I, Aki Tomoya, will not be a simp.

Page 173

"It's strange."

Mikoto Misumi harbored doubts.

Even though her husband's body is here, she shows no intention of taking it back.

"...Could the murderer be Mrs. Kobayashi?"

According to Aki Tomoya's deduction based on Misumi Mikoto's theory, the culprit is likely a first-time offender and may also be a woman.

"Don't say such creepy things. Although it's possible, but..."

Not only did she murder her husband, who was terminally ill with cancer, but she also dismembered his body. The seemingly gentle Mrs. Kobayashi from just now didn't seem like such a crazy person.

However, her behavior seemed somewhat unusual.

Just as they were discussing this, Officer Mori from the Nishimushano Police Station came to UDI again.

"Has Mrs. Kobayashi, a relative of the deceased, been here?"

The police seem to be searching everywhere for Mrs. Kobayashi.

The group looked at each other, their emotions unsettled.

It cannot be ruled out that someone else committed the crime, and the police also have reason to suspect that the deceased's family members are involved.

After locating the hospital where the deceased, Kenji Kobayashi, was located, the police learned that although the deceased had undergone surgery and chemotherapy there, the costs for each treatment were consistently delayed.

Considering the deceased's long-term serious illness and the possibility that his family members might be unable to bear the mental and financial burden and thus have a motive to kill him, the deceased's wife was also included as one of the suspects.

"The worst-case scenario."

Aki Tomoya frowned as he thought about it.

This is arguably the worst possible inference.

This morning, Mori Tadashi contacted the deceased's family. After learning the full situation at the hospital this afternoon, he had doubts about the family. He and his men were unable to find Mrs. Kobayashi at the deceased's home.

Upon learning that Mrs. Kobayashi had left UDI, they immediately turned back.

"I'm going out for some fresh air..."

Aki Tomoya could understand the logic behind the police's suspicions, but he felt a little upset.

Could economic and mental strain really break someone who seems so gentle?

The police's reasonable suspicions are actually quite frightening.

Even though he had such doubts before, he still found it hard to accept this situation.

“Aki-kun is still very young. I have worked in the audit office for 24 years and have encountered many cases like this. It is very difficult for many people to survive in this world, and there are many people who are driven to the brink of despair.”

It's somewhat surprising that someone like Makoto Sakamoto could say such profound things.

After all, he's a veteran in this industry who's been working for so many years and has encountered far too many cases.

"But Aki-kun is different. He has the guts to come here, and he's a student at Tokyo University's Third Science Department. He has a bright future ahead of him."

The more misfortune I see, the more I cherish everything I have now, which makes me appreciate my own good fortune even more.

UDI Research Institute: Unnatural Deaths – Sometimes the Truth Can Be Heartbreaking.

……

On the afternoon of July 27, police found Mrs. Kobayashi, who had attempted suicide, at the home of the deceased, Kenji Kobayashi.

After she was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment, the police began searching her house.

However, no evidence was found in Mrs. Kobayashi's home to suggest that she had murdered her husband.

There was only one letter, her last, filled with despair and her final words to her daughter who was working in Osaka and had not yet returned.

She hopes her daughter can bury her and her husband's ashes together.

On the morning of July 28, Mrs. Kobayashi regained consciousness and, under police questioning, denied murdering her husband.

However, because she is still a suspect and there are concerns that she might commit suicide again, she is under police supervision.

During this period, Aki Tomoya also asked for a leave of absence, which was approved by the director, who believed that he might have suffered some kind of blow recently.

On July 30th, he returned to UDI.

“I investigated without authorization. During that time, Mrs. Kobayashi was working to pay for Mr. Kobayashi’s medical expenses. The reason she didn’t realize her husband was missing was because she thought he was still in the hospital. After Mr. Kobayashi disappeared, the hospital called their home every time, but no one answered.”

Because he found it unacceptable, Aki Tomoya went to investigate for two days on his own.

He found out where Mrs. Kobayashi worked and confirmed that she had an alibi.

The police will likely find out about this, and Mrs. Kobayashi may have already been cleared of suspicion.

