Chapter 10

Lin Xinyi quickly suppressed the subtle sense of unease he felt.

At the same time, Detective Kudo's curiosity about him only grew stronger.

"Mr. Lin Xinyi, your investigative experience seems quite extensive."

"You must have solved many cases before, right?"

"I find this method of using forensic knowledge in reasoning very interesting."

"If you have time, could you tell me more about your past cases?"

…

He was even more persistent than Inspector Megure had been, bombarding Lin Xinyi with questions he simply couldn't answer.

Lin Xinyi remained silent.

He blocked out the background noise in his ears and took a moment to observe his surroundings.

Inspector Megure was directing the officers as they wrapped up the scene, while the gathered crowd excitedly discussed the brilliant deductions they had just witnessed.

Officer Komatsu was leisurely packing up the forensic kit, and Kudo Shinichi was still relentlessly questioning his mysterious "rival."

The grand spectacle had ended.

Yet, it seemed that everyone had forgotten the main character of this tragedy—the deceased.

Lin Xinyi's gaze slowly returned to the body.

There it lay, alone, wrapped in white plastic, so dismembered that it barely retained a human form.

"Hm?"

Kudo Shinichi quickly noticed Lin Xinyi's gaze and was startled.

Lin Xinyi was once again looking at the corpse with that same focused intensity.

Could it be that there were still undiscovered clues?

He had already lost once, having been slower to deduce the cause of dismemberment.

If there were more hidden clues on the body—clues he, the self-proclaimed disciple of Holmes, had completely overlooked—then it would be a total and utter defeat.

"What is it, Mr. Lin?"

"Did you discover something new?"

Kudo Shinichi's tone became subtly tense.

Lin Xinyi didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned to scrutinize Kudo.

The young detective's face radiated enthusiasm—like an athlete fresh from an intense competition, eager for the next match.

But this wasn't a competition.

"Kudo."

After a moment of contemplation, Lin Xinyi finally spoke.

"I didn't find any new clues on the body."

"But aside from crime-solving, is there anything else you can read from the corpse?"

"Huh?"

Kudo Shinichi blinked in confusion.

If not clues, then what else was there to see?

Was this another one of Lin Xinyi's reasoning challenges?

He was intrigued and immediately locked his sharp gaze onto the body.

"Sigh…"

Lin Xinyi shook his head helplessly.

That wasn't the way to find the answer.

Sure enough, after some deep thought, Kudo Shinichi still came up empty.

He unconsciously rubbed his chin as he pondered—nearly wearing down his well-defined jawline—yet he remained silent.

"Um…"

It was Mouri Ran who hesitantly broke the silence.

She seemed to have instinctively engaged in solving the "puzzle," driven by a natural empathy.

"She must have been in great pain, right?"

"Oh?"

Lin Xinyi looked at her, surprised.

Kudo Shinichi also turned to his childhood friend, puzzled.

"Pain? What do you mean?"

"I mean…"

Ran gathered her courage and looked at the deceased woman on the ground.

"She must have suffered terribly."

"She died three hours ago—that would have been around two in the morning."

"Why would she choose to end her life at such a late hour, when most people are asleep?"

"And look at her clothing—she was wearing pajamas."

Under Kudo Shinichi's surprised gaze, Ran spoke a deduction that even the great detective himself hadn't considered.

"It must be because she was in unbearable pain."

"She didn't plan to die from the start. The fact that she was in pajamas means she initially just wanted to go to sleep."

"But her suffering wouldn't let her rest."

"She likely lay in bed, eyes open, thinking for a long time—until, eventually, that pain crushed her."

Ran clenched her fists.

She could almost feel the torment of this unknown woman, this stranger.

"In the end, she couldn't take it anymore."

"She had no courage to continue living, to face the pressures of this world."

"So, in the dead of night, she quietly left her home and walked alone to the desolate riverside."

"Maybe she stood there in the darkness for a long time, thinking."

"But in the end, the darkness swallowed her whole."

By now, Ran's voice had grown somber.

"If only someone had noticed her leaving."

"If only someone had reached out a helping hand in time…"

"Maybe things wouldn't have ended like this."

"You're right."

Lin Xinyi gave her a look filled with appreciation.

"The deceased was in immense pain—more than we can imagine."

"Because drowning is one of the most excruciating ways to die."

"A drowning victim experiences about a minute of respiratory distress before losing consciousness."

"During that time, cold water floods the lungs, and each breath feels like being stabbed a thousand times."

"And when I pried open the deceased's hand earlier, I noticed…"

"There were faint rope marks between her thumb and index finger."

"Between the thumb and index finger?"

Kudo Shinichi examined his own hand in confusion.

"Why would there be rope marks there?"

"Her wrists weren't bound, and even if they were, they wouldn't be tied in that spot."

"That's because those aren't binding marks."

Lin Xinyi extended his hands, mimicking tying a rope around his waist.

He hooked his thumbs under the imaginary rope and pulled down hard.

"I see!"

Mouri Ran grasped it before Kudo Shinichi did.

"She tried to untie the rope in her final moments!"

"Because at the very end—she regretted it."

"She wanted to live. She wanted to return to this world."

"So she desperately reached for the rope that bound her waist… but—"

"But she realized it too late."

Lin Xinyi's voice grew heavy.

"By then, her muscles were cramping from the cold, and her consciousness was fading."

"A rope that would normally be easy to loosen was impossible to untie in her state."

"In agony, she couldn't even properly grasp the rope."

He released his hands and pressed them against his chest, his body trembling slightly.

"As she lost consciousness, she instinctively clutched at her chest, where the pain was most intense—perhaps hoping that pressing down might ease it."

"But it was futile. Her hands remained tightly clenched against her chest, forming fists in the midst of spasms and agony."

"That's why we see her fists clenched even now, and why some of the cuts on her arms align perfectly with the wounds on her torso."

Reenacting her final moments, Lin Xinyi held his chest, fists tight.

"Her consciousness faded completely, and her life ended."

"Her last struggle loosened the rope just enough for the currents to free her body, letting it rise to the surface."

"Phew…"

He let out a long sigh.

"That was the final voice the deceased left behind."

Kudo Shinichi remained silent for a long time.

This answer unsettled him.

After all, these details didn't help solve the case.

What was the point of knowing them?

Seeing his hesitation, Lin Xinyi turned to Mouri Ran.

"Miss Mouri, I think you have more potential to become a top forensic expert than Kudo does."

"Huh? Me?"

Ran was stunned.

She had been praised for her beauty, kindness, and martial arts skills—but never for investigative talent.

"Mr. Lin, you must be joking."

"My deduction skills are nowhere near Shinichi's."

"How could I be a forensic expert?"

Lin Xinyi shook his head.

"You misunderstand. Forensics isn't about deduction."

"The most important trait for a forensic expert is empathy for the deceased."

Silence fell.

Ran didn't smile at the compliment.

Instead, she was once again moved by the tragedy of the unknown woman.

Meanwhile, Kudo Shinichi pondered deeply.

"The ability to understand the pain of the dead…"

Perhaps, he had just learned something new.