Chapter Four: The Distinction

"Hiroyo... Hiroyo!"

"Wait, Ms. Amano, you cannot get close right now..."

...

After seeing the corpse of Hiroyo Ootaka, they finally understood why the police officer had summoned them. At this point, Shiraishi and the others also learned that this Ms. Tsumugi Amano was the deceased's girlfriend.

Noboru Washinuma, who had also visited the restroom, was a friend of Hiroyo Ootaka. Together with Chizuru Tachikawa, who had not gone to the restroom, the four of them had set off for a vacation in the United States...

"Hold on, you weren't just going on vacation, were you? I just heard you talking about film negatives, selling them for money, and so on! That sounds like a dangerous business, doesn't it?" Mr. Tsuneo Ukai, sitting in the adjacent seat, immediately exposed them.

When the plane had just taken off, Ukai had engaged in a brief argument with the deceased because the seats nearby were too noisy.

"I see..." Inspector Megure looked toward the victim's three companions.

They did not attempt to hide it...

"It is true. Ootaka had taken photos of a scandal involving a U.S. congressman who visited Tokyo, and he was planning to sell them for a good price..." Noboru Washinuma said, though he added an explanation: "This isn't exactly a secret; many people in the industry know about it."

Meanwhile...

Shiraishi Kuro had already put on his gloves and asked, "I am going to inspect your personal belongings. You don't have any objections, do you?"

Although there was no "search warrant" and they theoretically had the right to refuse a body search or the inspection of their personal effects, doing so would only invite unnecessary suspicion. Moreover, after looking at Shiraishi Kuro, all three nodded.

Only the white man appeared as if he did not understand.

"Damn it, I need to find a translator..." Megure sighed in frustration; his Spanish was non-existent.

However...

"Glibber-glabber, glabber-glibber." Shiraishi did not give Edward a chance to pretend he didn't understand, nor did he give Shinichi a chance to show off. He spoke to the man directly in fluent Spanish.

After all, Shiraishi was not only a genuine Master’s graduate from Tokyo University, but years ago, for the sake of investigative convenience, he had specifically invested in the [Spanish] skill—though he had only leveled it to Lv6, it allowed him to read, write, and speak various forms of "Spanish" without issue. Even if the man spoke in regional slang, they could communicate perfectly.

Edward wanted to refuse, but he felt an overwhelming pressure emanating from Shiraishi Kuro. Reluctantly, he nodded in agreement.

"Brother Shiraishi..." Megure called out to Shiraishi as he turned away. Seeing the serious look in Shiraishi's eyes when he looked back, Megure could only say, "I'll leave it to you then..."

He could tell that Shiraishi had an ulterior motive.

And that was indeed the case!

The matter Shiraishi Kuro was investigating involved the Minister of Justice, who was suspected of controlling violent organizations and causing multiple vicious cases where civilians were framed as scapegoats—deliberately manufacturing "wrongful convictions."

Because most of these wrongful convictions did not occur in Tokyo, Shiraishi Kuro could not trace them to their source and had to approach the problem from another angle.

For instance...

Striking at the root!

He had discovered that the operating funds for these violent organizations mostly came from international money laundering activities brokered by the Minister of Justice and involving U.S. congressmen.

The so-called "scandal" that Hiroyo Ootaka had photographed appeared to be the U.S. congressman engaging in inappropriate behavior with a woman in Tokyo. In reality, that woman was the mistress of the Minister of Justice and the wife of a gang leader. This was not just a "scandal"—it was sexual bribery!

Although the investigation into the case had been halted and Shiraishi Kuro had been ordered to take leave for openly contradicting his superior, he had not given up on the pursuit.

Shiraishi Kuro believed that if he could pin down the illicit collusion between the Minister of Justice, the violent organizations, and the U.S. congressman, he could at least force his superiors to reopen the investigations into those wrongful convictions.

At the same time, Shiraishi said to the flight attendants: "Notify the captain. A murder has occurred on board. To prevent the killer from fleeing overseas, return immediately!"

"Eh? This... we need to apply for a flight path change..."

"Then apply for it immediately! I am here, and I will not let this plane continue to the Americas. The only question is how we turn back. This involves classified information—it is not impossible that there is a bomb on board to silence witnesses!" Shiraishi Kuro threatened casually.

"This... very well."

Shinichi: ...

Shinichi had wanted to say that he could find the killer himself and that there was no need to go through the trouble of turning back, but he realized that Officer Shiraishi was deliberately finding an excuse to force the plane to return.

