Chapter 338 The fire-starting device is...

Chapter 338 The fire-starting device is...

"Chief, we didn't find anything like an ignition device at the scene." The forensic officer came over and reported after inspecting the scene.

"No ignition device?" Inspector Gong Chang touched his chin. Without an ignition device, the only possible source of fire was a cigarette. "In that case, this fire was indeed an accident?"

During this time, Youya also observed the garage.

The antique car was in a very miserable state. It was completely burned and even one of its doors was blown off, falling not far from the body.

In the briefcase on the ground, there was an unopened pack of cigarettes, a lighter and some sundries.

The cigarette suspected to be the lighter was completely burnt, so it was impossible to tell whether it was the same brand as the cigarettes in the purse.

Of course, if this was really a murder case, the murderer would not make such a low-level mistake and put a cigarette that the deceased did not usually smoke, which would be a trap for himself...

However, if the source of the fire is not a cigarette...what other ways can you start a fire?

Yuya stroked his chin and kept looking around the garage, but he didn't find anything relevant.

He glanced at Ginbayashi Ena who was talking to Inspector Yuminaga, then turned to the forensic officer: "Mr. Forensic Officer, is there nothing else at the scene except this bag and the burnt cigarette?"

"Yes." The forensic officer brought out an evidence bag with a key that was burned black inside. "This is the key to the antique car. It seems to have been affected by the explosion and flew out of the garage. I almost missed it."

Yuya took the evidence bag and took a look. It turned out that this kind of antique car has a key? His sports car used an electronic remote control...

By the way, Agasa's Beetle and Gin's Porsche also use keys. They are both older cars, which match their ages quite well...

No, how old is Gin? He doesn't look 30, right? Yuya's thoughts wandered for a moment.

Miyano Shiho had been following Yuya. When she saw the car keys, she couldn't help but say, "Compared to the keys, the remote control is more convenient."

Yuya came back to his senses and looked at her in confusion: "Huh? What do you mean?"

Miyano Shiho pursed her lips and said, "When it's cold and you wear a sweater, if you get out of the car and lock the door with the key, there will be static electricity when you touch the car key. I don't like that stinging feeling, it will make me feel bad."

Yuya was stunned for a moment, then he grabbed Miyano Shiho's hand and asked, "What did you just say?"

“…I’ll be in a bad mood?”

Yuya subconsciously said with concern: "It's okay, I'm here..." He paused, "The sentence above..."

Miyano Shiho glanced at him with a slight movement in her eyes. This guy always makes your heart beat inadvertently. She said, "When I touch the car keys, there will be static electricity. I don't like that feeling..."

"That's it!" Yuya kissed Miyano Shiho hard on the face, which immediately attracted the attention of several police officers nearby.

Brother, this is the crime scene, okay? Thinking that I am still a single dog, I can't help but burst into tears.

Miyano Shiho was stunned for a moment, her ears turned red, and she pretended to be calm as she looked at the side...the burnt and deformed plastic bucket.

"If it's static electricity, it can indeed ignite it. In that case..."

Yuya glanced at the car keys in his hand, walked quickly to the forensic officer and asked, "Mr. Forensic Officer, can you tell what the deceased was wearing today?"

The forensic officer was stunned for a moment, and replied habitually: "Based on the burning residue on the surface of the body, it can be roughly inferred that it is wool or fluffy clothes."

"I know that," the woman who had stopped Yinlin Huinai at the beginning happened to hear this and said, "Mr. Zhou Teng is wearing a fleece coat with a wool sweater underneath today. Huinai specifically told him to wear this way on the phone."

"Oh?" Youye raised his eyebrows, "Specifically reminding me?" This is quite interesting.

"Yes," the woman didn't care about Yuya's attitude, and recalled with her finger on her chin, "I remember it very clearly, because Zhou Teng didn't like this kind of clothes, and the two of them even had a fight because of it!"

Yuya nodded thoughtfully: "I see, thank you."

Miyano Shiho asked quietly, "So, you think it was static electricity?"

Yuya nodded, "Yes."

"But can static electricity really do that?"

