The feeling of having the correct answer in hand and adapting to the situation as it unfolded, thereby taking control of the scene, was simply too exhilarating!
Feeling his heart rate accelerate, Takato grew to like this sensation.
"I believe the Police in Japan are still very capable."
He wondered what the Police would think of his joke.
"It's illogical that these anomalies weren't discovered during the initial inspection. Furthermore, after half a year, even if the culprit used this method to commit the crime, there's no reason these physical evidences would still be left at the scene after such a long time."
This was an obvious problem. When Takato saw the newspaper describing the "Lavender Villa Locked-Room Murder Case" as having occurred half a year ago, yet the traveling High School Detective Junya Tokitsu recently discovered new evidence in the villa, he easily realized that there was no reason for the evidence at the scene to remain untouched after half a year.
"So, I sensed this inconsistency just from the newspaper reports, and that's why I rushed here today to investigate the problem."
Takato perfectly explained his purpose.
The leading Police officer heard this and glanced at his deputy, who also appeared to be a Police officer.
"Indeed, at that time, we thoroughly investigated the villa and found no clues whatsoever. But…"
The deputy paused as he spoke.
"When that High School Detective presented the evidence he found, we did indeed think it might have been an oversight in our initial investigation… After all, that Detective is quite well-known in Police circles. And after we reopened the investigation, we did discover that the window at the scene had been tampered with, so…"
"So you thought you were wrong?"
Takato smiled, a bit speechless.
"Officer, please look closely at this cut screw, and the physical evidence you have in your hands. Look closely."
Takato emphasized.
"Does this look like it was left outside for half a year, exposed to rain and dew? The degree of rust on this screw is far too shallow."
The officer carefully examined the screw in his hand, his brow slightly furrowed.
"You mean…"
"This clearly looks like it appeared recently. In other words, whether it was dismantling the window and cutting the screw, or re-gluing the window, it all happened recently. It has nothing to do with the 'murder case' from half a year ago."
Takato said, looking at Kana Mizoguchi and Renzo Koya.
"In the last month or two, has any outsider entered the villa? And stayed for quite a while?"
Hearing this, Renzo Koya thought for a moment and then remembered.
"Speaking of which, a month ago, we hired a cleaner to do a thorough cleaning of the villa. Because the workload was quite heavy, that cleaner stayed for a whole day."
"Then that's it. The tampering with the window was most likely done by that cleaner. After all, it's such a large villa, and it gained notoriety because of that case, so it's possible someone had some crooked ideas."
Takato said, although he knew the truth, he could only use such suggestive phrasing to explain it.
The Police officer listened to Takato's words, pondered deeply for a moment, and then continued to ask.
"Then, if none of this is related to the murder case, what about the locked-room murder?"
"Why are you always fixated on the locked room?"
Takato suddenly countered.
"Why don't you think of it more simply? This is actually a suicide."
"Huh?"
Upon hearing this, everyone present was stunned, unable to imagine that someone who claimed to be a Detective would say such a thing.
Looking at everyone staring at him in a daze, Takato felt a bit helpless.
when there are multiple explanations for an event, we should adopt the simpler or falsifiable one.
Occam's Razor: Plurality should not be posited without necessity.
What is your reason for believing the deceased did not commit suicide?"
"Because, looking at the deceased's family situation, they were well-off, had no financial worries, and no emotional entanglements were found. We really couldn't think of any reason for the deceased to commit suicide."
The Police officer said.
"Just because of that? No substantive evidence? Like abnormal ligature marks, or anomalies at the scene, more definitive evidence like that."
Takato appeared confused on the surface, but he was actually very clear.
"If there were, the initial investigation wouldn't have yielded nothing."
"No abnormalities were found in the autopsy either?"
"No, due to the strong opposition from the guardian, a deeper autopsy was ultimately not approved. Only the marks on the body's surface were investigated. However, the cause of death should be correct."
The Police officer said, glancing at Renzo Koya.
"Is that so? Strong opposition!"
Takato got the answer he wanted and began to look at Renzo Koya with a playful gaze.
"Mr. Koya, at your age, and as the butler of this villa, you should be considered the person closest to the deceased, right? Do you know why the family opposed the autopsy?"
Facing Takato's sudden shift in topic, Renzo Koya felt pressured. "Because… because of the young lady's reputation… I really didn't want… didn't want the young lady… to suffer… such treatment after death."
Stuttering a bit, Renzo Koya's voice began to falter, and it was precisely this that made the Police officers present sharply notice the anomaly, scrutinizing the elderly butler with fierce eyes.
"Then you don't want to know the truth of your young lady's death? After all, the Police said they couldn't find a reason for your young lady to commit suicide, so it could be a murder case! Don't you want to find out the truth and give your young lady justice?"
The more Takato spoke, the closer he leaned towards Renzo Koya, creating a sense of pressure that made Renzo Koya instinctively want to retreat.
Just then, the leading Police officer suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Renzo Koya, and said in a very serious tone.
"Renzo Koya, it seems necessary for you to come back with us for a good talk."
"No…"
Trembling, Renzo Koya spoke in a shaky voice, as if struggling.
"Mr. Koya!"
Kana Mizoguchi , standing nearby, covered her mouth in surprise at Renzo Koya's current behavior.
Renzo Koya, whose shoulder was still held by the Police officer, was still trembling all over but remained silent.
"Mr. Renzo Koya, do you know where I found Miss Mizoguchi just now?"
Takato stepped forward, looking at Renzo Koya with calm eyes.
"On the cliff by the sea! If I had arrived a step later, Miss Mizoguchi might no longer be in this world."
These words were like the last straw that broke the camel's back, pressing down on Renzo Koya's struggling heart. At this moment, Renzo Koya completely gave up his struggle.
"No need to go to the Police station."
The Police officer, seeing Kabutoya Renzo speak, let go of him. The deputy Police officer beside him smartly took out a notebook.
"The young lady committed suicide."
A very simple truth, something that should have only taken a sentence, yet it made the Police investigate for half a year and almost wrongly accused Kana Mizoguchi.
Renzo Koya quickly explained the reason for the young lady's suicide: Renzo Koya, who accidentally discovered the young lady was taking addictive drugs, burned all the medicine in the house to prevent her from taking them again. However, he didn't expect the young lady to choose suicide because she couldn't endure life without the drugs. To protect the young lady's reputation after her death, Renzo Koya chose to remain silent.
Upon receiving this result, the Police officers present were somewhat incredulous that the case they had worked on for half a year was indeed just a suicide. However, it wasn't a complete waste; the cleaner who came to the villa a month ago and dismantled the window still needed to be tracked down.
With the case perfectly resolved, Takato also saw the Bounty Detective settlement panel reappear after Renzo Koya revealed the truth.
"Deduction complete, closing case"