Chapter 480

Outside the apartment, Uesugi Muneyuki's autopsy this time took an exceptionally long while, and the Metropolitan Police Department had already felt pressure coming from society.

As a national female idol group, although the older generation had graduated one after another, 48 Group had still performed at Tokyo Dome and the National Stadium; although they were no longer that popular, their name recognition among the entire populace was extremely high.

At this very moment, the news had already spread wildly across the entire internet; 48 Group's fans reacted intensely, and even the general public once again focused their attention on this group.

Especially Weekly Bunshun, which was still in a lawsuit with Uesugi Muneyuki, had finally found an opportunity for retaliation!

For a time, all eyes were concentrated on 48 Group and the Metropolitan Police Department.

Leaving 48 Group aside for now, on the Metropolitan Police Department side, Watanabe Eiji did not react much; to the Superintendent General, although this matter had a very bad impact, it did not involve politics or the economy at all, nor was it an extremely heinous criminal case, so Superintendent Watanabe simply sat tight on the fishing platform.

Anyway, Uesugi had already gone; the truth would come out soon enough.

Power is responsible only to the source of power; such is the way of things.

Meanwhile, Investigation Division 1 dispatched Police Management Officer Megure to the scene to form a Special Investigation Headquarters, while at the same time Kousaka of the First Division was handling another case, and Jin Kashiwagi of the Third Division voluntarily requested to deploy, launching a preliminary investigation in the morning.

After investigating for a period of time, at noon, Jin Kashiwagi returned to the Metropolitan Police Department first; the very first thing he did was find Yamaguchi Maho.

Yamaguchi Maho was overjoyed.

Worthy of the Metropolitan Police Department — truly, deployment, action, perfection!

Uesugi-san has come; blue sky has arrived!

So she immediately followed Jin Kashiwagi to the special room of Investigation Division 1.

However, the situation soon changed.

Yamaguchi Maho had thought it was preparation for identifying Nakai and Iehara, or at least informing her of case progress, but she quickly discovered the atmosphere was wrong.

Inspector Kashiwagi did not pour her a cup of hot tea like Inspector Shiratori did, but instead sat directly opposite her, opened his notebook, and spoke in a flat tone that was even somewhat detached:

"Miss Yamaguchi, regarding the previous assault incident, we still have some details that need to be verified with you."

Yamaguchi Maho's heart tightened, a sense of foreboding rising: "Alright, please ask."

"Based on our investigation, and interviews with personnel around you." Jin Kashiwagi paused, looking at her with a sharp gaze: "We noticed that for a period before the incident occurred, on social media and in private settings, you seem to have made some — eye-catching remarks."

He pushed over a few printed sheets, which were screenshots from her mobile phone blog:

"Today I went to a place I never imagined, met people truly standing in the clouds, and only then knew how tiny my past self was."

"Grateful for fate's gift, I will seize the opportunity, absolutely will not let it slip away. Different from those who only tread water in place (lol)."

"At my new job I met a very excellent, rigorous senior, learned a lot. Indeed, level determines horizon."

"Never such a wonderful start; I must cherish it well; this position, I absolutely will not give to anyone else!"

These words, sent at the time with a touch of showing off and vindication, now appeared incomparably glaring and foolish under the police's cold questioning.

"What exactly do these 'people in the clouds', 'people treading water in place', 'different level', 'absolutely will not give' refer to?" Kashiwagi asked.

Yamaguchi Maho's face instantly reddened, from shame and also anger: "Th-this is just some of my feelings! Because I got a rare job opportunity—"

"So, these remarks were indeed made after you obtained the Hand of God program work, and implied your difference from and even superiority over other members, correct?" Jin Kashiwagi cut her off, his wording precise and cruel.

Not waiting for Yamaguchi Maho to argue, Jin Kashiwagi produced even more fatal "evidence".

"We inquired with some of your teammates and management personnel. Multiple people confirmed that during this period you were privately in high spirits, and said many times 'this group is not worthy of me', 'I'll be able to leave here soon', and similar remarks. Is that true?"

Yamaguchi Maho was struck as if by lightning! She might indeed have said some angry words, or expressed longing for the future in excitement, but absolutely not twisted to this extent!

"No! I never said 'not worthy'! They're lying! It's Nakai Rika, Iehara Riko! They ganged up to frame me!" She stood up agitatedly, her voice trembling with anger.

"Please calm down, Miss Yamaguchi." Jin Kashiwagi's tone grew even colder: "We received testimony from multiple members, the contents mutually corroborating. And those members you accuse all have alibis proving they had no intersection with the time you were assaulted that night." (Meaning they did not directly participate in the assault)

"Of course they didn't have to come personally! They just had to tell the information to fans! Mr. Police, why don't you investigate them? Instead you come investigate me?!" Yamaguchi Maho's emotions began to spiral out of control, tears spinning in her eye sockets, but she forcibly held them back,

because that would look more like acting.

Inspector Kashiwagi leaned his body forward, asking that most fatal question: "Miss Yamaguchi, given that your recent words and deeds have shown a strong—

desire to 'break free from the status quo', and some suspicious points in the incident itself (such as a 'big shot' happening to pass by and rescue you), we have no choice but to consider a possibility — whether you, in order to win sympathy, create buzz, or pressure certain people to achieve your aims, planned or participated in certain aspects of this incident?"

