Although I only have the experience from my original body's training at the police academy, I've read many mystery works, which might be of some help in this field...
I'm not sure how much help these two will be, but at least they won't let Tang Ze down.
There's no time to waste. Since Inspector Megure has handed the case over to me and Miwako Sato, I must do my best.
Not just for myself, but also for the victim.
After making up his mind, Tang Ze and Miwako Sato went to meet the first discoverer, Hasegawa Ryoka.
I can't remember who said it, but at the crime scene, the first person to discover the crime is often the criminal. So, Tang Ze conducted the interrogation seriously.
Hasegawa Ryoka is a white-collar worker who lives in the same apartment building as the victim, Asamiya Kiriko, and they are about the same age.
When Tang Ze and Miwako Sato met her, the short-haired woman looked visibly upset. It was no wonder, after all, she had just discovered the body of her friend.
According to her, she and Asamiya Kiriko were drinking buddies, but since last night, after sending messages to the deceased with no reply, she decided to visit Kiriko's room this morning.
"When I went to look for her, I found her door was open. I thought it was strange."
Hasegawa Ryoka seemed to recall the scene and explained with a pale face:
"Because Kiriko is usually more careful than the average person, there's no way she would forget to lock the door."
Thinking the other person might be home, Hasegawa Ryoka entered the room and found the body of her friend on the bedroom floor, then immediately called the police.
After questioning her, Tang Ze nodded and said, "Thank you for your cooperation. It's okay now. Please accept my condolences."
"Please make sure to catch the criminal." Hasegawa Ryoka bowed to them before walking toward her room.
"We didn't get any important clues." After Hasegawa Ryoka left, Miwako Sato shook her head and looked at her partner, "Karasawa-kun, what do you think?"
"No, during the conversation, I didn't notice anything unnatural in her words." Tang Ze shook his head slightly.
"Then let's move on to the next one." Miwako Sato said, knocking on the door of the next apartment.
This is a field investigation. To collect testimony, you need to go door to door, asking questions to see if you can find any useful clues.
However, after working with several companies, they didn't get any good results. Tang Ze couldn't help but complain about Japan's corporate culture, where employees often worked overtime until late at night.
But field investigations depend on luck.
"Da da!"
Tang Ze arrived at the next floor and knocked on the door as usual. A man with a messy afro and glasses popped his head out from behind the door.
After explaining their purpose, he unexpectedly provided important testimony. His name was Kangfu Gusen, a college student.
"I was going to the convenience store, but when I was about to leave, I heard a loud clattering sound coming down the stairs."
Kangfu Gusen said with a gossipy look: "I didn't think much of it at the time. Now that I think about it, it might have been the footsteps of the criminal escaping or something."
This was useful information. If the criminal really did escape during that time, there could be eyewitnesses.
By the way, this apartment was quite old, and the staircase was an old iron spiral staircase that connected each floor.
This is a very common apartment type in Japanese dramas: there are no units in the building, and all the doors open to open-air corridors. Many households live on each floor.
After talking about this with Miwako Sato, the two went downstairs to ask the apartment manager. If anyone knew about suspicious activity, it would likely be the manager.
The manager, Kawahara Saburo, was a middle-aged man in his forties who worked part-time for the landlord.
"Stranger? I didn't see anyone." Kawahara Saburo thought for a moment before saying, "Oh, yes, I didn't see anyone, but I did see Miss Asamiya."
"When?" Tang Ze's expression brightened when he heard that.
Although no information about the criminal had been obtained, it would be important to know the whereabouts of the deceased.
"Yesterday, when I was picking up the evening paper from the mailbox, I happened to pass by Miss Asamiya on her way home." Kawahara Saburo recalled, "She seemed to be coming back from the station alone and passed in front of me."
"When did this happen?" asked Miwako Sato.
"It was just after my favorite show ended, around 6 o'clock in the evening." Saburo Kawahara scratched his head and added.
Upon hearing this, Tang Ze and Miwako Sato's eyes immediately sharpened.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
The whereabouts of the deceased matched the estimated time of death, which was a very important piece of eyewitness information.
If this was true, then the deceased was most likely killed after encountering the manager, and the body was moved into the room afterward.
"So what was Miss Asamiya's expression like when she passed you?" Tang Ze continued to ask.
"Well, this is actually a bit strange." After being reminded by Tang Ze, Saburo Kawahara thought for a moment.
"I was just getting the newspaper when I saw Miss Asamiya running back in a hurry. She said 'Welcome back' and greeted me as usual."
Kawahara Saburo frowned as he recalled: "At that time, Miss Asamiya stopped, looked stunned for a moment, then replied 'Hello,' and hurried upstairs."
Normally, she would have greeted him more cheerfully, but now that he thought about it, it seemed odd.
"That means that at that time, Miss Asamiya might have been involved in something unusual."
Miwako Sato frowned and said, "But this means we can rule out the possibility that the victim was killed outside and then moved to the bedroom."
"So, what did you do after you met Miss Asamiya?" Tang Ze continued to ask, wanting to verify the details of his testimony.
Since the testimony concerned whether the victim had been killed in the house, Tang Ze had to approach it with caution.
"I went straight back to my room. Oh, by the way, the owner of the vegetable store across the street might have seen something too," Saburo Kawahara added, pointing to the store across the road.
According to Kawahara Saburo, the two went to the vegetable store across from the apartment to verify the information. They obtained confirmation that Saburo Kawahara had indeed returned to his room.
Because the store was directly facing the apartment, the owner had witnessed Miss Asamiya hurriedly going upstairs as well.
In other words, the deceased was indeed murdered in the room!