Chapter 185
Two days later, an explosion occurred at a warehouse. After the person in charge called police and discovered incomplete body parts inside, they quickly called police again, so the Metropolitan Police hurriedly sent people to investigate.
Warehouses like this, with shipping containers that looked like they could be converted into capsule apartments, actually prohibited people from living there. But because rent was cheap, many people would find ways to secretly live inside.
A few years ago when Samukawa Shinryu was in the Mobile Investigation Unit, he encountered a case where a fugitive living in such a warehouse was killed, proving that not only poor people but also those wanting to hide would choose such places.
So when police received this case and went to look, discovering there could actually be a corpse in such a place, they guessed it might be another fugitive or someone unsavory.
The explosion's range wasn't large, basically only affecting the left and right containers, which contained normal cargo with no people. Only this one person died, with face destroyed and documents blown up. When they went to find the warehouse manager, the registration there was also a fake identity.
This warehouse also housed some other illegal residents. Although unlawful, having people who could provide information at times like this was a great help, so police went around asking if anyone knew about the deceased's situation.
They really did get some information.
"When that guy first came, I was the one who taught him how to wash using the park fountain water," this person sighed. "I didn't expect that in such a short time, he'd actually die... I think it was an accident."
Police quickly asked: "Why do you think it was an accident?"
After all, with the number of bombing cases in Tokyo, guessing it was revenge would be quite normal, right? Maybe hiding in such a place was to avoid enemies!
But this person said with an eager-to-share tone: "Because once he didn't close his door, and I went in wanting to borrow scissors. I saw what looked like bombs being made on his table... I was so scared I ran away immediately! It didn't seem like a model! Living in a place like this, what's the point of buying models, right? And when chatting, you could feel he seemed to extremely hate someone. A few days ago when he went drinking, he was still complaining about why that person wouldn't go home or read letters, couldn't quite understand what kind of relationship it was..."
Hearing this, the police officer's expression became strange, and he exchanged a look with his partner.
His partner looked down through his phone photos, then found one: "Did he look like this?"
The information provider looked: "Yes! That's him! How can you know who he is just from my description? Do you know him? Who is he? A fugitive?"
"Uh, his previous crimes were already served, but after release he might have had some stalking, threatening, intimidating behaviors..."
The police officer vaguely skipped this topic: "Thank you for cooperating, but warehouses really can't house people. You should move out quickly."
The investigation ended, and the two police officers got in their car to return to the Metropolitan Police.
The driver didn't speak, and the passenger didn't speak either. After driving for about five minutes, the driver finally spoke.
"That deceased person seems to be the bomber that Samukawa-kun beat up on the street when he wasn't a police officer yet... uh, heroically assisted police in catching, right?"
"We can't be certain yet!" The other person felt a headache coming on. "If he was a criminal, there's definitely a DNA registration in the database. Let the forensics lab compare it and see if it matches!"
The driver was silent for a few more seconds, then said weakly: "I think it should be him."
"..."
"You think the threatening letter Samukawa-kun received two days ago was written by him? The testimony just now seemed to mention the deceased saying something about not going home or reading letters..."
His partner said firmly: "No evidence, maybe it's just coincidence!"
"After writing a threatening letter to Samukawa-kun, he died..."
"Don't say such unfounded things! Couldn't it be that he shook his hand while making bombs himself and accidentally caused an explosion?!"
The driving police officer sighed: "I'm just stating facts, but your explanation... you also think it's too coincidental, right? Samukawa-kun was recently saying he didn't want to be a police officer anymore, thinking having to consider criminals' feelings and control his force was troublesome..."
They also wanted to believe in Samukawa Shinryu! But this series of coincidences, plus those suspiciously high-level things Samukawa Shinryu himself said... If they still didn't suspect anything at all, that would be unworthy of their police badges!
You know, police killing people wasn't rare either. Often colleagues couldn't discover problems, so truly no one could find out!
They didn't want to suspect their own colleague either!
Of course, suspicion was just one step. If there was no evidence proving Samukawa Shinryu was connected to this case, they'd naturally be happy too.
His partner wiped sweat: "With Samukawa-kun, it's impossible he'd leave any evidence..."
"The bomber died in an explosion, everything was blown away. What evidence do you think could remain?"
The driver pondered gravely: "But I think if it really was Samukawa-kun, this case is a bit beneath him. Just a bomber who only wrote a threatening letter... I saw that in the division, Samukawa-kun was the one who cared least about threatening letters."
"...If in his mind, the bomber was already a dead man, then he really wouldn't care."
The driver: "..........."
What to do—that actually made some sense!
"And it's not just about the threatening letter, right? They said at the time, if Samukawa-kun had been slower beating him up, Hagiwara-kun who was in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit and was responsible for defusing bombs, plus an entire bomb disposal team, might have all been killed by this bomber... But he was only locked up for a few years before being released... Hagiwara-kun is Samukawa-kun's best friend, so if..."
The driver: "Can you say something that reduces Samukawa-kun's suspicion?"
