Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner

Kikuta Akio sensed the aura of a fellow, only a litigator would debate in such a manner.

Ordinary people value logic when speaking, but in reality, most speak based on emotions. Completely logical dialogue is rather dull and uneventful, and it only occurs in three situations: mathematics, research, and debate.

A common tactic in debate is to use the opponent's logic against them. Earlier, he was probing Minamoto Tamako's logical loopholes—even if the logic is coherent, the truth can be interpreted in countless ways, and language itself is a kind of fallacy.

Kikuta Akio knew clearly what the other party meant by that sentence. He decisively rose and bid farewell, hurriedly departing the police station.

Minamoto Tamako looked puzzled; in her view, Fushimi Roku merely retorted the lawyer, and the latter abandoned his client and fled, quite irresponsible.

"Do you think it's necessary?" she asked softly, "Investigating the origin of the murder weapon or something..."

"It's up to you, you're the lead officer, you make the call." Fushimi Roku chuckled.

"What's this 'up to me'? How can the investigation direction be so casual?" Minamoto Tamako said dissatisfied.

"Do you know why Lawyer Kikuta left in such a hurry?" Fushimi Roku asked back, "He's likely rushing to find evidence. If he can prove the murder weapon was brought by the deceased, it would clearly benefit his client."

"Isn't that good? It indirectly reduces my workload... wait!" Tamako furrowed her brows, glanced back at Fujiwara Homare, then turned away and lowered her voice even more: "Could it be Lawyer Kikuta is attempting to destroy evidence or fabricate false evidence?"

"Fool! The prerequisite for a lawyer to falsify evidence is to have coordinated with law enforcement, and he hasn't even touched base with us. Daring to fake it would be like pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth, a sure path to demise!"

Fushimi Roku shifted his tone and remarked, "However, Lawyer Kikuta is indeed trying to get evidence ahead of the police... Can you guess why he's in such a rush?"

"To destroy unfavorable evidence?" Minamoto Tamako asked.

"Didn't I just explain that already?" Fushimi Roku rolled his eyes.

"Then for what reason?" Tamako's curiosity was piqued.

"Stamp another approval, and I'll tell you," Fushimi Roku added with a mischievous smile, "By the way, this matter is extremely important."

Minamoto Tamako knew this guy was intentionally keeping her in suspense, but she couldn't resist taking the bait. Though her heart wasn't willing, her body was honest, swiftly stamping another approval on the form and urging, "Spill it!"

Fushimi Roku glanced and confirmed he had collected three stamps, only then saying:

"The key point is 'not letting the police get hold of the evidence first,' and here the police refer to 'us.'

"Imagine if I found the receipt for the purchase of the murder weapon at Yoshikawa Ritsuo's house, proving this murder weapon was bought and brought to the scene by Yoshikawa Ritsuo... Then what? Then what's your plan?"

"If you plan to continue investigating, you can hold onto the evidence, claim that the origin of the murder weapon is questionable, and use the investigation progress as a secrecy reason to refuse the lawyer's inquiries, continuously detaining the suspect, never transferring to court, for up to 23 days..."

"After 23 days? At worst, you can let them go for half a day, then submit new evidence and catch the suspect again; with good conscience, you can also have the court delay, withholding them for half a year is no issue, as long as the case is under investigation, you can keep detaining without releasing."

"Now you understand the magnitude of law enforcement's power, don't you?"

Minamoto Tamako was momentarily stunned; she never imagined that, as the lead officer, she could exploit such loopholes...

No wonder Mr. Fushimi managed to become a formal criminal police officer before her, this guy truly has a cunning mind!

"Really assuming ill intentions for Tamako's silence, I would never do such a thing!" she 'hummed' and felt increasingly that Lawyer Kikuta was unethical: "Spending all day contemplating such crooked ideas, how could he possibly uphold the justice of the law?" Note:CheckM_VLEMPY_Rforanycorrections.

"Yes, yes, you're righteous and outstanding, but as for the lawyer, they need to earn a living. For a lawyer, fighting for the maximum rights for their client is the primary task."

Fushimi Roku couldn't help but pick at his nails again, "Just a reminder, if the lawyer gets hold of the evidence, the situation changes. Unless you conspire with the prosecutor... Ah no, unite against a common enemy; otherwise, the lawyer will ask the prosecutor to urge the case progress. If you have no evidence, the prosecutor and the court won't tolerate you, and the decision whether to conclude the case won't be in your hands."

"Huh? Why?" Minamoto Tamako blinked.

"The suspect has confessed, what are you investigating further? Aren't you obstructing judicial fairness? I can even predict what the prosecutor would say, surely advising you on 'more matters less hassle.'"

Minamoto Tamako thought this was unacceptable, no wonder Lawyer Kikuta ran so fast; if the case ended hastily like this, wouldn't she also become one of those irresponsible criminal police officers?

"Why didn't you say such an important thing earlier!"

She quickly opened her pink flip phone and called the patrol police on duty, asking them to send patrol officers to search Yoshikawa Ritsuo's home immediately; she would arrive shortly!

