Bullying, Murder

Lin Xinyi chased Kudo and the others across the street.

Miyano Shiho gazed thoughtfully at his retreating figure, then slowly began to follow.

Soon, they followed the direction of the earlier sound and arrived at the alley next to the Department Store.

Ishikawa, Aoki, Kudo Shinichi, and Mouri Ran, who had gone ahead, were all gathered at the entrance of this alley.

A closer look inside revealed:

The alley was very narrow and a dead end.

It was empty except for a metal fire escape welded to the exterior wall of the Department Store, extending from the ground floor to the fourth floor. There was nothing else in the alley.

And that fire escape, which led straight to the fourth floor, looked very dilapidated.

Its steps were covered in mottled rust, and the railings had been corroded to brittle decay by time.

Even the iron door on the fourth-floor exterior wall of the Department Store, the only thing the fire escape connected to, was completely covered in rust. It was probably rusted shut long ago and couldn't be opened.

Clearly, this fire escape, neglected for years, hadn't been used in a long time.

And this dead-end alley, with no other exit besides the fire escape, clearly wasn't a place passersby would enter.

Compared to the bustling main road outside, this silent, deserted alley was like another world.

And now, in this deserted alley, located in the city center yet "isolated from the world"...

The male high school student named Uchida, who had been on the rooftop earlier, now lay motionless on the ground.

"Uchida!"

"Hey, hey, Uchida!"

Ishikawa and Aoki cried out in a panic.

It seemed they had finally realized the terrible consequences of their bullying, and they appeared very nervous.

They stood rigidly, their faces pale, staring at Uchida's body, silently lost in thought.

At that moment, Lin Xinyi moved.

As if by instinct, he ran as fast as he could to Uchida, who lay motionless on the ground.

Then, Lin Xinyi quickly crouched down and carefully turned the motionless stranger onto his back.

Uchida's face was now exposed to everyone.

His face was covered in large areas of abrasions and contusions, and there was a shocking, sunken fracture on his forehead.

The youthful face no longer showed the young man's former smile; all that remained was festering flesh, gruesome wounds, and eternal silence.

His skull is even deformed from the impact...

Lin Xinyi's heart sank. He knew such injuries were absolutely fatal.

He didn't even bother with gloves at that moment. He immediately reached out to check Uchida's breath and then lifted his eyelids to examine his pupils.

His breathing had already stopped, both pupils were dilated, and there was no light in his eyes.

Touching his wrist, there was no pulse, and his arm muscles had already relaxed.

"How is he?" Kudo Shinichi also slowly approached.

"He's dead," Lin Xinyi said, frowning tightly, his tone somewhat complex.

He had indeed seen many dead people, but he had never encountered someone dying right in front of him like this, just walking down the street.

Receiving advance notice to examine a body at a crime scene felt completely different from witnessing death unexpectedly in everyday life.

Lin Xinyi couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.

In contrast, Kudo Shinichi's demeanor was much calmer.

Seeing someone die in front of him, this high school student appeared more composed than the former Forensic Officer.

It was as if he had long been accustomed to such situations.

And after hearing that Uchida was confirmed dead, Kudo Shinichi immediately entered his focused Famous Detective mode.

He observed, he thought, completely engrossed, like an actor stepping onto a stage or a student sitting for an exam.

Is it a suicide jump? This alley is a dead end, and the fire escape is so rusted that probably no one uses it normally.

If that's the case, most of the items on the ground should be related to the deceased who fell today.

Thinking this, Kudo Shinichi began to carefully observe the ground near the body.

First, he saw a brown baseball cap.

This was the baseball cap they had seen Uchida wearing earlier.

However, the cap was no longer on the deceased's head but lay scattered next to the body, most likely having come off during the fall.

Next, Kudo Shinichi saw a few ordinary broken bricks on the ground.

Besides these, the only other thing that could be found was

A section of heavily rusted iron railing.

"This railing fell from the iron ladder?"

Kudo Shinichi looked up at the fire escape welded to the exterior wall of the Department Store:

Sure enough, at the very top of the fire escape, in front of the iron door on the fourth floor, a large section of the iron railing was missing.

"Is it that the iron ladder hasn't been maintained for years, so part of the railing fell off?"

