Tokyo: Rabbit Police and Her Evil Partner

Chapter 574 The Mission of a Famous Writer
Kazuo Ishizuka was bewildered.

He voluntarily surrendered himself to the police and confessed to his crime. As it was his first offense, he was only sentenced to eight years in prison.

Today, after two years in prison, he has shown good behavior and has the opportunity to apply for probation, be released early, and start a new life.

Kazuo Ishizuka felt he had atoned for his sins; he was Kawai's accomplice and deserved to go to jail. He had also come to terms with the past and was completely at peace with his daughter's death.

Everything seems to be going in the right direction.

When the prison guards informed him that a lawyer would be visiting, Kazuo Ishizuka thought his probation had been moved up.

When he entered the isolation meeting room and saw two completely unfamiliar lawyers, his joy vanished, replaced by bewilderment.

"You are……"

Kazuo Ishizuka picked up the phone, his gaze lingering on Nao Mouri's small, delicate eyebrows.

Kotaro Kanesaka then picked up the phone, adopting a serious demeanor, and claimed to be the lawyer for the Komura Renko family—a name he had just made up—and that he had come to question Kazuo Ishizuka about the Tianfa serial murder case.

“A family in a small village was brutally murdered, and eight-year-old Lianzi was also killed. The murderer wrote the words ‘divine punishment’ at the scene… In order to get justice for their son and granddaughter, the grandparents hired me as their lawyer and begged me to help them rest in peace.”

Kotaro Kanesaka took a crime scene photo from his briefcase and slapped it against the glass window. It was from a case he had handled before, and had nothing to do with the fabricated Komura family.

After briefly explaining the situation, he pressed Ishizuka Kazuo, asking, "Do you have anything to say?"

As Ishizuka Kazuo stared at the haphazardly laid corpses in the photograph, his heart raced, and his palms began to sweat: "This...this has nothing to do with me..."

"The police conducted a handwriting analysis, and it's a perfect match for the 'Divine Punishment' handbook found in the auditorium shooting case." Kotaro Kanesaka put away the photo and continued to press the issue: "No matter how you try to deny it, you'll eventually face prosecution, and your sentence will likely become life imprisonment..."

"Wait a minute! This is so weird!"

Kazuo Ishizuka could no longer contain himself. He leaned forward and anxiously protested, "I've been serving my sentence in prison! How could I possibly be out committing crimes? You must have the wrong person!"

“The family annihilation case occurred before the auditorium shooting. Mr. Komura and I spent three years searching and reviewing countless files before we finally found you.”

Kotaro Kanesaka clenched his left fist, as if truly indignant on behalf of the deceased, and shouted into the microphone, "Even if the adults were at fault, the children are innocent! Why did you kill them? Why did you kill Kawai Nagano!"

“I didn’t kill him!” Kazuo Ishizuka shouted.

"Who was that?! Tell me, who killed him!" Kanesaka Kotaro retorted.

Kazuo Ishizuka paused, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. His throat bobbed slightly, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

After a long pause, he said in a trembling voice, "I...I don't know. What family annihilation case? I know absolutely nothing about it...Nagino Kawai was killed by Instructor Sakurai. It has nothing to do with me..."

"Who wrote the blood-written punishment words that day?" Kensaka Kotaro pressed.

“This…this…is not important…” Ishizuka Kazuo dared not look the other person in the eye.

He had a vague answer in his heart, but he dared not say it aloud. If he did, everything he had suffered over the past three years would become a joke.

If the man who called him back then was a notorious murderer, then the so-called atonement would become a joke.

He did not atone for his mistakes at all; instead, he became an accomplice to another cruel criminal, allowing that guy to continue committing crimes with impunity.

"How could this not be important? Stop making excuses!"

Kotaro Kanesaka shouted at him, but to little avail, because Kazuo Ishizuka put down the phone, covered his face with his hands, and remained motionless in that position.

Kotaro Kanesaka could only watch helplessly. The meeting time was limited, and he only had this one chance. The prison could discover at any time that he was an imposter lawyer. Coming a second time would be suicide; he would be arrested without a doubt.

Besides, since Ishizuka Kazuo didn't receive any further complaints after the meeting, he'll eventually realize something's wrong. Unless he's stupid, he'll realize he's been tricked.

On the surface, Kensaka Kotaro is the one taking the initiative, but in reality, he is walking a tightrope.

How to do?
Kotaro Kanesaka wanted to knock on the window to remind Kazuo Ishizuka to stop running away from reality.

Mouri grabbed his wrist and whispered, "Leave it to me."

