Not a detective

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Wu Yu Kui was stunned for a moment; she was almost startled by the sudden closeness of the other person.

Asakawa Riku was surprised. Was it his imagination? Did this guy's face seem closer than before? Or was he just too engrossed in his thoughts to realize it?

When I opened my eyes, I found that beautiful face pressed against mine; I remembered we were just sitting at opposite ends of the table…

Forget it, now's not the time to think about that; he's more excited than anything else.

"Although I'm not sure if it's true... I'm only 70% sure, but I have a way to verify it."

Yes, if his guess is true, then this case is indeed very similar to the "Nekota incident" in the spring.

It's not that this case also involved a "possessed monster," but the similarity lies in the [testimony].

Like the testimonies of the mute waitress "Mizutani Yuri," there are both "true" and "false" parts in her testimony.

However, those doctors and nurses were driven by greed, wanting to possess the Dongyun family's illegitimate child as stolen goods, but this time the witness was "forced to lie."

Mizutani Yuri was also a believer, and as a believer, one must abide by the constraints of the doctrine. Asakawa Riku remembered that the "doctrine" he had read contained the phrase "one must not deceive." Although he was unsure whether the purpose was to persuade believers to do good or to make them hand over all their property without reservation, in any case, they all had to abide by this constraint.

Therefore, this mute person cannot lie, not even when writing. This can be confirmed even without the use of a lie detector from the Ministry of Supervision.

Is there any way to provide false testimony without lying?

Simply put, as mentioned earlier, the world that Yuri Mizutani sees is not necessarily the real one.

She may have missed the murderer and the crime scene without realizing it.

Adding to the fact that the room is a "secret room" and the door has never been opened... perhaps only one correct answer remains.

"I need to verify this reasoning, so I need to go back to the scene once more."

Asakawa Riku stood up from his chair.

"You're trying to escape, aren't you? Just a heads-up, if you use violence here, the Inspection Department will consider you an enemy." (Fog)

Yu Kui raised an eyebrow: "There are many opponents at the top, but they've been trying to find something to use against you."

"You want to stop me, is that it?" Asakawa Riku showed no sign of backing down, casually stretching his wrists and ankles, ready to fight.

After all, it wasn't easy to come up with such an interesting reasoning, and if I gave up on verifying it, I would lose the chance to brag to the detective later.

"I mean, count me in."

However, Wu Yu Kui suddenly smiled. She pulled out a long, jet-black sword from her bosom, exuding a heavy aura, and slowly drew it:

“If I were to use violence, it would be fine.”

In that instant, her movements were almost invisible. A flash of light appeared behind Asakawa Riku, and with a loud bang, the solid concrete wall shattered.

The blade was as thin as a cicada's wing, and a flash of cold light passed by, but it carved out a huge gap large enough for two people to pass through. The building was cleaved in two by a single stroke, and a cold wind blew in from the outside.

Asakawa Riku glanced back, his heels resting on a floor dozens of meters above the ground, where he could see a stream of vehicles and people below, like ants.

This time, he whistled and pulled Kirisame, who had sheathed her sword, down with him.

...He grew to like this woman more and more.

Winter of the Gods: Chapter Nineteen - Returning to the Scene

"How about it?"

"No one is chasing us yet. They can't keep up with our speed, and they probably don't expect to come back here. We should still have some time."

Kiri Aoi turned her head back from the window and smiled, "But I'd better hurry, or I might lose my job if I really get into a fight with my colleagues."

Her tone, however, lacked any sense of urgency; instead, it was cheerful and lively, as if she were very happy with the current situation.

Asakawa Riku put down his phone and said to her:

"I shouldn't have involved you. I'll investigate it myself."

He had just acted on a whim, finding the surprise attack and escape from the encirclement thrilling, and Wu Yu Kui's swordsmanship had impressed him, from which he had learned a great deal.

But upon closer reflection, he was indeed the prime suspect in the case, so there was no need to implicate him and cause him to lose his job and become an enemy of his former employer.

But Misty Rain Aoi didn't seem to care at all, and said with a grin:

"If I lose my job, I'll move into your house and you'll support me."