Yuya stroked his chin and groaned, "Of course, the spark of static electricity is small and only lasts for a moment, but it is more than enough to ignite the gasoline that fills the garage."

Miyano Shiho nodded in understanding, but still had some doubts: "Even if the deceased has static electricity on his body because of the fluffy clothes he is wearing, how can we ensure that this static electricity will successfully serve as an ignition device?"

Yuya felt that Miyano Shiho's question made sense. As far as he knew, there were many ways to eliminate static electricity, most of which could be done easily.

So how did the murderer ensure this? What mechanism did he use?

No, no suspicious items were found at the scene, so it shouldn't be a mechanism.

So it's words or hints?

Words…Thinking of this, Youya stared at the woman again.

"Hello..." Youya walked over and greeted him.

"Is there something wrong?" The woman looked at Youye puzzledly.

Youya smiled and said in a calm manner: "I have a few questions to ask you..."

The woman took a step back with caution: "I have a boyfriend, no need to date."

Yuya’s mouth twitched:…?

Miyano Shiho raised her eyebrows: ...?

Do I look like someone who would just date someone casually?

He coughed hard and said, "You misunderstood. I just wanted to find out something about Mr. Zhou Teng and Miss Hui Nai."

The woman was stunned for a moment, then she noticed that there was someone beside Youya, and immediately realized that she had misunderstood, and smiled awkwardly; "Sorry, I usually encounter too many people who approach me, and I unconsciously... So, what do you want to ask?"

Youya thought about it and asked, "You just said they had a fight about the sweater? Can you tell me more about it?"

The woman smiled and said, "What's there to say? It's just a normal quarrel between young lovers... But if you want to know, I'll just briefly explain it."

"We have parties here every weekend, don't we? I remember it was about three weeks ago. Hui Nai suddenly asked Mr. Zhou Teng to wear a sweater when he came to the party, and also asked him to drive an antique car." The woman pointed at the burnt car, "Here, this is it."

Did Ginbayashi Ena intentionally let the deceased drive the antique car? Yuya's eyes narrowed slightly.

"But Mr. Zhou Teng doesn't like wearing sweaters, nor does he like the antique car. The reason for their first quarrel was that he didn't do what Hui Nai asked. Hui Nai was so angry that she poured red wine on his clothes on the spot."

"Then last week, Mr. Zhou Teng put on his sweater and drove his antique car over, but the two of them had another argument."

Yuya raised his eyebrows, with a gossipy expression on his face: "What's the reason this time?"

The woman whispered, "Before Mr. Zhou Teng came to the party, he went somewhere else. Hui Nai said that he didn't arrive on time and didn't care about her feelings at all, so the two of them started arguing again."

"They quarreled occasionally before, but these two times were the worst," the woman shrugged. "It's very common, of course. Couples always quarrel. Plus, they're getting married soon, so it's normal for Ena to be a little anxious."

Yuya nodded slightly and said with a smile, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. If there's anything else you want to know, just ask me!" The woman had an expression that showed she was satisfied with her gossip.

Yuya smiled.

"How was it? Did you gain anything?" asked Miyano Shiho.

Yuya nodded: "I roughly understand it, but there is still something missing..."

"What is missing?"

You didn't reply, but scanned the garage, his eyes soon stopping on the burnt plastic barrels that were used to store gasoline.

He thought for a while, then walked over to Inspector Gongchang and asked with a hint of doubt: "Speaking of which, although it's not very safe to store gasoline in plastic barrels, it shouldn't leak gasoline, right? Did you find anything during the on-site investigation?"

Inspector Gongchang shook his head: "No, the plastic bucket was completely burned, and there is no trace of it."

Yinlin Huina suddenly said: "Maybe it's because of this child..."

Yuya turned his head and saw that she was squatting and enchanting a golden-haired head.

"This child always likes to run around and has a bad habit of knocking things over..."

After hearing what Yinlin Huina said, someone immediately agreed: "That's why I said long ago, don't use plastic barrels to store gasoline, it's very dangerous."

The people around him looked annoyed: "Who would have thought that the same thing would happen three times?"

"Three times?" Youye suddenly looked at the man, "You said the gasoline was spilled three times?"