Kotaro Kanesaka hesitated for a moment, then withdrew his hand. There was plenty of time now, and pressing too hard wouldn't be a good thing. Perhaps letting Mouri Nai play the good cop would break down the suspect's defenses.

Mouri picked up the phone and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Ishizuka, can we talk?"

Kazuo Ishizuka did not respond, and Nao Mori waited patiently for a while without urging him.

Kotaro Kanesaka was getting impatient and was about to pick up the phone again when Mori stopped him, saying, "Give him some time."

"Who will give us time?" Kotaro Kanesaka leaned closer, whispering in Mouri's ear, "Don't forget, we only have five days..."

"Haste makes waste." Mouri Nai was more composed; she wasn't that concerned about the prize money.

Kotaro Kanesaka was speechless. He could only cross his arms, shake his leg, and stare at Kazuo Ishizuka with a murderous gaze.

Based on Ishizuka Kazuo's reaction, he could conclude that Ishizuka Kazuo knew the inside story of the auditorium shooting.

The problem is that they're in prison, separated by glass. How can they get Kazuo Ishizuka to talk?

Kotaro Kanesaka was also skilled at torture and forced confessions. Anyone can learn this kind of thing with a few practice sessions, and even if you torture the wrong person, you can still gain experience.

But in the current situation, it's impossible to make any progress.

The two waited for more than twenty minutes without saying a word. The meeting room was unusually quiet, with only the buzzing of the telephone ringing.

Finally, Takamasa Ishii raised his head, his face showing near despair and a hint of numbness.

He picked up the microphone and asked Mouri Nai, "What do you want to say?"

“I believe Mr. Ishizuka was a good man. The newspapers reported on the shooting incident back then, and everyone said that you had to shoot Sakurai Chizuru to avenge your daughter.”

Mouri pleaded softly, "You know what it's like to lose a loved one, the Komura family... their parents are suffering the same pain. If you're not the real culprit, I hope you'll tell us the truth."

Kazuo Ishizuka remained silent.

Mouri Nai was getting anxious. She glanced at Kanesaka Kotaro, feeling a little guilty. After all, she was the one who asked to give him some time, and now twenty minutes had passed and they hadn't gotten anything. Mouri Nai couldn't help but feel that it was her responsibility.

She swallowed hard and said nervously, "Mr. Ishizuka, I know you have something you can't say. We just want to catch the real culprit. We'll keep anything that shouldn't be said a secret!"

Kazuo Ishizuka finally reacted: "You promise?" Nai Mori nodded very sincerely, her eyes widening and her eyebrows furrowing in unison.

Kazuo Ishizuka turned to look at Kotaro Kanesaka, who snatched the phone and said, "Lawyers have a duty of confidentiality. Unless you agree, today's conversation will not reach a fourth person."

He just made that up.

Kazuo Ishizuka was persuaded. He had no other choice but to take a deep breath and recount the secrets he had kept buried deep in his heart.

"Kawa is the daughter of the temple's abbot. Every time I go to pay my respects, I run into her, and it always reminds me of my own daughter. We sometimes chat for a bit..."

"Later, I worked at the police academy for a long time. Life was very boring, with no social interaction at all. At that time, I always felt a burning anger inside, wanting to do something for my daughter..."

"Until Kawai found me, she said she had encountered the murderer who killed her younger brother and didn't know what to do, so she wanted to ask for my opinion..."

"I just said... I just said... Do what you want to do..."

"She must have been really conflicted at the time, which is why she made me write the letter to Sakurai Chizuru and also made me lie to her good friends..."

"You all know what happened after that. Sakurai Chizuru was indeed shot and killed by Nagano Kawa. She sought revenge, and that's how she died..."

“Yes, that night, someone called me and told me the whole story. That person didn’t want Kawai to be accused of murder and questioned me about why I didn’t stop Kawai from the beginning…”

"To prevent Kawai from becoming the murderer he hated after his death, I chose to heed that person's advice and take the blame..."

"In the end, this is what I deserve."

“I gave him the gun, I wrote the letter, I knew what Kawai was going to do, yet I repeatedly condoned it. I was the one who sent Kawai to kill people, and I deserve to be punished.”

……

In the final ten minutes, Kazuo Ishizuka revealed everything he knew.

Mouri Nai was extremely excited, scribbling away in her notebook.

Unexpectedly, the inside story of the murder case was far more complicated than she had imagined. Two souls, deeply mired in guilt and self-blame, met, ultimately leading to a revenge that spanned ten years.

The case only began after the avenger's death. The living bore the blame to clear the dead's name, while the nameless wrote the words "Divine Punishment" in blood to redeem their souls...

