As Aoyama Xiu Xin gave the order to let through, the police at the alley entrance stepped aside, and Jinwei Yu rushed into the alley, his eyes instantly reddening as he saw his son’s blood-drenched body in the rain, his body trembling slightly.
"Teng! Teng!! Teng!!!"
Jinwei Yu fell to his knees with a thud and embraced his son’s corpse, wailing bitterly, hysteric as he called out his son’s na. Truly, the bond between father and son was deep.
"Guardian Prosecutor, please accept my condolences," Aoyama Xiu Xin stood under an umbrella, comforting Jinwei Yu in the rain.
If it had been anyone else, they most certainly would have held their umbrella over the other’s head, but he was the Asai family’s son-in-law, after all; he didn’t need to lick the boots of a senior prosecutor.
Ever since he started living off the Asai family, not just anyone was entitled to his oral services.
Jinwei Yu abruptly stood up, rushed to Aoyama Xiu Xin, and grabbing his collar, roared, "Condolences? My son is dead! He’s dead! Murdered! How am I supposed to grieve? Ah! Ah?"
"Then please continue crying," Aoyama Xiu Xin said indifferently to Jinwei Yu close at hand.
Jinwei Yu was instantly choked up and stared furiously at Aoyama Xiu Xin, "What is your na?"
"Aoyama Xiu Xin, Police Chief."
"Good! Police Chief Aoyama, you had better catch my son’s killer quickly, or else prepare to be fired! The nation’s money isn’t ant to support you useless people!" Jinwei Yu threatened through gritted teeth and then let go of Aoyama Xiu Xin and turned to leave.
As he watched his car disappear into the rain, Aoyama Xiu Xin snorted, straightened his collar, which had been disheveled by the confrontation, and turned to Yoshikai Yoshitsune, "I’ll leave this to you. Just report to tomorrow."
In such heavy rain, it was already exceptional that he had co to the scene personally, so how could he possibly stay and work overti? Wouldn’t it be nicer to go ho and fall asleep to the sound of rain?
A piece of scum had died, cause for celebration; this case was one he’d solve if he could, but he wouldn’t sweat it if he couldn’t. After all, he was not in need of this accolade.
"But..." Yoshikai Yoshitsune appeared hesitant.
"I’m giving you a chance to toughen up. Young people need to endure hardship," Aoyama Xiu Xin patted his shoulder and said seriously, "I believe in your abilities!"
If young people could endure hardship,
They would find there’s no end to hardship to be endured.
"Yes, sir!" Yoshikai Yoshitsune bowed in response and then escorted Aoyama Xiu Xin with an umbrella to his car.
After getting into the car, Aoyama Xiu Xin called Asai Ayumi, "Have you arrived at the scene? What’s the situation?"
"The victim is a housewife, just like the one from last night. She was brutally beheaded in the sa manner as the murder of Mikami Yasuko. From the traces at the scene, soone ate food from her kitchen after she died, though it’s unknown if it was the killer. This area is sowhat isolated and doesn’t have surveillance, making the case difficult to investigate," Asai Ayumi replied before asking, "How about the situation on your end?"
The Hirakawa District has always been one of the more outlying districts, and the residents there are not that wealthy. There are very few surveillance caras by the roadsides.
After all, the governnt surely prioritizes installing more surveillance in affluent areas, rather than wasting money in poorer congregations.
"The victim was stabbed over twenty tis, the body completely drained of blood. Oh, and the victim is Jinwei Teng, the only son of Jinwei Yu, the Deputy Chief of the Tokyo District Court," Aoyama Xiu Xin said with a sneer, adding sardonically, "He just threatened a mont ago, vowing that if I didn’t catch his son’s killer, he would have ousted from the Police Headquarters."
"Jinwei Teng?" Asai Ayumi clearly had heard of Jinwei Yu’s son and said, "Isn’t he the sa guy who was accused of a sexual assault and forcing his classmate to commit suicide a month ago but was acquitted by both the sexual offense and murder divisions? Could it have been the victim’s classmate’s parents who killed him?"
