Three hours later, Kasumigaseki, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department headquarters.
In those short three hours, the recovery team had luckily found the victim's identification among the damaged clothing retrieved later.
Based on that, the police quickly confirmed the victim's identity and urgently contacted her family.
With the family's cooperation, they confirmed that the victim had indeed vanished suddenly in the middle of the previous night, leaving behind a suicide note in her own handwriting.
Faced with this evidence, the police became even more convinced that the victim had died by drowning herself.
The Dismemberment Case was thus successfully solved.
Lin Xinyi, Kudo, and Ran, who had just finished giving their statements to the police, were now completely cleared of any connection to the case. After saying goodbye to the officers handling it, they prepared to leave.
"Brother Lin!"
Before they parted, Inspector Megure warmly patted Lin Xinyi on the shoulder with his chubby hand.
"Thanks to you, we were able to solve this case so quickly."
"I hope we can work together more often when the opportunity arises!"
The more free case-solving tools, the better.
That was why Inspector Megure would not let the mockery from Lin Xinyi create a rift between them, unlike those younger officers.
"Mm."
Lin Xinyi gave an insincere response.
He had already decided to pursue an easier way of life. Unless something unexpected happened, he likely would not have any chance to work with the police again.
Still, since he was seeing this through to the end, Lin Xinyi gave Inspector Megure one final reminder.
"Oh, Inspector Megure."
"When I examined the body at the scene, I also used a puncture needle to collect a sample of the victim's heart blood."
"Officer Komatsu has that sample now. If possible, please make sure it is sent to a professional testing institution for toxicology screening."
"W-What?"
Inspector Megure's round face trembled.
"Send the blood sample for testing? Are you suspecting poison in the victim's body?"
"But didn't she die by suicide through drowning?"
"And we've already contacted her family and found her suicide note!"
Lin Xinyi's words were like a depth charge.
Inspector Megure was left dazed by the blast. Kudo Shinichi, the famous detective who had been chatting and laughing with Ran nearby, was also so stunned that he instantly forgot about his childhood friend.
"Mr. Lin Xinyi."
"Did you find some evidence that I missed again?"
Kudo Shinichi placed heavy emphasis on the word "again."
But Lin Xinyi answered calmly.
"No, not at all."
"I found no signs of poisoning on the victim's body surface, nor any signs of restraint injuries or defensive wounds on her wrists, forearms, or elsewhere."
"Based on all the evidence we can currently gather, the victim died by suicide."
"However, as I said before—"
"A forensic examiner's greatest taboo is making assumptions."
"You think this was a homicide involving dismemberment, but it may actually have been a suicide by drowning."
"You think this was a suicide by drowning, but another truth may be lurking behind it."
He methodically pointed Inspector Megure toward the next direction of investigation.
"This time, I only performed a basic external examination of the body. Many things cannot be seen with the naked eye."
"For example, the victim may have been drugged unconscious with sleeping pills, then thrown into the water to stage a suicide."
"Cases like that are not uncommon, and the clues can only be found through blood testing."
"To further confirm that the victim committed suicide, blood testing alone is not enough. It is also important to investigate whether she had any motive to take her own life."
"If possible, an autopsy must be performed to determine whether she had subcutaneous hemorrhaging caused by injuries sustained before death—I emphasized that point to you at the scene."
"Please preserve the suicide note written by the victim herself as well. If doubts emerge during the later investigation, the police may need to conduct a handwriting analysis on it."
Finally, Lin Xinyi paused slightly and spoke solemnly.
"As long as there is room for doubt, we must never give up questioning."
"After all, our duty is to find the truth, not rush to reach a conclusion and close the case to meet a quota."
"This..."
Inspector Megure blushed slightly at Lin Xinyi's words.
To be honest, both he and the other officers had merely felt relieved upon learning that the victim had died by suicide.
There was an answer. The case was solved. The pressure was gone.
Everyone only wanted to wrap up the case smoothly.
With no other clues at all, no one would go looking for trouble by digging deeper.
"I see."
"Only someone who can truly understand the victim's pain could maintain such persistence in pursuing every doubt to the end."
Kudo Shinichi understood Lin Xinyi's earlier words more deeply.
After thinking it over, Inspector Megure nodded solemnly.
"I understand, Brother Lin."
"I'll send that blood sample to the Forensic Science Laboratory for testing, and the body will be entrusted to a cooperating university's forensic laboratory for an autopsy."
"I promise that if we uncover any doubts, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department will pursue them to the end."
"Good."
Lin Xinyi finally felt at ease.
Though he was now neither a forensic examiner nor a criminal investigator, and had no need to be so concerned about the case.
