Chapter 117: Indeed, I Didn't Kill Anyone

Ding

The clear mechanical sound of the system echoed in Akikawa Kyousuke's mind.

At the same time, a translucent blue system interface appeared before his eyes.

---

[The projection room is closed. The criminal trials are listed one by one, and in the face of accusations from the unlimited criminal police officer Toda Kyouji, what choice will you make?]

1. Confess to your crime obediently.

Reward: Agility +3, Skill Card x1.

2. Refuse to admit it.

Reward: Temporary Trait Card x1, Specific Card x1.

3. Frame Toda Kyouji as a criminal.

Reward: Physique +3, Recovery Card x1.

4. Kill Toda Kyouji.

Reward: Physique +5, Temporary Skill Card x1.

---

Faced with the sudden system notification, Akikawa Kyousuke was not surprised.

'As expected, my guess was correct.'

Akikawa Kyousuke looked at Toda Kyouji, who was standing before him with a victorious smile, and pondered.

Indeed, the situation was almost exactly as he had deduced the day before.

As he anticipated, Toda Kyouji had uncovered the truth of the matter through Koichi Nishihara and Ohga Takao.

---

'Koichi Nishihara has been completely cut off for assaulting a police officer, and the case surrounding the film festival must also be the result of Toda Kyouji's manipulation to force a confession from Ohga Takao.'

'Given that an attack on a police officer occurred at the Metropolitan Police Department, there's a high probability that Toda Kyouji deliberately provoked the other party, leading to the attack.'

'Ohga Takao doesn't seem like the type to tell the truth willingly.'

'In that case, both Ohga Takao and Koichi Nishihara likely share the same fate, don't they?'

---

Akikawa Kyousuke wasn't concerned about his secret being exposed.

On the contrary, after deducing what Toda Kyouji had done to Koichi Nishihara and Ohga Takao, he felt much more at ease.

After all—

'Koichi Nishihara and Ohga Takao must have lost the ability to continue exposing me after Toda Kyouji tricked them into confessing.'

'So, as long as Toda Kyouji can be silenced, the matters related to my two previous cases will be completely buried.'

Akikawa Kyousuke reached a conclusion in his heart.

---

However, one thing did slightly surprise him.

The car accident case had also been brought up by Toda Kyouji.

In truth, Akikawa Kyousuke knew very little about the car accident case.

Most of the information he used in his confession was based on details inadvertently leaked to him by the detective Takuto Nakajima, which he leveraged to avoid responsibility.

But when Akikawa Kyousuke found the three life insurance policies in the original owner's house, he realized that he himself was the insured party.

The entire case had already been invalidated.

After comparing the handwriting, Akikawa Kyousuke confirmed one thing: the sleeping pills must have been taken by the original owner themselves.

---

However, Akikawa Kyousuke lacked sufficient information.

As a result, he had yet to grasp the full picture of the car accident case.

'I wasn't interested in the original owner and his mother's affairs in the first place.'

'But since Toda Kyouji brought up the car accident case now, I might be able to gather more information from him that only the police know.'

'This is truly fortunate. This guy seems to have a pretty sharp mind.'

---

To Akikawa Kyousuke, an intelligent person is always much easier to manipulate than a fool.

This is because intelligent people always believe in what they see and judge for themselves.

Just like when a person is electrocuted, their pupils dilate, and their muscles contract. These are physiological reactions.

To highly observant detectives and investigators, microexpressions are akin to writing on a person's face, revealing what they're thinking at the moment.

---

'Toda Kyouji must already know that my acting skills are excellent.'

'Perhaps he's guessed that I can easily control muscle contractions and fake microexpressions.'

'But he'd never imagine that I could also control physiological reactions like pupil dilation.'

'After all, for ordinary people, pupil dilation—caused by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system—is entirely uncontrollable.'

Through years of training, one might be able to control muscle contractions so that microexpressions appear genuine.

However, controlling physiological responses triggered by the sympathetic nervous system cannot be achieved through ordinary training.

This requires precise control over emotions in one's heart.

Emotions such as sexual desire, shock, fear, excitement, or admiration activate the sympathetic system, causing pupil dilation.

---

'At this moment, Toda believes he's in the driver's seat.'

'He thinks his sudden appearance shocked me and that I felt moved as he listed my crimes one by one.'

'The next step is "seize the advantage and press forward."'

Once someone believes they have the upper hand, they get carried away, easily revealing their flaws.

---

"What are you talking about? I don't understand what you mean."

Although Akikawa Kyousuke knew he'd been exposed to Toda Kyouji, he maintained his frightened facade.

"Haha."

"You think you've done a perfect job with the last two cases and that there's nothing I can do to you?"

Toda Kyouji laughed heartily, then slowly walked toward Akikawa Kyousuke with firm steps.