For a fleeting moment, Mouri Nai felt a resonance with this. The sins bestowed by heaven should be borne by destiny. The fictitious divine punishment could genuinely alleviate the immense terror between life and death.

Perhaps there is a deeper purpose behind this, and some questions remain unanswered, such as where the fourth person's fingerprints came from and why the fourth person called Ishizuka Kazuo...

The story has reached its climax, but could there be a twist at the very end?
Mouri got goosebumps all over; she hadn't been this excited in a long time.

She had the same feeling when she read her first detective novel. To this day, she thought she would never find that initial passion again, until she came to attend this wedding…

Indeed, reality is far more fascinating than fiction!
Kotaro Kanesaka didn't have time to deal with Nami Mori. He quickly processed the information and hurriedly asked, "Who called you? Do you know them?"

He felt he had touched the core of the truth and was just a hair's breadth away from winning the multi-million dollar prize.

Kazuo Ishizuka hesitated for a moment before saying, "I don't know them. They spoke in a high-pitched voice and didn't mention their name, so I can't tell who they are."

"Then who do you suspect?" Kanesaka Kotaro persisted.

At that moment, a notification sounded over the loudspeaker, informing everyone that the meeting time had arrived.

Kotaro Kanesaka slammed his hand on the glass window and asked anxiously, "Don't go! Answer me!"

Kazuo Ishizuka had already stood up, but seeing his persistence, he finally voiced his suspicions:

"I think... um... it should be a student named Fushimi Shika... he should have graduated by now."

Both Kensaka Kotaro and Mori Na were stunned.

A prison guard approached and offered his hand to help Ishizuka Kazuo up. Kanesaka Kotaro shouted, "Why would you think that?! What detail aroused your suspicion? Say something!"

Before hanging up the phone, Kazuo Ishizuka's last words were a question. It seemed to be a question directed at them, yet also at himself.

"Who else could it be but him?"

Yes, who else but the groom would do that?
Mouri Nai felt a chill run down her spine; the ultimate plot twist she had been waiting for was indescribable.

It's like reading a thrilling novel with twists and turns. The reader has a vague feeling that there will be a big twist at the end. However, some novels don't have a twist, but just a reasonable ending that leaves the reader wanting more; while some novels are written by authors with insufficient ability, and the plot twists are too far-fetched, leaving the reader feeling disappointed.

Some top-tier novels subtly weave clues and foreshadowing throughout the entire story, presenting them clearly to the reader without ever being noticed. Then, at the very end, the author delivers a brilliant stroke, bringing the story to a dramatic turn and giving the reader a mental climax!
That's exactly how Naoki Mouri feels right now.

After a long pause, Kensaka Kotaro hung up the phone and, following the prison guard's directions, left with Mori Nai.

The Hokkaido prison is located in a remote area, surrounded by desert, with a road running across its main gate.

With his head down, Kotaro Kanesaka took off his suit jacket, draped it over his shoulders, put his hands in his pockets, and walked along the road toward the tram stop.

Mouri followed behind him, taking notes of all the ideas, inspirations, and details of the case. Then she asked, "Mr. Kanesaka, what do you think? Do you think Mr. Fushimi is the real culprit?"

"There's no real culprit. It was just a word written on the wall. Both murderers are already dead in the auditorium." Kensaka Kotaro kicked away a pebble on the side of the road and sighed deeply.

"right!"

Mouri finally realized: "If it really was Mr. Fushimi who did it, then he must have lied like that for Ms. Minamoto's sake. If it were exposed, Ms. Minamoto would be very sad, right? After all, Kawai and Ms. Minamoto made a promise to become police officers together... Ah, how touching, I want to write a similar plot in the future."

She muttered to herself for a while, then looked up and saw that Kensaka Kotaro had quickened his pace and put some distance between them.

Mouri Nai quickly followed up and asked, "But there are fingerprints of a fourth person at the scene, and the fingerprints taken for evidence do not match Mr. Fushimi's, so the previous deductions should all be invalid, right?"

“That’s true.” Kanesaka Kotaro nodded, also somewhat confused: “But the reasoning just now was the most reasonable.”

“That’s not necessarily true!” Mouri’s eyebrows shot up triumphantly. She pointed to the sky and loudly recited Holmes’ famous line: “After eliminating all possibilities, the last option, however improbable, must be the truth!”

"So?" Kensaka Kotaro glanced sideways.

"Since there are still doubts, there must be more truths hidden beneath the glacier! We will definitely find out the truth and give everyone an explanation!"

Mouri wiped his nose with his thumb, raised his head and put his hands on his hips, and said proudly, "Finding an ending that satisfies everyone, that is the mission of a great writer!"

(End of this chapter)