Chapter 57: Is He Mentally Ill?!

"Ligaments, skull fractures, concussions, subconjunctival blood vessel ruptures."

"What on earth is this person talking about?!"

Nishihara Koichi's heart began to fill with an intense panic and confusion.

He realized that everything had gone far beyond his expectations.

It was as if the "truth" determined by the detectives and the police was entirely different from what he had done.

Could it be that the police and the detectives were in cahoots, distorting the facts?!

Nishihara Koichi's back was already drenched in cold sweat, but to shake off any suspicions, his mind continued racing without stopping.

Suddenly, he realized another possibility.

"If the truth determined by the police and detectives is what they saw..."

"Then it can only mean that someone has performed a 'secondary processing' of the crime scene."

As for who actually did this, there was no need to think about it.

Apart from Akikawa Kyousuke, there could be no one else.

Koichi Nishihara discovered that as long as you consider that what the police and detectives were saying was true, it seemed like all the previous doubts had an explanation.

Why did the police investigation focus on Akikawa Kyousuke's motive instead of the actual deceased, Uesugi?

Because Akikawa Kyousuke also had injuries on his body that could reveal the attacker's murderous intent.

Why did the detectives and police consider Uesugi, who was clearly killed in the third act, to have died before the start of the second act?

Because Akikawa Kyousuke, in order to destroy his alibi, used some means to mislead the police and detectives about the time of the victim's death.

Why did Akikawa still recognize him as a man despite being well-disguised? Because Akikawa Kyousuke, determined to incriminate himself, had to guide the police and detectives' judgment.

Why did the police and detectives immediately think he had a murderous tendency just by mentioning the broken jaw?

It was likely that Akikawa Kousuke broke the deceased's jaw, allowing the detectives and the police to see signs that the "killer" had tortured the deceased.

And as for the so-called wig found in his bag? There's no doubt that Akikawa Kyousuke placed it there to incriminate him.

"Did he seriously injure himself just to make the police and detectives believe that I wanted to kill him?!"

"How could such a person exist?! He's mentally ill!!!"

Nishihara Koichi couldn't help but curse in his mind.

He had lived for almost thirty years, and this was the first time he realized that there were people like Akikawa Kusuke in the world, who thought differently from ordinary people.

But even at this moment, although Koichi Nishihara had figured out the whole story, he couldn't explain Akikawa Kyousuke's actions.

Because if he exposed it all, he would also reveal that he was the real killer.

So, he could only keep fighting for a chance based on not being a criminal.

"I don't think he could've done it perfectly in such a short time."

Koichi Nishihara thought to himself and shouted at the police officer who was already examining the wig:

"Akikawa must have framed me! I swear, I've never seen this wig before!"

"Check my room's door and the zipper handle. There must be someone else's fingerprints!"

Megure Juzo was somewhat impatient as Nishihara Koichi shouted at him.

He then turned to look at the forensics officer.

The forensics officer understood and took out fingerprint detection tools and reagents, heading into Nishihara Koichi's room.

He began checking the fingerprints on the inner and outer door handles, and then confirmed the same on the zipper handle of Nishihara Koichi's bag.

Just as Koichi Nishihara was convinced that Akikawa Kousuke would definitely leave a flaw here, he heard the forensic officer say:

"We've confirmed that only Mr. Nishihara's fingerprints are on the zipper handle, and there's no evidence of any erasure on it."

"On the door handles inside and outside of Mr. Nishihara's room, there are only Mr. Nishihara's fingerprints."

When Koichi Nishihara heard the forensic officer's voice, he felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck him.

Chiba Kazunobu looked indifferently at the pale Nishihara Koichi, then said with some confusion:

"By the way, why did you need to wet this wig? Was it to remove the bloodstains on it?"

"That's right," Sera Masumi nodded.

"When hair is twisted, it becomes as hard as a rope, so whether it's real hair or a wig, it can be used as a weapon to strangle someone."

"Moreover, using hair to kill has two advantages over using a rope."

"First, choosing a wig to strangle can effectively prevent cord remnants and fibers from being left on the wound."

"Second, whether it's real or synthetic hair, as long as it's moistened with water, it won't leave fingerprints."

"You can even remove the victim's blood by wetting the hair."

"If you have enough time, you can simply rinse it with water to erase all traces from the wig."

Sera Masumi spoke, holding the wet wig in her hands and examining it closely.

"Mr. Nishihara obviously knew this, so he chose the wig that could be found everywhere in the storage as the murder weapon."

"It's a pity that the timing of Akikawa's appearance forced him to leave hastily, meaning he likely didn't have enough time to clean the wig completely, possibly leaving flaws."

As Sera Masumi spoke, she looked at the forensic officer next to her.

"Could you please use luminol reagent to recheck for bloodstains?"

"Alright," the police officer nodded, took out the luminol reagent, and re-examined the wig in a dark environment.

After spraying the luminol reagent on the wig, a bluish-white light clearly appeared on part of the wig.

"Confirmed, there is blood on the wig."

"Alright, then we just need to do a DNA test. Once we confirm that the blood is from the deceased Uesugi, we can prove that the wig was the murder weapon that killed Uesugi."

Sera Masumi calmly instructed the forensic officer.

But her voice did not reach Nishihara Koichi's ears at all.

As for whether the bloodstains on the wig came from the deceased, there was no need to wait for the DNA test results.

At that moment, Hiroshi Nishihara appeared pale.

His mind, which had been dazed by continuous blows, had been fixated on Akikawa Kyousuke.

"A normal person being framed..."

"Shouldn't their first reaction be to shout, rush out, and then report the facts to the police and detectives?"

"How could someone, after being framed, keep thinking about it?"

"Risk being judged as the killer and return the blame to the killer."

"Why would anyone do that?"

"What good would it do them?"

Koichi Nishihara found that he couldn't understand Akikawa Kyousuke's thinking at all.

He tried to put himself in Akikawa Kyousuke's shoes.

This was a technique commonly used by actors to understand the role they needed to play.

Koichi Nishihara imagined himself as a victim who had been framed and attacked.

He closed his eyes and immersed himself in it.

Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine and reached the top of his head.

Because he found out that after assuming the role of the madman who didn't hesitate to harm himself, he also wanted the police and detectives to uncover the true killer's motive.

My first reaction when I realized I was being framed was not confusion or fear; it was not wanting to prove my own innocence.

Instead, I wanted to use the same method to take revenge.

And in an even worse way.

*Note: Although hair, whether real or fake, is unlikely to leave fingerprints once moistened, compared to synthetic fibers, natural human hair may still have a slightly higher chance of retaining bloodstain traces, especially if a large amount of blood is involved and it is not washed promptly.*

*Additionally, the technique mentioned in this chapter where actors imagine themselves as the character, assume the role, and understand the character is often referred to as "method acting."*

**(End of Chapter)**