"Kazuhiro… Kazuhiro!"
"Wait, Ms. Amano, you can't approach right now…"
…
After seeing Kazuhiro Ootaka's body, they finally understood why the police had called them over. At this point, Baishi and the others also learned that Ms. Toritsu Amano was the victim's girlfriend.
Noboru Washinuma, who had also visited the restroom, was a friend of Kazuhiro Ootaka, and along with Chizuru Tatsukawa, who hadn't gone to the restroom, the four of them were traveling together to the U.S. for a vacation…
"Wait, you're not just on vacation, are you? I overheard you talking about negatives and selling them for money! That sounds like something dangerous, doesn't it?" An older man, Tsuneo Utsukai, seated nearby, immediately called them out.
Earlier, when the plane was taking off, Utsukai had exchanged a few heated words with the victim over the noise from their seats.
"As expected…" Megure turned his gaze to the victim's three companions.
They didn't bother hiding anything…
"It's true. Kazuhiro got photos of a scandal involving a U.S. congressman who visited East Capital, so he planned to sell them for a good price…" Noboru Washinuma admitted, though he added, "It's not exactly a secret. A lot of people in the industry know about it."
Meanwhile…
Baishi, now wearing gloves, asked, "I'm going to check your personal belongings. Any objections?"
Although he didn't have a search warrant, meaning they technically had the right to refuse a search of their persons or belongings…
Not only would refusing make them look suspicious, but… looking at Baishi, all three nodded in agreement.
Only the Caucasian man, Edward, acted as if he didn't understand.
"Ugh, we'll need a translator…" Megure sighed, as his Spanish was nonexistent.
However…
"Chirigululu, gululuchiri." Baishi didn't give Edward the chance to play dumb, nor did he give Shinichi a chance to show off. He spoke fluent Spanish, engaging directly with Edward.
T/N: That's not Spanish thats galulu.
After all, not only was Baishi a legitimate Tokyo University master's graduate, but years ago, for the sake of investigations, he had allocated points to [Spanish]—only up to Level 6, but… it wasn't limited to one dialect. He could read, write, and communicate fluently in various forms of Spanish!
Even if Edward spoke in regional slang, Baishi could converse without issue.
Though Edward still wanted to resist, he felt immense pressure from Baishi…
Reluctantly, he nodded in agreement.
"Brother Baishi…" Megure called out to Baishi, who had already turned to start the search.
But seeing the serious look in Baishi's eyes as he turned back, Megure could only say, "I'll leave it to you…"
He could tell Baishi had another agenda.
And indeed, he did!
Baishi was investigating a case involving the Minister of Justice allegedly controlling yakuza groups, leading to multiple heinous cases where civilians were framed to create "miscarriages of justice."
Since most of these wrongful convictions weren't in East Capital, Baishi couldn't trace them to their roots and had to approach the issue from another angle.
For instance…
Cutting off the source!
He had uncovered that the funds for these yakuza activities largely came from international money laundering tied to a U.S. congressman, facilitated by the Minister of Justice.
The so-called "scandal" Kazuhiro Ootaka had photographed appeared to involve a U.S. congressman in East Capital engaging in inappropriate behavior with a woman. In reality, this woman was both the Minister of Justice's mistress and the wife of a yakuza boss—a case not just of a scandal but of sexual bribery!
Though the investigation had been halted, and Baishi had been ordered to take a leave after publicly challenging his superiors, he hadn't given up pursuing the case.
Baishi believed that if he could definitively prove the Minister of Justice's illicit connections with yakuza and the U.S. congressman, he could at least pressure his superiors to reopen the investigations into those wrongful convictions…
At the same time, Baishi told the flight crew, "Notify the captain. There's been a murder on board. To prevent the culprit from fleeing overseas, turn the plane around immediately!"
"Uh? That… requires applying for a route change…"
"Then apply for it now! I'm here, and there's no way this plane is continuing to the Americas. It's just a matter of how we turn back. This involves critical confidential matters, and a bomb to silence witnesses isn't out of the question!" Baishi casually threw out a threat.
"Alright… Okay."
Shinichi: …
Shinichi had wanted to say he could catch the culprit without the hassle of turning back, but… he vaguely sensed that Officer Baishi was deliberately finding an excuse to get the plane to return!
Baishi, now gloved, first searched Kazuhiro Ootaka's luggage. From the way he rummaged, it was clear he wasn't looking for evidence of the murder but searching for something specific!
