Chapter 137
Because they directly provided the source website as evidence, a group of people crowded around the computer to watch videos from that hidden URL. The wounds on the bodies corresponded one-to-one with those in the videos, and everyone believed these two bodies were related to this website.
Now the work objective became much clearer.
Originally everyone would have had to visit the deceased's relatives and friends, investigating everywhere for commonalities between the two deceased. Now they knew—these two had participated in this website's murder games!
Following previous case investigation habits, they might not have found anything after months, but now the target was very clear. On one hand, everyone would try to investigate who the website operator was; on the other hand, since the body dumping location was in Tokyo, the murder location was probably also in Tokyo. Everyone would spread out to search for the address from the video, and there might be remaining clues.
Kitami Hitoshi was completely stunned.
He'd joined the task force for less than half an hour, yet progress had already advanced rapidly to this extent... He couldn't even think of how to sabotage for a moment!
...Was it Samukawa Shinryu? It must be him! Among all these people in the room, only Samukawa Shinryu looked like he would know about that website!
Kitami Hitoshi was an extremely arrogant person. He'd originally somewhat admired and worshipped Samukawa Shinryu, but once he discovered the other was affecting his interests, he instantly changed attitude and began harboring resentment.
So he couldn't help deliberately muttering quietly: "This belongs to the dark web, right? Ordinary people can't get the URL. Where did the Metropolitan Police people find out about it?"
His supervising senior was also quite curious and directly asked: "Who did you get this URL from? Does that person know anything else?"
"Uh..." Inspector Megure looked toward Samukawa Shinryu.
Samukawa Shinryu said very calmly: "I found it on the deceased's computer."
The senior had no objection, nodded and sat back down.
Indeed, they'd discovered the body early morning, and now it was afternoon. Those people arriving so late should have been questioning the deceased's family, and checking computers along the way was very normal. Though if it were him, he wouldn't demand to examine computers on the first visit...
But Kitami Hitoshi's mentality wasn't so good. He almost wanted to openly accuse Samukawa Shinryu of knowing about that website long ago but concealing it without reporting, feeling people might believe it. But considering that he, the actual culprit, should stay low-key now, and the effort wouldn't match the reward—probably no one would pursue a hero over such a small matter—he gritted his teeth and endured it.
The website had reminded so many times to remember to clear browsing history... Having family at home yet daring not to clear records—what if someone else borrowed the computer and accidentally saw it?!
Kitami Hitoshi judged others by himself, always feeling such idiots shouldn't be many. How could they encounter one so coincidentally? For a moment he felt his earlier thought of framing Samukawa Shinryu might have some truth to it.
Hagiwara Kenji actually had some suspicions too, but facing outsiders, he always cooperated with Samukawa Shinryu, so he didn't speak, planning to ask when the two were alone.
The task force's first meeting ended. Everyone was assigned areas to investigate, searching for abandoned locations that might serve as murder performance venues, so they split up.
Inspector Megure got in the car but had Hagiwara Kenji wait before driving: "Wait, I have something to ask Samukawa-kun."
Saying this, Inspector Megure turned his somewhat stocky body in the passenger seat to look at Usuha Izuki in the back.
Hagiwara Kenji seemed to sense something and frowned slightly.
Usuha Izuki glanced at the system notification, quite cooperative with Inspector Megure who had contributed a large wave of suspicion values: "What is it?"
Inspector Megure looked somewhat troubled but also determined. After considering his wording, he asked: "Why did you go straight to investigate his computer after visiting the deceased's home?"
Hagiwara Kenji closed his eyes.
This was also the question he wanted to ask. Inspector Megure was indeed an experienced detective with strong observational skills, discovering this situation just like him.
Actually, Inspector Megure hadn't felt anything wrong initially. He'd been analyzing intelligence revealed by the deceased's family in his mind, with observation mainly focused on the deceased's home environment and family. It was when explaining to the division chief in the conference room that he suddenly realized something was off.
Though he hadn't specifically observed Samukawa Shinryu, it seemed that after being led into the deceased's study by family members, that guy had headed straight for the computer upon entering... his purpose was a bit too obvious.
It was almost like he already knew the answer and was just confirming it.
However, Inspector Megure only suspected Samukawa Shinryu might have known about that "Strawberry Night" website beforehand—he didn't suspect Samukawa Shinryu had any connection to the website. He'd seen the videos; this kind of sadistic killing was too low-level, clearly not matching Samukawa Shinryu's style!
