"Following the above deduction, all that is needed is to deceive Ichikawa Akiyuki, have her disguise as herself at eleven o'clock and appear at the mouth of the alley, let people witness it, and this series of simultaneous murders in two locations can be completed!"

The lawyer slammed the table with both hands, feeling a lack of confidence, and could only bolster his momentum with such a method: "That's far-fetched! How could the deceased willingly disguise themselves as the killer?!"

Minamoto Tamako paused again, this time Fushimi Roku was skillfully cooperative as usual, and immediately picked up the conversation:

"What's impossible about that? It's quite simple, just tell the wife 'I really want to return to our happy life before, but that woman clings to me like a leech, and she's holding something over me, so I have no choice but to succumb'; and then say to the lover 'as long as the wife is out of the way, I can rightfully marry you', easily manipulating both women in the palm of his hand..."

Upon hearing this, the lawyer began to feel something was amiss; he couldn't help but look back at Fushimi Roku, scrutinizing him with an inexplicable gaze, then turned back to Minamoto Tamako, giving her the same look.

Minamoto Tamako continued with her deduction, connecting Fushimi Roku's words, and said: "The two police stations were different investigation departments, a lot of information wasn't shared. That's why the killer chose to commit crimes in separate locations, but unfortunately..."

"Unfortunately, if you hadn't come, everything would have been perfect." Kujo Hikari interrupted.

Minamoto Tamako finally came to her senses, realizing that the nominal uncle was no longer exuding his previous arrogance, but rather a sense of despair and defeat. She didn't know what to say for a moment, so she maintained a professional demeanor, put her feet down from the chair, straightened her back, discreetly wiped the saliva from her thumb, and earnestly said:

"Don't resist stubbornly, confess, and with good behavior, you might get a reduced sentence."

Upon hearing the words 'confess', Kujo Hikari trembled slightly. He lifted his head slightly, his lower sclera particularly terrifying, exhibiting a sense of desperate madness: "No, I won't confess."

Minamoto Tamako was taken aback, about to criticize when she saw Kujo Hikari beckoning and saying to her: "You have no evidence! Moreover, your deduction has flaws... come here, I'll tell you the whole truth..."

"There will definitely be evidence, just take the deceased's photos and confront the eyewitnesses, the truth will come to light..."

Minamoto Tamako retorted, then couldn't help but ask: "But, where is the flaw in the deduction?"

Kujo Hikari continued to beckon: "Come closer, I'll tell you in private..."

Minamoto Tamako believed him, coming down from the main interrogation seat, thinking that this was probably the moment in detective dramas where the perpetrator tearfully confesses their inner journey.

She was still pondering over what line she should deliver to demonstrate the style of a famous detective once this was over.

Perhaps refuting the selfish reasons of the culprit: 'No, everything you've done is purely out of private desire, inarguable', or perhaps fundamentally rejecting the notion that evil acts have justification: 'Regardless of the reasoning, people must pay for their mistakes'...

She walked to the other side of the interrogation table, craned her neck, and leaned closer to Kujo Hikari, still curiously asking: "What's wrong with the deduction?"

"Let me tell you..."

Kujo Hikari's fingernails bled from the pressure as he suddenly opened his mouth, lunging at Minamoto Tamako's neck!

The lawyer was shocked, Minamoto Tamako didn't react in time, only hearing a 'thud' from Kujo Hikari's forehead, as Fushimi Roku smacked him on the head, causing him to fall back with the chair collapsing beneath him.

Minamoto Tamako was startled, finally realizing what had happened. She nervously felt her neck, confirming that her delicate white neck was unharmed, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Learned your lesson?" Fushimi Roku glared at Minamoto Tamako and said: "Do you understand now why you should keep your distance from suspects?"

Minamoto Tamako's first reaction was confusion, she couldn't help but question Kujo Hikari why he wanted to kill her, after all, she was just stating the truth.

Kujo Hikari was knocked senseless by the slap, hitting his head again, rendering him unable to respond.

Fushimi Roku had to answer for him: "You ruined the rest of his life, why wouldn't he want to kill you?"

Minamoto Tamako stuttered: "But, he, he killed two people and ruined two families... why doesn't he reflect on his wrongdoings?"

Fushimi Roku felt her reasoning process was deeply flawed, but he'd somewhat grown accustomed to it over time, casually replying: "Yes, you're innocent, and aggrieved, and you have reason, but he still wants to kill you, so what do you do? Convince him to become a monk for good? Don't take things for granted."

