Sapporo North District, Hokkaido University Hospital.
This is a national comprehensive hospital with considerable strength and reputation, established in 1919 with more than forty different departments, covering an extremely wide range.
It is one of the best hospitals in Sapporo City.
The daughter of the worker who had committed suicide had undergone a kidney transplant surgery and was under observation here.
Having already checked the patient’s room in advance, Nakamura Shinichi took Aoyama Xiu Xin straight there.
"Senior Police Director, it’s here." Stopping at the door of the ward, Nakamura Shinichi said, then politely raised his hand and knocked, "May we come in?"
"Hi! Please come in." A female voice responded from inside.
Nakamura Shinichi pushed the door open, waited for Aoyama Xiu Xin to enter first, and then followed and closed the door behind him.
The room was for a single patient, but it wasn’t large. A young girl, weak and pale-faced, lay on the bed, not beautiful, but rather delicate.
It was the worker’s daughter.
Next to the hospital bed stood a middle-aged woman with graying hair and a somewhat aged appearance. She dressed simply, and her hands bore numerous calluses, clearly from years of labor.
She must be the worker’s wife.
There was also a bowl of unfinished white porridge on the bedside table, apparently, the middle-aged woman had been feeding breakfast to the daughter in the bed before Aoyama Xiu Xin arrived.
"Do you need something?" Seeing the two well-dressed and dignified men, the middle-aged woman, feeling somewhat inferior, timidly asked while clutching the corner of her clothes.
A typical image of a lower-class housewife.
The daughter on the bed stared at Aoyama Xiu Xin for a while with wide eyes and asked uncertainly, "Is... is it Officer Aoyama Xiu Xin?"
Young people always pay more attention to the trending news. Although she was sick, it did not prevent her from watching television.
"That’s right, it’s me." Aoyama Xiu Xin smiled kindly and nodded, then took out a business card and handed it to the middle-aged woman, "Good day, madam. I am Aoyama Xiu Xin, Deputy Director of the Criminal Department of Hokkaido Police Headquarters."
Aside from the very lowest class, slightly better-off Japanese can’t live without business cards in their daily lives.
It would still be the same decades later.
"Ah! So, it’s Officer Aoyama. I have heard about you; I apologize for the oversight." The middle-aged woman clumsily received the business card and repeatedly bowed, "May I ask what brings you here?"
Nakamura Shinichi timely brought a chair and placed it behind Aoyama Xiu Xin. After Aoyama sat down, he naturally took control, extending a hand to invite the middle-aged woman, "Madam, we can sit down to talk."
"Hi!" The middle-aged woman nodded repeatedly and sat down, though somewhat stiffly with her body straightened unconsciously.
"It’s ," Aoyama Xiu Xin’s expression turned grave and he seriously said, "You must have heard about the serial dismemberment case last month."
As he asked this, he firmly stared into the middle-aged woman’s eyes to watch her facial expressions.
The middle-aged woman twitched her little finger slightly when she heard "serial dismemberment case," subconsciously avoiding eye contact with Aoyama Xiu Xin, and said, "Yes, it’s terrifying. They must catch the murderer. Is there anything I can help with? Deputy Director Aoyama, perhaps we should talk outside, my daughter needs to rest."
As she finished speaking, she hastily got up.
"Let’s talk here, sitting is more convenient than standing." From her reaction, Aoyama Xiu Xin knew what he needed to know; a simple wife of a laborer couldn’t perfectly mask her first reactions, "Besides, your daughter is probably curious about the case too."
"Yes, mom, if I can help Deputy Director Aoyama, I’d be glad too," the daughter in the bed showed a faint smile, her eyes expressing curiosity, excitement, among other emotions.
The middle-aged woman, left standing awkwardly for a moment, then sat down again, but she was restless, as if sitting on pins, and nervously said, "Deputy Director Aoyama, please continue speaking, but I only saw a bit of the news; I might not be of much help."
At this point, she nervously fidgeted with her hands.
"Please hear me out," Aoyama Xiu Xin signaled her to stay calm, then continued, "The key to solving this case lies in the fact that the heads of the victims have not been found, making it impossible to identify all but the first victim."
"And, the surveillance near the first victim’s home had been out of order for a long time and hadn’t been fixed, so there weren’t effective clues there either. However, on the night of the opening ceremony of the Snow Festival, seven heads appeared, and the identities of the seven victims were confirmed, and the police immediately launched an investigation based on this, revealing all clues."
Aoyama Xiu Xin spoke slowly, a tone that allowed people to patiently listen to him, yet it also carried a sense of oppression. The middle-aged woman’s forehead began to sweat.
"We reviewed the footage around the stage and near the other six victims’ homes and found the same figure in the footage, which was your husband, your daughter’s father, the scaffolder who committed suicide."
"Ah!" The middle-aged woman screamed, her face turning frantic as she spoke, "Stop, don’t say anymore!"
She anxiously turned to look at her daughter.
"Mom! What’s going on? Didn’t you say dad died accidentally at work and that I could get surgery because you received compensation?" The daughter’s expression on her face dramatically changed to one of disbelief.