Chapter 19: Deceiving Oneself
"Officer Kishida's reasoning is quite impressive, but there's one thing I don't understand," Kagehara Tetsuya said with an admiring expression. "Earlier, it was mentioned that only Hasebe Koichi had the time to dispose of the body. But Officer Matsushita said that Kagehara-kun returned to the inn at eleven, right? Suppose he hid the head and the murder weapon outside the inn while the clerk was eating, and then went out later to dispose of them. If we reason this way, the suspect can't be narrowed down anymore."
Kishida Masayoshi patiently explained, "That time, Kagehara Tetsuya left the inn at ten-thirty and returned half an hour later. Since he needed to make a round trip, he actually only had fifteen minutes to dispose of the body. We visited the convenience stores around the inn and found a record of Kagehara's purchase, so his time for disposing of the body was insufficient."
"Of course, if Kagehara Tetsuya had an accomplice, that would be a different story. But if we consider the possibility of an accomplice, Hasebe Koichi would still need to be taken into account. So, in reality, it aligns with my initial reasoning."
"Additionally, hiding the head and the murder weapon outside the inn would be very risky. Suppose a passerby saw it or a homeless person picked it up, that would be troublesome. Considering that this is definitely a premeditated murder, such considerations were ruled out from the very beginning."
What a meticulous design. Kagehara Tetsuya nodded slightly. It seems that when senpai planned to kill Oshima Masaki, she put a lot of thought into it. Even without his help, the police would probably suspect Hasebe Koichi, and then if Hasebe were killed, there would be no evidence left.
The only thing he couldn't figure out was why it was necessary to perform the face-swapping in this murder case.
Was there a reason that made it absolutely essential?
Even if "Kagehara Tetsuya" hadn't disappeared from the scene, framing Hasebe Koichi as the murderer would have been enough.
Was it about disposing of the head? For someone who could devise such a meticulous plan, handling the head shouldn’t have been a difficult task.
It was completely baffling.
"In any case, this is my current line of reasoning," Kishida Masayoshi said, noticing the girl across from him had fallen silent. Assuming she agreed with his deduction, he adopted a solemn expression. "If my reasoning is correct, Kagehara Tetsuya is in grave danger right now. He’s likely with Hasebe Koichi and might end up being killed. So, for the sake of saving Kagehara Tetsuya, please tell me everything you know."
Kagehara Tetsuya pretended to ponder deeply. In truth, he already had a plan for how to lead Officer Kishida by the nose.
Simply put, rather than trying to deceive Kishida directly, it was better to let him deceive himself.
People always tend to believe what they want to believe.
Just like how people seeing a police officer next to a corpse would rather believe the officer is there to investigate, rather than being the murderer who just committed the crime and didn’t have time to leave the scene.
He needed to create clues that Kishida would be willing to believe.
After a moment, noticing that Kishida was growing impatient and seemed about to urge him to speak, Kagehara finally said slowly, "If Officer Kishida’s reasoning is correct, then why would Kagehara Tetsuya willingly become Hasebe Koichi’s accomplice?"
Kishida’s eyes lit up. "That’s exactly what I want to know."
"If I had to guess, there’s only one reason I can think of. But whether it’s true or not, I can’t be certain."
Kagehara Tetsuya raised his head slightly, as if recalling something. "It was shortly before Kagehara-kun entered high school. At the time, I wanted to know the truth about the Tanaka Erika case, but I was afraid he would get angry if I brought it up directly. So, I started by talking about the Makeup Hunter serial killer."
When Kishida Masayoshi heard the name "Tanaka Erika," his eyes sharpened instantly. He hadn’t expected these two cases to be connected. But upon reflection, Kagehara Tetsuya was involved in both, so it was only natural that there would be a link.
He had been too careless not to connect the two cases earlier!
"Kagehara-kun was really, really smart and incredibly perceptive. He saw right through me immediately. At the time, I was a bit scared, thinking I had overstepped by asking such a thing."
"But Kagehara-kun didn’t get angry. Although he didn’t tell me about the Tanaka Erika case, he said that after leaving the juvenile detention center, he had been privately investigating the Makeup Hunter case."
"I was shocked and asked him what he had found."
"Kagehara-kun said he had found someone, someone who held crucial clues about the Makeup Hunter case."
"I asked him who this person was, but he didn’t tell me. Then I asked why he didn’t share such important information with the police." At this point, Kagehara Tetsuya looked back at Kishida, who was clenching his fists, and smiled. "Officer Kishida, can you guess how Kagehara-kun responded at the time?"
Kishida forced a bitter smile, calming himself before replying, "He must have said something like, 'Those idiot cops wouldn’t be any help anyway.'"
He remembered the first time he had met Kagehara Tetsuya. Back then, he had suspected Kagehara of being the murderer in the Tanaka Erika case. However, since he couldn’t get a search warrant, he decided to approach Kagehara privately to test him.
To his surprise, Kagehara immediately saw through his identity as a police officer and mocked him mercilessly, calling him things like "idiot," "useless cop," and "good-for-nothing." It had infuriated him to no end.
Kagehara let out a short laugh. "Exactly right. So, if Kagehara-kun knew Hasebe Koichi and was willing to become his accomplice, there’s only one possibility I can think of—Hasebe Koichi holds crucial clues about the Makeup Hunter case."
Kishida Masayoshi fell silent after hearing this.
The Makeup Hunter was the most vicious and cruel serial killer the city had seen in fifty years.
This monster specifically targeted young girls, strangling them to death before peeling off their faces. The killer would then apply heavy makeup, enough to obscure the mangled flesh beneath. At the junction where the makeup met the torn skin, crimson blood would flow, making it seem as though the victim's face was weeping.
Each time the killer disposed of a body, they would position it in a kneeling posture with hands clasped together, as if the victim were a penitent believer confessing to God.
Kishida still remembered the shock he felt the first time he saw one of the crime scenes.
The victims looked like sacrificial offerings in some evil ritual.
Over the past decade, there had been eight confirmed victims of the Makeup Hunter, with one case remaining unconfirmed.
No common thread could be found among the victims.
The motive behind their murders remained a mystery.
The police couldn’t even determine whether the killer was male or female.
This case was a stain on the reputation of every detective in the city. Whenever the media asked about the progress of the investigation, all they could do was bow deeply in unison, apologizing to the victims' families and the nation.
Kishida remained silent for a long time. The last victim, the one whose connection to the Makeup Hunter was uncertain, was none other than Tanaka Erika.
He lowered his head deeply, his voice heavy with emotion. "If that’s the case, then Kagehara Tetsuya probably isn’t the one who killed Tanaka Erika."
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