Doesn't this guy have any sense of distance at all?

Asakawa Riku really couldn't understand it. The two of them weren't very familiar with each other, so he didn't know why Kirisame Aoi had such a high level of affection for him from the very beginning.

Or is it just empty talk, without any real intention?

He doesn't understand the adult world anymore, and he doesn't dare to presume to be romantic, lest it become awkward.

"Hurry up and get going, we need to make the most of this time."

They could only cough twice to get back to business. After escaping from the Inspection Department, they sped back to this building in Kabukicho, which was the cult's lair.

The believers in the entire building have now been forcibly evacuated, leaving only police personnel. The area has been cordoned off, but many media outlets are still watching the scene closely.

Fortunately, the officers on duty here were ordinary police officers, not agents from the Inspection Department, so they were unaware of Asakawa Riku and Kirisame Aoi's current situation.

Moreover, Kirisame Aoi still had her ID on her, so she entered smoothly and was about to go up to the room on the 10th floor where the crime occurred.

As they went upstairs, Wu Yu Kui, however, was being mischievous, leaning closer with a smile behind her back:

"Were you on the phone just now? Were you calling your girlfriend to let her know you were safe?"

"...You have excellent hearing, but she's not my girlfriend, she's my boss."

Asakawa Riku sighed helplessly. He had indeed made a phone call when he first arrived, but he hadn't expected that the other party would notice.

He shook his phone, and the screen displayed "Neurotic Detective." Although he didn't know whether it meant neurotic or mentally ill, the nickname that Higashino Suezuki had given him was definitely worse.

Or perhaps she doesn't need a contact list at all.

He explained, "After all, this is a case our firm took on, so we need to report on the current situation. Also, I asked for some very important information."

"Oh?" Kiri Aoi tilted her head. "What information?"

I'll tell you later.

Asakawa Riku was in a good mood, even a little smug, so he deliberately kept everyone in suspense.

As they chatted, they soon arrived at the room. Perhaps for the sake of preservation, the fragments of the vault door remained in place, demonstrating the power of his punch.

Once inside, you can still feel the lingering stench of blood and the eerie atmosphere, which makes sense, considering it hasn't even been a day since the incident.

Asakawa Riku asked Kirisame Aoi to ask the police officers and investigators who were still working there to leave for a while, as a way to give them a break.

Moreover, if his reasoning is correct, then the investigation can be considered completely concluded.

"Do you remember where the murder weapon was at the time? That pistol."

After everyone left, only the two of them remained in the room, Asakawa Riku asked.

Kirisame Aoi paused for a moment, then began to think seriously, scratching her head as if she hadn't come to a conclusion: "Oh dear, where is it..."

Doesn't look very smart.

When you first meet her, you might be impressed by her cool and decisive demeanor, but after spending time with her a few times, you'll find that she's actually a bit of a simpleton.

Or rather, they are simply "martial arts practitioners," not good at investigating cases or searching, let alone reasoning.

No wonder she outsourced the "Nekota" case; Asakawa Riku finally understood.

Asakawa Riku wanted to prove that martial artists weren't all so simple-minded; his reasoning was aimed at overturning this stereotype.

"it's here."

He pointed to the center of the room, remembering that it was right there that a SIG P230JP semi-automatic pistol had fallen and was now being kept as evidence.

Although the ground was empty except for bloodstains, in Asakawa Riku's eyes, it was as if the gun was still there.

"I've been thinking about why the murder weapon was left at the scene. The murderer had already disappeared, so wouldn't it have been better to take the gun with him? Leaving the murder weapon behind would make it easier to track him down. He could have disappeared silently and without a trace in the locked room, but he didn't take the most important weapon with him. This is very abnormal and illogical."

"At that moment, I suddenly thought, what if it wasn't that he 'didn't take it out,' but rather that he 'couldn't take it out'... Perhaps the murderer simply couldn't make the gun disappear."

Asakawa Riku paused for a moment before saying, "In other words, the murderer himself cannot disappear."

"You mean..."

Kiri Aoi was taken aback.

Even the slowest person should have understood what Asakawa Riku meant.

