119: Chapter 119: The Truth Behind the Troubling Clues

"When she borrowed money from you, did she mention how much or what it was for?"

Fujino zeroed in on the crucial point.

"It wasn't a huge amount each time, maybe around eighty or a hundred thousand yen. As for what it was for, I don't know. We both have our own lives, and I didn't feel it was right to pry too much."

Fujino stroked his chin, listening.

Generally, borrowing money indicated financial difficulties.

But if she had a steady income, why borrow?

Unless there was some extra expense.

But what could she need extra money for?

Illness?

Or perhaps a family member's illness?

Thinking this, Fujino pressed Hiroya Yayoi further, "By the way, does Ms. Shinmoku have any living relatives?"

"Relatives..."

Hiroya Yayoi opened her mouth, then hesitated.

"Ms. Hiroya, is there something sensitive regarding Ms. Shinmoku's relatives?"

Sato Miwako noticed Hiroya Yayoi's hesitation.

"Sensitive isn't quite the right word,"

Hiroya Yayoi shook her head. "It's just... I feel like saying it would be unfair ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to Mako."

"Unfair to Ms. Shinmoku?"

Under their questioning gazes, Hiroya Yayoi lowered her head and spoke hesitantly, "Relatives... she doesn't have any now. But a long time ago, when she was in the US, around seventeen or eighteen, she actually lived with someone. However, he passed away after they lived together for two years. During that time, she also had a daughter with that man, but... the girl passed away just last year."

"But things were looking up. After the girl passed away, Mako returned to Japan. After coming back, she met Mr. Eida, and just two months ago, they got engaged."

Hiroya Yayoi explained, "Mr. Eida is rather traditional, and he's also a Beika City council member. If he found out that Mako had lived with a foreigner and had a child... I'm afraid..."

"Afraid it would affect her reputation?"

Fujino lowered his head, lost in thought.

Scandal, and borrowing money.

It reminded him of the idol location shooting case he'd encountered before.

Thinking this, Fujino suddenly looked up. "By the way, Ms. Hiroya, besides you, does anyone else know about this?"

"Anyone else... I wouldn't know,"

Hiroya Yayoi looked up, thinking for a moment. "After all, something like this... Mako wouldn't easily tell others..."

Before Hiroya Yayoi could finish, Takagi suddenly jogged into the villa, interrupting her.

After questioning the neighbors, Takagi had found the guest who visited the villa last night.

According to a housewife living opposite, who was about to go out to watch the fireworks after finishing her chores:

Around nine o'clock last night, an adult male visited the villa. Although she didn't see his face clearly, she was certain he wore a blue suit and drove a black Santana.

"Blue suit, black Santana?"

Hearing Takagi's description, Hiroya Yayoi, standing nearby, uttered this in surprise.

Hearing her, Sato Miwako looked at Hiroya Yayoi curiously. "Ms. Hiroya, do you know that person?"

"I can't be sure of the details, but the person driving a black Santana should be that guy, Komori Taishi."

Hiroya Yayoi stated confidently. "He's someone Mako knew back in America. Starting about half a year ago, he would occasionally drive his black Santana over to visit."

"And every time Mako saw him, she looked scared. That's why I remember him clearly."

Fujino frowned. "Are you saying Ms. Shinmoku feared this person?"

Hiroya Yayoi recalled, "Feared... might be too strong ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a word, but her attitude definitely wasn't friendly..."

"By the way, was Ms. Shinmoku left-handed?"

Fujino abruptly cut off Hiroya Yayoi, his gaze fixed on her eyes.

Under Fujino's stare, her eyes instinctively darted away. She hesitated, "Probably not, right? She usually used her right hand."

"Understood."

Fujino nodded upon hearing this.

A friend from America... might know about the scandal.

If that man named Komori Taishi was blackmailing Shinmoku Mako...

Then this case could be similar to the TV location shooting murder.

But this time, the protagonist wasn't so lucky. Instead of succeeding in killing the blackmailer, she was killed herself.

But if Hiroya didn't do it, why was she being evasive, even lying about Shinmoku Mako being left-handed?

Did she genuinely not know?

