My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 52: Chapter 37: Blockhead Don’s Counterattack (Part 2)

After binding Jinzāburō tightly with hemp rope, Aoto immediately escorted him back to the North Guard Station at the first opportunity.

Hardly had he escorted Jinzāburō back to the North Guard Station, just as Aoto anticipated—he was immediately summoned to Hosoi’s office.

Entering Hosoi’s office alone, the lineup inside made Aoto raise an eyebrow in surprise.

The lineup in Hosoi’s office was incredibly lavish.

Town Magistrate Hosoi, 2 Yoriki from the Temporary Patrol, 2 Yoriki from the Fixed Town Patrol: Arima and Tojo... In any case, all the leaders of the North Guard Station’s ”Three Times” were gathered in one place.

All of them were now scrutinizing Aoto, who entered the room, with a gaze mixed with awe, confusion, and unexpected surprise.

Especially Arima.

When Arima first heard ”Aoto solved the case in Mukiura Town,” his initial reaction was to roar at the Dōshin who came to report: What nonsense are you talking about!

Do I not know the level of Mr. Tachibana’s current investigative skills?

After confirming multiple times with the reporting Dōshin that he indeed did not report incorrectly, nor did he hear incorrectly himself, Arima’s already owl-like big and round eyes grew even wider.

The previously incapable Mr. Tachibana... solved a murder case in less than an hour?

Is it my ears or my brain that has a problem???

Upon learning that Hosoi intended to summon Aoto to personally hear Aoto’s ”work report,” Arima promptly volunteered to attend, expressing his desire to be present to listen and see this previously unremarkable junior suddenly excel.

The same was true for Tojo and the 2 Yoriki from the Temporary Patrol—they were all particularly curious after hearing that Blockhead Don suddenly achieved extraordinary success; hence they signed up to listen in on Aoto’s ”work report” at the scene.

Upon entering the room, Aoto followed protocol, respectfully greeting and saluting the leaders present inside.

”Hmm... Mr. Tachibana.” Hosoi, with a complex expression, hadn’t stopped looking at Aoto as if he were a stranger since a while ago, ”You did well today.”

Whether it was Hosoi or Arima and others, they all wanted to hear how the usually unremarkable Aoto broke the case today, so they hurriedly called him over to report his work.

Therefore, after exchanging a few official-cum-platitudes with Aoto and a brief chat, Hosoi went straight to the point—questioning how Aoto located the criminals today.

—Surely, no one would miss the chance to ask how I solved the case...

Having anticipated that the people at the Magistrate’s Office would question him about these issues, Aoto had already prepared his response on the way while escorting Jinzāburō back to the North Guard Station.

He cleared his throat and began his half-true report.

While drinking tea in the Tea House, he accidentally heard about the incident in Mukiura Town, and immediately rushed to Mukiura Town, reporting these details truthfully.

When talking about why he entered Granny Ping’s house, Aoto started fabricating.

After all, he couldn’t openly say, ”I intended to steal the credit.”

Though in this era, claiming credit was quite normal, such affairs were generally too shady to be openly discussed or stated.

Aoto conjured the reason, ”I intended to enter the house first, before the Dōshin responsible for the case arrived, to check the crime scene and see if there was any destruction by the person who discovered Granny Ping’s body.”

”My original intention was merely to have a brief look inside the crime scene before leaving.”

”Generally speaking, for this kind of indoor murder case, aside from extreme cases of random killing, there are only 3 types.”

”Revenge killing, financial killing, and passion killing.”

”The victim’s house was really tidy, with no signs of rummaging or property theft, thus financial killing was first ruled out.”

”Among the remaining options of revenge killing and passion killing, at first I thought Granny Ping might have died due to revenge killing.”

”After all, Granny Ping was quite old, nearly 70 years old, hardly seeming like someone who would be involved in a passion murder.”

”But after entering the room and unintentionally seeing a certain object at the crime scene, I realized: the probability of a passion killing seemed slightly higher than that of revenge.”

”An object? What object?” Hosoi, who had become somewhat engrossed, quickly inquired.

”The candle placed in the corner of the crime scene,” Aoto replied.

