Jiang Xia reminded him, "The knife handle is covered in blood."
Inspector Megure immediately understood—when a normal person stabbed someone with a knife, their hand would grip the handle and block the blood. Yet this handle had not been spared a drop.
After they finished examining the knife, a Forensics Department officer brought over another Evidence Bag. "Several masks have blood on them to varying degrees. All the blood is around the corners of the mouth—this one has the most."
Jiang Xia glanced at the mask. The bloodstains centered around its mouth and sprayed across half the mask, making it look as though the mask had bitten through a human artery.
The Forensics Department officer said, "The blood was probably sprayed onto it. This mask must have been very close to the victim at the time of the crime. And the angle is rather strange—it splattered from the front, almost as if..."
He did not dare finish the sentence, because it was far too unscientific—judging from the direction of the blood spatter, it looked as though the mask had bitten the victim to death.
Inspector Megure, however, did not think in such supernatural directions. "Maybe the murderer happened to be wearing this mask while committing the crime. Hmph, they scattered so many masks across the bed to confuse us and steer us toward the legend—we're police officers. How could we be fooled by such a trick!"
After making that impassioned declaration, Inspector Megure remembered that he had no idea who the murderer was, and his voice weakened. He cleared his throat as though nothing had happened. "Right, Brother Jiang Xia?"
Jiang Xia nodded obligingly.
Just then, Sato Miwako entered the room carrying a chill with her. She breathed warm air into her palms and rubbed them together. "We searched the