After leaving the Otsuka residence, the two of them went to the crime scene again.
Returning to the scene, they were not there to examine the spot where the victim fell, but to investigate the surroundings of the crime scene, looking for any shops where they could find the food that Yukihiro Otsuka had in his stomach.
Unfortunately, the nearby shops were all ramen or sushi shops, with a single style of cuisine, and none of them had the kind of mixed dishes that the victim had eaten.
"It's a pity. If we knew the company that fired Yukihiro Otsuka or one of the companies he went to work for afterward, we could trace his movements."
After the investigation, Takagi couldn't help but sigh. "We can't make much progress in the current situation."
Having visited two places, they had made some progress, but it was becoming difficult because both the lead of Yukihiro Otsuka's residence and his family had been cut off for nearly a year.
It was even harder to investigate now, and even Senichi couldn't think of a good method for the time being.
Fortunately, there was always a way out. Uncle Toshiro from the forensics team had good news.
They found out where one of the three keys belonged to.
So the two of them hurried back to the police headquarters to get the key. They brought the other two keys along because they couldn't trace their origin.
After driving to the address, rows of containers came into their view.
Upon arriving at the office and explaining their purpose, a middle-aged man received them as the person in charge.
"Yes, this is indeed the key to our rented container."
He took a look at the key in Officer Takagi's evidence bag and nodded in recognition.
Takagi took out a photo of Yukihiro Otsuka and said, "The key should have been rented by this person. Do you remember him?"
"Oh, I remember." The middle-aged man looked at the photo and nodded. "The impression is quite deep. This guy violated the contract."
"Violated the contract?" Senichi asked in confusion. "Can you please tell us what exactly happened?"
"About a month and a half ago, a customer called us and said that someone was living in the container." The middle-aged man said angrily. "So I took a flashlight and spare key at night and went to check the container he rented. When I opened the door, I found him sleeping soundly inside!"
"I scolded him a bit, and he ran away with his blanket without even returning the key!"
Upon hearing the middle-aged man's words, Senichi and Takagi exchanged glances, and both saw the confusion in each other's eyes.
Based on their previous investigation, Yukihiro Otsuka had moved out of the apartment because he had found a job and new place to live. But why would he be sleeping inside a container?
Although this mystery remained unanswered and more questions seemed to arise, Senichi did make some progress.
Afterwards, Senichi checked Yukihiro Otsuka's rental information and found that the address field on the container contract was filled with the address of the previous apartment where he had already moved out.
However, the address of the mailbox was not the same as the original apartment address; it was a different mailbox address.
This was good news because they might have found the purpose of the other key among the three.
Speaking of which, let's talk about the mailbox.
As we all know, before the prevalence of telephone communication, the common mode of communication was mailboxes. Although phone calls, text messages, and electronic emails on mobile phones became dominant afterward, mailboxes were still popular in the 1990s.
Like in the MoonShadow Island case, whether it's a company or an apartment, almost every household has a mailbox. In that case, Narumi sent a letter to Kogoro Mouri and even included money in it.
After finding the mailbox of Yukihiro Otsuka, the two of them took out three things from it.
The first item was a letter sent by the container rental company, stating that Yukihiro Otsuka had violated the contract and was terminated forcefully, demanding the return of the key.
As for the second item, it was five identical "Resident Forms." These were actually A4 printed papers containing residential address information, which is generally required when applying for a job in Japan. However, the addresses displayed on them were still the location of the apartment from which he had moved out of.
The last item was a letter from the Social Security Office of the Mika Ward Government.
However, the contents had been taken out, and only from the envelope could one tell that it was sent by the Social Security Office.
Moreover, there was no signature or trace of a postage stamp on it, and it didn't look like it had been used.
Takagi flipped through it and found a website address and another address written on the back.
After discussing it, the two of them decided to first visit the Social Security Office and inquire there. If they didn't find any clues, they would investigate the other address and website.
So the two of them got back in the car and headed to the Social Security Office in the Mika Ward.
There's no other way; on-site investigations are tedious and boring. You need to visit many places and gather testimonies, investigating bit by bit for relevant information.
After questioning, they finally found the staff member who had contact with Yukihiro Otsuka.
"Oh, he did come. He came for a consultation on living conditions," said the bespectacled staff member named Yamakawa, looking at Yukihiro Otsuka's photo and nodding.
"A consultation on living conditions?" Takagi couldn't help but ask, "Does that refer to general job consultations or something similar?"
"Yes, that's right. We have that responsibility here."
According to Yamakawa, during the consultation, Yukihiro Otsuka mentioned that he had been looking for work ever since he graduated from university, but it was a low point at that time, and he couldn't find a job. He had been doing temporary work as a dispatched worker.
A dispatched worker refers to someone employed by a dispatch company. Since the contracts are short-term, they have to continue finding new work after the contracts expire.
Two years ago, he started working at an event planning company, but he had a lot of time with no work. In the meantime, Yukihiro Otsuka looked for jobs during his free time. Although he didn't have any success, he studied public health-related knowledge and obtained qualifications as a medical insurance claims officer.
The planning company also proposed to hire him as a regular employee, and everything seemed to be going smoothly.
But just a month after becoming a regular employee, the planning company's performance suddenly declined, and Yukihiro Otsuka was fired again.
After that, according to the boss of the company, they recommended Yukihiro Otsuka to work at a construction company, and he became a hired worker with much lower wages.
"So, you mean Yukihiro Otsuka sought help here because of the difficulties in his life?" After listening to Yamakawa's words, Takagi recorded it in his notebook while asking.
"Not exactly. After going there, he was suddenly fired again."
"What happened after that?" Senichi asked, "What advice did you give him?"
"Because he obtained qualifications in public health, I told him about specialized job search websites." Yamakawa replied.
Afterward, Senichi took out the envelope and handed it to Yamakawa for confirmation, confirming that the website and address were written by him.
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