Monday morning, cloudy weather.
There was no sun in the sky, and not a single white cloud could be seen. The entire sky was dimly lit.
It had rained heavily last night, and there was still standing water on the ground.
Outside a building at a construction site.
The sound of police sirens echoed in the ears, and the personnel from the forensic department were busy collecting evidence.
Flashlights occasionally flickered in the dim environment, creating a chilling atmosphere with the presence of a corpse on the ground.
Senichi, wearing shoe covers and a white raincoat with a windbreaker style, was currently standing next to the body, examining it together with Takagi.
After the case at the stadium, Senichi and Ayako continued their date and went shopping. In the middle, Ayako even picked out a suit for Senichi.
They enjoyed a delicious meal in the evening and watched a movie before parting ways.
And just as they started their work on Monday... heh heh, a case came up.
The body lying on the ground was a man in his thirties, his clothes appeared shabby, and there were several obvious slits on both sides of his pants.
Senichi pulled open one of the slits and took a look. Although they were somewhat meandering, they formed a straight line overall, more like cuts made by a sharp blade rather than damage to the pants.
Although the wounds beneath the clothes were not clearly visible, Senichi and the others still needed to wait for the autopsy report. However, there were also straight wounds on the palms of the victim's hands, which confirmed this fact.
But these wounds, although severe-looking, were not fatal. The actual cause of death was the fall from the rooftop of the old building nearby.
"So, the deceased was chased here by someone wielding a bladed weapon and then fell down..."
Standing on the rooftop, Takagi stepped back with his palms open, simulating the posture of the victim when being attacked, gradually approaching the edge of the rooftop.
Looking down from the rooftop, they could clearly see the victim lying on the ground below.
"But there's no way to detect footprints." Senichi looked at the wet ground on the rooftop, helpless.
Although there were many forensic personnel collecting evidence on the rooftop at the moment, the rain yesterday made it difficult to gather evidence, and they couldn't confirm whether the victim had been on the rooftop by examining footprints.
After taking the body back, Senichi and the others quickly returned to the police headquarters and began examining the items on the body while waiting for the autopsy report.
"There's not a single penny in the deceased's wallet." Takagi speculated after going through the wallet, "Was it a robbery gone wrong? If that's the case, it's really difficult to handle. Random, opportunistic robberies are unpredictable."
"Don't be dissatisfied. At least, the person left us something." Senichi took out the remaining National Health Insurance card from the wallet and said, "With identification, at least we're not completely clueless."
Yukihiro Otsuka, 36 years old, residing at 40 Bancho, Yonehana-cho, Kitatama.
Apart from the insurance card as proof of identity, there were only three keys on him.
However, the keys had been sent for identification, and it would take some time to determine which locks they belonged to.
After the autopsy, apart from the palms, the victim's legs also had knife wounds. It was currently determined that he had been chased and injured by someone, and with nowhere to escape, he fell from the rooftop of the building.
During the autopsy, Senichi focused on the analysis of the food found in the victim's stomach.
Salmon, beef, kelp.
Apple, wheat flour, milk fat.
There was so much food in the victim's stomach, and it didn't match at all!
"Is this some kind of puzzle?" Takagi scratched his head and said, "I really can't imagine what kind of dishes these combinations would make."
Takagi is currently single and eats out for meals; he doesn't know how to cook. Senichi, on the other hand, also only knows a little about Japanese cuisine.
So, with this information in hand, they specifically asked several older female clerical workers in the accounting department, but they couldn't figure out what kind of dishes could be made from these food combinations.
And these were the foods the victim had eaten in the two hours before his death.
After some questioning without results, Senichi and Takagi decided to set aside the problem for now and prepare to visit the address on the insurance card.
However, when they arrived at the address and explained their purpose to the landlord, they received an unexpected answer.
Yukihiro Otsuka had moved out eleven months ago, and the room he had been living in had found new tenants just two days ago.
According to the landlord's knowledge, Yukihiro Otsuka had said he suddenly got a place to stay and moved away from there.
"What should we do now? The victim's place of residence has become a useless lead," Takagi asked while sitting in the driver's seat. "It's been almost a year, and Yukihiro Otsuka probably has no connection to this place anymore."
"Then let's visit Yukihiro Otsuka's family," Senichi suggested.
"That's the only option. Hopefully, his family can provide some information," Takagi started the car and arrived at the Otsuka family's residence based on their previous investigation.
After knocking on the door, they presented their credentials and stated their purpose. They entered the house and immediately began questioning.
The person in charge of receiving them was Yukihiro Otsuka's older brother, Hai Otsuka.
However, they didn't get much information from him because the last time he had contact with Yukihiro Otsuka was through a phone call, which had happened a year ago.
"My brother was a temporary worker before. It was about a year ago when he called and said he finally became a regular employee at a company."
"Then do you know which company he became a regular employee at?" Takagi asked while recording and speaking.
"He used to change jobs frequently, and he didn't mention it in the phone call. I'm not sure either," Hai Otsuka sighed. "But I never expected him to die... so sudden..."
"After that, did you have any further contact with him?"
"He didn't have a cell phone, and we couldn't reach him at home. Even the previous place he moved to has changed."
"So, you knew about him moving out?" Senichi interjected. "When did you find out about him moving out?"
"After the phone call, we met again..."
And that meeting wasn't as pleasant as expected because Yukihiro Otsuka had been fired from the company after becoming a regular employee, losing his job again.
Even the application for unemployment insurance didn't go well, as he didn't meet the requirements for length of employment and labor insurance contributions.
Their meeting was when Yukihiro Otsuka asked his brother for money.
He scolded his younger brother, saying that he hadn't been working properly, and bluntly stated that he had to take care of their hospitalized mother and his own family, which was already tough enough.
The two of them had an argument and parted ways, and Yukihiro Otsuka's older brother hadn't seen him since then.
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