The main Hokage man will only hinder my speed in making hand seals

Although Chiyo Nomoto revealed between the lines that Setsuko Ichikawa died of suicide, her performance was too strong and her credibility is questionable.

After leaving Dazai in the cafe to continue dealing with Nomoto Chiyo, Odasaku and Kunikida each found an excuse to leave.

They have to split up to investigate the relevant clues.

Odasaku went to the police station to apply to view the files, while Kunikida and Dazai were investigating nearby.

Around evening, they gathered again at Kirihara Land Bridge in front of the station.

At this time, pedestrians were coming and going, and the three of them standing on the bridge did not seem out of place.

Under the bridge are train tracks, which is also the scene of Setsuko Ichikawa's death.

There is no surveillance installed at Kirihara Land Bridge at the moment, and the incident happened around five in the morning, so there were no witnesses.

Based on the information currently known, there are still many suspicious points about Setsuko Ichikawa's death.

Odasaku leaned forward and looked under the bridge for a few times.

The bloodstains on the railroad tracks have been cleaned up, and there is no sign that a person had been crushed into a pulp by a train here.

"If you want to commit suicide, this is a bit extreme."

Odasaku explained his confusion: "Given the height of this land bridge, it is very likely that I will not die if I jump off."

But if he wanted to commit suicide by lying on the railway tracks, wouldn't it be redundant to jump down and endure the pain once more in vain?

"Did you find anything?" Odasaku looked at Dazai and Kunikida.

Dazai went to investigate near Ichikawa Setsuko's workplace and reported his findings to the other two:

"According to Ms. Ichikawa's colleagues, she is a very unsociable person, but she has an extraordinary insight into breaking news."

"She has always wanted to break away from the dilemma of female reporters only being able to report street gossip and become a frontline reporter."

"Because of this, she had an argument with several colleagues shortly before the incident."

There is oppression in the workplace and relationships with colleagues are tense.

If it was the work pressure that forced her to commit suicide, it would make sense.

"Besides, Miss Ichikawa has her own place, and she doesn't come here often."

So Chiyo Nomoto’s so-called “regular customer” was a lie.

Dazai's investigation coincides with Kunikida's.

Kunikida opened his notebook and said, "Ms. Ichikawa is staying at a hotel temporarily and rarely leaves her room. The merchants and residents nearby don't have much impression of her."

"But the hotel proprietress vaguely remembered that Miss Ichikawa occasionally contacted her by phone during her stay."

"That morning, Ms. Ichikawa hurriedly settled the bill and checked out of the room."

Would a person who wants to commit suicide go to the trouble of checking out?

Kunikida felt that this was a suspicious point.

He went on to state his findings: “At five in the morning, a milkman would come to the neighborhood to deliver milk.”

"I asked the milkman who was delivering milk that day, and he said he saw Miss Ichikawa wandering on the bridge."

"But he was busy delivering milk and didn't pay much attention to the follow-up."

When they finished, Odasaku also explained his findings: "There is no evidence of homicide, and there are no eyewitnesses."

"The crime scene is right here." Odasaku pointed down at the ground.

"The train that happened to pass by destroyed the body and the police could not get any clues from it."

"The train driver only discovered that he had run over the body after the fact. He had no grudge against Miss Ichikawa and is not a suspect."

Listening to Odasaku's report, Kunikida frowned: "Wait, I remember this is still an old-fashioned train. Can the driver use the emergency brake?"

So the train driver can brake after discovering something abnormal on the track.

Odasaku had the same question at the time, but the police explained to him:

"According to the driver's own testimony, he was drowsy and not paying attention to the road conditions."

"Although I felt a collision, there were many wild cats here, so I thought I had run over a wild cat."

The driver was indeed wrong in neglecting his duties, but his explanation was barely reasonable.

"The situation at the scene at that time." Odasaku opened his mobile phone and showed them the case materials he had taken.

One photo was taken on a bridge, with Setsuko Ichikawa's shoes neatly placed beside the bridge. This was also the reason why the police were investigating the case as suicide.

One photo showed blood splattered on the railroad tracks and body parts scattered all over the ground.

Setsuko Ichikawa's white clothes and red flesh were mixed together, making it almost impossible to find any useful evidence.

There are also several photos of the testimony records.

One of them was the testimony of the editor-in-chief of a newspaper who had a conflict with Setsuko Ichikawa.

It is said that a few days before the incident, the editor-in-chief and Setsuko Ichikawa had a disagreement over the issue of news publication.

Setsuko Ichikawa once found some good news materials, but for various reasons, she either could not publish them or could not be the first to publish them.

