Sealing Off the Crime Scene

## 39. Securing the Scene

A short while ago.

Suzuki Sonoko felt that the man destined for her had finally arrived—

Although this young lady always thought this, and the results were always less than ideal, it was clear that these repeated setbacks hadn't made her lose her fantasy of true love.

And so, with expectations of a beautiful romance, Suzuki Sonoko walked lightly to the edge of the underground platform.

On the wall by the platform was a wide doorway with a "Restrooms" sign hanging above it. Entering the doorway led to a horizontal corridor, with the men's and women's restrooms connected at its left and right ends.

As soon as Suzuki Sonoko arrived, she saw a brightly displayed sign standing prominently in front of the wide-open doorway:

"Restroom facilities under repair, please do not use."

Clearly, this restroom was currently out of service.

Because of this, the platform outside was bustling and noisy, yet the restroom inside remained empty, appearing exceptionally quiet.

But Suzuki Sonoko thought for a moment and eventually walked in:

She was only going to use the restroom mirror to do her makeup anyway.

Even if the facilities inside were damaged, it wouldn't affect her.

"The handsome guy I met this time is so good that even Ran praised him. I must put on a beautiful, winning makeup to capture him!"

"Once he's hopelessly captivated by my charm and confesses to me, oh, hohohoho!"

Suzuki Sonoko had no trace of a young lady's reserve; instead, she laughed like Gray Wolf meticulously planning his sheep-catching scheme.

She walked into the wide doorway, stepping onto the short corridor, and headed towards the women's restroom on the right side of the corridor, all while thinking about the flirtatious tricks she was about to use.

The door to the women's restroom was tightly shut, and it was very quiet inside.

Suzuki Sonoko pushed the door open, took two steps inside, and then—

"Blood?!"

As soon as she entered, she saw a pool of fresh blood spread across the floor in front of the sink.

And in that pool of blood, a stylishly dressed woman lay motionless.

Her chest was stained crimson with blood, her eyes wide and staring, and the lifeless pupils still held the pain she had felt before her death.

Suzuki Sonoko instinctively wanted to scream.

But at that very moment, a "dark shadow" suddenly flashed out from the corner behind the door, which she hadn't noticed at all.

Sonoko heard sudden footsteps behind her, but it was already a little too late.

There was no time to turn around, no way to dodge, and she couldn't even let out a scream—

The shadow swiftly delivered a hand chop from behind, striking Suzuki Sonoko's back neck with a heavy blow.

Suzuki Sonoko cried out in pain, clutching her neck. Her head spun, and she stumbled, swaying, before collapsing onto the ground.

Seeing that Sonoko seemed to have been knocked unconscious by his single blow, the shadow paid her no further attention.

He turned around in a hurry, pushed open the women's restroom door, and rushed out.

"Hiss… that hurts."

Sonoko quietly opened her eyes amidst the pain.

She hadn't actually been knocked out by that hand chop; she had simply been afraid that the other party, desperate, would commit murder to silence her. So, in a flash of quick thinking, she deliberately pretended to faint.

Now, hearing the hurried footsteps receding, she dared to tentatively open her eyes just a crack.

But it was a little too late for Sonoko to open her eyes then.

The assailant had already run out of the restroom; she could only vaguely see a shadow flashing past the door.

"Damn it…"

"Is it a murderer?"

Suzuki Sonoko clutched her neck and staggered to her feet.

She looked at the body slumped in the pool of blood behind her, and an instinctive fear appeared on her face.

But even so, she gathered her courage, turned her head, and looked in the direction where the culprit had just disappeared.

"The culprit hasn't run far."

"And there are so many people on the platform outside, Ran is there too."

"If I shout now, maybe I can stop the culprit."

Thinking this, and ignoring the fact that the culprit clearly hadn't run far yet, Suzuki Sonoko ripped open her throat and shouted loudly:

"Help! Mur—murder!!"

The restroom and the platform were only separated by a wall and a corridor.

Suzuki Sonoko's scream quickly echoed loudly, reverberating through the underground train station platform.

"Murder?!"

The waiting passengers exchanged glances, and the noisy platform suddenly fell silent.