The incident had obviously caused quite a stir at the ti, but Aoyama Xiu Xin had not yet traveled back to that ti a month before, and there wasn’t much information in the original host’s mory related to it.
"I don’t know, such human trash could have been killed by anyone given his deeds," Aoyama Xiu Xin said casually, before adding, "You keep working; I’m heading ho to sleep. Good night."
"A prosecutor’s son gets killed and you just go to sleep? Aoyama Xiu Xin, hey..."
"Beep—beep—beep—"
Listening to the busy tone from the phone, Asai Ayumi felt a sense of helplessness. Encountering a police officer like Aoyama Xiu Xin with no professional ethics, one could only say it was Jinwei Yu’s bad luck. But from another perspective, could this also be the retribution for his indulgence and protection of his son’s cris?
Aoyama Xiu Xin arrived ho, and as soon as he closed the door, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Following the sound, he saw his sister-in-law descending slowly, dressed in a pale-colored spaghetti strap nightgown, "I’m sorry, sister-in-law, did I wake you?"
The spaghetti strap dress was thin and short, with a lace edge at the hem barely covering the thighs, revealing a pair of perfectly smooth and fair legs that stepped down. With each step, they seed not to tread on the stairs but rather on Aoyama Xiu Xin’s heartstrings.
Perhaps a bit groggy from sleep, one of Aoyama Haruko’s straps had slipped down to her arm, which she did not seem to notice, exposing a fair and rounded shoulder that made Aoyama Xiu Xin’s mouth go dry. His sister-in-law was indeed a shrewd person.
"No, I was just coming down for a glass of water. Were you just out, Xiu Xin?" Aoyama Haruko asked curiously.
"There was an urgent case," Aoyama Xiu Xin averted his eyes, which had been impolitely gazing, and said before proceeding with a slight bow up the stairs, "I’m heading back to bed, sister-in-law."
Aoyama Haruko looked puzzledly at Aoyama Xiu Xin’s retreating figure going upstairs, not quite understanding why he was walking that way, and then yawned without thinking much of it.
Realizing sothing suddenly, she looked down to see her bosom inadvertently exposed and her pretty face turned bright red in an instant, understanding why Xiu Xin had been bending over.
With the sha, her heart pounded fiercely.
It was an indescribable, unfathomable feeling.
...
"Ring-ring! Ring-ring!"
At the first light of dawn, 18-year-old Master Aoyama was rudely awakened by the ringing of the telephone.
Having gone to bed in the early hours of the morning, he had no desire to open his eyes and answered the phone in a daze, "Moshi moshi?"
"Mr. Aoyama, significant discovery! The husband of last night’s female victim in the Hirakawa District is Jing Shangwei!" Asai Ayumi said with an excited yet barely concealed thrill in her voice.
Aoyama Xiu Xin had long forgotten the na and asked in confusion, "Jing Shangwei? Who’s that?"
"That’s the father who reported his daughter being brutally assaulted and driven to death by Jinwei Teng!" Asai Ayumi explained before continuing, "Also, a neighbor saw him return ho last night, and based on the woman’s ti of death, he must have seen his wife’s body when he ca back but didn’t report it. What’s more, he’s now missing, uncontactable, and last night Jinwei Teng was murdered. There’s a connection here!"
"You an Jing Shangwei returned ho last night, found his wife dead, and then he, completely without restraint, chose to take revenge for his daughter himself?" Aoyama Xiu Xin’s drowsiness vanished instantly, and he sat up in bed.
"Yes!" Asai Ayumi confird, but then sighed, "However, this is just my personal speculation. There’s no direct evidence to prove that he killed Jinwei Teng, so we can’t put out a warrant for his arrest."
She was internally conflicted. This situation shouldn’t have co to this, but because of so scum within the Police Headquarters, a person was pushed to the extre.
