Chapter 62
Masanobu Nobuo led Sagara into the interrogation room, stared at him for a while, and said, "Ms. Natsume, we didn't come looking for you for no reason. You should know that very well."
The desk lamp illuminated Rina's profile. She squinted, crossed her legs, and rested her chin on one elbow on the table. Instead of immediately refuting her, she looked the two of them up and down.
Masanobu Noboru Mochida methodically took out the photos from his briefcase and neatly arranged them on the table—exactly nine photos, no more, no less.
"What do you want to say when you see them?"
Rina glanced at him, her disdain and disgust evident in her eyes.
Of course, not for the deceased.
Seeing that she was ignoring him, Masanobu Nobuo Mochida changed the subject, "The psychological test results are out now, aren't you even a little curious?"
Rina: "I'm not curious."
Masanobu Mochida slowly began to speak: "The result is normal. There is no high-functioning antisocial personality disorder as rumored by the outside world."
Rina leaned back in her chair, expressionless, and tapped the table lightly with her finger, as if deep in thought: "And then?"
Masanobu Mochida said, "Someone can control the test results by answering the questions."
Someone like Rina Natsume, who has received a top-notch education and possesses extraordinary talent, could easily do it, and such people are often the most dangerous.
Rina: "With so many excuses, why waste all that time?"
While taking notes, Sagara reminded him, "Please adjust your attitude."
Rina gritted her teeth: "I've been very patient. I've never spoken so gently to someone with a low IQ."
Xiangliang: "..."
Nobuyuki Mochida took a deep breath to calm himself: "Why kill these people?"
Rina: "Evidence to prove I killed someone."
“Someone saw you going in and out of the Thirty-One Club and coming into contact with the horse farm,” Sagara said, enunciating each word clearly. “You touched that wig.”
Rina retorted, "Didn't you ever consider that since all nine people died in the same way, why was there hair in Munakata's mouth the only one?"
“After Munakata got on the train, he realized your intention to commit the crime, so he ran away midway and swallowed that hair. This is clearly an identification,” Mochida Masanobu paused, “Furthermore, it also explains why he was injured.”
“What’s in your head?” Lina said. “The murderer is capable of killing nine people in a row. Such a meticulous person, leaving no evidence on eight corpses, indicates that she had a habit of disposing of the bodies and checking them before she died. If the hair wasn’t in her stomach, it must have been left there on purpose.”
Masanobu Nobuo Mochida said quickly, "Used specifically to frame you?"
Rina: "..."
Masanobu Nobuo Mochida continued to ask, "Where were you on the night of the 27th?"
Rina: "The hospital."
Masanobu Mochida: "With whom?"
These are two complete scoundrels. Rina felt utterly hopeless: "I think you should be investigating Fujiwara no Kijima now."
Upon hearing the name, Masanobu Nobuo Nozomi was taken aback: "What does that mean?"
Rina said in a very quiet voice, "She may be missing, or something worse."
Nozomi Masanobu wiped his face forcefully: "What makes you say that?"
"Because of killing... never mind, there's no point in telling you." If Rina couldn't guess that these two people were deliberately trying to frame her, then she wouldn't even qualify as a second-rate detective.
Fujiwara no Kiko is Fujiwara no Yukino's daughter, and this matter is of great importance. Nobuyuki Mochida frowned and thought for a moment, then looked up at her as if he understood something, and said in a fast voice, "You are distracting the police."
Human life is at stake, Rina bit her tongue hard in anger, "It's just a phone call."
"Indeed," Masanobu Mochida glanced at the glass, signaling them to get to work, then turned back to look at her. "If you think you can escape punishment using this method, you're dreaming!"
Rina was speechless.
About five minutes later, a police officer entered the interrogation room and whispered a few words in Masanobu Nozomi's ear.
Masanobu Mochida glanced at Rina and said coldly, "Unfortunately, Fujiwara no Kiko is on vacation in the Maldives. You guessed wrong."
Rina's expression stiffened, and she frowned slightly. "Are you sure?"
“Don’t resist futilely. Answering the questions honestly will lessen your guilt,” Mochida Masanobu asked with a serious expression. “Why did you kill those people?”
Rina's lips twitched slightly. She quickly went through the matter in her mind and confirmed with him again, "I'm talking about the person herself, not the secretary."
If our speculation holds true, Fujiwara no Kiko should have disappeared after the incident.
Masanobu Mochida: "We called her mother."
Rina's heart sank. The problem was more serious than she had thought. She no longer wanted to talk to those two idiots. "You can leave now. I want to be alone for a while."
Unable to bear it any longer, Sagara stood up and retorted, "Do you really think this is your home?"
Rina stared at him silently, her gaze dark and gloomy.
Masanobu Noboru Mochida sneered, packed his things, and left the interrogation room.
Sagara, seething with anger, closed the door and then, unable to contain himself, slammed his fist against the wall.
