Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner
Chapter 263 - 184 Good Criminals and Bad Police

Chapter 263: Chapter 184 Good Criminals and Bad Police

Nakako, the princess, was unaware and spoke honestly that the tea was picked from the rear tea garden.

Prince Akihito cherished that patch of tea trees dearly during his lifetime. Each year, he carefully sealed and stored the harvested tea leaves, made them into tea cakes, and never served them to guests—only occasionally would he take out a piece or two to brew tea and drink alone.

Upon hearing this, Minamoto Tamako felt a sense of relief, realizing Nakako had no knowledge of it either, suggesting they might have overthought. She followed Nakako to the backyard, where surely enough, there was a tea garden. The branches were dense, appearing somewhat desolate in the rain.

Nakako held an umbrella and led Minamoto Tamako to inspect up close. Tiny tea buds sprouted from the axils of the branches, resembling fungal spots. Minamoto Tamako pinched a little fresh sprout, rubbed it between her fingers, smelled it for a moment, and her eyes lit up.

Yes, this is the scent!

She clapped her hands and continued questioning Nakako on their way back to the house, wanting to know if she had ever seen any strange figures in the pavilion on rainy days.

"Ah, Mako is frail. Whenever it rains, I keep the doors and windows tightly shut to prevent her from catching cold."

The mountain wind brushed against Nakako’s temples, as delicate as silken threads. She turned back to look at the tea garden, her face reflecting nostalgia, her eyes mixed with sorrow over the desolate backyard: "In the past, we would all huddle in the bedroom, and Akihito would brew good tea, making the room warm. He always said that one day, our whole family could enjoy flowers in the spring rain..."

Upon hearing this, Minamoto Tamako suddenly felt a bit heartbroken.

During the cherry blossom season, going out with the whole family to admire the blossoms is a Japanese tradition. Regardless of status, everyone can enjoy the scenery as visiting parks to see flowers is free, only needing to secure a good spot beforehand. The only problem is the frequent light rains in spring, stopping and starting, which Akishino Mako’s body surely couldn’t handle. It felt like she was a caged golden canary, never free.

Even if she wanted to console Nakako, she didn’t know what to say.

Nakako’s husband and daughter both passed away, leaving her alone to guard the vast old house... being a princess, what meaning does it have?

After a long silence, Minamoto Tamako followed Nakako back indoors, secretly resolute to uncover the truth behind Akishino Mako’s death, to console the departed spirit and comfort the living.

The next person to be questioned was Yazaki Momo. Minamoto Tamako hadn’t listed her as a suspect, focusing the inquiry on whether there were any eyewitness clues.

Yazaki Momo pondered for a while and claimed that while going to the restroom, she faintly heard water sounds in the hall. She didn’t pay much attention at the time, thinking it was rainwater coming in. Now thinking about it closely, it didn’t seem like rain dripping but more like the sound of swimming gulps.

Minamoto Tamako noted this lead and continued the summons. The next person to be questioned was the assistant, but he knew nothing. Whether about the spirit summoning ceremony or the curse of the dead, he claimed ignorance, saying he did everything according to Lady Oogami’s instructions.

Finally, Minamoto Tamako didn’t forget to question Doctor Fukuyama, who was mixing medication in his room, saying it was to calm Nakako. He was unaware of what was happening outside.

After the questioning ended, everyone gathered in the hall, each vigilant, with no one daring to approach the sofa, instead leaning against the corners.

Minamoto Tamako didn’t gather any valuable leads. On the surface, no one present had a motive for murder. She was at a loss and planned to discuss it with Fushimi Roku.

Cracking a case requires collective wisdom! The delicate utterances of a foolish assistant often bring inspiration to a great detective. That’s how it’s portrayed in TV shows...

Minamoto Tamako returned to the hall to see Fushimi Roku still fiddling with that broken box. She hurried over and quietly asked what Fushimi Roku was doing. Without turning his head, he stroked the grain of the wooden box with his fingers, saying, "There’s a hidden compartment inside with a lot of space, and whatever’s inside is heavy."

"Huh? But that’s someone else’s property!" Minamoto Tamako tugged on Fushimi Roku’s sleeve and glanced at the assistant, feeling quite guilty as she advised, "How can you open someone else’s box in front of everyone like this? At least take it to the evidence room to open it, right?"

Annoyed by her, Fushimi Roku shot a sidelong glance and countered, "Didn’t you say you wanted to crack the case? How do you have time to meddle in me opening a box?"

That’s just the opportunity Minamoto Tamako was waiting for. She took the chance to explain the questioning process, asking Fushimi Roku for his opinion. With a ’truly amateurish’ expression, he just looked at her, without saying a word.

"What? Was something done wrong?"

This was Minamoto Tamako’s first time leading an investigation. In the past, she always assisted, so she was somewhat lacking in confidence: "If you have any suggestions, just say it..."

Fushimi Roku’s eyes scanned the room, taking in all the vices above everyone’s heads.

Yazaki Momo’s vice was "information hoarding obsession";

The assistant’s vice was "death anxiety disorder";

Ono Ken’s vice was "revenge of blind loyalty";

Nakako’s vice was "obsession with the souls of the departed";

Fukuyama Toshin’s vice was "despicable parasitic man."

Fushimi Roku observed the vices of so many people and summarized a pattern: the system only displays the most intense vice, and the most intense vice often hides deep within the human heart.

At first glance, it appears to be a negative label.

Moreover, committing murder does not cause an evil value fluctuation. Fushimi Roku theorized that only a person with an extremely high evil value would commit murder; not committing murder first and determining the corresponding evil value later... just as Instructor Shirata said, there are good criminals and bad police in this world.

As far as Fushimi Roku was concerned, he didn’t care how Oogami Nui died, nor who the murderer was. He only wanted to know how the anomalies in the spirit summoning ceremony were accomplished.

After listening to Minamoto Tamako’s questioning process, he finally understood what was going on.

Fushimi Roku patted the wooden box and leaned against it, looking down to ask Minamoto Tamako: "You’ve read so many detective novels, let me test you now: What is a phrase all detectives are likely to say when questioning suspects?"

Minamoto Tamako was quite annoyed with Fushimi Roku’s condescending posture and his ’let me test you’ attitude, as if it was something impressive. She pouted and hummed, saying, "Once all the impossibilities have been eliminated, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth!"

"Wrong," Fushimi Roku replied.

"Don’t tell me it’s ’I am Makato Nami, and I’m only interested in money’?" Minamoto Tamako squinted, feeling this phrase suited to be Fushimi Roku’s motto.

"Wrong," Fushimi Roku replied.

"Why always keep people in suspense?" Minamoto Tamako frowned, reaching into his collar to retrieve her sunglasses: "And what does this have to do with the murder case? This kind of suspense is very annoying!"

Upon hearing this, Fushimi Roku straightforwardly revealed the answer: "It should be ’I treat all suspects equally; everyone is suspect, including myself.’"

"What does that mean?" Minamoto Tamako didn’t understand.

"During your questioning, you didn’t treat everyone equally," Fushimi Roku raised an eyebrow: "For instance, did you question me?"

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.