In front of Room 102 of the Green Moss 1-Chome Apartments in Beika Town 5-Chome.
Ritsu silently calculated the distance from the crime scene in his head. It was extremely close, not only to the scene itself, but also to the residence of the victim, Tatsuya Nagai.
He turned to look at Shinichi, who had followed them all the way here. Seeing the shameless grin on the boy's face, he couldn't help but think he had never met someone this brazen before. He had already told him not to follow them, yet here he was anyway.
Hayasaka stepped forward and rang the doorbell. Before long, a young and attractive woman with long hair and a pink long-sleeved T-shirt came to answer the door. However, she looked exhausted overall, with heavy dark circles under her eyes.
"Are you Mikako Nishitani?" Yuna asked.
Mikako nodded, looking mildly confused. "Yes. And you are?"
"We're officers from the Metropolitan Police Department. There's a case that occurred nearby which involves you."
Hayasaka took out Tatsuya Nagai's ID card and asked, "Do you recognize the man in this identification photo?"
Mikako glanced at the picture and immediately showed a frightened expression. "Y-Yes, I know him… What happened to him?"
The fearful expression was fairly convincing, with few obvious flaws. Ritsu calmly picked up where she left off and said indifferently.
"He's dead."
"Th-That man is dead?"
An act thrown together on the spot was bound to have cracks eventually. Ritsu noticed that her expression barely changed. If a woman learned that the man stalking her had died, her emotions shouldn't have been this calm.
If she truly weren't the culprit, her first reaction should've been panic, worrying the police had come because they suspected her of murder.
Her composure was too unnatural.
Almost as though she had already known the man was dead.
"Yes. He died after drinking Kazman laced with poison. It happened about forty minutes ago."
Hayasaka stared directly at the seemingly fragile woman and continued slowly, "Forgive the intrusion, but where have you been during this time?"
"If you mean forty minutes ago, I had just returned home from outside around then." Mikako rubbed her hands together slightly as she voluntarily explained her alibi.
"I currently work daytime shifts at a family restaurant in Yotsuido Ward. We close at four in the morning, and after finishing cleanup, I probably left around five."
Both Ritsu and Shinichi's gazes fell on Mikako's constantly rubbing hands.
The former had already determined she was trying to remove dried glue from her fingertips. After all, he himself had often used glue in the past to obscure his fingerprints. The latter was still wondering what the white flakes falling from her fingers were.
"You took the train from Yotsuido Ward to Beika Station?" Ritsu asked.
"Yes."
"And after exiting the station, you walked home from there?"
"That's right."
Hayasaka had already begun forming a theory, though she still needed further confirmation. She turned toward Takagi and instructed, "Takagi, please bring out the map of this area."
"Yes!"
Takagi spread the prepared map across the dining table. Hayasaka then looked toward Mikako and asked:
"Nishitani-san, could you show us exactly which route you took home from Beika Station to this apartment?"
"Of course. I came back using this road from the station."
The moment she pointed out the route, Takagi cried out, "Inspector! This route passes both the vending machine and the crime scene!"
"Huh?! W-What do you mean by that?" Mikako exclaimed in surprise, looking genuinely unaware that the victim had been walking the same route as her.
Sensing something off, Hayasaka glanced at Ritsu beside her. She believed that the man, far more skilled at deduction than she was, must already have noticed Mikako's strange behavior.
Noticing Hayasaka's gaze, Ritsu merely returned it with a faint smile. As for what that smile meant, Hayasaka understood perfectly.
The ever-kindhearted Takagi still hadn't realized the issue. Thoughtfully pointing at the map, he explained,
"Nagai-san collapsed right here. Which means at that time, he should've been behind you, Nishitani-san. Didn't you notice him? Or perhaps see any suspicious individuals?"
"How could that be?! The officers from the nearby precinct had already been helping me keep an eye on things. I haven't seen him in quite some time, and I'd only recently started feeling at ease again."
Listening to Mikako's explanation, Shinichi frowned and began examining the apartment's interior.
The doors and windows were tightly locked, and near the entrance sat a bottle of pepper spray. Had she really started feeling safe again?
Obviously not.
Hayasaka poked the right side of Ritsu's waist with her finger and whispered quietly, "Hey, do you think Nishitani-san is suspicious?"
"We can't be certain yet. Let's wrap things up for today. You come with me alone to investigate Nagai's apartment and see whether we can find any clues."
"Alright."
Hayasaka turned toward Mikako, who had lowered her head slightly, and said, "Nishitani-san, thank you very much for your cooperation. We'll be taking our leave now."
"It's nothing. I'm glad I could help."
Shinichi hadn't expected them to wrap things up this quickly. There was no way for him to follow the rest of the investigation now.
But none of these officers noticed something was off about Mikako? The moment they stepped out of the apartment, Shinichi could no longer hold himself back.
"Inspector, didn't you realize Nishitani was lying? She should be—"
"A detective's first instinct relies on intuition. A police investigation relies on evidence. Before obtaining definitive proof, we cannot look at people through tinted lenses, nor can we allow emotions to guide us."
Ritsu cast Shinichi a calm glance. He had already more or less figured out the case, but there was still one thing he wanted to confirm. If it turned out exactly as he suspected, he intended to help this criminal young woman.
The sharp-minded Shinichi naturally understood the implication behind Ritsu's words. He knew Mikako was lying, but he had chosen to seek evidence first.
Thinking back to the Valentine's Day case, this inspector's deductive abilities were extremely high. It was rare to meet such an intelligent police officer.
"Then can I come with you—"
Before he could finish speaking, Ritsu, whose face had been cold and indifferent just moments ago, suddenly broke into a bright smile and enunciated clearly.
"No."
Shinichi irritably ruffled his hair. 'Seriously, does this police officer have split personalities or something?'
That smile was downright creepy, like he had completely seen through Shinichi's thoughts while pretending not to notice anything at all.
"Now then, Meitantei-kun, please take your little girlfriend home like good children. In another four hours it'll be lunchtime and a murder scene isn't exactly suitable for a date."
After cheerfully offering that "friendly reminder," Ritsu prepared to take out a cigarette to ease his nicotine cravings. Even if he couldn't smoke near Hayasaka, simply smelling one would help.
"W-Who's his girlfriend?! Inspector, don't say weird things! Shinichi, we're leaving!!!"
"Huh?! Don't pull so hard! It's not like I was the one who said it!"
"…"
The sudden shouting startled him enough that his hand slipped, causing the cigarette halfway out of the pack to fall to the ground.
'Tch. Wastefulness is a crime.'
In his world, there was no such thing as the three-second rule. Ritsu bent down, picked up the cigarette, and placed it into an evidence bag before looking toward the awkwardly smiling Takagi.
"Takagi, head back to the crime scene and continue securing it. Don't let random bystanders like that guy sneak in again."
"Yes, sir!"
"Hayasaka, let's go… We're heading to the victim's apartment."
"Got it."