The next morning.
The alarm clock rang much earlier than usual, and Senichi turned it off and got out of bed, quickly washing his face and brushing his teeth. He then swiftly put on his suit and left the dormitory.
There was no choice, after all, a murder had occurred yesterday.
Senichi and Takagi had to get up early and meet up. They went to the cafeteria together for breakfast.
The murder had kept them up until around ten o'clock last night, so Senichi and Takagi were feeling a bit groggy now.
Although Senichi had been accustomed to staying up late in his previous life, in this era, it was common for people to go to bed early, around nine or ten o'clock.
After Senichi arrived in this world, he had long since given up the bad habit of staying up late. He had no attachment to his phone, as modern smartphones had no appeal to him whatsoever.
Although staying up late was common in their line of work, having their sleep interrupted still felt uncomfortable.
But fortunately, the breakfast at the cafeteria was good. After drinking a cup of coffee and having a fresh egg sandwich, a sense of satisfaction surged through Senichi as his stomach felt full.
"Ah, that hit the spot." After finishing his meal, Takagi patted his belly, wearing a satisfied expression on his face.
"Let's go, the forensics department has probably finished analyzing the evidence. Let's see if there's any news."
However, after getting up, Senichi first bought several sandwiches and coffees. Then, the two of them carried their breakfast and headed to the forensics department.
Although the people in the forensics department lacked presence and were just emotionless tools, their function was absolutely indispensable.
And even though they had a tough job, they were a department that needed to be pleased.
After all, whenever there was a case, you couldn't do without interacting with the forensics department.
It was the same for Senichi when buying breakfast. After all, unlike him and Takagi, who basically finished their work after completing the written records yesterday, the people in the forensics department had to work overtime and analyze the evidence.
That's why Senichi and the others could go to the forensics department early in the morning to inquire about the information. While they were sound asleep last night, the forensic team had been working tirelessly through the night.
Although it was theoretically their job to do so, it was also a nice gesture to bring them breakfast.
"Uncle Toshiro, thank you for your hard work. Here's breakfast."
After entering the office, Senichi placed the food on the desk outside and then walked towards the working studio.
The working studio was the place where the forensic personnel worked on collecting evidence. It was not allowed to bring food inside since there were evidentiary items that needed to be analyzed everywhere, and it would be troublesome if they got mixed up.
"Oh, you brought breakfast too. Thanks for the treat."
Uncle Toshiro, wearing glasses, came out of the working studio, holding a file in his hand. "This is the item you asked me to analyze yesterday. The small tufts of hair stuck to the mask are not artificial materials but actually belong to a gray squirrel."
"Gray squirrel?" Takagi looked surprised.
"It's a small animal similar to a rabbit, a member of the squirrel family," Uncle Toshiro explained. "Gray squirrel fur is one of the more valuable furs."
"We also found the same gray squirrel hair on the victim's neck and in their mouth," Senichi said, looking at the report in his hand, raising an eyebrow.
"However, although there was gray squirrel hair in both of these places, unfortunately, no fur-related items were found at the crime scene," Uncle Toshiro said.
"So, you mean the murder weapon used by the culprit to strangle the victim was made of gray squirrel fur?" Takagi reasoned. "And if it wasn't found at the crime scene, it means the culprit took it away after committing the crime?"
"That's a possibility," Senichi spoke up. "Or it could be that the culprit's clothing was made of fur, and they accidentally left some behind while committing the crime."
"Those two places were stained."
"Wearing fur and robbing..." Takagi couldn't help but laugh at the thought.
"Takagi-san, you're not picturing a bandit or something, are you?"
Seeing Takagi's strange smile, both Senichi and Toshiro knew that he must have misunderstood, and they rolled their eyes at him simultaneously.
"Ah... Sorry..." Officer Takagi laughed awkwardly a couple of times and looked at Domi. "Please continue."
"At the victim's house, both cash and bankbooks were still there. There was no loss of valuables."
"If we make that assumption, then we can rule out the possibility of a thief entering the house, being discovered, and killing the owner to silence them," Takagi looked at Senichi and asked, "Senichi-kun, what do you think?"
"Perhaps the stolen items are not things like cash and bankbooks," Senichi thought, recalling the exhibition board he had seen at the suspect's house yesterday.
"Huh?"
But Senichi didn't have any intention of explaining further. After all, these were just baseless speculations.
Afterward, the two of them organized the information they had and, based on the clues mentioned during Takagi's recording last night, they prepared to visit the "Matsushita" mansion where the victim used to frequent.
It was around nine o'clock, so they got in the car and headed to the "Matsushita" mansion, hoping to gain some insights from this visit.
"What a huge house." After getting out of the car, Takagi looked around and couldn't help but exclaim.
It was a two-story standalone villa, and there were even steps in front of the entrance. The front door itself was a double door.
They pressed the doorbell, and soon a long-haired woman wearing a white sweater opened the door. It seemed that she was Mrs. Matsushita, the hostess of the house.
She appeared to be in her early thirties, with good looks and a gentle demeanor when speaking.
"Hello?"
"Ah, sorry for the intrusion. I'm Detective Senichi from the Criminal Investigation Division."
"I'm Takagi."
While Senichi introduced himself, Takagi showed his police badge to prove their identities.
"Um..."
"Please come in."
Before Takagi could explain the purpose of their visit, the hostess had already stepped aside from the door, leaving Senichi and Takagi standing in front of the wide-open door.
"Is it about Mrs. Sannitori?" Mrs. Matsushita said while taking out two pairs of slippers from the shoe cabinet nearby, inviting the two inside the room.
"Yes, we heard that she used to come here often."
"We heard that from her husband yesterday," Takagi explained with a smile.
"We were just talking about her," Mrs. Matsushita gestured with her hand and then led the two into the room. "Please come this way."
"Excuse us."
"Excuse us."
After changing into slippers, they followed Mrs. Matsushita, but Senichi intentionally lagged behind.
Because on the coat rack in the entrance hall, there were three coats hanging: one white, one black, and one gray-white coat made of intersecting fur and leather. It caught Senichi's attention.
Seeing Takagi entering ahead, Senichi stopped in his tracks and carefully examined the three coats hanging on the coat rack.