"Or did the victim knock this section of railing off the ladder as they fell?"

Kudo Shinichi frowned slightly.

A baseball cap, several broken bricks, an iron ladder built on the exterior wall leading up to the fourth floor, and a broken railing at the top of the iron ladder—

All the clues at the scene converged in his mind.

"Could it be…"

"Could it be that kind of situation?"

Kudo Shinichi's eyes lit up; he understood something.

Then, he suddenly turned his head, looking intently at the two delinquent teenagers who had been silent all this time:

"Ishikawa, Aoki."

"Is it okay to call you that?"

Ishikawa and Aoki didn't answer; they remained silent, standing to the side.

"Uchida, who jumped to his death, was the classmate you bullied, right?"

"When did you separate from him? And where did you hit him just now?"

Kudo Shinichi asked directly, getting straight to the point.

"Uh…"

Ishikawa was slightly startled, and hostility immediately filled his eyes:

"W-why are you asking me all this?"

"Are you a police officer? Why should I tell you?"

"Besides, besides…"

He swallowed, stiffened his neck, and yelled, putting on a brave front but sounding weak inside:

"So what if we hit Uchida?"

"We didn't hit him hard, and we certainly didn't kill him."

"He ran off and jumped himself; you, and those passersby, all saw that."

"So, his death has nothing to do with us!"

"At most, we just bullied him. A few words from the police and we'll be fine."

Ishikawa grew more confident with each word, as if his bullying was an insignificant matter.

He even righteously said to Lin Xinyi, Kudo, and the later-arriving Mouri Ran and Miyano Shiho:

"Oh, and don't you guys rush off."

"You're eyewitnesses; you all saw Uchida jump from the building himself."

"Uchida's death has nothing to do with us. When the police arrive, you better explain all this clearly to them."

"…"

A brief silence.

Lin Xinyi quietly observed the body, completely ignoring them.

A meaningful smile appeared at the corner of Kudo's mouth.

And Miyano Shiho, who arrived later, couldn't be bothered to speak at all, as she had no interest in the matter.

Compared to the murder case, Lin Xinyi, who was gravely examining the body, was more captivating to her.

Finally, the only one to break the silence was Miss Mouri Ran:

"You… you two bastards!"

She clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white, the long-simmering indignation finally erupting:

"You two forced this classmate, Uchida, to jump to his death."

"Do you two not feel even the slightest bit of remorse?"

The male high school student named Aoki lowered his head, his gaze darting away, not daring to meet Mouri Ran's eyes.

But Ishikawa was the exact opposite; not only did he show no remorse, he retorted fiercely:

"What do you mean we 'forced him to jump'?"

"He had a bad mindset and committed suicide. Can… can you blame that on us?"

"Go tell the cops if you're so brave!"

"Let's see if they'll arrest us for this!"

"You?!" For the first time in a long time, Mouri Ran was angry.

She saw Uchida's lifeless corpse and Ishikawa's sneering expression, completely devoid of remorse.

The stark contrast between the dead and the living made her anger almost uncontrollable.

"Calm down, Ran!"

At that critical moment, Kudo Shinichi once again intervened just in time to stop his childhood friend.

"Shinichi!"

Mouri Ran clearly didn't want to stand by and watch the two bullies continue to act arrogantly in front of their victim's corpse.

But Kudo Shinichi's stance was very firm: "Punishing criminals should be left to the police."

Mouri Ran slowly lowered her fists. She knew Shinichi was right; she shouldn't fight violence with violence.

However, she still found it completely unacceptable:

"The police won't deal with this kind of thing."

"No one ever cares about bullying."

Mouri Ran's expression was somewhat downcast; she felt sad for the injustice the deceased had suffered.

"No, this time it's different."

Kudo Shinichi spoke very seriously into Mouri Ran's ear:

"Didn't you notice?"

"Lin Xinyi has been observing the body ever since he got here. His eyes were just like they were back then."

"Huh?" Mouri Ran was slightly startled, suddenly realizing something: "Are you saying..."

"That's right."

"Mr. Lin must have noticed it too."

Kudo Shinichi nodded gently, his gaze incredibly sharp:

"Bullying might go unpunished, but murder is a different story."