Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner-Chapter 812 - 492: A Good Show (Part 2)

There was a microphone between them. The girl took a step forward and said in a low tone:

"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening."

"I believe you’ve already heard my name on your way here. Let me formally introduce myself, I’m Minamoto Tamako, and welcome to my wedding."

"Everyone must be curious, why resolve a murder case at a wedding? Why not invite family and friends, but instead, invite some strangers?"

"It’s a bit embarrassing to say, but my dream is to become a famous detective and police chief. I once vowed to prioritize my career, and until I become one, I wouldn’t fall in love or get married..."

"Until I met him."

Minamoto Tamako turned to her side, made a polite gesture inviting the man next to her. The man took a step forward and said briefly into the microphone, "I’m Fushimi Roku, her fiancé."

Minamoto Tamako blushed a little, clearly not expecting Fushimi Roku to say that.

She momentarily forgot her prepared lines, coughed a few times, sneaked a glance at the prompts written on her pipe, and then steadied her emotions to continue:

"Up till now, I’m still not famous, yet I’m about to marry the person I love."

"If all goes as expected, I’ll probably resign after marriage and become a full-time housewife. So, this is my final investigation opportunity..."

Fushimi Roku was somewhat surprised, "You’ll quit your job after marriage? Is there such a plan?"

Another unexpected situation, Minamoto Tamako was a bit flustered and said softly, "I don’t want to be like my mom, always arguing because of work... This is something I decided secretly... No, wait..."

She spoke a few sentences before realizing she hadn’t covered the microphone, and her ’whispers’ could be heard throughout the chapel.

"No, that’s not right... uh..."

Minamoto Tamako’s face grew redder and redder. Against the spotlight, she couldn’t see the audience’s faces and could only vaguely sense countless eyes staring at her, making her increasingly nervous, sneaking several glances at the pipe prompts.

Fushimi Roku took the microphone and finished the prepared lines for her:

"This is our last chance to resolve the knot in our hearts, so we ask everyone to give it your all and uncover the truth of the murder case."

The hall was silent for a moment before sparse applause sounded.

In Minamoto Tamako’s imagined script, the auditorium should be filled with thunderous applause, supporting a dream-chasing bride to realize her last wish...

Darn it, it’s all Roku’s fault for interrupting!

Minamoto Tamako blamed her unsatisfactory speech delivery on Fushimi Roku.

She quietly gave Fushimi Roku an unhappy stare, her small mouth involuntarily pouting.

Fushimi Roku pretended not to notice, took off the microphone, and directly took charge of the speech, "If you have any other questions, feel free to raise your hand and ask."

As soon as he finished speaking, a swath of hands rose from the audience.

Minamoto Tamako was taken aback; she thought her explanation had been clear, everyone should know they were here to solve a murder, so why were there so many questions?

"You there, go ahead." Fushimi Roku randomly pointed out someone.

The backstage crew switched the spotlight, focusing the light on a middle-aged man in the audience. He stood up, took the microphone handed over by one of the Kujo Family servants, and asked, "I’m Aoshima Harano, a detective..."

"That’s not important; just ask your question." Fushimi Roku interrupted.

Minamoto Tamako turned around, tugged at his sleeve, and softly criticized, "How can you speak to guests like that? It’s so rude!"

"Guests? They’re participants; we’re the hosts. Isn’t the one who pays the boss?" Fushimi Roku covered the microphone, retorting back.

But the sound still faintly leaked out.

Minamoto Tamako felt this wasn’t the right time for an argument, clutching her pipe, secretly building up anger, planning to settle scores with Fushimi Roku offstage.

Aoshima Harano, being perceptive, smiled and said, "It’s fine, the groom is right, we are all participants."

He paused and straightforwardly asked, "As a participant, I’d like to know how many cases we’re investigating next, and are these cases all real?"

"There are four in total: ’The Hall Shooting Case,’ ’The Apartment Massacre,’ ’The Snowy Heavenly Punishment Case,’ and ’The Mountain Female Corpse Case.’

Fushimi Roku just found out yesterday when Minamoto Tamako was doing archiving paperwork, she discovered Miyazaki Shizuka’s file.

