The moment he received the case assignment, Fujiwara Yu followed his superior Otaki Goro into the elevator and went to the first floor lobby. He did not choose to accept Officer Otaki's kindness, but directly got on his motorcycle and put on his helmet, following closely behind a dark gray Nissan Bluebird.
It took a total of 35 minutes to get from the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters to the crime scene, and that was with green lights all the way.
Before arriving at the independent residential building at 1-18-45 Shibaya-cho, we found two men and women gathered outside the yellow cordon, constantly looking inside. From their expressions, we could tell that these two people were not the victim's family members, but more like gossipy neighbors.
Otaki Goro got out of the driver's seat and looked at Takashi Sosuke half-jokingly, with a hint of regret in his tone:
"It seems we won't be able to hold a welcome party for you tonight. Whether we can even solve the case is a problem. Yingsi, you have to be prepared to work overtime."
Upon hearing this, Fujiwara Yuu revealed a confident smile. If the case was handled well, there would still be time for a dinner party.
He took off his motorcycle helmet and walked towards the crime scene. Before he even entered, he was grabbed by the elbow by the man in the red plaid shirt who was watching the excitement. It didn't feel good to be touched so closely by a stranger. Before he could say anything, he heard the man directly question him:
"Hey! How can you enter the crime scene? You really don't know the rules. This is where the police handle crimes."
Fujiwara Yuu didn't bother to answer him. He simply pulled out his police ID and shoved it in his face. He then used alcohol disinfectant spray to disinfect the affected area and tucked it back in. He didn't rush in, but instead walked quickly around the house before returning to the entrance, putting on his shoe covers and entering the scene professionally.
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The man in the red plaid shirt standing at the door was a little confused. He turned his head and looked at the equally gossipy aunt beside him and said:
"I never thought police officers would dye their hair such a garish color. They look unreliable. I think this case is probably unsolvable!
”
"Shh, keep your voice down. What if he's someone with connections?" The aunt quickly put her index finger in front of her mouth and reminded him in a low voice. She didn't want to offend some important person just because of some gossip. That would be a waste of time and effort.
Fujiwara Yuu naturally had no interest in using the power of wind to eavesdrop on the conversation between the two people. He put on his gloves skillfully and saw Otaki Goro standing in the living room, discussing the incident with the two reporters.
It turned out that the case they were investigating was a missing girl case. After investigation, the Suminoe Police Station believed that the missing person in this case ran away from home due to family conflicts and did not think it was linked to a criminal case, so they planned to close the case.
However, the parents of the missing person did not agree with this result, so they transferred the case to the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters through their connections. Otaki Goro, who had just finished his vacation and was an experienced criminal policeman, naturally became the best candidate. Fujiwara Yu, who had just been in office for less than ten minutes, was even more unlucky and started to handle the case at light speed.
"Why do you think the missing person Chiyo Tokui ran away from home because of family or school conflicts? Can you tell us a little about Chiyo's personality?" Otaki Goro asked.
As the child's father, Seiji Tokui's eyes were full of red bloodshot from lack of sleep. He repeatedly pinched the cigarette box in his hand and gradually became emotional when he mentioned his precious daughter:
"Chiyo is a very well-behaved child. She's been obedient and sensible since she was young. Although she's a bit introverted, she's very popular in class. Otherwise, she wouldn't have received so many gifts from her classmates on her birthday last month. Furthermore, our family has always been harmonious, and she hasn't shown any abnormal behavior recently. How could such a Chiyo run away from home?"
This does not necessarily conform to the characteristics of running away from home, but it does not rule out the possibility that Chiyo Tokui, who was only fourteen years old, attempted to run away from home out of rebelliousness. However, the probability of this is relatively small, and it is more likely that she was kidnapped and taken away from the crime scene.
"Could you briefly describe the specific time period of your disappearance? For example, the time period when Chiyo might have been home?"
"My wife and I went to a university reunion last night and didn't go to pick Chiyo up from her cram school. The cram school ends at 7 p.m., and the return subway ride from there would take at least half an hour. Our neighbor, Mr. Morita, saw Chiyo returning home at 7:35 p.m., so I think she must have gone missing between 7:35 p.m. and 9:12 p.m. when we got home."
As soon as Tokui Seiji finished speaking, the child's mother, Tokui Taeko, who was standing beside him, couldn't hold back her sadness and sobbed softly, repeating words of self-blame in her mouth. It was obvious that she was really sad, and her voice was hoarse from crying.
After hearing this information, Otaki Goro was able to determine the time period of the crime. The next step was to find useful evidence at the scene. If the kidnappers had committed the crime from indoors, they would have left some traces. This living room might be the first crime scene.
He looked at Takashi Sosuke, who was squatting next to the coffee table. Thinking that he was an elite in the professional group, he immediately asked:
"Takashi, how's it going? Did you find any useful clues?"
"Yes, I just found something like this under the coffee table."
Fujiwara Yuu showed the TV remote control that he had put in the evidence bag. He noticed Officer Otaki's confusion and took the initiative to explain:
"The TV remote couldn't have appeared at the bottom of the coffee table for no apparent reason. From what the missing person's parents just said, we can see they were in a state of anxiety and grief. When they discovered the TV was on and didn't see the remote, their first instinct was definitely not to look for it. Instead, they would have directly pressed the power button on the TV."
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