Akikawa Kyousuke retreated, seemingly scared.

But he stopped when his back hit the projection room's seat.

---

"Aren't those cases already closed?"

"I don't even know what you're talking about."

Akikawa Kyousuke avoided eye contact with Toda Kyouji and muttered.

---

"Of course, you're relying on the lack of physical evidence to feel confident."

"Stop pretending to be a child. It's getting boring. Isn't it time to show me your true face?"

Toda Kyouji whispered into Akikawa Kyousuke's ear.

Akikawa Kyousuke showed a slightly stiff expression due to Toda Kyouji's words, then responded with a look of confusion and astonishment.

What a pity.

You can't convict someone simply by relying on Toda Kyouji's words.

Besides, they were still outside, not inside the Metropolitan Police Department.

Thus, Akikawa Kyousuke concluded that Toda Kyouji wouldn't dare extract a confession here.

---

This left him with only two methods.

One: induce a confession.

The other: fabricate evidence.

---

"The final conclusion? Maybe the last two cases are closed, but the car accident case isn't."

"After all, the real murderer is right here, not one of the countless motorcycle riders you see on the national highway."

Toda Kyouji said.

..

---

"At that time, you managed to deceive the criminal police and detectives mainly because of your acting skills."

"You fooled everyone into believing you were mentally a child, fundamentally eliminating both motive and the possibility of committing the crime."

"But I know you're not a child. You're a criminal who has mastered magnificent criminal skills."

"You orchestrated an elaborate plan to kill your mother and then pinned the blame on an imaginary third party."

---

"No, no, no. The detectives ruled out that possibility back then," Akikawa Kyousuke nervously interrupted.

"Besides, my fingerprints weren't even on the murder weapon!"

"And my hand was broken at the time, so I wasn't physically capable of committing the crime!"

"Plus, I was fed a large amount of sleeping pills and only survived by sheer luck. If I wanted to frame someone else for the insurance money, why would I take sleeping pills myself?"

---

Akikawa Kyousuke used the same reasoning he had presented to the detectives to refute Toda Kyouji.

In this case, his "return from the dead" was the key point.

The fact that he survived after ingesting a large quantity of sleeping pills blocked the possibility of it being a planned insurance fraud.

---

"Oh, so you can talk more fluently now? What's this? Dropping the 'child' act already?"

Toda Kyouji smiled.

Toda Kyouji quickly discerned that Akikawa Kyousuke was eager to prove his innocence.

He had even forgotten to continue pretending.

'He's afraid—afraid of the truth about the car accident.'

'Indeed, he is the murderer.'

With that thought, Toda Kyouji reached into his jacket and retrieved an evidence bag.

When Akikawa Kyousuke saw what was inside, his eyes widened for a brief moment.

Inside the bag was the dagger that had killed Akikawa Ryoko in the car accident.

---

"When this blade reacted to luminol testing, it revealed that the entire handle was covered in blood," Toda Kyouji said, his voice steady but firm.

"In other words, your fingerprints were smeared across the entire handle."

"Back then, everyone thought you were just a child who couldn't commit such a heinous act."

"But now, it's clear to me that erasing your fingerprints would have been all too easy for you."

---

Toda Kyouji continued, pointing to Akikawa Kyousuke's increasingly pale face.

"As for your claim that your hand was broken," he said, "Nishihara Koichi's confession paints a clear picture of you as someone who has no regard for your body. You wouldn't hesitate to harm yourself to achieve your goals."

"Given that, it's easy to understand why your hand was broken—it's because you did it to yourself. The timing was so close that no one could confirm whether your hand was broken before or after your mother's death."

---

Toda Kyouji placed the evidence bag containing the dagger aside, then pulled out another document.

"This," he said, "is the medical report from the hospital after the accident. It states that the concentration of triazolam in your system exceeded the legal limit, which led to the determination that you had overdosed on sleeping pills."

"But here's the catch: based on the concentration levels, it's evident you ingested the pills after killing your mother."

---

"This finding doesn't necessarily prove you were planning to defraud the insurance company," Toda Kyouji added. "But it doesn't negate the fact that you murdered her."

He handed Akikawa Kyousuke the physical examination report.

For a long moment, Akikawa Kyousuke stared blankly at the document, then slowly looked away.

---

'This Toda Kyouji,' Akikawa Kyousuke thought, his mind racing, 'has truly given me a shock today.'

'So the substance detected in my body back then was triazolam.'

At that moment, Akikawa Kyousuke's lingering doubts were finally dispelled, as if sunlight had pierced through thick clouds.

---

More importantly, the heavy burden weighing on his mind lifted.

'Faced with such obvious evidence, even detectives can make mistakes.'

'In the end, I really didn't kill anyone.'

---

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(End of Chapter)