Chapter 172
Asai Narimi (なるみ), real name Aso Narimi (せいじ), was actually the son of the pianist who had died almost ten years ago, currently cross-dressing as a woman.
Because he'd been sickly since birth and had always been recuperating in Tokyo, hardly anyone on Tsukikage Island knew him. At most some people had heard his name but didn't know how to write it. With so many years passed, having changed to his adoptive parents' surname and pronouncing his given name differently, ordinary people wouldn't think of him.
Though his biological father Aso Keiji had died when he was still small, Aso Narimi had always felt his father wasn't someone who would commit suicide, let alone go crazy before death and kill his wife and child too. So he'd been thinking about this matter all these years, just that as a child before, he had no way to investigate.
Now he'd finally become a doctor and could return under a false identity as a doctor. Last night he'd sought out Village Chief Kameyama, who had grown up with his father, wanting to ask what had really happened.
Unexpectedly, Kameyama had a guilty conscience. Upon hearing he was Aso Keiji's son, he began panicking and muttering to himself, revealing everything about how several people had conspired to kill Aso Keiji.
It turned out these people had wanted his father to smuggle some "goods" back when performing abroad. When negotiations with his father fell through, they killed his family and disguised it as suicide!
Aso Narimi had been so shocked by this news yesterday that he couldn't react. While he was processing this information, Kameyama's guilty conscience caused him to literally scare himself to death.
Touching the piano his father had donated, Aso Narimi felt that Kameyama dying here might just be divine retribution. So he played his father's favorite "Moonlight Sonata" as a funeral send-off for Kameyama.
It was then that he noticed Hirata Kazuaki approaching from outside the window to look inside, so he quickly escaped.
Now that the piano's hidden compartment had been discovered, looking back on last night's situation, Aso Narimi suddenly understood—no wonder Hirata Kazuaki had come to the mansion in the middle of the night. It was for this kind of illegal transaction!
Since those words weren't suitable to say in front of others, he'd also followed Kameyama to the mansion, thinking that someone coming to see his father's donated piano in the middle of the night might still have feelings for his father, so he directly told the village chief his true identity... Fortunately, Kameyama had scared himself to death.
But if this Samukawa Shinryu could discover at a glance that Hirata Kazuaki was involved in drug trafficking, had he also discovered problems with him?
Aso Narimi thought uneasily—he could explain the gender thing, saying it was a personal hobby, liking to cross-dress. But if he knew about last night's visit here...
Kameyama had been scared to death—surely he wouldn't be sentenced for that? He couldn't go to prison now! Only one enemy was dead! Several others were still living well!
He wondered if Hirata Kazuaki, after being arrested, could expose the other several people...
Aso Narimi was lost in his own thoughts, but for Hagiwara Kenji, Samukawa Shinryu's "could tell at a glance" was normal, just a simple explanation. He didn't think the female doctor beside them had any problems.
Hagiwara Kenji just sighed: "This was quick again... But we really did need to come. Just talking on the phone wouldn't have discovered this problem."
The Organized Crime Countermeasures people nodded repeatedly in agreement: "Indeed, fortunately Samukawa-kun was willing to come... Now we just don't know if the deceased really died of cardiac paralysis."
Aso Narimi started and quickly took out his autopsy report: "This is my report. If you don't trust it, you can find other coroners to verify. The body is downstairs—everyone plans to hold the funeral at the mansion, with all islanders attending... I asked the village chief's family, and they said he'd had heart disease before..."
He hadn't touched Kameyama with a single finger—he was completely innocent in this regard. No matter how many coroners came, it would still be cardiac paralysis!
Samukawa Shinryu casually flipped through the report, then picked up the scene report the Organized Crime Countermeasures had obtained from local police to study, declaring: "Should just be cardiac paralysis. There's no need to fake this kind of thing. Whether he was scared by some disturbance while doing something guilty in the middle of the night, or it was simply a heart attack, it doesn't affect your work. Just interrogate Mr. Hirata directly."
The Organized Crime Countermeasures people thought the same.
Now the dead person wasn't important—what mattered was having a living person in the know. That was the most important target for interrogation!
Otherwise, discovering it actually wasn't an accident and overturning a case their colleagues had already closed would be quite awkward. Better to avoid trouble when possible.
Hirata Kazuaki was covered in cold sweat. Since the previous police had closed the case too easily, he still had a lot of foreign currency at home that hadn't been dealt with. A thorough investigation would really leave him with nothing... Damn it, why had Kameyama suddenly been scared to death!
