Chapter 453

Ota Ward, the apartment where the incident occurred, around 10:35 a. m., police and yellow tape everywhere.

Police sirens wailed from afar and drew near, their numbers rapidly increasing.

Soon, the elite vehicles of the Metropolitan Police Department's Investigation Division 1 came screeching to a halt, the earsplitting screech of brakes echoing downstairs. The car doors opened, and the first to step out was the Section Chief of the Violent Crimes Section Three of Investigation Division 1, National Hero Inspector Kashiwagi Jin!

He was about thirty years old, of sturdy build, with a stern face and sharp, knife-like eyes, exuding the confidence and undeniable aura unique to elite bureaucrats. He quickly slipped on white gloves while striding purposefully toward the elevator, followed by his grim-faced subordinates and forensic personnel carrying a heavy toolbox.

Sure enough, upon hearing the report from the local police station, the Metropolitan Police Department side was both shaken and panicked.

Okada? How could it be Okada?!

He is a national hero who saves lives, one of the flagship figures the Metropolitan Police Department has poured all its efforts into crafting!

How could he commit murder?

And when they heard that the prime suspect was actually Okada Masayoshi, several inspectors from Investigation Division 1, upon hearing the news, were unwilling to take on the case, and even Superintendent Higurashi, who was in charge of managing this matter, appeared quite hesitant.

Okada Masayoshi is the Section Chief of the Special Mission Unit, and moreover, the son of the Commissioner of the Financial Services Agency!

Nobody wanted to take it on, and sure enough, this task was ultimately given to Kashiwagi Jin, and only him.

Sure enough, only Kashiwagi Jin was willing to take on this job.

"Situation!" Kashiwagi Jin's voice was concise and powerful, directed at the patrol officer guarding the entrance, still shaken from the ordeal.

"Report... reporting to Inspector Kashiwagi! Inside... Mrs. Okada Miki is lying in the living room with a knife stabbed into her chest! Another male, identity unknown, suffered severe head trauma and died in the genkan! Inspector Okada Masayoshi... he... he is covered in blood, fleeing via the fire escape! We... we couldn't catch up..." The patrol officer reported at breakneck speed.

"Trash!" Kashiwagi Jin let out a cold snort, his eyes growing even colder, "Seal the scene! Everyone, proceed according to procedure! Move fast!"

Kashiwagi Jin was the first to step into the apartment.

A thick stench of blood assailed the nostrils, so much so that even a seasoned elite of the career track furrowed his brow slightly at the gruesome sight before him. But he quickly adjusted his state, his eyes scanning the entire space like a scanner: the male corpse with a caved-in head at the genkan (Koizumi Ryosuke), the female corpse lying in a pool of blood in the center of the living room, a fruit knife embedded in her chest (Okada Miki), scattered items, signs of struggle... a standard "catching adultery in bed, killing in rage" hellish painting.

Forensic pathologists Higashiyama Takeshi and Kamioka Hideo from the Forensic Identification Division immediately began their work, taking photos, marking lines, collecting traces. Kashiwagi Jin, meanwhile, acted like a battlefield commander, pacing through the bloodstained living room while listening to the preliminary oral report from the person in charge of the on-site forensics team:

"Inspector Kashiwagi! Preliminary situation:"

"Female victim Okada Miki, 28 years old, housewife, fatal injury a single-edged blade stab wound to the chest, penetrating the heart, killed instantly. The weapon is this fruit knife."

"Male victim Koizumi Ryosuke, 25 years old, bartender at the nearby nightclub bar 'Parcival', preliminarily determined to have died from blunt force trauma to the head, with a depressed skull fracture. The blunt instrument weapon was not found at the scene."

"In the right hand of the female victim Okada Miki, which was clenched tightly, several hairs and skin flakes were found, suspected to belong to Koizumi Ryosuke! Congestion in the lower body, consistent with sexual activity!"

"Clear fingerprints were extracted from the handle of the fruit knife! Preliminary comparison shows they belong to Inspector Okada Masayoshi and Koizumi Ryosuke! Okada Masayoshi's fingerprints are positioned consistent with a gripping force point!"

"According to the investigation of the taxi driver, Okada Masayoshi got out of the taxi at approximately 9:42."

"The apartment building's main gate surveillance clearly captured Okada Masayoshi entering the building at 09:55!"

