Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner

Minamoto Tamako stood outside the door again, waiting for nothing.

Why say 'again'?

Because she had experienced the same thing before coming here.

Today really is strange, why does it feel like everyone has something secretive to discuss with Mr. Fu Jian...

It's understandable that Sister Yalan and Senior Kazama's questions were sharp enough to require her to leave; but what does Director Fujiwara have to say that can't be said openly?

Could he be using the Fujiwara family's power to ruin Mr. Fu Jian's police career?

Minamoto Tamako sat on the living room sofa, couldn't help but let her thoughts wander, sometimes pondering whether Mr. Fu Jian's confession was sincere or merely an act of romantic impersonation, sometimes worrying whether Mr. Fu Jian would be treated unfairly, and occasionally reminiscing about that kiss, touching her own little face, feeling like she was going to have a mental breakdown.

When Fushimi Roku came out, she rushed up like a husband outside maternity, nervously asking how the situation was, whether Director Fujiwara made things difficult, whether the impersonation had any slip-ups...

Fushimi Roku's leg wound had flared up again, and he didn't have the energy for nonsense, so he casually brushed off the questions, claiming that Director Fujiwara appreciated his talents and therefore wanted a private conversation to inquire about his future career intentions.

After speaking, he sat back into his wheelchair, feeling he had exceeded his physical limit in recent days, deciding from now on to wholeheartedly be an invalid.

Minamoto Tamako was half-skeptical, feeling that Mr. Fu Jian was certainly hiding something; if he really appreciated Mr. Fu Jian's talents, why send her away?

Unless Fushimi Roku comes clean, her guessing is meaningless. Since the serious matters are settled, it's best not to linger, so she pushed Fushimi Roku's wheelchair and quickly left the living room, deciding to make a swift exit.

By the time they left the Fujiwara residence, it was already eleven o'clock at night.

Approaching midnight, the streets were sparsely populated, with only streetlights and convenience stores still lit.

Minamoto Tamako's suspicions were confirmed, in a hurry to return to the precinct to interrogate Fujiwara Homare once more, aiming to breach his psychological defenses and coax him into revealing all the details from the night of the murder. This content originates from M1VLEMPYR, My Virtual Library Empire.

"It's so late; be careful Fujiwara Homare's lawyer doesn't accuse you of fatigue interrogation," Fushimi Roku reminded.

"What fatigue interrogation? I haven't slept either, and I've been out all day! Fujiwara Homare is comfortably staying in detention, what's there to be tired about?"

Though Minamoto Tamako said this, she still made a phone call to confirm that interrogating now wouldn't constitute fatigue interrogation, then hurried to the precinct.

After a half-day of running around, she found herself back in the interrogation room, observing Fujiwara Homare through the one-way glass.

Compared to his despondent look at noon, he now appeared much more normal... though still a bit listless, at least his eyes were devoid of bloodshot streaks.

As per routine, the Chief Judge should share information with the assistant to prevent any informational disparity that might give the suspect a chance for optimism—Minamoto Tamako had been waiting for Mr. Fu Jian to take the initiative to ask, but since he didn't fulfill the duties of a clueless assistant, she had to remind him proactively.

Standing outside the interrogation room, arms crossed: "We're about to start the interrogation, don't you have anything to ask?"

"Ask who?"

"Of course, ask me!"

"Ask you what?" Fushimi Roku was daydreaming, pondering how to handle it if Fujiwara Homare actually committed murder, but seeing Minamoto Tamako frown, he snapped back to reality: "Oh right, you haven't told me your reasoning."

Lady Tamako, being large-hearted, didn't mind him, eager to share her deduction—this was the first time she had wholly relied on her own reasoning to solve a case, feeling a mixture of excitement and a little apprehension.

She struck a classic famous detective pose, lowered her voice, and in a tone she thought carried weight, announced the solution to Mr. Fu Jian:

"Actually, Mr. Fu Jian, your earlier analysis was correct. It's very likely that Fujiwara Homare is covering for someone else, which is why he hides what happened that night."

"But this introduces a new puzzle—who is the real murderer, what method did they use for the locked room murder, and why is Fujiwara Homare covering for them?"

"After a thorough analysis..."

Saying this, Minamoto Tamako felt a bit guilty; truthfully she hadn't analyzed much—she figured out the truth before Mr. Fu Jian mainly because she learned private information about Fujiwara Homare on Cat Island.

Indeed, during the sacrificial ritual Asahara Shoko forced them into—at that moment, Minamoto Tamako learned that in high school, Fujiwara Homare had a crush on a girl, who ended up with the senior, and Fujiwara Homare never let go of it.

Thus, Asahara Shoko captured that senior, who was Yoshikawa Ritsuo's boyfriend, forcing Fujiwara Homare to kill him as a 'pledge' to join the Aum Truth Sect.

She was present at the time, knowing that Fujiwara Homare didn't commit the murder, and was aware that the senior ended up dead in the turmoil.

—But Yoshikawa Ritsuo didn't know, leading to this murder case!

Minamoto Tamako claimed this entire process was her 'deductive' conclusion, using Sherlock Holmes's deduction methods, deriving the conclusion from a sea of fragmented information!

Initially, Fushimi Roku was somewhat amazed, not expecting Minamoto Tamako's 'deductive methods' to actually contain substance, not second-rate like Kogoro Mouri... yet as he listened, he began to sense discrepancies, faintly feeling Minamoto Tamako was lying, but he couldn't be bothered to expose it, instead treating it as a means to amuse Minamoto Tamako.

Minamoto Tamako was indeed very happy; she speedily and cryptically recounted the trio's deep-seated past, then moved further in her deduction:

—For Yoshikawa Ritsuo, who was looking for her missing boyfriend, she asked around everywhere, somehow pinpointing Fujiwara Homare as a suspect (or perhaps Fujiwara Homare slipped up after coming back).

She mistakenly believed Fujiwara Homare had killed her boyfriend, or thought Fujiwara Homare knew something; in any case, she brought a fruit knife, went to the bar to find Fujiwara Homare, conversed with him, then followed him back to the hotel, forcing him at knifepoint to reveal the truth.

"If I'm not mistaken, Yoshikawa Ritsuo definitely didn't believe Fujiwara Homare," analyzed Minamoto Tamako.

"Why?" Fushimi Roku followed her line of thought.

Minamoto Tamako was pleased, thinking her foolish assistant Mr. Fu Jian finally asked why, she placed her hands on her hips, her nose nearly pointing skyward in pride: "Put yourself in the situation and it's clear."

After thinking it over, Fushimi Roku had to admit Minamoto Tamako's conjecture was probably correct.

—Fujiwara Homare, risking his own life, refusing to simply dispose of his rival, seemed unreasonable both emotionally and logically.

If Yoshikawa Ritsuo's boyfriend returned alive, it would be another story, but he unfortunately died, right in front of Fujiwara Homare, making it as suspect as mud in one's trousers, feces or not, it appeared as such.

Even if Fujiwara Homare had a thousand explanations, he could never clearly articulate whether the person died by his hand or in the chaos.

Minamoto Tamako continued her reasoning: "Yoshikawa Ritsuo planned to avenge her boyfriend, attempting to stab Fujiwara Homare; the latter, infuriated and additionally drunk, in a moment of rashness, seized the knife and killed Yoshikawa Ritsuo."

In conclusion, she pronounced:

"Out of guilt, bound by conscience, Fujiwara Homare chose to conceal the truth and shoulder the blame for murder."