【014】Suspicion

【Inoue Reina】

Something’s wrong.

Everything about this is wrong.

The Tanaka Akio murder case. In investigating this, I decided to look into Class 1-3.

What I discovered:

This class is twisted somehow.

The bullying that happens on a daily basis. The fact that it’s accepted as normal within the class. That it’s not bullying but punishment.

At the center of that bullying: Tamura Misaki. Apparently, he’s the most hated person at Akigaoka Academy.

A hated person, and bullying.

Isn’t that too convenient?

It’s almost like administering the appropriate treatment to someone assigned a role.

The cause of this class’s dysfunction… no, at its root, there must be something else.

For example, yes.

What if this bullying is being orchestrated by someone?

No, no way. That can’t be.

But I can’t deny it.

My instincts as a detective are telling me.

This bullying and the Tanaka Akio murder case might be connected somehow.

“You’re Nishida-kun, right?”

I’d been waiting for a certain person at a spot a little away from the school gate. The boy I called out to looked at me with suspicion.

But he must have had some idea, because he let out an “Ah.”

“The flat-chested detective.”

“Who’s flat-chested!”

He’s Nishida Kouhei, the class representative of Class 1-3.

“Can I talk to you for a bit?”

I tried to answer as pleasantly as possible. I remembered how Sergeant Hayama once warned me that “even when you smile, your eyes don’t smile.”

Nishida-kun also looked at me with a startled expression.

“How long is ‘a bit’?”

“Well, a bit.”

“Fine, I guess…”

Nishida-kun and I entered a café. My treat, of course. It’s on expenses anyway, so it doesn’t bother me. The café happened to be the same place where I’d interviewed Tamura Misaki.

Nishida-kun ordered a blend and immediately started talking.

“Has the person who killed Necchi not been caught yet?”

“Sorry, I can’t say because of confidentiality.”

“Hmm, so they haven’t been caught…”

Nishida-kun came to his own conclusion.

Well, he’s at that age. I can understand being drawn to the extraordinary. Even when someone dies, to others, it’s just another piece of the extraordinary. Nishida-kun must be one of those people.

“Today, I want to ask you about Tamura Misaki-kun.”

“Huh? Tamura?”

Nishida-kun’s expression changed noticeably.

It was one of disgust.

That kind of expression.

“Ah, so Tamura really did kill Necchi?”

I felt uncomfortable with those words.

“What do you mean by ‘really’?”

“Ah, you don’t know, detective? Right now at our school, there’s a rumor going around that Tamura killed Necchi.”

Bingo.

My intuition is probably correct.

The perpetrator is most likely not Tamura Misaki.

Someone is intentionally trying to make Tamura Misaki look like the bad guy. There’s even a possibility that person could be the actual culprit.

“Well, that’s separate from what I want to talk about today.”

“Oh, I see…”

Nishida-kun looked disappointed.

Was he really that happy about the possibility of a classmate being a murderer?

I don’t really understand this kid.

“I want to ask about the groping incident that happened to your classmate Satou Akane a while ago.”

“—”

Nishida-kun’s expression shifted slightly.

He tried to hide his agitation, but don’t underestimate a pro. I can tell immediately.

The groping incident was never officially reported.

However, when I went to that station, there was a record. I’ll skip over the exhaustive investigation that followed, but what matters is one point:

Tamura Misaki became the target of bullying because of this false accusation in the groping incident.

“The perpetrator of the groping incident—at school, there’s a rumor that Tamura-kun did it, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. There was actually someone who said they saw him do it.”

Ah, there it is—a slip-up.

“Nishida-kun, you were at the scene that day, weren’t you?”

Nishida-kun fell silent.

That’s as good as admitting it.

“Nishida-kun was on that train—it’s clearly captured on security camera footage. Could it be that you’re the one who spread the rumor?”

“That’s not true!”

Nishida-kun stood up.

He seemed to realize what he’d done after standing. He looked shocked.

“I was there that day, but I didn’t spread the rumor.”

“But you knew the truth.”

“W-well, that can’t be helped, right?”

Can’t be helped.

Ah, so you’re going to dismiss it with ‘can’t be helped,’ huh?

I was unexpectedly disappointed in this mostly uninvolved boy before me.

This kid probably can’t understand even a single thing about how a bullied person thinks. He doesn’t even try to understand. He’s just going along with the situation, unable to see any future consequences.

It’s really terrible.

“Hey, who did you hear that rumor from?”

“Huh? Who from, well…”

Nishida-kun looked surprised by my question, as if he’d expected to be blamed.

Of course I’m not going to blame you. There’s no point in blaming you when you don’t even understand why you should be blamed.

“Um… I think it was from social media.”

“Social media?”

“There’s like an underground school website. It was there, apparently. I only saw it after it had already been shared around.”

“Can I see this underground school website?”

“Anyone can access it.”

“I see.”

Did I get a lead, or didn’t I?

The assessment was a bit ambiguous.

◇

When I returned to the station, I ran into a familiar face.

“Oh, Inoue.”

“Chief Noyama, good work today.”

Chief Noyama was wearing his usual gentle smile. That atmosphere made me feel a little lighter too.

“How’s that case going?”

“No progress at all. I think it’s because we haven’t found any physical evidence.”

“I see… Oh yeah, Hayama was looking for you.”

“Huh, really?”

“Go see him quickly.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

I bowed and was about to leave when he called me back. I turned around and something was thrown at me. I caught it, barely.

It was a warm can of coffee.

“Don’t push yourself too hard, detective.”

“Please stop calling me ‘detective’!”

I headed toward Sergeant Hayama’s office.

【Tamura Misaki】

After school, meeting up with someone other than Nanaka-san was rare… no, it was the first time in high school.

The empty classroom. I pretended to leave through the school gate once, then came back when most people had left.

The person I was waiting for was already in the classroom.

“Misaki.”

“Sorry I’m a little late, Satou-san.”

“No, I just got here too.”

We were going to search for the truth.

To prove my innocence.

“Satou-san, do you have a specific plan for what we’re doing?”

“I do. We’re going to the computer room.”

“The computer room?”

Satou-san nodded.

“We’re going to look at the underground school website.”