"Fujino-kun, have you figured something out?"

After questioning Hiroya Yayoi, Sato Miwako noticed the contemplative look on Fujino's face and approached him.

"I have figured out some things."

Fujino took a deep breath. "If I'm not mistaken, that Komori Taishi likely knew about Ms. Shinmoku's past and was blackmailing her, using her engagement as leverage."

"Blackmail?"

A thoughtful expression appeared on Sato Miwako's face.

After a moment, realization dawned. "If that's the case, then the culprit is most likely Komori Taishi!"

"Based on the current evidence, yes. If we can find her bankbook and prove the money went to Komori Taishi."

Soon, the forensics team located Shinmoku Mako's bankbook in the room.

Just as Fujino predicted,

the bankbook showed numerous withdrawal and deposit records.

There were also several large withdrawal entries.

The last large withdrawal was dated yesterday.

Two hours later, Takagi, the case-solving tool, located Komori Taishi.

"Mr. Komori, you visited this villa last night, didn't you?"

After Komori Taishi was brought to the crime scene bedroom, Sato Miwako began her questioning. "And Ms. Shinmoku entertained you in this very bedroom."

"I did come to the villa around nine o'clock last night..."

Komori Taishi replied readily. "But we were talking in the living room."

"The living room?"

Sato Miwako frowned slightly. "Could you raise your arm?"

"Raise my arm?"

Looking puzzled, Komori Taishi slowly raised his arm.

Visible to everyone was a gray cufflink, identical to the button Fujino had found.

Furthermore, on his right cuff, one button was missing.

"Strange, where did my cufflink go?"

Komori Taishi asked, noticing his missing cufflink.

"Mr. Komori, can you explain why your cufflink was found here at the crime scene, in this bedroom?"

Sato Miwako's expression turned serious upon seeing this.

She held up the evidence bag containing the gray button found at the scene.

"How would I know something like that?"

Komori Taishi appeared flustered.

"Mr. Komori, you were blackmailing Ms. Shinmoku, weren't you?"

Sato Miwako produced the bankbook, opening it to the recent withdrawal records. "Just yesterday, Ms. Shinmoku withdrew five hundred thousand yen from the bank. However, we haven't found that money on her person or anywhere in the villa."

"No wonder Mako started borrowing money from me frequently recently, and she'd often sit on the living room sofa holding her bankbook, looking depressed..."

Hiroya Yayoi chimed in, her voice thick with anger. "So it was you, you beast, blackmailing her all along!"

"Actually, Ms. Shinmoku didn't commit suicide. She was murdered."

Sato Miwako turned her gaze to Komori Taishi and laid out her theory: "Last night, you came to Ms. Shinmoku's villa, intending to blackmail her further. Unwilling to be extorted anymore, she pulled out a gun, wanting to threaten you into stopping. But during the struggle, the gun accidentally went off..."

Pausing, Sato Miwako continued, "After Ms. Shinmoku died, in your panic, you wiped your fingerprints from the gun, locked the window and door, took the five hundred thousand yen, and staged the scene to look like Ms. Shinmoku committed suicide in her bedroom."

"That's not true!"

Komori Taishi panicked. "Although I did blackmail her, murder... how could I do something like that?!"

"But the evidence points to you,"

Sato Miwako stated firmly. "Mr. Komori, could you please come with us back to the station for questioning?"

"Something's wrong."

Listening nearby, Fujino thought silently.

All the current evidence did point towards Komori Taishi.

Sato Miwako's reasoning was logical.

But why did he still feel something wasn't quite right?

Pondering, Fujino activated his Detective Intuition's active enhancement skill.

[Detective Intuition Activated. Enhancing Host's Reasoning Ability by 100%.]

[Advanced Reasoning Ability Enhancement Card Used. Enhancing Host's Reasoning Ability by 200%.]

Under the influence of a 300+% boost to his reasoning ability, the currently known evidence began to connect, and the true sequence of events gradually became clear...

In an instant, grasping the truth, Fujino's expression grew somber.

"Wait!"

Having grasped the truth, Fujino suddenly shouted, "The culprit isn't actually Komori Taishi."

