NOVEL WEB Chapter 298: Guilty!
The "Japanese Constitution" and the "Japanese Criminal Procedure Law" establish the status of the accused and grant them the right to remain silent.
The suspect can clearly state "I don't want to talk" or "I want to remain silent" to refuse answering questions from law enforcement officers of the investigative agency.
If the suspect requests a lawyer to be present, the police should wait for the lawyer to arrive before conducting the interrogation. Otherwise, the obtained interrogation records may not be legally valid and cannot be used as evidence for the final decision.
All officers handling cases are aware of these basic regulations, but few actually comply with them.
Coincidentally, Minamoto Tamako is one of those few.
In her anticipation, Fujiwara Section Chief should be innocent. After all, she had seen Fujiwara Homare's behavior on Cat Island, which wasn't as bad as it could be, but rather harmless... If Fujiwara Homare were really some sort of psychopathic murderer, he would have acted without hesitation when Asahara Shoko asked him to make a sacrifice.
But now Fujiwara Homare was acting very uncooperative, maintaining silence all along, looking as if he had a guilty conscience.
During the wait for the lawyer's arrival, both the forensics and the laboratory results came in; the hilt of the knife had the fingerprints of both Fujiwara Homare and the victim, and aside from alcohol, no other drugs were found in the deceased's body.
"Hmm, this is really strange."
Minamoto Tamako, reading the forensics report, mumbled sideways to Fushimi Roku: "Look, the wound on the back of the dead is very strange, all skewed and crooked... What do you think happened?"
Fushimi Roku didn't bother to guess. He slapped the table, shouting at Fujiwara Homare: "I'm asking you a question! What happened? Tell the truth!"
Seeing Fujiwara Homare with his head hung low without speaking, Fushimi Roku tried his usual trick again, starting to coax, claiming that this was a calamity he had to go through before becoming immortal, that only by sincerely repenting and eliminating his sins could he achieve enlightenment...
"I was just talking," Fujiwara Homare's desolate aura matched Kazama Tatsuya's: "You actually believed it?"
"..."
Fushimi Roku and Minamoto Tamako exchanged a glance.
Something's not right with this guy's condition.
Wasn't he previously the top in the sky, second in the Fujiwara family, third in command? Where had that arrogant and domineering attitude gone?
Fushimi Roku crossed his fingers on the table surface, asking earnestly: "After so much diligent cultivation, are you really planning to give up now?"
"There was no cultivation, just self-deception all along." Fujiwara Homare gazed at his fingers.
"How could that be? I can feel it; your soul has become purer..."
"Fake."
"How could it be fake? You saw it too, those evil spirits..."
"Just some kind of fungus, Asahara Shoko took me to see them."
Fushimi Roku wanted to persuade further, but Minamoto Tamako couldn't help interjecting: "If that's the case, why did you choose to believe initially? Why deceive yourself? Becoming immortal... it sounds like a scam, doesn't it?"
Saying this, she couldn't resist glancing sidelong at Fushimi Roku.
This guy, using demon-expulsion as an excuse at the Wulin Temple, knocked out Fujiwara Homare with the Double Peak Piercing Ears — perhaps Fujiwara Section Chief became mentally unstable during that time.
Fushimi Roku was equally dissatisfied; he shot a sidelong glance back, wasn't there supposed to be mutual support within the detective squad rather than sabotaging a partner?
Fujiwara Homare went silent again, staring at his fingers, perhaps lost in thought.
Minamoto Tamako leaned forward, extending her small hand, waved it in front of him through the air: "Oi! Let's set this immortality thing aside for now, why not talk about what happened last night?"
"I'll talk when the lawyer arrives."Fujiwara Homare remained tight-lipped.
"Did your family arrange a lawyer already?" Minamoto Tamako felt that the wait had been long enough.
"I don't know."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"Waiting for the lawyer."
"..."
Minamoto Tamako felt that Fujiwara Homare had become an idiot. He was speaking incoherently, his expressions were also very dull; perhaps he had brain injury, causing mental issues and that after drinking, a second personality emerged to commit murder.
Continuing to wait like this wasn't a solution, feeling helpless, Minamoto Tamako called the Fujiwara family, using her role as the lead criminal police, requested Director Fujiwara to get a lawyer for his son.
Director Fujiwara showed no particular reaction, nor did he suggest any leniency to Minamoto Tamako; he just replied with a "Thank you for your hard work, the lawyer will be there within half an hour," and hung up. BroughttoyoubyMV6LEMPY6R.
Minamoto Tamako thought Director Fujiwara's attitude was too calm. His own son had committed murder, yet his tone carried no hint of worry or anxiety, increasing the suspicion in Minamoto Tamako's heart.
She closed the flip phone, turned her head and whispered:
"Do you think Fujiwara Homare committed the murder?"
Fushimi Roku took a moment to glance through the files; the corridor of the luxury hotel where Fujiwara Homare stayed had surveillance cameras, from the moment Fujiwara Homare carried Yoshikawa Ritsuo into the room, and until the patrol police arrived the following morning, no third person entered the crime scene. He casually replied: "Probably did."
"Then I bet he didn't kill." Minamoto Tamako quickly said, afraid of being preempted.
Every time she had been defeated by Mr. Fu Jian in investigation cases, but this time she finally had the chance to redeem herself!
Based on her understanding of Fujiwara Homare, plus the detective novels and TV shows she had seen, this locked-room murder case was definitely not as simple as it seemed!
"Look, if Fujiwara Homare was the one holding the knife, why would there be the deceased's fingerprints on the handle? This suggests the deceased also held the knife, right?"