"If it really is Jing Shangwei, he won’t just stop at one Jinwei Teng, he’ll surely continue to commit cris," Aoyama Xiu Xin analyzed with a clear train of thought.
Jing Shangwei, burdened with a deep-seated grudge and having nothing left to lose, had beco an unstoppable force.
To him, killing one person was the sa as killing several – he would undoubtedly continue his spree.
Asai Ayumi agreed, "Therefore, we must catch him as soon as possible to prevent..."
"Police Chief Asai, why must we catch him as quickly as possible?" Aoyama Xiu Xin cut her off, speaking indifferently, "Isn’t it better to give him the chance to exact his revenge, to let him send so deserving scumbags to hell using his own hands? Plus, the more people he kills, the greater the rit for us when we eventually catch him. Let’s let this case simr."
"How can you think like that?" Asai Ayumi was shocked by Aoyama Xiu Xin’s thought process, emotionally saying after a sleepless night, "Mr. Aoyama, we are police officers! If we do that, how are we any different from the chief who shielded Jinwei Teng’s sex cris and the killer chief? It’s still a cri!"
"Of course there’s a difference. Those two guys’ victims were innocent civilians, while our targets are corrupt bureaucrats," Aoyama Xiu Xin didn’t care about cri or no cri; he was interested in personal satisfaction and maximizing his benefit. "If we capture Jing Shangwei now, wouldn’t those two guys and Jinwei Yu get away with their cris? Think about Jing Shangwei’s innocently killed daughter. The police can’t give him justice; the law can’t give him justice. Aren’t we to allow him to take it for himself?"
"But..." Asai Ayumi still wanted to persuade him.
However, Aoyama Xiu Xin firmly interrupted her, "You’ve known since day one, haven’t you? Do it as I say. Leave Jing Shangwei alone for now and concentrate on capturing the copycat criminal; this person’s victims are all innocent civilians."
Legal or not, just or not, these weren’t his concerns. He only considered what would make him feel good, how he could maximize his benefit.
The "copycat criminal" had committed cris for two straight days, which was a slap in the face for the police. It was bound to cause panic within Tokyo, and if he wasn’t caught soon, public opinion would turn against the police.
"Fine!" Asai Ayumi rembered that Aoyama Xiu Xin was never a "good person" to begin with. Attempting to change his decision was pure fantasy, so she changed the subject, "About the copycat criminal, we’ve identified a few suspects from the surveillance around the Sunset Apartnt that day. You’d better co to Police Headquarters to take a look."
Faced with Aoyama Xiu Xin’s stubbornness, all she could do was compromise and allow Jing Shangwei to continue his cris.
"Hey! I’ll be right over." After hanging up the phone, Aoyama Xiu Xin dressed neatly and went downstairs after freshening up.
Since he was up earlier than usual, his sister-in-law’s breakfast wasn’t ready, so he had no choice but to skip it.
Arriving at the office, Asai Ayumi shared so good news, "The robbery team has caught a thief who was stealing from apartnts on the night of the copycat’s cri. According to the thief’s confession, he saw a suspicious person while leaving the apartnt building after completing his theft at dawn; it could be the murderer."
"They caught the thief so quickly?" Aoyama Xiu Xin was surprised by the robbery team’s efficiency.
Asai Ayumi explained, "The guy tried to fence the stolen goods the next day. The robbery team traced back to him by following the trail of the stolen items."
"Let’s take a look at the surveillance first, then have the thief identify if any of the suspicious targets are the person he saw at the apartnt that night," said Aoyama Xiu Xin.
"I’ve already sent for the surveillance footage to be brought to the thief for identification," replied Asai Ayumi.
"Police Chief Asai! Police Chief Aoyama!" At that mont, a police officer hurried over and reported with excitent, "The thief has identified soone from the surveillance footage as the person he saw at the apartnt entrance that morning."
"Lead the way!" Aoyama Xiu Xin said imdiately.
"Right away!" The officer nodded and rushed to lead Aoyama Xiu Xin and Asai Ayumi to the thief.
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