Chapter 2: So Unprofessional
Seeing the young Inspector Megure about to collapse, Lin Xiuyi stopped teasing and honestly answered the questions, recounting the entire process of discovering the body that morning.
Next were Eri Kisaki and Kogoro Mouri.
The two of them were much more obedient than Lin Xiuyi, simply stating whatever they had seen.
After the questioning, the three reporters were still not allowed to leave and stood in the alley, observing the detectives at work.
Eri Kisaki watched intently, hoping to learn something from it.
Kogoro Mouri’s face was filled with longing, and as he watched, he suddenly thought of something, and a look of triumph appeared on his face.
Lin Xiuyi, however, was frowning constantly.
In his opinion, the professional quality of these Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department detectives was not very good, clearly far inferior to the detectives in the world he had transmigrated from.
However, the performance of these Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department detectives was actually normal.
The current time in this world was more than twenty years earlier than the main timeline.
Many of the professional regulations for detectives and the behavioral guidelines for investigating cases were far from as standardized and efficient as they would be in the future.
…
“Mr., we’ve found a new witness!”
The thick-browed Mr. who had been sent out to inquire nearby returned with a slender, medium-height man with short hair.
“This Mr. Kato is a diving coach from a nearby swimming pool. He said that at eleven o’clock last night, he saw two people arguing here.”
“Matsumoto, take him to confirm the body first,” Inspector Samezaki ordered.
The broad-chinned Mr. who had been examining the body with the forensics Mr. earlier walked over and led the diving coach to the body.
As soon as the white cloth covering the body was lifted, Coach Kato affirmed, “Kitamura! It’s him! I wasn’t mistaken, it was him who was arguing with someone at the intersection ahead last night.”
“Do you know him?” Inspector Megure asked.
“Yes, Kitamura Shinya, he’s a member of our swimming pool’s diving team,” Coach Kato said with a look of annoyance, “Kitamura is our ace. The competition is in two days, but he actually had an accident.”
“This year, the diving team’s performance will likely hit rock bottom.”
“Where did you see him arguing with someone last night?” Inspector Samezaki asked.
“Last night, after the swimming pool closed at around eleven, I was practicing diving by myself,” Coach Kato recalled.
“Climbing onto the diving board, I was about to dive when I saw Kitamura arguing with someone at the intersection.”
“Kitamura pushed that person, and after that person got up, they started wrestling, and then the two of them entered the alley, and I couldn’t see them anymore.”
“Isn’t he the ace of your swimming team?” Inspector Samezaki frowned. “You saw him fighting with someone, and you didn’t come over to check?”
“I came to check,” Coach Kato explained, “After I found Kitamura fighting with someone, I quickly jumped off the diving board, then changed my clothes and ran over.”
“Standing at the alley entrance, I saw that there was no one in the alley, and I thought they had already left, so I didn’t go inside… It’s all my fault!”
Coach Kato suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself, turning half of his face red.
“If I had only gone inside to check then, perhaps I would have found Kitamura, and he wouldn’t have…”
“Mr. Kato, this is not your fault,” Inspector Megure quickly stopped the diving coach’s self-blame. “By the way, how was Mr. Kitamura’s character normally? Has he had any arguments with anyone in the past two days?”
“Kitamura’s personality is a bit flamboyant,” Coach Kato thought for a moment and said, “As for arguments, the other two members of the diving team have both had conflicts with him.”
“Even I had an argument with him two days ago.”
“What was the reason for the argument?” Inspector Samezaki asked.
“It wasn’t a big deal, really,” Coach Kato shook his head and said, “Although I am a diving coach, when I was an athlete before, I didn’t win many awards, far from what Kitamura has now.”
“Kitamura just mocked me a couple of times about that, saying I wasn’t qualified to be his coach at all.”
“We had a small argument about it, but yesterday we had already made up, and he even participated in diving training at the swimming pool.”
“Is that so?”
Inspector Samezaki nodded noncommittally, and reached out to call over the thick-browed Mr. Morimura, who was nearby.
“Go to the diving board at the swimming pool and check if you can clearly see the intersection in front of the alley from there.”
“Yes!” Mr. Morimura nodded and walked towards the swimming pool.
…
“Mr., are you suspicious of Mr. Kato?” Inspector Megure asked in a low voice. “He shouldn’t be the murderer, right? When he saw Kitamura’s body just now, his expression didn’t seem like…”
“That’s just what he showed!” Inspector Samezaki reprimanded. “Would a culprit really show guilt on his face?”
“…I just feel that he has no reason to kill Mr. Kitamura,” Inspector Megure couldn’t help but say. “Mr. Kitamura is the ace of the diving team, and a competition is coming up soon. If Mr. Kitamura wins, Mr. Kato, as his diving coach, would definitely benefit.”
“I think the murderer might be the other two diving team members. They were jealous of Mr. Kitamura’s talent, so…”
“We are police!” Inspector Samezaki frowned. “We need evidence, not speculation.”
“…I overthought it,” Inspector Megure quickly apologized.
“However, what you said also makes sense,” Inspector Samezaki comforted. “The other two diving team members are indeed suspects. How about this, you go investigate them.”
“Really?”
Inspector Megure’s face was filled with surprise, and he was about to agree, but then he suddenly heard someone nearby say,
“Mr. Officers, there’s no need to investigate anyone else. This Mr. Kato is very likely the murderer.”
The person speaking was Lin Xiuyi.
Inspector Megure clearly did not agree with his statement and was about to retort, but the Inspector Samezaki next to him had already said impatiently,
“You’re that student who found the body? This is adult business, it has nothing to do with you kids! Don’t talk nonsense.”
“Shuichi,” Eri Kisaki pulled Lin Xiuyi’s arm, “Mr. Officer is right, this is not something we can meddle in.”
“Exactly!” Kogoro Mouri also agreed, “They are officers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Investigation First Division, they are all professional…”
“If your professional officers’ investigation goes smoothly, I naturally wouldn’t say more,” Lin Xiuyi snorted, “But right now, the murderer has already revealed a flaw, and you haven’t noticed it at all.”
“I don’t want to just stand there foolishly, waiting for your so-called investigation results!”
