Crime scene: 162 mystery solving puzzles to find out who the murderer is

Chapter 34 Evidence that cannot be ignored

The skies over the city of Stockholm have been clouded these days, and Detective Malson Barker's heart is particularly heavy.At this moment, he was walking worriedly towards the suspect's office.This is a very difficult case. The young son of a rich family was kidnapped. Although a large ransom was paid, the hostage did not survive.Apparently the criminal had no intention of returning the hostages from the very beginning, and he might have already killed the child who got in the way.From this point of view, the criminal must be someone familiar with the inside story of the victim.

After investigation, Cannarison, an accountant from an accounting firm who often visited the victim's house, was listed as a suspect.Its accounting office is on the left front.The business of this firm had been sluggish before, and the family was neglected, but it suddenly became violent recently, which is not uncommon.

Buck and his colleagues walked into the Jerez Cannarison Accounting Office, and saw Cannarison licking the stamps with his tongue and pasting them on the documents one by one.

"In the midst of busy schedules, there are so many interruptions, it is really..."

"Oh, it's about that kidnapping case again?"

Cannarison looked reluctant, and let the two of them sit down on the chairs used for hospitality.

"My partner, Jerez, just went out, so I won't invite you two to drink tea, I'm sorry. Because of my poor health, the doctor forbids me to drink tea, I can only drink water, and always drink water wherever I go. The medicine never leaves the body."

He chattered on and on for a while, as if he was deliberately hiding something, but Buck still acted nonchalantly and said, "No, you're welcome."

"It would be great if there was a female office worker, but until a while ago, the business situation was very bad, and I didn't take care of it..."

"You mean you're out of trouble, so how did you get the money?"

"Huh? No, the money is everywhere..."

"Please be more specific."

"Does it have to be that specific?"

Buck adjusted his sitting posture, "Mr. Cannery, is your blood type A?"

"As you said, maybe because Jerez and I both have type A blood, many people find it unbelievable. Is this because of fate..."

"We detected your fingerprints from the back of the stamp on the threatening letter sent to the victim's home, and there was saliva of type A blood on it. Do you have the habit of licking things on stamps?"

"Hey, you even this..."

"Let me ask you anyway. How did you get your money?"

"Actually... I'm afraid you won't believe it. I picked it up. It was a few days after the kidnapping happened. Just beside the chair over there, there was a bag that someone forgot, and it contained cash."

"Have you told Jerez?"

"No. I thought someone might ask, so I kept it. But I never saw anyone ask, so... I told Jerez that I raised the money, because he had done quite a lot a while ago, So I don't want to fall behind..."

Cannarison was trembling, thinking that he would be arrested, but Buck and the others stood up and resigned because they had no evidence.It was a mistake.Cannarison committed suicide by taking poison that night.Vials of poison were found in the drawer, but no suicide note.

Buck was so regretful that he chatted casually with the medical examiner who performed Cannarison's autopsy in order to divert his worries.While talking, the forensic doctor suddenly remembered: "Yes, yes, the deceased had a non-secretory constitution."

"Oops! Cannarison is not a kidnapper. He was killed by a criminal and disguised as a suicide." Buck suddenly realized.

"What's the matter, Buck?" asked the colleague.

"Once the business situation of Cannarison's accounting firm improves, there must be another beneficiary, that is, Jerez, the partner. Moreover, if the crime of kidnapping the criminal is passed on to Cannarison and then he pretends to commit suicide, then The office would slip into the hands of Jerez alone."

"However, what is the evidence to conclude that Cannarison is not a kidnapper? Moreover, how can a person who is forbidden by the doctor not to drink even tea be allowed to drink poison?" A colleague who went with Buck yesterday asked a question. .

"There is evidence, and it cannot be ignored." Buck said calmly.

So, what is the evidence?

[Answer] Cannarison has a non-secretory constitution, which means that he does not secrete blood-type substances in his saliva, gastric juice, semen and other secretions.Therefore, the blood type judged based on the above-mentioned secretions is easily misidentified as type A.And precisely because the saliva on the back of the stamp of the kidnapping threat letter was type A, it was identified as Cannarison's secretion.Because Jerez didn't know the whole story, he thought he had blood type A, so he got the stamp with fingerprints touched by Cannarison, and then he licked it and pasted it on the threatening letter.

"The ones Cannarison licked himself, as we saw at the office yesterday, were prints for work. Maybe among the pages he licked after we left were those that Jerez had poisoned beforehand. It’s also unknown. As for the medicine bottle in the drawer, it was Jerez’s fault.”

(End of this chapter)