My transformation into a beautiful girl started with a hemorrhage.

Eight days have passed since Jeff Yamamura died on September 11th.

Kōta was a little confused as to why the police were taking so long to arrive.

The young policeman, Ryunosuke Aihara, kindly reassured Kouta, "Don't be nervous, just relax..."

"Aihara, step back and let me handle this," Yoshida Shoichi suddenly said in a low voice.

"Hi, Yoshida-senpai," Aihara Ryunosuke said, stepping aside.

He was, after all, a newcomer to the Aomori City Police Department, and he still had to follow the instructions of his seniors.

"Do you know this person?" Yoshida Shoichi asked, pulling out a photo of Yamamura Jeff to show Kouta, but his attention was focused on Kouta's expression.

"I know him." Kouta frowned slightly when he saw the photo, and answered with a look of disgust in his eyes.

Kouta knew perfectly well that these police officers must already know that he and Yamamura Jeff had a bad relationship and had even clashed, so their dislike was perfectly reasonable.

Yoshida Shoichi observed Kouta's expression but found nothing suspicious, so he continued, "Did you know that Yamamura Jeff was murdered?"

Yoshida Shoichi surprisingly got straight to the point.

However, in reality, all Yoshida Shoichi and his team could confirm was that Yamamura Jeff was missing. As for whether he had been killed, no one knew until the body was found.

However, Yoshida Shoichi, based on his extensive experience in criminal investigation, judged that a man like Yamamura Jeff, who had been missing for five days, had virtually no chance of survival.

They had been investigating for several days, but without any leads. It was as if Jeff Yamamura had suddenly vanished into thin air on the night of September 11th.

Yoshida Shoichi knew that this murderer was meticulous and that ordinary interrogation methods would be useless; he would have to use some "special" methods.

That's why he went straight to the point: "Yamamura Jeff has been killed."

The psychological reactions of the real culprit and the innocent victim upon hearing this are completely different.

Upon hearing this, Kouta's mind raced. Just as he was about to think, 'How could the police possibly know that Yamamura Jeff was killed?!'

Kouta suddenly realized what was happening and exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Murdered?! When? Who's the killer?"

After a brief moment of surprise, a distinct look of fear appeared in Kouta's eyes.

However, Kouta breathed a sigh of relief: 'Thank goodness! Thank goodness I didn't hesitate, otherwise, I would have been in trouble.'

Yoshida Shoichi stared at Kouta's every move on his face but found nothing suspicious.

Citizens who have always lived peacefully will feel a sense of fear about the violence of "murder" when they hear that someone around them has been murdered, regardless of their relationship with that person. Therefore, they will ask about the murderer.

Furthermore, Kouta had a conflict with the deceased before his death and was afraid that he would be suspected of being the murderer.

These are all reasonable explanations for the "fear" expression.

“We are still investigating the murderer,” Yoshida Shoichi said. “However, we have heard that you had a conflict with the deceased.”

At this point, Yoshida paused, then stared into Kouta's eyes and slowly said, "Could it be that you, in a fit of rage, killed the victim that night, and then—"

"I didn't!" Kouta immediately retorted angrily. His face flushed red, and he clasped his hands together, continuing with both excitement and urgency, "I do have a conflict with Yamamura Jeff, and he's the one who's wrong, but I never thought of killing anyone!"

Yoshida Shoichi frowned slightly because Kouta's performance remained flawless.

He pressed on: "But on the night of September 12th, when Jeff Yamamura disappeared, someone saw you as the last person to have contact with him!"

This may seem like just a normal method of interrogation.

However, his words concealed a very malicious trap!

Because Yamamura Jeff disappeared on the evening of September 11th, not September 12th.

Yoshida Shoichi knew that the focus of the murderer and the innocent was different.

The murderer would pay attention to that obviously wrong date, the 12th.

What the innocent people are paying attention to is the last sentence: "You were the last person to come into contact with the deceased."

Ordinary people, especially high school students, usually only remember the day of the week and not the month and day.

Only a murderer would remember the exact date because that day was so unforgettable.

Chapter 275 Next

If Kouta shows any "doubt," then Yoshida Shoichi is 90% certain that Kouta, even if not the murderer, is involved in the case.

However, if he expresses "indignation" at the unjust statement that "you were the last person to come into contact with the deceased," then that is irrelevant to the case.

In short, the outcome depends on Kouta's next move.

This was Yoshida Shoichi's final blow.

"Come on, let me see if you're really the murderer!!"

In a short time.

