Evidence Collection and Deduction

"The Court Session is tomorrow... I'm going to personally follow the case progress now! Give me all the crime scene investigation photos." Shiraishi said after taking a deep breath.

Before this, Shiraishi had only asked them to report, merely supervising and not personally following up – Shiraishi hadn't intended to follow up personally. After all, if he had to handle every frontline case himself, the "Chief" would be too busy.

From a duty perspective, the "Chief" was supposed to place the right people in Detective positions, only supervising major cases.

Moreover, from the perspective of the "Scientific Point Allocation System," Shiraishi also needed to train his subordinates – even when Shiraishi found clues before, he tried not to reveal them directly, letting them discover them on their own.

However, with less than twenty-four hours until the Court Session, Shiraishi was no longer holding back...

"Huh? Yes!" Akasaka was stunned for a moment, then immediately responded.

If someone from another Gold Watch Group became Chief, and then personally followed up on cases, the Detectives would be overwhelmed – this would be a definite debuff for the Criminal Affairs Division!

But Shiraishi was different...

Not only did he have a "great reputation" before becoming Chief, but Shiraishi had also proven his abilities through practical actions.

Akasaka, Aoki, and others couldn't judge if 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 witnessed Shiraishi's actions these past few days. Not only was he capable, but he had also been shielding them, preventing pressure from "above" from affecting the frontline, and creating a good investigation environment, thus earning their respect and support.

Of course, Akasaka had no objections to Shiraishi personally following up on the case at this moment; he was even full of admiration. However... he didn't think there would be any groundbreaking new discoveries at this point!

"Chief, they're all here." Akasaka immediately approached with a file bag.

Shirai's lips moved slightly, but he didn't say anything. Shiraishi hadn't accepted his resignation letter these past few days, which made him... feel tormented!

Originally, he could still rationalize it in his heart, telling himself it was all for solving the case, for Justice. But now...

Everything pointed to him being the one dragging them down.

Of course, although Shirai felt apologetic, he also didn't believe that these photos could reveal anything that the police officers on the scene hadn't discovered...

However, Shiraishi was very confident!

You must know that Shiraishi's [Evidence Collection] was Lv7, and under Lv10 [Insight], it functioned at Lv7(+2).

Everything before was just a small test of his skills!

As for now...

Shiraishi used the whiteboard in the observation room to have Yamada and Makotaka directly put the photos up.

Looking at the whiteboard full of photos, Shiraishi frowned – indeed, he couldn't see any additional clues.

After all...

They were just photos!

However... Shiraishi then spent 3000 points from the 10,000 points he received as an S-rank achievement reward on [Evidence Collection]!

Suddenly, Shiraishi's [Evidence Collection] became Lv8, with an actual effect of Lv8(+2).

In other words, it was equivalent to the Human limit for [Evidence Collection]!

Although it had already been proven that Lv10 wasn't an insurmountable barrier, ...

Shiraishi understood that any ability's actual effect would become "Supernatural Phenomena" upon reaching Lv10.

If [Physique], [Fighting], and [Combat] reached Lv10, one could fight a hundred. And now that [Evidence Collection] had reached Lv10...

Shiraishi looked at the photos pinned on the whiteboard in front of him and felt the surrounding space distort. Instantly, Shiraishi "found" himself in a small single-person apartment. At the entrance from the hall to the kitchen, a male corpse lay on the ground with a kitchen knife stuck in its chest!

There were signs of a struggle around. Moving to the kitchen, various signs of conflict were also clearly visible.

At the same time, what caused unease was...

There were cracks on some parts of the surrounding walls and floor. Outside these cracks was darkness like the boundless universe, especially the ceiling, where a large portion was this unknown darkness!

Shiraishi immediately understood that this was a "scene" constructed within his mental world using the crime scene photos.

However, places not captured by some photos, or areas that couldn't be corroborated from other angles, were pitch black.

After all, no matter how strong the evidence collection, it couldn't create information out of nothing!

But the places that were captured, even from different angles, were now visualized, thus forming a three-dimensional scene.

At the same time, four Shiraishis wearing "Deployment Uniforms" walked out of Shiraishi's "body" – the Deployment Uniform was the dark blue uniform that police officers wore when conducting inspections and crime scene investigations.

"Murder weapon: Willow Leaf Sushi Knife, blade length 22.2 cm, penetrated about 19 cm into flesh, handle length 11.1 cm. It's a hand-ground custom kitchen knife, confirmed to be from the same set as the kitchen knives in the kitchen. The tip has a rolled edge, and the blade has nicks. This could be from hitting ribs after stabbing, or from daily wear and tear."

"There are signs of food preparation in the kitchen, but no ingredients were found. The other three kitchen knives have no fingerprints."

"Judging by the external appearance and blood loss, it's estimated to be a single fatal wound. There are no other obvious injuries. The specific details require an autopsy."

"There are signs of a struggle in the entrance hall. There's a small dent on the floor here, a recent mark. Most of the blood is around the corpse. There are also a few blood spots at the dent!"

The four "Deployment Uniform Shiraishis" began inspecting everywhere.

Various useful, useless... even previously overlooked information was extracted.

Finally, the four "Deployment Uniform Shiraishis" stopped their actions simultaneously and looked towards the Shiraishi in the center, saying in unison, "So, do you know what happened?"

Shiraishi didn't respond, but instead...

Spent another 3000 points to upgrade [Deduction]!

Originally Lv7 Deduction, it had now risen to Lv8.

Shiraishi's [Deduction] was originally only boosted by [Spirit] and [Memory]. Reaching Lv7 (+1), even boosting it to Lv8 should have just been Lv8 (+1).

However, after Shiraishi entered this peculiar Mental Space, he had already discovered that his [Deduction] had reached Lv7 (+2). After consuming another 3000 points, it reached Lv8 (+2)!

Immediately, the four "Deployment Uniform Shiraishi" disappeared, and the newly appeared traces around them also vanished, including the bloodstains on the corpse, which had "sucked" back into the wounds...

The victim, Station Manager Hayashida, who had fallen down, now stood up, returned the kitchen knife to the kitchen, and muttered, "Ah, what a chore... Officer, are you capable or not?"

Shiraishi ignored him and sat down on the small sofa nearby. In this state, Shiraishi knew best that this was his own "Deduction process," not unscientific things like "departed souls."

Just then, the wall clock reached exactly two o'clock...

Ding-dong--

The doorbell rang. Hayashida got up to open the door, a fawning smile on his face. "Honey, you're back..."

"Huh? It's you?" Seeing who was at the door, Hayashida said with clear displeasure.

Tsubokura, dressed in black, wearing a hat and gloves, asked sinisterly from the doorway, "Aren't you going to invite me in? Station Manager."

Hayashida: ...

"Officer, do I look like an idiot? With him like this, would I let him in?" Hayashida turned his head and rolled his eyes at Shiraishi on the small sofa.

Shiraishi waved his hand gently, and time immediately flowed backward.

Time returned to exactly two o'clock...

Ding-dong--

The doorbell rang...

"Honey, you're back... Huh? It's you?"

Hayashida opened the door again. However, this time, Tsubokura at the door had removed his suspicious hat and gloves, and with a fawning smile, said, "Station Manager, um... regarding the incident the day before yesterday, I'd like to apologize..."