But there was no helping it. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's professional competence was truly too worrying.
"Goodbye, Inspector Megure."
"And Kudo, Miss Mouri Ran."
Lin Xinyi said goodbye to the people he had met that day and prepared to leave the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department directly.
"Wait!"
After hesitating briefly, Kudo Shinichi finally hurried after him.
"Mr. Lin Xinyi, I have another question for you."
"Go ahead." Lin Xinyi stopped cooperatively.
But the young detective hesitated for quite some time before carefully choosing his words.
"Mr. Lin Xinyi."
"Someone as capable as you..."
"Why did you make that kind of choice?"
"???" Ran and Inspector Megure both looked utterly confused.
Lin Xinyi merely shrugged and gave an even more incomprehensible reply. "Who knows?"
"Will we have a chance to meet again in the future?"
Kudo and Lin Xinyi's conversation sounded like an encrypted telegram.
Lin Xinyi answered again, "Of course. The current 'me' is already a brand-new me."
With that, he smiled naturally, turned, and strode powerfully out through the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's doors.
Lin Xinyi left just like that.
Inspector Megure also had plenty to do, so he soon gave up thinking about it and returned to his office.
Only after standing there in confusion for a while did Ran finally tug curiously at Kudo Shinichi's sleeve.
"Shinichi, what exactly were you and Mr. Lin talking about just now?"
"What does making 'that kind of choice' mean? Did Mr. Lin do something I don't know about?"
"Haha."
Kudo Shinichi gave a relaxed smile.
"As expected, you didn't notice at all, Ran."
"Stop keeping me in suspense!" Ran clenched her fists in embarrassment and annoyance.
"Ahem. Do you remember what we talked about before we found the body?"
Kudo Shinichi cleared his throat and finally revealed the answer.
"Why was Mr. Lin wearing a black suit when he came to the park so early in the morning?"
"And why were his pant legs and shoes wet?"
"Ah, right..."
Ran froze for a moment, only then realizing that the matter was not so simple.
It was because his pant legs and shoes had been soaked that Lin Xinyi was initially suspected of being a criminal suspect.
But now the facts proved that he was not the killer and had not disposed of any body, so why had he gotten his pant legs wet for no reason?
"When I found the dismembered body, I immediately suspected that Mr. Lin was the killer."
"And when he came to watch the scene immediately after we found the body, my suspicion of him deepened."
"But actually, before this case happened..."
"I had another guess as to why Mr. Lin's pant legs were wet."
Kudo Shinichi paused, giving Ran a brief moment to think.
When he saw that she still had not guessed the answer, he continued with another hint.
"You should know that we also smelled a strong scent of smoke on Mr. Lin."
"At the time, he was sorting through the things in his pockets, and I saw an empty cigarette pack inside."
"All the signs indicated that he had smoked a great deal recently, yet his fingers were very clean—people who smoke heavily and often always have distinct yellowish burn marks between their index and middle fingers."
"At the same time, I noticed the phone he was holding."
"There was a lot of grime between the gaps of its keypad. That showed that its owner had sloppy habits, did not care much about personal hygiene, and did not bother with his appearance."
"But look at him today. His suit was perfectly neat, with no disorder at his collar or cuffs. His hair and face were clean as well."
Kudo Shinichi had practically given her the answer already.
"Why would someone who normally did not smoke much suddenly smoke so heavily?"
"Why would someone who normally did not care about his appearance suddenly clean himself up so thoroughly?"
"Could it be..."
Ran covered her mouth in shock.
She had thought of a terrifying possibility.
"That's right."
Looking in the direction Lin Xinyi had disappeared, Kudo Shinichi sighed softly.
"Mr. Lin Xinyi was the same as that deceased woman."
"He had gone to kill himself."
After leaving the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department alone, Lin Xinyi recalled the concerned look in Kudo Shinichi's eyes and could not help thinking back to what had happened when he first arrived in this world.
When he had transmigrated that morning, he had opened his eyes to find himself standing blankly in the frigid river water.
He soon vaguely realized why the original owner of this body had come there. He quickly went ashore, found a park bench, and began searching himself for clues that could help him better understand "himself."
After that came his chance encounter with Kudo Shinichi and Mouri Ran.
"That famous detective was pretty interesting too."
Recalling what had happened, Lin Xinyi smiled.
"When he kept pestering me with questions back then, he was actually trying to confirm my mental state and stop me from jumping into the river again, wasn't he?"
"Heh, he's a pretty good guy."
"Just as you said, I hope we'll have a chance to meet again."
After thinking about it, Lin Xinyi added a condition in his heart.
"Uh... as long as it isn't at a crime scene."
Before you continue