Scandal

Shocking! Beika Police Station Inspector Involved in Torturous Interrogation!

Messenger of Justice? Or Devil of Coercion? The Secret Behind a Veteran Detective!

The Boundary Between Power and the Rule of Law, Who is Dancing Here?

Industry Insiders Confess: Threatening Witnesses, Obscuring Facts, Beika Police Station May Face Accountability

September 28th, Wednesday, the morning assembly was canceled.

In its place, an emergency meeting of high-ranking police officials!

As the meeting began, Shiraishi threw a stack of newspapers onto the conference table. The "snap" echoed through the conference room. The Deputy Chiefs and Section Chiefs sitting on both sides of the long table were all silenced. They didn't need to look at the newspapers to know what was written; their phones had all received news notifications that morning...

These reports began to appear en masse early this morning.

After a moment of silence, Shiraishi said, "Section Chief Shirai, please report on the details of the case."

"Chief, I will take responsibility for this matter. For the retrial in court on Friday, I will..." Shirai's face was somewhat ashen, clearly affected by the situation.

It wasn't the fact that "improper interrogation was exposed" itself, but rather...

The development of the times had crushed him once again!

If this had happened ten years ago, there would absolutely not have been such an uproar. In essence, he couldn't accept such a change in the times, and instead felt that everyone was making a fuss over nothing...

"I told you to report on the case!" Shiraishi interrupted him directly.

Shirai still looked somewhat unconvinced, twitching his face—What do you, from Organized Crime Countermeasures, know about solving cases? When you go to a Violent Organizations' office, do you strictly follow the normal procedures for responding to calls and questioning people?

This time, the issue was with a murder case!

The reason this type of case was being handled by Beika Police Station and not the First Investigation Division was also a result of Shirai volunteering—according to the unwritten "rule of thumb," in Tokyo, during the first week of a heinous crime, although the Metropolitan Police Department would intervene, if the local police station had its own ideas and a special task force had not yet been formed, both sides could investigate independently without unifying their investigative approaches.

Normally, local police stations wouldn't do this; they would willingly assist the "First Investigation Division" and remain uninvolved in how the investigation turned out!

The old Chief on the far left spoke up, "Chief Shiraishi, this matter... is actually our responsibility, us old folks. I remember the investigation process concluded on the 19th, and it was submitted to the prosecution on September 20th. The handover wasn't completed yet, and I thought it best not to leave old cases hanging, so I didn't mention it to you. Therefore, it has nothing to do with Chief Shiraishi. Later, in public..."

Ebihara wanted to take the blame. He didn't want Shiraishi to bear the burden right after arriving—the investigation phase was already largely completed when he took office. It was submitted to the prosecution on the third day of Shiraishi's arrival. Shiraishi only learned about the case from the news, and now that problems were found during the investigation, it made no sense to hold Shiraishi responsible!

"Chief Ebihara, since I am the Chief, I must take full responsibility for everything that happens within the police station. I understand your good intentions, but... you don't need to say more. Whether it's to apologize or to be scolded, I will not refuse.

"Right now, I need to resolve the problems within the police station. Section Chief Shirai, state the specific details of the case... You're not going to tell me you can't remember the details, are you?" Shiraishi pressed Shirai.

Upon hearing this, Shirai immediately said, "Of course not!"

This was questioning his professional competence...

Shirai considered himself an expert at solving cases, but the times had changed, rendering him unable to perform.

Perhaps he deserved to be crushed by the times, but he was not an irresponsible police officer...

Without needing notes, Shirai began to explain the case!

(Normally, the period from the investigation of a murder case to prosecution and trial would take at least several months. However, in a novel, it couldn't be written in such a drawn-out manner, or the pacing would be completely ruined. Therefore, the investigation, prosecution, and trial periods are greatly compressed, considered a rule of this "parallel world.")

"On the evening of September 3rd, we received a report that Station Manager Hayashida of the gas station in Sanchome, Beika Town, was stabbed to death at home. The first discoverer was a neighbor..."

"During the investigation, I found employee Tsubokura to be a major suspect. Before the incident, he was scolded by the station manager and verbally dismissed. Colleagues also testified that they heard him say things like [I'll kill you] at the time."

"The murder weapon was at the scene, a kitchen knife from the victim's home. Tsubokura's fingerprints were also found on the knife," Shirai recounted the events of the case.

"So the main basis for the judgment was motive and fingerprints on the murder weapon? What do you say about the 'threatening witnesses' mentioned?" Shiraishi asked directly.

Hearing this, Shirai showed a hint of impatience but still said, "That guy did indeed provide an alibi, saying he was spacing out at Beika Park that afternoon...

"But he only claimed to have bought coffee that afternoon after being detained for several days. The clerk at the coffee cart's memory was already very vague, and their testimony was inherently unclear!"

While listening to Shirai speak, Shiraishi observed his expressions—[Micro-expression Mind Reading] was a skill Shiraishi had leveled up to Lv7...

