dmims Page 98
Page 98
"Something's up!" an officer whispered, his flashlight beam fixed on a corner at the far end of the warehouse.
There, behind a huge abandoned oil drum, a section of dark blue trouser leg was vaguely visible.
Yuki Takada's heart sank; his ominous premonition had come true.
He strode forward and walked around the oil drum.
A male corpse lay curled up there, dressed in the uniform of a hotel maintenance worker; it was none other than the missing Yosuke Hayakawa.
His face was bluish-purple, and his eyes were wide open, as if he had experienced great fear before he died.
The obvious ligature marks on the neck were the cause of death.
Preliminary assessments suggest that the time of death occurred around the time of Yasuda Akiya's murder, or possibly even earlier.
"Search! Thoroughly search the body and the surrounding area!" Yuuki Takada ordered, his face grave.
The action was too swift; it was clearly intended to silence them.
Yosuke Hayakawa knows too much, or perhaps he himself is part of a plan, used and discarded.
Fortunately, the police officers quickly stepped forward to take photos and collect evidence.
Yuuki Takada crouched down and personally inspected Yosuke Hayakawa's clothes.
The uniform pockets were empty; the killer had clearly cleaned them.
But when he lifted Hayakawa's arm, he noticed something unusual about the deceased's tightly clenched right fist, with a hint of a color other than skin showing through the gaps between the fingers.
“Pry his hands open,” Yuuki Takada gestured.
The forensic doctor carefully applied force and finally pried open the deceased's stiff fingers.
There was something lying prominently in his palm—a small, gold-plated cufflink, exquisitely designed, unlike anything an ordinary repairman would possess.
On the back of the cufflinks, there is a blurry English abbreviation: "NC".
“NC…” Yuki Takada muttered to himself, immediately thinking of “Nova Chemistry” where Kentaro Ishikawa worked.
Could this cufflink belong to Kentaro Ishikawa?
He was dressed in a suit and tie today, and he was indeed wearing cufflinks.
If it really is his, how did it end up in Hayakawa Yosuke's hands?
Was it torn off during the fight?
Or was it evidence deliberately left behind by Yosuke Hayakawa?
"Inspector Takada, we've found something else!"
Another officer scraped out a small amount of bright blue powder from the gap in the sole of Yosuke Hayakawa's shoe and reported, "This color is unusual; it doesn't look like something from a warehouse."
Yuki Takada carefully collected the powder and cufflinks in the evidence bag.
This cufflink is important physical evidence, but it could also be a deliberate misdirection left by the murderer.
The bright blue powder was an unexpected find; its composition needs to be analyzed when we get back.
"Search this warehouse thoroughly and see if there are any other clues, especially anything related to chemical experiments!" Yuki Takada ordered.
The team members then launched a more detailed search.
The warehouse was very large and filled with miscellaneous items.
About half an hour later, at the bottom of a broken toolbox not far from the body, in a hidden compartment, a small notebook wrapped tightly in waterproof tarpaulin was found.
Yuuki Takada put on gloves and carefully opened it.
The notebook was filled with seemingly random numbers, letters, and simple topographical maps.
Several pages repeatedly contain phrases such as "Delivery location: Warehouse No. 3 at the dock," "Target: Yasuda," and "Reward: Final payment upon successful completion."
On another page, there was a simple sketch of a chemical container with the note "Special Requirements: Thoroughly clean up after use; all traces should appear accidental."
This is clearly Yosuke Hayakawa's "work log," which records his involvement in actions against Akira Yasuda under orders.
However, the record uses the code name "Mr. K" to identify the person in charge.
Payment is made in cash, placed at a designated location, without direct contact.
“Mr. K…” Yuki Takada pondered.
Of the three suspects, the one whose name begins with the sound "K" is... Mizutani Kaine?
Her Romanized spelling does indeed contain the letter "K".
But Nishimura Koichi also has a "K".
Kentaro Ishikawa's name begins with "K".
At this point, it's impossible to determine the answer based on just one letter.
However, a detail mentioned in the notebook caught Takada Yuuki's attention:
After the handover instructions, Mr. K added a note: "Pay attention to the amount of ether used. Ensure the target is incapacitated and do not leave any obvious traces."
This perfectly matches the autopsy report's finding that the ether dosage was insufficient to be fatal!
The killer's dosage control was extremely precise; the purpose was indeed to subdue rather than directly poison the victim.
People with such precise chemical knowledge are far more likely to be Hiroichi Nishimura and Keine Mizutani than Kentaro Ishikawa, the business representative.
Kentaro Ishikawa may hire experts, but it's unlikely he would directly issue such specific operational instructions.
More importantly, the preliminary test results of the bright blue powder were quickly transmitted back via the vehicle's onboard equipment.
It is a relatively rare chemical tracer, often used to mark the flow of specific substances in scientific research laboratories and certain high-end industrial fields.
After remotely comparing the database, our technical staff discovered that Akira Yasuda's laboratory in the Department of Chemistry at Tokyo University had recently applied for this tracer for a classified project!
Yuki Takada immediately contacted Miwako Sato, who was staying at the hotel.
"Miwako, Yosuke Hayakawa's body has been found at the dock. He is already dead."
"We found his notebook, and the person in charge was codenamed 'Mr. K'."
"In addition, we found what appears to be Kentaro Ishikawa's cufflinks on him, but we need to verify whether he was wearing them today and whether they were missing."
"Focus your questioning on Keine Mizutani and Hirokazu Nishimura regarding the bright blue tracer, and who has the capability to precisely control the amount of ether used. Has any tracer from Yasuda Laboratory been lost?"
