Chapter 9: The Complexities of Female Friendship
"Let's go take a look," Mr. Samesaki ordered.
Although this matter wasn't under the Search Division One's jurisdiction, since they'd encountered it, they couldn't just ignore it.
"Women fighting? Shuichi, let's go see!"
Kogoro Mouri grabbed Lin Xiuyi and ran out.
Eri Kisaki shook her head speechlessly but also stepped out to follow.
Stepping out of the Izakaya, the three saw two women fighting on the fourth-floor balcony of the apartment building across the street.
The ground in front of the apartment building was littered with broken glass, which they had caused.
"What an intense fight!"
Kogoro Mouri exclaimed, what he wanted most now was a pair of binoculars to get a clearer view.
Mr. Samesaki and the others had already entered the apartment building to stop the fight.
However, at that moment, among the two women grappling on the balcony, the black-haired woman was shoved and fell over the balcony railing.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, someone leaned out and grabbed her.
But the rescuer was also a woman; although she managed to grab the black-haired woman, she couldn't pull her back onto the balcony due to her lack of strength.
"Save me! I don't want to die, pull me up!" the black-haired woman cried out in panic, her voice exceptionally clear in the night.
"Oh no!"
Lin Xiuyi and the other two no longer cared about watching the spectacle and quickly ran towards the apartment building opposite.
Entering the apartment building, Lin Xiuyi told Eri Kisaki to find the apartment manager, while he and Kogoro Mouri ran upstairs, catching up with Mr. Samesaki and the others on the third floor.
"One of the two women fighting was pushed off the balcony and is now hanging outside," Lin Xiuyi briefly explained the situation.
"Inspector Megure, go find the apartment manager!"
Mr. Samesaki ordered while rushing towards the room on the fourth floor where the incident occurred.
"No need, I've already sent Eri," Lin Xiuyi stopped Inspector Megure.
Everyone ran up to the fourth floor and quickly found the room where the incident occurred.
"We are the police, open the door!"
Officer Matsumoto pounded on the door.
There was no movement from inside the room, either unwilling to open the door or unaware of the knocking.
"Ram the door!" Mr. Samesaki commanded decisively.
Four police officers took turns ramming their shoulders against the apartment door, but the door of this apartment building was surprisingly sturdy. The four of them rammed it for a while but couldn't break it open.
Fortunately, at that moment, Eri Kisaki arrived with the apartment manager.
The manager took out the key and unlocked the door. Mr. Samesaki and the others immediately rushed in, followed closely by Lin Xiuyi and the other two.
The black-haired woman who had fallen over the railing was still hanging on the edge of the balcony. If not for a short-haired woman desperately holding onto her, she would have fallen to her death long ago.
In the corner of the balcony, two women stood, looking panicked and at a loss.
One of them had brown hair and disheveled clothes; she was likely the other main participant in the earlier fight.
The other had the smell of alcohol on her, clearly having drunk a lot earlier.
Mr. Samesaki and Officer Matsumoto worked together to pull the black-haired woman, Rina Nagatani, who was hanging outside the balcony, back inside. She collapsed on the balcony, her face filled with the lingering fear of surviving a close call.
The short-haired woman who had been holding onto her also breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against the wall, panting.
"Police," Mr. Samesaki took out his police identification and showed it to the four women. "What exactly happened? Why did you start fighting?"
"Police?"
The woman who almost fell to her death was stunned, then as if remembering something, she pointed at the brown-haired woman and shouted,
"Mr. Police, I want to report a crime! She not only stole my family heirloom ring but also pushed me off the balcony just now, trying to kill me!"
"I didn't do it on purpose!" The brown-haired woman retorted angrily, "And I didn't steal your ring! Why would I need to steal your things?"
"Why wouldn't you need to?" The black-haired woman sneered, "Your husband's investment failed, not only did he not make money, but he also incurred a huge debt. Do you think I don't know that?"
"You must have wanted to steal my ring to sell it and pay off your husband's debts!"
"I'll say it again, I ~ did ~ not ~ steal ~ the ~ ring!"
The brown-haired woman's face was ashen as she replied, word by word,
"Even if my husband's investment failed, my family isn't short on money."
"If being short on money is a reason to steal a ring, then Keiko Kawamura is the most suspicious person!"
"What did you say?" Keiko Kawamura, who smelled of alcohol, said angrily, "When was I ever short on money?"
"Heh heh, at this point, stop pretending!" The brown-haired woman's face was full of scorn, "We already knew that your husband misappropriated company funds and was about to be discovered."
"You must have stolen the ring, wanting to sell it to cover the deficit from your husband's misappropriated funds!"
"Rina Nagatani, I only told you about this, why does Saki Imagawa know?" Keiko Kawamura looked at the black-haired woman, Rina Nagatani, in shame and anger, "You told her, didn't you?"
"Haha, you told Rina Nagatani about this just because you wanted her to lend you money, right?" The brown-haired woman named Saki Imagawa sneered, "Too bad, Rina Nagatani turned around and spread your business around. All of us classmates probably already know."
"Rina Nagatani! You bitch!" Keiko Kawamura pounced on the black-haired Rina Nagatani, "I must have been blind to consider you my best friend!"
"You've done this kind of thing before!" Rina Nagatani shouted, unwilling to be outdone, "Didn't you spread the news about my husband cheating on me and divorcing me?"
The two women then began to wrestle in front of the four Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Investigation First Division officers.
Detective Morimura and Inspector Megure quickly stepped forward to pull them apart.
"...Women's friendships are truly complicated," Kogoro Mouri murmured, "My head hurts just listening to it."
"Mine too," Lin Xiuyi nodded in agreement.
"You two!"
Eri Kisaki glared at them displeased, but she didn't speak up to defend the women.
...
After questioning by Mr. Samesaki, the sequence of events quickly became clear.
The black-haired woman who fell over the balcony and almost died was named Rina Nagatani.
The brown-haired woman who almost accidentally killed her was named Saki Imagawa.
The woman with the smell of alcohol on her, who was too panicked to help earlier, was named Keiko Kawamura.
The remaining short-haired woman, who had a very low presence but stepped in to save someone at the critical moment, was named Mika Hirata.
These four women were college classmates and good friends who often hung out together.
Tonight, the four women were having a get-together at Rina Nagatani's apartment.
During the party, Rina Nagatani, out of a desire to show off, displayed a sapphire ring worth over a hundred million yen to the other three.
This was a family heirloom of the Nagatani family. It was said that many people from the Nagatani family died in the struggle for this ring back then, leading to the legend that the ring would curse its owner.
To ward off the curse, the Nagatani family went to a shrine to have a Shinto priest make a wooden box and attach talismans to store the ring.