The man was stunned for a moment and replied, "Yes, last week and the week before, when Zhou Teng came, he found that the gasoline had been spilled. Later, after finding out that it was Hui Na's golden retriever who did it, the two had a big fight."

"When we were arguing, we seemed to be talking about cars, clothes and so on..."

"That's enough!" Yinlin Huina suddenly screamed, "Don't mention those things anymore!"

The two people who were speaking were startled and quickly shut their mouths.

Yinlin Huina stroked the golden retriever's head with a sad face, muttering: "This happened because he obeyed what I asked him to do. In the final analysis, his love for me is nothing more than this..."

Yuya narrowed his eyes and looked at Yinlin Huina, and suddenly said: "Although I don't know Mr. Zhou Teng and don't know what kind of person he is, but since he put on a sweater and drove an antique car here as you requested this time, I believe he still has you in his heart."

"Is that so?" Yinlin Huina's expression was a little confused.

Inspector Yumio checked the time and said, "Well, since we've determined that this fire was an accident, let's call it a day."

"Wait!" Youye raised his hand to interrupt him.

"What's wrong, Kamiya-kun?" Inspector Yuminaga asked in confusion.

"Inspector Gongchang, actually, I have a different opinion about this fire."

"What do you think?"

Yuya said slowly: "The forensic officer did not find a fire-starting device at the scene, right?"

Inspector Gong Chang nodded: "Yes, and I have also confirmed everyone's alibi. When the explosion occurred, everyone was in the villa. Even if there is a timed fire device, there are too many uncertainties when we cannot be sure when Zhou Teng will arrive."

Yuya nodded: "That's true, but what if I say that there was actually a fire-starting device in this accident?"

"What did you say?" Inspector Yumio's eyes widened. "Where is it?"

Yuya turned around and slowly raised his hand to point somewhere: "This is it."

"Ah?" Inspector Yumio was confused. Yuya was pointing at the body covered by a white cloth. "You said the body was a fire-starting device. How is that possible?"

The others looked at Yuya in confusion.

Youye said calmly: "After the confirmation of the forensic officer and the testimony of the people present, Mr. Zhou Teng was wearing a sweater today, right?"

"Is that so?" Inspector Yumio looked at the forensic officer, who nodded quickly.

"To be precise, what Zhou Teng wore today was a long coat and a wool sweater." The woman who had just gossiped to Youye added.

Yuya nodded, "Does Inspector Yuminaga usually wear a sweater?"

Inspector Yumio was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Of course I'll wear it when it's cold. Sweaters are still very warm."

Yuya said, "So, have you ever had that experience? When you take off your clothes at night, if you turn off the lights, you will see that kind of scene."

"That kind of scene?" Inspector Yumio thought for a moment and said, "You mean the static electricity that crackles when you take off your clothes?"

"Wait!" Inspector Gongchang reacted immediately, "You mean, the source of this fire was static electricity?!"

Youya smiled and nodded. Inspector Yuminaga was indeed the one who specialized in arson cases, and he immediately made the connection.

Inspector Yumio rubbed his chin and pondered, "If it was static electricity, it could indeed ignite the gasoline that fills the garage. But isn't it common to have static electricity when wearing a sweater? What good does it do to know this?"

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you guys talking about? I don't understand." Someone shouted, and many people nodded in agreement.

Inspector Yuminaga couldn't help but look at Yuya.

Youya touched his nose and said, "In that case, let me explain it to you."

"First of all, I think everyone understands that wearing a sweater will cause static electricity, right?"

Everyone nodded. This was common sense, of course they knew it.

"Mr. Zhou Teng is wearing a fluffy coat and a wool sweater today. When driving, it is inevitable that people will have various movements that cause friction between the seat and the two sweaters. With the static electricity on Mr. Zhou Teng's body, it is more than usual."

"When he drove to the garage, Mr. Zhou Teng got out of the car and locked it with the car key. When the key touched the metal keyhole, static electricity was generated, and sparks appeared."

"At that time, the garage was already full of gasoline. The sudden appearance of the electric spark ignited the gasoline. Duobang! All of a sudden," Youye made an explosion gesture, "the garage exploded."

When everyone heard this, their eyes widened.