Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner
Chapter 67: The Genius’s Final Masterpiece

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: The Genius’s Final Masterpiece

Once the Criminal Police Division files a case, it’s no longer just a private investigation.

Yamaguchi Takashi applied for a search warrant from the judge on the grounds of searching for missing persons. That night, the apartment building was cordoned off, and Yasukawa Seiji was taken to the police station for questioning while the officers took statements from each household. At the strong request of Yazaki Momo, Fushimi Roku and Minamoto Tamako were temporarily assigned to cooperate with Yamaguchi Takashi in handling the case.

As the Identification Officer was picking the lock, Yamaguchi Takashi extended an arm, placed his hands on his hips, and reprimanded, "Listen, you two rookies stay out of the way, don’t hold me back, and keep quiet once inside, got it?"

"Yes, sir!" Minamoto Tamako stood at attention and saluted.

Fushimi Roku just regarded Yamaguchi Takashi’s words as a fart. He wasn’t in the same department as Yamaguchi Takashi and had no desire for promotion, so he didn’t need to mind his attitude.

He gave Yazaki Momo a look, and she immediately understood. The two walked one after the other to the corner of the hallway. Once sure no one was around, Yazaki Momo pulled out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and expertly tapped out a filtered one: "Want one? Mild Seven, hope you don’t mind?"

"No, I don’t smoke." Fushimi Roku had never picked up the bad habit of smoking in this life, and he didn’t plan on becoming a chain smoker again.

Yazaki Momo didn’t mind, holding the slim cigarette between her lips. She lit it with a metal lighter, took a deep puff, then blew smoke rings in Fushimi Roku’s direction: "So, what’s up? Why did you call me?"

"I wanted to ask you for some information." Fushimi Roku didn’t blink.

Yazaki Momo leaned her shoulder against the wall and said, "Ask away, if I can tell, I will. If not, I can set a price."

"Are there any police boxes in Japan with high crime rates but idle patrol police?" Fushimi Roku knew it was a silly question, but he still wanted to ask.

"You might as well ask if there are any good wives and mothers in Kabukicho," Yazaki Momo replied.

"Okay, let’s pretend I didn’t ask..."

"Wait," Yazaki Momo pulled out a bent business card from her chest: "Are you interested in being my informant? If you come across any interesting cases, you can call me anytime. If it gets published, I’ll pay you a handsome reward."

Fushimi Roku took the card, which still retained some warmth. He glanced down at it and pocketed it, neither accepting nor rejecting the offer.

The two understood each other without words and ended the conversation.

When they returned to their spots, the Identification Officer had just unlocked the door. Yamaguchi Takashi was the first to step forward, putting on a headcover, gloves, and shoe covers as he entered the room.

Minamoto Tamako’s petite nose twitched slightly; she didn’t smell any decay or blood, but rather a strange scent resembling oleander, causing her to frown.

Why would someone place oleander in a room? What a peculiar habit...

The scent wasn’t strong, so others didn’t notice. Yamaguchi Takashi flicked the light switch but got no response, so he had to use a flashlight to scan the room.

The room wasn’t big, about ten square meters, and was in disarray. A table lamp was shattered, a small wooden table missing a leg was tilted on the floor, and a few books were scattered on the tatami, with some broken, curved tiles in the corner.

The furniture inside was pathetically sparse, with only a faded futon and a cabinet with photos. Minamoto Tamako approached, turned on her flashlight, and examined the strange photograph.

It was particularly narrow, presumably a family portrait, but the mother’s face had been cut out, leaving only her body holding a baby in swaddling clothes; the father’s entire body was cut out, leaving only an arm resting on his wife’s shoulder.

How had a whole family become so fragmented... The thought made Minamoto Tamako feel somewhat heartbroken, increasingly worried about the missing child.

Yamaguchi Takashi noticed a wooden stick in the corner, suspecting it might be the murder weapon, and asked the Identification Officer to take it back for examination.

"It’s not the murder weapon." Minamoto Tamako suddenly said.

She had deduced a lot of useful information after seeing the scene, but with the current clues, it was still impossible to locate the madwoman and the child.

Yamaguchi Takashi was embarrassed in public and became more displeased: "Didn’t I tell you to shut up? You—"

"A thousand apologies!" Minamoto Tamako interrupted quickly.

She had re-entered the state of Heart Flow for the case. With a child’s life at stake, she couldn’t afford to worry about honor or rank: "A child’s life is at stake right now, and there’s no time for a slow investigation. Would you all please step back and let me try reconstructing the scene using profiling?"

"Huh?! What nonsense? Who is your superior? Have them speak to me!"

Yamaguchi Takashi didn’t really think Minamoto Tamako was causing trouble. He had noticed at the airport that this little one genuinely had some skills. He was afraid that Minamoto Tamako might actually deduce some clues, stealing credit from the Investigation Division and embarrassing the entire Toyota Police Station.

Fushimi Roku inserted himself at the right time, falsely claiming that Yazaki Momo wanted to do a small interview with Yamaguchi Takashi, and also interview other officers about their investigation insights. Yazaki Momo heard this, understood immediately, and cooperatively took out pen and paper, posing for an interview.

"Count on you, future famous detective."

He sent all the officers outside, gave Minamoto Tamako a bit of encouragement, and urged, "Finish quickly so we can clock off."

"Leave it to me." Minamoto Tamako strained her small face.

She stood her flashlight on the cabinet, illuminating most of the room.

After taking several deep breaths, Minamoto Tamako slowly closed her eyes, clearing her mind of all distractions. Her self-consciousness sank as if into an icy seabed, deeper and quieter, with all the information rapidly integrating into her subconscious, almost like self-hypnosis reconstructing in her mind.

When she opened her eyes again, the room transformed into an independent world where she was its sovereign. Time reversed at her Will; she saw the broken-legged low table reassemble, the books scattered across the floor stacked again under the table; she saw the wooden stick lying between the windowsill and the cabinet, leaving a groove as the days passed... Time sped up, advancing rapidly along an axis.

With a crisp snap, Minamoto Tamako turned her head. The sun shone brightly outside, and time returned to the starting point as someone opened the door.

"From today, this will be our home," the girl said.

This was the first time Minamoto Tamako saw real people during a profiling session. The girl seemed only seven or eight years old, with braids and freckles dotting her face. She held the hand of a woman in a white dress as they entered the small room.

Minamoto Tamako stood by their side, like an invisible ghost.

In her eyes, everything was so real.

The woman in white’s face was indistinct, which was the norm during Minamoto Tamako’s profiling; she couldn’t see specific people.

But this girl had a clear face and a distinct voice.

Time accelerated again, their actions flickering like stop-motion, unnaturally fast. Eventually, time paused during a night. The girl stood on the low table, having just scraped the ceiling’s plaster, looked down and said, "Open your eyes."

Minamoto Tamako awoke from the profiling, with a trickle of nosebleed, but didn’t bother to wipe it, instead raising her head dazedly.

The ceiling was covered with uneven scrape marks and stains. As Minamoto Tamako angled the flashlight, the wall’s light and shadows formed two intricately detailed faces, one large and one small.

— The genius’s last work.

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