Chapter 189

After hearing the whole question, Miho Toyama did not answer immediately, but asked Yuto Akiwara to repeat it again, and took out paper and pen to write all the clues on the paper.

She looked at the clues on the paper, hesitated for a while, and then said her thoughts, "He is creating an alibi."

Yuto Akiwara did not answer whether it was correct or not immediately, but said, "Tell me why you think so."

Miho Toyama nodded and then analyzed, "The other party's appearance is very prominent, creating an image of a down-and-out man, making people remember him deeply very quickly."

"Besides this, his actions are also very abnormal. He clearly has no money but donated the only 10,000-yen banknote in his wallet; he went to buy a rice ball even though it wasn't mealtime. And he also deliberately sat in the front row when taking the bus."

"These abnormal actions can all leave a deep impression on others, making others remember him and prove that he appeared at this time. And he kept taking out his phone to confirm the time, which was also to confirm whether his accomplice had completed the crime."

"Master, is my way of saying it correct?"

Yuto Akiwara nodded with satisfaction and then shook his head, "Have you considered other situations?"

"Other situations?" Miho Toyama looked puzzled.

Yuto Akiwara explained, "The other party is wearing a suit but looks haggard; it is very likely that he just returned from a business trip, and the famous watch on his hand was a gift from his father-in-law. As for getting off the train on the weekend, it was just because he returned from a business trip."

"Before he went on a business trip, he promised to give his daughter a gift, so he mailed the gift and luggage home, which is why he was empty-handed."

"Not only that, he might have gone on a business trip abroad, so there was only one 10,000-yen banknote in his wallet, and the rest were foreign currencies. He was embarrassed to take back the wallet he took out, so he donated the 10,000 yen."

"Going to the convenience store to buy a rice ball was also to break the banknote to take the bus. The reason for sitting in the front row was because of motion sickness; naturally, one cannot keep staring at the phone when having motion sickness."

After hearing Yuto Akiwara's explanation, Miho Toyama looked dissatisfied, "Master, isn't this too much of a cheat? Where can you add so many restrictive conditions!"

Yuto Akiwara waved his hand and replied with a smile, "But are there any logical errors in what I said? In other words, compared to your inference that the other party is creating an alibi, is my way of saying it more in line with the reality of life?"

Hearing this, Miho Toyama hesitated; she found that Yuto Akiwara's way of saying it had no logical flaws, at least she couldn't say he was wrong.

Yuto Akiwara successfully saved his "dignity as a master," felt relieved in his heart, and then continued, "Besides what I just said, we can also derive another possibility."

"Another possibility?" Miho Toyama became puzzled again.

"That is, this person is very likely to want to commit suicide." Yuto Akiwara didn't keep her in suspense and continued, "The other party is wearing a wedding ring but his clothes are wrinkled, which means no one helps him iron his clothes, and his haggard face represents malnutrition."

"This means that his family environment has a certain problem; his wife may have run away from home, divorced, or passed away."

"It's clearly the weekend, but he has to wear a suit and a famous watch, and he even donated the only 10,000 yen."

"Isn't all this current situation just that kind of down-and-out person who wants to donate everything he has and then go to die in the best state?"

Miho Toyama didn't expect that there could be this way of saying it, so she thought for a while and found that this explanation was also very consistent with the analysis of this event.

The more she pondered, the more she felt that there was a different "deep meaning" in it.

An abnormal event actually has three different but logically self-consistent analyses behind it. If the supplementary conditions were changed, then this abnormal event could even extend to three different ending directions! Or more?

Is this the gap between me and a famous detective writer?!

Master is clearly not much older than me!

While Miho Toyama was feeling emotional, her old father, Shuichi Toyama, was standing outside the *shoji* door eavesdropping, nodding while listening.

He had already agreed to his daughter's decision to apprentice, but he still wanted to figure out whether Yuto Akiwara would take some real things to teach her.

As a literature professor at Kyoto University, he had a certain understanding of many writers.

As far as he knew, many writers often hid their true knowledge, making many disciples who apprenticed learn nothing for many years...

But what Mr. Akiwara just said revealed a lot of concepts about creation.

This point was very rare.

The writer industry seems to have a low threshold, and anyone can write, but real debut writers have to constantly try and constantly make mistakes.

If someone can lead the way, they can often take fewer detours.

These detours can often be a gap of several years or even more than a decade... On this detour, I don't know how many writers have given up their writing path.

Really, if a writer like Yuto Akiwara, who already has some fame, is willing to take apprentices, I guess his house wouldn't be able to stand, and it would be directly squeezed!

Shuichi Toyama was even more satisfied in his heart and decided to urge his graduate student to finish the thesis early in these two days.

Although it couldn't be considered repaying a favor, it could at least make Yuto Akiwara realize his importance.

Miho Toyama was very smart and diligent; she wrote down all the possible results Yuto Akiwara just mentioned on paper, preparing to go back and ponder them carefully.

Her purpose in apprenticing was for this, so naturally, she wouldn't miss any key points he mentioned.

After recording, she put down her pen, looked at Yuto Akiwara, and said, "Master, I understand what you mean."

Yuto Akiwara was a bit puzzled but didn't say much, just smiled and said, "Then tell me."

Miho Toyama nodded and started to talk about her point of view, "Master. The case you just cited is to tell me that when creating detective stories, you cannot just consider one possibility that fits the result."

"Instead, you must confirm all the current situations on the basis of evidence and exclude other results to prove the reliability of the reasoning result!"

"This..." Yuto Akiwara was stunned; he just wanted to maintain his "dignity as a master" and didn't think that much at all.

But he thought about it and found that he couldn't say that, so he coughed, "You are right; as a writer, you have to constantly consider the rationality of the work and avoid logical problems."

"If you want to be a successful detective writer, you have to exclude all other possibilities when designing tricks and motives."

Miho Toyama was very happy to get the teacher's approval and nodded vigorously, "Master, I know, I will work hard! I won't let you down!"

"Come on!" Yuto Akiwara said with a smile, then looked at the alarm clock hanging on the wall. After finding that it was getting late, he prepared to end the lesson.

He couldn't continue to correct the "homework" in his hand; if he continued to correct it, he would expose the fact that his vocabulary was insufficient—it would be too shameful for a master's vocabulary to be inferior to a disciple's.

He planned to see if he could find an opportunity to further his studies or "cram" after returning to Tokyo!

Just when he was about to say goodbye, the *shoji* door was pushed open, and Shuichi Toyama stood outside the door and smiled, "Mr. Akiwara, stay for *sukiyaki* tonight!"

He didn't plan to let him run away; at least he had to build a better relationship!