No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

Moreover, she was going to an art exhibition, and driving her sports car there would be too conspicuous. Her newly purchased car, which was suitable for camouflage, had not yet arrived, so she thought she would take the bus to her destination as if it were a short trip. However, she never expected to be caught up in such a farce.

When we get back, how about we go to the shrine?

Chapter 255 The Queen Who Takes Control

The series of live burial murders occurred in a city next to Tokyo.

All the victims were buried alive and suffocated to death. The four victims had absolutely no connection with each other. Their interpersonal relationships, online social interactions, phone conversations, and workplaces had all been investigated by the local police, and there was indeed nothing between them.

One of the victims was a woman over ninety years old who lived alone, used only cash, and didn't even have a mobile phone. The only person who knew her was a convenience store clerk, who, of course, had been ruled out as a suspect through an alibi.

Therefore, the murderer committed this random killing for some psychological purpose. As for Kitahara Masaki, he didn't want to think about the perverted psychology at all. For example, when he met stalkers, pedophiles, and terrorists, his first thought was naturally not to communicate with them, but to give these beasts a bullet.

So even after Kitahara Masaki used system tools to investigate, he didn't find any clues. On the surface, it was the local police who asked Kitahara Masaki for help, but they still couldn't find any clues, which led to a stalemate in the investigation.

In fact, Kitahara Masaki told the local police that they should either start by investigating the victim's whereabouts or go to the mental hospital to look up medical histories containing words like "buried alive" and "concealed." Because Kitahara Masaki did not want to investigate at the mental hospital, he planned to take the first route.

To his dismay, the local police chose to cover up the case, which led Kitahara Masaki to return directly to Tokyo. Since there was no need to cooperate with the uncooperative local police, Kitahara Masaki would only continue to solve the case after Sometani Hotaru exposed everything.

However, the incompetence of the local police led the victim's family to hire a detective with superstitious abilities, which prompted the Inudou brothers to take action.

"Then I lured you people who also got to the final stop onto this bus, just to find the real culprit among you."

"Wait, does that mean the driver knew about it?"

The driver, who had been rather unnoticed, removed his hat and bowed:

“I’m so sorry. When the two of them came to me, I decided to help them out. On my day off, I drove the abandoned bus they bought to let everyone get on the bus. I’m really sorry, but I felt that it was unbearable for Miss Anju to be buried alive at such a young age, so I made up my mind to help them.”

When Vermouth heard the driver say those words, she suddenly noticed that Xiong Tianxiang, the gloomy-looking man who had been sitting behind her, seemed to be affected, and his eyes were secretly watching the driver.

Although the suspected serial killer was among the hostages, this really intimidated them. After all, even if there really was a serial killer among them, it meant that most of them were just bystanders.

Seeing that everyone remained silent, Inudou Kouichi said:

"Alright then, since no one is willing to admit their crimes, let's talk about the biggest mistake you've ever made. Maybe we can see what kind of person you really are from that incident."

Then he pointed to the gloomy-looking man with dyed brown hair and told him to go first. The man, contrary to his appearance, quickly began to recount his past mistakes:

“I once had an argument with a friend and accidentally said, ‘Why don’t you just die?’ That friend actually died afterward, and I regretted it very much. I regretted saying such a hurtful thing.”

Vermouth observed him carefully. This man seemed different from the other hostages. He was calmer than the others, and the mistakes he made were stated in a straightforward manner. While speaking, he continued to observe his surroundings. This behavior was not like that of a performer, but more like that of an audience member, a spectator participating in the performance.

"Okay, next one is you, Danlu Yiping."

After the first person confessed his wrongdoing, the other hostages also began to speak. The second person to speak was the bespectacled young man, who appeared timid and always avoided showing his face. He spoke in a trembling voice:

"I once stole something from a small shop, but the shop went out of business."

"Hey, so you were a thief all along!"

"No! It was the people at school who forced me to steal! I was constantly bullied, and when I told my parents and teachers, they just told me to keep enduring it, saying those people might just be joking with me. At that time, I didn't understand, I could have just run away, but I still didn't take leave and finished high school. If I didn't like it, I could have just run away..."

