Chapter 689: , Dead Otaku Does Everything Wrong

Nishino Miki doesn't know anything.

This is the most troublesome problem Uesugi Muneyuki has encountered.

If the deceased doesn't know anything themselves, doesn't know who they offended, doesn't know the killer's characteristics, and doesn't even know the manner of death, then this becomes very difficult to handle.

What's even more troublesome is that Nishino Miki is not a highly educated person; she finds it difficult to calmly and completely recount the entire process, which makes things very chaotic—just like Uesugi Muneyuki's attitude when facing different people: when he works at Tokyo University, although the prosecutors' office is more domineering and troublesome, the emails and documents sent by those elite prosecutors are usually clear and well-organized, and Uesugi Muneyuki or Ishihara Mikoto can understand them after a quick glance.

On the contrary, some people like prisoners or defendants in trouble often have very humble and fawning attitudes, but the messages they send are often long voice recordings exceeding "2'59" in length, forcing Uesugi Muneyuki to have to open and listen to them, yet the useful information in these recordings is often scarce, mostly consisting of idle chatter.

Specifically, to avoid making people think the word count is just padding, I won't give detailed examples—just casually insert a passage.

"Uesugi-san, it's about this matter, uh, that is to say, I have a relative, you know relatives, right? Well, this relative of mine encountered a trouble, his previous case was like this—meaning this case he's facing now is similar to that previous one, both are like… it seems he was stabbed with a knife, yes, stabbed with a knife, after being stabbed he said, he said this case is similar to the previous one, both were stabbed with a knife, but… although it was stabbed with a knife, it's different, why is it different? Well, it's just that the feeling it gives is different…"

Communicating like this is extremely inefficient—it might take seven or eight minutes of listening to grasp the general idea, and it requires enormous mental effort to figure out what the other person is saying and where the problem lies.

Over time, Uesugi Muneyuki also learned to stay cold-faced and cold-hearted: whenever there's a situation, he first sends emails or documents; if he doesn't understand, he just dismisses it, waiting for the other party to organize things properly before coming back.

His time is precious.

Nishino Miki is also in this situation—many such minor idols haven't even clearly finished middle school, have low education levels, and after talking for a long time often can't say anything valuable.

Uesugi Muneyuki quickly summarized five key points.

The mixed smell of iron rust and old paper, palms rough like tree bark, the dull sound of an atypical beheading, the cold touch of toilet tiles, and Kawabe Mayu's equally abnormal dazed state.

Kawabe Mayu!

Right, Kawabe Mayu was actually lost together with Nishino Miki earlier, but she herself was arranged to rest by an elderly couple running a wagashi shop—this is a very "Japanese positive energy" story, so nobody thought much of it.

But what if these two disappearances are related?

These fragments, rotating in the mind alongside the crime scene photos, gradually pieced together into a blurry yet dangerous outline.

"Doctor Mikawa, please bring me to three locations: the exact angle where the body was found, the starting point of the drag marks in the soil, and……" He paused: "All possible shielding objects or elevated positions around the discovery site."

Mikawa was startled for a moment, then nodded.

Soon, Uesugi crouched in front of the marked urinal where the body outline had been marked.

He didn't look at the shocking blood pool, but instead took out his carried laser pointer and protractor.

"Look here," he gestured to Mikawa and Police Inspector Shan Zhong and others: "According to photos and forensic records, when the body was stuffed in, the exposed part of the skull was approximately 15 degrees left-tilted relative to the pipe axis. This is not a random angle formed by forced insertion—if it were purely violent pushing, the angle would be more random or skewed to one side due to pipe resistance."

He simulated with the laser pointer: "After the killer completed the beheading, they transported the body here. When stuffing it in, they needed to bend over and exert force. This fixed tilt angle indicates that during this action, the killer had some habitual tilt or asymmetrical force application—possibly due to old injuries causing postural compensation, or long-term single-type physical labor forming muscle memory."

