Chapter 689: Chapter 436: Rumor Deduction (Part 3)
Fushimi Roku pried open the lid, lifted the three fish into the cold storage, poured in crushed ice for refrigeration and preservation. Sweaty and exhausted, he went to take a shower. Just as he exited the bathroom, he caught sight of Minamoto Tamako stealthily hiding something.
"What are you hiding?" he asked, drying his hair with a towel, as he walked over.
Minamoto Tamako had just lifted the tatami and stuffed some case files underneath it when she heard Fushimi Roku’s voice behind her, startling her so much that her hair stood on end.
"N-nothing..."
She quickly turned around, using her behind to press down the tatami: "Just cleaning up, haha, hahaha."
Fushimi Roku narrowed his eyes; this person was smiling way too insincerely, as if "I’m lying" were written all over her face.
"Oh... is that so?"
Fushimi Roku didn’t expose her; he planned to wait until Minamoto Tamako wasn’t around, then lift the tatami for a peek, and morally condemn her for lying.
And so, time passed back and forth, half a day was gone, the sun set westward, and Master Lu began to prepare dinner for the day.
He tinkered around in the kitchen for a long time, making five dishes and a soup—steamed king crab, garlic crabmeat tofu, pan-seared tuna, tuna braised tofu, and king crab miso soup.
All shrimp and fish meat, the trio was gifted with a gout package.
While eating, Minamoto Tamako seemed absent-minded, her chopsticks didn’t stop moving, but her mouth wandered off to chat about other things: "By the way, when I was shopping today, I heard people discussing a murder case..."
Fushimi Roku dismissed it as her meddling again, saying, "Don’t talk when eating, don’t speak when sleeping."
"Dinner is meant for chit-chat, otherwise why gather together to eat dinner?" Minamoto Tamako found herself an excuse, continuing, "That case is very interesting, you’d definitely be interested upon hearing it."
Fushimi Roku looked skeptical, he paused his chopsticks, chewing away, then glanced up at Minamoto Tamako: "What murder case?"
"A woman, on the street at night, was stabbed to death." Minamoto Tamako felt guilty, not daring to look people straight in the eye, yet she couldn’t help but want to share it with her team, hoping to hear their deductions.
This murder case really stumped her, it wasn’t in a confined space, and the crime time had been over a month ago, even if she profiles, she might not find any valuable clues.
As soon as Minamoto Tamako started speaking, Fushimi Roku instantly figured out what was going on.
Not only did he guess what Minamoto Tamako was hiding, but he also surmised what that old Kujo Mutsumi planned to do.
That old geezer actually told his granddaughter the same thing...
Fushimi Roku could see it clearly—Kujo Family from top to bottom was full of schemers, with more tricks than a hornet’s nest.
He really felt a bit like cursing, thinking it’s true that birds of a feather flock together, Kujo Mutsumi is even more sinister than Kujo Yua... Minamoto Tamako’s simple genes were 100% inherited from her father, having nothing to do with the Kujo Family.
On the surface, Fushimi Roku still appeared as if nothing had happened, he began to play dumb, following Minamoto Tamako’s lead with his questions: "Oh? Interesting, what else?"
"The interesting part is yet to come!"
Minamoto Tamako was secretly delighted, thinking Fushimi Roku hadn’t found out, she hurriedly cradled her chair with both hands, moving in small steps around the dining table like a turtle shell, sitting beside Fushimi Roku: "The first suspect the police locked onto was her husband, because she had a poor relationship with him, and their relationship was very bad..."
"Such a hasty reason for locking onto a suspect?" Fushimi Roku sucked on the crabmeat.
"No choice, have to find a breakthrough first." Minamoto Tamako had come to understand this kind of investigative method.
"No witnesses?" Fushimi Roku turned his head.
"Nope, if there were, it wouldn’t be this hard to investigate!" Minamoto Tamako said.
Fushimi Roku felt something was off; he thought about it, and then said, "When I was buying fish, I heard similar rumors, saying a woman got stabbed on the street, but there’s a discrepancy in yours, someone witnessed the suspect fleeing the scene at the time..."
"Eh? Really?" Minamoto Tamako truly believed.
She looked at the heap of seafood Fushimi Roku brought back home, subconsciously feeling Fushimi Roku wasn’t lying.
"Yes, really," Fushimi Roku feigned surprise: "We’re not talking about the same case, are we?" Then he waved his hand and laughed, "Impossible impossible, things don’t happen that coincidentally... Let’s eat first, I’m starving today."
Minamoto Tamako pinched her chopsticks, but didn’t pick up any food.