The body had long decayed, the bones carried away by beasts, so identifying the remains was impossible. The criminal police investigating the case didn’t take it seriously, hastily took some photos, and archived it.

If it weren’t for Minamoto Tamako noticing the photos, this case probably would’ve piled up in the archives room, becoming a forgotten, unsolvable mystery.

At the time, Minamoto Tamako was extremely busy and forgot to inform Fushimi Roku about it.

Later, she took some time to visit the scene alone, finding nothing besides the words "Heavenly Punishment" carved in the rock.

Minamoto Tamako felt embarrassed, as a criminal officer, she couldn’t find a clue, so she kept it hidden, planning to proudly reveal it once she made a breakthrough.

Unfortunately, what she waited for was a wedding.

At the moment, Fushimi Roku continued, "Yes, all four cases are real. One of the deceased was once a dear friend of ours."

"So, you summoned so many people to uncover the truth for revenge?" Aoshima Harano asked.

Fushimi Roku looked back at Minamoto Tamako, who hesitated briefly before taking hold of another microphone, saying, "No, that’s not it. I hold no hatred for the killer, I just want the truth."

"Alright, regarding the case details..."

Fushimi Roku interrupted, "After the event, staff members will distribute photocopies of the case information and will do their best to reconstruct the scenes for you to deduce."

Aoshima Harano nodded, "Alright, I’m finished with my question."

After he sat down, Fushimi Roku continued to ask, "Are there any more questions?"

The number of raised hands shrank by more than half, and Fushimi Roku randomly pointed out someone, this time it was a young woman who stood up. She was a new bestselling mystery novelist, who wasn’t actually good at investigating murder cases, just interested.

"May I use what’s happening here as material for my novel?" the female writer asked. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"No problem," Minamoto Tamako quickly answered, "All murder cases, all clues, all processes of reasoning can be used as novel material... but names and locations should be hidden to avoid causing distress to the families of the deceased."

"Alright, thank you for your answer." The female writer bowed, looking a bit excited.

Fushimi Roku glanced around, "Any more questions?"

This time, only a few sporadic hands were raised.

Fushimi Roku frankly ignored them, saying directly, "If there are any remaining questions, ask the staff. If they can’t answer, then come to us... On that note, meeting adjourned."

He clapped his hands and announced:

"Attention, everyone, the first murder case officially begins!"

The spotlights simultaneously went out, the staff swiftly cleared the microphones, and restored the platform. The red curtain slowly drew back, revealing an outdoor scene that suddenly appeared brighter, dim and blurry, as if time had turned back to six in the evening.

Outside, heavy rain poured with claps of thunder from hidden speakers, transporting everyone back to the rainy night three years ago.

Bang.

The door opened.

A woman in a trench coat, carrying a suitcase, stepped inside.

Fushimi Roku had somehow made his way outside the door, following the trench-coated woman.

"Go ahead." The trench-coated woman said, turning to the side.

Fushimi Roku stepped inside, as if delivering a line, "Weren’t you supposed to give me special training? What are we doing here?"

The opening atmosphere felt a bit odd, causing the audience to turn around, wanting to see the bride’s reaction. Unfortunately, Minamoto Tamako wasn’t there. Disappointed, they had no choice but to continue watching the murder play.

"Speak respectfully." The trench-coated woman pulled out a key and locked the door.

"Yes, instructor."

"I don’t like beating around the bush, let’s just get straight to it, you’re Kawai’s accomplice, aren’t you?" The trench-coated woman asked, carrying her suitcase across a row of benches, standing on stage, gazing up at the police emblem engraving.

"I hardly know her." Fushimi Roku replied.

"You met her last night and took something from her underwear," the trench-coated woman took a film reel from her coat pocket, gently placing it on the podium, "There’s no use denying it, it’s all been captured."

She turned her head, asking pointedly, "Don’t you feel ashamed to do such lowly things in that police uniform?"

Fushimi Roku remained silent. The trench-coated woman placed the suitcase on the podium, "For a student like you who shows no remorse, strict punishment is needed..."

The two continued their act, the trench-coated woman seemingly intending to perform some public sm with the groom, while the audience anticipated exposing content, another girl in a shirt suddenly burst from backstage, pointing a gun at the trench-coated woman.

From here, the play suddenly ran out of script.