Chapter 64: The First Confrontation (Part 8)
Tetsuya deliberately ignored Kishida’s conjecture and continued, “In short, Kagehara-kun was suddenly embroiled in a murder case, one that very likely had connections to the Makeup Hunter. To confirm this, I had no choice but to rely on the police. That’s the reason for the lies.”
“At the time, I told you that Hasebe Koichi was suspected of possessing clues related to the Makeup Hunter case, which was why Kagehara-kun was assisting him.”
“I didn’t lie about that, and Officer Kishida, don’t forget, it was by following this lead that ‘A’ was discovered, wasn’t it?”
You investigated in the direction I pointed, and even made significant progress, yet you turned around and suspected me. That’s rather unreasonable, he thought, though the provided direction had been false.
Kishida didn’t dare speak. Although the girl’s expression didn’t show much anger, putting himself in her shoes, if he had gone to help a colleague with a case only to be suspected of being the culprit, he would be furious too.
“Although Kagehara-kun and I rarely communicated by phone, we had ways of contacting each other. Therefore, on June 9th, when he suddenly contacted me with a note, I found it very strange. I immediately tried to reach him by phone, but he didn’t answer. So, I had no choice but to go to his room as the note instructed. I did indeed fall asleep in his room later.”
“The reason for going to the Hasebe residence is also simple. I believed Hasebe Koichi possessed clues related to the Makeup Hunter and was using them to coerce Kagehara-kun. So, I thought if I could obtain those clues from his home, it would be killing two birds with one stone.”
“Therefore, I wasn’t concerned with the ĹŚshima Masaki case; I wanted to know where Hasebe Koichi had obtained the clues and how Kagehara-kun had found out about them. So, ĹŚgami-kun’s deduction isn’t entirely wrong. I was treating Hasebe Koichi as a witness.”
“As for deceiving people, I was doing a good deed. Although the end result disappointed Hasebe’s father, my appearance at least made him happy for a few days. That’s more than your police did.”
Kishida frowned deeply. Giving someone great hope only to let them fall into despair—that’s considered a good deed? However, he didn’t have time to dwell on this and instead asked, “What did you do during your time off?”
“It’s simple. I was monitoring the Hasebe residence. If Hasebe Koichi had returned home during those days, I could have spoken to him directly.”
“So, I kept my car parked outside the Hasebe residence. During the day, I hid in the car and monitored the house. At night, I went home to rest. It was that simple.”
“The reason I didn’t drive home was that I thought it would be too obvious if a car went to the same place and left at the same time every day. So, I simply kept the car parked there.”
Here, Tetsuya shrugged. “I originally planned to take leave for over ten days, until Hasebe Koichi appeared. Unfortunately, I saw the police announcement of his death on Friday, so I had to stop the surveillance.”
“Mo-Monitoring the Hasebe residence?!”
Kishida was shocked. He was shocked that a high school girl would dare to do something so unconventional, and he was also shocked that she had confessed it so openly.
Tetsuya nodded. “I left home around seven every day and stayed in the car watching the Hasebe residence until night. The process was, of course, quite boring, and unfortunately, I didn’t discover anything.”
“But… but why didn’t you monitor at night?” Kishida thought that most people would assume someone as heavily suspected as Hasebe Koichi would act at night.
“Hasebe’s father was asleep at night. What would Hasebe Koichi go there for? Also, even if he did appear late at night, if he saw me alone, wouldn’t I be in danger? Not to mention having a conversation with him,” Tetsuya said matter-of-factly. “I did consider remote monitoring with equipment at night, but it was too difficult, and even if I monitored the target, I wouldn’t be able to get there in time. So, I gave up on that idea.”
I see. Kishida nodded. As a man and a police officer, it was natural for him to think that way, but considering the girl’s position, acting during the day was indeed more sensible.
Moreover, there was corroborating evidence that what she said was true. If she had been monitoring at night, the letter in the Hasebe residence’s mailbox wouldn’t have fallen into the hands of the police.
In other words, his and ĹŚgami YĹŤsuke’s deduction had been a complete failure.
Thinking this, he casually asked as a matter of routine, “What were you doing between 11 PM and 12 AM on the night of June 14th?”
“On the 14th… I was probably video chatting with my mother, and also asking her to send some living expenses,” Tetsuya said with a slight smile, then began to mock again, “It seems testimony from immediate family members can’t be directly used as alibi, Officer Kishida. Don’t you want to investigate that?”
Kishida considered himself to have developed a thick skin from investigating cases, but even so, he felt somewhat uncomfortable from the constant sarcasm. The key was that he couldn’t leave yet; there was one last thing he needed to confirm. “Ahem… Th-That’s not necessary. I have one last question. In the letter Kagehara Tetsuya wrote to Hasebe Koichi, what were the ‘diary’ and ‘video’ he mentioned? Do you have any idea?”
Hearing the question, Tetsuya slowly took a sip of tea, savoring it before saying, “It’s simple. The so-called diary is Kagehara-kun’s diary. As for what the video is, I have no idea.”
Kishida couldn’t help but rise slightly. “You said Kagehara Tetsuya’s diary? What was written in the diary? Why wasn’t it found in his house?”
“What was written in the diary…” Tetsuya deliberately put on a thoughtful expression. Seeing Kishida anxiously scratching his head, he slowly opened his mouth. “A diary, of course, records what happened each day. But the specific content… I can’t remember right now.”
“C-Can’t remember?!” Kishida almost choked. He could tell that this person was deliberately lying. She didn’t not remember; she was deliberately not telling him.
Sure enough, Tetsuya turned his face and said, “I was so angered by Officer Kishida and ĹŚgami-kun’s deduction that my head is still spinning. Perhaps when I’m no longer angry, I’ll remember.”
In short, the diary hadn’t been fabricated yet; he would tell him when it was ready.
“When will you no longer be angry?” Kishida thought that if there really was a diary of Kagehara Tetsuya’s that happened to record the events of the previous year, it would be a great help.
“I don’t know, but if I keep seeing Officer Kishida, I’ll definitely stay angry,” Tetsuya said, glancing at the time, his tone stiff.
“Ah… I-I’m sorry.” Kishida’s movements froze awkwardly. He scratched his head, knowing that further words were useless. “In any case, I was very rude today. I’ll reflect on my actions. It’s getting late, so I won’t disturb you any longer.”
Watching Kishida leave, Tetsuya stretched greatly, thinking that this foolish policeman was truly easy to deceive. It was just that it had taken a little too long.
He had two more tasks to complete tonight and needed to hurry.
Thinking this, he bent down and pulled a cardboard box from under the coffee table. Opening the box, inside were newly purchased plaster powder and several pieces of broken bone.
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