Due to these factors, she was unable to keep her composure and made repeated mistakes at work.

After the quarrel with the editor-in-chief, she worked uneventfully at the newspaper for a while, then she was absent from work for unknown reasons and never showed up at the newspaper again.

It was not until the police came to her house to inquire that her colleagues at the newspaper learned of her death.

Dazai combined all the known clues and made a final summary: "Ms. Ichikawa, it was definitely not suicide."

He proposed a new clue: "I heard a big news at the newspaper this afternoon. In two days, this town will have a subway."

"I went to the subway station and checked it out. It was a bit rough."

In such a remote place, building a subway is a big deal, but it took less than half a year from bidding to completion of the subway.

From the conversations of those reporters, we can vaguely gather that there is a lot of water involved.

Would a reporter who is very keen on news miss the opportunity to investigate the truth? Dazai thinks not.

"Look, Miss Ichikawa is staying in a crowded hotel in front of the station. Does she look like she's hiding from someone?"

"You can only concentrate on writing press releases if you stay in your room all day without going out, right?"

"She hurriedly checked out in the morning, and then wandered on the overpass where there were no pedestrians... Perhaps she was waiting for someone."

Someone related to the news, someone who will conflict.

Of course, it is also possible that some people saw Setsuko Ichikawa alone and had evil intentions.

Compared to suicide, Dazai's speculation about homicide seems much more reasonable.

Kunikida understood Dazai's thoughts: "You mean to say that Ms. Ichikawa is investigating corruption and bribery in the construction of the subway?"

Was he brutally killed by the developer or senior management because he touched the interests of senior management?

Odasaku guessed, "On the morning of the incident, Ms. Ichikawa made an appointment with someone related to the news."

"Because of a conflict due to a disagreement, Ms. Ichikawa was pushed off the bridge by that person."

If this is true, then the police who closed the case as suicide are quite irresponsible.

Based on the new inference, the three most suspicious parties are:

Suspect 1: The persons under investigation, headed by the mayor.

He was afraid that his embezzlement would be exposed, so he chose to get rid of the whistleblower.

The second suspect is a colleague at the newspaper, especially the editor-in-chief with whom the conflict had occurred.

If the person who could ask Setsuko Ichikawa out for a meeting at a critical moment was a colleague or a superior, it would be reasonable.

The third suspect is a resident and worker near the station.

The motive is not that important, and there are cases of indiscriminate killings.

Maybe the murderer just happened to see Setsuko Ichikawa alone, so he had evil intentions.

Especially Chiyo Nomoto at the cafe.

She has a special obsession with becoming famous and may do anything to achieve it.

However, no matter how reasonable the speculation is, it is just a speculation after all. Dazai and his colleagues currently have no evidence to overturn Ichikawa Setsuko's case.

Dazai leaned over the guardrail beside the bridge, "Wait two more days. The mayor who facilitated the construction of the subway will give a speech at the test ride ceremony."

If there is no evidence to identify the murderer, then work backwards from the results and force the murderer to confess his crime.

Odasaku prepared to write down what he saw and heard today in the memo on his mobile phone.

Although there was a twist in the case, it was also expected, and he didn't have that kind of sudden inspiration feeling now.

Kunikida took off his glasses and pressed the bridge of his nose: "He abused his power for personal gain and killed people for money. He is a damned tax thief."

The taxes paid by the people are not to pay salaries for these incompetent and useless high-level parasites.

〖Yes...I will never forgive you...absolutely...〗

A vague female voice sounded in Kunikida's ears.

Kunikida turned around quickly: "Who?"

Passersby were startled and avoided Kunikida and his friends with strange looks.

Dazai imitated Kunikida's usual posture and tone, "Kunikida-kun, don't embarrass the detective agency out there."

"What's wrong?" Odasaku looked up blankly.

"Didn't you hear it? There was a woman just now..." Kunikida wanted to tell them that he had heard a strange sound just now.

But he didn't find anyone talking nearby. The pedestrians were walking hurriedly without stopping for a moment, except for a short-haired woman who was standing at the bridge end holding a cat.

The woman was wearing a white suit and was carefully stroking the orange cat in her arms.

Although it felt a bit weird, the woman was several meters away from them, so it couldn't be her.

Kunikida rubbed his brow tiredly: "Nothing, maybe I was hallucinating."

Kunikida thought that maybe he was too angry about what happened to Setsuko Ichikawa, which led to the hallucination.

"Rest in peace, Ms. Ichikawa. We will definitely make the truth known."