Two Possibilities

In Shiraishi's reconstruction, Tsubokura put on an innocent act, looking as though he merely wanted to have a talk with Station Manager Hayashida...

"Get out, and get out now! You're fired. Don't show your face in front of me again!" Hayashida waved him away impatiently.

"Station Manager, don't say that... Just let me come in first..."

"Wait! What are you doing?"

"I'll cook something for you..."

"Stop right there!"

"Get down!"

"Ouch..."

Tsubokura struggled to squeeze his way inside. Then... he put on gloves and rushed toward the kitchen, intending to find a kitchen knife!

But Hayashida immediately kicked him down from behind. Tsubokura still tried to crawl toward the kitchen, while Hayashida dragged him by the leg from behind...

Then the two of them twisted their heads around in that bizarre pose and stared speechlessly at Shiraishi.

"Officer Shiraishi, after all my thorough preparations, I still had to come here and find a weapon on the spot?"

"Would I let this brat get his hands on a kitchen knife?"

At that, Shiraishi waved his hand again, and time in the room began to rewind...

The clock had just struck two.

Ding-dong—

Shiraishi watched coldly as Tsubokura lowered his posture and forced his way inside. Then...

"Do you know how much trouble you've caused since joining the station? Don't say another word. Get out... You, what are you doing?"

Tsubokura took advantage of Hayashida turning around to put on gloves. Then, amid Hayashida's questioning, he pulled a short, pointed dagger from his clothes!

As Tsubokura stabbed at him, Hayashida hurriedly dodged. Their movements slowed, revealing a scratch on the wall identical to the one in the "crime scene photos."

Hayashida took three steps in two and fled into the kitchen, with Tsubokura chasing after him...

Clang—

Hayashida grabbed a sushi knife from the washed set of kitchen knives and swung it at Tsubokura. Tsubokura blocked it with his small dagger, producing a sharp clang!

Unfortunately, the knife Hayashida had grabbed in his haste happened to be the weakest sushi knife...

Their movements slowed again. A chip could be seen in the sushi knife's edge, while Tsubokura's knife flew from his hand, back into the entry hall. When it hit the floor, it left a mark identical to the one in the "crime scene photos"...

After all, Hayashida was sturdier than young Tsubokura!

"You little... Die!"

Hayashida seemed to have gone red-eyed. He continued stabbing at Tsubokura, who backed up two steps, grabbed Hayashida's hands with both of his, and wrestled with him.

The next moment, the two fell to the floor and grappled...

With the action slowed down, numerous marks corresponding to the "crime scene photos" appeared. At this point, one of Tsubokura's gloves also came off.

Then, at the doorway between the entry hall and the kitchen...

Squelch!

In the end, youth and strength won out. Tsubokura seized the knife and drove it through Hayashida's chest!

Just then, footsteps sounded in the hallway...

Then all movement and sound stopped, leaving only Tsubokura's inner monologue: Someone's coming. I need to run... Right, I have to take the things I brought with me. As for this murder weapon... it doesn't matter. My fingerprints on it are normal anyway. If I pull it out, I'll be covered in blood and whoever's outside will see me!

Time began to flow again. Tsubokura hurriedly picked up his small knife and glove, then rushed out the door.

Although he brushed past a passerby in the hallway, the passerby did not suspect anything.

Shiraishi then went to the balcony and watched Tsubokura leave through the alley outside. Ms. Rin-da happened to come over as well. Since she saw someone there, she did not take the alley...

When Ms. Rin-da returned to the victim's door, she found it unlocked. After opening it and seeing the victim's body, she was shocked and hurriedly took out her phone. But...

Seemingly recalling something, Ms. Rin-da did not call the police. Instead, she went into the bedroom to look for something. But... after the bedroom door opened, there was only a black void inside. Since there were no clues related to the case, there were no crime scene photos!

Ms. Rin-da then emerged from the "black void" and erased all traces of her visit, even taking the ingredients with her.

Bang...

With the sound of the door closing, she left the room without looking back.

