Romantic Troubles of Duanmu-kun

“How could such a concerning issue have completely escaped everyone’s notice until now?”

The Novelist furrowed his brow.

“Well…”

The technical staff member nearby gave a wry smile as he explained to them.

“Actually, we only recently obtained all the footage.”

“…Huh?”

“Their attitude was extremely stubborn.”

The man sighed.

“They claimed it ‘involved customer privacy, so they wouldn’t hand it over to the police’… It’s absolutely ridiculous! We’re working hard to solve their problems, and citizens should have an obligation to cooperate, shouldn’t they?”

As he continued, his voice unconsciously grew louder, clearly feeling indignant.

I-I see.

Hmm…

Come to think of it, whose property is Sun Tower again?

No, I can’t keep thinking about this.

This seems a bit troublesome.

“Why did they suddenly change their mind?”

Asami-senpai beside him asked curiously.

Y-yes, that’s right.

“That, I don’t know.”

Why would they change their attitude…

Could it be they discovered something?

“Assistant-kun, what’s wrong? You don’t look well.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Your forehead is covered in cold sweat.”

“I-I’m completely fine!”

The Novelist sighed.

…Better to pretend not to know.

It has absolutely nothing to do with me.

That’s right.

“…But seriously, what’s going on here?”

He rubbed his chin, staring at the surveillance monitor, lost in thought.

According to the police technical staff’s repeated verification of the footage content, whether from the outside entrance to the underground parking garage or from the mall entrance to the garage, the content recorded by the surveillance cameras had not been tampered with by anyone, nor were there any signs of interruption during the recording process.

And in the internal parking lot surveillance, they similarly couldn’t find any evidence of someone approaching the car that had remained parked in the same spot all night. Not to mention three high school students—their attempt to enter the vehicle would certainly have been conspicuous.

Even setting aside the surveillance footage, students moving around in such a place late at night would look suspicious. They should have been stopped by the patrolling security guards first.

“What happened after that?”

The Novelist received the crime scene record and subsequent witness testimonies from Asami-senpai.

According to the mall employee who first discovered the suicide scene, in the early morning, he had been planning to go to the storage room in the underground parking garage to transport needed goods to the mall above using a cart.

After passing by the vehicle used as the suicide scene, he detected a strange odor, like the stench of burnt leather. After finding he couldn’t open the car door, he then noticed smoke seeping through the window cracks from inside the car.

Because of the window tint, he couldn’t see the scene inside clearly. This person felt something was wrong, so he ran to contact the on-duty security guard and his superior, then called an emergency number to a nearby hospital. After medical personnel sent the people inside to the hospital for emergency treatment, the police subsequently arrived and completely sealed off the scene.

Since no traces could be found in the surveillance footage, the only possibility left was—

“These three high school students didn’t just find a random car in the underground garage, break into it, and use it as a suicide location; from the moment they entered the garage, they were already hidden in this car?”

The Novelist moved the mouse, repeatedly rewinding the short segment of footage showing the car entering the garage. The middle-aged man who briefly spoke with security through the lowered window didn’t appear unusual in appearance or dress.

“No matter how I look at it, he doesn’t seem like someone hiding people…”

From this angle, although it was an overhead view, after zooming in, one could vaguely see through the lowered window the passenger seat and part of the back seat.

“Could they have been hiding in the trunk?”

But to fit three healthy high school students in the trunk of such a small, modest private car…

Beside him, Asami-senpai was smiling for some unknown reason, appearing to be in a good mood.

“It’s not impossible. Perhaps that’s how it was. If they squeezed a bit.”

The girl nodded “mm-hmm” as she spoke.

Squeezed? If the victims’ bones were uncomfortably contorted and the three of them curled up like mollusks in a snail shell, perhaps it could be done.

“Here are the autopsy reports and the statistical report of the crime scene examination… would Assistant-kun like to take a look?”

Next, Asami-senpai placed a large stack of documents in front of the Novelist.

“…No, I’ll pass.”

He shook his head.

Different professions have different specialties; don’t meddle in knowledge domains you don’t understand.

This was a principle for living inoffensively in modern society without being disliked by others.

Despite being a mystery Novelist, it was too demanding to expect him to understand forensic knowledge with an amateur attitude… If it were everyday life tips like “how to conveniently dismember a body in your home bathtub after accidentally killing someone,” that wouldn’t be a problem.

“Then, the biggest issue right now is the car owner, right? Where is he now? Has he gone missing?”

“No, he was brought in quite normally. He’s currently in the interrogation room, being questioned as a witness.”

Asami-senpai shook her head.

That sounded like good news. However, the current situation was already obvious from her expression.

“…No breakthrough yet?”

“No. No matter how much we question him or investigate his specific circumstances, we can only conclude that ‘this guy knows absolutely nothing about it’…”

Moreover, before leaving home, he had checked the condition of the car and trunk. There definitely wasn’t enough space to hide those three high school students.

“Ah… this is completely a dead end, isn’t it? How did they enter the suicide scene? It feels like teleportation.”

The Novelist tapped his temple. As a detective’s assistant, after understanding the current situation, he couldn’t help feeling anxious.

…That said, Senpai’s expression looked quite relaxed…

“I wonder, could it be the work of ghosts?”

The Novelist suddenly said with a serious face.

“…G-ghosts? D-don’t joke around, how could such things exist in this world?”

Asami-senpai responded with forced laughter.

My, my? Her reaction seems a bit intense. The Novelist thought somewhat mischievously.

“It’s fine! In new orthodox mystery, even if ghosts seeking revenge turned out to be the conclusion, it would be completely forgivable!”

“N-no way! Think of a proper solution! How could something so scary… such an absurd thing be the truth!”

The girl’s voice unconsciously became shrill.

…Even though she’s a young detective who doesn’t falter at the sight of such horrific scenes but rather becomes fired up, she’s afraid of ghosts and spirits? High school girls are truly difficult to understand.