Chapter 293 Crow Shadow Scream
appeared.
The three factors that triggered Kiichiro Numabuchi's mental illness: lighting, fragrance, and re-enactment.
The broken desk lamp brought back from the unit, the fragrance in the amulet (or something else, Kudo Yusaku hasn't opened it yet), and Maya Fujitani who took off her coat to reveal her identity as a doctor.
These factors worked together on Kiichiro Numabuchi, ultimately leading to his second madness.
Just like that, the murderer once again cut off Kiichiro Numabuchi's desire to return to society, and at the cost of sacrificing a happy family.
Kudo Yusaku clenched his fists slightly.
That's terrible.
At this moment, Lin Xi's message also came.
"I collected some useful information at the hospital."
"Maya Fujitani was suddenly called for surgery on June 2nd. Another doctor had diarrhea the night before the surgery, so Maya had to take over. It was a minor operation, so Maya handled it quickly. She was in a hurry, though, so she didn't change her clothes; she just put on her coat and went home."
"Thank you for your hard work, Ms. Lin." Kudo Yusaku replied, "I have almost understood the case, but I lack evidence."
"I understand. I'll go to your place right now."
But a moment later, she appeared at the door.
She was also carrying boxes of various sizes.
"I bought you lunch," Lin Xi said. "It's a simple bento. Please help yourself."
Kei Fujitani, Sayuri Fujitani, and the policeman who had been following them were also involved.
The aroma of food wafted out of the box, and everyone came to their senses. It was already lunch time.
"Thank you." Kei Fujitani took the lunch box with mixed feelings.
People are grateful for what they have received, and they are grateful for what they have received. In addition, this group of people have always been very nice, so Kei Fujitani felt embarrassed to be cold to them.
Remembering that Lin Xi had never met Sayuri Fujitani, he took the initiative to introduce her: "This is my daughter, Sayuri Fujitani."
Lin Xi walked in naturally, squatted down and touched her head: "Hello, Sayuri."
Sayuri Fujitani looked at Lin Xi, and her pupils suddenly contracted in fear.
"ah----"
She let out a shrill scream.
"Sayuri! What's wrong?!"
Kei Fujitani was terrified.
However, Sayuri Fujitani seemed unable to hear him and just kept screaming and shrinking back in fear.
Her PTSD seemed to have broken out, and this time the object of her fear was Lin Xi.
Lin Xi stood there in a daze, and was pulled back by the police: "You, go! Go! This child is afraid of you..."
Yusaku Kudo also followed them out, while Yukiko Kudo squatted down and comforted Sayuri Fujitani with Kei Fujitani.
"Who is that woman?!" Kei Fujitani yelled angrily, "What did she do to Sayuri!"
"Mr. Fujitani, calm down! There must be some misunderstanding here!" Kudo Yukiko held Fujitani Sayuri's hand tightly. Because of this action, Fujitani Sayuri suddenly threw herself into Kudo Yukiko's arms.
"How scary... the flower god..." Sayuri Fujitani cried breathlessly, "The flower god is here again, the flower god who killed my mother is here again... How scary..."
No matter how Kei Fujitani and Yukiko Kudo comforted and asked her questions, it was of no avail. Her tears fell like a flood, and she only repeated two sentences: "How scary" and "The flower god is here again."
Outside the door, the police were also questioning Lin Xi.
"What's going on? You..." He looked Lin Xi up and down, "What did you do to that child? Why did you make her so scared of you?"
"I didn't do anything." Lin Xi rubbed his brow. Although it had been less than 24 hours since he took the medicine yesterday, the duration of the drug's effect was getting shorter and shorter.
Although she knew the little girl didn't mean it, her screams and the police's aggressive questioning still made her nervous.
"Murderer!" Lin Xi screamed in her mind, her voice much sharper than the little girl's earlier cry. "I will make all your wishes come to nothing. I curse you..."
A look of fatigue appeared on Lin Xi's face.
Why can't she just be more content?
Kudo Yusaku noticed her discomfort.
"She... don't question her yet." He seemed to want to say something, but swallowed it back. Finally, he stopped the police in a dry voice, "Today was the first time she met Fujitani Sayuri."
"Would you yell and be so scared at someone you met for the first time?" The police officer stared at Kudo Yusaku suspiciously, "if she hadn't done something to you?"
"If you think about it, it's really strange, isn't it?" He continued. "It happened yesterday at Rintaro Kawakami's place too. She was the only one there when the room suddenly caught fire! I remember when I brought you here, the windows were all open. How could a gas pipe explode so suddenly? And it was so coincidental that it only destroyed Rintaro Kawakami's kitchen and bedroom... By the way, there were a lot of paper products on his bedroom desk, right? That's where the most likely evidence would be left, and it was all burned! On the other hand, those vases and wine that couldn't be found were investigated quite actively! Are you sure those weren't just a means of diversion?"
