bookbashuk Page 68
Page 68
"This case has been closed by that guy at the gate. All the evidence and documents have been kept in tight custody. Not to mention me, a patrol officer, even other police inspectors would find it difficult to investigate."
"Senior, where is the evidence, those screws that serve as proof?" Matsuda asked, frowning.
"Others may not be able to get it, but I've been a criminal investigator for a long time, so I still have some influence."
The veteran detective smiled smugly. He glanced around, and seeing that no one was paying attention,
He took a package wrapped in several layers of plastic bags out of his pocket and handed it to Matsuda.
“These severed screws are the key evidence that turned that case from a suicide to a murder case. With them, it should be easier for you to overturn the case.”
"In addition, these are photos and documents from the evidence collection at the time, and I also took photos of them,"
The veteran patrolman pulled a file bag from the police car he had brought and handed it over.
"These are things I managed to sneak into the evidence room by risking my reputation, and you must make good use of them!"
"Thank you so much, senior!" Yue Shui was overjoyed.
They stole the evidence that had already been sealed by police headquarters.
From this perspective, the veteran detective has already committed a serious violation of police regulations.
"The broken ends of these screws are mostly uncorroded. I remember when Nagasone Rakuko died, it must have been during the rainy season," Matsuda asked. "In Shikoku, it must be rainy every day, right?"
“That’s right,” Koshimizu nodded. “If these screws were really cut by Kana beforehand to murder Nagasone Rakuko, I wouldn’t have missed them when I first went to investigate the scene.”
"Moreover, during the days when Nagasone Rakuko hanged herself, it was rainy almost every day in Kochi. You can find that out by checking the weather forecast."
"If the screw was sawed off during those days, the cut surface should have been severely corroded by rainwater by now."
"I don't believe that bastard detective couldn't have noticed such an obvious mistake!"
Yue Shui gritted her teeth, her face filled with anger.
Having obtained solid evidence, this trip to the four countries was not in vain.
"By the way, senior, won't this affect you...?"
Matsuda said with some concern, holding the evidence.
This old patrolman, though a bit grumpy and straightforward...
But knowing that they wanted to exonerate Kana Mizuguchi, who was wrongfully killed, they were still willing to risk being discovered to do so much, which is really quite remarkable.
"So what if it has an impact? Anyway, I'm almost retired."
The old patrolman laughed heartily.
"I've been a patrol officer my whole life, and now I don't expect to get promoted. If I can help a girl clear her name before I retire, even if it affects me a bit, it's all worth it!"
"senior……"
Yue Shui bowed respectfully to the old patrolman. He then said apologetically,
"I'm sorry, I lied to you before!"
"You mean you're impersonating a detective, right?" Detective Yoneya chuckled. "At first, I thought you were from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, but later, I realized something was off."
Chapter 83 You're too green.
Under Yue Shui's surprised gaze, the old detective said smugly, "Although your methods of on-site investigation are very meticulous, they are completely different from those of a detective in the details. And you also said that you are Officer Matsuda's assistant. Did you see them?"
The veteran detective pointed to the patrol officers next to the police inspector at the gate not far away.
They almost all had a small notebook in their hands, recording information from the scene.
"As an assistant to the investigating police officer, you must remember very clearly the time and place when the evidence was discovered."
"This isn't something you can just memorize; you have to write it down on paper and eventually put it into the case file."
"You didn't even prepare these things, yet you're pretending to be Matsuda's assistant."
The old patrolman shook his head as he spoke.
"Wow, I had so many flaws when I impersonated a detective!"
Yue Shui said somewhat embarrassedly.
"Actually, these are just small places. After all, all criminal police officers are trained by police academies and have strict rules and regulations for their work. You detectives are used to being relaxed, so you are naturally different in the details."
After giving an explanation, the veteran detective looked at Yue Shui intently again.
"But I wasn't wrong about what I said earlier. I think that, based on how seriously you examined the scene just now, you'll definitely be a responsible and good criminal investigator if you're willing."
“Actually, I’ve said that to her too,” Matsuda said with a smile.
The three men were chatting by the old patrolman's car when suddenly one of the patrolmen came out of the room and whispered a few words to the old patrolman.
"I knew it..." The old patrolman looked helpless.
"Yoneya-senpai, what's wrong?" Matsuda asked.
“They found a notebook in Matsushita’s room filled with apologies,” the old patrolman sighed. “There was something similar in Oshima’s room when he committed suicide. These two must have committed suicide because of the Lavender Villa case.”
