Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner-Chapter 774 - 471: The Rumormonger

To find out who started the rumor, we need to ask a reporter for clarification.

The first reporter Minamoto Tamako thought of was Yazaki Momo. They hadn’t seen each other for a while, and suddenly asking her out seemed a bit presumptuous.

She held her phone, unsure whether to make the call, until Fushimi Roku, next to her, said, "Just treat it like you’re investigating a case and questioning a suspect, then there’s nothing to hesitate about, right?"

Upon hearing this, Minamoto Tamako was enlightened and immediately dialed the number, expressing her desire to Yazaki Momo, hoping she could provide the contact information of the rumormonger.

"Well..."

Yazaki Momo sounded a bit troubled over the phone: "Here’s the thing, Miss Yuuzi, maybe you’re not in the circle and don’t quite understand the unwritten rules of the news agencies..."

Minamoto Tamako’s tuft of hair, held up by hair wax, instantly stood up: "Are you sheltering the person spreading rumors?"

"No, no, no," Yazaki Momo, knowing who her mother was, quickly explained, "that’s not it. What I mean is, most news agencies probably don’t know who the rumormonger is."

Yazaki Momo then explained the unwritten rules of the Japanese news industry, which are somewhat like the one-click forwarding of later generations.

Basically, when a news agency publishes a piece of news and it attracts widespread attention, other agencies will follow suit immediately, find some similar reports, or simply rewrite and reprint them, just to grab sales.

"So now, all the media reporting on your unmarried... uh, the related rumors are either plagiarizing or mimicking someone else’s scripts."

At this point, Yazaki Momo seemed a bit helpless: "Everyone’s copying each other, it’s become a habit."

Minamoto Tamako let out an "Ah," understanding Yazaki Momo’s point: "So, as long as we find the first news agency that started the rumor, we can catch the rumormonger, right?"

"Yes," Yazaki Momo replied, "but it’s difficult because news has a time sensitivity, so the reporting speed is fast. There might be several agencies publishing similar news on the same day."

The thing Minamoto Tamako feared least was "difficulty." Her determination to dispel the rumor was particularly strong; she had to catch the vile person behind it!

If she didn’t debunk the rumor, how could she live a normal life afterward? What would her colleagues think? What would those strangers who had only met her once think? And her mother and grandfather, they would definitely be deeply worried if they knew about this!

Not to mention anything else, just this morning, when Minamoto Tamako went downstairs to buy a bento, the convenience store clerk rolled their eyes at her.

As she left with the bento, she heard people behind her pointing and saying things like, "That’s the girl," or "She looks cute, but how can she have no sense of shame..."

Minamoto Tamako felt a surge of anger inside. She, along with Fushimi Roku and the unemployed Moriyama Yasurou, swept through major newspapers and bought all the newspapers from various news agencies for the past period.

The three of them lugged the boxes of newspapers home, compared the dates, and spent a day and a night, finally confirming that the rumor was first published on November 7.

"So it’s November already, time flies by so fast in a year," Fushimi Roku remarked.

"Focus!"

Minamoto Tamako spent another morning narrowing it down to four companies that published reports on the specific day.

"’Daily Morning Reading,’ ’Tokyo Times,’ ’Asahi News,’ ’Housewife Report’... why is there even a Housewife Report?" Minamoto Tamako frowned, holding a newspaper.

"Older women like to read this kind of news, things like affairs, rich heirs, keeping mistresses, yada yada..." Moriyama Yasurou shrugged.

Minamoto Tamako and Fushimi Roku simultaneously turned to look at her, making Moriyama Yasurou pause before sheepishly admitting, "Alright, I like reading it too."

But then she remembered her unemployment and felt that saying so made her life seem tragic, a bit loser-ish, and quickly added, "Just taking a glance while using the restroom to pass time!"

Minamoto Tamako didn’t give it much thought. After discussing with Fushimi Roku and Sister Yalan for a while, since the case hadn’t been officially filed yet, if they investigated rashly, it might prompt the media to continue spreading rumors, so they decided to conduct a secret investigation—in other words, invite reporters for drinks and get them to spill the beans.

As soon as a reporter let something slip, Minamoto Tamako would step in to detain them.

The best person for this task was Fushimi Roku. He was good at deceiving people and getting them to tell the truth. Most importantly, he recently enjoyed having a drink, so the task naturally fell to him.

Before setting out, Minamoto Tamako was filled with ambition, scanning the newspapers spread out on the table and floor, each page facing up was all false reports about her.

"Once I find the rumormonger, once the court announces the verdict, all these news agencies will have to publish an apology!"

Minamoto Tamako paused, feeling a little selfish, "Haha, that way, everyone will know there’s a criminal police officer named Minamoto Tamako who’s always pursuing justice and truth!"

Fushimi Roku gave her a sidelong glance, not bursting her famous police chief fantasy.

In some way, being notorious also means being famous!

For instance, famous detective Mouri Kogoro, everyone knows he’s a bumbling detective, but it doesn’t stop him from becoming a famous detective in the comics.

Minamoto Tamako and Fushimi Roku set off to capture the people involved, leaving Moriyama Yasurou at home to help take care of Taira Sakurako.

Their first target was ’Housewife Report.’ Of all the papers, it seemed the least professional, and just its name exuded the aura of being run by rumormongers.

Fushimi Roku used his shell finance company, proposing a high-paying release deal to the paper, receiving VIP treatment as a client.

His earlier money-laundering schemes had also made the news, but the response was tepid. People weren’t interested in failed asset acquisitions, but the news reporters knew how much profit his company had actually made from it.

To catch this big client, the agency used public funds to invite Fushimi Roku to an izakaya for drinks, assigning a specialist to listen to Fushimi Roku’s demands. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Fushimi Roku blathered on, promising a promotional fee of 10 million yen, and just as they were about to sign the contract, he casually mentioned, "By the way, have you heard about that Yakai Mutsumi case from a while back..."

The agency specialist followed his topic, naturally leading into the reports about Minamoto Tamako.

The specialist, trying to showcase their professionalism to the client, said, "Oh! That report, we sent our most professional reporter..."

"I really dislike that report," Fushimi Roku said, shaking his head with a drink in hand, "Why does the agency always focus on the private lives of the rich? What’s wrong with having the means to support a mistress? Don’t tell me you’d send a professional reporter to peek into the private lives of the rich?"

The agency specialist immediately changed their tune, "No, no, truth be told, we mimicked another report instead..."

Fushimi Roku promptly took his leave, leaving behind a baffled agency specialist.

He repeated the same question elsewhere: ’You wouldn’t send professional reporters to pry into the privacy of the affluent, would you?’

Both "Tokyo Times" and "Asahi News" denied this, saying, "We actually mimicked another report..."

Until he asked "Daily Morning Reading," which gave a different explanation: "Of course not, we received a tip-off letter..."