"You will never get what you want. I will make you pay."
"Inspector..."
"Burn with me in the raging fire! ("Lin Xi" followed with a burst of crazy laughter) Let our flesh and blood be burned and our internal organs melted..."
"I'm a deputy inspector!" the policeman said. "I introduced myself from the very beginning, but no one cared! Apart from her, you're not from the public security department, are you? You just follow this guy around, and I'm afraid you don't even remember the name of a real police officer like me!"
"You bastard..."
"Officer Aijima." Kudo Yusaku called out his name, proving that he had indeed remembered his initial self-introduction. "That's all your subjective conjecture. We're here to uncover the truth, there's no doubt about that."
"Murderer!"
"Shut up!" Lin Xi closed his eyes and yelled.
Both of them were frightened by her.
"Are you okay, Miss Lin, you..." Kudo Yusaku asked with concern.
Only then did Lin Xi realize that she had accidentally spoken out what she was thinking.
"Sorry." She rubbed her temples. "I didn't get enough rest... um..."
"This medicine must be taken at least 24 hours apart," Jin had instructed her. "If it's shorter than that, you must contact me immediately."
"I know," Lin Xi responded involuntarily, "Follow the doctor's orders, I know..."
The officer called Aijima looked at her in horror.
"Did you hear that just now?" He pointed at Lin Xi and said to Kudo Yusaku, "Who was she talking to just now? The Flower Goddess?"
"The Flower God doesn't exist!" Kudo Yusaku was also a little angry, "Ms. Lin, relax, I'll take you to the hospital now..."
"He's looking out for you, the detective, the good old man. Why drag him into your affairs?"
"Suspicious, suspicious, this is all too suspicious. Who knows if she's pretending? Wherever she goes, problems arise! First, there was a gas explosion in Kawakami Rintaro's room, and then the little girl who faced the crime scene was accused of being the murderer. Aren't you looking for the criminal hiding behind this? Could this guy be that person? She's deliberately misleading our judgment, going back to the crime scene to appreciate her work, observing whether the people she harmed died tragically, whether their families were grieving, and the progress of the police..."
"Selfish ghost."
"Mr. Aijima! Please shut up right now!" Kudo Yusaku yelled, pulling Lin Xi's body that was about to slip.
"It's all your fault, huh?"
"I didn't... I wasn't..." Lin Xi had a splitting headache and muttered like in a dream.
"Ms. Lin, please cheer up! Medicine...where are your medicines? I need your help—Ms. Lin!"
Amidst the chaos both inside and outside the house, Lin Xi fainted.
She had relied on medication to sleep peacefully this week. She had already been sleep-deprived, and the auditory hallucinations and mumbling in her mind continued to torment her nerves.
But today, the little girl's frightened eyes and screams finally pushed her spirit to the limit.
Before she passed out, she couldn't help but think in her mind:
Could she really be a murderer?
.
…
Los Angeles, USA.
The black computer screen suddenly lit up, and the email icon in the lower right corner flashed.
A hand with emerald green nail polish slid the mouse open.
"This email is sent regularly. If you receive this email, it means that something bad has happened to me."
"Don't worry, the software I delivered is flawless. This email has been edited several times, and on the last edit, I can finally tell you with certainty: not everyone in your organization shares your goals. Perhaps you already knew this, but to be on the safe side, I think I still need to remind you, Vermouth."
"There's one more thing I think you should know: the murdered girl you saw in the 'Slate of Destiny' came to me on the eve of my software delivery. I later entered her data into the unfinished software I had saved—please forgive my presumption, just as I forgive you—and the result I obtained shocked me."
"Her death could lead to the destruction of this world. So, my initial assumption was completely wrong—your desire to save that girl just happened to align with humanity's perspective. I can't explain why, just like I don't know why she's so important to this world—to this comic, or novel, or whatever."
"No matter what, please do your best to stop this."
"While talking to the girl, I noticed a strange stream of data coming into my phone. I checked it later and found that it seemed to be some kind of extremely powerful artificial intelligence, and its data gave me a familiar feeling. If you want to use the software next time, you can ask it for help; it should already have a certain degree of intelligence."
"Also, I have a confession to make, Vermouth. I left a backdoor in my software. Considering the other faction within your organization, I think this backdoor might be just right. Now I'm going to tell you how to exploit it..."
"In the end, the person who killed me should be someone from your organization. I have no family or friends, which is a good thing... I sincerely hope that your wish can come true, Vermouth."
『——Itakura Taku』
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