Tokyo: Rabbit Police and Her Evil Partner

Chapter 387 Information Gap

Gen Tamako stood outside the door waiting.

Why do we say "again"?

Because she had experienced the same thing before she came.

Today is really strange, it feels like everyone has something to say to Fushimi-kun...

It's understandable that Yalan-nee and Kazama-senpai asked some rather pointed questions, requiring her to avoid them; but what could Director Fujiwara possibly say that couldn't be said to their faces?
Is he going to use the Fujiwara family's influence to ruin Fushimi's police career?

Sitting on the living room sofa, Minamoto no Tamako couldn't help but let her mind wander. One moment she was wondering if Fushimi-kun was truly confessing or just pretending to be her lover, the next she was worried that Fushimi-kun might be treated unfairly. Every now and then she would relive that kiss, and she couldn't help but touch her face. She felt like she was going through a mental breakdown.

When Fushimi Shika came out, she rushed over anxiously, like a husband outside an obstetrics and gynecology clinic, asking how things went, whether Director Fujiwara had given her any trouble, and whether their pretense of being a couple had been exposed...

Fushimi Shika's leg injury flared up again, and he didn't have the energy to ramble. He just gave a few perfunctory replies, claiming that Director Fujiwara appreciated his talent, which was why he kept him for a private talk to inquire about his future job intentions.

After saying that, he sat back in his wheelchair. He had been exercising a bit too much these past two days, and he decided to start being a complete idiot from now on.

Minamoto no Tamako was skeptical, feeling that Fushimi-kun must be hiding something. If he admired Fushimi-kun's talent, why did he need to send her away?

Unless Fushimi Shika confesses, there's no point in her guessing. Now that the important matters have been discussed, it's best not to linger. She pushed Fushimi Shika's wheelchair and quickly left the living room, deciding it was best to leave first.

It was already 11 p.m. when the two left the Fujiwara residence.

As midnight approached, there were few pedestrians on the street, with only streetlights and convenience stores still lit.

Gen Tamako's speculation was confirmed. She rushed back to the police station to interrogate Fujiwara Homare again, breaking down his psychological defenses and getting him to reveal all the details of the murder that night.

"It's so late, be careful Fujiwara Homare's lawyer doesn't sue you for fatigue interrogation," Fushimi Shika warned.

"What do you mean by 'exhaustion interrogation'? I haven't slept either! I've been running around outside all day! Fujiwara Homare is perfectly fine in the detention center, what's there to be tired about?"

Yuan Yuzi said so, but she still made a phone call to confirm that the interrogation would not constitute a fatigue interrogation before rushing to the police station.

After a half-day of running around, she returned to the interrogation room and peered at Fujiwara Homare through the one-way mirror.

Compared to his dejected appearance at noon, Fujiwara Homare looked much more normal now... Although he was still a bit listless, at least his eyes were no longer bloodshot.

As is customary, the presiding judge needs to communicate with his deputy to prevent the suspect from developing a sense of impunity due to information asymmetry during the interrogation. Minamoto no Tamako had been waiting for Fushimi to take the initiative to ask questions, but Fushimi consistently failed to fulfill his duties as a foolish assistant, so she had no choice but to take the initiative to remind him.

She stood outside the interrogation room, arms crossed: "The interrogation is about to begin. Don't you have any questions for me?"

"Ask whom?"

"Of course you should ask me!"

"What did I ask you?" Fushimi Shika was lost in thought, pondering what to do if Fujiwara no Homare had committed murder. Seeing Minamoto no Tamako frown, he snapped out of his reverie. "Oh right, you haven't told me your deduction yet." Minamoto no Tamako was magnanimous and didn't hold it against him. She was eager to share her deduction—this was the first time she had solved a murder case entirely on her own, and while she was thrilled, she was also a little nervous.

She struck the standard cool pose of a famous detective, lowered her voice, and announced the answer to Fushimi in what she thought was a serious tone:
"Actually, Fushimi-kun, your previous analysis was correct. Fujiwara Homare was very likely taking the blame for someone else, which is why he concealed what happened that night."

"But this raises new questions—who is the real culprit, how was the locked-room murder carried out, and why did Fujiwara Homare cover it up for him?"

"After my meticulous reasoning and analysis..."

At this point, Minamoto no Tamako felt a little guilty. In fact, she hadn't done much analysis. The reason she was able to deduce the truth before Fushimi-kun was mainly because she had learned about Fujiwara no Homare's private information on Cat Island.

That's right, it was the sacrificial ceremony that Shoko Asahara forced the two of them to perform—during which, Minamoto Tamako learned that Fujiwara Homare had a crush on a girl in high school, and that girl was with an upperclassman, but Fujiwara Homare had never gotten over it.

Therefore, Shoko Asahara captured the senior student, who was also Rio Yoshikawa's boyfriend, and forced Homare Fujiwara to kill him as a "pledge of allegiance" to join Aum Shinrikyo.

She was also present at the time and knew that Fujiwara Homare had not killed anyone, and that the senior student had ultimately died in the melee.

—But Rio Yoshikawa didn't know that this was why the murder occurred!

Minamoto Tamako claims that this process was the result of her 'deduction,' using Sherlock Holmes' deductive reasoning to draw conclusions from countless fragmented pieces of information!

Fushimi Shika was initially a little shocked, not expecting that Minamoto Tamako's 'deduction technique' was genuine and not just second-rate stuff like Kogoro Mouri's... But as he listened, he realized something was wrong and vaguely felt that Minamoto Tamako was lying, but he was too lazy to expose her and just thought he was making Minamoto Tamako happy.

Genji was indeed very happy. She quickly and mysteriously recounted the long-standing relationship between the three of them, and then went on to deduce further:
—In her search for her missing boyfriend, Yoshikawa Rio asked around and somehow the suspicion fell on Fujiwara Homare (or perhaps Fujiwara Homare let it slip when he returned).

She mistakenly believed that Fujiwara Homare had killed her boyfriend, or that Fujiwara Homare knew about it. In any case, she carried a fruit knife and went to the bar to find Fujiwara Homare. After talking with him, she followed Fujiwara Homare back to the hotel and forced him to tell the truth at knifepoint.

“If I’m not mistaken, Yoshikawa Rio definitely won’t believe Fujiwara Homare’s words,” Minamoto Tamako analyzed.

"Why?" Fushimi Shika asked, following her train of thought.

Genji was very satisfied, thinking that her stupid assistant Fushimi-kun had finally asked why. She put her hands on her hips, her nose almost pointing to the sky with pride: "You'll understand if you put yourself in his shoes."

After a moment's thought, Fushimi Shika had to admit that Minamoto no Tamako's guess was probably correct.

— Fujiwara Homare risked his life to refuse to eliminate his love rival, which seemed very fake from both a moral and logical standpoint.

If Yoshikawa Rio's boyfriend had come back alive, that would have been fine, but he just had to die, dying right in front of Fujiwara Homare. It's like mud smeared on your crotch—even if it wasn't shit, it's still shit.

Even if Fujiwara Homare had a thousand mouths, he couldn't possibly explain whether that person died at his hands or in the chaos of battle.

Yuko Minamoto continued her reasoning: "Rio Yoshikawa planned to avenge her boyfriend and attempted to assassinate Homare Fujiwara; the latter, enraged and drunk, in a fit of rage, seized a knife and killed Rio Yoshikawa."

Finally, she concluded:
"Out of guilt and conscience, Fujiwara Homare chose to conceal the truth and bear the guilt of murder."

(End of this chapter)