Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner

With Fushimi Roku's reminder, Minamoto Tamako suddenly remembered, but she didn't find anything strange about the statement. It was just that she happened to mention heaven, and Fujiwara Homare happened to ask about it.

"What's so strange about it? Isn't that a normal thing to say?" She couldn't help but ask.

"You comforted him by saying Yoshikawa Ritsuo would go to heaven to meet her boyfriend, yet he asked you if you 'also' believed in Christianity..."

Fushimi Roku countered, "Do you think he believes in Christ?"

Minamoto Tamako instinctively wanted to say 'who knows,' but on second thought, this guy had always claimed he wanted to become an immortal, so he probably didn't believe in Christianity. She shook her head.

"Then why did he say 'also'? Even if someone around him believes in Christianity, suddenly focusing on this issue during an interrogation, don't you think that's strange?" Fushimi Roku asked consecutively.

"Hearing you say that, it does seem a bit... but what does it prove?" Minamoto Tamako was puzzled.

Fushimi Roku signaled her to help get a bottle of cola; he needed to use his brain and needed something sweet.

Minamoto Tamako was so eager to figure out what was going on that she didn't have time to worry about the stamps needed to let her labor. She eagerly opened the fridge, opened a bottle of cola with an opener, and thoughtfully inserted a straw.

Fushimi Roku took the cola, sipped it with a fizzing sound, burped, and then slowly said:

"Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas proposed a viewpoint: life is given by God and belongs to God. Suicide is an act of defiance against God and an infringement on His sovereignty, violating the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill,' making it a serious sin."

"In ancient times, many churches even refused to hold funerals for those who committed suicide and expelled those who attempted or failed to commit suicide from the church... You've probably heard as well that mainstream Christianity believes 'those who commit suicide cannot go to heaven.'"

"With this premise in mind, listen to this recording again."

Saying that, Fushimi Roku pressed the replay button, fast-forwarding the tape to where the last audible whisper was:

"Please... help me..."

"No... absolutely not..."

...

"How can it not be important? Don't you want to avenge Ryosuke?"

"Will revenge bring him back to life? I just want to see him once more..."

...

Minamoto Tamako suddenly raised her head, a look of shock on her face: "Yoshikawa Ritsuo was begging Fujiwara Homare to kill her?!"

Fushimi Roku shrugged and took another sip of cola: "That's the most reasonable speculation."

"Isn't that the most bizarre?! Why would she do such a thing? Isn't it just that her boyfriend died? Even if she wanted to die for love, why not just jump off a building?!" Minamoto Tamako clutched her head, unable to comprehend the thought process of a fellow woman.

Sometimes, even women couldn't understand what women were thinking.

Fushimi Roku didn't care what Minamoto Tamako thought. He continued to speculate: "Thinking in this direction, you can understand what Fujiwara Homare said in the interrogation room."

"At that time, you told Fujiwara Homare: Mr. Fujiwara, Miss Yoshikawa will be reunited with her lover in heaven. After knowing the truth, she surely won't blame you."

"Then Fujiwara Homare replied: You also believe in Christ?"

"Now you understand, right? Yoshikawa Ritsuo wanted to go to heaven to reunite with her boyfriend, so she begged Fujiwara Homare for help—here, the 'help' doesn't just mean having Fujiwara Homare stab her, but more importantly, Fujiwara Homare needed to bear the crime of being a 'murderer.'"

"Yoshikawa Ritsuo probably intended this from the start, which is why she had many strange, non-lethal wounds on her back."

Fushimi Roku gestured, saying, "She herself held a knife in reverse, trying to stab herself from behind, wanting Fujiwara Homare to bear the 'murderer' crime, so that in the eyes of the world, it wouldn't be considered 'homicide.'"

"But for someone to try to stab themselves from behind is as difficult as trying to hang themselves. After several unsuccessful attempts, she had no choice but to ask Fujiwara Homare for help."

"The strangest difficulty in this case is that Fujiwara Homare actually agreed."

"Regardless of what they said between them, there's a high probability that Fujiwara Homare stabbed Yoshikawa Ritsuo to death in the end, giving her a quick death, and deliberately concealed the details of the murder to fulfill her last wish, admitting the crime of murder to make everyone think Yoshikawa Ritsuo didn't die by suicide."

"Afterward, a priest would likely conduct the funeral, and after prayer, Yoshikawa Ritsuo's soul could ascend to heaven."

After speaking, Fushimi Roku sipped his cola again, making fizzing sounds.

Minamoto Tamako held her head in her hands, doubting life. She couldn't help but question: "This is too far-fetched... Isn't Yoshikawa Ritsuo deceiving herself?"

"Who hasn't deceived themselves?" Fushimi Roku was indifferent, "Hasn't Fujiwara Homare often deceived himself? He even admitted during the interrogation that becoming an immortal was just him deceiving himself."

Minamoto Tamako wanted to say 'I never did,' but for some reason, she suddenly thought of her rabbit police officer and unconsciously closed her mouth.

By this reasoning, it was her deduction error that ultimately led to Fujiwara Homare being prosecuted by the prosecutor for intentional murder.

