縮んだ科学者の始まり

Beginnings Of A Shrunken Scientist

She shifted her eyes from left to right, watching the scene that laid before her. All she wanted was at least one night of fun, but no, apparently it was too much to ask, and now she had to wait it out because of a small incident. Well, if you count a murder case as 'small'. The brown-haired girl lifted her head back and let out a sigh. This wasn't even the first one she had been to, and it surprised her how used to it she was.

What had happened was, she had been invited over to this fancy party in this big house, where she could meet a bunch of people who were interested in her work. Most of them were famous people, too. She wanted so badly to ask her boyfriend to come and pick her up, but she had to wait it out. If not for her being there at the time, then it was for another reason. After all, she didn't exactly come to the party alone.

"The victim's name is Takakura Mayumi, age 26," Takagi read, "She is the CEO of a large and wealthy corporation. Her only known relatives are her aunt and little brother, both currently living in Fukuoka."

Megure-keibu, the one in charge of the investigation, turned to look at the people present. "And who was the one that discovered the body?"

The brown-haired girl stood from her seat. "That would be me."

The Inspector's eyes widened upon seeing her. "A-Akemi-kun!? If you're here, then that must mean..."

Megure's eyes trailed off as he looked over at the corpse. Indeed, his suspicions were correct as a high school girl, younger that Akemi, with a reddish-brown bob and a casual black knee-length dress, was kneeling beside the corpse and examining it. The woman was found in her bedroom with her throat slashed. The only problem was, the door had been locked without signs of forced entry, and the windows were so small the only a child could fit through. Just your typical locked room murder scenario.

"Her lipstick is smudged and her foundation seems to be as well. Not to mention her priceless hairpin is lying on the floor. It's clear there was a struggle, but I still don't know how the criminal managed to escape a locked room."

Megure smiled with disbelief. "Nice to see you again, Shiho-kun."

The Inspector really did love it when the high school scientist-detective would help Division One solve murders with her medical smarts, but it just seemed that where ever a case was happening, she just coincidentally happened to be there. It was like she was cursed or something. "From the way her eyes are closed, she looks as if she was sleeping. It's best to have an autopsy done as soon as possible, that way, we'll know if she was drugged with sleeping pills."

"Um, right, we'll take care of that shortly."

Shiho figured she had some time before they came for the body, to look at the suspects. Not only was she talented in forensics, but she also had a love for psychology, which was a key factor in determining who the culprit was.

The first suspect was her husband, Takakura Saburo. He was the editor of a popular modeling magazine that dealt in all the newest trends for both genders. His outward personality was that of a supportive husband. The second suspect, Ishiyuri Rei, was the woman's secretary. She handled all the important things, such as appointments and so forth. Her outward personality was shy and a bit intimidated, it seemed. The third was Wataru Yuuki, a model for Takakura-san's magazine. His outward personality was a spoiled rich boy.

Shiho, unaware of their motives as of now, considered her first priority figuring out the trick. Quietly, she wandered outside, below the window of the room where the CEO was killed. Using the flashlight watch the Professor gave her, she looked around the yard for anything that could have been used for the locked room trick. It was then that she recalled something that she saw when she first laid eyes on the crime scene.

The were two holes on opposite sides of the wall, although they were so high that they almost touched the celling. It was almost as if a curtain had been hung there once. That one thought was enough to send a volt through Shiho's mind. "Perhaps...if that was how it was done..."

She said nothing more as she sped off to the small pond that rested on the property. She barely missed it, but luckily, she had keen eyes and was able to catch it. Out of the dark waters, she was able to pull out a long stick, exactly as long as the the width of the room. attached to it, there was some fishing line, as well as the one thing the police hadn't found yet. The dagger that sliced the CEO's neck. "Well this is rather convenient. It took me less time to figure it out than usual."

"Did you figure out the trick?"

Shiho turned around to find her older sister Akemi staring back at her with interest. With a confident smirk, she answered. "Yeah. It's pretty simple with the right materials."

"Ooh, can you tell me?"

Shiho stood and faced her sister. "I could, Onee-chan, but I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

After a few pouts and beggings later, everyone was settled in the room of the crime scene. "Have you figured out the trick the murderer used?" Takagi-keiji asked with interest.

