Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 17, Section 17: Past Events

"Showa era?"

Upon hearing this news, Ping Shenglong felt a slight ache in his temples.

According to the preliminary forensic examination, the two skeletons found in the sealed room died between 1945 and 1965 (Showa 20 to 1965), but a more specific year requires further laboratory analysis.

However, this timeframe already means that figuring out the identity of the deceased will be an extremely troublesome matter.

Criminal investigation methods were very backward in those days, and there was a period of extreme chaos where it was almost impossible to investigate things like household registration and identity.

If we want to find a breakthrough, we can probably only look for some elderly people who graduated from Komagome Academy and see if any clues have been passed down.

Furthermore, what connection does the locked room mystery from the Showa era have with today's murder case?

The victims in the school building were all young people who hadn't lived through many years of the Reiwa era. They mainly grew up in the Tenjin era (a made-up era name, derived from the Kokin Wakashū, "Heaven and earth are bright, such is the joy, what has been covered, so much is hidden in the brocade"), not to mention the distant Showa era. It couldn't possibly be revenge by the descendants of an enemy.

But he was certain that the two must be connected, because the traces indicated that the secret room had been opened not long ago, and an item that might have been a book was missing from the table, and a skeleton was missing from the corner.

The murder had just occurred, and by sheer coincidence, this sealed room, which had been closed for nearly a century, was opened.
He didn't believe in such a coincidence.

"Teacher Jiao Tan?" Even if this statement seems unreliable, it is still necessary to start investigating in this direction.

Outside the sealed room, convenient lighting had been set up all around. With the help of his assistant, forensic pathologist Otani struggled to climb out of the sealed room through the ladder that had been built at the exit.

"Any new discoveries, Professor Otani?" Ryuhei handed him a cigarette.

Pathologist Otani's lips moved slightly. He glanced at Heisei Ryu, then lowered his head, took the cigarette, lit it with the light Heisei Ryu offered, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled the smoke.

"There has been some discovery."

Ping Shenglong didn't rush to ask any more questions. He simply followed beside him, puffing on his cigarette to relax.

Nicotine quickly crossed the blood-brain barrier, stimulating the brain to release dopamine, which calmed Pathologist Otani down. He let out a long breath: "You've been in the forensic department before, so you should know the saying, 'Everything that happens leaves a trace.'"

Ping Shenglong nodded. He naturally remembered this sentence. It wasn't just from the forensic department; it was a wise saying that many detectives and criminal police officers firmly believed in.

But now, forensic pathologist Otani has specifically raised this question. Could it be...?
"Logically speaking, if someone had entered this sealed room that had been sealed for many years, it would be impossible for them not to leave any traces. Moreover, we can confirm that the dust marks on the table and the disappearance of the bone tissue in the corner all happened within the last day, or even within the last few hours."

"But I couldn't find any trace, not footprints, hair, fingerprints or fibers at all. It was as if those things had been taken away out of thin air, leaving us with not a single clue or trace."

The hands of Pathologist Otani, who had dissected countless mutilated corpses, trembled slightly because of this seemingly small matter, and the filter in his hands twisted and deformed.

“Mini drone? Or suspended operation?” Ping Shenglong quickly listed several possible operation plans.

But he himself lacked confidence.

Pathologist Otani shook his head: "Perhaps it's intuition, but I can sense that something did come down. The missing book and the skeleton were also picked up by him. Never mind, just consider it my ramblings, don't take it to heart. I'll send you the examination report on the body and bones as soon as possible." "Don't worry, Professor Otani, your health is important. Anyway, I still have a lot of preliminary investigations to do," Taira no Ryu comforted him.

Pathologist Otani waved his hand, his expression serious: "This matter won't be simple. You need to be prepared for a long battle."

Ping Shenglong nodded silently. As the battle-hardened head of the First Investigation Division, he had the same intuition.

"There's something you might not know: I'm actually a graduate of Komagome Academy," Pathologist Otani suddenly said.

Heisei Ryu wasn't too surprised: "Does Professor Otani have any news you can tell me?"

"There is a rumor about Teacher Jiao Tan, which was a very old campus legend even more than 20 years ago when I was still studying here."

"But I don't know the details. I didn't care about these things back then. I was only focused on getting into university. Anyway, let me recommend a friend to you. He's a junior of mine. If I remember correctly, he once founded a 'Strange Tales Club' in the college, which collected all the strange tales in the college, including different versions, how they evolved, and his personal speculations. In short, it was quite detailed. Because I was often in the study room, he asked me about the 'headphone girl in the study room' incident, and we had a conversation."

“I don’t want to believe or believe that this is the work of demons or monsters, but you can take it as another clue. Perhaps the culprit is trying to use ghost stories to kill someone else and disrupt our investigation.”

Otani made a few moves on his phone and sent a friend request to Heisei Ryu.

"What an interesting nickname. Is it meant to express the way of the supernatural?" The person's avatar was a white human silhouette against a pitch-black background.

"Pretty much. His name is Kurosaki Chimei, and I think he changed it himself."

"A demon or monster? Isn't he afraid of attracting ghosts with this name?" Ping Shenglong muttered. This name would probably be troublesome to introduce himself. At least he only knew that it was pronounced "chimi," but he was unsure how it was used as a given name. Plus, it had a lot of strokes.

Otani patted Taira no Ryu on the shoulder: "I'm going back to the Metropolitan Police Department now. Let me know if you find anything new."

"Take care, Mr. Otani."

Watching Otani leave, Heisei Ryu rubbed his furrowed brow.

He has already assigned Shingo Nakajima to follow up on the four injured people who are hospitalized, and will take their statements once their condition improves.

Regarding the deceased's interpersonal relationships, there are also capable people working with the principal to conduct investigations. After school starts tomorrow, they will question and collect information on those with close or hostile relationships.

Further autopsy results require a report from forensic pathologist Otani, which should be available by 9 a.m. at the latest.

The ringing of the phone interrupted his thoughts.

He glanced at the caller ID and answered, "Minister Iwaki. Yes, I understand. Okay, thank you for your concern, Minister. The First Investigation Division will take this case very seriously and will do everything in its power to prevent panic from spreading. We will complete the investigation before America's foreign visit."

I hung up the phone and glanced at the date.

He only has ten days.

(End of this chapter)