"What do you mean by that?" Shinichi Fujimura sat in the interrogation room and questioned in a very heated tone. "How could I possibly do such a thing?"

"Sir, please calm down," Officer Takagi (because this was in the Metropolitan Police Department's interrogation room, not an informal interview like before) calmed Fujimura's emotions. "Listen to me, we just want to ask you now - you should also know that the time for prosecution in this case has passed, so no matter what you say, you will not be prosecuted by us in the end."

"It's not a question of whether I'm going to be sued or not, it's a question of my reputation, my right to reputation, can you see what I mean?" Fujimura Shin didn't give an inch. "I'm a best-selling author now, and if my image is ruined, the sales of my books will be greatly reduced."

"All in all, it's ...... It must have been the ice axe you were using, right? Fujiwara, who was on the side, took a sketch of an ice axe drawn by Chiba and an appendix from a published memoir of a photo of Shinichi Fujimura and the rest of the expedition holding their own ice axes before the expedition set off. (Realizing that Gregory would be in serious trouble if he didn't, Fujiwara was busy with forensic work and hadn't had time to look at Hotaru's records, so he didn't know anything about it.) ）

"yes, what's wrong?" Fujimura Shinichi said after glancing in the direction of the ice axe.

"Have you ever lent this ice axe to someone else?" Fujiwara asked casually. "If not, then you may have to explain why, according to the results of our analysis, the shape of the tip of the high-end ice axe you were using at the time was found in the fatal wound on Mr. Ito's temple."

At this moment, both Officer Takagi and Fujiwara saw Fujimura's strange appearance - after revealing strong doubts about what Fujiwara had stated, Fujimura Shinichi was like a balloon that had suddenly been punctured, and all the dissatisfaction with the charges on his face was swept away, replaced by a look of hesitation that seemed to be quite shaken.

But it was only a short period of loss, just when Fujiwara thought that he could have a chance to break through Fujimura Shinichi's psychological defense at one time, the other party had already quickly regrouped his mind and recovered the tenacious state of not advancing before.

"The shape is the same, it doesn't mean it's my ice axe, right?" Shinichi Fujimura organizes logic in this way to refute Fujiwara's claims. "Any ice axe of the same type, or even just a similarly shaped one, should be able to make marks like that, so it's certainly untenable to accuse me. Moreover, the two gentlemen of the Metropolitan Police Department ......"

Shinichi Fujimura leaned forward slightly, and said to the two of them. "Does it really make sense to continue investigating this case? The prosecution period has passed - even if the murderer is found, there is no way to prosecute, you might as well say that the wound is a natural formation, and forget about it. ”

"......" Fujiwara and Takagi exchanged a look suspiciously - if the tenacity of Fujimura Shinichi was fearless before, and now it seems that he intends to let the whole case pass like this, what is the matter?

……

An hour later, Rice Flower Central Hospital.

"It has been confirmed above that the prosecution period of this case has passed, and the next conclusion will be that the wound comes from natural trauma." When Fujiwara led Chiba into Gregory's office, Grigory was looking at a document and saying this. "Although I was a little unwilling, I ...... In this case, even if you win, there is no point in - you just went to ask Shinichi Fujimura, right? Just throw away those files, and you won't need them. ”

"We feel that there is something wrong with Shinichi Fujimura," Fujiwara said quickly. "He-"

"Don't worry about it, even if he's a murderer, that's it." Grigory shook his head. "It's been 20 years, and unless there's ironclad evidence – which is almost impossible in this natural environment – it's impossible to declare him a murderer in public opinion. And...... The police said after the prosecution period that such speech should also be banned. ”

"That'...... What are we going to do now? Fujiwara eventually chose to follow Gregory's orders.

"Gilding the two of you," Gregory said, handing the slip to Fujiwara, who had come forward in understanding. "My assistant, I can't do it without two slightly more reliable journal foundations."

"You want to move those bones?" Fujiwara was stunned. "But those are not ......"

"Yes, it's the body found by my expedition, what's the problem?" Gregory asked rhetorically. "Now that I'm an authority in the field of forensics, it doesn't matter if I'm leading this experiment - at most, it's just a name for the two of them."

……

In the evening, the forensic section workshop.

"Have you done your first round of inspections? If it's OK, give me a rough report, long story short, ladies are the last, children are the first. ”

According to this principle, among the four people present, the first to report was Chiba, who was a little boy.

"Uh...... According to the results of oxygen isotope analysis of the teeth, the bones inside the sack discarded with Mr. Ito belonged to a total of three people, and the expedition believed that the bodies may have belonged to Henry Le Vesconte (h.l.v.) who died there, and John Irving and another unidentified crew member. But now, according to the genetic testing that we just done, from all three sets of leg bones, the genome of the Inuit actually belongs to the Inuit, that is, the natives. Only the third person is a typical Anglo-Saxon - according to our documents, this should indeed be the skeleton of the officer HLV on the expedition. Holding the results of the test report, Qianyu explained.

"Okay, then, the background material description group—" Grigory nodded, shifting his gaze from Chiba's body to his side.

“... The party halted on a long low spit, called by the natives Kung-e-ark-le-ar-u, on which the men last named "knew that a white man had been buried"... The spot was pointed out， but the snow covered all from view.” Gray Yuan Ai took the thick book in his hand and read the contents of it with a rather lazy gesture.

[The party stopped in a long, low headland known locally as kung-e-ark-le-ar-u, which was eventually named "a known place where white males were buried."] The spot was identified, but snow covered everything in sight. —Nourse, J.E. 1879, "Accounts of C.F. Hall's Second Arctic Expedition in Washington, D.C."

————————

Case...... Of course, it won't end here, although everyone should basically already know who the biggest suspect is, but ...... Shinichi Fujimura is not discredited, and I always feel that there is something weird, isn't it (

In addition, there is a holiday, and the 11th exam.

Also, I wish this book a smooth exam tomorrow~~~ (I hope I can get a good score myself)