The four words "self-directed self-performance" were like a sharp knife, ruthlessly piercing through Yamaguchi Maho's last psychological defense.

She completely collapsed.

"You— you're saying what?!" She abruptly stood up, slamming both hands heavily on the table, her voice a tearing wail: "I was almost violated! I was almost dragged away by them! You don't go catch the people who really wanted to hurt me, but instead suspect I arranged it myself?! Why would I use my own safety and innocence to do something like this?! How is that possible?!"

Her reaction was intense, desperate, filled with the anger of being wronged.

However, in this sensitive interrogation environment, such overly agitated emotion, in the eyes of the experienced star inspector Jin Kashiwagi,

might instead be a stress reaction after being exposed.

The young Patrol Section Chief responsible for recording beside them stopped his pen, looking at her somewhat at a loss.

Inspector Kashiwagi still watched her calmly, the suspicion in his eyes not dissipating, even deepening: "This is just one direction of investigation; we need to eliminate all possibilities."

"Please answer calmly, what was your purpose in posting these? Who instigated you? What is your motive? Did you obtain management permission? Did they allow you to post? Who is behind you, what did you want to do by posting these? Who were you mocking? What did you want to overthrow? What did you want to destroy? What were you alluding to? Can't answer?"

"Calm? How can I calm down?!" Yamaguchi Maho's tears finally burst the dam: "I was assaulted, the person who leaked my information walks free, and now even the people protecting me don't believe me! What has this world become?!"

She looked at the two police officers before her; the businesslike coldness and hidden suspicion on their faces became the last straw that crushed her.

She realized that the net woven together by management and those members was so tight, even enough to distort the truth, making the very people who should help her turn their guns around.

An unprecedented, bone-deep sense of isolation and helplessness engulfed her. She no longer argued, just slumped in the chair, muttering absentmindedly: "It's not like this— really not like this why don't you all believe me"

This change of hers from extreme agitation to complete despair, in Jin Kashiwagi's eyes, perhaps looked more like the curtain call of a performance.

Can finally count as having tested you out, kid!

Facing Yamaguchi Maho's reaction, Jin Kashiwagi only laughed in his heart.

Women are indeed born good at acting.

As the Metropolitan Police Department's star inspector, Jin Kashiwagi also thought yesterday's events were too coincidental, coincidental like they were deliberately designed!

Just-right alibis! Just-right big shot passing by! Just-right death of involved parties!

All of this, so precise it was like self-directed self-performance!

And today Jin Kashiwagi's investigation of management and group members was even more so — almost all management staff stated that Yamaguchi Maho had known Takei Masanori and Kakimoto Hirotomo long ago; who knows if they secretly colluded with Yamaguchi Maho to self-direct and self-perform?

Similarly, group members' evaluations of Yamaguchi Maho were uniformly a tide of bad reviews; almost every little idol believed Iehara and Nakai weren't the type to do that kind of thing; on the contrary, Yamaguchi Maho was especially suspicious — this person is both affected and two-faced, especially hypocritical!

Moreover, ever since she lucked into a pillow business gig with Uesugi Muneyuki and landed the role of a placard girl for Hand of God, Yamaguchi Maho has gotten a bit full of herself—her phone boasts, her usual remarks prove it, and there's no need to mention she originally liked to lie; she herself admits she's clearly from Aomori but claimed to be from Niigata when she met Uesugi Muneyuki.

Thus, all team members unanimously pointed the finger, insisting it was definitely Yamaguchi's scheming and dryness at fault!

This aligns with Kashiwagi Jin's deductive reasoning judgment,

Heart-Minded Frog keeps feeling your belly!

The real murderer and mastermind behind the scenes is you! Yamaguchi Maho!!!

At the same time, Uesugi Muneyuki finally figured everything out, from Imazaki's Manager's mouth.

Originally like this!

Is this matter really so complex? So utterly incredible!

Fortunately, this guy Imazaki knows all the insider details; otherwise, Uesugi Muneyuki would also find it very hard to connect all the events together.

With Imazaki's identification, everything becomes easy to handle.

After Uesugi Muneyuki finished the autopsy and came out from inside, he happened to meet Ikeda Erena and Ishihara Mikoto guarding the door.

"I understand what's going on now!" Uesugi Muneyuki said in a deep voice, and now there's only one question,

"Mikoto-nee, if Imazaki was injected with acetylcholine chloride this kind of drug causing rapid death and rapid metabolism, is there any way to prove or detect it?"

Ishihara Mikoto froze for a moment, then thought it over, nodded: "Of course! Routine drug screening can detect common drugs, alcohol, sleeping pills. But for some rare, fast-metabolizing toxins, more precise analytical instruments are needed, such as liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry,

Do I need to apply to the University of Tokyo for this?"

"Apply, apply now!" Uesugi Muneyuki smiled faintly, speaking very confidently about his examination results.

"This is absolutely not an accidental death, but outright homicide!"

Heart-Minded Frog keeps feeling your belly!