Inside a luxurious study, a handsome middle-aged man with somewhat gray hair lay on a reclining chair in a robe.
There were no bloody wounds, no terrified expressions, just a serene and tranquil countenance, as though he were merely asleep and not already deceased.
Upon receiving the report, Senichi and the others rushed to the scene, only to find this sight.
Compared to the gruesome deaths in previous murder cases, the manner of this person's death could truly be described as peaceful.
According to the investigation, the deceased was named Takaki Murakami, fifty-three years old, a renowned romance novelist.
The chair in which he lay was not positioned directly in front of the desk but had been rotated ninety degrees to the left, with his right arm hanging over the desk.
Notably, his right index finger appeared to be injured, as it was wrapped in a thick bandage.
Next to the desk on the right side was a book titled "The Heiress and the Famous Police Detective's Heart-Pounding Mystery Adventures," which, judging by its title alone, was a light novel.
Interestingly, the publisher was none other than Senichi's own publishing company, now renamed the Tangling Publishing Company. In addition to handling Senichi's publications, the company had, at Senichi's discretion, expanded into the light novel field.
Only he knew how promising the future of light novels would be, and with sufficient funds, Senichi had the company's president actively recruit talented authors and offer them more generous rewards than the industry standard. He had also allocated a sum of money to establish mechanisms within the publishing company to assist talented new authors in overcoming their financial difficulties during their early careers.
Given that light novels were still relatively niche at this time, such attractive treatment had quickly drawn numerous talented authors into the field. "The Heiress and the Famous Police Detective's Heart-Pounding Mystery Adventures" happened to be a well-received work that had taken the top spot on the shoujo category rankings.
Rumor had it that the author was actually a high school girl, but she had managed to maintain her anonymity, claiming to be still focused on her studies, which added to her mysterious aura.
The inspiration for her work had come about when she had overheard the publishing company president casually mention Senichi and Ayako.
Hmm... It does feel a bit strange to be written into a book as a character based on oneself, but since they were under my wing after all, when the president asked for my opinion, I asked Ayako and readily agreed.
But let's not dwell on that.
The first person to discover the body was the housekeeper responsible for Takaki Murakami's daily life. She came to make breakfast for him at eight o'clock this morning and found his body, so she reported it.
After the on-site forensic team examined the scene, they found no obvious external injuries on the deceased. Although they couldn't make a definitive judgment without further autopsy.
But based solely on the surface appearance of the body, it may have been a death caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.
The study room itself is quite enclosed, and the fireplace is also of an old design without a device to prevent incomplete combustion.
If there was a ventilation issue and he went to sleep like that, the chances of this were very high.
"So, what about last night?" Senichi, holding a notebook, asked about yesterday evening's events. "Was there anything noteworthy?"
"Nothing unusual," she replied. "After I finished making dinner for Mr. Murakami and his manager, Ms. Mizuko Shibakusa, at seven o'clock yesterday evening, I went home at eight."
Yamada Fukiko, who was in her forties, seemed to have not yet recovered from the shock of discovering the body. Upon hearing Senichi's questions, she shook her head repeatedly, holding her chest.
"Nothing out of the ordinary happened at the time, everything was as usual."
"Oh, and about the fireplace," Fukiko remembered and spoke up. "Mr. Murakami disliked using the air conditioning, so when the weather suddenly turned cold yesterday, and he said he wanted to use the fireplace, I checked the ventilation specifically."
"I see, thank you."
Not getting much useful information, Senichi didn't feel too disheartened. He nodded in gratitude and then promptly went to speak with Takagi.
And they had just finished taking the statement from the deceased's editor, Shinji Yanagi.
"How did it go? Any discoveries?" Senichi handed the statement to Officer Takagi and asked, "I didn't find much, at most just that the deceased didn't like using air conditioning, hence the use of the fireplace."
"If he frequently used the fireplace, it would make it less likely to be a murder," Senichi speculated. If the fireplace wasn't used often, it might suggest that the perpetrator lured the victim into using it to commit the crime. But if it was a regular habit, the chances of an accident increased.