If Kameyama hadn't died, this group wouldn't have been attracted! He wouldn't have been discovered!
Could it really be Aso Keiji's ghost causing trouble?
Though Hirata Kazuaki cooperated with Kameyama, that was only after Aso Keiji's refusal. He knew nothing about what happened to Aso Keiji, only thinking he was a madman. Now thinking about how he'd been secretly trading using this person's donated piano made him afraid.
Having solved the Organized Crime Countermeasures Division's problem, Usuha Izuki left the rest alone and directly walked out of the room.
Hagiwara Kenji stayed behind as usual to help wrap things up. Aso Narimi hesitated, feeling strange about staying with a group of police officers. Calculating the time and feeling Samukawa Shinryu should have left the corridor, he told the others and also left the room.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Aso Narimi exited and turned his head, he saw that dangerous officer leaning against the wall, as if waiting for him.
Aso Narimi nearly had a heart attack from fright.
Was he waiting for him?! Knowing he would come out, deliberately waiting?!
He'd definitely discovered something! But if he really had, shouldn't he have said something in the room earlier?
It's fine, don't panic. He hadn't committed any crime—just cross-dressing. As for the village chief being scared to death, that had nothing to do with him...
Of course Usuha Izuki wasn't here to arrest Aso Narimi.
The village chief had just been scared to death. If it was deliberately trying to induce someone's heart attack that would be different, but this was coincidence—no need to find trouble for himself.
But thinking that in a few years this person might start killing people, Usuha Izuki casually asked a question, perfect for farming some suspicion value: "Need help?"
Aso Narimi was stunned, his mind racing to consider what this meant.
Had he discovered his gender? Suspected he had ulterior motives? Or realized he was connected to this case? Or had his acting been poor, revealing some emotion that showed he needed help?
This officer seemed very capable. If he told him, maybe those who had killed his father could really be caught... No, it was impossible now.
Something from nearly ten years ago—his house had been burned down, evidence surely handled long ago, Kameyama was already dead. If the remaining few people refused to admit anything, even police couldn't do anything about them... Moreover, he'd studied Japanese law. Even if his father, mother, and sister had all been killed because of these people's selfishness, they still wouldn't receive death sentences.
Having just learned his family's true cause of death last night, Aso Narimi was currently in a state of rage and hatred.
Maybe he'd calm down after a while, but right now he only wanted the culprits to die. Even while playing piano last night, he'd already been thinking about how to kill those people.
Even if this officer had discovered something, he hadn't done anything yet. And... since he chose to chat alone here rather than asking directly in the room earlier, maybe this officer didn't plan to expose him.
This officer named Samukawa Shinryu looked different from those rigid officers at first glance—like an Italian mafioso who would support blood vengeance... Maybe he'd be arrested eventually, but before succeeding, the other probably wouldn't specifically interfere with him.
So Aso Narimi bowed: "Thank you, but I don't need any help."
"Mm." Usuha Izuki didn't try to persuade him. "Take care of yourself."
Just then, Hagiwara Kenji came out and, seeing them like this, was somewhat surprised: "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Let's go."
Hagiwara Kenji became suspicious: "You didn't go scare that young lady, did you?"
"...I just asked if she needed help."
Hagiwara Kenji believed him: "We can go back now. The Organized Crime Countermeasures Division still needs the car, so we'll take public transport back to the seaside to wait for the boat..."
Usuha Izuki readily agreed: "Fine."
The system couldn't help asking: [Huh? You're leaving just like that? You know about Dr. Narimi's family situation—aren't you going to make something of it?]
[Too lazy to bother. He wants to handle it himself.] Usuha Izuki was casual. [Those people all have money—spending some money for suspended sentences is possible. Arresting them is useless. For him to vent that anger, people have to die. If it were me, I wouldn't accept it either.]
[...You're really not suited to be a police officer.]
Usuha Izuki laughed: [Are you just realizing this? I wasn't suitable in my previous life, and now I'm completely letting myself go—of course I'm even less suitable.]
The system had a realization: [Right, people used to say you'd definitely go down the wrong path.]
[People who said I'd definitely go down the wrong path never considered me becoming a police officer.]
Usuha Izuki said casually: [But my identity was never suitable for being a police officer from the start. It would be surprising if people felt regret about it.]
System: [...???]
Wait, what exactly was your situation in your previous life?!