Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Next, please ask Officer Isshiki to tell us...

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Isshiki Todumaru almost screamed, but was stopped by Kamohashi Ron, who then began to mutter to himself, "The M family usually doesn't do good things for nothing. What was the reason that Tiger Dan took the initiative to exonerate Oda?"

"You don't want the police to continue their investigation? Didn't he ultimately convince them to rule that the case was a suicide?"

"If you simply don't want the police to continue their investigation, then there's no problem with imprisoning Mr. Oda." Kamonohashi Ron calmly pointed out something that puzzled him. "The question is, why do you insist on insisting that the victim committed suicide?"

"Uh..." Isshiki Totsumaru also began to ponder. He scratched his head and found that he really couldn't express any ideas. "Sorry, if I force myself to think, I can only think that if the victim was murdered, it would be disadvantageous to the M family. But it just changed from suicide to homicide, and there are even suspects. What kind of disadvantage can it bring to them? It can't be that if we arrest Mr. Oda, the police will immediately find evidence against the M family, right?"

“—That’s exactly it!”

“Huh?!”

"Oda has evidence on him that could lead the police to the M family if he's arrested or autopsied," Kamonohashi said. "It's even possible that he himself isn't aware of this evidence."

"But if that's the case, the M family would have just silenced Mr. Oda... Oh, no, not even Mr. Oda himself knows. It might be a personal item."

Isshiki Todumaru had just suggested a possibility when he contradicted himself.

"Personal belongings can be stolen." Kamohashi Ron corrected.

"What would that be?"

"A part of the person's body, such as a scar, birthmark, or something accidentally implanted in the body due to surgery." Kamohashi Ron rarely showed the tattoo on his neck that looked like a combination of 9 and 6. "I'm leaning towards a scar or a tattoo."

"Come to think of it, I've never asked you about that thing on your neck..."

"It's a scar left after a significant case that impacted my life. Well, it could also be a tattoo, but I don't really dislike this tattoo of a 9 and a 6 connected together. After all, it's related to my background. If all the tattoos had names of my grandfathers, I wouldn't erase them..."

"Who would have the time to tattoo their grandparents' names on their body?!"

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"So that was twenty years ago... Twenty years ago, Mr. Oda..."

"I was still a minor according to the law at the time... Oh, sorry, actually, according to the law now, I am still a minor. I was 17 years old at the time, but I was tall and strong, and it was possible for me to carry a long gun and stab the victim in the heart."

"I see." Isshiki Todumaru asked, "So, besides filming the supernatural video, are you here to find some evidence related to the events of that year?"

Oda was silent for a moment, then nodded: "I don't want her to be inexplicably considered to have committed suicide."

"So the deceased was your girlfriend?" Kamohashi Ron suddenly asked.

"...As expected of an emotional anchor, you can even notice this?"

"No, that's just my guess." Kamohashi Ron said, "If you said it wasn't him, I would have guessed it was his boyfriend."

"Mr. Platypus really has a dry sense of humor." Oda laughed. "No wonder it attracted so many viewers. However, the deceased was indeed my girlfriend, and I certainly didn't kill her. I still remember the situation..."

"Can you tell us a little bit about what happened?"

"What happened? We had agreed to come here together to check in because she said the view was beautiful. She came up first, and when I climbed up, I saw with my own eyes that she was pushed off the cliff. She was pierced through the heart by the iron gate below, and died instantly."

"Did you see what the real murderer looked like?"

"It would have been nice if I had seen it, but unfortunately, I only saw a very vague picture." Oda sighed. "Although I gave the police testimony after being acquitted, they didn't accept it."

The police at the time were more convinced that the victim committed suicide than was murder, as Oda had claimed. The evidence was comprehensive, and the only question was why did the girl commit suicide? She had a happy family, a fulfilling life, and even a boyfriend. Despite Oda's repeated insistence that the death was not suicide, the police still refused to accept his testimony.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Dudu," Kamohashi said. "It's not good to only focus on physical evidence without paying attention to human witnesses and the psychology of the person at the time of the crime."

"Why are you talking about this all of a sudden?"

"Nothing, I just thought of this and wanted to tell you about it."

Isshiki Todumaru: "What kind of answer is that?!"

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"Hey, Isshiki, you're back. Did you find the murder weapon? Kingfisher kept saying we had to find the murder weapon first, and that spear wasn't a common type, so he started investigating." Amemiya yawned and said, "But I don't think it necessarily has to be a spear... Killing with a spear is much more troublesome than using a knife or poison, right?"

