Chapter 26: New Clues

"Chief." Akasaka spoke with excitement, clearly having made a discovery.

"Officer Fuji is here too? How did it go?" Shiraishi looked at Seiko Fuji, puzzled.

Seiko Fuji was the fourth SR-ranked officer in the entire Beika Precinct!

[Seiko Fuji (Beika Precinct Koban Officer):
Age: 26.
Overall Rating: SR.
Heart: Justice (65), Principles (66), Gentleness (33), Subjectivity (71), Passion (60), Resilience (75).
Body: Healthy, Persistent.
Skills: Deduction (SR), Evidence Collection (SR), Interrogation (R), Combat (R)...
Potential: Massive, inclined toward frontline detective work.]

Upon seeing her stats, Shiraishi had immediately checked her personnel file—why would an SR officer be working at a police box (koban)? Given this skill distribution, it didn't look like the precinct was "failing to recognize talent." After all, skills like [Deduction] and [Evidence Collection] required frequent field experience to develop.

Sure enough, Shiraishi discovered that Fuji’s transfer to the koban had only happened within the last two months; previously, she had been a star in the Criminal Investigation Division!

And the reason for the transfer... Workplace bullying?

Looking at her [Justice] and [Principles] stats, Shiraishi felt that was unlikely. He confirmed it with Chief Ebihara and learned the truth: Fuji had requested the transfer herself. Most veteran officers knew it was to investigate a case involving her close friend.

The "workplace bullying" was merely the official reason. Before the transfer, she had indeed given Yamada a beating... Otherwise, she would have had to recuse herself from a case involving a friend, let alone be specifically transferred to a koban relevant to that case.

That was why the old Chief hadn't mentioned it to Shiraishi initially, and Shiraishi hadn't suggested moving her back... After all, her "Body" stat, which also seemed to encompass "mental and physical health," included the [Persistent] tag. It was clear her mental state was fragile, and in such times, it was better to guide than to block.

Still, seeing Fuji arrive with Akasaka, seemingly ready to report something, Shiraishi was surprised.

"I specifically asked Officer Fuji for help. We owe this discovery to her," Akasaka explained quickly.

That afternoon, Akasaka and Tosaka had been assigned to Beika Park, hoping to verify the alibi claimed by Tsubokura. They combed through all available surveillance footage in the area, but couldn't find an angle showing the small plaza where the coffee truck was parked. Nearby street cameras also failed to capture Tsubokura entering or leaving—this didn't prove he was there, but it couldn't prove he wasn't, as the cameras didn't monitor every route.

They had no choice but to question the witness again: the coffee truck clerk.

However...

"Considering the current public criticism against us, we thought if we went to ask, reporters might photograph us and stir up more rumors. That’s why we had Officer Fuji go," Akasaka explained.

Both Akasaka and Tosaka had intimidating temperaments—they wouldn't look out of place in a Yakuza gang. Approaching a "witness who might have been misled by the police" would surely invite controversy.

So, Akasaka asked the off-duty Fuji to assist. He knew her capabilities well, and to the untrained eye, she didn't look like a "mother dragon" at all...

Fuji readily agreed. She posed as an ordinary citizen—even a "fan of the righteous witness who stood up to the police"—to confirm details with the "clerk guy"...

...

"Ah! You’re the clerk who testified for that wrongly accused boy, right?"
"What really happened back then? I’m just so curious!"
"You’re so amazing, being able to remember things from so long ago..."
"Was the pressure high when you testified in court?"
"I see. Good luck..."

...

"Ugh..." Fuji suddenly dry-heaved in the Chief’s office.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Shiraishi looked at her, bewildered—her health stats didn't show "early pregnancy"!

"Cough, it's nothing... just remembering the interrogation makes me feel sick." Fuji recalled the things she had said to coax that otaku clerk and couldn't help but feel nauseated.

She then explained: "As expected, that jackal lawyer coached him... That idiot clerk thinks this case is high-profile and that many people will be attending the hearings... including his estranged wife and daughter, whom the lawyer invited. So, subjectively, the witness has a hero complex!"

"In this situation, he’s inclined to treat uncertain memories as facts and lean toward giving testimony that the public wants to hear."

Fuji paused, then added, "However... I don't think his testimony is entirely fabricated."

Although the last sentence was just Fuji's subjective assessment, Shiraishi nodded.

Given Komikado’s personality, he wouldn't dare completely fabricate testimony. The witness’s memory hadn't changed; it was just that while the police had originally told him "don't say it if you're not sure," Komikado was now using public opinion to make him "state it as a certainty."

"The discovery isn't just this, is it?" Shiraishi looked at Akasaka and the laptop in his arms.

"That's right... there’s this too! But it doesn't quite match our current line of investigation, this is..." Akasaka looked embarrassed.

It seemed they had stumbled upon evidence unfavorable to Tsubokura!

"It's fine, let me see..." Shiraishi opened the laptop and found a blog displayed on the screen.

"This is..." Shiraishi didn't understand the significance immediately.

"When Gen and Yamada were looking for eyewitnesses to provide an alibi, they found this blog post. Chief, look here... On September 3rd, this post says the blogger was in that plaza in Beika Park, and... she even bought this!" Akasaka gestured for the Chief to scroll down.

Yamada liked surfing the internet, so he thought to search for accounts that had posted blog content from the vicinity at the time of the crime, and it paid off.

Sure enough, in the photo below, there was a cup of "Signature Iced Latte"—exactly the coffee from that truck, and it matched the item Tsubokura had claimed to purchase, as well as the only record pulled from the cash register!

If this blogger had indeed ordered a "Signature Iced Latte" there on the afternoon of September 3rd, it would prove Tsubokura’s alibi was false—because the coffee truck had only sold one cup of coffee that day.

Moreover, the blogger was clearly a woman who loved sharing her life, and the small, delicate hand visible in the photo was definitely not Tsubokura’s...

"Have you identified the blogger?" Shiraishi asked immediately.

"Yes, her identity information was in her previous posts, but..." Akasaka said helplessly, "When we went to find her, she said... the Prosecutor's Office had already asked her to testify and told her to refuse any questioning if she saw police officers."

Without an arrest warrant, she could indeed refuse to cooperate. She wasn't a criminal, so emergency arrest laws didn't apply. And since the prosecution had told her "no need to cooperate," trying to intimidate her would be useless!

"Eh?" Aoki looked at the blog a few more times after hearing this, then exchanged glances with the Chief.

They both realized that the witness Miki had discovered and handed over to the prosecution was this very blogger!

"If this blog is indeed real, then Tsubokura’s alibi is definitely invalid." Fuji looked puzzled—combining this with what she had confirmed from the clerk, she felt something was off.

Shiraishi suddenly said, "Let me see that..." and began scrolling through the blogger's posts.