Vermouth did see regret and pain in him, but given her proud nature, she naturally wouldn't comfort him. Instead, she directly criticized the social atmosphere in Japan:

"The social atmosphere in Japan seems to advocate victim-blaming. Ultimately, people who can't control their temper and only think about gaining a sense of superiority through physical strength clearly need psychological treatment. However, the practices and opinions in Japanese schools and online tend to punish the perpetrators rather than protect the victims. The injured party should receive more attention, but many people only indulge in their own heroic fantasies in the name of justice. Japan has always had the problem of a declining birth rate, but it coldly ignores the problem of violence among teenagers. It's ridiculous. Mr. Awashiro is one of the victims, but he has to run away—it's laughable."

Those present were speechless at Vermouth's words, as they themselves were more inclined to see news about punishing the wicked than about helping the weak.

However, this didn't bother the Inudou brothers, who had already become villains. Instead, they were referring to the third person—the heavily made-up woman, Lumuriro.

“When I was a kid, I wanted to see fire trucks, so I liked to make false alarms to get them to come out. Then one day, a real fire broke out somewhere else, and by the time the fire trucks got there, it was too late.”

Even as a child, this kind of thing was incredibly frustrating. No matter what you said, the fire truck was already too late, and now Lumuriro has realized her mistake.

Perhaps noticing the gazes of others, she shouted:

"I'm not doing those things now, so what's wrong with telling a little lie! My job has always been incredibly boring, dealing with documents. Can't I even put on an act for a while?"

"Indeed, some small lies, just exaggerating oneself to avoid causing trouble for others, are harmless. However, language can sometimes hurt even when you're telling the truth. For example, a high-achieving student might say that the exam was really easy and that they easily scored 90. If a student who has always studied hard but still failed overheard this, they would feel very sad. They know the top student didn't mean anything by it, but they would still feel pain and blame themselves. Why am I so stupid? Why can't I catch up with others despite my hard work? Why, why? They blame themselves again and again, all because of a careless remark from someone else. So, Ms. Lumu, I hope you won't one day revert to your childish ways and let your naive thoughts lead to a tragedy."

The heavily made-up woman lowered her head under Vermouth's persuasive words and began to reflect on whether she had told any excessive lies.

At that moment, no one realized that Vermouth had become the center of attention.

Chapter 256 Out of sight, out of mind

"The fourth person is you, Bai Huimei."

The housewife who was called on paused for a moment, then her timid demeanor became even more pronounced than that of the bespectacled young man before her; she practically buried her head in her neck and whispered:

"The biggest mistake I ever made was that I couldn't have children."

Hearing this confession made everyone frown.

“My husband and I had a child, but because it was a premarital pregnancy, my mother-in-law said she wanted to abort it, and I had no choice but to comply. As a result, we haven’t had a child for many years since then. My mother-in-law keeps saying that my husband should kick me out of the house, and my husband has become more and more indifferent to me. Later, the hospital said that artificial insemination could solve the problem, but my mother-in-law believes that whether or not we conceive is God’s decision and told me not to do anything against the laws of nature.”

"Heh, the will of God? You Japanese who believe in God generally like to do big things. For example, the Aum Shinrikyo cult orchestrated the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack, a group of beasts who claimed to save the souls of the world used unnaturally produced poison gas to kill a large number of people. Also, even high school students know how a baby is conceived, simply blaming the woman shows that your mother-in-law's level of knowledge is very low. Finally, why don't you fight back? Is it because you don't have independent economic ability? Or are you used to being subjected to this kind of emotional abuse? I can't help you with your family problems, after all, only you can save yourself!"

Having said that, Vermouth had completely taken control of the 'apology meeting.' She then decided to have the driver, who had been trying to disappear from the scene, speak as well. When his name was called, the driver, Tobacco Mori, was visibly startled. He wasn't a hostage, so why did he have to talk? But under Vermouth's guidance, everyone looked at him, and the invisible pressure made him recount his childhood memories:

“When I was little, I touched the goldfish my parents kept, but it died. My parents were always very strict with me, and I was always afraid of being scolded, so I hid it. Luckily, no one noticed that one was missing, but I still thought that one day I would confess to my parents.”