"Testimony from neighbor Mitada-san of the same floor: around 10:00 sharp, she saw Okada Masayoshi standing at her doorstep, solemn expression, holding a small gift box!"

"Patrol officers from the precinct confirmed: arrived at the scene around 10:05, and around 10:07 witnessed Okada Masayoshi, covered in blood, fleeing via the fire escape, and at the scene resisting arrest before escaping quickly!"

"Exam candidate residing on the upper floor reported at 09:50, stating that between 09:48 and 09:50, she heard intense arguing, a woman's scream, and fighting and crashing noises from downstairs! We preliminarily judge this noise to be the sound produced during the commission of the murder!"

"Due to the repeated switching on and off of the air conditioning system inside the apartment, making it difficult to accurately infer the time of death, but combining the time of the reported noise (09:48-09:50) and Okada Masayoshi's time of entering the apartment at 10:00, we believe the time of death is more likely closer to the upper limit of that interval or even slightly later, highly consistent with Okada's time of entry!"

Listening to one report after another, Inspector Kashiwagi Jin's eyes grew brighter and brighter, the corner of his mouth even twitching into a hint of coldness, carrying the meaning of "just as expected." He no longer needed more complex reasoning! All the fragments, in his mind, instantly assembled into a "perfect," indisputable picture!

He abruptly stopped his steps, standing in the center of the living room, like a judge pronouncing judgment, his voice loud and full of confidence, even tinged with a hint of excitement at cracking a major case:

The scheming frog has been feeling your belly all along!

"Enough! The matter is already crystal clear! A typical crime of passion!" He surveyed all the officers and forensic personnel present, his tone decisive and unquestionable.

"Motive clear: Okada Masayoshi bears the reputation of a 'National Hero,' while his wife Okada Miki is deeply entangled in the public opinion vortex of 'cold-hearted gold-digger,' her reputation severely damaged! More crucially, Mrs. Miki actually met her lover Koizumi Ryosuke in their home on Black Valentine's Day! Neighbor testimony and physical evidence at the scene (the opened Okamoto 001) all point to this! This is a disgrace any man would find unbearable, and for Okada Masayoshi, this elite career-track individual with high pride, it is nothing short of a devastating blow!"

He pointed toward Koizumi's corpse in the genkan: "Okada Masayoshi entered the building at 09:55, was seen by neighbors at her doorstep at 10:00 'hesitating' (in fact, congealing killing intent!), then entered the apartment. He burst in on his wife and lover's affair! In the genkan, he first engaged in a fierce conflict with lover Koizumi Ryosuke! In anger, he grabbed a blunt instrument at hand (possibly a decorative ornament, later taken away and destroyed by him), and struck Koizumi's head violently, causing his immediate death! This is the source of the fighting and impact noises heard by the exam candidate between 09:45 and 09:50! The timing basically matches up!"

His finger then suddenly turned toward Miki's corpse in the living room: "After killing the lover, Okada Masayoshi rushed into the living room! Faced with his terrified wife, new and old grudges piled up, he completely lost reason! He snatched or picked up the fruit knife possibly carried or dropped by Koizumi, and stabbed it into Miki's heart! Clean and decisive! This is the conclusion of the 'woman's scream' heard by the exam candidate! The entire process, under extreme anger and his trained physical capabilities, was completed in just a few minutes! Entirely possible!"

Kashiwagi Jin's voice rose higher and higher, filled with the confidence of "discerning the truth": "After the killing, he perhaps had a moment of shock, but soon, the police arrived (10:05)! As a police officer, he is all too aware of what the 'ironclad evidence' (the bloodstains on his person, fingerprints, the Okamoto 001 on the desk) means for him! Survival instinct overrides everything! He chose the most foolish yet also most psychologically fitting way for a criminal—resisting arrest, assaulting officers, fleeing! This further solidifies his guilt!"

He finally concluded, as if sealing a coffin: "Logic clear! Evidence chain complete! Motive sufficient! Behavior pattern consistent! The killer, aside from Okada Masayoshi, absolutely no second person possible!"

