"You know who the killer is?" Torami Toumi leaned closer to Lin Wuming and whispered.
Lin Wuming instinctively tensed up, then immediately suppressed the impulse to use his superpower to push the girl away.
Taking a slow breath to steady himself, he said, pretending to be calm: "It's simple. It's that Dr. Yamamoto."
Torami Toumi didn't doubt his judgment for a second. Her gaze, sharp as a sword, instantly fixed on the male doctor among the three suspects.
Their conversation hadn't been deliberately quieted, so everyone else present also heard Lin Wuming's words.
Except for the accused Dr. Yamamoto, the others seemed completely unsurprised by this conclusion.
The female Judgment officer, one of the three suspects, spoke up: "Wuming-kun, you shouldn't have witnessed the crime, so how did you come to that conclusion?"
"A hunch?" Lin Wuming shrugged, his expression relaxed.
The reason was actually very simple: Lin Wuming recognized the other two suspects.
The female Judgment officer was Yomikawa Aiho, who was specifically in charge of investigating his case yesterday. Furthermore, in the original Index series, she was a well-known character, part of the faction within the Judgment system that upheld justice and was highly trustworthy.
As for the other doctor among the suspects, he could be eliminated simply by looking at his face, which strikingly resembled a frog.
This was the true power player in the original work, Heaven Canceller.
Heaven Canceller's treatment was indispensable to the original protagonist, Kamijou Touma, surviving all the way to the New Testament and even Genesis Testament!
In other words, if Lin Wuming intended to "lie flat" peacefully, this senior figure was someone he absolutely could not offend and even had to find a way to build a good relationship with. After all, Heaven Canceller could genuinely save his life!
Thus, by process of elimination, the true culprit could only be the last one—even if Lin Wuming had never met Dr. Yamamoto. Since the officers had confirmed there were no other suspects, he was the sole killer!
Dr. Yamamoto was not a professional killer, so he was already flustered when brought into this conference room.
He also had enough self-awareness. Just by looking at the other two "suspects" with him, he knew the Judgment forces had already determined that he was the killer! They were only temporarily lacking evidence, so they used this method to corner him.
After this, given the Judgment forces' resources and methods, finding a mental-type Esper to assist with the interrogation would not be difficult.
The tide had turned!
The stunned Dr. Yamamoto had already resigned himself to his fate and didn't even raise a thought of protest.
When he dared to accept the commission, he was betting that he wouldn't be suspected immediately. The time he bought would be enough for his backer to handle the cleanup.
He never expected that Dr. Sakurai would obstruct and stumble upon the operation.
"Very well," the Judgment officers stepped forward and handcuffed Dr. Yamamoto. "Who hired you to assassinate Lin Wuming?"
"No one..." Dr. Yamamoto shook his head, then suddenly froze.
"So you didn't deny that the real target of the attack was Wuming-kun," Yomikawa Aiho smiled and nodded. "Excellent. To act while I was away—it seems your employer has a very timely intelligence network."
Dr. Yamamoto's expression shifted erratically; he didn't know what to do. His mission had failed, so would his employer still help him?
—It was this faint hope that kept Dr. Yamamoto from giving up, so he decided to grit his teeth and not say another word.
"I want to see my lawyer!" Dr. Yamamoto demanded.
Torami Toumi could no longer contain herself. She pulled a roll of gauze bandage from her pocket and was about to attack.
Noticing her movement, Lin Wuming had the strongest reaction.
He immediately used his psychic power to snatch the bandage from the girl's hand without thinking.
Facing Torami Toumi's fierce gaze, Lin Wuming manipulated his wheelchair to increase the distance and said, "You need to calm down! Didn't you promise you wouldn't act recklessly?"
"But this guy..." Torami Toumi glared at the culprit. If her gaze could be turned into swords, Dr. Yamamoto would already have been pierced by ten thousand blades.
"Calm down, Torami" the officer who brought her in soothed the girl while giving Lin Wuming an approving look.
"Don't worry, we already have the evidence," Yomikawa Aiho suddenly said with a smile. "According to the rules of the Judgment forces, the findings of a Level 4 or higher Mental-type Esper possess legal validity and can serve as the primary basis for conviction."
Saying this, she turned and looked at the whiteboard on the side wall—this was actually a one-way mirror. From the inside, it looked only like a board for writing, but from the other side of the wall, one could clearly see every move inside the conference room.
To obtain crucial evidence, the Judgment forces had specifically invited a high-level Mental-type Esper from "Skill-Out," Shokuhou Misaki, whose ability, "Mental Out," had recently been registered at Level 4.
"Confirmed. This doctor is the perpetrator who intended to assassinate Lin Wuming, and due to unforeseen circumstances, he is also the one who accidentally injured Dr. Sakurai," Shokuhou Misaki, the blonde, starry-eyed girl, said as she watched the scene inside the conference room from the other side of the one-way mirror. "As for the mastermind who hired him—since they communicated on a secret online forum, the true identity is uncertain. However, he himself suspects an organization called 'Black May.'"
"'Black May'?" The officer beside her noted the term.
"That's just Dr. Yamamoto's speculation; the credibility isn't high, you know?" Shokuhou Misaki quickly added.
"Don't worry, we will vet the information," the officer nodded, then handed his tablet to the girl. "Thank you very much for your help. Please sign to confirm—this makes it legally valid evidence."
Shokuhou Misaki signed her name without the slightest hesitation.
This time, she genuinely wasn't faking anything, as it aligned with the interests of "Skill-Out."
Although there were some cooperative relations between "Skill-Out" and the "Dark May" research project, they were ultimately two different teams, and their connection wasn't deep.
Strictly speaking, perhaps the only commonality was that they both conducted "illegal experiments," right?
Just yesterday, the "Dark May" project had specifically requested "Skill-Out" to resolve the threat posed by the escapee.
This was why Shokuhou Misaki was at the hospital. However, Shokuhou Misaki's assessment of Lin Wuming as an "amnesiac with delusions" didn't seem to reassure the "Dark May" project team.
To ensure safety, they ultimately issued a commission and hired a killer to silence him.
"Skill-Out" was greatly dissatisfied with this approach and no longer wished to deal with these foolish "colleagues."
Therefore, Shokuhou Misaki's on-site testimony today was actually a proactive offer of cooperation from "Skill-Out" to quickly distance themselves from the "Dark May" project team and prevent being implicated by them.
In fact, it wasn't just the higher-ups at "Skill-Out"; the most disgruntled and angry person was Shokuhou Misaki herself.
They asked her to perform an "assessment" yet didn't trust her findings, going to the unnecessary trouble of commissioning an assassination! Even though Shokuhou Misaki knew the "Dark May" project was an illegal experiment, such blatant acts of harming life far exceeded her imagination.
And ultimately, Shokuhou Misaki fundamentally disliked having her ability used for brainwashing or controlling others.
She didn't have a high opinion of the Judgment forces who utilized her ability either, merely cooperating with the investigation as a matter of routine.
In contrast...
Shokuhou Misaki returned the tablet, refocusing her starry eyes on the boy in the conference room.
—Lin Wuming. This boy... seems quite interesting.