Chapter 118: The Bizarre Suicide Case

"The deceased's name is Araki Mako, 28 years old. She lived in this villa with a woman named Hirotani Yayoi, who works as a photographer."

As Takagi spoke, he pushed open the villa's main door.

What came into view was an exquisitely decorated living room in a minimalist black and white style.

It was slightly less luxurious than the Suzuki residence, but not by much.

After all, in Fujino's eyes, there wasn't much difference between the villas of these wealthy families.

Fujino surveyed the opulent living room and then asked Takagi, "By the way, there was a murder case here before, right?"

"How did you know, Detective Fujino?" Takagi seemed a bit surprised. "There was indeed a murder case here a year ago. The victim died right in this living room."

"I guessed." Fujino chuckled.

Villas like this would require a considerable amount of money even for rent. Logically, if they were sharing the rent, their financial situation wouldn't be very good, and they wouldn't be able to afford such a villa.

But if a murder had happened here before, that would be a different story.

"Hirotani-san, who shared the villa with the victim Araki-san, went to a photography workshop two days ago and only returned this morning."

Takagi led Fujino up the stairs to the second floor. "But when she came back this morning, she found the door to Araki-san's bedroom locked. After knocking and calling out with no response, she felt something was wrong and called the police."

"Did Hirotani-san call the police immediately after finding the door locked and getting no response?" Fujino interrupted.

"That's right."

Takagi thought for a moment and continued, "After receiving the call, around 9:15 in the morning, nearby patrol officers came to this villa. They forced open the bedroom door and found Araki-san's body lying on the floor."

Upon hearing this, Fujino stroked his chin.

Generally speaking, after finding a locked door, the normal assumption would be that the bedroom's owner had gone out.

But how could Hirotani Yayoi be so certain that something had happened to Araki Mako...

Just a random guess?

Following that, the two arrived in front of the bedroom door of the crime scene.

Takagi, wearing white gloves, pushed open the door.

What came into view was a bedroom that didn't quite look like a girl's.

In Fujino's opinion, the only thing that resembled a girl's room was its tidiness and lack of odor.

Araki Mako's bedroom wasn't particularly large or small, about 30 to 40 square meters in size.

Opposite the bedroom entrance, there were two brown leather single sofas, with a small table in front serving as a coffee table. The coffee table was made of wood, and on its glass surface, there was a lone ashtray.

The ashtray was made of glass, and inside it, there were scattered cigarette butts of two different brands.

Turning to look at the other side of the room, a window came into view. At the end of the room, to the left of the window, there was a large gray wooden bed. To the left of the entrance to the bed was a nearly two-meter-tall wooden wardrobe.

Opposite the bed, on the left side of the window, was a wooden desk.

And the victim of this case was lying next to a chair in front of the desk.

In the small bedroom, apart from the somewhat cramped furniture layout, there were also numerous forensic officers in blue uniforms hurriedly examining the scene.

Among the many blue figures, a figure in a beige suit stood out.

"Officer Sato!"

"Fujino-kun, you're here." Hearing the familiar voice, Sato Miwako turned around and saw Fujino in a suit vest.

"So, the victim died from a gunshot wound?"

Fujino stepped forward, glanced at the body on the floor, and asked Sato Miwako about the victim's situation.

"That's right. Based on the initial forensic assessment, it was indeed caused by a gunshot."

Sato Miwako replied, "But to confirm whether it was the bullet from that particular gun, we need to take it back to the police station for analysis."

"Is that so?"

Fujino continued to ask, "I remember Inspector Megure mentioned on the phone that this case was a bit strange. What exactly is strange about it?"

"There's no problem with the body's posture; it seems to have slipped from the chair in front of the desk. The doors and windows were all locked. Normally, this case could be closed as a suicide...

But strangely, the gunshot wound on Araki-san's head is on the left side, while the hand holding the gun is the right hand. And we haven't found the key to lock the door from the inside in her room."

"Key?"

Hearing Sato Miwako's description, Fujino was surprised. "Normally, shouldn't doors have a lock on the inside?"

"Normally, yes, but this villa is a bit old. The door doesn't have an internal locking mechanism; it can only be locked with a key..."

"So I think this case might be a robbery with a gun. The perpetrator panicked after being discovered by Araki-san and shot her, then disguised the scene as a locked-room suicide and quickly fled."

After a pause, Sato Miwako looked at Takagi Wataru, "But Takagi here feels something is strange, so Inspector Megure asked you to come and take a look, Fujino-kun."

Takagi scratched the back of his head awkwardly, looking embarrassed. "I just feel that if it was a robbery and murder, the perpetrator shouldn't have overlooked Araki-san's obviously valuable watch."

"That's why I said the perpetrator hastily arranged the scene in a panic."

Sato Miwako let out a long sigh, "Not only did they mess up the position of the gunshot wound, but they even took the room key with them."

"But if it was a gunshot, shouldn't the people around have heard something?"

At this moment, Fujino, who had been listening, suddenly asked.

"Araki-san's estimated time of death was around 11 o'clock last night."

Takagi Wataru replied, "I remember there was a fireworks show in this area around that time last night. The gunshot sound was probably masked by the fireworks..."

"A murder disguised as a suicide?"

Fujino murmured as he slowly walked towards the window.

Was it really just a robbery case, as Sato Miwako said?

But why did something feel off?

Since the system issued a mission about a bizarre suicide, not a robbery and murder, there must be something else going on in this case.

Lost in thought, Fujino put on white gloves and went to the window.

After confirming that the window was locked from the inside, he turned around and examined the desk in front of the chair where Araki Mako had naturally collapsed.

In the center of the desk was an open leather notebook...

Upon closer inspection, he could see signs of pages being torn out from the seams.

And in the pen holder on the left side of the notebook, there was a seemingly expensive fountain pen.

Withdrawing his gaze, Fujino slowly walked towards the body, bent down, and began to examine Araki Mako's corpse.

Araki Mako was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and white casual pants. Her age matched what Takagi had said, and judging from her appearance, she was probably between twenty and thirty years old. She wasn't overly stunning, but she possessed a mature beauty.

However, the blood-red flower blooming on her left temple shattered that trace of beauty...

(End of Chapter)