The Pirated Onmyoji of the Detective World

The next second, the police officer's words confirmed Aragaki Yu's point of view: "I heard that the neighbors have a very bad impression of Grandma Egami. They said they can't stand her spying on people's privacy from the garbage dump, and some people even moved away because of this."

"But why is she so interested in other people's trash?" Officer Sato, who had been silent for a long time, finally raised his question.

"Speaking of the reason!" Coincidentally, the police officer also learned the reason for this from an insider. "It is said that one day, when Egami Tatsue was passing by a garbage bag that had been rummaged through by crows, she happened to find a third-prize lottery ticket. From then on, she always hoped to continue to find treasures in the garbage."

While everyone was still feeling emotional about this, Aragaki Yu suddenly said quietly, "In other words, it's also possible that someone is retaliating against Egami Tatsue because she always rummages through the trash."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, the others looked at Aragaki Yu with some surprise.

Officer Sato asked, still puzzled, "But would someone really want to kill Grandma Egami just because she messed up the trash bags?"

On this point, Miwako Sato still couldn't quite accept Yuu Aragaki's statement.

Rather than believing that someone would kill someone just because they rummaged through the trash, she preferred to believe it was just an accident.

"But what if the deceased, Egami Tatsue, found some unspeakable secret in someone's trash bag?"

As soon as Aragaki Yu finished speaking, the eyes of the few people who hadn't taken the guess seriously suddenly sharpened.

That's right, if you put it that way, it's actually quite possible.

After all, this kind of plot has appeared in some TV dramas.

"There's something else that's strange." While Inspector Megure and the others were pondering, Yu Aragaki continued, looking at the spot where the deceased had fallen. "If the deceased returned to the apartment from outside, she should have walked on the concrete road. So why did she walk to this small open space below the apartment balcony?"

"Ahem, regarding this point, the forensic team also made a discovery." Officer Chiba cleared his throat and explained to Yuu Aragaki, "The forensic team found that one of the victim's hands was reaching under an abandoned refrigerator. When we moved the refrigerator, we also found a 500 yen coin that had fallen under it."

At this point, Officer Chiba took out a 500-yen coin from an evidence bag and handed it to Yuu Aragaki. He then shared his speculation: "I think it's possible that the deceased, Tatsue Egami, accidentally dropped the coin on her way back, causing it to roll under the refrigerator. Just as she was lying on the ground trying to retrieve it, this unfortunate accident happened."

Because Officer Sato was in charge of securing the scene just now.

Therefore, Aragaki Yu, who was responsible for calling the police and bringing Inspector Megure and the others to this place, did not notice this.

But then again.

Although Officer Chiba's deduction does indeed suggest that this is a possibility.

But if this happens, will so many coincidences really happen at the same time?

Not to mention that such a coincidence occurred in a world of science fiction where there are no surprises.

"Oh, Ms. Noriko Imai, are you heading out now?"

Just then, the police officer who had just reported the investigation results to everyone stopped a young woman who was walking out of the apartment building.

“Yes, I’m going to work at the bakery in front of Beika Station now!” The young woman, called Noriko Imai, nodded in response.

“But, but we still have some investigations to complete... If you leave, we will be in trouble too…” The police officer paused slightly after hearing Noriko Imai’s words, and then explained hesitantly.

After all, it would be against their work procedures to let people near the crime scene leave before the investigation is over.

However, during the investigation, the police did not find anything suspicious in her words.

Furthermore, if this delays the other party's work, it would also be a troublesome matter.

Chapter 544 The Crow is Innocent

After the police officer explained the situation to Inspector Megure.

Inspector Megure decided to let Ms. Noriko Imai leave the apartment building first.

Yuu Aragaki didn't say much about it, but after Ms. Noriko Imai's figure disappeared from the crowd, he asked the police officer for Ms. Imai's specific room number.

What's quite a coincidence is that Ms. Noriko Imai's room was room 504, which was located directly above the room of the deceased, Tatsue Egami.

This made Aragaki Yu glance at Imai Noriko's back a couple more times.

This scene was also observed by Sato Miwako, who was standing nearby. "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with her?"

Yuu Aragaki withdrew his gaze, looked at Miwako Sato beside him, shook his head, and then nodded in response to her surprised look.

This series of actions left Sato Miwako somewhat puzzled.

Before Sato Miwako could even ask, Aragaki Yu looked at the spot where Egami Tatsue had been crushed to death, shrugged, and suddenly said, "From the moment she came downstairs until she left, she didn't even glance at the spot where the flowerpot had crushed her. Is that really the behavior of an upstairs neighbor?"

"Hmm?" Sato Miwako hesitated for a moment, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, but didn't think there was anything wrong with it. "Perhaps she's just afraid and doesn't want to be near the scene of death!"

"Judging from her appearance, she doesn't seem scared. If she were really that nervous, would she still be able to go to work so calmly?" Aragaki Yu explained with a smile, and then prepared to walk towards the apartment door. "Let's go, we won't find anything by staying here any longer. Let's go upstairs and take a look."

"Uh...okay!"

Although she didn't quite agree with Aragaki Yu's idea, Sato Miwako still followed in Aragaki Yu's footsteps.

However, just as Aragaki Yu passed by the broken flowerpot, he suddenly stopped as if he had discovered something.

Sato Miwako, who was jogging behind him while holding up the hem of her kimono, didn't notice and braked suddenly to avoid bumping into Aragaki Yu. As a result, she almost lost her balance and wobbled to the ground.