"Yes, the murderer didn't break in from the outside, nor did he escape the locked room. He was in the room the whole time, but he didn't hide..."

Asakawa Riku eliminated the options one by one. That's how reasoning works: remove all the wrong answers, and then the remaining one, no matter how absurd, will be the only one left.

It could very well be the truth.

"The killer was among those seven victims. One of them shot all the others and then shot himself. That's the truth."

"Suicide... I see!"

Wu Yu Kui's eyes widened, her mouth agape as if she wanted to say something, but she remained silent for a long time.

It feels...like it makes a lot of sense, but why didn't I think of it before? No one from the police department has brought up this idea either.

The reason why a locked room occurs could be that, besides the murderer disappearing, the person inside commits suicide!

"I didn't expect it at first either, there are probably two reasons."

Asakawa Riku rested his chin on his hand and said thoughtfully, “First, the deceased were all important figures with power, influence, fame, and wealth, or at least celebrities adored by millions. Subconsciously, we would assume they wouldn’t choose suicide. Second, the cult’s religious doctrine has a rule against suicide, so we would assume these high-ranking members would abide by it and wouldn’t choose suicide.”

He reached his final conclusion:

"However, if one of them shoots and kills someone, and then commits suicide, the impossible crime in this locked room can be completed!"

Winter of God: Chapter Twenty - Imagination

"I see……"

Kirisame Aoi's eyes lit up as she looked at Asakawa Riku with admiration: "So, who is the murderer? One of those seven people... could it be that cult leader?"

She thought of the mysterious old man whose identity was unknown.

The old man was not among the "social elites" and his name could not be found. He was very likely the leader of the cult who had been hiding behind the scenes, the "cult leader".

More importantly, the cult's doctrine requires its followers to "not commit suicide," and its followers absolutely do not believe that pain, death, or accidents exist.

Therefore, the shooter could not possibly be someone who believed in this doctrine... So, the mastermind behind the creation of this church would fit the bill perfectly.

She pondered again: "But... what was his motive for doing this? If it was for power and profit, there was no need for him to commit suicide in the end. Did he suddenly realize something?"

The cult leader suddenly decides to atone for his sins with his death, taking a group of thugs with him before he dies... It's just too ridiculous.

Riku Asakawa didn't answer. Instead, he walked to the sofa and pointed to the white circle drawn in chalk on it:

"Do you remember whose body died here?"

“…They know I have a bad memory.” Kiri Aoi looked around and found the file folder and photo were still in the Inspection Department: “Should we have them send them over?”

The bodies at the scene had all been removed, leaving only a few white circles drawn by the search team. Judging from the marks alone, it was impossible to tell which body belonged to which person.

"It's okay, I remember."

However, Asakawa Riku laughed, tapping his head with his knuckles, as if imitating someone's shadow:

"And it's flawless."

This is not an exaggeration. In his eyes at this moment, the layout and composition of the entire room are still exactly as they were when he first saw it, without any difference.

The bloody scenes, the sight of corpses lying around, the smell of gunpowder and gunpowder—everything is vividly portrayed and incredibly realistic.

This utilizes imagination.

Since realizing that Shinonome Sugetsuki's ability is not the "Rinnegan" that allows him to see the past and predict the future, but rather "Hyperthymesia" that utilizes his immortality.

Riku Asakawa's imagination, which he had been honing, finally found a place to shine.

Just like how he can conjure up training tools, opponents for cultivation, and even non-existent monsters out of thin air...

Recreating a crime scene is indeed possible.

Unlike ordinary profiling, Asakawa Riku's reappearance is that these things truly appear before one's eyes, and one can even touch them, sense their existence, and smell their scent.

It achieves this effect with just one glance, without any deviation or error, and every detail is exquisite.

Of course, this is different from Shinonome Sugetsuki's simple "memory ability". The two have different focuses. Shinonome Sugetsuki's brainpower is more comprehensive. For example, memorizing simple numbers and calculations, such as the air poker last time, or playing mahjong, are not things that Asakawa Riku can do. Asakawa Riku's "reconstruction" is more focused on real-world scenarios and objects.