After hearing his confession, just as Vermouth was about to say something more, the door of the Inudou family was kicked open. Kitahara Masaki, with a cold gaze, shot the pistol and dagger out of the Inudou brothers' hands with two shots. Only after seeing that Vermouth was safe and sound did his murderous expression soften.

Although he thought Vermouth hadn't sent out a distress signal because the situation was already under her control, even he found it hard to bear the feeling of malice from the world after learning that she was likely involved in another bus hijacking.

"Evelyn, are you alright?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. But you should know who these two brothers are by now. They think the killer of the serial live burial murders is in here."

Kitahara Masaki shook his head and said:

“I already had someone investigate this. All of these hostages have alibis, so they can’t be the murderer.”

At this moment, Vermouth smiled and continued to ask:

"So, did you have someone investigate that bus driver?"

Kitahara Masaki seemed to remember something, his sharp gaze fixed on the bus driver in his uniform. After a moment, he sighed and said:

"It was my mistake."

"While it's admirable that you don't make excuses, these fragmented clues were all handed over to the local police for investigation. You were only brought in as an outside help after the fourth case occurred. It's impossible to review such a massive amount of data and find the problems in a short period of time."

Kitahara Masaki waved his hand, signaling Vermouth to stop talking. Having achieved her goal of making Kitahara Masaki feel embarrassed, Detective Vermouth officially got into character and said:

"Actually, I think the murderer should be the driver. First of all, the hostages all have alibis, and the victim, Ms. Anju, disappeared after boarding the bus, so the driver is also a suspect."

Vermouth, seeing the somewhat hesitant driver Tobacco Mori, softened her tone and reassured him:

"But I know you don't want to kill anyone. You just don't want to be scolded, so you hide those annoying things, right?"

As if a deep-seated thought had been revealed, Tobacco Mori looked at Vermouth with surprise, only to hear the woman in front of her continue:

"You feel at ease as long as you keep the things you hate safe, just like when you hide a dead goldfish and no one finds out. Come on, tell me, why did you hide Miss Anju?"

"Because on the return trip at the terminal station that day, she suddenly fell to the ground. I thought all the passengers had gotten off when I looked in the rearview mirror, but she seemed to be blocked by the partition. Moreover, she looked very uncomfortable at that time. Perhaps some kind of illness of hers made her faint."

"Anzhu has a chronic illness! Why don't you take her to the hospital!"

Faced with the inu brothers' questioning, the driver shrank back, but continued speaking with an encouraging look from Vermouth:

“But if I’m the one who caused her to become like this, the company will definitely scold me. I really don’t want to be scolded, so I hid her in the bushes. I drove the bus back to the dispatch station and parked it. Then, in the middle of the night, I hid her on the mountain. As long as she couldn’t be seen, no one would scold me.”

Vermouth continued to encourage him, asking:

"And then what? Why did you hide the other people?"

"Because not long after, I recalled how I felt at the time and thought I was really amazing. I was supposed to get scolded, but no one did. So I wanted to experience that feeling again. Later, when we reached the final stop and there was only one passenger left on the bus, I chased after him, pretended to give him a lost item, drugged them to make them unconscious, and then hid them in the mountains. This was an adventure that was unique to me. I never wanted to be scolded, but I preferred the feeling of not being able to find out my mistakes."

"Well, Masaki, that's how it is. Actually, I found it strange when he said that Miss Anju was buried alive. The police haven't released any details about the case, and most people would assume that someone was killed before being buried when they hear that someone was buried on a mountain. But the driver said the words 'buried alive' so naturally, which made me start to pay attention to his behavior. However, it's also possible that the Inudou brothers told him when they asked him to help. But I noticed that when the driver said the words 'buried alive,' Mr. Xiong Tianxiang and I both became suspicious of the driver."