A nod. "Yeah, I was able to figure out the trick, although the culprit still has yet to be identified."

"Oh, well, whatever you can show us would be a big help." After clearing her throat, Shiho revealed the long stick, and unsurprisingly, received a reaction from one of the suspects. Smirking in success that the culprit had finally identified themselves, she started.

"The first thing the killer did was tie some fishing line around the pole creating a ring that could slide easily off both ends." She demonstrated as such. "After that, they tied another string to the first one, allowing them to be able to control the motions from outside that window. Chiba-keiji, Takagi-keiji, would you be so kind as to place this stringed stick to where it matches those two marks on the walls?"

The two officers did what she had asked, and it matched perfectly. "The next thing the culprit did, was attach the murder weapon, a sharp dagger that would slice the neck on contact, onto the bottom of the first string." She used a pen in it's place since she couldn't use the actual dagger. "Takagi-keiji, could you go outside and pull the second string from the window?"

"H-Hai!" After waiting for him to appear at the window, everyone saw Takagi pull the string across the stick, where the pen bellow was pulled across the area where a person's neck would lie. "I see." Takagi observed, "But how do you remove the evidence?"

"All you need to do is grab the stick next to the window and pull it out. As for locking the door, if you use the stick, you could easily lock it from that distance."

Takagi demonstrated and pushed on the lock using the stick. "She's right!"

Megure nodded. "It's very impressive how you figured that out, but we still don't know who the culprit is."

Shiho smirked. "Actually, I've already figured it out."

Takagi and Megure both shouted in unison. "You have!?"

"That's right. I put it together when I saw their reaction after I brought in the stick."

"Well, don't just leave us standing here! Who is it?"

"The culprit is..." She sent a smirk their way. "Wataru Yuuki! It can only be you!"

The magazine model froze with fear, but it went away after a split second. "What are you talking about? Anyone could have done that trick. What makes you think it was me?"

"Interesting point. I first started to suspect you when I heard your alibi. You claimed you were watching TV with Takakura-san, however, I remember you leaving for a minute to get to the kitchen, which isn't to far from Takakura-san's room. I know it's practically impossible for you to murder her in under a minute, which you didn't. You only drugged her to sleep, knowing it would last for hours, so when Ishiyuri-san went to check on her, she could conform that she was still alive. However, soon after, you left for another few minutes, only this time, you went outside and committed the crime. It's not possible to do it all at once with so little time, but if you split it up, it can be done."

She knew she hit the hammer on the nail, but the culprit would refuse to admit it. "That's ridiculous! You think I'm the killer because of that?"

"True, it's not enough to get you arrested..." She sent a stone cold glare his way. "However, if some of her makeup got on any of your clothes during the struggle, that would be more than enough."

Visibly, he tensed in front of everyone. The officers there offered to inspect his clothes, but there was no need as he broke down and confessed. While he was being escorted to the patrol car, Shiho spoke to her sister. "We're finished here, so you might want to call that boyfriend of yours and have him pick us up." Nodding, Akemi fished out her phone.

Shiho and Akemi walked out to the car of a man Akemi's age, in all black with a cap on his head. "Judging by all these police cars, it's obvious there was a case here."

Akemi nodded. "And guess who solved it once again?"

Akai didn't even have to guess, he just smiled at his girlfriend's younger sister, knowing how much she loved what she did. "Come on Shuu-chan, it's been a long night and I'm tired." Akemi whined.

Shiho smirked. "Yeah, let's get a move on, Shuu-chan."

He smiled a bit at the name she only used when she was trying to make fun of him. Personally, Shiho knew her sister made an excellent choice in choosing him, and knew that he would protect them if something were to ever happen. It also gave her something to make fun of and/or gag at whenever they got all lovey-dovey.

Nevertheless, it was going great for her right now and she didn't know how her life could get any better. Her parents' coming back to life might help, but she knew that was impossible since they died such a long time ago. But she had her sister, and she had Akai, and that was enough to get her though.

Between schoolwork and case solving, it seemed that Shiho didn't have much time to herself. Not that she minded, since she loved doing both of those things, but Akemi felt like she hadn't seen her sister in forever. That was why, on the weekend after finals, she declared that the two of them were going to have a girls day out at Tropical Land, just the two of them.