His partner racked his brains and finally thought of something: "Wasn't Samukawa-kun at the Criminal Investigation Division when the explosion happened?"
"Could be timed detonation."
"But it's more likely that guy caused the explosion through his own operational error, right? Actually, I feel like Samukawa-kun probably wouldn't do something so troublesome... This place is too remote, he doesn't have a car. Putting bombs in people's shipping containers isn't something you can take a taxi for, right? Whether any driver would be willing to take him is questionable..."
While Samukawa Shinryu hailing a taxi to the Metropolitan Police might have individual taxi drivers tearfully earning money, going to such remote places suitable for murder and body disposal with chaotic environments where robberies often occurred... the difficulty of getting a taxi would skyrocket.
"...That makes sense. Samukawa-kun quite dislikes such troubles."
The two discussed Samukawa Shinryu all the way. By the time they reached the Metropolitan Police, the suspicion that had suddenly surged after realizing all these coincidences had finally mostly dissipated.
Who wanted to suspect a colleague! Detectives' intuition wasn't always accurate either!
They returned to the floor where the Criminal Investigation Division was located and happened to meet Shiratori Ninzaburo going to make coffee in the break room. Seeing them, he casually asked: "Just back? How did it go?"
"...Went okay," one of them answered. "Although the body was blown beyond recognition, we can probably confirm the identity."
"Mm? How did you confirm it?"
"...The description sounded very much like the guy who wrote the threatening letter to Samukawa-kun, so we found that bomber's photo for nearby people to identify. But to be safe, we still had forensics do DNA comparison."
Shiratori Ninzaburo: "...Ah? The one who died was that bomber?!"
The two police officers nodded, their expressions somewhat strange, as if they didn't know whether to feel heavy-hearted or happy for Samukawa Shinryu: "Samukawa-kun can rest easy now."
Shiratori Ninzaburo: "..........."
Although he felt it wasn't Samukawa-kun who did it, if this bomber was murdered, then the biggest beneficiary...
Just then Hagiwara Kenji also passed by and, hearing the keywords, quickened his pace slightly: "What happened to Little Shinryu?"
Shiratori Ninzaburo silently looked at him: "That bomber died."
Hagiwara Kenji was stunned for a moment, immediately understood which bomber this referred to, and a bunch of terrible speculations flashed through his mind. He quickly asked: "How did he die?"
"Died in an explosion." A colleague coughed. "According to people who knew him, he was secretly making bombs all along. It's possible he got the steps wrong and killed himself... The scene was blown up so badly, there were too few clues."
Hagiwara Kenji pondered: "...I see, truly evil gets its comeuppance."
Everyone returned to the office with their own thoughts, waiting for DNA comparison results.
The DNA test results came out quickly—the deceased was indeed that bomber.
Hagiwara Kenji went to share this intelligence with Usuha Izuki: "...That's how it is. He was most likely the one who wrote the threatening letter. You don't need to worry anymore."
"I was never worried." Usuha Izuki didn't pretend at all. His originally unpleasant mood from work immediately improved. "But this is good news—why do you have that expression? Are you suspecting me?"
"It's quite a coincidence." Hagiwara Kenji shrugged. "But I believe you didn't kill him."
After all, Little Shinryu had promised him before that if he was going to cross that line, he'd definitely tell him... just like when he directly asked if he wanted to do something to the bomber before. Since Little Shinryu hadn't said anything, he believed the person wasn't killed by him.
It's just that this bomber had been so arrogant before, acting like he had everything under control, even sending faxes dancing into the Metropolitan Police. Everyone was waiting for his big move, but he couldn't even hurt a hair on Little Shinryu's head. Now he looked like a complete clown... just thinking about it felt embarrassing for the guy.
System: [You really didn't kill him... but without you, Plamia wouldn't have gone to kill that guy either...]
Usuha Izuki argued righteously: [I didn't even pay Plamia, so you can't even call it an employment relationship... I just felt that bomber was so proud and amazing, so I helped him contact an industry expert for them to exchange ideas. I only made appropriate edits to the letter content, trying to preserve his original meaning as much as possible!]
System: [...Can't you write something yourself instead of always copying...]
[That won't do. If I wrote it myself, wouldn't I possibly fail to perfectly convey that guy's thoughts? I can only say I was also surprised he died! Plamia is too brutal! Technical exchanges related to bombs are really dangerous!]
System: [...........]
Never mind the letter content—one letter wasn't enough for you, you had to do five letters, placing them in all of Plamia's commonly visited safe houses.
Plamia's obsession with hiding her true identity was comparable to the Black Organization's boss! Reaching this level, it would be strange if Plamia could tolerate it!
Usuha Izuki received a threatening letter and could even use this opportunity to harvest a big wave of suspicion values... Yes, nothing could stump you at all!
[What about Plamia's side? You know where she lives now. Should you handle it?]
You're a police officer after all. Look at Hagiwara Kenji's trust in you—don't you feel guilty at all? Do something a police officer should do!
Usuha Izuki was very calm: [Of course I have arrangements for her.]