"Tomorrow's the trial... I'm personally taking over the case from here. Give me all the crime scene inspection photos." Shiraishi took a deep breath before speaking.
Previously, Shiraishi had only asked them for reports, merely supervising the case rather than personally following it up—he had not intended to do so in the first place. After all, if he had to handle every frontline case himself, then he would be far too busy as "chief."
From the standpoint of his duties, what a "chief" was supposed to do was put the right people in detective positions, only supervising even major cases.
Moreover, from the perspective of the "scientific Point Allocation System," Shiraishi needed to train his subordinates as well—whenever he had discovered clues before, he had tried not to reveal them directly and waited for them to find them on their own.
But with less than twenty-four hours left before the trial, Shiraishi no longer held anything back...
"Huh? Yes!" Akasaka froze for a moment, then immediately agreed.
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If anyone else from the Gold Watch Group had come down to serve as chief and still insisted on personally following cases, the detectives would have had massive headaches—this would absolutely have been a debuff for the Criminal Affairs Division!
But Shiraishi was different...
Not only had he already possessed quite a reputation before becoming chief, but Shiraishi had also proven his capabilities through his actions.
Akasaka, Aoki, and the others could not judge whether Shiraishi was a good chief, but... they had to admit that if Shiraishi were a detective, he would definitely be better than them. More importantly, everyone had seen what he had done these past few days. It was not just his ability—he had constantly shielded them from the pressure from "above," keeping it from affecting the frontline and doing his best to create a good environment for handling cases. Naturally, he had earned everyone's respect and support.
Of course, Akasaka had no objections to Shiraishi personally following up on the case. He even greatly admired him. However... he did not think there would still be any groundbreaking discoveries at this point!
"Chief, it's all here." Akasaka promptly carried over a document bag.
Shirai moved his lips but ultimately said nothing. Shiraishi had not accepted his resignation letter these past few days, which made him... feel utterly tormented!
Originally, he could still convince himself that everything had been for solving the case, for justice. But now...
Everything pointed to him being the one holding everyone back.
Of course, although Shirai felt guilty, he likewise did not believe that these photographs could reveal something even the officers who had been at the scene had failed to notice...
But Shiraishi was very confident!
After all, Shiraishi's [Evidence Gathering] was already Lv7, and under Lv10 [Insight], its effective level was Lv7(+2).
What he had done before had merely been a warm-up!
As for now...
Using the whiteboard in the observation room, Shiraishi had Yamada and Makitaka pin the photographs directly onto it.
Looking at the whiteboard filled with photographs, Shiraishi frowned—there truly did not seem to be any additional clues.
After all...
They were only photographs!
However... Shiraishi then spent 3,000 of the 10,000 points he had received as an S-rank achievement reward and put them into [Evidence Gathering]!
Shiraishi's [Evidence Gathering] instantly became Lv8, with an actual effect of Lv8(+2).
In other words, it was equivalent to [Evidence Gathering] at the limits of human capability!
Although it had already been proven that Lv10 was not impossible to surpass, still...
Shiraishi understood that once the actual effect of any ability reached Lv10, it would become "supernatural."
When [Constitution], [Brawling], and [Combat] reached Lv10, one could fight a hundred alone. And now that [Evidence Gathering] had reached Lv10...
As Shiraishi looked at the photos pinned to the whiteboard before him, he felt the space around him distort. In an instant, Shiraishi "found" himself in a tiny studio apartment. At the doorway between the entrance hall and kitchen, a male corpse lay on the floor with a kitchen knife embedded in his chest!
There were signs of a struggle all around. Moving into the kitchen beside it, every trace of conflict was likewise displayed in perfect detail.
At the same time, something unsettling stood out...
Cracks existed in parts of the surrounding walls and floor. Beyond them was darkness like the boundless universe. The ceiling in particular was more than half consumed by this unknown darkness!
Shiraishi immediately understood that, within his own Mental Space, he had assembled a "crime scene" from the photographs.
However, areas that had not been photographed and could not be corroborated indirectly were pitch-black.
After all, no matter how powerful his evidence gathering was, it could not conjure unknown information out of thin air!
But every photographed area, even those captured from differing angles, had now been filled in through mental reconstruction, creating a three-dimensional scene.
At the same time, four Shiraishis wearing Deployment Uniforms stepped out from Shiraishi's "body"—the Deployment Uniform was the dark blue uniform officers wore during inspections and crime scene examinations.
"The murder weapon: a Willow Leaf Sushi Knife. Blade length, 22.2 centimeters. It penetrated approximately 19 centimeters into the body. Handle length, 11.1 centimeters. A hand-ground custom kitchen knife, confirmed to be from the same set as the knives in the kitchen. The tip is rolled and the blade is chipped. It may have struck a rib after piercing the body, or it may be ordinary wear."
"There are signs of cooking in the kitchen, but no ingredients were found. The other three kitchen knives have no fingerprints."
"Based on the corpse's external appearance and blood loss, it is presumed to have been a one-stab kill. There are no other obvious injuries. The specifics will require an autopsy."
"There are signs of a struggle in the entrance hall. There is a small nick in the floor here, a recent mark. Most of the blood is around the corpse, but there are also several blood droplets at the nick!"
The four "Deployment Uniform Shiraishis" began examining the area everywhere.
All kinds of useful and useless... even previously overlooked information was extracted at this moment.
Finally, the four "Deployment Uniform Shiraishis" stopped at the same time and turned to look at the Shiraishi in the middle. In unison, they asked, "So, do you know what happened?"
Shiraishi said nothing. Instead...
He spent another 3,000 points on [Deduction]!
His originally Lv7 deduction rose to Lv8.
Shiraishi's [Deduction] had originally only been boosted by [Mental] and [Memory], reaching Lv7(+1). Even after raising it to Lv8, it should only have been Lv8(+1).
But once Shiraishi entered this strange Mental Space, he discovered that his [Deduction] had reached Lv7(+2). After spending another 3,000 points, it now reached Lv8(+2)!
Immediately afterward, the four "Deployment Uniform Shiraishis" disappeared, and all the "recently appeared" traces around them vanished as well. Even the bloodstains on the corpse were "drawn" back into the wound...
Station Manager Hayashida, the victim lying on the floor, also stood up. He returned the kitchen knife to the kitchen and muttered, "Ah, what a tiresome life... Officer, are you any good or not?"
Shiraishi ignored him and merely sat down on the small sofa to the side—in this state, Shiraishi knew best that everything before him was simply his "deduction process," not something unscientific like a wandering spirit.
Just then, the wall clock reached exactly two o'clock...
Ding-dong—
The doorbell rang. Hayashida got up and opened the door, wearing a lecherous smile as he said, "Darling, you're back..."
"Hm? Why is it you?" Hayashida said with displeasure after seeing who stood outside.
At the door, Tsubokura was dressed entirely in black, wearing a hat and gloves. He asked in a sinister tone, "Aren't you going to invite me in, Station Manager?"
Hayashida:...
"Officer, do I look like a fucking idiot? Would I let him in looking like that?" Hayashida turned toward Shiraishi on the small sofa and rolled his eyes.
Shiraishi gave a light wave of his hand, and time immediately reversed.
Time returned to exactly two o'clock...
Ding-dong—
The doorbell rang...
"Darling, you're back... Hm? Why is it you?"
Hayashida opened the door again. This time, however, Tsubokura had removed his hat, gloves, and other suspicious items. With a flattering smile, he said, "Station Manager, um... I wanted to apologize to you about what happened the day before yesterday..."
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