Tokyo: I'm really not a killer

With people coming and going in the headquarters building, and Hideaki Shiraishi still locked in the interrogation room, it was impossible to silence him under these circumstances.

There's no point in dwelling on the past; the most important thing is how to handle things going forward.

Yuan Zhensheng calmly analyzed the situation and realized that he now had three paths to choose from.

The first option is to maintain the status quo, pretend nothing happened, observe the situation, and gamble that Hideaki Shiraishi won't betray him. This is a very passive and worst-case scenario.

The second option is to simply run away. He has cash now and can start over in Hokkaido or elsewhere. The only problem is that he will no longer have legal status, which would come at a considerable cost.

Thirdly, he could shift the blame elsewhere by creating false clues and evidence to divert the police's attention, clear Hideaki Shiraishi of suspicion, and make the police look away from him. As the saying goes, the more you do, the more mistakes you make, and a slight misstep could expose you.

Just as Gensei Hara was weighing his options, Koji Yamamoto went up to the stage to report to the director. After whispering something to him, the director exclaimed in surprise, "Why didn't you say something like this sooner!"

"It's not too late to say now," Yamamoto Koji replied.

The director's expression immediately hardened, and he beckoned his subordinates to notify the commander to return, as there was something important to announce.

After a moment, the group huddled together and whispered a few words. The commander then returned to the microphone, clapped his hands, and quieted the noisy conference room.

"Everyone, pause your work for now!" the commander said. "Inspector Yamamoto has provided an extremely important lead!"

He pointed to Yamamoto Koji behind him, signaling the latter to come forward and explain.

Yamamoto Koji, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips, walked to the front of the table. Facing the gazes of everyone in the conference room, he cleared his throat, his tone no longer as slick as usual:

"As you may have heard, almost no one heard the gunshots that rang out tonight when the congressman was assassinated."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present. "None of the patrol officers on duty to the northwest of the Imperial Hotel reported hearing any obvious sniper shots, which reminds me of several cases I've handled before."

He turned to the whiteboard on one side of the conference room and began writing case information as he spoke:

"In the first case, Miki Akiyama committed suicide by shooting herself at her funeral. The two patrol officers, the villa's butler, and the maid at the scene did not hear any gunshots."

"The bullets recovered from the scene showed no muzzle flash. I deduced that the killer used a suppressor, and one that was far more effective than the current military-grade suppressors. I gave this guy a temporary nickname: 'Suppressor Freak'."

"Later, when Miki Akiyama's body was in the morgue, her face was peeled off. The security guard witnessed a man who looked exactly like me, who was very likely the suspect himself."

"The second case is the assassination of Kenkichi Kuwata. Ichiro Nagashima, the head of the Yamakazumi office, was shot in the head and died in his room. No one heard the gunshot. The team members claimed that the attacker could perfectly imitate other people's appearance and voice, appearing and disappearing like the 'swamp man' in urban legends."

"Afterwards, when Inspector Yoshioka was investigating the connection between the two cases, he combined the investigations and found that Miki Akiyama was a member of the Momo Love and Dating Phone Club. The owner of the club absconded with the money on the afternoon of the day Kenkichi Kuwata was assassinated."

Yamamoto Koji tapped the whiteboard heavily with his baton:

"And now, in the third incident, Representative Masaichi Shinomiya was precisely sniped in the head during a public speech. Again, no witnesses or nearby police officers reported hearing a clear gunshot. Considering the sniping distance, ambient noise, and the chaos at the scene, it's almost certain that the assailant also used a highly effective silencer!"

He paused, then glanced around the conference room: "Three cases, what do they have in common? Silent or near-silent shootings. One could be a coincidence, two could be accidental, but three… that's no coincidence!"

He had kept quiet about it, but it turned out to be very useful. He made a contribution as soon as the special investigation team was established.

Even if he finds nothing in the end, he won't be punished, and he might even be able to continue slacking off in the special investigation team... He had already foreseen this day the day he started slacking off.

This skill of slacking off for twenty years is unstoppable.

The director took over the conversation, his voice resolute:

"This means we may not be investigating a single political assassination, but rather facing a serial killer using highly professional and efficient soundproofing equipment, and possibly possessing superb disguise or infiltration skills, or a criminal network employing such 'cleaners'! This 'silencer freak' or 'swamp man' may very well be directly connected to, or even the same person, the assassin who killed the politician!"

He turned to the audience, his tone leaving no room for argument: "We must immediately adjust the direction of the investigation and combine tonight's assassination of Representative Shinomiya with the previous assassination of Kenkichi Kuwata and the suicide of Miki Akiyama! Establish a joint task force. Yamamoto, you are in charge of coordination!"

"Yes!" Yamamoto Koji nodded.

"The search focus is no longer limited to tonight's sniping spots!"

The director continued, "Technical department, retrieve all on-site data and physical evidence from the cases of Kenkichi Kuwata and Miki Akiyama, especially any clues that may be related to custom-made firearms, silencers, or special ballistics! Intelligence department, re-examine the telephone club line and look for information on possible intermediaries or employers!"

"And there's Inspector Yoshioka, you investigated this line before, so you've joined the task force too!" He pointed to Yoshioka Akio in the audience.

Akio Yoshioka straightened up abruptly and replied loudly, "Yes, sir!"

Finally, his luck has turned around!

Finally, the director looked at Yamamoto Koji and thought that this old subordinate was the most reliable in critical moments. He was also very diligent in his work. It would be better to keep such a talent on the front line.

He casually asked, "Is there anything else to summarize?"

Yamamoto Koji took the microphone, looked at Hara Masaki who was standing in the corner deep in thought, and decided to give this junior a chance to shine in front of everyone. So he began:

"The police officer involved in the case on the night of Miki Akiyama's suicide was also in the conference room; he was the first witness... Hara-kun, is there anything you'd like to add?"

As soon as Yamamoto Koji finished speaking, all the detectives, commanders, and administrative officers in the conference room turned their attention to Hara Masao and Nishio Yusuke, who were standing in the back corner.

Yuan Zhensheng clearly felt that he had become the focus of the entire room.

Standing next to him, Yusuke Nishio was taken aback at first, but then a smile immediately spread across his face, with a hint of pride in his eyes—although Rin Shinomiya had collapsed, he had at least brought out Masaki Hara!

This is a truly promising talent!

He quickly nudged Yuan Zhensheng with his elbow, lowered his voice, and encouraged him urgently:

"Yuan-kun, don't be nervous. Just tell us exactly what you saw that night, clearly and completely. This is a task force meeting, so answer properly and don't embarrass us!"

Yuan Zhensheng pretended to be stunned, and within a few seconds, he sorted out his thoughts and decided to use Plan Three to confuse the public and interfere with the police investigation.

Therefore, he had to make up a perfect story on the spot.