Fortunately, Yuya Aragaki, realizing what was happening, quickly reached out and pulled Miwako Sato into his arms, thus preventing her from making an embarrassing scene.

If Officer Sato were to fall and embarrass himself in front of his colleagues while wearing a kimono, who knows how he would react?

Even this scene, when witnessed by Inspector Megure and his companions, couldn't help but elicit strange expressions.

Normally cheerful and easygoing, Sato Miwako was surprisingly sensitive this time, noticing the ambiguous glances from her colleagues. Coupled with the warm touch of their skin through her kimono, she blushed and jumped out of Aragaki Yu's arms.

Then, she smoothed her hair, using this small gesture to hide her burning cheeks. "Why did you suddenly stop?"

Unfortunately, Aragaki Yu didn't notice Sato Miwako's strange behavior. Instead, he took a few steps to the broken flowerpot, squatted down, and began to examine it.

Now, Sato Miwako understood that Aragaki Yuu had probably discovered some evidence.

"Did you find anything?"

No matter how she looked at it, she couldn't find anything wrong with the flowerpot that Aragaki Yu was examining.

Compared to ordinary flower pots, this flower pot is at most just broken.

But if a flowerpot falls from a height of four stories and even kills someone, wouldn't it be even stranger if it didn't break?

"It seems this was indeed not an accident!" After inspecting the broken flowerpot on the ground, Aragaki Yu stood up, took a breath, and said confidently to Officer Sato.

"Hmm? Why do you say that, Aragaki-kun?" Sato Miwako, no longer able to bear the strange emotions she had just felt, asked in confusion.

“The evidence is right here in this broken flowerpot.” Yuu Aragaki pointed to the flowerpot on the ground. To avoid having to explain again later, he waited for Inspector Megure and the others to gather around after hearing his voice before continuing to explain, “If this flowerpot was really pushed off the balcony by a crow, it should have fallen at an angle. When the flowerpot hit the deceased’s head, it would have shattered completely.”

"But... but... this flowerpot is indeed broken!" Inspector Megure still didn't quite understand what Aragaki Yu meant and asked with a puzzled look.

Regarding this point, Yuya Aragaki pointed to the broken pieces of the flowerpot on the ground and said, "That's right, the flowerpot that killed the deceased is indeed broken, but the most crucial thing is that the flowerpot broke from the bottom."

"What does this mean?"

Now, Inspector Megure tilted his head, even more confused.

Sato Miwako's eyes lit up. She glanced at Aragaki Yu with some surprise, then looked up at the balcony of the deceased's room.

Yuya Aragaki had anticipated Inspector Megure's reaction.

Perhaps he never expected that this explanation would make Inspector Megure fully understand his meaning.

Therefore, after shrugging somewhat helplessly, Aragaki Yuya continued, "This means that the flowerpot should have fallen straight down. In other words, the flowerpot could not have been accidentally pushed down by the crow, but rather someone held it outside the window and deliberately threw it down."

Amidst everyone's expressions of sudden realization, Aragaki Yu's gaze also drifted towards Ms. Imai Noriko's room upstairs from the deceased. "That's right, this is an action that crows could never do. It's innocent. Only humans could do this."

That's right, in that case, Ms. Noriko Imai is indeed the most suspicious person.

Then, more than ten minutes later.

After confirming that the iron gate leading to the top floor of the apartment building had been sealed off for some reason for a long time, Aragaki Yu became even more convinced of his speculation.

Since it was impossible to go up to the top floor of the apartment building, only Noriko Imai, who lived upstairs from the deceased, had the means to hook the deceased's flowerpots up to the apartment.

"No, that's right! Brother Aragaki, it's impossible for the downstairs residents to do that!" This time, after Aragaki Yu's explanation, Inspector Megure finally understood what Aragaki Yu meant.

Then, having accepted Aragaki Yu's deduction, his eyes suddenly sharpened, and he hurriedly ordered his subordinates, "Summon Ms. Imai Noriko to this place immediately. It seems we need to conduct a more detailed interrogation of her!"

Chapter 545 Are those two on a date?

Then, following Yuu Aragaki's reminder, the police found a torn corner of a lottery ticket that the murderer had used to distract the victim, Tatsue Egami, under the abandoned refrigerator, as well as traces of being strangled by thread on the bottom of the refrigerator.

Subsequently, the police found a letter written by Noriko Imai in Tatsue Egami's room. The letter had been torn up but then glued back together.

It was a confession letter written by Noriko Imai herself, and judging from the fact that it was torn up, the story was unlikely to have a happy ending.

Then, with the assistance of forensic personnel, the police found Noriko Imai's fingerprints on a corner of the torn lottery ticket.

Meanwhile, after the police visited nearby lottery shops, the shop owners also identified Ms. Noriko Imai in the photo as having indeed bought a lottery ticket at their shops the day before.

All of this evidence points to Ms. Noriko Imai.

After Ms. Noriko Imai was taken back to the crime scene by the police, although no conclusive evidence had been found, she readily confessed to her crime in the face of the various doubts raised by the police.

As for the reason why Ms. Imai Noriko plotted to kill Egami Tatsue.

It was because Egami Tatsue found the love letter that Imai Noriko had torn up in the trash bag she had thrown away.

He even took the love letter home, pieced it back together, and then went to the bakery where Ms. Imai Noriko worked to mock her.

Egami Tatsue even planned to use this letter to blackmail Imai Noriko.

In a fit of rage, unable to control herself any longer due to the constant harassment, Noriko Imai used the crow-like personality of Tatsue Egami to plot and kill her.

The process largely unfolded as Aragaki Yu had predicted—