Intentional Homicide

Ishikawa's expression stiffened again.

Lin Xinyi's previous behavior had given him a feeling—that his mind was transparent in front of the other man, unable to hide any secrets.

But even so, Ishikawa still braced himself and looked at Lin Xinyi again.

This concerned his future life. Even if there was a tough opponent constantly messing things up, he had to keep up the act:

"Of course, of course."

"Just think about it, killing Uchida would only cause me trouble."

"How could I possibly have deliberately killed him?"

"That's not necessarily true."

Lin Xinyi retorted without hesitation:

"People sometimes forget their rationality, and it's normal to make the decision to kill."

"And as long as you clearly knew at the time that your injurious act would lead to death, then it cannot be considered accidental homicide."

"But, but…"

Ishikawa craned his neck, stubbornly arguing:

"I just accidentally killed Uchida!"

"Can you really find evidence to prove I did it on purpose?"

"Of course I can."

Lin Xinyi replied calmly and steadily:

"Because I can feel what kind of pain the deceased endured."

Saying this, he squatted down beside the corpse again.

And everyone's gaze once again converged on Lin Xinyi.

Even Miyano Shiho, who had initially been completely uninterested in the case, was now unconsciously drawn in by Lin Xinyi's performance.

"Let me boldly reconstruct what the deceased experienced before death."

"First, we see clear restraint marks on both wrists of the deceased."

"This suggests, to some extent, that Ishikawa might not have initially intended to kill, but merely wanted to teach Uchida a lesson."

"So, after bringing Uchida into this deserted alley, at the beginning of the bullying, the perpetrator's accomplice tightly gripped Uchida's wrists, controlling him to prevent him from moving."

"If I'm not mistaken, during the time Uchida was restrained, the perpetrator bullied him."

"And bullies, to prevent their bullying from being exposed to the outside world, often won't attack the victim's exposed areas, so as not to leave unhideable marks."

"They will only target areas of the victim's body that can be covered by clothing, such as the chest, abdomen, and back. So, as long as we cut open the deceased's clothes…"

Lin Xinyi paused his explanation, reaching into the toolbox offered by Officer Komatsu and taking out a pair of scissors.

Then, with practiced ease, he used the scissors to cut open the deceased's clothes, exposing Uchida's chest and abdomen.

"This…"

The onlookers gasped.

Because the bruises on Uchida's chest and abdomen were simply too numerous.

His body was densely covered with irregularly shaped abrasions, intradermal hemorrhages, and subcutaneous hemorrhages. There wasn't a single patch of unblemished skin from his neck down.

Without forensic knowledge, anyone with eyes could see the horrific violence this poor young man had endured before his death.

For a moment, everyone's gaze toward Ishikawa was filled with disgust.

And Miss Mouri Ran, with her strong empathy, clenched her fists tightly, her eyes full of sympathy.

The image of penitent suffering Ishikawa had previously cultivated instantly crumbled.

He simply gave up, gritting his teeth and yelling at Lin Xinyi:

"W-what about it?"

"Didn't I admit that I bullied Uchida?"

"You yourself said Uchida died from suffocation, not from being beaten to death."

"Don't argue with me."

"I'm merely stating facts."

Lin Xinyi completely ignored Ishikawa's shouting, merely continuing in a steady tone:

"Uchida's chest and abdomen suffered continuous, repeated, and multiple violent blows from the perpetrator."

"This level of injury would likely cause internal thoracic hemorrhage and organ damage, severely affecting the body's respiratory function—which is one of the important reasons why the deceased later died from suffocation."

"And during this time, as the victim of bullying, Uchida should have begged the perpetrator for mercy, pleading for him to show restraint."

"But the perpetrator did not let Uchida go just like that."

"Not only did he not spare Uchida, but Uchida's actions, coupled with his own impulsiveness, escalated his emotions and intensified his bullying."

"So at that point, the perpetrator stopped punching and moved on to further action, strangling Uchida with one hand."

Upon hearing this, Ishikawa's expression turned extremely grim.

Only now did he understand what Aoki meant earlier by "that man saw everything."

What Lin Xinyi said was absolutely true:

At that time, he was indeed routinely "disciplining" Uchida—of course, to force Uchida to sign the agreement, Ishikawa had hit him "a little" harder than usual.

But Uchida was very uncooperative.

He insisted that he had already forgiven Ishikawa and the others, and that the agreement had already been submitted to the principal.

And Ishikawa, of course, wouldn't believe such a clumsy lie:

Are you kidding me?

I haven't even come to beat you yet, and you've already obediently forgiven me?

This is just a delaying tactic. If I simply believed it, Uchida would probably go to the police and complain again after he got away.

What's more, even if he really did forgive me, so what?

The last time he went to the police hasn't been settled yet!

If I don't beat this defiant troublemaker badly and make an example of Uchida to warn others, how will I, Ishikawa, be able to get by in school in the future?

Only by making Uchida hurt can he realize his "mistake" and obediently act like a slave in the future, not daring to go to the police like last time.

So, as initially planned, Ishikawa gave Uchida an incredibly profound "lesson."

After a violent beating, Ishikawa noticed that even as Uchida was beaten to the point of being almost unable to speak, he was still trying to reach into his pocket.

