Chapter 3633-3648 [Case Closed]
Jiang Xia: "If it were just a robbery of an armored truck, then Hirukawa's bomb would have been enough. But you want more than just cash; you also want to get away with it perfectly and clear your name as an ordinary citizen."
"So you used that picture book sample you had to plan this series of bombings, and then detonated the bombs around Hirukawa to silence him with an 'accidental death'."
Editor Asaga's expression changed several times before he finally chuckled and said, "You really have a talent for making up stories. Why don't you quit being a detective and sign with me to draw comics? This kind of outstanding imagination, although it has nothing to do with reality, is perfect for drawing comics."
Inspector Megure was furious: "What nonsense are you spouting! Don't you dare poach my employees!"
Jiang Xia remained calm: "Comics are just comics. Compared to those fictional stories, I still prefer reality—like the case you're planning right now."
"Your script is excellent, but it has too many flaws in practice. I heard that the police asked you for the answers to the riddles in the picture book, and your answer at the time was that too much time had passed and you hadn't read the picture book carefully, so you didn't remember them."
"But right after I said I didn't remember these things, you suddenly brought up the ending of the whole picture book: 'Grandpa Tick-Tock, who is the protagonist of the whole story and runs through the whole picture book, passed away from a serious illness. Ten years later, his grandson inherited the family business and became a very good watchmaker, just like his grandfather.'"
"This ending seems to have nothing to do with the bomb or the bomber. You mentioned him because you wanted to use the death of the 'Grandpa Tick-Tock' as a prelude to make Hirukawa's death seem more natural."
"As long as the police think that Hirukawa's death corresponds to the ending of the old man's death in the picture book, they will naturally lower their guard and let you, the real mastermind, escape the law."
As she spoke, Jiang Xia sighed regretfully, "After realizing this, Takagi, Officer Sato, and I originally wanted to get to that cabin first and take Hirukawa away, but before we could even go inside, you had already detonated the bomb."
Upon hearing this, Editor Asanaga, who was covered in cold sweat, finally came to his senses and smiled again: "I am deeply sorry that you failed to capture Hirukawa alive. But you can't blame me for that."
Jiang Xia shook his head and raised his hand. Officer Takagi, very perceptive, darted over and handed him a document.
Inspector Megure was almost knocked over by the wind he stirred up, and couldn't help but glance at him: "..." You little rascal... why were you never this quick-witted when I used to order you around?
At the same time, he craned his neck and glanced curiously at the document. Then he remembered: "Is this the text message record from the telecommunications company?"
Editor Tomonaga: "?!"
Jiang Xia nodded and unfolded the documents for Editor Chao Yong, revealing familiar text lines along with corresponding times and locations—all messages sent by the bomber from that anonymous phone:
"Although the mastermind behind it was quite cunning, sending the message through several intermediaries before it reached that phone... if we reversed the process and knew the sender beforehand, it wouldn't be as difficult to verify it."
Editor Chao Yong's face changed drastically, but the evidence was not limited to that: the honest-looking police officer who had been carrying a bomb and jumping around like a monkey in front of him for more than 20 minutes had actually taken out a laptop.
Upon closer inspection, Editor Chao Yong turned deathly pale: a video was playing on his laptop. The protagonist of the video was none other than himself, hiding in the woods.
The photographer was far away, but the resolution was high. When zoomed in, you could clearly see him taking a remote control out of his bag, holding it in his hand for a moment, and then pressing it down hard.
Almost simultaneously, a burst of fire erupted on the other side of the river, and then Editor Asanaga, who had his back to the camera, turned around and hurriedly left. This turn revealed his face to the camera.
Then, the video ended, but Officer Takagi immediately followed up with an evidence bag like Doraemon—the remote control that he had thrown into a nearby garbage dump and which should have been destroyed, unexpectedly reunited with him in a touching way.
Editor Asagaya suddenly knelt on the ground: "This, this... where did you get these things?! I clearly threw them away!"
Jiang Xia: "..." So what if I threw it away? A kind-hearted police officer can just pick it up and anonymously hand it over to the Metropolitan Police Department, right?
In any case, with Editor Asaga's kneeling, the matter was mostly resolved.
Sato Miwako flipped through the beautifully illustrated picture book and sighed with regret: "Using it as a script means you must really like this story. It's a pity that such a precious manuscript has been torn into this state with pages missing here and there."
Jiang Xia looked over and said, "This sample is probably not the original manuscript, but a photocopy of it—if you look closely, a few pages are printed crookedly."
"It's crooked?!" Officer Sato was taken aback. He looked through the pages carefully and stared at them for a while before finally noticing that the margins on the left and right sides of one page were indeed different, differing by less than two millimeters.
...You can even tell that?!
Jiang Xia: "When I discovered this, I felt that it was a bit strange for editor Chao Yong to claim that the original manuscript had been stolen. However, we can't rule out that the people at their editorial office saw that the author of the picture book was very controversial and just did a perfunctory job, so I didn't think too much about it at the time..."
Inspector Megure quickly reassured him, "It's already quite an achievement that you noticed something was wrong with the sample!"
Then he felt something was off and looked at Editor Chao Yong: "Not only did you go to Jiang Xia, but you also lied to his face. Aren't you afraid of being exposed on the spot—like this?"
Editor Asahide sighed helplessly and said with a bitter smile, "I know that using the original manuscript is the safest option, but, but I am an editor, how can I watch such a masterpiece be destroyed by my own hands?"
"I worked at the editorial office for many years and was very familiar with all kinds of sample manuscripts, so I carefully disguised one, thinking it should be able to fool people... but I didn't expect it to still leave flaws."
"As for Jiang Xia, I'm afraid that if I find a bad detective, he won't be able to solve the carefully crafted mystery in the picture book. In that case, my carefully adapted and precious script will never be able to be performed."
"In the end, I could only trust myself, and believe that together with Imai, we could fool this high school detective... Unfortunately, I overestimated myself."
Hidden among the police, Kazami Yuya's heart pounded as he listened to these words.
Was the motive for involving Jiang Xia and Mr. Furuya in this case the intention of Editor Tomonaga himself, or... was Usagi using his mouth to deliver his closing remarks on today's case?
(End of this chapter)
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