Everyone stopped talking, their gazes turning towards the restroom from which the scream had come.

And then, as everyone watched, Suzuki Sonoko emerged, clutching her neck, her steps hurried:

"There's a dead body in the restroom!"

"And the killer just ran out of here!"

"What?!"

The waiting passengers were shocked by such startling news:

"Someone died in the restroom?"

"And the killer just ran out? Then, then doesn't that mean…"

"That person is still here?!"

Some quick-witted passengers had already grasped what Suzuki Sonoko was trying to convey.

They immediately looked suspiciously at the strangers standing beside them, as if everyone around them was a brutal killer who had just committed a murder.

Kudo Shinichi's reaction was quicker than the other passengers.

His gaze swept over the surroundings, and the structural layout of this underground platform quickly formed in his mind:

"There's only one staff passage, one escalator, and a staircase built alongside the escalator that lead out of this underground platform."

"The next train hasn't arrived, and the staff passage is locked, so now the only ways to leave the platform are this escalator and staircase."

Thinking this, Kudo Shinichi quickly said to Mouri Ran and Lin Xinyi, who were beside him:

"Ran, Mr. Lin Xinyi, let's quickly go block the staircase entrance."

"As long as we block it in time, we should be able to trap the killer, who hasn't had time to leave, on this platform!"

"Understood!"

Mouri Ran reacted quickly.

"Uh…" Lin Xinyi, an adult, was not as quick to react as the young girl.

After all, a murder had suddenly occurred right in front of them, and Mouri Ran didn't even seem shocked.

As soon as Kudo spoke, she immediately helped to seal off the scene.

A high school girl acted more competently than the police officers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

How should one put it… nothing more than sheer practice?

At this moment, Lin Xinyi finally began to believe the mystical setting he had just heard about.

He subtly moved a little further away from Kudo, who was a "bringer of misfortune," and then followed behind Ran, quickly blocking the only staircase that led out of the platform and upstairs.

"Wait, you can't leave now."

Lin Xinyi stepped forward, blocking several passengers who were about to go up the stairs to leave.

"Why not?" The passengers immediately voiced their objections: "Why won't you let us leave?"

"A murder has occurred here, and the scene must be sealed off now."

Lin Xinyi said in as calm a tone as possible.

"What's that got to do with me?!"

Some impulsive passengers glared at him in dissatisfaction:

"I'm not the killer, and I didn't kill anyone."

"Why are you stopping me?"

"Yeah!" Several passengers who intended to leave echoed: "What does a dead person have to do with us? When does Beika Town not have a death or two a day?"

"Please try to understand."

"After all, no one knows if the killer is currently mixed among you."

Lin Xinyi's tone remained calm and gentle.

But unfortunately, his restraint did not earn him the understanding of the passengers.

They didn't feel they had an obligation to cooperate with the investigation; they were just annoyed that their plans were being delayed:

"Hey, hey, everyone's in a hurry, okay?"

"If we're stuck here, waiting for the police to come and investigate, who knows how much time that will waste!"

"What if they can't find anything? Are we just going to be held indefinitely?"

"Think about it, why should we waste so many people's lives for a dead person we don't even know?"

The passengers shouted more vigorously:

"Move aside quickly, we need to go up the stairs!"

"Yes, move!"

"You're not police officers, what are you meddling for?!"

Lin Xinyi frowned deeply.

He thought for a moment, then decided not to argue further. Instead, he turned directly to Ran and said, "Miss Mouri Ran, please demonstrate that move from yesterday."

"Which move?" Ran was slightly taken aback, then belatedly understood Lin Xinyi's intention.

So, she calmed herself, centered her weight, gathered her strength, and punched the wall beside her.

Thump!

A dull thud, like a drum.

The hard wall immediately caved in by more than an inch, and spiderweb-like cracks quickly spread out from the indentation.

It wasn't until Mouri Ran slowly retracted her fist to her waist that the loose fragments and debris finally clattered down from the wall.

"..."

The passengers who had been so eager to leave all fell silent.

In the silence, the crowd's understanding of the situation quickly improved, and their willingness to cooperate with the investigation became much more positive.