A yellow police line had been set up outside a forest twenty kilometers from downtown Tokyo. Several police cars were parked along the muddy road near the crime scene, and every officer present wore a grim expression. It had been a long time since Tokyo had seen such a vicious case.
Two forensic officers visiting a crime scene like this for the first time simply couldn't endure it. Leaning against a patrol car, they vomited violently. It was safe to say they'd have no appetite for lunch today.
As Ritsu put on white gloves, he hurried toward the scene. Before he even got close, the heavy stench of blood hit him. Looking toward the forensic officer documenting the scene, he asked,
"Have the victim's identity been confirmed?"
Seeing the inspector in charge arrive, the forensic officer immediately reported,
"Yes, sir. The victim has been identified as a second-year student from Hokkaido National High School. Inspector, all of the victim's belongings have been placed over here."
Ritsu looked toward the makeshift table covered with various items. Picking up the student ID and reading its contents, he frowned.
"Why would a Hokkaido high school student be in Tokyo? Shouldn't school still be in session?"
"We already contacted staff from Hokkaido National High School. Right after the second semester began, the school organized a class trip for the second-year students. The victim, Mizusawa Himeka, disappeared on September 2nd. There's already a missing person report filed with the Metropolitan Police Department."
'Murdered during a school trip, huh?'
She disappeared on September 2nd, and the body was discovered on September 6th… yet there was no obvious smell of decomposition.
"Bleurgh—!"
His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of vomiting. Turning around, Ritsu saw Takagi sprinting outside the police line. Just as expected, seeing a gruesome crime scene like this for the first time had caused Takagi to donate his breakfast to the earth.
Rather than rushing to inspect the body itself, Ritsu first examined Himeka's belongings before finally walking toward the mutilated corpse lying face-up on the ground.
The head was missing.
The cut at the neck was clean and smooth, clearly severed in a single strike.
Ritsu's gaze shifted downward toward the victim's chest. Combined with the hunting shotgun shell found among her belongings, it appeared she had been killed instantly by a shotgun blast. Her shattered ribcage indicated the shot had been fired at close range.
"If you can't handle it, don't force yourself to look."
Hayasaka tried her best to keep her gaze below the victim's neck. Hearing Ritsu's words, she stubbornly bit her lip, took a deep breath, and said,
"I can handle it. Sooner or later I'd have to face scenes like this. I prepared myself mentally the day I became a detective."
"And what if several more bodies like this appeared at the same time?"
"W-What do you mean?"
Ritsu had already noticed Hayasaka's pale complexion. She barely dared look at the corpse, which was why she failed to notice such an obvious detail.
He pointed toward the victim's right hand and said heavily,
"Didn't you notice the stitching on the right hand? Every finger came from a different person, and the degree of decomposition is different for each one."
Hayasaka froze.
Lowering her head toward the victim's right hand, she finally realized all five fingers had been sewn on. The thumb was the most decomposed, while the pinky finger showed the least decay. Judging from the bone structure… that pinky likely didn't belong to a woman at all.
Realizing the severity of the situation, she clenched her fists in disbelief.
"So… besides this victim, there are at least five more bodies?"
"Yeah. This case is far from ordinary. We'll need the Metropolitan Police Department to send in police dogs to assist the investigation."
Ritsu rose to his feet, narrowing his crimson eyes as he stared into the depths of the forest. The dampness left behind by the rain made the earthy smell even stronger.
Hopefully the rain hadn't already washed away the evidence. The remaining corpses were probably buried somewhere in the forest.
"There's no need to contact the MPD. The bodies have already been found."
That familiar voice caused Ritsu's eyes to pause for a moment.
Turning around, he saw a familiar face. He truly hadn't expected him to appear here. Previous cases hadn't been major enough to require the forensic division's ace investigator. As expected, only a vicious crime like this would bring him out.
Black medium-length hair was tied into a small braid at the ends, while slightly long bangs concealed the black eyepatch over his right eye. White gloves covered both hands, and the sleeves of his light-blue shirt were rolled up. Six years had been enough time for him to recover from the skin graft surgery.
Back in February during the cemetery visit, Ritsu had avoided drawing attention and never got a proper look at them. But now, using the identity of Onizawa, he could finally meet them again.
Maybe he really should feel grateful. If not for Rum's scheme, he would never have changed identities and returned openly to the Metropolitan Police Department.
"So you're Detective Hagiwara, the forensic division's ace investigator?"
Kenji pulled out a small metal tin containing strawberry-flavored gum. Surviving the explosion six years ago had successfully forced him to quit smoking, which at least saved him some money.
"'Ace investigator' is a bit much. But I have heard of Inspector Onizawa's reputation."
"Oh?"
Just as before, Kenji wore his cheerful smile. Removing his white gloves, he popped a piece of gum into his mouth and said while chewing,
"You're too modest, Inspector. I wouldn't dare compare myself to someone with a one-hundred-percent case-solving rate… Though I do think your handling of the 'Wolf of Beika Case' was pretty interesting.
Using public opinion and the absence of decisive evidence to reduce Nishitani-san's sentence, that was clever."
The Wolf of Beika Case.
So Kenji suspected he had destroyed crucial evidence?
Ritsu had long heard that Kenji often dug through old case files in the forensic archives. Apparently, he believed there had been something wrong with how that case was handled.
As always, his observational skills were frighteningly sharp.
He probably wanted to dissect Ritsu completely and understand him inside and out.
"Thanks for the compliment. But now isn't the time for small talk."
"Right. Follow me, Inspector."
Kenji was about to lead the way when he suddenly remembered something and turned toward Hayasaka with a grin.
"Hayasaka-chan, maybe you shouldn't come along. I'd hate for you to have nightmares tonight!"
Hayasaka hesitated before ultimately giving in. Based on Ritsu's analysis, the other corpses would likely be mutilated as well. This was her first time dealing with a case like this, and honestly, it was already overwhelming enough.
"I didn't expect you to be so considerate," Ritsu remarked after they walked several meters away.
"You've gotta be gentler with women, otherwise people won't like you," Kenji said with a light laugh, patting Ritsu's shoulder. "But you're an exception. Being handsome makes up for it!"
For a moment, Ritsu had no idea how to respond. Should he humbly deny the compliment, or just accept it?
Though it was obvious Kenji was indirectly criticizing him for having low emotional intelligence and not being gentle enough toward women.
He was thinking about how to reply when a thick stench of decomposition drifted through the air.
Ritsu frowned toward the excavated remains. As he had suspected, all five corpses were missing their heads.
"All five bodies were found buried beneath this tree," Kenji explained. "And the killer didn't put much effort into hiding them. The graves were very shallow."
"Can their identities be confirmed?" Ritsu asked.
"We can basically confirm two of them already. They had library cards from Toto University on them. We just need to check which female students haven't shown up at school for around a week."
Kenji let out a heavy sigh. Heinous crimes were the kind of cases detectives hated facing the most. He reached out and patted Ritsu's shoulder again, this time almost like encouragement.
"I'll leave the rest to you. My job here is done. Don't disappoint me, Inspector."
Looking at the five headless corpses, Ritsu pressed his tongue against his sharp canine tooth. When he spoke, the words practically squeezed out through clenched teeth.
"I'll uncover the truth. And I won't let the bastard get away."
"Yeah. Good luck."