NOVEL NEXT Ch. 28
Chapter 28
The Police-Academy shooting was declared solved in less than ten days.
The killer was Ishizuka Kazuo, who'd murdered Sakurai Chizuru; Nagano Kawai, in turn, had been killed by Sakurai Chizuru.
Many details still didn't add up. The fingerprints on the pistol didn't match Ishizuka's; the phone left at the scene showed outgoing calls... but none of that mattered. The prosecutor only needed a confession, and the Metropolitan Police were happy to close the file.
One footnote: Section Chief Kazama was demoted.
The Chief reassigned him to a neighborhood koban as a beat cop—"to grind the edges off that temper before it kills someone."
Meanwhile, Fushimi Shika refused every interview, claiming he needed time to recuperate.
Yet the reporter Yazaki Momo ran a splashy feature anyway, headline: "The Witch Instructor's Pretty-Boy Pet." The entire article wallowed in lurid gossip.
Yazaki Momo had been an unwelcome surprise.
In Shika's original script he would have lain comfortably in bed until the police exhausted every lead; only then would they drag him in for questioning.
But Kazama Takusai broke protocol and hauled him off that very night.
Luckily, Yazaki disguised herself as a nurse, shooed the guard detective away for "a private examination," and bought five precious minutes. Shika delivered the rehearsed fiction verbatim—and the click-bait story went viral.
Rewind to the day of the crime.
Shika faked fingerprints with a syringe, dragged the corpse to cover the code Nagano Kawai had left, and copied Ishizuka's handwriting in blood on the wall.
When he finished, he used Sakurai Chizuru's phone to call Ishizuka.
"My daughter's funeral was arranged by the Nagano family. Every Obon I still visit their temple..."
"I envied Kawai—so much. She actually found her parents' killer. I wanted her to take revenge, so badly it felt like I was avenging my own daughter..."
Ishizuka broke down sobbing.
Shika didn't coax him; he only asked, calm and steady, "Do you want Nagano Kawai to carry the label of murderer forever? Even dead, her parents will suffer their daughter's infamy. Is that the ending you wish for?"
"Of course not..."
"Then why become her accomplice? Why let her do this? You wrote the anonymous letter, didn't you? When Tamako and I questioned you, you covered for her. You even stole the pistol for her. You had chances to stop her—yet you did nothing."
Though Shika interrogated Ishizuka, every accusation struck his own conscience.
He, too, could have stopped Kawai—and had chosen not to.
Back then he'd told himself this was her private choice: "When the law fails to deliver justice, personal revenge becomes righteous—perhaps even noble."
But when Kawai said, "I don't hate you," Shika finally understood the cost of his silence.
There was no undoing it.
As Ishizuka apologized over and over, Shika cut him off gently:
"Do you want to be a coward for life, or a hero for ten seconds?"
Ishizuka fell silent for a long time.
At last he gave the answer Shika expected.
Just as promised, the newspapers painted Ishizuka Kazuo as a tragic hero: a man of honor who avenged a friend, then surrendered to spare others—the very archetype of a Showa-era tough guy.
When television crews arrived at the academy, his coworkers performed Olympic-level face-turns. The man they'd once dismissed as wallpaper was now "quietly formidable," "born for greatness," "a true gentleman who bides his time." Even his ex-wife sighed, "Who knew he'd held all that in for so many years?"
The classic post-crime refrain: "He was such a good husband."
To avoid suspicion, Shika claimed ill health and skipped Nagano Kawai's funeral.
Class A received a new homeroom instructor—a dour middle-aged man who, on day one, informed Shika that insufficient attendance meant delayed graduation, terminal illness be damned.
Two weeks later he was discharged.
By then public interest had evaporated; headlines now speculated about Matsushima Nanako's mystery boyfriend.
"Congratulations on the clean bill of health! The Reasoning Squad is back at full strength!"
Tamako bounded in with a fruit basket held high.
She'd wrangled special leave just to meet him.
"What are you doing here?"
Shika had mapped out his next moves; Tamako wasn't part of them.
"I'm here to pick you up, obviously. We're partners!"
She trotted behind him, basket swinging. "I know you're pretending to be annoyed, but deep down you're lonely in hospital and praying a cute girl will rescue you—ta-da! Here I am. You must feel blessed."
"Who said that? Get over yourself."
At the payment counter Shika stared at the invoice and felt his wallet hemorrhage.
—153,500 yen
Exactly the balance of his savings.
At least he'd prepaid room and board; for now he wouldn't starve. But cadets earned nothing the first month on the job, and he needed a plan.
How to earn money without leaving campus? The thought gave him a migraine.
"I'm not narcissistic!" Tamako protested, then declared, "A future star inspector must look after her partner's health."
"The case is closed. Remember? We agreed to dissolve the partnership once the truth came out—"
"It's not over!" Tamako cut in.
She set her jaw. "The real killer is still free. Ishizuka was only a scapegoat. Whoever wrote 'Heaven's Punishment' in blood is walking around laughing."
Shika glanced at her while signing the cheque. "I won't ask how you reached that conclusion—the police have closed the file. I'm merely curious: Sakurai murdered your friend, yet the phantom avenged her. Even so, you'll hunt him down?"
"For the sake of legal integrity, yes—down to the last detail."
"Even if it contradicts the justice you believe in?"
"The law is justice," Tamako declared.
Shika gave a dry laugh and slid the cheque across the counter. Hands in his jacket pockets, he strode down the corridor. "Suit yourself. I'm out."
"I already paid you!" Tamako scurried after him.
"That was for the last case. The shooting is a separate matter. You can't buy two cases for the price of one."
"This month's allowance is still burning a hole in my pocket!" She grabbed his sleeve, pleading. "I'm rehiring you as my partner! Please—I have to know the truth!"