Rook stood from sitting. "I guess I have to go, sensei. I'll check the address you gave me."
He bowed and went out. Professor Takashi accompanied him outside until Rook has gone. The professor smiled as he was going.
Inspector Eijiro opened his message on his cellphone. It was from Rook. It was stuck there for an hour because of the interrogation.
"Inspector. I found new clues about the case. I'll go to Osaka to see the lead answer. I'll see what I can do to help you. – Rook Kazuki – "
Eijiro sharpened his eyes on the message. Although Rook is still inexperienced in criminal interrogation and intelligence, Rook proved he was wrong. Perhaps Gradd has been succeeded by his son.
Rook went home to prepare his things. He looked at the time hoping he could catch up the trip to Osaka on bus station. His phone rang when he opened his room's door. The caller was Raone.
"Officer Raone…what's up…?"
"It's urgent…! Our witness was poisoned through cyanide! Inspector was on the interrogation room when the witness suddenly collapsed!"
"What…!" he exclaimed in surprise. He almost dropped his pack.
"I think you must come here and check this out!"
"I'll be there!"
"What happened here?" asked Rook, who just arrived and saw the doctor dragging the witness away from the room.
"He was poisoned. There is a bitter almond smell on his hand." Answered Eijiro.
"Did he left the interrogation room for even a minute?"
"Yeah…he went into the water closet."
"Sir, close the water closet he just went in! if my deduction is correct, we still can find the poison
material there…" deduced Rook and ran afar to them.
"Where are you going…!" called Raone.
"To the garbage bin! I'm looking for evidence…!"
As he ran to the station's hallway, he met a forensic officer who was walking going to his office. Rook stopped him for a while. "Can I ask for one evidence cellophane..sir?"
"What for…?"
"It's an important matter. I may find evidence for Inspector Eijiro…"
The forensic officer brought out one evidence cellophane from his bag and gave it to him. He continued to on his way as so did Rook. He went to the garbage bin and opened it. He found some peach and peach pits.
"Just as I thought, the murder still forgot something, disposing the murder weapon easily here…"
He wore his gloves and picked the peach pits. He placed it in the evidence cellophane and returned to the station. He showed it to the Inspector and Raone, who was puzzled looking at the peach pits.
"He was killed…with peach pits?" asked Eijiro.
"Peach pits contain 100 milligrams of cyanide in the form of a compound known as amygdalin. If you extract the water soluble solution and later get it through heating, you can place it in the victim's food or drink to poison him or her. Stomach acids convert the amygdalin to cyanide. This explains our victim's death. Someone poisoned him with peaches. The murderer feared that the victim would tell more than he told us…"
"So the murderer used this agricultural fact to kill the victim. But as fast as that…who could do that fast and have gone in the wind…?" said Inspector Eijiro.
"And someone…we weren't able to notice…" continued Raone.
Rook thought for a second. If the murderer has the poison in a form of a drink or food, he should have ingested it.
"If he ingested it, then the cyanide should have been consumed by the body. But what if the murderer extracted the solution and placed it into a thing…then the cyanide should have been placed near the victim that he'll surely use."
"Are you listening…Rook?" tapped Eijiro onto his shoulder when he noticed Rook was silent after he told them about the facts.
"Inspector, I think we should pay a visit on the water closet the victim went. Since he was not given any food here in the police station when he was interrogated, I think the murderer poured a water soluble solution cyanide on some things in the W.C. that the victim might have touched."
"Okay…let's do that. We gave him a cup of noodles after the interrogation. But I know the noodle was safe because I personally bought it."
After they checked it, forensics found poured cyanide on the water closet's switch. They silently went out the water closet with their mind to who could be the killer.
"Inspector, could it be that someone could have been here before the victim entered the water closet?" asked Rook.
"Yes, some did. Some were police officers, some were civilians…"
"I think this case is becoming complicated…" said Raone.
"It is…if we think it that way, Sir…" replied Rook and went back to the crime scene; on the water closet.