"I didn't find much either."
Takagi sighed as he flipped through his notes. "According to the interview, we learned that Editor Yanagi and the teacher had a good relationship for ten years, and there haven't been any recent troubles between them.
His books have consistently ranked at the top of the bestseller lists in his genre for the past few years, so you could say Yanagi needed to maintain a good relationship with him. Besides, we haven't found anyone who had a grudge against him."
Senichi nodded in response. If someone was doing well, the editor was usually the one with the least motive to commit murder, as success could cover up many things. For example, in a competitive arena, victory could hide conflicts among team members because their interests aligned.
Of course, if Takaki Murakami was planning to abandon Editor Yanagi, it would not be impossible for him to act impulsively out of anger.
So witness testimony was just one aspect of the investigation, and it could be tainted by various factors. Therefore, the next step would be to verify each statement and confirm their accuracy.
"About verifying the statements of these two, I'll leave it to both of you," Senichi instructed Sato Miwako and Officer Takagi.
"No problem, leave it to us."
Hearing that he would be working with his goddess, Officer Takagi couldn't help but feel excited. As they were about to head out, Chiba, who was nearby, approached with a bespectacled woman.
"Officer Senichi, this is Takaki Murakami's manager, Mizuko Shibakusa," Chiba extended his hand and introduced.
"Hello." She appeared to be around thirty, with long hair and an intellectual air, giving a slight bow to greet Senichi.
"Hello." Senichi glanced at her, then returned a slight bow and gestured to the sofa. "Thank you for coming. Please have a seat."
Once both were seated, Senichi didn't waste any time with formalities and immediately got to the point.
"So, I'll get straight to the point," Senichi looked at her and asked, "Ms. Shibakusa, as Mr. Murakami's manager, what are your usual responsibilities?"
"Many things. As a manager, I'm responsible for everything from daily life to work schedules," she replied. "However, Miss Fukiko, our housekeeper, takes care of more of the daily life aspects. My main focus is on arranging Mr. Murakami's work."
She gave an example, "For instance, scheduling interviews or preparing tickets for when he goes out to gather material. Or when television stations want to discuss adapting his work into a TV series. Occasionally, if Miss Fukiko leaves late due to work, I'll prepare a late-night snack for Mr. Murakami."
"Then may I ask, where were you last night?" Senichi inquired.
"I returned home around ten last night after having dinner with Mr. Murakami."
"When you left, what was Mr. Murakami doing?" Senichi asked.
"He was reading at the time" She thought for a while and said "Though it must have been a bit challenging for him with his right hand injured."
Senichi nodded when he heard that she had left while Mr. Murakami was still reading. Then he changed the topic and asked, "So, what can you tell me about Mr. Murakami's family situation?"
"About that..." Mizuko Shibakusa twirled her hair with her finger, looking slightly troubled. "Although it may not sound very convincing coming from me, they divorced five years ago because of me. Besides that, there's a daughter in middle school."
"So you mean to say that you two are in a romantic relationship..."
"No, no, how could that be?!"
Mizuko Shibakusa repeatedly waved her hands in denial and said, "Mr. Murakami and I have a purely teacher-student relationship. I deeply respect Mr. Murakami, and there have been no improper behaviors between us!"
"Then why did you say that Mrs. Murakami divorced Mr. Murakami because of you?" Senichi asked curiously.
"Probably out of jealousy," Mizuko Shibakusa shrugged helplessly. "Because I never got married and stayed by Mr. Murakami's side, it aroused Mrs. Murakami's suspicions.
She openly threatened to kick me out. But Mr. Murakami thought she was being unreasonable and had a big argument with her, which eventually led to their separation.
Even though I told her I liked women, jealousy made her unwilling to believe..."
"What?!" Even Senichi was taken aback when he heard her casually reveal such a bombshell statement.
"That's right, it's as I said."
Mizuko Shibakusa nodded calmly. "I'm being honest with you because I assume you will investigate whether Mr. Murakami and I had any conflicts due to romantic entanglements.
