Chapter 41: Megure, You're Doing a Fine Job

"I never expected you to possess such remarkable deductive skills. Now that I have my professional autopsy techniques combined with your reasoning, the Metropolitan Police Department is going to become better and better."

"Huh?"

Inspector Megure seemed to have finally woken up completely. He stood up from his chair and asked in bewilderment, "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Hmm?"

Chou, the chief forensic medical examiner, looked at Inspector Megure in confusion.

Inspector Megure was even more bewildered than Chou.

What on earth had happened?

He had merely closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, the world seemed to have undergone a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering transformation.

The gazes of his surrounding colleagues carried kindred-spirited gratification, unexpected astonishment, newfound respect, and quiet disdain.

In short, there were all sorts of looks, expressing everything imaginable.

He had clearly only taken a stealthy nap, so how did things end up like this?

"Megure, I never imagined that you, much like Kogoro Mouri, possessed such formidable deduction skills," said Kiyonaga Matsumoto.

Comparing him to Kogoro Mouri—it was hard to tell whether that was meant as a compliment or a taunt.

"Administrator Matsumoto, I..."

"Very well." Kiyonaga Matsumoto cut Megure off, saying in a low voice, "I am going to the hospital to see Sayuri now. We can discuss your matter after we return to the Metropolitan Police Department."

Inspector Megure swallowed hard.

Though his mind was full of questions, he could not bring himself to disturb Administrator Matsumoto from visiting his daughter.

After Kiyonaga Matsumoto left, Megure asked perplexedly, "Can anyone tell me what on earth just happened?"

Chief Forensic Examiner Chou frowned.

Having already accepted Inspector Megure as one of his own kind, Chou explained everything that had just transpired.

Inspector Megure stared at Chou in shock.

So, I have also become a minion of Masakazu?

...

"Big news! Big news!"

At the Justice Newspaper agency, the editor-in-chief walked over to the newly hired reporter's desk holding several photographs. Tossing the photos onto the desk, he said, "Write a report immediately: The interior of the Metropolitan Police Department is foul and corrupt, and the atmosphere of subordinates rebelling against their superiors is rampant.

"Inspector Megure has become a minion of Masakazu, colluding with forensic chief Chou to jointly oppose the administrator, while turning a blind eye to the fact that Masakazu plotted against the administrator's daughter.

"Write it with passion and stirring eloquence, so that everyone will be filled with righteous indignation and want to smash the Metropolitan Police Department to pieces."

Koike glanced at the photographs and once again marveled at the newspaper's immense capability—to think they even possessed pictures like these.

"But editor-in-chief, is this news accurate?" Koike asked.

"Of course," the editor-in-chief nodded.

He explained to Koike the relationship between Masakazu and the killer, and then detailed the Metropolitan Police Department's investigation into Masakazu.

After all, reporters were neither detectives nor police; they did not require hard evidence—speculation and suspicion were quite enough.

"I will definitely write a great piece!" Koike said with an expression of righteous fervor.

Watching the energized Koike, the editor-in-chief felt a sense of deep satisfaction.

The newspaper's subscriptions were growing steadily higher, and before long, they would be able to cultivate a reading habit among a massive user base. When that time came, they would no longer need to rely on exposing Masakazu's "darkness" to attract readers.

"Write well," the editor-in-chief patted Koike on the shoulder.

To give him even more drive and make his prose burn with greater fury, the editor-in-chief added, "According to my sources, the Metropolitan Police Department is apparently about to launch a positive publicity campaign for Megure."

"What!?" Koike stared at the editor-in-chief in disbelief.

How could that sycophant of the powerful be promoted as a positive figure?

The editor-in-chief said casually, "After all, the police have shouldered the label of incompetence for so many years. It's only natural that they finally have an officer capable of cracking a case swiftly, so holding up the Metropolitan Police Department in a positive light isn't entirely unreasonable.

"As for whether someone is pulling strings behind the scenes, who knows?"

Koike lowered his head gloomily.

For a guy like that to be publicized as a role model—had the Metropolitan Police Department fallen to such a degree?

Koike picked up his pen.

He would make sure everyone knew the true ugliness of that fellow!

The editor-in-chief smiled secretly to himself.

Once the praise report from the police department was published, their newspaper would follow up by exposing the darkness—how wonderful that would be.

...

"Megure, you're here."

"Administrator, sir."

"Sit down." Kiyonaga Matsumoto pointed to the chair opposite him.

Inspector Megure sat down, feeling as though his seat were covered in needles, utterly restless.

"I never thought you, too..."

"Administrator, sir, I didn't mean to! My eyes just suddenly closed, and the next thing I knew, I had no idea what was happening. I don't even know if the words that came out next were spoken by me!" Inspector Megure explained.

At his age, he certainly did not want to ruin his reputation in his twilight years.

"Oh? Much the same explanation as Kogoro Mouri's, then," Kiyonaga Matsumoto remarked.

The sleeping Inspector Megure—how amusing.

Kiyonaga Matsumoto let out a cold laugh; he was no fool either.

Inspector Megure found himself at a loss for words.

Facts spoke louder than eloquence, and Kiyonaga Matsumoto had already formed a preconceived notion.

"There is no longer any need to pursue the investigation regarding Masakazu," Matsumoto said.

"Are we dropping the investigation?" Inspector Megure asked.

Kiyonaga Matsumoto glanced at him. "Is there any need to continue? The investigative findings you submitted—were they not entirely without flaw? He has zero connection to those murder cases."

Inspector Megure opened his mouth, his lips trembling slightly, but only managed a few indistinct syllables.

His gaze was filled with helplessness and inner struggle, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, but in the end, he swallowed the words back down.

That really was my investigative report, and there wasn't the slightest problem with it—absolutely no fabrication or deception from top to bottom.

Kiyonaga Matsumoto tossed Megure's investigation report onto the desk and said calmly, "It's fine enough to look into murders, but if we were to dig up tax evasion or collusion with officials, that wouldn't be good at all."

Within the Metropolitan Police Department, he was rapidly becoming a figurehead.

These subordinates all treated him like an idiot to be fooled, especially this Megure fellow, who was simply pushing things too far.

Yet, truth be told, he really didn't want to investigate any further.

That foolish daughter of his remained utterly infatuated with that fellow named Toshihiko, and was even willing to claim that she herself had handled the sodium hydroxide.

Coupled with Masakazu's maneuvering, Toshihiko would likely avoid prison altogether.

The two of them would probably hold another wedding ceremony.

If he were to keep digging, he could hardly guarantee his daughter's safety.

"Oh, and Megure," Kiyonaga Matsumoto said to him, "due to your outstanding performance this time, the Metropolitan Police Department has decided to commend you."

"A commendation?" Inspector Megure wore an expression of astonishment.

Me?

"Hmph, they merely wish to reverse the stereotype of police incompetence, so there will also be a positive report featuring you," Matsumoto said.

At least, that was the reason given from above.

Yet Kiyonaga Matsumoto always felt the shadow of Masakazu lingering behind the scenes.

Since Megure had just gone out on a limb for him, it stood to reason that some benefits ought to be tossed his way.

Otherwise, it made no sense for Megure to suddenly 'crack' a case purely through 'skill' and have them rush to commend him and build up a positive image.

Though among the saviors of the police force, not a single one of them was actually a policeman.