Matsuda remained silent in response, while Koshimizu beside him also appeared somewhat sorrowful.
The fact that things have turned out this way isn't entirely without fault on the part of Detectives Matsushita and Oshima.
But the real culprit was the high school detective who steered the case from suicide to homicide investigation.
If he hadn't knowingly continued to mislead the police, these tragedies wouldn't have happened.
It would be truly outrageous if that high school detective wasn't brought to justice.
……
After bidding farewell to the old detective, Matsuda followed Koshimizu to find the final purpose of this trip to Shikoku.
That is, the thief who removed and modified the windows of the Lavender Villa.
"The thief's name is Hiroki Tsuchio. He sneaked into the Lavender Villa by posing as a cleaning worker after the Nagasone family cleaned it up after Nagasone Rakuko's suicide."
Koshimizu briefly explained the situation of the thief.
"Removing the windows and then gluing them back on was also to make it easier to break into the lavender villa when no one was there."
"But he didn't expect that less than two days after he removed the window, the high school detective would come over and discover the tricks he had made on the window, which also implicated my friend."
"Where is that guy now?" Matsuda asked.
"Hiroyuki Tsuchio is a minor actor who usually takes on small supporting roles to make a living,"
Yue Shui took out his phone.
“When you contacted me before, I had already sent him a message, lying that I was from the Tokyo film crew and that I was looking for him to play a small supporting role through an introduction. That guy must be short of money right now, so he didn’t suspect anything and agreed immediately.”
"Now all we need to do is agree on a time and place, and wait for him to come over."
……
In a coffee shop in Kochi, after Matsuda and Koshimizu entered,
Yue Shui looked around, then pointed to a short, overweight, balding man by the window and whispered,
"That guy is Tsuchio Hiroki!"
“Yes,” Matsuda nodded and walked over with Koshimizu.
"You're Tsuchio Hiroki?" Matsuda approached the balding man.
"That's right, you two are from the Tokyo production team? I wonder what kind of supporting role I've been given this time, and what the pay is..."
Tsuchio Hiroki rubbed his fingers together, clearly confirming what Koshimizu had said—this guy was indeed quite short of money.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have brought up payment as soon as they met.
"I'm a police officer." Matsuda took out his police handbook and showed it to him.
Hiroo Tsuchio's expression immediately tensed up. He broke out in a cold sweat and forced a dry laugh, "You two must be joking. Do you really want me to play a minor role as a policeman? I really can't do that..."
As he spoke, he tried to walk away.
Matsuda stood directly in front of him.
Do you think we're acting?
Matsuda raised his hand and pressed down on Tsuchio Hiroki's shoulder. With the power enhanced by the system, Tsuchio Hiroki's resistance was completely ineffective, and he was directly forced to sit down.
"You should know why we're looking for you, right?" Matsuda asked, staring intently at Tsuchio Hiroki.
"Well, how could I possibly know if the two officers didn't tell me..."
Tsuchio Hiroki chuckled awkwardly, completely ignoring Matsuda's words.
"He's definitely a seasoned veteran..." Matsuda thought to himself.
"Hiroshi Tsuchio, you tampered with the windows of Lavender Villa, didn't you?" Koshimizu couldn't help but ask sharply.
"This one……"
Hiroki Tsuchio's Adam's apple bobbed, and even more cold sweat broke out on his face.
His eyes flickered, he wiped away sweat, and was about to deny it.
Matsuda has already produced a list.
This time it's not fake; this is evidence collected by Koshimizu during his investigation of Tsuchio Hiroki.
"After Ms. Nagasone Rakuko's suicide, the Nagasone family hired a cleaning company to thoroughly clean the Lavender Villa,"
Matsuda coldly placed the list in front of Tsuchio Hiroki.
"Can you explain to us why your name isn't on the list, but someone saw you at the Lavender Villa that day?"
"This... perhaps they misread it..." Tsuchio Hiroki still wanted to deny it.
"You misread it? How about this one?"
Matsuda took out another photograph and placed it on the table.
"This photo was taken by the cleaning staff to show their work to the employer. Can you explain why you're in this photo?"
Seeing that Matsuda and Koshimizu had indeed produced solid evidence, Tsuchio Hiroki could no longer deny it and had no choice but to admit it.
"I did tamper with the windows of the Lavender Villa, but I only wanted to sneak in and steal some things. I never imagined it would end up killing someone!"