Let's not talk about this somewhat perplexing and willful operation with money for now.
It's certain that the two of them are wealthy women.
Tamako runs a beauty salon, and Miyako Miura is even more extraordinary; she is the daughter of the owner of the Sugimoto-ya chain dessert shop that Senichi and others had eaten at before.
Why would a daughter of the dessert company based in Kansai live in Tokyo? Of course, it's because she's in charge of developing and opening branches in the Kanto region.
In summary, both of these women are wealthy; they can afford both time and money.
For this matter, the two of them basically come over periodically to complain. However, as time goes on, although the time span between their visits increases, their attitudes become increasingly unfriendly.
Even Miss Terazumi recently came over to complain because of those two.
Just as Senichi finished speaking, before he could continue saying anything to Haruka, a knocking sound suddenly rang out.
"Come in," Senichi said directly upon hearing the knocking.
"Sorry to disturb you." After opening the door, a female detective walked over and looked at Haruka, saying, "Miss Terazumi is here again, and she's waiting for you in the lobby."
"She's here again? It can't be that Miyako and the others went and did something again..." Haruka couldn't help but touch her forehead at the words, feeling a headache coming.
"It's really like 'speak of the devil'." Senichi smiled and said, "Well, it's good; I can meet this suspicious lady."
"Then I'll go bring her up." Haruka nodded at the words and walked towards the door.
In the Police Affairs Bureau, except for the lobby where everyone can enter freely, not everyone can enter the building's interior.
If an outsider wants to enter Senichi and their daily office space, aside from high-ranking bureaucrats, ordinary people generally need to be accompanied by a detective to enter the interior.
When registering external personnel, the name of the detective also needs to be recorded. Once this external person enters the interior of the Police Affairs Bureau, if they do something, like threatening with a knife or causing trouble, the detective who led them in will also bear joint responsibility.
While Haruka went downstairs to deal with things, Senichi wasn't idle either. He prepared some tea leaves, brewed tea, and waited for the arrival of the two women.
Soon, Haruka brought this woman into the room.
"Please have a seat." Haruka gestured, and the woman sat on the sofa. Haruka herself took a seat on the sofa next to Senichi, and the three of them sat facing each other.
During this gap, Senichi took the opportunity to look at the woman.
With smooth black straight hair, fair skin, and a beautiful face, she was undoubtedly an attractive woman. The only flaw might be her gloomy expression at the moment, which destroyed the overall beauty and gave off a sinister vibe.
Almost the moment she entered the room, Senichi's nose felt like it was about to explode. The overwhelmingly sweet fragrance emanating from her almost made him nauseous.
For someone with a sensitive sense of smell like him, being in the same room with such a person was torture.
Fortunately, the super sense of smell could be turned off. Senichi instantly shut down his super sense of smell. However, even with normal smell, he could still sense a cloying sweetness in the air.
Yoshiko Terazumi, the slightly gloomy woman with an overpowering sweet scent all over her, was the only suspect in this case.
However, due to insufficient evidence and no apparent motive for killing the victim, she had not been prosecuted.
At this moment, her mood seemed quite irritable. "Please, help me think of a way to keep those two women from coming! I'm innocent, but those two women come to pick on me every day.
They even hire people to guard outside my house. Because of this, I'm under tremendous pressure all the time. Look, I've even lost weight and dropped to 40 kilograms...
It's all because you detectives treated me as a suspect from the beginning. That's why those two women think I'm the murderer... even though there's no evidence!"
"No... it's just as a person of interest..." Haruka sounded a bit powerless after hearing Yoshiko Terazumi's words.
"Heh... those are just your police department's sophistry. You say 'person of interest' with your mouth, but in reality, you treat me as a criminal through and through."
Yoshiko Terazumi bit her thumbnail in frustration. "Miyako Miura has already remarried; she has no feelings for her ex-husband anymore and doesn't care about the killer's identity... She's definitely just upset about having her husband taken away..."
Speaking of this, Yoshiko Terazumi's pupils suddenly contracted violently. She quickly picked up her hat, then hastily walked towards the door. "Please warn those two women not to harass me again! Otherwise, I won't be polite!!"
Without waiting for Haruka to stand up and try to stop her, Yoshiko Terazumi walked out and closed the door behind her.
"....."
After Yoshiko Terazumi left, Haruka sat directly on the sofa, supporting her forehead with her right hand, looking exhausted. "It's my incompetence that has led to this situation. I guess I'm not cut out for being a detective."
"How could that be?" Senichi looked at Haruka and said, "Maybe you just care too much about this case?"
"Indeed... I care a lot about this matter." Haruka sighed, picked up the tea cup on the table, and drank it all in one go.
"Actually, when I joined, my goal was to enter the Criminal Investigation Division."
Haruka ran her five fingers through her hair, her face filled with weariness. "But towards the end of my internship, I encountered this case. Because I became too invested in it, it eventually led to the current situation. Also, because of my insistence, I was treated with coldness by my senior at that time.
I know for detectives, you shouldn't get too caught up in one case. Some seniors who were in charge of cases tried to console me, telling me not to get too hung up on it. But in the end, I couldn't break free from my own constraints."
"So after the internship, you voluntarily chose to go to the Police Affairs Division?"
"That's right, exactly like that." Haruka nodded. "I felt that if I couldn't handle a case like this, then as a detective, perhaps..."
"If the matter isn't resolved, it's like a wound that has stopped healing; the pain will always accompany you."
Senichi crossed his arms and looked seriously at Haruka. "I actually think you're not wrong. 'Never give up on unsolved cases'—that's the attitude a detective should have."
Senichi smiled when he saw Haruka looking stunned. "Haven't you heard? Many seniors, even close to retirement, are still investigating cold cases. They choose to shoulder it and take a step forward. In my opinion, that's the attitude a detective should have."
Senichi looked at Haruka with a calm expression and sincere eyes. "You're a detective worthy of respect."
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