And…
Baishi let out a regretful sigh.
As expected, just as the nearby passenger had said, Kazuhiro Ootaka had been carrying the negatives on him, and the body had clearly already been searched!
Baishi immediately moved to Edward's luggage…
From his [Microexpression Analysis], Baishi had already confirmed that Edward definitely understood Japanese and was just pretending otherwise!
With [Psychology] at Level 8 and [Insight] at Level 10, Baishi's mastery of microexpressions meant that unless the target was a highly trained agent or had [Mental Fortitude] above Level 8, it was nearly impossible to hide anything from him without him noticing.
Baishi was certain that Edward's journalist identity was likely a cover, and he was actually here on behalf of the congressman.
If Edward was the one who killed Kazuhiro Ootaka, the negatives might still be with him…
While Megure's team would conduct a body search, Baishi thought it more likely the negatives were in the luggage…
Unfortunately, he found nothing.
Baishi's face was now filled with regret…
"Officer Baishi, the other three could also be the culprit…" Shinichi said helplessly—your ulterior motive is way too obvious!
But Shinichi couldn't just start searching himself. After all, he wasn't with Inspector Megure or that seemingly spineless rookie from the First Investigation Section, but with Inspector Baishi, whose face screamed "don't mess with me"!
"Hm." Baishi turned his attention to the seats of the other three.
"Hm?" Baishi immediately noticed something.
He reached out…
From the gap in Toritsu Amano's seat, he pulled out a small piece of black film—a fragment of a negative—and his face darkened.
Shinichi was stunned—how did he spot that without even searching, just by glancing at the seat gap? What kind of eyesight is that?
"Inspector Baishi…" Seeing Baishi nearly crushing the fragment in his grip, Shinichi quickly spoke up to remind him.
Baishi exhaled slightly, took out an evidence bag, and placed the fragment inside.
"This evidence is already substantial… Judging by that woman's demeanor, a little interrogation should yield results," Baishi muttered, somewhat reluctantly.
Though he didn't know why…
It seemed Kazuhiro Ootaka's murder had little to do with the scandal negatives—it was his girlfriend who killed him!
To throw off suspicion, the negatives had been cut up, and the remaining pieces were likely flushed down the toilet. With one to two hours having passed, they'd probably become part of the "sky ice" by now, making them nearly impossible to recover.
The film fragment in the seat gap had likely stuck to her clothes and been brought back unintentionally.
"Wait, Officer Baishi, we haven't found the murder weapon or confirmed the method…" Shinichi interjected.
Baishi gave him a look like he was an idiot…
"The police and detectives are different. This item was carried by the victim and found in the seat of a suspect with motive. The fragment clearly has residual fingerprints, which contradicts her earlier statements…
"With this, we can make an emergency arrest. Within the 48-hour detention period, we can get her to confess the details you're talking about," Baishi said, uninterested in playing Shinichi's detective game of cracking the murder method.
Based on Toritsu Amano's demeanor, with the pressure of evidence like the "film fragment," a Level 5 interrogation would likely be enough to get her to confess the crime's details. The First Investigation Section had plenty of interrogation experts, some even at Level 7 or 8!
Even if she was stubborn enough to resist Level 7 or 8 interrogations, it didn't matter. Once the investigation direction was confirmed, a thorough probe into her life and environment to establish a motive would apply further pressure, making it easier to break her psychological defenses.
Hearing Baishi's explanation, Shinichi was visibly disappointed, but…
Recalling Baishi's actions, Shinichi's eyes lit up. "Inspector Baishi, if she's the culprit, don't you want to know who tampered with the body after the murder?"
That's right—based on the misaligned bloodstains on the wall and the dried water stains on the victim's pocket, someone else had searched the body after death!
After finding the film fragment, Baishi had given up on that lead. As for who tampered with the body… it was almost certainly Edward, who had a motive to find the negatives and wouldn't hesitate to search a corpse.
But since the negatives had been cut up and flushed, Edward likely found nothing…
However, Shinichi's words made Baishi realize something!
Since the negatives were destroyed by the culprit, and Edward searched the body afterward, he likely didn't know the negatives were gone and might assume someone else had taken them!
"You've got a point…" Baishi pocketed the evidence, clearly not intending to reveal it immediately.
(End of Chapter)