He stood up, surveyed the narrow toilet stall: "A person over 175 centimeters tall, performing bending, dragging, and stuffing in this space, would be very cramped. But there are no obvious signs of scraping or collision due to spatial constraints at the scene. This suggests the killer is either small and agile, or…… extremely familiar with this toilet's structure, possibly…… having practiced the movements beforehand."

Returning to the edge of the small woods where the drag marks began, Uesugi Muneyuki didn't immediately examine the marks, but instead grabbed a small handful of soil, placed it under his portable microscope for observation, and leaned in to smell it.

【Ōsumikawa, henshin!】

Ōsumikawa Minoru immediately appeared, he looked and said calmly: 【These mineral particles are mainly volcanic rock debris, but mixed in are small amounts of extremely fine, angular quartz sand and mica flakes. This combination, in the Tōhoku region, usually only appears in two places: discarded sand and gravel piles at construction sites, and…… certain abandoned factories or warehouses where industrial waste has long accumulated.】

【Industrial waste area?】Uesugi Muneyuki frowned.

【Yes.】Ōsumikawa Minoru also felt a flicker of instinctive anger at the brutality and distortion of the murder scene: 【It could be random killing, similar to that kind of serial killer or spur-of-the-moment perpetrator.】

【If it were you, what would you do?】Uesugi Muneyuki asked, Ōsumikawa has experience, very experienced.

【If it's random killing, then he would definitely wait nearby for the target; if it's premeditated, he should have practiced multiple times in advance.】Ōsumikawa said: 【No matter what, it's essentially two kinds……】

【Specific targets, and suitable targets.】Uesugi Muneyuki nodded.

The killer had premeditation, had patience, and the target might be "young women matching certain conditions."

Nishino Miki's obsessive fans? Anti-fans? Troublesome fans?

Like Takei Masanori and Kakimoto Hirotomo's attitude toward Yamaguchi Maho?

Or is it random killing? Belonging to that kind of extreme antisocial individual who randomly picks a lucky spectator?

Uesugi Muneyuki was still thinking when he heard Police Inspector Shan Zhong and others already impatiently coming over to ask: "How is it? Uesugi-san? Any findings?"

Uesugi Muneyuki simply told Shan Zhong his findings.

Shan Zhong frowned tightly as he listened.

This profile is too…… "ordinary," even somewhat "low."

It seems to be separated by an insurmountable class gap from a radiant idol girl, lacking that dramatic, convincing "motive."

"What about the motive?" Shan Zhong couldn't help but ask: "Sexual assault? But why would they so brutally behead and display the body?"

Uesugi Muneyuki fell silent for a moment: "I don't know. But the 'overperformance' at the crime scene often indicates the killer's motive goes beyond simple desire or hatred, possibly involving deeper psychological needs, imitation, or…… some kind of belief."

Uesugi Muneyuki's judgment disappointed the Yamagata Prefecture Police Headquarters officers immensely.

The so-called legendary forensic doctor of Tokyo Metropolis turns out to only have this level?

Is it because he's detached from Tokyo University's professional instrument support, plus unable to obtain professional technical support from the Metropolitan Police Department, that Uesugi Muneyuki has been knocked back to square one?

Fame, but actually hard to live up to?

"I see, no wonder as Uesugi Chief, indeed has unique insights, but we currently at the scene cannot obtain more clues anyway—this is a very恶劣 case, we should still start from other aspects first." Shan Zhong endured the disappointment: "If suspicious personnel are encountered, please continue to guide us, Uesugi Chief."

Uesugi Muneyuki nodded slightly—this is indeed a very difficult case to handle.

He could feel the prefecture police's disappointment; they still thought that once Uesugi arrived, the case would be solved.

When everyone was at a loss, the surrounding crowd kept growing, and just then, the command vehicle came with a commotion.

A detective ran in excitedly: "Chief! A suspicious person has been caught! Kobayashi Takuya, 24 years old, convenience store employee, lives in Yonezawa City! His phone is full of secretly taken photos of idol members, including Nishino Miki! His computer revealed large amounts of threatening and sexual fantasy diaries! Most crucially, his shift last night was night shift, but the convenience store surveillance shows he left midway for over two hours, overlapping with the estimated time of death! He himself said he went out for a 'walk,' but couldn't specify where exactly!"