Kashiwagi Jin looked at his subordinates, his eyes sharp: "Immediately! Consolidate the on-site investigation report, surveillance footage, witness testimonies, and preliminary physical evidence analysis! Form an emergency report! I want to report to the Metropolitan Police Department and Criminal Investigation Department Chief Uchimura and Investigation Division Chief Sugishita within ten minutes! Apply for the issuance of a nationwide arrest warrant! Target of the warrant: Special Unit Inspector Okada Masayoshi of the Metropolitan Police Department! Charge: Intentional homicide! Danger level: Highest! Designate him as an extremely dangerous individual!"

"Yes, Inspector Kashiwagi!" The subordinates replied in unison, immediately dispersing to act. The entire scene's atmosphere, under Kashiwagi Jin's unilateral decision and confidence, seemed to have "settled." The forensics personnel also sped up, as they saw it, Inspector Kashiwagi's deduction was sound and reasonable, the evidence pointed clearly, and the remaining work was merely to refine the details, to cement this conclusion.

Kashiwagi Jin stood at the edge of the blood pool, gazing at the two cold corpses, his face showing not the slightest relaxation after solving the case, but rather a mixture of heaviness and professional coldness.

He picked up the police radio, preparing to directly report to headquarters his "major discovery" and "clear conclusion," pushing that net of heaven and earth aimed at his former colleague, today's "killing demon" Okada Masayoshi, to unfold as quickly and as severely as possible across all of Japan! The "blemish" of the Metropolitan Police Department must be eradicated with thunderous means!

However, at this very moment, Kashiwagi Jin suddenly hesitated.

It seemed... something was off.

Where exactly was it off?

Right, the timing of the crime doesn't match!

The exam candidate upstairs heard the noises from downstairs between 9:48 and 9:50, and reported at 9:50, while Okada Masayoshi got out of a nearby taxi at 9:42, entered the building at 9:55 as captured by surveillance, and there was simply no time for the crime to occur in between.

Kashiwagi Jin thought it over, and came up with a possibility.

That is, Okada Masayoshi first got out of the taxi, ran quickly back into the apartment to commit the crime, then exited from another part of the apartment, pretending to have entered through the main door, to fabricate an alibi for himself!

He is this familiar with escape routes, so he must certainly also be familiar with other ways to avoid surveillance and enter the apartment!

Exactly right!

Ah, there is another possibility, namely that the exam candidate upstairs heard not the sound of a man and woman arguing, but the sound of a man and woman having an affair, and Inspector Okada himself was actually at the doorstep at 10:00, discovered the two people inside having an affair, was hesitating at that moment, and then encountered the passing Mitada-san.

After Mitada-san left, Okada entered to commit the crime, then the police arrived at 10:05 following the report, and Okada fled at 10:07.

No, looking at it this way, no matter how, Okada's crime time would only be about 3-4 minutes at most.

Is that enough? His physique... could he really kill two people in three minutes?

Kashiwagi Jin thought it over, and recalled Okada Masayoshi's heroic performance in the Ghost Guest case in Toshima Ward.

Exactly right, other people's words might not hold, but for Okada, three minutes is enough!

Even if Uesugi Muneyuki came to the scene, he would surely agree with my hero's view!

Unfortunately, Uesugi cannot participate in this case because he needs to avoid suspicion.

But it's fine, the Metropolitan Police Department still has me!

Kashiwagi Jin nodded confidently, thinking he would file a tentative report for now; as for the specific situation, he would have to personally investigate the scene!

This was a case involving a former National Hero, so he absolutely could not be negligent!

He had to investigate thoroughly and beautifully, with both witness testimony and physical evidence complete!

……………………

Just before Kashiwagi Jin arrived at the crime scene, Uesugi Muneyuki happened to pick up the phone.

"Uesugi-san! Save me!" A fatigued, weak male voice came from inside.

"…………Okada-san?"

"Uesugi-san, it wasn't me, it really wasn't me, you have to believe me!" Okada Masayoshi on the phone sounded both pained and frantic: "I got home and saw that scene, you definitely have to…… I don't have time to say more, you'll find out what happened very soon, tell…… tell my father about this! Let him think of a way!"

"Hello, hello???" Uesugi Muneyuki was full of question marks.

And just at this moment, Kai Toru rushed into the Special Mission Unit from outside.

"Not good, not good! Major incident occurred!!!" Kai Toru, son of the Vice-Minister of Justice, had a face full of shock: "Okada-san, he killed someone!"

"What What???"

(Chapter End)