She was so anxious she was scratching her ears and cheeks, wanting to confirm whether Fushimi Roku was talking about the same case, but couldn’t directly ask ’Is the victim Kujo Yuka’... If she gets too detailed, wouldn’t she be exposed for having seen the files!
But what if it really is the same case?
If there’s a witness, it means the investigating criminal police missed something! This was a significant clue that had to be clarified!
"Ah—ah, that’s true," Minamoto Tamako stammered, her mind racing, lying with all her might, using every trick she’d learned from Fushimi Roku to lie: "But—but it’s also possible that... rumor has discrepancies! Some heard there’s no witness, others heard there is... That possibility exists too!"
"Oh, indeed." Fushimi Roku pretended to not care.
Minamoto Tamako seized the moment and said, "Do you have any details that could confirm whether we’re talking about the same case?"
Fushimi Roku picked up a piece of crab meat, smashed it with his chopsticks and mixed it with the rice. He looked as if he was recalling: "I seem to have heard that woman was a foreigner, and her husband was pretty wealthy, so that’s what caught people’s attention..."
"It is the same case as yours!" Minamoto Tamako was so excited she wanted to jump up, chasing further: "Who was the witness? What exactly did they see? Tell me, quickly!"
"Forgotten, ah, it’s just idle chatter on the street, who remembers it so clearly..." Fushimi Roku played hard to get.
"Just remember, please think!" Minamoto Tamako was now shaking Fushimi Roku’s arm in her desperation.
"Seems like... a hotel attendant, right? Saw a suspicious man on the balcony, wearing a mask and sunglasses..." Fushimi Roku pretended to recall: "That’s all."
Minamoto Tamako was shocked: "Eh!? But when the police queried hotel staff nearby, they all said they saw nothing!"
She immediately covered her mouth afterward, showing an expression of ’oops let it slip’.
Fushimi Roku looked at his nose, faced his heart, pretending to see nothing, staring at his bowl of crab meat with eyes that said ’this crab meat sure is good bro’: "What’s the big deal? Witnesses might fear trouble and conceal, which is common, that’s why police have to interrogate repeatedly."
"Ye-yeah, that’s right."
Minamoto Tamako patted her chest, thinking she was lucky, good thing Fushimi didn’t catch on, she’d have to be cautious next time.
Fushimi Roku guessed she’d gone to the police station and gotten the files, then he casually asked: "And then? What’s interesting about this case? Sounds like a regular murder case to me."
Upon hearing this, Minamoto Tamako’s detective spirit burned fervently, wanting to discuss in detail with Fushimi Roku, but she couldn’t, only able to speak indirectly:
"I mentioned earlier the police locked onto the husband, thinking he was the suspect. But after investigating, it was discovered that the neighboring city’s Sapporo Police Station was also tracking a murder case where the suspect was the same husba... that husband."
She almost let it slip again; luckily she adjusted quickly, not letting Fushimi notice.
Fushimi Roku thought for a moment, saying: "It’s not rare for someone to commit two murders, I’m still not hearing what’s interesting."
Minamoto Tamako ’hummed’ twice, looking proud, if there was a pipe nearby she’d surely put it in her mouth to show off: "The interesting thing is, the death times of the two victims are close, one person can’t possibly commit murders in two places at the same time, right?"
Fushimi Roku was enlightened, feigning the first time hearing: "So, if he killed in Sapporo City, he couldn’t possibly kill in Otaru City at the same time, and vice versa, is that right?"
"Exactly!"
Minamoto Tamako very much wanted to imitate Fushimi Roku’s finger snap, but she couldn’t, so she rubbed her fingers together, made a sound effect herself, bouncing her tongue in the oral cavity to make a ’dob’ sound.
Fushimi Roku slowed his chewing speed, asking: "Who is the other victim?"
"It’s the husband’s lover." Minamoto Tamako quickly added: "I also heard that, Hokkaido is like that, everyone loves to chat idly, haha."
Fushimi Roku still feigned ignorance, smiling and saying: "I get it, you want to play the ’rumor deduction game’, deducing the truth of the murder case from a few pieces of information, right?"
"...Uh? Ye-yeah, exactly that!"
Minamoto Tamako suppressed the corners of her mouth, thinking Fushimi was truly easy to fool; they say love makes people stupid, looks like Fushimi has completely fallen in love, becoming a fool utterly devoted to her, wahahaha!!
Keeping the conversation flowing, Fushimi Roku began his analysis: "So, there are now three possibilities. First one, the husband killed the wife; second, the husband killed the lover; third, the husband didn’t kill anyone, someone else committed the crime."
Minamoto Tamako felt he was stating the obvious: "Isn’t that clear?"
Fushimi Roku asked back: "Then, which do you think is the case?"