Tokyo: Rabbit Police and Her Evil Partner

Chapter 552: Face-to-face meeting with Heavenly Punishment
When Fushimi Shika and Minamoto Tamako arrived at the scene, the street had already been cordoned off.

Police officers were dispersing the crowd, while firefighters set up ladders, climbed up a streetlamp, and lowered the congressman's body. Forensic investigators, dressed in blue uniforms and carrying bags, stood below taking photos.

"It's divine punishment again..."

"How many times has this happened already..."

"The security situation in Sugamo is getting worse and worse..."

It was 3 p.m. on a weekday afternoon, and there weren't many pedestrians on the street. A few passersby stopped to watch, took some photos, and discussed it for a while. Then, under the direction of the patrolling police, they dispersed, seemingly unfazed by the sight.

Fushimi Shika was wearing the same trench coat he wore when he first joined the police station, but without a shirt underneath, because he had planned to stay home and relax. If you unbuttoned the trench coat, you would see his striped pajamas, made of satin, which looked very comfortable to sleep in.

Hearing passersby talking, he had a bad feeling and immediately took out his phone and dialed a number.

With an empty pipe dangling from her lips, Gentamako glanced around the scene, stealing glances at Fushimi Shika. Noticing Shika making a call, she quickly moved closer to eavesdrop, asking, "What's wrong? Who are you calling? Did you find any clues?"

Fushimi Shika raised her index finger in a 'shh' gesture, and Minamoto Tamako had no choice but to shut up for the time being. She stood on tiptoe and listened intently; the call connected quickly, and the voice on the other end sounded somewhat familiar.

"Moses Moses..."

Before the other party could even exchange pleasantries, Fushimi Shika interrupted, "Please check today's room rates for the Sugamo Sunshine Apartments, thank you."

"Ah, is this Mr. Fushimi? There are a few more new houses for sale recently..."

Minamoto no Tamako recognized the voice; it was the same real estate agent from before. She looked at Fushimi Shika, puzzled, hoping he could explain.

Unfortunately, Fushimi Shika ignored her and continued to use the shushing gesture to brush her off, urging the real estate agent, "Hurry up! Investigate!"

The sound of typing came from the other end of the phone. A real estate agent who could sell a 20 million yuan mansion was already an industry elite, and computers and such were standard equipment for him.

"Uh, there's bad news. Another murder happened in Sugamo neighborhood an hour ago... Property prices have dropped by five percent... That's strange, why are they dropping so fast..." The real estate agent became interested: "Wait a moment, I'll go ask about it."

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

Fushimi Shika was internally cursing as he listened to the busy signal.

He finally realized a very serious problem: the butterfly effect.

In the previous life, there was no Sugamo apartment massacre or green train shootout. Sugamo was at most a gray area, managed by the Inagawa Association, and could be considered somewhat orderly amidst chaos... But now, Sugamo has become Gotham City, and it can't even be called Beika Town anymore.

It's one thing for a few criminals to die, but to have a government official die too? Is there any possibility of development in this area? Won't the urban planning be delayed?
Fushimi Shika recalled a case from his previous life where a criminal gang went against the government, resulting in the country treating it as a terrorist attack and causing the local economy to fall behind by more than twenty years.

...Those few dilapidated apartments, are they going to be stuck with us for nothing?

Fushimi Shika had already foreseen two possibilities.

The first possibility is that the city planning is not affected and the area will still be demolished in the future. His 50 million investment will double directly, and he will be able to get hundreds of millions of demolition compensation. From then on, he will have no worries about food and clothing and become a wealthy tycoon with a lot of capital.

The second possibility is that urban planning will be hindered as a result, and the area will not be demolished for another twenty years, becoming an unfinished project similar to Tokyo Bay, resulting in a loss of 50 million yen. From then on, he will be nailed to the pillar of shame, and every day he will have to listen to Minamoto Tamako nagging, "Back then, you didn't listen to my advice, and you lost 50 million yen in one go..."

"We absolutely cannot let our 50 million go down the drain!!" Fushimi Shikaichi patted Minamoto no Tamako on the shoulder and said seriously, "We absolutely must solve this case."

Minamoto no Tamako was very pleased with Fushimi's attitude. She felt like things were back, everything was back, the detective team was back to its peak, but something felt off, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, and couldn't help but ask, "What does housing price have to do with the murder case?"

Of course, Fushimi Shika wouldn't tell the truth: "Don't similar plots often appear in mystery novels? Serial killers always like to return to the scene and blend in with the crowd to observe."

"The 'crime scene complex' in criminal psychology suggests that some perpetrators view the crime scene as an 'extension of their own will,' and returning to the scene is equivalent to reliving their 'achievements,' satisfying their potential desire for control or narcissism."

After saying that, he turned to Yuan Yuzi and gestured for her to observe the street: "There aren't many people around, are there? If the murderer stayed here for a long time, it would be very conspicuous, and it would also be inconvenient to drag the body here. So I speculate that the murderer lives nearby and is secretly observing the scene through the window of an apartment building."

Yuan Yuzi felt a chill run down her spine and quickly looked up, glancing left and right at the windows of the residential buildings on both sides. She felt as if a pair of malicious eyes were lurking behind them.

She immediately realized what was going on and turned to look at Fushimi Shika: "You're just worried about losing money when property prices drop, right?"

Fushimi Shika felt that she was indeed not as easy to fool as before. If it were Minamoto no Tamako a year ago, she would definitely have been foolish enough to believe her.

Fortunately, the righteous are one foot high, but the evil are ten feet high.

“You’ve changed,” Fushimi Shika shook his head and sighed. “You’ve become impure. Your mind isn’t on solving cases anymore; instead, it’s on doubting your teammates… I’m so disappointed in you.”

Yuan Yuzi squinted and didn't speak.

Fushimi Shika coughed lightly: "If you question my reasoning, please refute it with reasoning, not with malicious speculation and personal attacks."

"Oh."

Genji held her pipe in her small hands and observed carefully, trying to find clues from the crime scene to refute Fushimi Shika's argument that "the murderer lives nearby."

While they were chatting, the firefighters untied the rope around the body's neck and were about to lift it down when they accidentally triggered some mechanism. The lampshade of the street lamp suddenly fell off, along with the banner hanging down.

The firefighter was startled and let go of the body, which fell to the ground with a thud.

Everyone looked up and saw a white banner fluttering in the wind, with scarlet words painted on it. Yuan Yuzi recognized it, but wasn't familiar with it, and only paused for a moment.

The words "Divine Punishment" were clearly written on it.

However, it is written in traditional Chinese characters.

Most Japanese kanji are traditional characters.

The character “天” was not written with the same violent and bold strokes as in the Sugamo apartment massacre case; the character “罚” was written as “罚”, and the handwriting was completely different.

Another autumn wind blew in, and the banner flipped over. Only then did Yuan Yuzi see that there were two more words on the back.

"face to face"

Taken together, it means "divine retribution," a common saying that describes "evil deeds immediately bringing about evil consequences" and "the cycle of karma, where retribution is inevitable."

(End of this chapter)