Since you'll investigate sooner or later, it's better to be upfront and save you some trouble, right? Plus, it should be enough to prove that I have a clear conscience and that there's absolutely no romantic involvement between Mr. Murakami and me."
"Indeed," Senichi nodded in gratitude. "Thank you very much for your honesty and cooperation."
"You're welcome. Is there anything else you want to ask?" Mizuko Shibakusa smiled and inquired.
"You just mentioned the teacher-student relationship," Senichi raised an eyebrow and asked, "So, does that mean even though you're Mr. Murakami's manager, you are also his disciple?"
"That's right, because Mr. Murakami was someone I admired during my high school days," Mizuko Shibakusa said, her admiration was clear in her eyes. "So, when I became Mr. Murakami's manager, I also continued writing, hoping that one day, everyone could read my work too."
"If you don't mind, could you let me read it?" Senichi smiled and said, "My girlfriend actually owns a publishing company, and if the work is good, I'll recommend it to the president."
Of course, that's assuming the case is solved, and she's not the culprit.
By then, Senichi wouldn't mind bringing another author to the publishing company.
And besides, many cases had a somewhat "literary" aspect to them, with clues often hidden within. So, as a precaution, Senichi casually asked for a copy of her work.
"Really? Thank you so much!" Mizuko Shibakusa's face lit up upon hearing Senichi's words. She immediately retrieved a printed manuscript from the living room drawer and handed it to Senichi. "If you don't mind, please take a look. Regardless of whether it satisfies you or not, please be sure to share your thoughts when the time comes."
"I'll definitely read it," Senichi accepted the manuscript with a slight bow and thanked her. "Thank you for your cooperation as well."
...
Criminal Investigation Department.
In general, when a murder case occurred and wasn't resolved at the scene, a Criminal Investigation team would be established to conduct further investigations.
At this moment, in the conference room, Uncle Tome, dressed in the forensic department's attire, was pointing at the deceased, who was lying on the recliner, on the projector screen. "As expected, the victim, Takaki Murakami, died from carbon monoxide poisoning. However, after the autopsy, we found traces of sleeping pills in the victim's body."
This statement immediately caused a stir among the police detectives in the room.
"Hmm... so, if he was in a sealed room with the fireplace on and took sleeping pills, does that mean there's a 50-50 chance of suicide or homicide?" Inspector Megure, sitting in the front row among the detectives, stroked his chin and pondered.
"Wait, I object!" Suddenly, a female voice rang out, and Yumi Miyamoto stood up with an excited tone. "Mr. Murakami published a total of four works within the past three years!"
"Among them, 'The Flowing small river' sold 480,000 copies! 'July Lovers' sold 700,000 copies!"
"His latest work, 'Love in Wakkanai,' has even been nominated for the Naoki Literary Award. That means..."
"I understand!"
Seeing Yumi Miyamoto's excited demeanor, Inspector Megure quickly gestured for her to calm down. "I've already grasped the point about not seeing a motive for suicide. But why are you here?"
"Uh..."
When Yumi Miyamoto heard Inspector Megure's question, her face instantly froze, and her mind went blank. She didn't know how to explain.
She couldn't just say that she learned the deceased was her admired Mr. Murakami and shamelessly begged Sato Miwako to bring her to the Criminal Investigation Department for the investigation, only to be rejected, so she sneaked in. That would be a disaster!
In her state of confusion, Yumi Miyamoto noticed Senichi sitting next to Inspector Megure and cast a pitiful, weak, and helpless look for help—save me!
"I invited Officer Miyamoto here."
Senichi smiled and spoke up, "Officer Miyamoto is a devoted fan of the deceased and has much more accurate information about him than the data we've collected. So, I thought I'd have her share the deceased's life story with us."
"That's right!"
Yumi Miyamoto, who had previously been feeling uneasy, puffed up her chest when she heard Senichi's words. "I've been reading Mr. Murakami's books since my teenage years. If you have any questions, just ask me! I'm definitely more reliable than the information you've gathered!"
Senichi couldn't help but find her sudden change amusing. She went from being nervous to showing off.
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