"What! Kanekichi tried to poison you?" the police sergeant glared, and the man dressed like a miner standing before him, with his hands tied, lifted his head.

"Yes... and... I hit Kanekichi," the man said, spitting out the words, glaring at the pickaxe lying on the newspaper-covered floor in front of the desk. One of its two ends was still smeared with fresh blood.

The sergeant, looking surprised, adjusted his posture as if to compose himself.

"Hmm, why... Why did he try to poison you?"

"Well, it's because of this..." the man, who looked like a coal miner, swallowed and glanced back at the victim's body lying on the concrete floor at the entrance, covered with a straw mat.

"I caught a cold the day before yesterday and was sleeping in the shed. Last night, that bastard Kane came home early from work and asked, 'How are you feeling?'"

"Hmm, so you and Kane weren't originally on bad terms, then."

"Yes, that's right. By the way, I might as well confess in my despair that there is a history of a ten-ryo debt between Kane and me from a hanafuda game. Although, whether I lent him ten ryo or he lent me ten ryo, I can't remember because it was so long ago. It's a trivial amount, so I didn't care much, but whenever I saw his face, it strangely bothered me. I thought if Kane brought it up, we would figure out who owed whom, so I kept quiet... When Kane visited me, I remembered it again. I told him, 'I seem to have a fever and feel terrible. This is the first time I've felt like this, so I might die.' That bastard said, 'Then I'll go get a doctor,' and left, but he never came back. I was fuming, thinking he had just spat on me. Then, at the stroke of midnight, Kane returned, soaking wet from the rain, with a red face as if he had been punched somewhere. He sat down forcefully by my bedside and shouted that the mine office doctor had been at the brothel for days and was absent, and that he would break the doctor's shin the next time he saw him."

"Hmm, that's a disturbing story."

"Hey, guv... those guys are really just beasts in clothes."

"Indeed. So, what did Kane do next?"

"After that, he went to see a doctor in the village beyond the mountain and then went out to catch eels in the morning."

"What, eel fishing..."

"Yes, that's right. Recently, he's been eel fishing every day and is rarely at home. It turns out that the doctor is much better at eel fishing than his actual profession."

"Ridiculous... Don't talk nonsense."

"Yes, but that's what Kane said."

"I see. And then what did he do?"

"Then Kane found a general store in the village and asked if they had any good medicine to cure a cold. The shopkeeper said that colds had been rampant recently and they were sold out, but they had a horse fever reducer called Akadama. Since it could lower a horse's fever, it should work for humans too. So, he bought it. 'However, I know that medicine works better on animals, so a smaller dose is enough. Humans need to take more for it to be effective, so I bought two Akadama. If you take them all at once, it should work great. Don't worry about the money, just take the medicine,' Kane said, and he brought hot water and the medicine bags to my bedside. I was so moved by Kane's kindness that I shed a few tears. Thinking I must have owed Kane ten yen, I tore open the medicine bag. Despite being called Akadama (red ball), it was covered in blue mold and about an inch in diameter. I swallowed them one by one with hot water, but it was very painful, and I almost choked, sweating profusely."

"Hmm. So, did your cold get better?"

"Yes... This morning, I still felt a bit dizzy, but my fever seemed to have gone down. While I was celebrating my recovery with some sake, the eel-fishing doctor came on a bicycle, saying he had a message from Kane from yesterday. He was a dirty old codger around fifty, but seeing him made me inexplicably angry. I shouted, 'Digger, I have no business with a quack like you. Unfortunately, I have two Akadama in my stomach,' and the doctor turned pale and looked like he was about to run away but just stared at my face without moving."

"Hmm, why is that?"

"The old codger stared at my face for a while and then said, 'So, when did you take those two Akadama?' and started trembling. I got creeped out and said, 'I definitely took the Akadama, the ones with blue mold, with hot water just after midnight last night. Thanks to that, my fever went down this morning, but why do you ask?' The old doctor looked relieved and said, 'You were lucky. The blue mold must have weakened the medicine's effect. The fever reducer in those Akadama is several times the dose for humans, so if it had worked, your heart would have been paralyzed, and you would have died. In any case, it's dangerous to drink alcohol now, so stop,' and he held my hand down."

"Hmm. I see."

"After hearing this, I immediately left the shed, went down into the mine, found Kane at work, and struck him on the top of his head from behind. Then I turned myself in to you, guv. I didn't run or hide. Yes."

"Hmm. But I don't understand. Why did you kill Kane?"

"Don't you get it? That bastard took advantage of my illness to poison me and swindle ten ryo from me. Because he was always knowledgeable. Right? Think about it."

"Hmm, is that the only reason?"

"Only? Isn't that reason enough?"

"You fool. So, you're sure you lent Kane ten ryo?"

"Yes, that's right. And I was very angry that Kane mistook me for a horse."

"Hahaha. You're really a fool."

"Yes... But I can't ignore being humiliated."

"Hmm. That may be true... But still, I don't understand what you're saying."

"Why, guv?"

"Think about it. Your idea that you can judge Kane's behavior regarding money lending based on his usual demeanor is wrong..."

"It's not wrong. He tried to poison me... Your thinking is unreasonable, guv."

"Shut up!" the sergeant suddenly shouted angrily. He seemed to be in a bad mood because of the miner's excuses, his face turning red with veins bulging.

"Shut up, you rude fellow. Isn't the fact that the medicine cured your cold proof enough?"

"Yes," the miner said, his mouth agape as if deflated. He looked around nervously, then slumped to the floor. Tears fell as he prostrated himself.

"...Kane... I did a terrible thing to you... Guv, please sentence me to death."