"If not Komori, then who could it be?"

Hearing this, Sato Miwako turned towards Fujino, looking perplexed.

"Haven't you noticed? The smell in this room."

"The smell in this room?"

Sato Miwako sniffed the air. "There's no strange smell."

"Exactly."

Fujino walked slowly over to the ashtray. "If Ms. Shinmoku had indeed entertained Mr. Komori in this room last night, logically, there should be a strong smell of smoke."

"But right now, there's no smell at all. Clearly, Ms. Shinmoku entertained her guest elsewhere. And that button, naturally, couldn't have ended up under the sofa in this room."

Sato Miwako questioned, "But if Ms. Shinmoku didn't entertain Mr. Komori here, why is the ashtray here?"

"Perhaps someone brought the ashtray here after discovering Ms. Shinmoku's suicide,"

Fujino nodded, then continued gravely, "Therefore, this case isn't actually a homicide staged as a suicide, but a suicide staged as a homicide."

"Suicide staged as a homicide?"

Sato Miwako was clearly baffled by Fujino's deduction.

"Ms. Hiroya's statement was half-truth, half-lie. The part about borrowing money was true,"

Fujino walked slowly towards the writing desk. "But ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠regarding Ms. Shinmoku being left-handed, she lied."

"Ms. Shinmoku was left-handed?"

A look of surprise crossed Sato Miwako's face.

"Correct. The fountain pen by the desk, and the watch on her right wrist, both indicate this."

Fujino turned, his gaze fixed on Hiroya Yayoi. "Ms. Hiroya, logically, as her old friend, you should have known this. Yet when I asked, you hesitated and then lied, claiming Ms. Shinmoku's dominant hand was her right."

"How would I know that!"

Hiroya Yayoi bit her lip. "Mako always used her right hand normally!"

Fujino calmly picked up the notebook from the desk and showed it to everyone present. "If I'm not mistaken, Ms. Shinmoku did leave a suicide note, but that note was torn out."

"If she was left-handed, the gunshot wound on her left temple is easily explained."

Fujino placed the notebook back down, then slowly walked over to Shinmoku Mako's body. "But the gun was found near her right hand. Clearly, someone moved the gun after her suicide, attempting to create the false impression of homicide."

Saying this, Fujino turned his back to the others, crouched down, and lightly touched the Lotus Badge.

[Soul Power Absorbed. Current Soul Lotus Level: 1 (50/100)]

After doing this, Fujino slowly stood up, his eyes locking onto Hiroya Yayoi's. "Ms. Hiroya, if my deduction is correct, this morning, after discovering Ms. Shinmoku's body, you first tore out the suicide note from the desk. Then you went downstairs to the living room and brought the ashtray used by Ms. Shinmoku and Mr. Komori last night up to the second floor."

"The purpose was to create the false impression that their conversation took place here."

"Perhaps luckily, while retrieving the ashtray, you happened to find Mr. Komori's button left behind in the living room. You then brought that button upstairs into Ms. Shinmoku's bedroom, making the charade of someone talking with Ms. Shinmoku on the sofa more convincing."

"After doing all this, you locked the door and window, took the key, and called the police."

"Am I wrong, Ms. Hiroya? Only you, the first discoverer, could have done all this."

"..."

The atmosphere in the crime scene grew heavy.

Following Fujino's deduction, everyone's gaze turned towards Hiroya Yayoi.

After a moment under everyone's scrutiny, Hiroya Yayoi took a deep breath and chuckled softly. "Just as you said, Detective Fujino. I was the one who staged Mako's suicide scene."

"When I returned from the retreat, I found Mako already dead from suicide. She left me a letter, as usual, explaining in detail why she did it..."

As she spoke, she glared fiercely at Komori Taishi. "It was all because of this bastard, Komori, holding something over her!"

"This monster used Mako's past to threaten her, bleeding her dry step by step. Last night, realizing there was no way out, she chose to take her own life!"

At this point, tears began to stream down Hiroya Yayoi's face. "I just wanted that despicable man... to pay the price!"

Fujino watched Hiroya Yayoi silently. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then shook his head.