"Officer Amamiya is right," said Kamohashi Ron, "but if the murderer acted on impulse and only had a gun at hand, that would be a different matter."

"This impromptu idea is a bit too impromptu! And where on earth would you be with only a spear at hand?"

"That cliff."

"ah?!"

"I mean, this shouldn't be the first scene, right, Officer Amamiya?" Kamohashi Ron said, "I felt something was a little strange when I was investigating just now."

"It's definitely not the first scene," Amemiya said. "According to the eyewitness testimony obtained by the police, the child saw the body a week ago, but the body had been dead for about two weeks..."

"It's entirely possible that the body was moved here during this time."

"But here's the problem. Why was the body moved here? To keep it hidden?" Amemiya asked doubtfully. "After all, this room is very special. An adult would open the door with the handle and not notice it. And a child who discovered this room might not realize it was a body lying on the floor. Or maybe if they found it and called the police, they'd think they were talking nonsense."

"If it was to avoid being discovered, why did you put it in this castle instead of burying it?" Isshiki Todumaru sighed, "It's like he's trying to say yes or no, as if to say - I actually want to be discovered, but I can't let you find me so easily."

"Isshiki, you speak as if corpses have consciousness."

"Corpses don't have consciousness, but people do." Kamohashi Ron suddenly raised this point. "Now that the means and the consequences are clear, the only way to break through is the motive."

"Wait a minute, how come everything is clear now? I still don't know anything!"

"Now, please allow Officer Isshiki to present his reasoning!"

"Bullshit reasoning?!"

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In the end, everyone who seemed to be somewhat related to the case was gathered together, including Oda, of course, so that Amamiya and Hisui were both puzzled:

"Who is this person?!"

"Witnesses in the case." Kamonohashi Ron coughed twice and said, "Next, let's listen to the famous reasoning of the excellent Inspector Isshiki."

"That's clearly your reasoning!" Isshiki Totomaru couldn't help but grumble again, but after a moment he became serious and slowly explained to everyone present: "The primary crime scene wasn't here, but on the cliffs near the main gate of the castle. And the murder weapon, of course, wasn't taken away by the murderer, because the murderer couldn't take the weapon with him."

"Can't take the murder weapon with you?"

"The murder weapon is the iron gate outside the main entrance of the castle. If you accidentally fall off the cliff or are pushed off the cliff, your body will most likely be pierced by the iron gate..."

"There are spikes on the iron gate," Kamonohashi added. "That's the killer's method of killing. Also, a similar case occurred 20 years ago, and the victim was ruled a suicide by the police. I think the spikes on the iron gate are why the police ruled it a suicide."

"Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?"

"Because I don't think the perpetrator of the original case committed suicide." Oda also spoke up. "She lived a happy life, and the police didn't find any suicide note. How could she have committed suicide? I clearly saw her being pushed off the cliff."

"This incident..." Feicui Chenji suddenly took out a pair of tweezers. "Wait, I remember this incident from 20 years ago. I looked through the files from that year while investigating another similar case. You were the eyewitness who was initially suspected of being the murderer but was later exonerated!"

"Yes, but the police didn't accept my testimony. I saw it with my own eyes."

"Of course the police couldn't accept your eyewitness evidence!" Emerald Chenji said, emphasizing, "Because according to the case files and the medical findings at the time, you inhaled a new type of hallucinogen!"

“Wh…what?!”

"And the police determined it was actually an accident, not suicide."

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"It feels like Mr. Oda is about to collapse. Don't you really need some comfort right now? Ron?" Isshiki Todumaru just turned around and found Kamonohashi Ron sitting right next to Mr. Oda, handing him a bottle of black honey. "Have something sweet. It'll help you feel better."

Oda took the black honey drink and almost spit it out after taking a sip: "It's so choking——"

"It's black honey puree, after all." Kamohashi Ron said casually, "Do you feel better?"

"Absolutely not! It turned out to be a hallucinogen, it was actually a hallucinogen. Could it be that she really committed suicide... Unbelievable?!"

"No matter how I look at you, inhaling hallucinogens has nothing to do with suicide." Isshiki Dudumaru sighed, "Recall where you went and what you ate before climbing the mountain..."

"That inn!" Oda suddenly said, "But the innkeeper at that time was not the current innkeeper, but his father."

"Looks like there's a new clue. Let's go, Dudu."

"But, is it okay for you?"

"Although reasoning about murder cases is somewhat taboo, but you're here, right, Dudu?"