No matter what interrogation methods are used, it's impossible to get any clues out of someone like her. But with this case, he was completely at a loss.
Masanobu Mochida: "Do you know where Officer Sato is?"
Sagara quickly composed himself and said respectfully, "Senpai is still investigating Sakurai Kanna's alibi."
Nozomi Mochida sneered, "He really is... unable to catch the shit while it's still hot."
Sagara remained silent.
The two were in silence when a commotion suddenly erupted in the lobby of the police station.
Zongfang's parents, holding the newspapers, shoved and pushed two police officers, and the mother cried her heart out.
"How could my perfectly healthy son cheat on me! How exactly did you investigate this case? My son is the victim, why are you letting these newspapers write it like this!"
"I want to see your chief! You police officers, instead of investigating the case, you're trying to smear my son! I'll swear on my life that my son wouldn't do such a thing. What gives you the right to suspect him of being immoral!"
“I watched him grow up, he wouldn’t do such a thing!”
Shi Zi rushed over and, upon seeing this scene, immediately stepped forward to help Zong Fang's mother, saying, "Auntie, please calm down."
“Calm down? How can you expect me to calm down? My son is still lying in the cold morgue, unable to go home,” Zongfang’s mother collapsed into Shizi’s arms, wailing. “He’s already gone, his body is barely cold, how can these people be so heartless as to make such despicable money!”
Shizi cried for several days, thinking she had cried all her tears out, but when she heard these words, she still couldn't hold back her tears and couldn't say a single word of comfort.
Masanobu Nobuo Mochida had seen many such scenes before and knew that once he showed up, he wouldn't be able to get away. He stepped onto the stairs to the second floor and, seeing that Sagara hadn't moved, reminded him, "Let's go."
Sagara ignored him and strode into the hall.
A mocking smile curled at the corner of Mochida Masanobu's lips as he turned and left without hesitation.
When Munakata's father saw him, he threw the newspaper at Sagara's face and shouted, "Is this how your police do things?!"
Sagara struggled to keep his hands from trembling. He glanced at the newspaper's publisher and instantly recalled some of the things he and his father had said in the car.
Zongfang was clearly grouped together with the other eight deceased.
Sagara fell silent, his mind went blank, and he couldn't even hear the people around him.
He didn't know how much time had passed when the phone in his pocket rang, bringing him back to his senses.
Sagara felt extremely ashamed, but dared not admit it. He turned around, walked to the side, hesitated for a moment, and then answered Sato's call, "How's it going on your end?"
Sagara said in a low voice, "We've arrested a suspect."
Sato said without hesitation: "Yu Hanazawa?"
Sagara was silent for thirty seconds, then whispered, "Natsume Rina."
Upon hearing this, Sato said incredulously, "Are you crazy? Who gave you permission to arrest her?"
Sagara took a deep breath. "...There is evidence pointing to her."
"Where's Miyako?" Sato stubbed out his cigarette and angrily rubbed his hair. "I called her, why isn't she answering?"
Sagara paused for a moment, then replied, "Miyako-senpai is on sick leave..."
Sato burst out laughing. "At this point, the case is still unsolved, and you're telling me she went on sick leave?"
Sagara was almost exhausted. He bit his lip and, after a full minute, said, "Senpai, I've leaked the details of the case."
After he finished speaking, the other side fell into a long silence.
Sato's face was gloomy as he flipped through the class list in his hand, and suddenly he saw a familiar name.
Rina had mentioned on the phone before that, given Munakata's personality, he wouldn't get into a woman's car for no reason.
Unless the other party is an acquaintance.
He remembered that when Zongfang left the bar, there happened to be a limited edition Porsche parked there that night.
Thinking of this, Sato's gaze immediately locked onto a name on the list, and the hairs on his entire back stood on end.
——Roseko Fujiwara.
She's the only one here who can afford that car.
"We'll talk about it when we get back. First, let's calm the victim's family down." On the phone, Sato could clearly hear Sagara's wailing, the grief almost suffocating.
After hanging up the phone, Sato breathed a sigh of relief, said goodbye to Munakata's teacher, and left the office.
As he was about to drive to the police station, his phone suddenly received a call from an unknown number.
"Help... Officer, someone has broken into my room..." came a weak voice from the other end. Before Sato could even recognize the voice, the call was disconnected.
He quickly dialed back, but only received a message indicating that the phone was switched off.
Sato immediately ruled out Yukiho, repeatedly confirming the voice in his mind, and then immediately started the car and rushed into the main road.
He ran through more than a dozen traffic lights, and even sped up to 120 miles per hour in the city, but it was still too late.
He ran upstairs and carefully entered the room. Momoyama Chiyo was already lying on the bedroom floor, unresponsive.
Sato, pale-faced, stepped forward to check Momoyama Chiyo's pulse on her neck, and his eyes lit up again.
There's still a heartbeat!
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