politician to achieve a certain dirty goal. Is he involved in the interest chain of some high-level figures?"

After that, Officer Gao Mu's eyes became tired. It seemed that the disaster in the nursing home a few months ago was still fresh in his mind. At that time, he was trying to help the poor caller find the missing elderly, but ended up touching the chain of interests and offending his immediate superior. If it weren't for the coincidence that Kyushu Makoto found the public security to intervene, it would be a question whether Officer Gao Mu could keep this police uniform.

"But now all we can do is keep moving forward." Xi Shenjian patted Officer Gao Mu's seat and said:

"Although this is still just speculation based on insufficient evidence, the next target of the Bully Butcher may be Qingchuan Xiangzi. You should quickly inform the Qingchuan family and ask them to be careful. It is best to send someone to protect their daughter at all times."

"We need to contact that 'master'. If it weren't for this case, I'm afraid I would never have the qualifications to talk to a big shot like Qingchuan Shao in my life." Officer Gao Mu straightened his tie and took out his cell phone:
"Alright, I can take this opportunity to ask about Qingchuan Xiangzi and see if it can help solve the case."

Officer Takagi immediately made a phone call - it seemed that he wanted to call the police station first and then transfer the call to Qingchuan Shao. After all, a small figure like Takagi was not qualified to contact Qingchuan Shao directly.

Kyushu Makoto and Yushin Jian were waiting in the back seat of the car. They only heard Officer Takagi talking on the phone for more than ten minutes in a tone that was quite polite in the workplace. The police station did not transfer his call to Qingchuan Shao, but transferred the call to Qingchuan's home.

The person who answered the phone at Qingchuan's house was Mrs. Qingchuan or the maid. Jiuzhou Cheng heard a female voice coming from the phone.

After Officer Takagi respectfully exchanged a few polite words with the woman on the phone, he finally got straight to the point.

"Well, this is the situation, ma'am, about your daughter." Officer Takagi was halfway through talking when he suddenly opened his eyes and said in disbelief:

"Wait a minute, you said your daughter lost contact half an hour ago?!"

(End of this chapter)