Seeing this, Fushimi Roku shook his head and sarcastically remarked, "Some people, huh, back when they were patrol police, complained to me every day about how criminal police are lazy, irresponsible, always dumping their work on patrol police... Now that they've become criminal police, they're bossing the patrol police around; truly, people's hearts are not what they used to be!"

Minamoto Tamako blushed. She knew Mr. Fushimi was indirectly criticizing her, "I-I haven't been a criminal police officer before! Some things really need the patrol police's help... We're just two people, we can't manage it all!"

Secretly, she apologized to the criminal police she had previously criticized, realizing it had always been her misunderstanding; after all, everyone has a tough job!

Fushimi Roku wanted to continue his sarcastic jabs, but Minamoto Tamako interrupted him. She pushed the wheelchair and quickly left the police station, taking a taxi to Yoshikawa Ritsuo's home, determined to investigate the source of the murder weapon before Lawyer Kikuta.

Due to the urgency, Minamoto Tamako didn't have time to indulge Fushimi Roku. After getting out of the car, she asked him to walk on his own and hurry so that Lawyer Kikuta wouldn't beat them to it.

Yoshikawa Ritsuo lived in Asakura Apartment, located within walking distance from Waseda University, equipped with a security system, a 24-hour garbage room, and an elevator. By today's standards, it was considered a high-end apartment. A rough estimate would place the rent higher than Fushimi Roku's place in Sugamo Apartment.

When they arrived on the scene, the patrol police from Nakagawara Station Patrol House had already found the apartment manager, opened Yoshikawa Ritsuo's apartment door, sealed off the scene, and put up a police line.

Lawyer Kikuta stood at the door, craning his neck to peer inside.

"Yo, Lawyer Kikuta, we meet again." Fushimi Roku leaned against the wall and greeted him nonchalantly, hiding his leg's gunshot wound.

Kikuta Akio pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his face.

His worst fear had come true. The criminal police in charge of the case were a rookie and an old hadou—meaning an officer who deliberately detains suspects to demand bail money or compensation from their families. This pair together meant a greatly enhanced destructive power... This case assignment seemed difficult!

Before this, he hadn't wasted a second, catching the Yamanote Line train straight to the deceased's residence, only to find he was still a step too late and that the other party had summoned local patrol police to seal off the scene, which seemed wholly unscrupulous.

At present, he looked at Fushimi Roku's smirking expression—it was the spitting image of the shysters he had encountered at a small law firm, utterly infuriating.

Nevertheless, Kikuta Akio still forced a smile, saying that cooperating with the police investigations was a citizen's duty, and he wanted to quickly clarify the case so his client could achieve a fair result;

Fushimi Roku was delighted to exchange pleasantries with Lawyer Kikuta, complimenting him for his righteousness—he too had been similarly troubled before. Now their roles had reversed, and he quite enjoyed watching the newcomers get drenched in rain.

Minamoto Tamako had no interest in watching the unpleasant corporate men fake pleasantries. She lifted the police line and slipped through, donning shoe covers, gloves, and a head cover in the apartment foyer, immediately commencing her investigation for clues.

A junior patrol officer was lying on the floor, with his butt in the air inspecting beneath the sofa. Seeing Senior Criminal Police Tamako arrive, he hurriedly stood at attention with a salute, proclaiming that the scene remained entirely intact, with no suspicious persons entering or leaving.

"Very good! You're doing an excellent job!"

Minamoto Tamako nodded approvingly, and the young patrol officer beamed, responding loudly, "Understood! Thank you very much! You've worked hard!"

To say she wasn't pleased would be a lie.

Minamoto Tamako resisted smiling. She had anticipated that leading a case would feel great, but she didn't expect it to feel this exhilarating... Mr. Fushimi was truly unappreciative, never taking on cases despite being a formal criminal police officer. Clearly, he had missed out on much enjoyment in life!

Getting down to business, she adjusted her mindset and began searching together with the patrol police.

As per Minamoto Tamako's plan, if evidence like a purchase receipt could be found, it would be perfect. Hence, she focused her search on places like the trash bin, fridge sticky notes, and miscellaneous storage boxes.

Unfortunately, after more than half an hour of searching, she didn't find any related clues.

As it goes, who would normally keep a receipt for a fruit knife?

She herself didn't like saving receipts from shopping either, unless it was for particularly expensive luxury items that her mom would purchase, who would casually toss the receipt into a drawer... But for miscellaneous items like fruit knives that could be bought anywhere, convenience stores might not even issue receipts.

However, it wasn't completely fruitless.

The kitchen had a Deba knife, a thin-edged knife, a sashimi knife... but no fruit knife for cutting fruits. The murder weapon likely came from the deceased's kitchen.

Minamoto Tamako clicked photos of the kitchen. Although not legally valid, they could at least help clarify her thoughts and aid further investigation.

Additionally, she found another point of suspicion.

It seemed that Yoshikawa Ritsuo wasn't living alone in this apartment; someone else likely lived here, at least until recently. The room still had some trivial personal items that hadn't been taken away.