There aren't many people who can say that serial murders are interesting.
Ichijō Mirai was sitting at his desk in the study, idly browsing through the documents he had compiled on his computer.
The blonde Inuo stood by, and at the sound of his voice, he tried to look up at Ichijō Mirai, but refrained.
"What's wrong?" Ichijō Mirai inquired without looking up, a little puzzled, "Have the FBI people not yet identified the murderer?"
"I don't think so."
He'd skimmed over a few cases and gotten a general idea of the scope of the murderer, so the FBI, with their deep knowledge of the cases, should be able to find the murderer more accurately, shouldn't they?
And Mr. FBI agent downstairs didn't look like a loser.
...A forceful competitor with a razor-sharp edge and no flexibility of thought?
The blonde Inuo didn't understand Ichijō Mirai's question about the FBI man downstairs, but drew a vague conclusion from the tone of his voice.
He couldn't help but look up, "You, you have a guess about the murderer?"
Ichijō Mirai casually flipped through the detailed but imprecise summaries, pulled up the webpage to search for the sixth case himself, and answered, "Hmm."
He casually pulls a piece of paper and pen from the side of the room, and simply writes a rough draft on it.
[I. Name: New York Late-Night Shootings.
Objective.
① Apprehend the murderer.
② Maintain normal law and order, reduce the impact of serial killings, to avoid unnecessary turmoil and the death of innocent people.
④ Through the observation and action methods of the agents, to develop the hands-on ability of the agents and their ability to investigate things, and to stimulate the curiosity and inquisitiveness of the children.
⑤ It is recommended to take action on the seventh case.
3. Exemplary cases: Foggy City Fog Shooting Case, Paris Dawn Shooting Case.]
Without thinking about it, Ichijō Mirai paused for a moment to write down the five cases known to him, and then drew a mark on the second case.
The blonde Inuo stood close enough that he didn't need to look up at Ichijō Mirai to see some of the words he was writing as he organized his thoughts.
[According to cases ①②③④⑤, the murderer is old, weak, and disabled.]
"Old, weak, and disabled..."?
The letters of the English alphabet were standardized, only because they were written quickly, some of them were connected to each other. Blonde Inuo struggled to recognize the handwriting, and was a bit confused: why, why is it the old, weak, and disabled?
He found that Ichijō Mirai, who was writing, seemed to be aware of his doubts. He paused and moved the pen tip repeatedly, and finally added impatiently below this conclusion:
[In case ①, the murderer shot the victim while sitting in the back seat of the victim.
Case ②, the victim died in the bathroom.
Case ③...]
All cases are homicides where the murderer and the victim had late-night contact.
Without contact, the murderer couldn't enter the car silently. In the first case, the victim let the murderer into the car.
In the fourth case, the murderer entered the victim's dressing room, but the victim didn't call for help, which is also problematic.
After writing, Ichijō Mirai paused, moved the tip of his pen to the second case he had just marked, and labeled it with the following reason.
[①, the bathroom could have delayed or increased the time of death of the body.]
[②, if the murderer does not know the victim, it is a home invasion...
If the murderer knew the victim...]
It's like he's teaching a child, breaking down the case into possibilities, eliminating some, locking in some, and explaining why.
The blonde Inuo understood.
'No, no wonder the murderer was old and sick, it's because the victims were almost always defenseless,' he realized, 'but,'
But, who is Ichijō Mirai?
How did he organize the case so well? Wasn't it really the police? He's not a police officer on a special mission, is he?
Blonde Inuo tried to keep quiet to minimize his presence, but cautiously peeked at Ichijō Mirai.
He realized that as he was writing, Ichijō Mirai's impatient but frowning face paused as he continued to write.
Immediately, the typed draft was rubbed up.
"I'm sorry," Ichijō Mirai smiled, "I told you there are some habits that are so ingrained in the marrow of the bones that they can't be changed."
"I almost forgot that I'm already free, and I'm actually analyzing the case out of habit again, so I'm sorry to make you laugh."
The blonde Inuo winced, "No, no, no!"
He immediately and honestly looked at his ears and nose, not daring to move a muscle, restraining himself from thinking about what he meant by 'almost forgetting that he was free'.
Ichijō Mirai moved the mouse, endured the slow speed of the Internet like a tortoise, and managed to find the sixth case.
The FBI has released details of this case, which took place last night in the bathroom of a bar.
Women's restroom.
The victim was a male, also shot in the head.
Because it's a bar, unlike a street or a neighborhood, New Yorkers are no longer calmly thinking, "Gunshots? Isn't that normal, it's none of my business' and 'Haha, I hear gunshots every day, wouldn't it be a pain in the ass if everyone called the police?' .
People call the police when gunshots are fired.
Ichijō Mirai absently scanned the location of the sixth case, casually kneading the balled-up paper a little deeper, "What a clever mouse."
"The murderer can be further narrowed down to a few keywords."
*
"Male."
"No facial disabilities, normal appearance."
"Between the ages of twelve and fifty."
Akai Shūichi paused, adding, "Or perhaps under sixty."
"Some aged gentlemen, even in their fifties, are still attractive."
They attract young people.
His coworker follows him, a little frazzled, "Eh? Hey?!"
"Mr. Akai is great!"
"I just went to ask the apartment manager a few questions, and you deduced so much. Did you find out that the fifth victim had a boyfriend or intimate relationship with someone of the opposite sex?"
Akai Shūichi: "No."
It wasn't just a short while ago, it was a long time ago.
But, "You can contact her friends and ask about close relationships with the opposite sex, and you might get something."
"There's a one percent chance that their relationship was discovered."
"Did the coroner's office come back with the results? The bathroom could have delayed the death."
My colleague shook his head, "Not yet, it's been a week since the body was found, and they're having it re-examined by the coroner..."
Akai Shūichi: "Uh-huh."
He pressed the elevator button for the fifth floor, and didn't say anything more on the subject, but suddenly swept his eyes over the button for the third floor, "After you revisit the crime scene, go to the third floor."
Colleagues: "Ah?"
"Is there a suspect on the third floor?" Colleague perked up, "I told you there was something wrong with you, and sure enough, you found a suspect!"
Akai Shūichi: "No."
"Not a suspect in this case."
But it's dangerous, holding an apartment dweller hostage.