Lin Xinyi's words struck like a gavel, sealing the case and exposing Ishikawa's crime.
The expressions of everyone present shifted.
Perhaps before, some had been treating this as mere entertainment—an enjoyable deduction performance for the public.
But now, after hearing Lin Xinyi reconstruct the crime with such detail, everyone finally felt the victim's pain and saw the true cruelty of the murderer.
"I... I..."
Cold sweat beaded on Ishikawa's forehead.
He knew his situation was beyond salvage, yet he had no way to defend himself.
Because Lin Xinyi had reconstructed the truth with irrefutable evidence:
He had indeed killed Uchida. Deliberately.
At that moment, when Uchida instinctively struggled, scratching Ishikawa's arm and causing him pain—
It was as if some invisible switch had been flipped, fully awakening the beast within him.
Ishikawa had then shoved Uchida to the ground, brutally stepping on the back of his neck, venting his agitation through sadistic violence.
And in that moment of merciless abuse, he suddenly realized—
He felt pleasure.
The sensation of trampling another human underfoot, of watching a weakling slowly suffer and die, sent a wave of euphoria through him.
Yes. Thinking back—
He had never bullied his classmates purely for money.
Though he had always refused to admit it, deep down, he knew—
He had enjoyed it. The thrill of dominating the weak, the twisted pleasure of inflicting pain.
And now, in this extreme moment—when bullying escalated to torture, when torture turned to murder—
Ishikawa finally saw himself clearly.
Yes, this was who he was. And he liked it.
He was captivated by it.
So, he decided to kill Uchida.
Not out of anger. Not in a moment of reckless impulse.
But simply because—
He found it amusing.
That was why, when Uchida died, Ishikawa had shown no trace of panic.
On the contrary, he had remained eerily calm, quickly devising a scheme to exonerate himself.
"...Yes. That's exactly what happened."
After Lin Xinyi's analysis, Aoki—who had been silent all this time—glanced fearfully at Ishikawa before finally gathering the courage to speak:
"Ishikawa stepped on Uchida's neck for a long time."
"Later, the two of us started feeling that something was wrong and tried to tell him to stop, but he just glared at us—"
"And then... it was too late."
"Ishikawa threatened us into helping him stage the scene. We always listened to him. We were scared, but we obeyed."
Aoki's testimony was the final blow.
The arrogant, defiant Ishikawa finally lowered his head in silence.
Everyone—Lin Xinyi, the police, the crowd—waited for him to confess.
But when Ishikawa looked up again, a twisted smile had crept onto his face.
"Yes, I killed him. Intentionally."
"I knew it would kill him, and I still did it—hahaha!"
In utter defiance, he shamelessly admitted his crime.
There wasn't a trace of remorse in his voice—only arrogance and amusement.
"You bastard!"
Mouri Ran clenched her teeth and spat her fury.
She had tolerated this scumbag long enough.
Yet every time she held back, his cruelty only escalated.
From bullying to murder. From murder to sadistic torture.
The suffering Uchida endured before his death was beyond words.
"Calm down, calm down!"
Kudou Shinichi risked his life to step in front of his childhood friend.
He knew that if Ran lost control now—
By tomorrow, Ishikawa would be in a hearse, and Ran would be in a police car.
Both of their lives ruined.
"Lin Xinyi, say something!"
Kudou couldn't help but shoot a pleading look at Lin Xinyi.
Lin Xinyi didn't speak.
But he wasn't standing idly by either—
Instead, he was staring intently at the corpse, as if he had discovered something new.
"Hmm?"
Seeing this, Kudou forgot what he was about to do.
"Lin Xinyi, have you found something else?"
Fortunately, his question also caught Mouri Ran's attention.
She halted her reckless advance toward the edge of the law, turning instead to Lin Xinyi—
Her rage replaced by confusion and curiosity.
"It's not really an issue."
"This clue doesn't affect the case itself. It's just..."
After a brief thought, Lin Xinyi decided to reveal his discovery:
"Did you notice?"
"The victim only had bruises on the outer side of his right forearm. The left forearm only had defensive wounds and restraint marks."
"This means that when Uchida was pinned down, he was only using one hand to resist."
"Isn't that strange?"
Lin Xinyi mimicked Uchida's posture, propping himself up with one hand while leaving the other idle.
"To escape, you'd normally push off with both hands for maximum strength."
"But why, in a life-or-death struggle, did Uchida only use one hand?"
"What was his free hand doing?"
"Maybe... maybe he was trying to fight back with his left hand?"
Mouri Ran quickly offered a guess.
But as she instinctively put herself in Uchida's position—
Lying face down, reaching back in an attempt to strike at the leg crushing her neck—
"No, that's impossible."
"In this position, you can't even exert thirty percent of your strength. It wouldn't be effective at all."
Frowning, she asked in confusion,
"Then what was Uchida doing with that hand before he died?"
"He... He was reaching for his phone."
The answer didn't come from Lin Xinyi.
It came from Aoki.
The accomplice who had chosen to confess now revealed the truth:
"When Uchida was pinned down, he kept trying to reach for his phone with his left hand."
"But Ishikawa kicked it away. He never managed to grab it."
"What was Uchida trying to do with his phone?"
Mouri Ran pressed anxiously.
"Maybe... maybe he was trying to call the police?"
Aoki stammered.
Lin Xinyi raised an eyebrow. "Maybe?"
Aoki hesitated under Lin Xinyi's gaze before answering,
"Uchida had already been beaten so badly he could barely speak."
"Later, when he reached for his phone, we all assumed he was trying to call for help."
"But that doesn't make sense."
"Calling the police in the middle of being bullied? That would only provoke worse retaliation."
"Uchida wasn't someone who would knowingly make his situation worse."
Lin Xinyi took a deep breath, his voice heavy with emotion:
"I think, in his final moments, he was desperately reaching for his phone—"
"Because he had a message inside that he wanted you all to see."
"...What?"
Aoki froze, his expression shifting into deep confusion.
What message could be so important?
Could it have saved him?
In the end, lost in thought, Aoki finally revealed the phone's whereabouts:
"We put Uchida's phone back in his jacket pocket."
"I don't know if it was damaged when he was thrown from the rooftop."
"I see."
Without hesitation, Lin Xinyi reached into Uchida's pocket.
Inside, he found a phone—miraculously intact.
He pressed a key. The screen lit up.
"Let's see what Uchida wanted to tell us."
This was no longer part of the investigation.
Not even part of his duties as a forensic expert.
But Lin Xinyi felt it was necessary—
To let the dead speak one last time.
He checked Uchida's call and message history.
Then, he fell silent.
"...What is it?"
Mouri Ran asked, concerned.
Lin Xinyi didn't answer directly.
Instead, he handed the phone to Aoki.
"Aoki, read these two messages aloud."
"...Me?"
Aoki hesitated. Why him?
"I think you should be the one to do it."
With a solemn voice, Lin Xinyi insisted.
Aoki took the phone, eyes scanning the messages—
And instantly froze.
"Read," Lin Xinyi ordered coldly.
"...The first one is from the principal," Aoki's voice trembled as he read:
"Uchida, I received your forgiveness statement."
"I must ask—are you truly willing to forgive Ishikawa and the others?"
His hands shook as he continued:
"Principal, I am willing."
"They have done terrible things to me, but I choose to forgive them."
Tears streamed down Aoki's face.
Lin Xinyi sighed deeply.
"Such a gentle child."
"But the world was never gentle to you."
***
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