"By the way, this morning I saw two newly arrived letters outside the Kobayashi residence. One was written by Mr. Kobayashi before his death, and the other was unsigned. Both were handed over to the police."

When Aki Tomoya got to this point, he let out a sigh of relief.

If it really was Mr. Kobayashi's wife who did it, he still finds it a little hard to accept.

"This morning the station chief said that the police thanked our UDI staff for providing the clues and asked who we were. Oh, it was you. You took leave to be a detective?"

Tokai Rin Yuko looked at Aki Tomoya with surprise.

What he did was astonishing. Everyone thought the college student had been provoked into taking leave, but it turned out he was going to find out the truth on his own.

Mikoto Misumi also praised him with admiration, saying, "Our forensic medicine needs people like Aki-kun who are so dedicated to the truth!"

"Dr. Misumi, you flatter me. I'm just having trouble accepting the horrifying truth. I say it's for the truth, but really it's just to make myself feel better."

To his shame, he shook his head. He wasn't looking for the truth, but rather trying to find a truth that he could accept.

An elderly couple, whose daughter lives in Osaka and Tokyo, are struggling to make ends meet. The husband is seriously ill, and the wife works illegally to pay for his medical expenses. Doesn't that sound incredibly touching?

If that were truly the case, and the wife, overwhelmed by the burden, murdered her husband in a moment of collapse, then it would be pitiful, lamentable, and tragic...

"I took the liberty of reading Mr. Kobayashi's suicide note, which only arrived recently. The letter said that he had asked someone to kill him."

Mr. Kobayashi was instigated to agree to have someone kill him.

=

Chapter 205 Let's Go Back Together (2/6)

"I'm sorry I can't let you continue to drag me through the rest of my days. I have to go now. Please live well..."

That was a sentence that Aki Tomo could never forget.

He seemed to understand Mrs. Kobayashi's unusual behavior.

It is unacceptable that the body was not taken back.

As Mrs. Kobayashi herself stated in her suicide note, she hoped that her daughter could take her body back on her behalf and then bury their ashes together.

She also apologized to her husband for being a burden to their daughter who works in Osaka.

"However, this is a deception; along with Mr. Kobayashi's suicide note came the murderer's mockery!"

Aki Tomoya's sudden anger startled Sakamoto Makoto next to him, as well as the two members of Misumi's class on the other side.

"In his suicide note, Mr. Kobayashi said he blamed himself and no one else. He never imagined how the beast he trusted would treat his body!"

After reading Mr. Kobayashi's suicide note, he was filled with regret.

The old man knew that continuing to delay would only create a huge burden on his family, and he wouldn't live much longer.

His suicide note was filled with apologies—to his family, to the doctors who treated him, and even to the people who killed him.

The unsigned letter placed in the mailbox along with the suicide note was the murderer's boast about his first crime, explaining how he deceived a seriously ill old man, how he gained his trust, and how he induced him to give up his life.

The contrast between the two letters infuriated Aki Tomoya.

He handed the two letters to the Musashino Police Station.

He was able to find these things, and so were the police. They are still watching Mrs. Kobayashi because they are afraid that she might do something rash and commit suicide again.

It makes me so angry. Why are there such beasts?

However, precisely because it was their first time committing a crime, such a bastard would inevitably leave some flaws.

And honestly, this guy is really too arrogant.

Those who have contact with patients are either caregivers, doctors, other patients, or pharmaceutical representatives.

Police quickly identified the suspect.

Before Mr. Kobayashi disappeared from the hospital, a pharmaceutical representative had been in close contact with him.

After the police came to his door, the guy jumped off the apartment balcony out of a guilty conscience. He broke both legs and suffered internal bleeding. He was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment and was placed under guard.

Mrs. Kobayashi came to UDI for the second time accompanied by her daughter, along with people from the funeral home they had contacted, to take the body away for cremation.

“I had thought about giving up before, and I complained to myself that it would be better if he were dead. But when I heard him say that it would be better if he just died, we had a big fight about it. After that, I was scared of my own thoughts…”