-THE FOUR SUSPECT

We all come to the office due to Soe San's instructions. The case of the 7th victim is going to be investigated by Team A, and they are trying to find the victim's identity. Then, suddenly, Soe San came to the office.

"Okay, everyone, I know that it is already passed 11 o'clock and you are all exhausted, but we don't have time to rest."

"We're all aware, captain, that today will be a sleepless night."

"That's right, Kay, we needed to find the killer of Shizuka Minamoto before we got to sleep."

Now I get it: Soe San gave the investigation of the 7th victim to Team A because he knew that if we wanted to investigate the Shizuka Minamoto killer without interruption from higher-ups or other team members, we needed to distract them with another high-profile case.

"So, Captain, did they identify the 7th victim that we found today?"

"Yes, Satoru, the last victim of the serial killer was a student. Her name was Izumi Orio."

"Soe San, what about the missing persons that I asked you to find?"

"Don't worry, the chief has already prepared everything for that."

"What preparation are you talking about, Captain?"

Kay San asked with a puzzled face. ohh! I forgot to tell my team members about it, and now that I've realised it, they're all staring at us with puzzled expressions.

"Actually, even if we find the killer's identity in time, we are not certain that the serial killer will release the captive, so I asked Soe San to thoroughly investigate missing person cases with another team."

"Oh, now I see." That is a good job, Captain.

Then Testa San put a photo on the white board; that is the photo of Shizuka Minamoto. Then Testa started to explain all the data collected about Shizuka Minamoto.

"Her profession was coroner, and she wasn't from our country. She was born in Germany and moved to this country to study; her fiancé is also a resident here. But her Fiance gone to another country two days before she died, and she has two friends in the medical field with whom she spent more time. This is all the information we get from her roommate, and the day she died, she was actually planning to meet her friends at 7 o'clock at night, and she always comes late at night, so her roommate went to sleep without checking on her."

Ray San then stood up and went near the white border to place four photos under Shizuka Minamoto, while Testa San went to get some tea, and Ray San picked up where Testa San left off.

"These are the four people she was planning to meet, and the first two are her friends in the medical field; her first friend name is Aiko, and her second friend name is Chiaki. Fuyuko and Hana are classmates at the Aiko School. They always conduct parties in Aiko's house with all their family members together during holidays, and Shizuka also regularly participates in this get-together. Shizuka was introduced to them for the first time by Aiko at the party on Exmoor Mountain.

"Whaa..at"

That news is a sudden shock to me. Everything is connected in some way. If I want to find the truth, I need to connect every dot before anything happens to that captive.

Then Ray San drew a circle around the four friends of Shizuka Minamoto.

"From what I've heard from Kay and Shuna, who checked their alibi and asked their neighbours about them, I believe these four girls are the killers, or one of them is the killer."

"Is there any vital information?"

Then Kay San came near to the white border, and he pointed his fingers at the photo of the four friends of the victim (Shizuka).

"When we read Team A's document, they stated that the four people who did not see victim on the day she was murdered . Fuyuko and Hana stated that they knew very little about her and that the only thing they knew about the three of them was that Shizuka Minamoto , Aiko and Chaiki are co-workers in the hospital."

"Is there a problem with their statements, Kay San?"

"Yes, the four people's statement is a lie."

So the four people are hiding something, and they don't want the police to know about it. Something must have happened that night between them.

"What makes you believe that four people are lying, Kay San?"

"Because the neighbours of Aiko stated that they saw Shizuka Minamoto heading to Aiko's house, and Fuyuko was Shizuka's patient, and Hana was her partner."

"So the four people are hiding something."

"That is correct, Captain."

I believe Soe San believes one of the four girls is the killer, but what about her fiancé, who went to another country at the right time after her death, and her roommate, who can also lie?

"But what about her roommate and fiance?"

I was about to ask that question, but Soe San asked it before me.

"No, her roommate has an alibi at the time murdered occurred. The time the murder occurred was 9:30 to 11 o'clock at night, and at that time she was speaking with her friend in the college. I checked the call record, and about her fiance, he never visited this country after he left, but I have arranged a video call meeting with him tomorrow at 10 o'clock."

So, if we get a satisfactory response from his dispatcher detail, we can cut him off the suspect list.

"And there is one more reason that I think they are the killer."

Then Soe San and I looked at Kay San, wondering what she was going to say.

"Shizuka Minamoto, Aiko, and Chiaki both work in the case of the serial killer Anubis, so they know how the killer kills the victim and so they can mimic that killing style."

Yes, that's right, the reporters only know that serial killer Anubis draws an ankh on the stomach, but the news reporters don't get any photos of the victim after they've been murdered by the serial killer. So the killer can't confidently replicate it, so he'll try something else to hide his crime, but here the killer mimicked the style of serial killer Anubis because he knew about it well. Then Aiko and Chiaki are the main suspects, and the other two can be their accomplices. What was the reason they killed her? We needed to find out.

"What is the financial status of Aiko and Chiaki?"

"When compared to the three of them, Shizuka is financially poor. That is what Shuna told me."

"Then what about their family?"

"Aiko is divorced, and I don't know why? The people I questioned never told me anything about that, and her husband was her senior when she first joined, and I heard he is now married to someone else, but some people say it is not true."

"And Chiaki, what about her?"

"She is very rich, and she is married to her co-worker, but two days ago he fell down the stairs of the hospital. He is now on bedrest, and the doctor says it will be extremely difficult for him to walk from now on, so Chiaki is taking care of him."

I can't think of anything that would motivate them to murder Shizuka Minamoto. The only possibility I get now is that Shizuka Minamoto was murdered by accident, and they tried to cover that fear lest they become criminals in public.

"What is the reason for them to kill, or what is the reason for them to lie?"

"I think I know the answer to your question, Satoru."

Shuna San suddenly got up from her seat, and we all eagerly waited to hear what she had to say.