Realizing something was off, Minamoto Tamako questioned: "Since you saw it, why didn't you warn me? If you'd said something, I would not have gotten so close!"

Fushimi Roku didn't reply, pretending not to hear, he opened the interrogation room door and called the officers in the police station to get a doctor, while arranging for others to take the photos to find eyewitnesses for verification.

"Were you planning this from the start, a hero saving the damsel in distress?" Minamoto Tamako pursued closely: "Or did you intend to educate me like you educate Sakurako, making me learn my lesson through setbacks?"

The answer was both, but Fushimi Roku wouldn't admit it, so he argued: "You're overthinking it, I just zoned out for a moment and didn't react, allowing him to exploit the opportunity."

"What were you thinking about, zoning out?" Minamoto Tamako persisted inquisitively.

As the two chatted, Sapporo Police Station was in a frenzy. The criminal police were busy arranging for medical assistance, assigning personnel to organize interrogation records, printing out deceased photos and confirming witness testimonials again... all in all, many tasks needed wrapping up, but these had nothing to do with Minamoto Tamako, since she wasn't part of the Road Police.

Fushimi Roku also dealt with Minamoto Tamako, taking Taira Sakurako along, quickly exiting the police station, and casually lied: "I was thinking about how to inform your grandfather after solving the case."

"Just tell the truth, really," Minamoto Tamako felt slightly proud: "We passed his test, opened our hearts to each other, had a tacit understanding, and solved the murder case..."

She hadn't finished her sentence when the pink flip phone in her pocket rang; at the same time, Fushimi Roku's phone also rang.

Minamoto Tamako answered her call first: "Hello... ah, Grandpa, about the murder case, I have good news to tell you..."

Then, she showed a surprised expression: "What? You already know? So soon? Okay... I'll be right back."

After she finished the call, Fushimi Roku slowly pulled his phone from his pocket and answered: "Hmm... I see... okay."

Seeing this, Minamoto Tamako asked: "Who was that?"

Fushimi Roku felt her mental state was inconsistent: "Who else could it be? It was your grandfather calling me to meet at the Kujo Family... he said the same to you, right?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Minamoto Tamako found it a bit odd: "The case was just solved, and Grandpa is rushing us to meet, isn't it a bit too urgent? Can't the reward come a couple of days later, at least let us rest for a day."

"Reward?" Fushimi Roku picked up on the keyword: "What benefit did he promise you?"

"Nothing, does he need to promise anything?" Minamoto Tamako scratched her head; traditionally speaking, shouldn't there be a small reward for helping out?

Even as a kid, she used to get little red flowers from her mom for doing the dishes!

Fushimi Roku was speechless, he called a taxi and without hurrying to the Kujo residence, first found a restroom for Taira Sakurako, who had a stomach ache after eating a large ice cream.

This time, Minamoto Tamako wasn't in a rush, considering it no big deal. There was no haste to flaunt accomplishments to Grandpa, and after Sakurako dawdled in the bathroom for an hour, they took a taxi to visit Grandpa.

They were typically greeted by a butler, but this time were led directly to Kujo Mutsumi's intimate study instead of the usual Japanese room.

When Fushimi Roku opened the door, he could smell the faint scent of cypress wood mixed with the lingering bitterness of some herb being burned.

Inside, the walls were lined with black walnut bookshelves; on the left wall hung a Japanese sword, and by the sliding door a celadon incense burner wafted thin wisps of smoke, creating an elegant atmosphere.

Kujo Mutsumi sat behind his desk, wearing a casual suit without leaning on a cane, working on some paperwork.

"Here? Sit... I'm almost finished here."

Kujo Mutsumi gestured for them to sit across from him, while the butler led Sakurako out to play. Minamoto Tamako figured there wouldn't be any kidnappers in the Kujo Family, and she had now gained some insight, recognizing that Grandpa intended to discuss private matters, so she let Sakurako go play by herself for now.

Fushimi Roku had an inkling of what Kujo Mutsumi might want from them, also knowing that Kujo Mutsumi probably was keeping tabs on them both.

If Kujo Mutsumi hadn't summoned them, it would've been fine, but calling them urgently like this also meant those witnesses, namely the restaurant and hotel staff, were likely to be in trouble...

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