I, Aki Tomoya, will not be a simp.

“Dr. Misumi, if this statement is true, then the cause of death of the deceased, Tachibana Serina, was not due to botulism.”

"Botulinum toxin, botulinum, B..."

"But we already have B. Look at this: 'beating to death,' B. If the killer wanted to create an alphabet, then this Botox is clearly a duplicate, and the cause of death is something else."

Aki Tomoya also placed a copy of one of the press releases in the middle of the table.

Under the red markings, Shishido Riichi had given the clearest possible hint.

"Then there's this one, stabbed with a knife, knife, K, that's also there. And finally this one, drill, drill, D. How did Dr. Nakado's lover die?"

B, D, K—we can confirm three letters at this point.

The lovers in the Nakado family are also in a murder-collecting game.

"Nicotin injection! N!"

Mikoto Misumi followed up with her words.

At the same time, Kube Rokuro, who had been holding the file bag for half a day, also instantly realized what was going on.

Riichi Shishido's investigation was not simply a matter of investigation; he knew far more than they did.

"B, D, K, and N are confirmed. As for the extent to which the killer has progressed, that's still uncertain. However, the cause of death for the victim, Tachibana Serina, is very likely not botulism. Tsk..."

A look of surprise and doubt flashed in Aki Tomoya's eyes.

Riichi Shishido—he remembered this person perfectly.

This serial killer case might hold a big surprise if we use this person as a breakthrough.

"It's not Botox..."

Mikoto Misumi frowned, unsure if she had any clues at all.

However, the body is still at UDI, and given the current situation, a second autopsy will be necessary.

"Mr. Shishido... what exactly does he want to do?"

Kube Rokuro had met Shishido Riichi twice in total, and his impression of him was neither deep nor shallow. What intrigued him was that the other party was also investigating something similar to the Nakado Group.

However, he now realizes that this person may know more than anyone else.

"I think Kube-kun should meet with that person again."

"Huh? Me? You want me to go find him?"

Kube Rokuro looked bewildered. Was he really going to be used as bait?

Go find Shishido Riichi again. He has no objections, but what should we do?

"Aki-kun, are you really planning to find a breakthrough through this reporter?"

Mikoto Misumi spoke up at this moment.

To be honest, she's still very curious about how Kube Rokuro met Shishido Riichi.

“Dr. Misumi, Kube-kun, I have reason to suspect that this person already knew the victim was in that building! Giving Kube-kun these things is practically an open invitation; Kube-kun has been used!”

"..."

Aki Tomoya and Misumi Mikoto's gazes simultaneously shifted to Kube Rokuro.

Under their gazes, Kube Rokuro instinctively sat up straight, like a primary school student caught doing something wrong.

"If Dr. Nakado were to see this painting, what do you think would happen?"

"That person will definitely ask where this painting came from?"

"So, will Shishido Riichi continue to provide clues next? He's now so confident in giving this to Kube-kun, and considering he probably already knew that the deceased, Tachibana Serina, had been murdered and that her body was in that building, it's as if he's deliberately guiding others to solve the case..."

"Do you think the alphabet is almost complete?"

Mikoto Misumi understood what Tomoya Aki meant, and then angrily tapped the table.

"But what good would that do him? If he knew all along, why didn't he call the police? And why did he deliberately lead others to find the murderer when the alphabet was almost complete?"

At this point, Rokuro Kube raised a question.

If Shishido Riichi already knows who the murderer is, what good would it do him to use himself or Nakado Kei, who would be enraged by the painting, to find the murderer?

"A series of murders using twenty-six different methods from the alphabet A to Z, and someone actually carried them out—enough to fill a book. What do you think Shishido Riichi, who knows the whole story from a third-person perspective, would do with such a huge amount of information?"

"Once the murderer is caught, his exclusive revelations will definitely bring him both fame and fortune. The fact that he's committed twenty-six different murders over the years is enough to become an urban legend, and this urban legend truly exists..."

Mikoto Misumi answered in place of Rokuro Kube.

