Points of Doubt

Shiraishi was also a little uncertain if he could really kill Tsubokura so smoothly. He flipped through the blog that was unfavorable to them, and the result was...

After flipping up more than ten posts, Shiraishi suddenly saw two places on the screen "light up"!

It wasn't the laptop screen itself "lighting up," but rather the key annotations brought about by the [Evidence Collection] ability, visible only to Shiraishi...

The other three only saw Chief Shiraishi seemingly just repeatedly clicking "previous post," but at this moment, he suddenly stopped and looked closely.

The two places that lit up were the ramen in the shared photo, and... the posting date!

"This place's ramen is still as delicious as ever, and the seasonal toppings are amazing."

"This is bad... Those idiots at the Prosecutor's Office kept this from us!" Shiraishi cursed the prosecution at this moment, and the other three in the office awkwardly didn't dare to respond.

However, Fuji asked curiously, "Chief, did you find something?"

"Look, this post..." Shiraishi said, showing it to the three of them.

"This... what's wrong with it?" Akasaka looked for a long time but found nothing wrong.

"Lots of... toppings on the ramen?" Fuji could only make out that much.

"Yes, lots of toppings, mainly... I recognize this ramen. It's the signature [King Enma Ramen] from Ogura Ramen Shop next door."

Shiraishi said, and then searched her blog using "Ogura" as the keyword—sure enough, this blogger lady had visited Ogura's place more than once.

Seeing that the three still didn't understand, Shiraishi clicked on another blog post that mentioned "Ogura Ramen" and had a photo of the shop's storefront. He turned the laptop to show the three of them and pointed to the notice in the corner of the photo...

"See here... it's written, right? Because there's only the shop owner as the ramen chef, they close every Tuesday. And look at the previous post... July 19th!" Shiraishi said, then showed them the calendar on his mobile phone—Tuesday!

"There's no way she could have eaten at Ogura Ramen Shop on July 19th, so her blog posting times aren't precise," Shiraishi concluded.

To be honest, because Shiraishi's system functions didn't directly influence his thoughts, when he saw the "ramen in the photo" and the "posting date" light up, Shiraishi didn't immediately spot the problem.

However, with such clear prompts, Shiraishi thought for a moment and realized the bowl of noodles looked familiar, then gradually understood the "contradiction"!

In fact, other blogs he had just read might have had similar issues, but because they couldn't form a "contradiction" with Shiraishi's memory, they wouldn't be flagged even with a high [Evidence Collection] level—Ogura Ramen was flagged because Shiraishi had also been there a few times and knew that they "close on Tuesdays."

"July 19th... Ogura Ramen... As expected of the Chief..."

Akasaka, who never flattered, also sighed with emotion at this moment.

Aoki and Fuji were also stunned—you could react to that immediately?

"Then this is bad... Although this doesn't prove that all of this blogger's posts are fake, but..." Aoki adjusted his glasses.

But if even one is fake, then the blog alone cannot be used as evidence, unless the blogger clearly remembers that her blog post on September 3rd was indeed taken that day and not misrepresented, only then can it be considered solid witness testimony!

Even so, the credibility of the evidence would decrease, or even...

"It's probably difficult. It's been so long, and this lady seems to be a freelancer who eats, drinks, and has fun every day. The memory of dates for people like this is naturally vague. If she often posts out of order, she herself wouldn't be able to determine if it was that day. With a skilled lawyer, she likely won't be able to testify," Fuji analyzed.

That's right, the worst-case preparation must be that it doesn't even count as witness testimony...

A skilled lawyer will use questioning in court to press, making the witness afraid to say anything uncertain!

Once this lady is questioned and feels guilty, she will be completely shut down.

"Chief, should we notify the Prosecutor's Office?" Aoki asked Shiraishi for instructions.

This witness has a huge weakness, and if caught off guard...

Shiraishi hesitated for a moment before saying, "Not yet. You continue your investigation, preferably to thoroughly confirm or refute Tsubokura's alibi!"

Aoki and Akasaka were still a bit confused, but Fuji seemed to understand Shiraishi's intention.

"When you investigate, be careful not to leak information about this witness... Right now, not only do we theoretically not know about her, but the defense lawyer doesn't either. Although there's a huge loophole, but... if the prosecution suddenly brings it out, at least they can catch them off guard and buy time for supplementary investigation. The court session is only 30 hours away!" Shiraishi explained.

Without this evidence, they might have directly lost the not guilty verdict on Friday, with no time for supplementary investigation!

But with this new evidence, the opposing lawyer wouldn't be "crushed in one fell swoop" and would definitely try to gain time for supplementary investigation.

In any case, they couldn't let the court make a final judgment without the truth being clear...

"It is indeed necessary to buy time, after all... Double Jeopardy, and the prosecution is under a lot of public pressure right now," Fuji understood the Chief's intentions from the beginning.

Double Jeopardy, one of the legal principles learned from the Eastern Island Nation and the United States.

For the same crime, after a not guilty verdict, with no appeal, and the trial completely concluded, even if new important evidence is found later, or even if the defendant directly admits to being the perpetrator... they cannot be tried again!

Essentially, this is to prevent law enforcement or wealthy and powerful plaintiffs from abusing their power and harassing the acquitted defendant indefinitely, hence the principle was established.

However, to this day, even in its country of origin, the Western Island Nation, and its many former vassal states, patches have been added—as long as the case is serious enough and decisive new evidence is discovered... if both conditions are met, a retrial can be initiated.

But...

The United States and the Eastern Island Nation still enforce this principle without any room for maneuver—no matter the circumstances, once a final not guilty verdict is rendered, the defendant will never be tried for that crime again!

Even if Tsubokura later stood up and showed them a video of himself committing homicide, the Prosecutor's Office and the court would be powerless against him.

Therefore, with the truth unclear, Shiraishi still needed a "delaying tactic," otherwise... this case was originally sent back by the Supreme Court, and with the current public opinion, if the prosecution lost, they might give up on appealing, and then it would truly be all over!

Shiraishi didn't necessarily want to convict Tsubokura; after all, he didn't know if Tsubokura was guilty.

He just didn't want to let Tsubokura off the hook completely without a thorough investigation...

In the end, it was Shirai and the Prosecutor's Office's fault. If Shirai hadn't rushed to submit the case, or if the Prosecutor's Office had found loopholes and sent it back for supplementary investigation, the time wouldn't be so tight now, and they wouldn't be so passive, unable to even question the suspect and important witnesses!

Since the Prosecutor's Office was being secretive about "new evidence," Shiraishi would pretend not to know for now and let those "cannon fodder" delay for some time.

Later, with concrete evidence, or after setting things right, or to nail this cunning criminal...

After hearing the report, Shiraishi prepared to return to his apartment to rest—although it was already ten o'clock at night, Shiraishi wasn't planning to make do with the lounge at the police station!

After all, the bed was too small and too worn out, not only would Shiraishi not rest well, but it might also cause those worn-out dormitory beds to be "retired."

As Shiraishi used his counter-surveillance skills to evade two reporters who were "ambushing" him, he suddenly noticed that someone who wasn't a reporter seemed to be waiting for him as well