Tokyo Mystery Writers

Chapter 142 The Unchangeable Past

Mori Takahiro was depressed all day, initially because he was thinking about the time limit.

Later, all my thoughts and emotions went to Akiko.

Although Nanami's words were extremely harsh, they made Mori Takahiro begin to suspect Akiko.

Mori Takahiro wanted to call Akiko and question her about whether she had been having affairs with other people.

But—if making phone calls to others during work hours affects your work, you won't forgive yourself!

Just as Mori Takahiro was lost in thought.

Arisa suddenly walked in after school, making a face: "Uncle Omori, your face is so scary!"

Looking at Arisa's charming smile, Mori Takahiro felt a little better.

Although he knew that Arisa shouldn't be allowed in at this time.

"Didn't I tell you not to come here?"

Arisa pouted, "You're so stingy, Uncle Omori. Five minutes, just five minutes, okay? Let me stay here for a bit, alright?"

Mori Takahiro had mixed feelings about this girl, but he always felt sorry for her.

So he looked at his watch and agreed.

Because it was obvious that Arisa had come here to say something to him.

"Uncle Omori, the so-called 'first statute of limitations' means that the murderer who killed my father has exceeded the fifteen-year statute of limitations, right?"

"Because the murderer who killed my father fled to another country for seven days, the statute of limitations was interrupted, and so the second statute of limitations begins seven days later."

"So—once the second statute of limitations is established, is everything over?"

Mori Takahiro looked at Arisa, recalled Kusumi's words, and sighed: "It's hard to say. If it can be proven that Takeuchi Toshiharu went to other countries besides those seven days, it might become a third statute of limitations."

"However, little Shasha, we have an agreement that you can't tell these things to outsiders."

Arisa pouted, "I know, hey! Uncle Omori, could you please stop calling me Arisa?"

Mori Takahiro realized that his way of addressing Arisa was inappropriate and was about to apologize when he heard Arisa suddenly ask, "The murderer who killed my father, wasn't he my biological father?"

Arisa's words surprised Mori Takahiro at first, then he smiled, and finally he froze, because he was completely unprepared to face this question: "What nonsense are you talking about? Were you having a nightmare?"

Arisa stared intently at Mori Takahiro, and quickly spotted the panic on his face when an adult lies: "Uncle Mori, do you know, I bought a lot of old newspapers from back then at the used bookstore."

"It's all in the newspapers. That guy not only killed my dad, but he also assaulted my mom."

Arisa pinched her earlobes hard with both hands, tears welling in her eyes: "Look at my earlobes, they're completely different from Mommy and Daddy's!"

"On the contrary, the killer in the newspaper had very large earlobes!"

"When I was very young, my mother—my mother pinched me like this!"

"I cried and screamed because it hurt, but—"

As Arisa spoke, she burst into tears: "Mom thought I didn't remember anything from when I was little, but actually I haven't forgotten a single thing. It's terrifying—"

Mori Takahiro reached out and pulled Arisa's hand away from her earlobe: "No, Mommy wouldn't do that, little Arisa, you must be mistaken."

"You'll find out if you ask your mother. The killer has a different blood type than you, but you and your father have the same blood type."

Mori Takahiro bit his lip, forcing out the sound from his throat.

"Really?"

Arisa stared wide-eyed at Mori Takahiro; she was willing to believe him, truly willing to believe him from the bottom of her heart.

Looking at Arisa's pitiful appearance, Mori Takahiro bit his lip and clenched his fists.

Anyway, her father is already dead, so if they can't catch Takeuchi Toshiharu—

Takahiro Mori is determined to keep this lie going!

Don't catch Takeuchi Toshiharu!

That guy Takeuchi Toshiharu better never show his face in front of this child again, even if he dies!

Mori Takahiro looked into Arisa's pure eyes.

He abandoned his responsibilities as a criminal investigator for a moment!

Yoshimasa Tata looked at the "Third Statute of Limitations" in his hand and felt a tightness in his chest.

I am not a fan of any particular school of mystery fiction; in other words, I read all kinds of books.

However, this time, the "Third Time Limit" brought by Maijo Kyosuke seems a bit strange—

This kind of strangeness is not the kind of twisted weirdness shown in "A Bellflower" or "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders".

This strangeness—it has a feel similar to the "hard-boiled mystery" of "The Long Goodbye."

A mother torn between being pregnant with the perpetrator's daughter after being assaulted —

A daughter who cannot accept her own identity —

Cold and indifferent to the extreme, devoid of emotion, Nanami is solely focused on solving the case.

Mori Takahiro, a man of keen insight and empathy for those in charge of cases —

These people seem to live in their own worlds, but in reality they are closely connected because they are all unable to escape the vortex of the case!

In short, everyone in "The Third Statute of Limitations" except for Toshiharu Takeuchi, the instigator.

No one can be truly judged as good or bad; they are all unique individuals, all flesh and blood.

So, what exactly is the "third statute of limitations"?

How can this be done?

What evidence did Nan Jian possess?

At this point, Tatara Katsuyuki no longer cared much about the riddles; he just wanted to know.

When the "statute of limitations" is established or extended, how should these people face life?

Because it seems that neither the validity of the time limit nor its failure is the best outcome.

At this moment, Tataka Yoshikatsu even had a slight hope that Maijo Kyosuke could use the "collapse ending" of "Convergence" once again.

Let this story stop here.

But—that's impossible, isn't it?