"For the coffee cart, shouldn't there be a record on the ordering machine?" Shiraishi interjected at Shirai's vague point.

Shirai paused, then said, "That's right... After investigation, it was found that during the incident time... between 1 PM and 2:30 PM, there was only one order."

"Was the type of coffee the same as the type the suspect claimed?" Shiraishi asked directly.

"Yes," Shirai nodded.

"Did the clerk provide supplementary testimony after knowing this?" Shiraishi's questions always hit the mark.

"Yes... but that kind of testimony is unreliable! That cunning criminal clearly waited a few days deliberately until the clerk's memory was fuzzy before bringing this up, so..." Shirai quickly explained.

At the time, Tsubokura's trick seemed very typical to Shirai—the clerk couldn't possibly remember someone who had ordered coffee once a few days ago!

However, Shiraishi interrupted, "So you more or less... implied to the witness, guided them to say they remembered incorrectly, and not to mention it in their testimony... is that correct?"

"That's right... That guy is definitely the criminal! I can see it in his eyes! How can I let him get away with such an excuse... If even we are this weak, then the laws and justice of this country will..." Shirai's spirit became agitated as he spoke.

"Shirai Jo!" Shiraishi called out his full name to stop him.

"Heh... Chief, you wouldn't understand..." Shirai said dejectedly.

Indeed, Shirai had a hurdle he couldn't overcome—his case-solving rate had become mediocre after the "standardization of interrogation procedures," which led to his reassignment to Beika Police Station. Furthermore, he had been inactive there for a long time, which put significant psychological pressure on him as a "key member from the First Investigation Division"!

In contrast, although Shiraishi was also reassigned to a local police station, he had practiced his philosophy, solved major cases, and was then promoted and demoted. Colleagues who knew the inside story gave him a thumbs-up—if Shirai were like that, perhaps he would be more at peace...

Shiraishi tapped on the table and then said, "Everyone, go back to your work... Shirai, stay behind. And summon people from the Criminal Affairs Division's Investigation Unit 4... as well as Unit 3 and Unit 2, to the conference room..."

"Chief Shiraishi..." Ebihara reminded him with a hint of reluctance.

He wasn't feeling sorry for Shirai, but for Shiraishi—if Shiraishi insisted on reopening the investigation, or even leading it, he would undoubtedly be taking responsibility for the matter.

Actually, purely from a professional standpoint, as the new Chief, he could completely wash his hands of this scandal that occurred before his tenure. However...

"It's fine, leave it to me."

Shiraishi clearly wasn't someone solely focused on "professionalism."

Dongdong: I've made a change to the previous text. Ran's Lv9 has been lowered to Lv8, two levels below Kyogoku Makoto.

Also, this Lv is just a statistical measure for convenience and description; don't take it too seriously.

On one hand, "Physique Lv" is just strength at average weight, which can be considered "physical quality that can be exerted at the same weight." Actual combat power still needs to consider weight and Skills; on the other hand, how combat power is exerted also depends on performance during the actual fight.

Furthermore, this isn't a cultivation novel, so there are no dramatic settings like rapid advancements after breaking through realms...

Finally, regarding whether to lower Ran's level further... Essentially, I don't think Ran is weaker than Irish or Pisco. From a fighting perspective, Ran should have won both one-on-one fights against the Black Organization members in the movie. It's just that after "kicking their chin" or "kicking their neck," the Black Organization members could still stand up. This is clearly the Black Organization cheating. Normally, two evenly matched individuals would fall after being hit like that.

What kind of cheat it is will be further explained in later plot points...

The reason for lowering Ran's rating this time is mainly because I feel there should be another level between Akai Shuichi, Amuro Tooru, and Kyogoku Makoto. For example, Asaka, or the "Explosion" girl before she was crippled, etc. Lv9 should be reserved for people like them.

Also, most importantly, things purely within the scope of "visual representation," like breaking a utility pole with bare hands or collapsing a metal table, won't be practically considered. Otherwise, from physical rules to social culture and world rules, nothing would hold up. It would have to be written in a fantasy novel style.

For combat power, only "actual achievements" will be considered, not "exaggerated visual representations." If a character dodges a bullet during a fight in this book, it's acknowledged that the character has that speed, reaction time, or prediction to dodge the bullet and counterattack. If a character breaks a marble pillar to jump higher, this book acknowledges that the character has a way to jump that high indirectly, but it doesn't acknowledge that the character truly possesses tens of thousands of pounds of crushing force. Otherwise, with that kind of strength, they could just jump directly. (Anything where the visual representation is far greater than the actual effect will be ignored.)

In summary, it's "much more exaggerated than reality," but it "doesn't break the logic of case deduction" or "the logic of modern society's rules operating."

This means we don't need to consider "superhuman perpetrators" in cases, nor do we need to consider "supernatural existences" causing modern societal rules to collapse.