One of the forensics team members bagged a small piece of cloth. He placed it into the evidence cellophane and gave it to the Inspector, who just came in with Rook.
"Piece of cloth…could be from the murderer…"
Rook had an impish and clever smile. "Sir, I want you to run that piece of cloth for epithelials…see if we find something in it, that would be the key on solving this case. For now I will go to Osaka and question someone…"
"Osaka…?" said Eijiro, holding the piece of evidence they collected.
"This connects to the first case, the robbery. I'll be back soon, as you guys find out who's the owner of that piece of cloth…" Rook saluted and bowed and went out the crime scene. His destination is Osaka.
Early in the morning, he rode the first trip going to Osaka. He must question the magician his professor told him. He was near at the first bus stop when he noticed a house nearby. The owner of the house is holding his watering pail and started to water the plants on his backyard. Some of these plants are marigolds. He noticed a peach nearby.
"Come to think of it, I wasn't able to think about it at first but Professor Takashi had a peach tree…near his garage."
A deduction started to repeat in his mind.
"Could it be he was the one who poisoned our only witness…?"
He shook his head and looked straightly. "Impossible…why should professor do that…? He has no motive to poison him and rob a bank…I know professor, he won't do this…"
Compassion ran to his heart. He knew his professor is not the one who did it. But who? His thinking stopped when the bus driver told him that the address he is looking for is just one house away. He went out the bus and started to walk. He stretched his arms and inhaled-exhaled a couple of times.
"The wind of Osaka's trees…how relaxing…" he said. He stopped at the house with the same number his professor have as an address. He knocked several times but there was no response.
"Could he be not around this time…?" he started to observe and notice the house. Some points have bothered him a little.
A young girl noticed him standing there for a quite long time. She looked at him and the house. "Isami-san is not around. It's been a day when we didn't see him." She said, with a Kansai accent.
"A day…?"
"Yes. I thought he went out somewhere and he will return soon but then he never returned."
"He…went out?"
"I think he did. I am from the ramen store; Isami-san always passes by our store when he is going out, and since going at his place of work can be passed if you walk on the road near our store."
Rook looked at the road's design. The girl was right.
"I can therefore deduce that he never went out…" Rook pointed out.
"How did you know he didn't? How can you say that?" she asked.
"There are three hints, if you observe Isami-san's house, the gate and the door is not locked. For someone who went out, he could have locked the house, to prevent burglary. Second hint is that the windows of Isami-san's front door is opened, meaning he is here for the whole time, for him to see who's knocking, like me. Third hint goes to the closed window of Isami-san's kitchen. The kitchen is on the other side of the house, right? Have you seen the water vapor on the glass shard? That means someone was cooking but closed the window, making the water vapor converted as air accumulate on the window and precipitate, and makes dews on the shard. Most probably, Isami-san is heating water or tea…"
The girl clapped her hands many times and smiled.
"That's a great deduction! You're like Sherlock Holmes…!' she praised.
"Ah..thank you-thank you…" he laughed, as if he humbly took the praise.
"If he's around then why is he not opening the door?"
Rook seriously looked at her. "My greatest fears have been haunting me now. Mr. Isami is a suspect to a murder and I am here to question him. He is not opening it…because he…cannot open it…" he said, coldly.
The surprised and puzzled girl looked at him, with her fear to what Rook told her.
He dashed to the front door and opened the door. The dark room was lightened by the sun as the fragrance of death welcomed Rook. He covered his nose and mouth, looked at the young girl who did the same.
"M-miss, call the police…Isami-san was murdered here!"
"Y-yes!" the shocked young girl went to the nearby ramen store she works and call the police.
Rook smells the rotting body, coming from the stairs. He focused his eyes on the roof, where he saw a dead man's body. The man was beheaded, causing his death. He also noticed the blood has clotted for a long time.
Minutes passed when the police and an ambulance came.
"What happened here?" asked a middle aged police officer, who hurriedly went to the crime scene.
Rook faced him and saluted.