The pressure on Minamoto Tamako just increased; her brain's thermometer is about to explode.

She used to watch others solve cases with ease, like it was a game, thinking she could do it too. But when she started handling cases herself, she truly felt the immense pressure of investigating a murder.

A single mistake could ruin a person's entire life.

Minamoto Tamako was feeling down, with her head drooped and even her hair tuft hanging low. Seeing this, Fushimi Roku comforted her, "It's okay, from the outcome, Fujiwara Homare still committed murder."

"But, but his motive was to help the victim commit suicide..."

"Do you have evidence? How do you prove what Fujiwara Homare was thinking?" Fushimi Roku continued sipping his cola.

"Isn't this tape evidence?"

"Do I need to give you a legal lesson?" Fushimi Roku retorted.

"Alright, I know it doesn't count..." Minamoto Tamako mumbled, "Anyway, my case report must be wrong."

"It's not a big deal, assisting suicide involves a charge of solicited murder. According to Article 202 of Japan's Penal Code, inducing or assisting another to commit suicide, or killing someone at their request or with their consent, is punishable by imprisonment or incarceration for at least six months and up to seven years, and attempts are also considered a crime."

"By the way, Japan's Penal Code states that anyone who commits murder shall be sentenced to death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for a term of at least three years. However, in judicial practice, for first-time offenders who only kill one person and whose crime circumstances are relatively minor, there is a possibility of sentencing to a term of less than five years."

Fushimi Roku gave a brief overview of Japanese criminal law, then concluded, "In terms of sentencing, there's actually no difference between the two charges."

"Huh?"

Minamoto Tamako found this somewhat unreasonable, wondering how the sentences for these two charges could be the same. From her personal feelings, she thought this was very unreasonable.

"That's how the court ruled. If you're not satisfied, you can complain," Fushimi Roku teased, finishing his cola with an incredibly long burp.

Minamoto Tamako understood his point; in terms of the outcome, her case report didn't have much substantial impact. The only difference was that Fujiwara Homare's motive changed. And that was the crux of her internal conflict because she always sought to perfectly restore the truth of the murder case.

She thought it over carefully and suddenly realized that in judicial practice, the complete truth isn't important.

——Because no one can perfectly restore the truth.

Even if Fushimi's speculation is reasonable, there's still a one in a thousand chance of a flaw; even if the parties involved describe the situation truthfully, there's still personal bias.

Fushimi once said, one thousand people have one thousand truths, but there's only one fact.

It was only at this moment that she fully grasped the meaning of this sentence.

"What should I do now?" Minamoto Tamako worriedly wondered, unsure of what to do.

She had already submitted the dossier, and Chief Kikuchi had likely signed it. It's past six in the evening, and Chief Kikuchi has probably already handed the dossier over to the prosecutor. If she declared the dossier inaccurate now, she would face punishment herself, and Chief Kikuchi, who signed the dossier, would also get implicated.

The Superintendent also signed it, and the Superintendent might even get criticized.

Minamoto Tamako felt she had stirred up a major problem. Previously, the patrol police always called her "Senior Tamako," making her feel high-spirited, but now she was brought back to her original form—she was just a trainee criminal police officer who hadn't even officially become regular yet.

"Want some advice?" Fushimi Roku added fuel to the fire, "Add another stamp."

Minamoto Tamako had no patience to bicker with him, she dejectedly opened her notebook and heavily stamped it, "Here."

"Don't worry about it," Fushimi Roku said with a grin.

Despite her good upbringing, Minamoto Tamako couldn't help but want to curse at this moment. Her mind filled with a bunch of mean words, but after a long moment of frustration, she finally said, "You, you dare to push me too far!!"

"How am I pushing you too far? This is called adapting to change!" Fushimi Roku argued confidently.

Minamoto Tamako just thought he was full of hot air and drew an X over the stamp to void it. Fushimi Roku held his ground, asserting that making a suggestion was one thing, and whether Tamako accepted it was another. How could he take back his reward just because the suggestion wasn't accepted?

Minamoto Tamako wasn't in the mood to argue with him. She pondered deeply and still couldn't stand by idly. She decided to report the situation to Chief Kikuchi and request to withdraw the case for reinvestigation—even if she'd be punished for it, she accepted that; if it implicated the Superintendent and Chief Kikuchi, she would apologize and try her best to make up for the mistake.

Since she found an error, it must be corrected!

Minamoto Tamako mustered up her courage, rubbed her hands while standing by the desk phone, paced nervously, biting her thumb and shaking her leg. After going through an intense internal struggle, she picked up the receiver, took deep breaths, and dialed Chief Kikuchi's number.

"Moshi moshi... It's me, Chief Kikuchi, there's something I must report to you..."

Minamoto Tamako confessed everything in one breath.

Fushimi Roku was sitting on the sofa behind her, craning his neck to watch the drama unfold. He saw Minamoto Tamako's expression change several times, and after a series of "umm" and "ahh," she finally said, with her face pale as a sheet, "I understand, thank you for informing me..." then hung up the phone.

"How did it go?" Fushimi Roku asked.

"It's over," Minamoto Tamako muttered, "the prosecutor has already filed a lawsuit with the court."