Old Case

As Fuji recounted the story, Kawai more or less understood what had happened with that taxi driver just now—

"Four years ago, Sato Seiichiro reported that his wife, Ichijo Rin, had gone missing. Though she was called his wife, she was actually just his live-in girlfriend; they weren't legally married." A look of reminiscence appeared in Fuji's eyes.

"I see. So that's why Mr. Sato put up missing-person notices..." Kawai recalled what Fuji had mentioned earlier.

"At first, since Ichijo Rin had only failed to come home for one night, we didn't take it too seriously. Even her workplace didn't know where she had gone. Cases like this didn't attract much attention—after all, running away from home was quite common in the Eastern Island Nation." Fuji spoke with a hint of mockery.

"So..." Kawai's tone carried some resentment as well.

According to Sato, Ichijo Rin had come home late before, but whenever she worked overtime, she would send him a text message. If she was going to be especially late, Sato would even pick her up from work.

But that day, Sato waited until dawn without receiving a single message from his wife. Her phone was switched off every time he called. Feeling that something was terribly wrong, he immediately came to the police station to file a report.

At first, the police did not take the case seriously and merely classified it as an ordinary missing-person case. "Of course, I had just become a detective back then and was still full of enthusiasm. I proposed that we prioritize the case. The atmosphere at Beika Police Station back then was nothing like it is now. Quite a few people were unhappy about a woman entering the Criminal Affairs Division, so they tossed the case to me—which happened to suit me