Shiraishi sat on the sofa, seemingly deep in thought.

Ding-dong—

The doorbell rang, and the door opened on its own. Tsubokura poked his head in and looked at Shiraishi. "Officer Shiraishi, aren't you targeting me a little too much? Does it have to be me?"

"I also think you should reconsider it." Hayashida, who was lying on the floor nearby, raised his head and spoke.

Shiraishi slowly raised his hand and waved again...

Time in the room rewound!

The time was two o'clock.

Ding-dong—

As Hayashida opened the door, he said in a lecherous tone, "Darling, you're back?"

The person standing outside... really was Ms. Rin-da!

Just now, Ms. Rin-da had taken a taxi back from the supermarket. She saw Tsubokura walking into the alley, so she entered through the front entrance and arrived first.

"Don't forget what you promised me!" Ms. Rin-da said with a long face as she walked straight in and headed for the kitchen.

Hayashida was about to follow her in when...

Ding-dong—

The doorbell rang again...

"Who is it? I already said everything's fine..." Hayashida thought it was another neighbor.

"Station Manager Hayashida, it's me." Tsubokura's voice came from outside.

Ms. Rin-da seemed utterly unwilling to have anything to do with him. In a low voice, she demanded, "You invited someone else over?"

"That lunatic... Why would I invite him? Don't worry about it!" Hayashida snapped.

"I..." Ms. Rin-da hesitated, then hid in the bedroom to the side, seemingly unwilling to be seen.

Then, outside...

"Do you know how much trouble you've caused since joining the station? Don't say another word. Get out... You, what are you doing?"

The same gloves, the same drawn knife, the same chase and escape, the same marks left behind...

Hayashida "again" tried to grab a kitchen knife. But... only the sushi knife was on the rack; the others were on the cutting board two steps farther away. Hayashida had no choice but to grab the weakest knife.

As Hayashida swung the sushi knife at Tsubokura, Tsubokura... truly lived up to being young. He nimbly stepped back two paces, dodged the attack, and slashed at Hayashida with his own knife. Hayashida was so frightened that the kitchen knife flew from his hand!

Clang—

The kitchen knife flew out and left a mark on the floor identical to the one in the "crime scene photos" Shiraishi had seen.

By the time Hayashida tried to turn back and retreat into the kitchen for another knife, it was too late!

Squelch—

After stabbing him once, Tsubokura hurriedly left... naturally taking his own knife with him.

If he had known more about medicine, he could have judged from the amount of bleeding that this stab... had not gone deep enough to be fatal!

After Tsubokura left, Ms. Rin-da, terrified out of her wits, emerged from the bedroom where she had kept herself shut in and checked on the victim. But...

Mm...

The victim still had one breath left. He grabbed Ms. Rin-da's wrist, seemingly asking her for help, but...

Thinking of how he had threatened her before and refused to divorce her, Ms. Rin-da's expression gradually turned savage. She casually picked up the kitchen knife that had fallen nearby, wrapped the handle in a scarf, and, as the victim looked terrified yet unable to move, pressed the knife into the wound left by the small dagger with all her strength, using her body weight to force it in!

Crack...

An "X-ray" view appeared. As the blade pressed in, it chipped a small notch into a rib.

Ms. Rin-da then cleaned away all traces of her visit and took the half-prepared ingredients with her. As for the murder weapon...

Since it bore none of her traces, she simply left it there.

After Ms. Rin-da left, Hayashida's corpse sat up and said to Shiraishi, "Officer Shiraishi, a person can only die once, so... which one do you think it was?"

Indeed, both possibilities could have produced the evidence currently known!

However...

It was actually not difficult to tell them apart. They only needed to find more information that would manifest differently under these two scenarios!

It was just that this was not something they could determine by imagining it out of thin air "here"...

In the observation room of the Interrogation Room, Shiraishi opened his eyes...

To everyone else, less than a minute had passed.

By this point, Shiraishi could be said to have seen through the truth. It simply... needed verification!