Theoretically, having some trust in subordinates was best. Some things were better left unsaid to avoid hurting subordinates' feelings.
But facing Samukawa Shinryu, Inspector Megure felt that without asking clearly, his heart would give out first!
He'd been struggling with this for half the meeting. If he didn't ask, he'd worry himself sick, always feeling unable to stop worrying!
System: [Inspector Megure is smarter than I imagined. I thought this trick could only grind Hagiwara Kenji's suspicion values.]
[Don't underestimate Metropolitan Police detectives. Anyone who can enter the Metropolitan Police isn't stupid.] Usuha Izuki was very satisfied. [Having more smart people is good—otherwise performing for blind people would be exhausting.]
System couldn't help complaining despite understanding the expression: [You call this performing... stop putting gold on your face, okay?]
Usuha Izuki's so-called "performing" was actually just using unreasonable actions to arouse suspicion. Having an AI control the body would have similar effects! They were both expressionless anyway!
Usuha Izuki: [If I got serious, you actually couldn't tell I was acting.]
System: [Heh heh.]
Usuha Izuki ignored the system and directly asked Inspector Megure back: "Actually, what the Inspector wants to ask is whether I knew about this website beforehand, right?"
Inspector Megure smiled awkwardly and could only nod.
Usuha Izuki replied calmly: "I did know about it."
"..."
This answer was too straightforward—directly admitting he'd just lied at such an important task force meeting... wait, it didn't really count as lying since that person's computer did indeed have traces of this website...
Inspector Megure didn't quite know how to continue asking.
But Hagiwara Kenji had no such concerns. He'd originally wanted to avoid Inspector Megure before asking, but since Inspector Megure had also discovered it, might as well ask all questions clearly now.
"Where did you learn about it?"
"At a bar. Someone introduced me to this website, saying I'd definitely be interested."
Hagiwara Kenji: "............"
Inspector Megure: "............"
Though it sounded like an excuse too lazy to fabricate, when applied to Samukawa Shinryu, it felt reasonable and convincing—completely understandable how that person thought...
Hagiwara Kenji said with black lines: "Don't you not drink? What were you doing at a bar?"
"Wanted some excitement."
Hagiwara Kenji hadn't reacted yet when Inspector Megure sympathized first.
Sigh, this guy looked like he had few friends. To get excitement, he could only go to bars to mooch off others' excitement... then got approached by strange people. The logic was sound!
Only Hagiwara Kenji felt something was off, suspecting Samukawa Shinryu had other purposes, but couldn't ask at this time. He could only continue: "Since you knew about this website, why didn't you report it?"
Inspector Megure's expression also became more serious.
As a police officer discovering such a major case yet not reporting it—lightly speaking, this was irresponsible; seriously speaking, it could be evading responsibility or even harboring criminals!
Usuha Izuki, having gained another wave of suspicion values, calmly fabricated: "First, I only got this website less than a week ago. Second, I was afraid the Metropolitan Police would alert the enemy. I originally planned to investigate myself, even register to go to the scene and catch them red-handed. That would be more efficient."
Inspector Megure: "............"
Ah, this seemed very consistent with Samukawa Shinryu's usual behavior... this feeling of liking to run to scenes and toy with criminals...
Hagiwara Kenji was speechless: "With so many people registering, how could you be sure you'd be selected for the scene?"
"This kind of activity would definitely investigate registrants' backgrounds, so I thought I would be selected."
Inspector Megure was puzzled: "If they investigated and found you were police, wouldn't that make it even less likely they'd let you go?"
The dark-haired, red-eyed youth just looked at Inspector Megure silently, saying nothing.
In this eerie silence, Inspector Megure's expression shifted from confusion to realization, finally to agreement.
"Indeed, if they investigated you, even knowing you're police, they'd definitely let you go..."
After all, this clearly looked like corrupt police material. The organizers might find it thrilling and could get leverage on police. They wouldn't suspect entrapment at all—they'd think not letting Samukawa Shinryu go would be wasteful!
With questions resolved, Inspector Megure was relieved his subordinate hadn't gone astray: "I understand not wanting to alert the enemy, but for catching them red-handed, it's better to discuss with trusted people. More people means more safety."
Usuha Izuki readily agreed: "I originally planned to tell Kenji after receiving an invitation."
Hagiwara Kenji reluctantly forgave his concealment—constantly doing such dangerous things without telling him! Did he really think he wouldn't get angry?!
"Alright, let's drive." Inspector Megure relaxed. "Next we'll search for clues... Samukawa-kun, do you have any leads?"