Yoshida Shoichi focused all his attention on Kouta's expression, not wanting to miss any subtle change in Kouta's face.

now,

Upon hearing Yoshida Shoichi's words, Kouta tilted his head back slightly, his mouth involuntarily opened slightly, his pupils dilated, and his brows furrowed...

'Here it comes, here it comes, that's the expression, that puzzled look! Come on, point out the error in the timing!'

At this moment, Yoshida Masakazu's heart was pounding wildly; he was like a gambler who had bet everything, witnessing the final outcome.

He could almost hear the joy of victory in his heart.

only···

"How could I possibly be the last person to have contact with Jeff Yamamura?!"

Kouta looked puzzled and asked in surprise,

"I clearly remember that on the 12th, I only had contact with Jeff Yamamura at work, and I haven't seen him since!"

Kouta explained with a puzzled look on his face.

However, no one knew the turmoil in Kouta's mind at that moment: 'That was close! Just a hair's breadth away from saying "Number 12?"'

'Thank goodness! Thank goodness the trap was discovered at the last minute!'

After listening to Kouta's words...

Yoshida Masakazu knew that he wouldn't find any clues here today.

They had received a report from Jeff Yamamura's family on the 13th, the third day after he went missing.

Their preliminary investigation has determined that Jeff Yamamura disappeared on the evening of September 11.

When he received the case, he was already certain that Jeff Yamamura could not have survived.

However, he also thought that Jeff Yamamura's case was just a simple one.

Because Jeff from the mountain village came from an ordinary family, he was just a high school student and a boy.

Based on his more than 20 years of criminal investigation experience, he believes that in cases involving only ordinary citizens, as long as the missing person's interpersonal relationships are investigated and the people who had conflicts with the missing person are identified, the murderer can usually be identified, and then the case can be easily solved by following the clues to find the body and murder weapon.

That's what he did too.

However, after investigating Jeff Yamamura's interpersonal relationships...

He was silent.

It's not that we haven't found someone with a motive for the crime.

Rather... there are just too many people with the motive to commit the crime!

There are just too many!!

Let's start with the National Level 3 exam, which can be easily investigated.

When he was in his third year of junior high school, Jeff Yamamura bullied three classmates. And it wasn't just ordinary bullying. One of the students he bullied jumped off a building and became paralyzed, another broke his leg, and the third went blind in one eye.

Because there was no evidence and no one testified against him, Jeff Yamamura was not punished at all.

Therefore, the parents and relatives of those three students had ample motive to commit the crime.

From his first year of high school until now, Yamamura Jeff has sexually assaulted two girls. One became pregnant and miscarried, and the other has transferred to an unknown school; they haven't been able to find her yet.

As for the boys, several were also extorted by Jeff Yamamura, and most of them have already transferred schools.

Similarly, because there was no evidence or accusation, Jeff Yamamura got away scot-free.

Therefore, these individuals, along with their parents and relatives, are all potential perpetrators.

And this is just the school.

Outside of school, he had a close relationship with his cousin, Hayato Yamamura.

Hayato Yamamura has a yakuza background.

Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that it was a yakuza group retaliating against Yamamura Hayato.

After learning about Hayato Yamamura's background.

Yoshida Shoichi fell silent. Although he also thought Yamamura Jeff was a scumbag, he did not give up the investigation.

Because he firmly believed that, regardless of what kind of person Jeff Yamamura was, only the law, not the individual, could convict him.

Regardless of the person's motives, murder is a crime and should be punished by law.

This is justice!

He was determined to bring the criminals to justice, only then could he be worthy of the cherry blossom badge he wore.

However, the thought of so many people with such motives gave Yoshida a headache.

So many people have a strong motive for committing the crime, and compared to their motives, the conflict between Kouta and Yamamura Jeff is insignificant.

Therefore, after investigating so many people and still finding nothing, they decided to try their luck and came to Misaki High School to ask Kouta.

Yoshida Masakazu probably knew this outcome was expected.

Yoshida Masakazu had already accepted the result, and he was about to end the questioning.

The dean of students, Takumi Tao, interjected, "Officer, the students at Misaki High School are all excellent students in terms of both character and academics. If you are just asking normal questions, we welcome you. However, if you continue to use this tactic on my students, then I will have to ask you to leave."

"Uh... it's a habit from years of handling cases, sorry, sorry," Yoshida Shoichi explained apologetically to Tao Takumi.

Misaki High School, as a prestigious school in Aomori City, has enough social influence to give the Metropolitan Police Department a headache, not to mention the powerful forces behind it. That's why Yoshida Masakazu bowed his head and apologized.

After apologizing, Yoshida Masaya looked at Kouta kindly and said, "Oh, maybe I remembered it wrong."