Faced with Vermouth's reasoning, the driver seemed somewhat flustered and distressed. He wondered why the person who had just been understanding him was now ignoring him. He asked, as if filled with anxiety:

“Miss Evelyn, will I be scolded? I just—”

"Shut up! Have you misunderstood something? Mr. Murderer, from beginning to end I've only been trying to get you to tell the truth. Please don't misunderstand, because it's truly disgusting. Any normal woman would feel disgusted by someone like you. In the end, the moment you started this killing spree just to satisfy your own urges, you were already out of the game!"

When the driver asked for the peanut demon, Kitahara Masaki had already handcuffed him and had the police officers who had accompanied him there take him back to the police station. Moreover, the body camera had already started recording when he began to confess, so the evidence is now conclusive.

"Alright, the disgusting person has left. Now, can you tell me who you really are, Mr. Xiong Tianxiang?"

Chapter 257 The Righteous Revenge

"Me? Sigh, never mind. Even if I don't say it, you can find out later that I am Anzhu's real older brother. The two of them are Anzhu's cousins. I was working in Tokyo, so they were the ones who went to the police station to find out about the case in the first place."

"Your older brother? So you're Inudou Gajiro? You look completely different from the photo."

"Heh, Officer Kitahara, after your family was killed, I think you'll do the same. Looks can lie, but DNA can't. Anyway, we're all going back to the police station with you, aren't we?"

Kitahara Masaki wasn't angry at his barbed words; after all, the man had no reason to lie, and he truly was a pitiful person whose younger sister had been killed.

"Yes, although your goal is to find a serial killer, involving innocent people in this accident is also a crime—"

Just as Kitahara Masaki expressed his regret, the hostages, who had remained silent until now, suddenly reacted. First, Ms. Ruki, who had been reprimanded for lying even to vent her stress, suddenly spoke up:

"Actually... that bus hijacking story was fake! We just rented a bus for our trip."

"Yes, the pain of losing a family member is inescapable, so we wanted to help Mr. Inudou get out of the shadows, which is why we took this trip."

"Losing family must be very painful. I feel bad even when my family distances me from me, so I think Mr. Inudou must be in even more pain than me. Please don't blame them, police officer."

Hearing the three hostages say this, Kitahara Masaki felt a bit of a headache, after all, he had never seen anything like it before. However, after Vermouth winked at him discreetly, he nodded and replied:

"If no one reports it, the police won't open a case. But please go to the police station first and explain the details of your trip, okay?"

After everyone was brought back to the police station, the matter was considered closed. Kitahara Masaki and Vermouth sat on a bench on the rooftop, drinking hot coffee and talking about what had happened.

"It's amazing that you were able to see through Inudou Gaji's disguise. That guy is definitely not an ordinary person, as the one who planned the whole thing."

"Heh, when Inudou Otsuya took the hostage, he sat behind me, probably to prevent me from contacting you. Afterwards, his reaction to the driver didn't act like a hostage at all. He was even the first to admit his mistakes. But I really didn't expect the real culprit in this case to be the driver. Neither the Inudou brothers noticed him when they contacted him, nor did the family hire a detective to investigate. They all believed what he said from the beginning."

This was also one of Kitahara Masaki's mistakes; even he thought that Miss Anju went somewhere else after getting off the bus before being killed.

"People in uniforms are often hard to recognize as individuals because of the sheer volume of data, so I made the mistake of being biased. Anyway, let's not talk about that. How are you? Well, this was my first detective debut, but I solved the case by observing other people's behavior, which is quite different from the usual detectives who look for evidence and describe methods."

Vermouth, also holding a hot coffee, smiled when Kitahara Masaki awkwardly changed the subject, but her smile slowly disappeared as she recalled today's 'detective' trip.

"I thought I'd feel great after catching the criminal, but neither the hostage issue nor the Inudou brothers' problem has been resolved, and even that disgusting driver has incurable mental problems. Ah, could it be that the driver will avoid jail because of a mental evaluation?"

Kitahara Masaki nodded, indicating that it was indeed possible, and at the same time comforted Vermouth: