The pink-colored walls, and wooden plank flooring—Chouno Yoko's room was quite simple. There wasn't much in the way of furniture, either.
Perhaps it was just a temporary residence.
The moment he stepped inside, Fujino immediately felt a wave of stifling heat.
Looking up, he saw that the central air conditioning unit was currently blowing out streams of hot air.
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be the key breakthrough point for this entire case."
Fujino examined the central air unit, muttering to himself before shifting his gaze toward the corpse lying in the center of the room.
The body lay sprawled on the floor, a fruit knife embedded in its back.
As he scrutinized the corpse—its limbs already starting to stiffen—an indescribable sense of unease welled up inside him.
Suddenly, he felt a wave of dizziness, even nausea.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to endure the discomfort until it finally subsided. Then he sighed. "Looks like… I'm still not used to this after all."
To be honest, despite living two lives, this was Fujino's first time seeing such a fresh corpse up close.
True, he'd originally been a high school detective, but most of the cases he took on were things like missing pets, missing people, or catching cheating spouses—simple, everyday commissions.
In a murder case like this… he'd never touched one before.
Still, Fujino's adaptability was strong. After just a moment, that wave of discomfort completely faded away.
Now composed, he glanced around the room behind him.
Seeing that no one else was in the room, he walked over to the sofa in the corner.
Bending down, he reached underneath and groped around.
Soon enough, his fingers brushed against something hard.
Pulling it out, he found a single earring.
Examining the small golden earring, Fujino couldn't help but frown deeply.
If his memory served him right, this belonged to… Ikezawa Yuko.
He had originally assumed that since Ikezawa Yuko had already hired him, she wouldn't bother sneaking in here to investigate on her own… but clearly, the reality was rarely as neat as one would hope.
Despite hiring him, that foolish woman had still come here to conduct her search—and in doing so, she had set off the Bloody Idol Case.
Did she… not trust him?
Fujino slipped the earring into his pocket, feeling rather irritated.
But now that things had escalated to this level, at least the tangled mess had more or less untangled itself.
As he pondered, a bold idea quietly formed in Fujino's mind.
Perhaps this time… he could make an absolute fortune out of this.
…
Five minutes later, the sharp wail of police sirens echoed as law enforcement arrived at the scene.
Leading the team was a rather rotund man named Inspector Megure.
"So, you're saying that when you returned home, you found this man already murdered, is that correct?"
Inspector Megure studied Chouno Yoko, conducting the routine questioning.
"Yes… that's right."
Chouno Yoko lowered her head, a faint trace of sorrow in her eyes. "Right after I got back from Detective Fujino's place, I opened the door… and saw him lying there dead in the room…"
"Detective Fujino…"
Upon hearing this, Inspector Megure turned his gaze to Fujino. "You're the detective who was with Chouno Yoko when she discovered the crime scene?"
"Yeah,"
Fujino nodded, briefly introducing himself, "My name's Fujino—I'm a detective."
"Don't tell me… you're a high school detective?"
Inspector Megure glanced at Fujino's slightly youthful but mature-looking face and asked suspiciously.
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