"Is there, is there no other way? Can it be settled?" Mrs. Kamei asked.
Fushimi Roku was waiting for this question. He said so much just to play the bad cop, and to disgust Kazama Tatsuya under the guise of interrogation. Seeing his goal achieved, he softened his tone and asked, "What did that guy force you to confess to?"
"Didn’t you say it was a forced confession? What did he force you to confess?"
"He... asked where my son was..."
"He also looked through the recorder..."
"Did he delete the video?"
"No..." Mrs. Kamei asked again, "Can you help me find Marujiro?"
Fushimi Roku’s expression relaxed, the smile disappearing from his face. He thought to himself, this is what they call forced confession? Neither falsifying the records nor destroying evidence; at most, it’s violent law enforcement... Does police violence even matter these days?
Seeing Fushimi Roku’s expression wasn’t right, Mrs. Kamei hurriedly said, "Then I won’t pursue this matter, can it be considered as involuntary manslaughter?"
Fushimi Roku kept a straight face, sitting upright, giving no face at all, maintaining his dignified air, and said the same phrase: "One thing at a time."
Minamoto Tamako couldn’t watch anymore and quietly said, "How can you treat an unconvicted suspect like that? Even if the other party is guilty, you can’t use conviction to intimidate! Moreover, Kazama-senpai did beat up the suspect, have you forgotten Teacher Shirata’s teachings? We must uphold the principles of fairness and justice, whether to others or ourselves..."
"That’s what you said, right? What does it have to do with me?" Fushimi Roku murmured back.
"As a member of the detective team, how can you condone illegal activities? I suppose Kazama-senpai wouldn’t blame us for this! True friendship is not only about appreciating each other’s strengths but also having the courage to point out each other’s faults!"
Minamoto Tamako earnestly added, "It’s okay to have small flaws in life, but a violation of principles shouldn’t be tolerated!"
Fushimi Roku thought no wonder Minamoto Tamako never lost her temper with him; even if he had a bad temper, spoke harshly, charged partner fees, shirked work, gave classmates a hard time... as long as there was no breach of principles, she could accept all these flaws.
Tamako was unyielding in her judgment, so nothing could be done.
Fushimi Roku felt a sense of schadenfreude inwardly, offering silent condolences for Kazama Tatsuya for three seconds, before swiftly switching expressions, smiling as he returned to the ’previous issue’.
Kazama Tatsuya could only stand outside the one-way glass, watching Fushimi Roku coax a confession with a mischievous grin, recording his violent law enforcement... As for how to punish it later, it usually depended on the chief; customarily, it was either a warning or disciplinary action, and if it was slightly more serious, a few days of suspension.
Mrs. Kamei didn’t have any obvious injuries either. By the time she went to court, she might be fully recovered, leaving the forensics with nothing to test. Even the prosecutor wouldn’t bother with a case .
Indeed, if a suspect gets beaten during police enforcement, it’s basically for nothing; they’d only call it violent enforcement if they ended up maimed or dead.
Although the punishment wasn’t severe, the insult was immense, making Kazama Tatsuya feel awkward inside. He didn’t resent Minamoto Tamako, just couldn’t stand Fushimi Roku’s smug expression.
After recording the confession, the issue of violent law enforcement was considered closed.
Fushimi Roku continued to question the ’next issue’; he seemed to vaguely sense the ’scent of his kind’ in this case.
He moved his chair to sit across from Kamei Riko. The latter seemed a bit uneasy, leaning back as if avoiding his gaze.
Fushimi Roku clasped both hands, placing them on the table, leaning slightly forward, seriously observing Kamei Riko, smiling, "How is Mrs. Kamei’s relationship with her husband?"
"Uh, um, it’s, it’s okay."
"Has he ever hit you?" Fushimi Roku asked.
Kamei Riko shook her head.
"What about emotional abuse?" Fushimi Roku continued asking, "Does he often not come home at night?"
Kamei Riko continued shaking her head; if her husband was emotionally abusive, there wouldn’t be any arguments to begin with.
Fushimi Roku flipped through the resident testimonies and asked, "Then why do you often argue?"
Kamei Riko didn’t answer, pursing her lips and lowering her head.
Minamoto Tamako quietly came over to listen; after all, she was accompanying the interrogator. How could Fushimi Roku speak privately with the suspect behind her back? Seeing Mrs. Kamei silent, she leaned and whispered to Fushimi Roku, "Maybe it’s because Mrs. Kamei has a bad temper."
"Huh?" Fushimi Roku raised an eyebrow.
"Didn’t you read those records? Mrs. Kamei has a terrible reputation," Minamoto Tamako thought that earlier she had asked him to look through the records, and he didn’t listen, and now he was making a fool of himself, wasn’t he?
Fushimi Roku snatched the small notebook from her hand, flipping through a few pages.
The content recorded seemed like a mass critique session, with neighbors expressing grievances about Mrs. Kamei.
Mr. Kimura, who lived next door, claimed Mrs. Kamei was unreasonable; he kindly invited Mr. Kamei for a meal, only to have Mrs. Kamei flip the table;
Mrs. Tsunade, living downstairs, said Kamei Riko was a madwoman, once encountered her at the fish market and complimented her on her good appearance, only to be told by Mrs. Kamei to ’drop dead’...
Even residents living in the opposite building had a poor impression of Kamei Riko, saying her infamous reputation was widely spread.
"What does this prove?" Fushimi Roku dismissively tossed back the notebook, "It’s useless, don’t waste your time on this like patrol police do, running around cluelessly."
Minamoto Tamako hastily caught it, feeling indignant that the valuable survey she painstakingly conducted was being discarded like trash by Fushimi Roku. Besides, she was a patrol police herself! What’s wrong with that? Fushimi Roku had just been promoted for a few days, and he was already looking down on patrol police?
Minamoto Tamako sat down beside him, "Do you suspect the neighbors conspired? This isn’t an apartment in West Sugamo; Mrs. Kamei lives in Building 11, right next to East Sugamo, and everyone’s office workers there, they wouldn’t target anyone for no reason..."
Fushimi Roku turned away, his back to Mrs. Kamei, and glanced sideways asking Minamoto Tamako, "Then why do you think she is being targeted?"
Minamoto Tamako thought to herself, you should know this well, only those with bad character would be targeted, right?
That’s what she thought but didn’t dare to say directly, fearing Fushimi Roku would hold a grudge, so she mumbled, "Maybe she doesn’t do well in handling interpersonal relationships."
Fushimi Roku turned back around, scrutinizing Kamei Riko till she felt uncomfortable before quietly asking, "Have you heard of the dog whistle effect?"
Minamoto Tamako scratched her head, "Never heard of it... Does it have to do with this case?"
"Yes," Fushimi Roku sat up straight, smiling, "I’m afraid this time we’ve encountered a master... No wonder Kazama-senpai didn’t want us involved, turns out it’s so interesting."
"The ’master’ you’re talking about... What do you mean?" Minamoto Tamako sensed a bad premonition.
"The killer is different from those yakuza who kill for money, and fundamentally different from those psychopathic serial killers. To put it simply, this is a ’high-quality crime’..."
Saying that, Fushimi Roku stood up, leaving the interrogation room without permission. Minamoto Tamako hurriedly followed him, asking where he was going. He opened the door and gestured to Kazama Tatsuya, smiling at Minamoto Tamako and saying:
"It’s time to show you what a real criminal case game is all about."