He stopped punching and pulled Uchida's hand out of his pocket:

It was a phone.

Uchida was reaching for his phone at that moment.

It was obvious he was trying to secretly call the police for help.

Thinking of Uchida's "record" of going to the police, Ishikawa became even angrier.

He felt that the lesson he gave Uchida wasn't deep enough, and only by hitting him harder could he cure Uchida's old habit of constantly complaining to people.

So, Ishikawa began to strangle Uchida with his hand, preparing to let Uchida experience the terror of "disobey and you die."

"At this point, Uchida's neck was being choked by the perpetrator with one hand."

Ishikawa was recalling past events, while Lin Xinyi was recreating the scene:

"Compression of the neck, coupled with his previous injuries, immediately made his breathing difficult."

"Like all suffocating people, Uchida began to instinctively struggle and resist."

"During his resistance, his hand grabbed Ishikawa's arm, leaving a deep scratch on it."

"And that's where things completely spiraled out of control."

Saying this, Lin Xinyi looked at Ishikawa:

"Bullies usually have an arrogance that makes them see themselves as 'superior animals.'"

"They simply cannot tolerate the resistance of the weak, and even less can they accept being injured because of it."

"So, he released his hand from Uchida's neck and switched to a more brutal form of abuse."

"Huh?"

Kudo Shinichi, who was standing by, immediately caught on to something:

"Are you saying that the victim didn't actually die from suffocation due to his neck being choked?"

"That's right."

Lin Xinyi nodded:

"The ligature marks on his neck were not very obvious, which indicates that Ishikawa's strength and the duration of the choking were relatively limited."

"Of course, this alone isn't enough to fully explain the situation. The important thing is..."

"Look, the outer side of Uchida's right forearm."

He lifted the victim's right arm, allowing everyone to see the injuries on Uchida's right forearm:

"From the elbow to the wrist, the entire outer side of the ulna of the forearm has continuous, large areas of bluish-purple bruising."

"This kind of continuous, large-area, elongated injury is very rare."

"How do you all think it could have been formed?"

"Uh..." Everyone hesitated, but it was Mouri Ran who reacted first.

This beautiful assistant beside the Famous Detective always showed more keenness than the Famous Detective when sensing the victim's pain:

"The external ulna of the forearm is often used for outward blocking during combat."

"But injuries from blocking couldn't possibly be such large, continuous shapes. This kind of shape looks more like it was squeezed against a hard, flat surface. So I'm guessing,"

"Uchida was likely pushed onto the ground by the killer before he died."

"And he used his forearm to brace himself against the ground, trying to get up, which is why there are these injuries on the outside of his ulna."

Mouri Ran hesitated as she voiced her thoughts:

"But if he was just simply getting up from the ground, it wouldn't require much strength at all, nor would it cause injury."

"So, I think, at that time,"

"It's very likely someone stepped on Uchida's back, pressing him down to prevent him from getting up."

"Uchida tried to get up again and again, but the killer kept stepping on him again and again. It's because he was struggling so painfully that the bruises on the outside of his arm are so obvious, right?"

At this point, as if feeling the same pain, Ran's expression became a little somber.

"That's right."

Lin Xinyi looked at Mouri Ran with appreciation.

This girl was much easier to guide than Officer Komatsu; she had a lot of talent:

"The killer had Uchida pinned to the ground for a long time; the bruises on the outside of his forearm prove it."

"But considering Uchida died from asphyxiation, then the killer probably wasn't stepping on Uchida's back, but rather..."

"His more vulnerable neck."

Saying this, Lin Xinyi gently turned the body over, revealing the victim's back of the neck.

The victim's hair wasn't short, and the back of his neck was covered by hair, so nothing could be seen.

However, just as Lin Xinyi reached out and swept aside the victim's hair—

A gasp of surprise immediately rose from the crowd:

"Th-this is a footprint?!"

Yes, on the back of Uchida's neck, there was a perfectly clear footprint.

This footprint was imprinted into the victim's flesh and blood.

And Uchida's entire back of the neck showed large areas of epidermal detachment and subcutaneous hemorrhage because of it, looking horrifying.

"The trampling marks on the back of the neck are clearly more severe than the strangulation marks on the front of the neck."

"And the bruises on the outside of the forearm further prove that the victim was suppressed on the ground for a long time."

"So even without an autopsy, I can conclude that the victim died from mechanical asphyxiation caused by pressure on the back of the neck."

Lin Xinyi calmly stated his conclusion.

Then, he stared intently at Ishikawa, his gaze sharpening:

"A person's trachea is in the front of the neck, not the back."

"Strangling the neck from the front kills a person faster."

"And if you step on the neck from behind, Ishikawa, do you know how long it takes to kill someone?"

Ishikawa's face was pale, and he remained silent.

"You should know."

Lin Xinyi said in a cold tone:

"Because you stepped on his neck for several minutes."

"That time was long enough, long enough for you to recognize the consequences of your actions, for you to know that you were committing murder."

"But you never took your foot off, never!"

"Because you had already decided to kill him."

"Perhaps out of anger and impulse, or perhaps out of the pleasure that comes with killing, ultimately—"

"You killed him—with intent!"