A New Witness

September 29, Thursday.

Although he had not returned to his apartment to rest until after eleven the previous night, Shiraishi still arrived at the office early.

There, Shiraishi saw four pairs of dark circles beneath the eyes—Genjiro, Takeshi Yamada, Makita Miwa, and Suzuki Atsushi... The first two Detectives had stayed up all night reviewing surveillance footage from roads near the victim's home on the afternoon of September 3, searching for that red Model S. The latter two had spent the night checking cameras near Beika Park, hoping to find Tsubokura or the Blogger Lady.

"Chief, these are the surveillance records we found last night. At 1:32, this car was captured two blocks from the Crime Scene... It was heading toward the Crime Scene, too. This model isn't very common these days. There's an eighty-to-ninety percent chance this is the car the witness saw." Genjiro showed Shiraishi a surveillance photo.

"Mm. Have the Traffic Division pull the vehicle information. Also... send this photo, the one showing the driver's face, to the technical department. See if they can enhance the pixels and identify her as soon as possible." Shiraishi studied the photo and saw that the driver appeared to be a woman. Of course, it was too blurry to rule out a long-haired man.

"Chief, we... Sorry, there are too few cameras around the park. We didn't capture either the Blogger Lady or Tsubokura," Makita said regretfully.

"I understand... You four should rest for three hours first. If you collapse, no one will be available to relieve you." Shiraishi had them go rest.

The [Body] of all four was uniformly marked with [Dry Eyes] and [Lethargy]. They needed to recover!

Shiraishi reviewed the existing leads by himself, then helplessly tossed the documents onto the desk—the only lead that could be called important, the "Blogger Lady," could not be brought in for questioning now.

All they could do was place their hopes on the driver of the Model S...

Shiraishi then composed himself and turned his attention back to his proper duty of "stamping" documents!

He set the case files aside.

At noon, Akasaka hurried over. He did not even have time for proper pleasantries after entering the office, and his first words were, "Chief! We found it. The owner of the car that may have appeared at the scene is Yuko Hayashida. We cross-checked the processed frontal photo—the driver at the time was indeed her."

"Hayashida?" Shiraishi remembered that surname.

"That's right. She's the victim's wife... though they've been separated for two years and are currently proceeding with a divorce," Akasaka confirmed.

Shiraishi nodded. "Bring her in immediately to assist with the investigation!"

Normally, something like this did not require the chief's approval—it was only "voluntary assistance with an investigation." Even if they needed to apply for an "Arrest Warrant," all it took was the head of the Criminal Affairs Division's signature before it could be sent to the court for approval.

However, Beika Police Station was currently the focus of public opinion, and Shiraishi also looked as though he were personally overseeing the case, which was why Akasaka had come to seek his instructions.

In theory, without an "Arrest Warrant," the other party could refuse to cooperate, but...

[Ma'am, you don't want to be suspected either, do you?]

[The Arrest Warrant is already being processed. Once it comes through, you'll be put in handcuffs. It wouldn't look good if people saw that, would it?]

There were plenty of ways to scare someone a little...

As long as they were not like the Blogger Lady, someone the Prosecutor's Office had specifically instructed them about, or a lawyer, or a wealthy person who had hired a lawyer, most people could be intimidated.

However...

There were exceptions!

For example, this time, Ms. Rin-da refused to cooperate.

More than an hour later, Akasaka came to see Shiraishi again, embarrassed, hoping to apply for an Emergency Arrest based on her testimony that she had been at the scene.

Akasaka could have made that call himself. At most, he would only have needed to inform Shirai. But the circumstances were special now...

"Hmm? What are you going to do?" Shirai spotted him in the corridor.

"Division Chief... Here's the situation..." Since Shirai had asked, Akasaka explained the reason.

After hearing him out, Shirai glared at him and said, "For something like this... make the Emergency Arrest immediately. I'll take full responsibility!"

Although he was the one in the worst position right now, Shirai had no intention of shirking responsibility at a time like this and making Shiraishi, who had only recently taken office, bear it instead.

Two hours later, in the First Interrogation Room of Beika Town Police Station... that was, the questioning room, Ms. Rin-da had been brought in.

(To emphasize once again, it wasn't that This Dong liked using Japanese-specific terminology. It was because of the genre: to minimize the frequency of sensitive terms, Japanese-style terms would be used whenever they weren't too awkward... The court-related terms did not use titles like "tribunal" or "presiding judge" because too many things were involved. If all of them were changed, court bailiffs and the like would have to be changed too, and it would look terribly awkward.)

After hearing about it, Shiraishi came over to take a look as well...

Through the one-way glass, they could see inside from outside the Soundproof Room, and a loudspeaker transmitted the voices outside as well, while those inside could not sense anything beyond the room.

"Chief."

When Akasaka and the others saw Shiraishi enter, they quickly made room for him. Shirai was also present.

"Ms. Rin-da refused to cooperate with the investigation at first?" Shiraishi confirmed.

"That's right..." Akasaka had barely begun when Shirai cut him off. "I approved the Emergency Arrest."

Shiraishi did not say much—someone who had a conflict with the victim and had been spotted at the scene during the time of the crime... Shiraishi himself would also have approved an Emergency Arrest!

However...

An Emergency Arrest generally lasted twenty-four hours and could not exceed forty-eight at most.

"I hope the Prosecutor's Office's cannon fodder can hold out until tomorrow," Shiraishi remarked.

Judging by her reaction, she clearly did not intend to cooperate.

There were less than twenty-four hours until the Court Session. It was entirely possible that before they got anything out of Ms. Rin-da, the court would have already delivered its verdict!

Standing before the one-way mirror, Shiraishi saw that the person being questioned inside was a long-haired, flirtatious-looking woman. With makeup, she could be rated around a six out of ten, but her overall demeanor was sharp and affected. The weather was not even hot, yet she was wearing a fur-trimmed bodycon skirt...

The one conducting the questioning was Makita Miwa, currently the only female Detective in the station's Criminal Affairs Division. At the small table beside her sat an internal affairs officer responsible for taking notes.

They had probably considered that, since they were both women, Ms. Rin-da would be less resistant. However...

Makita's panel listed [Interrogation] as only "N"—meaning she merely "knew how to interrogate"!

"Hehe, Officer, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Let me ask you something, Officer. Do you know what marriage is?"

"No way, no way. You wouldn't be planning to switch people and force a confession out of me, would you?"

"My time is very valuable. You'd better think carefully about the consequences of dragging me in here just because of what some suspicious little brat said!"

Ms. Rin-da completely overwhelmed Makita with her presence...

Aoki looked somewhat awkward at the sight. He promptly gave Suzuki Atsushi a look, signaling him to call Makita out.

The target was clearly beyond what Makita's interrogation level could handle!

Shirai's face darkened beside them, but...

Even he did not dare say that he would give it a try right now!

"Is Fuji on duty today?" Aoki asked Akasaka.

Among the female police officers, Fuji had stronger interrogation skills, but...

Shiraishi spoke up directly. "Let Genjiro try."

Although his overall rating had not reached SR, Genjiro's [Interrogation] alone had already reached SR—the highest in the entire station. And unlike Shirai...

Genjiro's interrogations were not afraid of records or surveillance; they focused on "opening people's hearts."

He could be called the police station's trump card in this regard!

"Huh? If it's Genjiro... it might take a long time. The Court Session is tomorrow..." Akasaka seemed even more uneasy upon hearing that.

In terms of results, Genjiro's [Interrogation] had an outstanding record within the station. But... Genjiro's method of interrogation was the "slow-burn" type!

And there were now less than twenty hours until the Court Session...