Shan Zhong's eyes lit up immediately.

This is the familiar "suspect" he knows—once there's a clear criminal motive (distorted possessiveness), suspicious behavior (unexplained blank time), and direct "evidence" (secret filming and fantasy diaries). Under immense pressure, he almost immediately leaned toward this being the killer! Yosshi!

It's him!

"Arrest immediately! Conduct interrogation!" Shan Zhong roared fiercely.

Let you all witness the spirit and eloquence of us Shōwa-era elites!

"Chief!" Uesugi Muneyuki naturally sensed a similar "authentic deduction" aura from Old Ren: "I believe we should first focus on screening those matching my earlier profile……"

"Uesugi Hōi, your profile is quite inspiring." Shan Zhong interrupted him, tone polite but unquestionable: "But we now have a more direct, more logical suspect. Kobayashi Takuya meets all conditions: he's an obsessive idol fan, has a perverted fixation on Nishino Miki, has the opportunity to commit the crime, and cannot explain himself. We need to launch an immediate assault."

Uesugi looked at the fire in Shan Zhong's eyes for solving the case, knowing persuasion was useless.

He sighed: "Please allow me to observe the interrogation process."

"Naturally."

In the interrogation room of the police station, a group of fierce men in three-piece suits surrounded a frail, pale-faced otaku.

Kobayashi Takuya's face was deathly pale, his whole body trembling.

Faced with the police's rapid-fire questioning and the presented covert photography evidence, he stammered: "I just... I just like Miki-chan... I didn't mean to hurt her... I went last night... to... to the shrine area hoping to see if I could meet a member... but I didn't see anyone... I just walked around on the street...

"Walked for over two hours? In a freezing winter night? Who can prove it?" The interrogating detective shouted sternly: "Come clean already! Kora!!!!" "No, no one... I was just walking aimlessly..."

"You bastard, what do the phrases 'feeding chickens is forever my wife', 'to purify her', 'to make her belong only to me' written on your computer mean? Speak! What is all that sensual text about idols, various hypnosis and sexual acts? Speak!"

"It was... just written for fun... chuunibyou... I wasn't really..."

"Written for fun? Nishino Miki is dead now! She died horribly! Isn't it exactly your kind of pervert who did this?!"

Kobayashi was backed into a corner, his spirit on the verge of collapse, he began to sob uncontrollably, his speech becoming even more incoherent.

The other police in the observation room, and even some variety show staff who had heard about this through internal channels, all showed expressions of disgust and certainty.

Moreover, at this moment, the Fuji TV *Hand of God* film crew had already arrived, beginning to communicate with the police about filming, requesting permission.

Tei Reiji also changed back into a solemn female anchor outfit, her skin that could be broken by a blow emitting a healthy flush, her brows and eyes flowing with the unique radiance of a newlywed woman, carefully nurtured and nourished, that kind of happiness and satisfaction, which cannot be piled up by makeup and luxurious clothes.

Great, I can watch Uesugi Muneyuki solve the case live again!

Whispers spread through the variety show team, many already knowing what happened when Tei the anchor came out of Uesugi Muneyuki's room this morning.

The surrounding noise had already been recorded by Fuji TV.

"It really is him, then."

"Otaku are truly disgusting."

"Those words on the computer, at a glance, are those of a potential criminal."

"Sneaking around in the middle of the night, who else could it be if not him?"

"Otaku are wrong no matter what they do." This silent yet pervasive prejudice almost completely crushed Kobayashi Takuya.

Even Inspector Yamanaka said into the observation microphone: "Increase the pressure, make him confess. The superiors and media can't wait any longer!"

At the very moment the interrogating detective slammed the table and roared, "You still won't admit it?!", the observation room door was pushed open.

Uesugi Muneyuki walked in, his voice not loud, yet clearly suppressing all the noise:

"It's not him."