Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 15, Section 15: On-site Reconstruction

Heisei Ryu pointed at Inoue's hand: "Is it possible that the murderer also enveloped his hand while choking him?"

"That's not feasible. Such force would leave corresponding marks on the deceased's hands and neck, but there aren't. Moreover, the deceased was clearly in a state of exertion with the hand that was choking himself when he died." The forensic doctor shook his head and immediately rejected the conjecture.

"The strange thing is that there were marks on his right arm where he had pinched himself, marks from his left hand, as if," the forensic doctor hesitated to avoid sounding too unbelievable, "as if his right hand had gained sentience, disregarding its owner's life or death, and strangling him to death. In the process, the deceased tried to pry his right hand open with his left hand, but ultimately lost the strength due to suffocation."

Heisei Ryu's greatest strength is his ability to recreate scenes in his mind. After hearing the forensic doctor's words, he narrowed his eyes, and the scene in front of him changed and was reconstructed. Inoue, who had fallen to the ground, stood up again in a strange posture, and the death replay began.

There were two people's footprints at the scene.

They suddenly stopped running.

Then, perhaps a sound came from behind them that caught their attention, and they turned around.

suddenly,

Inoue's hands tightened around his neck with an irresistible force. He instinctively reached out his left hand to resist, but his legs struggled. Something was wrong!

"The footprints Inoue left behind were somewhat messy, but still clear. There was no friction from extreme panic, which means he didn't struggle much. However, the bloodstains on his right arm indicate that he did struggle at the time."

The forensic doctor's brow twitched: "You don't mean to say..."

"That's right, he was probably choked and lifted up, which is why he didn't leave any messy footprints."

"It's impossible, at least from a scientific point of view." The forensic doctor categorically rejected Ping Shenglong's outrageous guess.

Ping Shenglong did not persist and continued to look at the traces left on the other side.

"The person who was with Inoue was terrified. He fell backward and sat on the ground, crawled away backward, and finally fled the scene in a rolling and scrambling manner."

"As delinquents, fighting is commonplace. Why didn't you fight back? Either the disparity between us and the enemy is obvious to the naked eye, or..." Heimori Ryu stroked his chin, squatting beside the marks left by Hosokawa, and didn't continue speaking.

At this moment, the clues he could come up with were somewhat difficult to convince others, and even difficult to convince himself. He could only wait for the body to be sent for further autopsy to see the results.

The problem is that the student who broke his leg downstairs earlier cried and said that he had walked for a long time but couldn't get out of the old teaching building area. However, the traces and bloodstains at the scene indicated that he had been circling around the small open space in front of the teaching building.

These bizarre circumstances, when combined, inevitably lead one to think outside the box.

"How are the two lightly injured survivors doing?" Ping Shenglong got up and made a phone call.

"It's not good. They've suffered a lot of psychological trauma, and the medical staff strongly insist that we get them treated first."

"I am going now."

Ping Shenglong hung up the phone and nodded to the forensic doctor: "I'll leave the on-site work to the brothers in the forensic department and Professor Otani."

Pathologist Otani waved his hand and continued with his work.

Ping Shenglong drove a police car towards another school building, where the two survivors were placed in a classroom.

"A ghost! There really is a ghost! It's the legendary Mr. Charcoal! Believe me! Believe me, everything I'm saying is true!"

"A monster! That's a monster! Waaah! I want to go home, Mommy, Mommy!"

"Calm down, calm down, you're safe now."

“It’s not safe! He’s everywhere in the school, you’re all him! I don’t want to be in school! Let me go home, let me go home!” The two of them roared hysterically.

The original intention of bringing the two of them together was to enhance their sense of security, but now it seems that they are quite far apart and are clearly afraid of each other.

“I know you want to solve the case as soon as possible, but the situation of these two people is not optimistic. They are suffering from severe psychological trauma. If you continue to question them like this, the situation will only get worse, and you won’t be able to get anything out of them!” The doctor found Ping Shenglong and said seriously.

Heisei Ryu ignored him and looked at Nakajima Shingo, who came out from inside: "How much did you find out?"

"That's all for now. It's hard to get any more information out of them right now. We need to make sure they're safe, and the people from the education committee are in there too." Nakajima handed the summarized notes to Taira.

"Do you think they had a motive to kill the others?" Ping asked first, without immediately looking through the document.

Nakajima pondered for a few seconds, then shook his head: "The possibility is extremely small. Judging from their past, they are all very ordinary students. They couldn't have set up such an elaborate death scene. It doesn't make sense in terms of either motive or ability."

Ping remained noncommittal, flipping through the notes and quickly reviewing them.

Yoshiki Hosokawa: A second-year high school student and one of the organizers of this "test of courage" event. He insists that Professor Kotan strangled Inoue Tomokyo. He tried to escape but couldn't get out of the school building and could only hide in the library. He was so scared that he fainted. Currently, he is too terrified to communicate effectively.

Fujita Shin: A first-year high school student and a newcomer to this "test of courage" competition. He claims that shortly after entering the old school building, he saw dilapidated classrooms, students reading, and a terrifying teacher chasing him. He couldn't escape the building no matter what he did, and eventually collapsed in the corridor for unknown reasons. He is currently extremely agitated, which has also caused Hosokawa Yoshiki to become agitated as well.

"We know from Hosokawa that there were four organizers. One of them, a student named Matsuo, was injured while setting up the venue and did not participate. He has been summoned to the Metropolitan Police Department. There were five newcomers who participated, but one person is still missing. However, neither of the two survivors knows who is missing. We are currently reviewing nearby surveillance footage."

“Well done. When the principal arrives, arrange for these students to be assigned as teachers to assist them and list their interpersonal relationships within the school.” Ping Shenglong nodded and looked at the doctor with a livid face. “From now on, I’ll leave the health of these two students to the doctor.”

"Humph."

The doctor ignored him, flicked his sleeves, and led the nurse into the classroom. With the help of several police officers, they coaxed and tricked the two into getting into the ambulance.

"Chief Ping, hello, hello!" The principal finally arrived at the school, shaking hands with Ping Shenglong, his forehead covered in sweat. "I've already learned about the situation on the way here. Please, Chief Ping, make sure this cruel criminal is apprehended as soon as possible. Whatever assistance you need, just let us know if it's within our power."

"Does the principal have any plans to suspend classes?" Ping Shenglong could tell what kind of person the other person was as soon as they met. If he got caught up in the other person's rhythm of conversation, they wouldn't finish talking about business until dawn.

"Not at the moment. Suspending classes right after the start of the semester would have a huge impact on us, but if you need it, I can arrange to extend the spring break by three days," the principal said through gritted teeth.

"There is no need to suspend classes for the time being, but we will completely seal off the area around the old teaching building, and during this period we need to obtain the right to enter and leave the school at any time."

“Okay, okay, no problem, that’s only natural.” The principal nodded quickly.

"Section Chief! Section Chief!" A subordinate jogged over and whispered in Ping Shenglong's ear, quickly recounting what he had just discovered.

Ping Shenglong suddenly fell silent and looked at the principal, scrutinizing him carefully from head to toe.

This sent a chill down the latter's spine. Did they suspect him?!
It can't be!

He, as the principal, has never done anything shameful at the school.

"Principal Asano, are you aware that there is a secret room beneath your school?"

"what?"

The principal looked completely bewildered.

(End of this chapter)