”Candles?” Hosoi was taken aback.

”Candles are not something ordinary townsmen would casually take out and use.” Aoto said calmly.

Like being struck by lightning, Hosoi and others realized something, their expressions changed.

Due to insufficient manufacturing processes and various reasons, during the Edo Era, candles were never cheap in price; most families used lamp oil rather than candles!

”Although candles provide good illumination, they are quite expensive, and only affluent families can afford to burn them without concern.”

”The vast majority of common folk can only use oil lamps, which have poor illumination but are cheap. Candles are something they only use on rare occasions.”

”The victim’s family has been known for decades as a family of great benevolence, always helping those in need at low or no cost. So, their household probably isn’t very wealthy.”

”The victim’s clothes had several patches, and the home was simply furnished with only a few ordinary pieces of furniture, devoid of any luxuries.”

”During my inspection of the victim’s home, I found that they had a large reserve of oil, but only a few candles stored away.”

”These clues strongly indicate that the victim’s family wasn’t the type that casually burned candles. They primarily used oil lamps, reserving candles for special occasions.”

”The victim, who usually used oil lamps, had a nearly burnt-out candle in a corner of the crime scene — this is odd no matter how you look at it.”

”The solidified wax at the candle’s base is quite new, having just solidified recently.”

”This suggests that the candle was used last night, and it was used for a prolonged period, burning for at least half an hour to accumulate such an amount of solidified wax.”

”Aside from festivals, there’s another situation in which most people are quite willing to use candles — when receiving guests.”

”Therefore, based on the above clues, I conclude: the perpetrator and the victim were acquainted, and their relationship was quite extraordinary, likely very close.”

”The perpetrator visited the victim’s home last night and was invited inside by the victim.”

”To entertain the perpetrator, the victim took out a candle, something they usually were reluctant to use.”

”The candle burned for nearly half an hour, indicating that the victim and the perpetrator spent a long time together in the same room.”

”To be invited in at such a late hour and spend so much time alone with the victim indicates a very close relationship.”

The Edo Era was unlike modern times.

This ancient society wasn’t as open as modern times.

For a widow, recently bereaved, to invite someone into her home late at night and spend so long alone with him... as Mr. Tachibana just said, only someone with a very close relationship could receive such a warm welcome.

”But with this, a new problem arises.” Aoto continued his report, ”If the victim’s relationship with the perpetrator was so close, why make such a big effort to entertain them with a candle?”

”If they were that close or frequent visitors to the home, it would usually be more casual, using oil as usual, without much fuss.”

”There are marks on the victim’s mouth, indicating the perpetrator forcefully covered it to prevent her from speaking.”

”Based on the size of the pressure marks and the strength required to hold the victim’s mouth with one hand while committing the crime with the other, the perpetrator is determined to be male.”

”A male who was so close with the victim to be invited in late at night and spend much time alone, yet the victim treated him with the formality of using a candle.”

”From this, it’s evident that the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator was not ordinary.”

”While close, there was some distance between them.”

”Perhaps they were childhood friends or had some special past relationship.”

”With such a special relationship, it suggests a crime of passion is more likely than a murder out of resentment.”

”With this hypothesis, I questioned the victim’s neighbors and friends, successfully identifying a prime suspect, Jinzāburō.”

”I went to Jinzāburō’s residence and, fortunately, apprehended him just as he was about to flee, capturing him successfully.”

Silence...

After Aoto finished his report, the office fell into a deathly silence.

Hosoi, Arima, and others were filled with bewilderment and various emotions, exchanging bewildered looks with each other...

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As previously mentioned by the author, Granny Ping’s case has a real-life counterpart.

Mr. Tachibana’s report is a complete copy from the police reasoning of the prototype case. So don’t argue that Mr. Tachibana’s reasoning is unreasonable. In the real-life case, the police reasoned like this — because the victim and perpetrator spent so long together late at night, they must know each other, suggesting a crime of passion over a murder out of hatred, significantly narrowing the search range.

The prototype case for Granny Ping’s murder is posted in the ”Author’s Note” below. Interested readers can check it out.