The room hadn't changed much from before.
One noticeable difference was the display board where the ties were previously placed. Now, the four ties on that board had become five.
The tie that the master of the house wore around his neck on the night of the incident was now hanging on the display board with the other four neatly arranged ties. The wrinkled tie seemed to silently convey the cruel truth of that night.
Senichi sighed and quickly shifted his focus to the messy room.
Even if it was troublesome and there was a good chance of it being fruitless, both Senichi and the other person had to do it until they could confirm the final result.
There were no shortcuts on the path of investigating a case.
Being a detective was perhaps one of the most practical professions.
For certain matters, even if you had a hunch, you still had to act because only verified facts could support reasoning.
In the following period of time, the two of them took out the inventory list they had obtained from the three ladies and searched through the cluttered room item by item.
Unfortunately, much to their dismay, it seemed like they were wasting a lot of time. They didn't find any of the items from Sannitori house that were requested by Mrs. Matsushita.
Fortunately, not long after, they heard footsteps outside the door. Sannitori Shuji returned home.
After learning that the other person wasn't at home, they contacted them first and found out that they wouldn't take more than half a day to come back. With their consent, they compared the items and waited for them to return home.
At this moment, Senichi and the other person had already finished rummaging through the other person's house. The result was that they hadn't found anything from the notebook.
After some casual small talk, Takagi took out the notebook and showed the contents to the other person, asking if they had any recollection.
"I really didn't expect it..." Sannitori Shuji looked at the contents of the notebook and sighed bitterly. "My wife actually took so many things from other people's homes..."
"Well, then, do you happen to remember if your wife wore a new necklace that she didn't recognize?" Takagi asked while holding the notebook.
"No..." Sannitori Shuji furrowed his brows and tried to recall, then shook his head.
"What about this vase?" Takagi pointed to another item and asked, "Did it decorate any part of the house?"
"Still nothing... I haven't seen it..." Sannitori Shuji looked around and shook his head with a bitter smile. "Not to mention decorations... What's there to decorate in this messy house..."
Afterward, Takagi asked about a few more items, but the other person didn't have any recollection.
"Do you remember any fur-related items?" Senichi suddenly asked.
"Fur-related items?" Sannitori Shuji denied with a shake of his head. "We don't have expensive things like that in our house..."
As he said that, Sannitori Shuji seemed to remember something. "Ah... now that you mention it, I do have some recollection... She seemed to have worn a scarf I hadn't seen before... It had a fur-like design..."
"Then, may I ask where the scarf is now?" Takagi quickly asked.
"I don't know..." Sannitori Shuji furrowed his brows, trying hard to remember, but he still had no recollection.
He even helped Senichi and Takagi search the house again, but unfortunately, they didn't find the scarf anywhere.
"It's confirmed that the scarf isn't at Mrs. Sannitori's house," Senichi looked at Takagi and said, "Then, there's probably only one possibility left."
...
"Is it the self-selected Mall?"
"Mrs. Katori, you mentioned before that you met Miss Sannitori at the self-selected Mall."
Senichi and Takagi had already left Sannitori's house.
After confirming that there were no items from Mrs. Matsushita at the house, they visited Mrs. Katori once again.
"Sannitori-san must have sold something there, right?"
"Sold something..."
Seeing Mrs. Katori hesitating, Senichi spoke again, "For example, something received from Mrs. Matsushita, is that correct?"
Although it was a question, Senichi seemed confident in his words.
Mrs. Katori, realizing that Senichi was already aware of the situation, stopped hesitating and revealed all the facts.
One time, Mrs. Katori coincidentally encountered, Sannitori Sanae, at the self-selected Mall. To her surprise, she discovered that all the items displayed by Sannitori Sanae were gifts from Mrs. Matsushita.
Mrs. Katori confronted Sannitori Sanae, but she boldly stated that she could handle the gifts from Mrs. Matsushita however she wanted.
This made Mrs. Katori very angry. She told Sannitori Sanae that she introduced her to Mrs. Matsushita and this behavior would make it difficult for her.
However, Sannitori Sanae showed a malicious smile, holding the items gifted by Mrs. Matsushita and mocking Mrs. Katori, saying how much she desired them when she visited Mrs. Matsushita's house before, asking if she wanted to buy them at a cheap price.
"I truly regret it," Mrs. Katori said with a remorseful expression. "I regret introducing Sannitori Sanae, this greedy woman, to Mrs. Matsushita. She is not like us at all..."
"Out of this guilt, I want to tell Mrs. Matsushita everything and hope to seek her forgiveness.
At the same time, I also plan to inform Sannitori Sanae that she should never shamelessly come here again. We do not welcome her."
"Did you tell her?" Senichi asked.
Mrs. Katori nodded with some pain. "Because I introduced that despicable person to Mrs. Matsushita, I naturally told her and apologized."
Senichi and Takagi exchanged a glance, their suspicions about Mrs. Matsushita deepening.
Just as they had speculated before, if it was only Sannitori's greed, it might not be enough to drive her to murder because there must have been other reasons involved.
But if Mrs. Katori told Mrs. Matsushita everything that Sannitori Sanae had done, it is highly likely that conflicts arose between them, becoming the main driving force behind Mrs. Matsushita's murder.
"By the way, may I ask, during the time at the self-selected Mall, do you remember if the fur scarf was sold?" Senichi asked, "Do you have any recollection?"
"Well... I didn't see Sannitori-san selling it..." Mrs. Katori replied after thinking for a moment.
Senichi had taken an interest in the fur scarf since he unexpectedly learned from Sannitori Shuji that Sannitori Sanae had worn a fur scarf. In the photograph of Mrs. Matsushita and her mother, the scarf she wore around her neck should be the same one.
There was even a high possibility that the hair found on the victim's mouth, nose, and mask was from that scarf.
If Mrs. Matsushita had given the precious scarf to Sannitori Sanae, but Sannitori Sanae carelessly sold it, it could be a strong motive for Mrs. Matsushita to commit murder!