Chapter 314: SOS

Amuro Tooru, crouched by the body, frowned.

Judging by the state of the corpse, Shiro Shibata had clearly clutched something tightly before dying. But that didn't quite match the creases on the photo still in his hand.

Just then, Jiangxia Tongzhi leaned over and whispered, "There's some weird bloodstain on his palm."

Taking the hint, Amuro gave a light nod. And while the police officer was distracted, he subtly pried open the corpse's hand again.

This time, he wasn't looking at the photo. He was looking at the palm.

The photo was still there, and nothing else. But—there was a faint, circular smear of blood. Like something had been gripped hard, removed, and left a ring-shaped mark behind.

A wedding ring-sized mark.

As soon as "wedding ring" popped into Amuro's brain, it instantly pinged something else: Shizuka Hattori's ring finger. It had been wrapped in a band-aid.

His expression shifted slightly.

Several possible emotional entanglements darted through his mind like pop-up ads.

And sure enough—on closer inspection, Shiro Shibata's ring finger had the unmistakable indent of long-term ring-wear. But now, it was bare.

The ring had vanished.

Amuro Tooru stared at the empty finger, deep in thought.

As Shizuka Hattori's personal reputation took a nosedive in Amuro's mind, the woman herself was calmly pondering something else.

She hadn't entered the study—technically the primary crime scene—but stood quietly in the hallway, occasionally glancing in.

She let out a sigh.

Why do detectives love wrecking crime scenes so much?

To be fair, she mentally excluded Jiangxia from the "them." Unlike the rest of the horde, he hadn't touched anything. Just stood nearby like a Buddhist person, watching silently.

Seems her husband was right—Jiangxia did have some decent qualities.

She made a mental note to remind her son not to go around stirring up the police like all those other bear-child detectives.

Unfortunately, her peaceful moment didn't last.

As the police's serious investigation kicked in, Shizuka realized her suspicion level was rising fast.

The photo in the victim's hand was pretty self-explanatory.

Then a neighbor, Takezo Yoshikawa, stepped forward to add more fire to the pot.

Apparently, not long before his death, Shiro Shibata had received a call. While on the phone, he'd pulled a photo from a book and said to the caller, "I found it."

And that call? Yup. It had been with Shizuka Hattori. The very woman who'd been "out of contact with Shiro Shibata for nearly thirty years."

With suspicion levels now approaching definitely guilty-tier, Inspector Megure glanced between the suspects. After a quick round of questioning, he figured it was about time to invite "Ms. Ikenami" back to the station for a friendly chat.

But then he met Shizuka Hattori's eyes.

Calm. Cold. Piercing. Like a school principal catching you texting under the table.

Megure hesitated. Then—with all the subtlety of a bear hiding behind a tree—weaved around her and quietly sidled up to Jiangxia.

He cleared his throat. "What do you think?"

Jiangxia pondered for a moment. Then whispered, "I think we should arrest Mrs. Shibata."

Amuro Tooru blinked. Even knowing Jiangxia was a serious person when it came to deductions, hearing him suggest arrests in this veggie-market tone felt... off.

"Mrs. Shibata?" Megure was stunned. Out of the three suspects, she had the clearest alibi. "Why?"

Jiangxia paused slightly.

Because she had something to hide, obviously.

But instead, he replied seriously, "Her alibi might be shaky."

Originally, Jiangxia had planned to lie low—to let Amuro take the spotlight, to keep timid criminals from being scared off by his growing reputation.

But with Shizuka Hattori nearby, Jiangxia shifted plans.

He could pretty much guess why she'd anonymously hired him.

And if this was some kind of test... well, then he'd better make a good impression. Lower the power level of everyone else, subtly box out Heiji Hattori... yeah, this could work. That Osaka detective did seem to magnetically attract serial murders, after all.

Jiangxia collected his thoughts and began, "I think Mrs. Shibata tried to tamper with the timeline of Mr. Shibata's death..."

According to Mrs. Shibata's schedule, she had plans to go shopping with a friend that afternoon. But before that, she came home and brought food for her husband.

Shiro Shibata, a man known for all-night gambling binges, had no set mealtimes. He was halfway through his lunch when she killed him.

Then, she dashed off to meet her friend, right on time.

When she returned, she casually picked up the evening paper—usually delivered around 5 PM—and plopped it on the table. That way, it looked like Shiro had brought it in.

It was a clean setup. Meal as anchor, shopping as alibi.

Problem was—Shiro didn't die where she'd hit him.

The man had stubbornly crawled into the study, clutching his wedding ring as a dying message.

Mrs. Shibata panicked and replaced the ring with a photo.

Why?

Because Takezo Yoshikawa had left a message earlier, saying he'd drop by soon. If he was the first to find the body, she'd be in the clear. She snuck out, planning to return once Takezo arrived.

She just didn't expect... several extra guests to show up.

Shizuka Hattori stood silently, nodding every so often.

So the newspaper stories weren't exaggerating. Jiangxia really is this fast.

Just then—ding.

A small metallic sound. Shizuka turned sharply.

Mrs. Shibata, who'd been listening in silence, suddenly smirked and tossed something to the floor.

A bloodstained wedding ring.

The same one Shiro Shibata had tried to clutch in his final moments.

It bounced, glinted, and finally came to rest against Jiangxia's shoe.

He stared at it.

Somehow, it felt like finishing a dungeon and having the boss drop loot at your feet.

Jiangxia took a small step back, letting a forensic officer pick up the ring.

He made a mental note to swing by the arcade soon. He had a few new gameplay ideas, and his junior disciples—currently obsessed with picking up stray cats—would probably need a break from side quests.

*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.

Progress: 36/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS

Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.

Progress:2/10*