Tataka Yoshikatsu sighed, a hint of sadness in his eyes, and opened Chapter Seven of "The Third Statute of Limitations" —

The phone in "Xiaguang Apartment" didn't ring all night today.

Takahiro Mori regretted his thoughts during the day.

As a detective, I don't want Takeuchi Toshiharu to be caught; it's shameful for a detective to have such thoughts.

Miyajima, who was in charge of monitoring Yukie, brushed his teeth and said to Mori Takahiro with slurred speech, "Omori, Yukie is much calmer today, she seems unperturbed and dissatisfied."

"That expression definitely means he doesn't want us to capture Takeuchi Toshiharu. But whether he's crying or laughing, we'll find out in six days."

While washing his face, Mori Takahiro took a moment to ask, "Hey, Miyajima, besides that initial seven-day trip to another country, does Takeuchi Toshiharu have any other records of traveling abroad?"

Miyajima shook his head and replied with great certainty, "Impossible. I investigated this matter myself. In the past fifteen years, Takeuchi Toshiharu has only left Japan for seven days."

Mori Takahiro tilted his head, pondering what Nanami meant by "What if we can't finish in seven days? What do you plan to do?"

Judging from Nanami's tone, Mori Takahiro was convinced that Nanami had other ideas.

But—what to do?—

Mori Takahiro felt increasingly uneasy. The last time he met with Nanami, that guy had only mentioned Akiko.

Could it be that this has something to do with Akiko?

Why would this guy who looks down on women, despises women, hates women, and even despises women call Akiko a slut?

Why did he have to break ties with me? What exactly does he want to do? Is he trying to ruin Akiko?

The more I think about it, the more uneasy I feel.

"Hey, Miyajima! Just who is this Kusami guy?"

Why does he hate women so much? Was he abandoned by his mother?

"Or perhaps you were deceived by a bad woman?"

"Something must have happened, otherwise he wouldn't have become this kind of person!"

Miyajima glanced at Mori Takahiro and sighed, "Let's not talk about him, okay? Just hearing his name makes my throat tighten."

"But as for what you mentioned, no, that's not the case."

"Nanjian's parents are both teachers, and I've never heard of them being deceived by bad women."

"Hey! Omori, we're detectives. Don't just insist on finding a definitive reason every time something seems unusual."

"We're in this line of work, what's so strange about seeing someone like Nan Jian?"

"We've seen people like this before: someone who grew up in a good family, had a comfortable life, never experienced setbacks, had a beautiful wife and lovely children, yet was a heinous murderer."

"If we really want to find a reason, it's not that we can't."

Ultimately, the blame lies with family education, school education, and societal influences.

"But as you and I both know, aren't there many criminals who can't be reformed? Nan Jian is just like those criminals who can't be reformed."

"There are more than 3,000 police officers in our county. Statistically speaking, it's not surprising that there are one or two people like Nan Jian."

Time waits for no one.

Time catches up, surpasses, leaves those who stand still behind and moves forward alone, turning everything in the world into an unchangeable past.

Nine o'clock in the evening, at Xiaguang Apartment.

There are three hours remaining until the "second statute of limitations" takes effect, which is the actual statute of limitations.

The Honma mother and daughter, along with five detectives, were sitting in the living room.

Three detectives, wearing earpieces, listened to the sounds coming from the walkie-talkie.

Mori Takahiro sat leaning against the corner of the wall.

Don't cling to Toshiharu Takeuchi's thoughts; return to Takahiro Mori's heart once more.

This time, however, Takahiro Mori was not so regretful.

After all, everyone present knew that Toshiharu Takeuchi was absolutely aware of the legal provisions regarding the interruption of the statute of limitations.

If he didn't know, he would definitely have called during those seven days.

Now, hundreds of police officers carrying photos of Toshiharu Takeuchi are stationed throughout the prefecture, monitoring all the phone booths in the prefecture.

However, this heavily guarded situation will soon be lifted.

It was 11 p.m., and there was less than an hour left before the deadline.

Arisa was sleepy, so she went back to her room to sleep.

Mori Takahiro felt no regret whatsoever, and looked forward to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Miyajima, sitting next to him, felt the same way.

After all, Miyajima had been watching Yukie for so long, and he knew very well that arresting Takeuchi Toshiharu would not give Yukie any sense of revenge.

This will only cause greater harm to the Honma mother and daughter.

11:55 AM — 11:56 AM — Time ticked by, second by second.

It was 11:59.

Mori Takahiro suddenly thought of Kusumi and the "third statute of limitations".

However, Nan Jian has not shown up yet.

It's unlikely that anything new will happen after midnight.

As the clock struck midnight, the hour began!

The statute of limitations for the "taxi driver murder case" has been set in effect, and this time it's truly in effect.

All the detectives pulled their earpieces out of their ears.

The tense atmosphere in the room suddenly became relaxed.

"it's over."

Yukie's expression hadn't changed much.

But she was startled by the noise coming from the entrance hall.

Mori Takahiro turned his head and looked towards the entrance.

Nan Jian walked into the living room, exuding a murderous aura!

This was Nanmi's first time here. As soon as she entered the house, her eyes met Mori Takahiro's.

Something like an electric current collided between the two.

When the members of Criminal Investigation Team 2 saw that their squad leader Nan had arrived, their expressions were: What are you doing here now?

But what he said was very eager: "Reporting to the squad leader, the mission is complete, we're withdrawing immediately!"

Nan looked at everyone present and gave the order: "Don't retreat, continue!"

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