Minamoto Tamako’s hair stood on end, her pupils slightly dilated. It felt as if there was a hangnail on her finger, something that usually did nothing, but one day, someone suddenly pulled it back sharply, causing a needle-like pain that immediately awakened her deepest fears.
"Whe-where?" She stammered, "Who else did that guy — kill?"
"Wasn’t it you who reported the murder case on the snowy mountain?"
Kazama Tatsuya saw Minamoto Tamako’s bewildered face and explained, "The forensic team cleaned the rust off the bullet and found the words ’Heavenly Punishment’ engraved on it. When Natsume Shiro died, Mr. Fushimi was still in college in Nagoya, right? I checked at the school; there was no record of absence, and he was holed up in an apartment with his ex-girlfriend during the holidays."
"Eh? Ex-girlfriend?" Minamoto Tamako sharply turned her head, "You actually dated someone? Wait, wait, does that mean Mr. Natsume didn’t commit suicide? That’s strange; so strange—"
She felt like her CPU was going to burn out.
"What’s so surprising about that? We’re all in our twenties, how could we not have dated?" Fushimi Roku said, though the relationship had nothing to do with him; the original self had already broken up with the ex-girlfriend before he traveled here.
This remark hit Minamoto Tamako’s sore spot. Her face turned red, and she tightened her lips, thinking, what’s wrong with being in your twenties and having never dated? What’s so great about having been in a relationship? Oh, please, the line of people chasing after me stretches from Tokyo to Paris, France. I just choose not to date. If I wanted to, it would be as easy as pie. What’s there to brag about!!
"You really haven’t dated, have you?" Fushimi Roku noticed the weak point.
"No way!" Minamoto Tamako retorted stubbornly, then said, "Dating is not the point here, right? The important thing is that bullet! Natsume Shiro was murdered; how could it end as a suicide case?"
Both Fushimi Roku and Kazama Tatsuya knew the answer to this question.
Because it couldn’t be investigated.
The deceased had turned into a pile of bones, and their personal relationships provided no clues. After all, an old man with dementia wandered around town all day, so he could have encountered anyone. Such old cold cases are really impossible to check.
If you really wanted to combine this with the police academy shooting case, it would be different. First, the prosecution certainly wouldn’t support reopening the case, for reasons everyone understands; second, if it were a serial murder case, a special task force would have to be established, and if no result is produced, who would be responsible?
Although there is no evidence proving it was suicide, there is also no ample evidence proving it was murder, so rounding it up, it was suicide. As for the engraving on the bullet, it could only be a coincidence.
In TV shows, the old criminal detective would soak in the archives room flipping through old cases, finally discovering a clue from a few years or even ten years ago, successfully identifying the criminal and solving the case all at once. To some extent, in these years, it’s still quite reasonable.
But Minamoto Tamako certainly couldn’t accept such an answer. Considering her character, she might take leave to go back and ask the local police to reopen the case.
Since it was hard-won to have some labor, Kazama Tatsuya didn’t want her to waste time and energy on something with no result. He sighed and explained tactfully:
"The investigators naturally have their reasons for doing this. Actually, I think ruling it as suicide is quite reasonable, after all, who would want to murder a senile dementia patient who wouldn’t live long? Not for money, not for revenge... As long as you understand."
Minamoto Tamako felt this argument sounded familiar as if she had heard it somewhere. Before she could think it over, she heard Fushimi Roku echo, "Yeah, yeah, are you planning to contradict your seniors on your first day at work?"
Minamoto Tamako quickly stood at attention and said loudly, "I don’t mean that! I respect my seniors very much!"
Seeing this, Fushimi Roku silently added a new entry to the "Yuan Yuzi User Manual" in his heart, thinking it might help him boss Tamako around using Tatsuya’s authority in the future.
"Alright, the welcome work is over. The working schedule is posted on the wall. Remember to go to work on time in the evening. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just use the internal phone to call the director; I’m going to rest now."
Kazama Tatsuya pinched his brow; it seemed he was woken up by their noise. Before the two could reply, he pulled a recliner out from under his office desk, put on an eye mask, covered himself with a small blanket, said goodnight, and then fell asleep.
Minamoto Tamako was still a bit troubled that Mr. Natsume’s injustice could not be redressed. She felt that the real culprit in the bloody murder case had already become a formidable adversary to their detective team.
While dragging her suitcase upstairs, she also asked Fushimi Roku if they should give this serial killer a code name.
"Didn’t I say it was a suicide? What if someone with idle hands just decided to carve words onto a bullet for fun?" Fushimi Roku was a bit impatient.
When he engraved the words, he didn’t think much about it. He just worried that if he inadvertently changed the serial number on a police gun to some unlucky fellow’s police code, making them a scapegoat, it would be bad, so he recklessly added the words ’Heavenly Punishment.’
"Only you would do something so boring, right?" Minamoto Tamako murmured, "Besides, Sherlock Holmes said, ’There is no such thing as a coincidence’; if we look closely, perhaps we can find some clues."
"I don’t understand English."
Fushimi Roku compared the two vacant dormitories on the second floor and chose the one with better lighting. "I’ll take this room, okay?" Without waiting for Minamoto Tamako’s reply, he directly closed the door, "Glad you agree, goodbye, I’m going to rest."
Minamoto Tamako looked at the closed door in front of her, her cheeks puffing out in anger. She knocked on the door, and Fushimi Roku’s warning voice came from inside, "Watch your behavior."
Ignoring me is one thing, but as a member of the detective team, being so indifferent to ’Heavenly Punishment’... At this rate of laziness, when will we ever bring the real culprit to justice?!
Standing in the hallway, holding Officer Bunny, Minamoto Tamako took several deep breaths to calm her emotions.
Endure! Tamako, you must endure! If Fushimi ends up being petty again, wouldn’t that be a total failure?
Since Fushimi Roku isn’t interested, she’ll investigate on her own!
Minamoto Tamako already decided that tonight she would write a letter, send it to the local police station, and request the case be re-investigated. If that doesn’t work, having the final case file faxed over would be fine as well; maybe she can deduce some clues from the files.
Determined, she dragged her suitcase into the dormitory, looked around, and felt satisfied with the dormitory’s environment.
Though it was only about eight square meters, it was small yet well-equipped, with a desk, chair, bed, and bathroom all included. In land-scarce Tokyo, having a dormitory assigned by the cubicle is already quite miraculous, so she couldn’t demand much.
Minamoto Tamako made the bed, organized the room, put on her newly issued police uniform, hung the silver bracelet, gun holster, and police baton on her belt, and walked into the bathroom full of spirit, admiring herself in front of the mirror.
"Freeze!" She swiftly drew her gun, aimed at the mirror, and posed in a dashing stance.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" She amused herself in front of the mirror, mimicking gunfire sounds with her mouth, "Lady Tamako the Sharpshooter, the criminal’s nemesis, ensures the peace of Sugamo—"