It was fun for the most part, although Shiho really wasn't really one for the big rides, unlike her sister. They were now sitting in a Tropical Land café, having lunch at a table in the corner. For some reason, whenever they ate out, Shiho would always pick the most secluded table. Akemi dealt with it, though, seeing as her sister wasn't a big people person.

Except it happened again, and Akemi could not receive the normal day she was hoping for. Because right in front of them, a man had started choking on his coffee. A minute had passed before he had wound up on the floor, and by then, the police were already on their way. The had to cancel the ambulance, however, because the man was already dead.

Once Megure-keibu arrived, he was hardly shocked to find the forensics detective there yet again. After a while, the suspects were all accounted for. The dead man was sitting in a corner table as well, so there could only be so many tables around him.

"The deceased is Toyota Makoto, age 44, his known relatives are his parents who live in Northern Tokyo."

Shiho was already observing the scene with the magnifying glass she always carried. According to her, a Forensics Detective always had to be ready, despite her sister's complaints. She had come to the conclusion that he died of cyanide poisoning. Of course, for that to happen, someone would have to slip by and pour it in, and the security cameras showed that it was only the people at the nearby tables who could have done it.

The suspects in question were Yamaha Kozue, his business partner, who was sitting across from him at the time of the crime. The other two were Kino Minene, Toyota-san's ex-girlfriend, and Tachibana Yuudai, her new boyfriend. Apparently, the two of them were there to make Toyota-san jealous while he was doing business with Yamaha-san.

There were two others, however they weren't really 'suspects' more like witnesses. They were two teenage boys, about the same age as her. One was dressed in a refined uniform and had feathered hair accompanied by a cowlick, while the other had dark tanned skin and was wearing more casual clothing as well as his hat worn backwards, which revealed a spike in his hair. She didn't catch their names, but something about them just didn't feel right. But she would deal with that later, as right now, she had a case to solve.

"It's clear who the murderer is." Shiho, who only got dramatic during moments like these, pointed them out. "The killer is you! Tachibana Yuudai!"

The same thing played again, the culprit tried to defend themselves, then once actual proof was given, they broke down and confessed. Apparently, Kino-san had pressured him into doing it, and through a few pulling of some strings, she had been arrested as well. Before the sisters left, Shiho looked around and noticed that those boys from before were gone. Oh well, they probably just went home to get away from all the chaos. It's not like they were suspects themselves after all.

It was getting pretty late, and the two of them found themselves walking to the car. "I still don't understand how you can get used to something like this. I don't understand, but now I'm used to it. It just happens so frequently, how do you handle it?"

Shiho shrugged. "I just solve the case, and then I try to forget what happened. They're fun to solve, but someone did die after all."

It was then that something caught Shiho's eye. One of those boys from before, the one with the cowlick, was holding a briefcase and looking around to see if anyone else was watching. She knew there was something wrong with those boys, and now she could prove it. She immediately ran after him, leaving Akemi behind. "Wait, Shiho!"

She wasn't answered back, however. Shiho stopped at the corner and watched an interaction between the boy and a man, who also had a briefcase with him. The man's had pills inside, while the boy's had money, possibly stolen. However, since Shiho was too busy watching the transaction, she failed to notice another figure creeping up behind her with a large rock, at least, until it was too late.

She tried her best to keep her consciousness as she fell to the ground, only able to hear the voices of the two boys who were definitely up to something illegal. "What do you think we should do with her, Honjozo." The first voice spoke.

Shiho had tried to keep her consciousness, but it was fading fast. "There's no oth'r choice, Daiginjo, she saw something she shouldn't h've."

Wait, was that...Kansai-ben? And what about those names. Honjozo and Daiginjo? Weren't those both types of sake? Why would they be named after Japanese alcohol?

"How 'bout we use a pill on 'er? The boss said to try 'em out."

Boss? There was someone behind all this? Maybe this ran deeper than she thought. Shiho could hear the sound of a case opening. "They're still in testing, but they should have their intended effect. It was my parents who made them, after all."

They put a pill inside her mouth, and poured some water along with it. "This should be enough, now let's get going. We have what we need."

"Sure thing." The boy who spoke with Kansai-ben agreed.

Shiho listened to their voices disappear around the corner, and she couldn't keep conscious any longer.