Wearing his gloves, Shiraishi Kuro went straight to Hiroyo Ootaka's luggage. One look at how he was rummaging through it told everyone that he wasn't looking for evidence—he was searching for something specific!

And...

Shiraishi finally let out a sigh of regret.

Just as the passenger nearby had said, Ootaka had carried the film negatives on his person, and it was clear that the corpse had already been searched by someone else!

Shiraishi Kuro immediately went to search Edward's luggage...

He had already deduced from "micro-expressions" that Edward understood Japanese and was just playing dumb.

With [Psychology] Lv8 and [Insight] Lv10, Shiraishi Kuro’s mastery of "micro-expressions" meant that unless the target was a highly trained operative or someone with [Spirit] Lv8 or higher, it was nearly impossible for them to hide anything from him.

Shiraishi was convinced that Edward's identity as a reporter was likely just a cover; he was actually there to do the congressman's dirty work. If he was the one who killed Ootaka, the negatives were likely still on him.

Inspector Megure would handle the body search, but Shiraishi felt it was more likely in the luggage... Unfortunately, he found nothing.

Shiraishi Kuro’s face was etched with disappointment.

"Officer Shiraishi, the other three could also be the killer..." Shinichi said helplessly. *Is your 'ulterior motive' not a little too obvious?*

Shinichi didn't want to get his own hands dirty, especially since he wasn't accompanied by Inspector Megure or some inexperienced rookie, but rather by Inspector Shiraishi, whose face practically screamed, "Don't mess with me!"

"Mmhmm." Shiraishi looked toward the seats of the other three.

"Oh?" Shiraishi immediately noticed something.

He reached out...

From the gap in Tsumugi Amano's seat, he pulled out a small, black shard of film. His face turned livid.

Shinichi was stunned—he hadn't even rummaged through the area; he had just spotted it in the gap. What kind of eyesight was that?

"Inspector Shiraishi..." Seeing Shiraishi pinching the fragment so hard he was about to crush it, Shinichi reminded him quickly.

Shiraishi let out a breath, took out an evidence bag, and placed the shard inside.

"This is strong enough evidence... Looking at that woman, a brief interrogation should yield results," Shiraishi muttered, clearly frustrated.

Although he didn't know the exact reason, it appeared that Ootaka's murder had nothing to do with the scandal negatives; he had been killed by his girlfriend!

To confuse the investigation, the negatives had been cut to pieces, and the remaining fragments were likely flushed down the toilet. After an hour or two, they were already part of the sewage system—finding them now would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The shard in the seat must have accidentally stuck to her clothing and been carried back.

"Wait, Officer Shiraishi, we still haven't found the murder weapon or confirmed the method..." Shinichi said immediately.

Shiraishi looked at him as if he were a fool.

"Police are different from detectives. This is something the victim carried, and it was found on the seat of a suspect. There are clear fingerprints on the film fragment, which contradicts her statement... This is enough for an emergency arrest. Within the 48-hour detention period, we can easily get what you're asking for out of her." Shiraishi had no time to play detective games regarding the murder method.

Judging by her demeanor, with the pressure of the "film fragment" evidence, a Lv5 interrogation would be enough to make her confess. The First Investigation Division had plenty of talent for that, including experts at Lv7 or Lv8!

Even if she were stubborn enough to withstand a Lv7 or Lv8 interrogation, it didn't matter. Once the investigative direction was set, they would conduct a thorough background check on her life and determine the motive, increasing the pressure until her psychological defenses collapsed.

Shinichi was disappointed to hear Shiraishi speak this way, but...

Recalling Shiraishi's earlier actions, Shinichi's eyes shifted. "Inspector Shiraishi, if she is the killer, don't you want to know who tampered with the body after the crime?"

That’s right—based on the smeared blood on the wall and the dried water stains in the pockets, someone else had searched the body after the victim died!

Shiraishi had already given up on that line of inquiry after finding the film shard. As for who touched the body... he figured it was probably Edward, who had every motive to find the negatives.

But since the negatives had already been destroyed, Edward must have found nothing.

However, after hearing Shinichi's words, Shiraishi Kuro suddenly realized something!

Since the film was destroyed by the killer, and Edward had searched the body afterward, he likely didn't know the film was gone and would assume someone else had already taken it!

"You're... right." Shiraishi put the evidence away, looking as if he didn't intend to bring it out just yet.