Chapter 167: Picking Up the Clues

"Ah-choo——!"

Sera Masumi, who had just sat down on the chair, suddenly covered her mouth and sneezed.

"Sister Sera, are you catching a cold?"

The beautiful traffic officer Miyamoto Yumi, from the Traffic Division of the Metropolitan Police Department, cast a worried look at Sera Masumi and asked softly.

"Impossible. My body is very strong."

Sera Masumi reached out to touch her forehead but didn't feel any fever.

She guessed inwardly that someone might be talking about her behind her back, but she didn't care and continued turning her head to look at the computer screen in front of her.

"The temperature has been fluctuating a lot recently. Sister Sera, remember to add more layers in time," Miyamoto Yumi said with concern as she sat down next to Sera Masumi.

---

Half a month ago, Miyamoto Yumi had promised Sera Masumi that she would go to her house to check the national highway surveillance footage from the car accident on August 23rd of last year.

Today was the day Miyamoto Yumi and Sera Masumi had agreed on to let her future sister-in-law review the surveillance footage.

---

Miyamoto Yumi skillfully pulled up the surveillance video from the entrance of the national highway and said to Sera Masumi:

"This is the surveillance footage from the national highway entrance closest to the accident site.

The car accident happened around 8:40 p.m., and it would take about 15 minutes to reach the crime scene from the entrance at a speed of 50 km/h."

---

'The entrance is about 12.5 kilometers from the crime scene...'

After listening to Miyamoto Yumi's explanation, Sera Masumi calculated the distance in her mind.

Then she heard Miyamoto Yumi continue:

"We reviewed all the motorcycles that entered the national highway between 8:15 and 8:33 so that we could include all motorcycles traveling at average speeds ranging from 30 km/h to 110 km/h."

---

Hearing this, Sera Masumi nodded again, thinking there was nothing wrong with the Traffic Division's investigative method.

After all, it was a national highway, and any motorcycle going either too fast or too slow would raise suspicion.

The range chosen by Miyamoto Yumi was already quite broad, so the murderer should have been included.

---

"During those 18 minutes, the number of motorcycles entering the national highway exceeded 400, and there were about 37 black motorcycles matching Akikawa's description, with riders also wearing black clothing.

Later, we used the surveillance footage from the exits to eliminate 26 motorcycles.

Based on the time it took for them to enter and exit the highway, it would've been impossible for them to have had time to commit murder."

---

"And among the remaining 11 motorcycles, six were traveling with friends who were also riding motorcycles.

That means, in the end, only five motorcycles were traveling alone and had the time to commit the crime.

Over the course of this investigation, four of those motorcycle owners were ruled out as suspects."

---

"What about the last one?" Sera Masumi asked.

"When the last motorcycle entered the highway, its license plate was obstructed by something, so we still can't confirm the identity of the owner," Miyamoto Yumi replied.

"What about its location at the exit?"

"That's the strangest part," Yumi said.

"We compared surveillance footage from multiple exits but couldn't find the motorcycle."

---

"Huh?"

Hearing Miyamoto Yumi's words, Sera Masumi felt something was off.

Miyamoto Yumi pulled up the footage of that section and pointed the motorcycle out to Masumi Sera.

---

Since the camera was aimed at the entrance and the motorcyclist was wearing a helmet, their face couldn't be clearly seen.

But based on their build, the motorcyclist appeared to be a woman, and quite slim.

The motorcycle sped past the entrance, and just as Yumi Miyamoto had said, its license plate was blocked.

---

After memorizing the appearance of the motorcycle and the rider's clothing, Sera Masumi asked Miyamoto Yumi to switch the footage to the exit and quickly began scanning the surveillance video.

"They really disappeared."

Masumi Sera stared at the computer screen while dragging the progress bar.

---

She checked the surveillance footage from multiple exits several times but couldn't find the slender motorcyclist.

"Could it be that after committing the murder and fleeing the scene, the person found an opportunity to turn around and exit through the entrance?"

"Impossible," Miyamoto Yumi denied Sera Masumi's speculation outright.

"There are metal guardrails and isolation strips between the forward and reverse lanes of the highway. It's impossible to make a U-turn on the national highway."

---

"But no matter how you think about it, it's impossible for a motorcycle to vanish into thin air on a highway."

"Unless a large truck picked it up on the highway, and the rider hid directly inside the truck after committing the murder to avoid the cameras and exit the highway."

"However, there's absolutely no reason to go to such lengths just to kill Akikawa Kyousuke and Akikawa Ryoko, two people who had no means to resist," Sera Masumi murmured to herself as she opened Google Satellite Maps.

---

After locating the national highway where the car accident had occurred on the satellite map, she began zooming in and moving the map forward along the route.

After scrolling for about ten kilometers, Masumi Sera suddenly discovered a section of the route where there was no barrier between the forward and reverse lanes.

"You can make a U-turn here!"

---

Miyamoto Yumi looked after hearing this, and a surprised expression appeared on her face.

"Oh, yes, this is the opening for emergency vehicles to make U-turns in case of accidents."

"If it's a motorcycle, it could make a U-turn even during heavy traffic."

---

Sera Masumi nodded and switched the footage back to the entrance.

"We thought the person would definitely exit through another exit, so we ignored the motorcycle leaving through the reverse lane at the entrance."

"It's impossible for a motorcycle to vanish into thin air. Since there's no sign of this motorcycle at any other exits, it's very likely it made a U-turn and exited through the entrance."

---

Sera Masumi said this and rechecked the surveillance footage from the entrance.

After nearly an hour of careful investigation, Masumi Sera found the familiar figure in the surveillance video at 9:34 p.m.

"She really turned around and went back."

---

The license plate on the back of the motorcycle was still blocked, but the location name and alias were revealed:

[Hakone City]

Although Masumi Sera couldn't see the full license plate, her face showed a very pleased expression.

---

License plates in smaller areas of Japan usually consist of the place name + kana + number.

The place name represents the location where the vehicle was registered, while the alias is random.

However, [わ] is an alias that cannot appear randomly on a license plate.

This is because it is an alias that can only be used on rental vehicles.

"In other words, this person rented the motorcycle in Hakone."

---

Hakone isn't a large city, and there are very few shops where motorcycles can be rented.

Masumi Sera searched online and discovered that only two stores in Hakone offered motorcycle rentals.

The Metropolitan Police Department had been unable to track down the last motorcyclist for a long time, but it took Masumi Sera just over three hours to pick up the clues.

---

"Thank you, Sister Miyamoto."

Sera Masumi stood up excitedly and walked straight toward the door.

"Hey, wait, Sister Sera, where are you going?"

Miyamoto Yumi called out to Sera Masumi.

At that moment, Sera Masumi had already opened the door. She leaned back slightly and smiled at Miyamoto Yumi.

"Hakone."

---

(End of Chapter)