Riichi Shishido is a freelance journalist.

He's going to make a big splash; he has some truly unique and incredible information in his possession!

"...Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit like that, and I'm a little scared!"

Kube Rokuro shivered.

The thought that he might be being used made him swallow hard.

"This matter cannot be known to Dr. Nakado for the time being."

At the same time, Aki Tomoya also reminded the two of this.

If the Zhongtang faction finds out about this, people will die.

As for Shishido Riichi, who is currently the only one who may know the culprit, everyone present could imagine what would happen to him after he was caught by the Nakado faction.

After all, giving Kube Rokuro a photocopy of a painting by Nakado Kei's lover did have a provocative air about it.

"learn!"

The three of them immediately reached a tacit understanding.

They weren't worried about Shishido Riichi getting into trouble; they were afraid that Nakado's career as a forensic pathologist would end just like that.

If he does something extreme and gets caught red-handed, there will still be potential problems.

As for Shishido Riichi...

Who cares if he dies? They're worried about the Nakado faction.

"I'll leave the re-autopsy of the deceased, Tachibana Serizawa, to you, Dr. Misumi. It's at least one of the clues, and it can also keep Dr. Nakado in check. As for Shishido Riichi, leave it to me and Kube-kun."

"...That's possible, but how do you plan to get to that person?"

"Well, Dr. Misumi can only pray that the alphabet hasn't been fully collected yet."

===================

Chapter 358 Wrong Time (Fifth Update, reply to this post with a plush pillow, hurry and grab it!)

"We now have three directions: the true cause of death of the deceased, Tachibana Serina; the real estate agency, Takase Real Estate; and the freelance journalist, Shishido Riichi."

Aki Tomoya gave three directions.

They could understand the first and last ones, but the one in the middle aroused their curiosity.

The door to the empty house was damaged during the firefighting efforts, which allowed the body to be discovered.

Whether the door was damaged is not the point; the key question is why the body was there. If the door was damaged, it makes sense that the prisoner left the body there. However, given the current situation, there are still problems with the scene where the body was found.

"Dr. Misumi, we initially estimated that the deceased died after the fire, right?"

"That's right, the body is only slightly decomposed."

Based on the degree of decomposition of the body at the time, they initially estimated that the deceased had not been dead for long.

"But before and after the fire, no one witnessed any of the deceased in the vicinity, or anyone was seen pushing the same suitcase into the building."

However, considering the time of death, no witnesses reported seeing the deceased enter or leave the building, or anyone pushing a similar suitcase into the building, during the period before and after the fire.

This is where the contradiction lies.

"The deceased, Tachibana Serina, lived alone and resigned two months ago. The police are currently looking for clues through her personal connections, but the results are not very good. Regarding the location where the body was found, I asked the manager of the building opposite the building where the fire occurred. Shishido Riichi had already rented the apartment a month before the fire."

While investigating the residential building opposite the building that caught fire, Aki Tomoya impersonated Shishido Riichi's assistant and found the building manager, lying that he needed to find him for work but couldn't reach him, so he came here to look for him.

However, the manager told him that Shishido Riki had only lived there for a little over a month and had recently moved out.

“He’s been waiting for over a month… I think it’s necessary to find out exactly when the deceased went in—was the body there before the fire, or after the door lock was damaged by the fire?”

There are still many questions. If the door lock was intact before the fire, and the person was inside before being murdered, how was the murderer able to enter that empty house?

At the same time, this would not match their initial estimate of the time of death.

However, if it was after a fire, then Shishido Risa was waiting too early.

Given the suspicion that Shishido Riichi knew everything, the message conveyed by his actions becomes quite intriguing.

"The first thing we need to do is to get the timing right. The fact that Shishido Riichi was waiting there so early makes me feel like we might have overlooked something from the beginning."

Because of Shishido Riichi, the case has many more possibilities.

"Perhaps the true cause of death might lead us to a breakthrough."

What was the cause of Ju Celery's death?