"What we are particularly concerned about is that Mizutani Keine's alibi needs to be rigorously re-verified. Hotel surveillance footage and internet login records cannot be relied upon solely based on the surface time points!"
“Understood!” Sato Miwako replied, “Inspector Takada, I also have a new discovery.”
“During our subsequent investigation of Mizutani Keine, she remained remarkably sad. However, when we mentioned that she was ‘reading documents’ in her room during the time of the incident, her description of the specific content of the documents became somewhat vague.”
"Furthermore, the technical department confirmed that the timing of the hotel server intrusion was very clever, occurring precisely between 6:35 and 6:50, which happened to cover the critical time period of the crime."
"Although the intrusion path was disguised, the physical address terminal that was traced... pointed to a network interface in a public area inside the hotel, which was close to the floor where Mizutani Keine's room was located."
The clues began to lean towards Mizutani Keine.
Yuki Takada left some people to continue investigating the dock site, while he himself quickly returned to the hotel with key evidence such as cufflinks and blue powder.
He needs to confront these suspects face-to-face.
Back in her temporary hotel room, Sato Miwako immediately reported the police officers' investigation to Takada Yuki: "Nishimura Hiroichi admitted that the laboratory had that bright blue tracer, but claimed that his research group had not used it recently and did not know the specific situation of Professor Yasuda's laboratory at present."
He stated that, in theory, any trained chemist could master the control of ether dosage.
Kentaro Ishikawa confirmed that he wore cufflinks today, but claimed that he went to the restroom in the middle of the party and found that one was missing. He thought it had fallen off accidentally and did not pay attention to it.
"He provided the brand and purchase records of the cufflinks, which largely matched what we found. However, he vehemently denied any contact with Yosuke Hayakawa."
“Mizutani Keine…” Sato Miwako’s expression was thoughtful. “At first, she said she didn’t know anything about the tracer, but after we showed her the lab’s receipt record, Yasuda Akiya’s signature, and Mizutani Keine’s handling of it, she changed her story and said that the teacher might have used it for some small experiment and she hadn’t paid much attention to it.”
"She seemed a little nervous about the dosage of ether, saying, 'The teacher taught me the safe dosage range.'"
"Most importantly, there was a loophole in her alibi—the technical department discovered her online activity, which included sending emails and browsing documents in the room."
"Although the IP address belongs to her room, analysis of traffic and operating habits suggests that there was a 'brief' interruption, which is highly likely that an automatic script was set up to run at some point to create the illusion of being online."
"That means she may have left the room around 6:40!"
A glint flashed in Takada Yuuki's eyes. This meant that Mizutani Keine's suspicion had increased dramatically.
She has a motive, which may stem from her dissatisfaction with Akio Yasuda, being involved in a conflict of interest, or unknown reasons such as love turning into hatred, which are consistent with the code name "Mr. K".
That Kentaro Ishikawa cufflink now seems more like a carefully orchestrated frame-up, an attempt to steer the investigation toward a business conspiracy.
The tracer on Hayakawa Yosuke's shoe soles was likely accidentally picked up from Mizutani Keine during his contact with her.
"Immediately apply for a search warrant and focus your search on Mizutani Keine's room and personal belongings, including her electronic devices!" Takada Yuki ordered, his voice cold. "At the same time, bring her here; I want to have another 'good talk' with her."
He deliberately emphasized the latter part of his sentence.
Mizutani Keine was invited back into the interrogation room.
This time, the sadness on her face seemed to have faded somewhat, replaced by an almost imperceptible wariness.
“Ms. Mizutani…we still have a few questions for you regarding Professor Yasuda.” Takada Yuki didn’t beat around the bush and directly pushed the bright blue powder photo and the photo of the cufflink from the evidence bag in front of her.
"Explain why the tracer unique to Yasuda Labs was found on the sole of Yosuke Hayakawa's shoe, the maintenance worker who was silenced? Also, do you really think this Mr. Ishikawa cufflink can perfectly mislead us?"
Mizutani Keine's pupils contracted slightly, and her hands, resting on her knees, unconsciously clenched.
She paused for a few seconds before speaking, "Officer, I don't understand what you're talking about. The tracer might have been contaminated by Yosuke Hayakawa sneaking into the lab. As for the cufflinks you mentioned... I have no idea about them either."
"Sneak in?" Yuuki Takada sneered. "Professor Yasuda's lab is strictly managed. How do you think a maintenance worker could sneak in and accurately locate this specific reagent?"
"As for the cufflinks, we have confirmed that Mr. Ishikawa lost them midway through the party, and at that time, you had every opportunity to come into contact with them—for example, by briefly appearing before or during the party to pick them up or... deliberately taking them."
Mizutani Keine's face began to turn pale.
Yuuki Takada pressed his advantage: "We've cracked your network alibi. You weren't even in the room around 6:40!"
"You used your familiarity with the hotel network, or perhaps through your own research to discover vulnerabilities, to set up an automated script to create the illusion that you are always online."
"In fact, you had plenty of time to go to room 1504—perhaps under the pretext of discussing data, to subdue Professor Yasuda with ether, and then carry out the assassination."
You are familiar with his research and know his usage habits of ether, so you can precisely control the dosage.
You might even have deliberately created that 'mysterious phone call' clue in an attempt to divert our attention to a non-existent criminal organization.
"You...you're talking nonsense!" Mizutani Keine's voice trembled, but a fierce glint flashed in her eyes. "I have no motive! My teacher is very good to me!"
"Motive?" Yuuki Takada stared intently at her. "Perhaps Professor Yasuda isn't as good as you seem?"