Minamoto Tamako eagerly shared her suspicions: "If the murder weapon wasn't prepared by Fujiwara Homare beforehand, it means this knife was brought to the scene by the deceased, suggesting the deceased intended wrongdoing and was counter-killed by Fujiwara Homare in a struggle for the knife; otherwise, Fujiwara Homare brought the weapon to the scene, and the deceased seized the knife but failed to leave any wounds on Fujiwara Homare, which is very unreasonable, so the former scenario is more likely..."
Fushimi Roku casually tossed the file onto the table and said, "But is there a possibility that Fujiwara Homare attempted rape, the deceased resisted with the knife, and was killed by Fujiwara Homare in the struggle?"
"Eh?"
Minamoto Tamako scratched her head, feeling that Mr. Fu Jian's explanation also seemed to make sense.
She rested her chin on her hand, pondered for a while, and asked with knitted brows, "What about the wounds on the deceased's back? Without a deep-seated hatred, why stab so many times? And the angle is very strange too..."
"Fujiwara Homare was drunk at the time, and it's not surprising for someone to do anything while drunk," Fushimi Roku laid his head on the table, planning to nap a bit, "perhaps he was planning to play tattoo with the lady?"
The two discussed without avoiding Fujiwara Homare.
Minamoto Tamako knew he heard everything and couldn't help but turn her head to ask, "Is it really like that?"
Fujiwara Homare remained silent, which made her anxious to the point of wanting to pry open his brain to see what actually happened last night.
Minamoto Tamako consolidated all the clues: doors and windows tightly shut, no one going in or out, two people alone, one dead, all the evidence and testimony were complete, making Fujiwara Homare's murder charge almost a done deal!
But she felt the evidence was too complete, giving her an inexplicable feeling that Fujiwara Homare was being framed.
Isn't this how it always goes in TV series? The killer accused by everyone is actually framed, unjustly imprisoned, goes through a series of twists and turns, outwits the villain, sacrifices a few supporting characters, and ultimately brings the truth to light...
Of course, Minamoto Tamako knew TV shows were just acting, novels were fiction, real life didn't have so many coincidences, but the strong sense of déjà vu made her suspicious.
Especially since the media reacted so quickly, which made her find it very odd.
The criminal police hadn't even arrived at the scene, yet the journalists were already blocking the door, and they weren't even proper criminal journalists, showed no respect for the police, definitely from some third-rate local paper.
Before leaving the scene earlier, she had specifically asked the hotel manager, who assured her that their internal training was very strict, and they would never leak clients' privacy, let alone a murder case to the media, as it would be catastrophic for the hotel's reputation—who would stay in a hotel where a murder occurred?
So who deliberately leaked the news?
Minamoto Tamako pondered deeply but found no answers.
Fortunately, the lawyer arrived on time, covered in sweat, suggesting he had run all the way there.
"Sorry to keep everyone waiting..."
The lawyer took out a business card with the name "Kikuta Akio" printed on it.
In the 90s, it was popular in both Japan and the United States to exchange business cards; wealthy and influential people would hire designers to specially design their cards, and social interactions often started with exchanging business cards.
Given the special circumstances, Minamoto Tamako and Fushimi Roku naturally couldn't exchange business cards with the lawyer, and besides, they had never prepared such items.
"Before the interrogation begins, I need to speak with my client alone," Kikuta Akio said, wiping his sweat with a handkerchief and smiling, "Please, can the two of you step aside..."
Seeing this, Fushimi Roku was the first to stand up and sit back in his wheelchair; Minamoto Tamako reluctantly turned back every few steps, pushing Fushimi Roku out.
She really wanted to eavesdrop through the door, but was constrained by the environment of confidentiality lawyers can request when consulting with clients, meaning police should not monitor or interfere.
Minamoto Tamako turned to seek Fushimi Roku's opinion, only to find him dozing off, prompting her to smack him on the head to help him wake up:
"Aren't you curious about what they're talking about?"
Fushimi Roku, having almost exhausted all dialogues with clients in his past life, knew all kinds of tricks—from red capo tactics, to relentless approaches, to negotiating methods—even if he didn't listen, he knew what nonsense the lawyer might be spouting behind the door, so naturally, he wasn't interested.
"Not curious," he yawned, "Once they're done, we can just ask who did it, no need to rush."
"What if the lawyer instructs Fujiwara Homare to lie?" Minamoto Tamako was deeply worried; she had no good impressions of those legal wolves in Japan, "Those lawyers make disgraceful money, can't be too careful!"
Hearing this, Fushimi Roku became spirited, furrowing his brows and turning his head to say, "What nonsense are you spouting! Lawyers, like police, have sacred and honorable professions; everyone does their part to uphold the justice of the law..."
"I understand all that!" Minamoto Tamako impatiently interrupted, lowering her voice and leaning close to Fushimi Roku's ear from behind, "But the atmosphere in Japan's law firms is terrible! There are hardly any good lawyers who stick to their principles!"
Fushimi Roku was speechless, thinking to himself, wasn't it all the same? Could the state of Japan's police force be any better?
However, Minamoto Tamako's words did remind him.
Perhaps the lawyer was also afraid of them framing something on Fujiwara Homare, which is why he immediately demanded a private discussion with the client upon entering; currently, he might be asking Fujiwara Homare if he had been subjected to coercion... Fushimi Roku rubbed his chin, instinctively stepping into the lawyer's shoes, pondering how to exonerate Fujiwara Homare.
With the evidence the police currently held, it seemed nearly impossible to argue for complete innocence...