svetikya Page 12
Page 12
Yuuki Takada ignored his roar and just stared at him coldly, as if he were a piece of dangerous trash in dire need of disposal.
He picked up the intercom, his voice calm and even, piercing through the nauseating atmosphere of despair in the interrogation room:
"The prosecutor's office has been notified that Jiro Ono has been formally arrested on suspicion of murdering Ai Mizuno, attempted murder of a minor, and multiple counts of coercion."
The order was given, but he did not leave immediately.
Instead, she looked at Jiro Ono, who was panting heavily with anger and fear, like a wild beast driven to the brink of despair, and slowly sat back down in the cold metal chair.
The interrogation room lights cast deep shadows on his stern face.
"Framed?" Takada Yuuki's eyes held an almost cruel calm as he said indifferently, "Stop, stop, stop... We will investigate Matsui Shoyu's death. However, we just want to learn a few things about Matsui Shoyu from you."
Jiro Ono's chest heaved as he tried to meet Takada's gaze with a fierce look, but beneath that fierceness lay a growing sense of panic.
"As for Mizuno Ai..."
Yuki Takada leaned forward slightly, crossed his hands on the table, and stared at Jiro Ono with eyes like two ice-cold awls.
"To be honest, there's one thing you really went too far. Sigh..."
He paused deliberately, making the deathly still air feel even thicker and heavier.
Jiro Ono's breathing seemed to stop.
"Ai Mizuno..."
Yuuki Takada spoke slowly and deliberately, clearly yet seriously, "She's not just a popular idol under your company. She's your son Hirohiro Ono's girlfriend."
Jiro Ono's fierce expression froze instantly.
It was like a hideous mask being struck by a heavy hammer, cracking open with an unbelievable gap.
His pupils, which had just been dilated with anger, now seemed to be clenched tightly by an invisible force, trembling violently.
"You... what did you say?" Jiro Ono's voice was so hoarse it sounded like sandpaper scraping. His previous roaring momentum had vanished, leaving only a hollowed-out bewilderment and a huge sense of dread.
Yuki Takada gave him no chance to breathe; his words, like cold hammer blows, pounded on Jiro Ono's crumbling worldview.
"Those two children, I remember you were planning to send people to kill them, weren't you?"
Yuki Takada continued in his ear, his voice cold: "They are not bastards... They are the children of Ai Mizuno and your son Hirohiro Ono. Your own grandchildren, President Ono."
boom--!
Jiro Ono's mind went completely blank.
The whole world seemed to collapse and shatter before his eyes.
His meticulously constructed, ruthless business empire and power structure were completely overturned at this moment.
The woman he considered a nuisance and had to get rid of... turned out to be his son's beloved girlfriend?
Those two children he wanted to erase like trash... were they his Ono family bloodline? His own grandchildren?!
"No...impossible! You're clearly talking nonsense!"
Jiro Ono sprang up from his chair, his body shaking violently from the impact, the handcuffs clanging loudly, the chains taut.
His face was contorted in extreme shock, a mixture of utter disbelief, a sense of absurdity, and a catastrophic fear and...despair.
"Haohong... Haohong never said that! You're lying to me! Besides, Haohong has been abroad all these years! Officer Takada! You're absolutely lying to me!"
He roared, but his voice had lost its strength, filled with a broken sob and a dying struggle.
Yuuki Takada's eyes remained unchanged, and he simply said coldly:
"Before your arrest, we had already investigated information about Ai Mizuno's boyfriend. We found information about your son, Hirohiro Ono, in the files at the Tomoda Nursing and Obstetrics Hospital."
Jiro Ono stood up and looked down at the man who had suddenly lost all his bones, slumped in the chair, his eyes vacant and unfocused, his lips trembling incessantly.
"Impossible. My son Haohong has always been abroad. How could he possibly know Mizuno Ai, a popular idol under his own company?"
Jiro Ono pressed his forehead against the cold tabletop, his body trembling uncontrollably, and a hoarse, bellows-like sound came from his throat.
“We have checked this. Two years ago, Mizuno Ai went abroad for work, and five months later, she has been going to the Tomoda Nursing and Obstetrics Hospital.”
“You not only cruelly murdered your daughter-in-law…” Takada Yuki said coldly, his voice echoing deep within Jiro Ono’s soul, “you also almost killed your only two grandchildren with your own hands. This is the truth you meticulously planned and tried to cover up at all costs.”
Chapter 18: A Visit to the Orphanage
Yuuki Takada picked up the documents on the table, turned around, and walked towards the door.
Just as his hand was about to touch the doorknob, he paused, didn't turn around, and simply uttered his last words in a cold, emotionless voice:
"Jiro Ono, now that you know Ai Mizuno's true identity, do you regret your previous choice?"
"Or, before you think about how to kill Mizuno Ai and prepare to take action against your own grandchildren, should you first think about how to face your son?"
He opened the door, and cold white light poured in from the corridor, illuminating Jiro Ono's utterly ashen face.
"Oh, by the way, those two children were sent to an orphanage after Mizuno Ai died. Would you like to see your grandchildren?"
The door closed gently behind him, shutting out Jiro Ono's desperate wails that he could no longer suppress.
……
The cold door completely shut out the heart-wrenching wails of despair behind me, as if I were locked in another dimension of hell.
A dim light shone through the corridor, creating an unusual sense of tranquility.
Yuki Takada did not leave immediately.
He leaned against the cold wall, tilted his head back slightly, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
The coldness and sense of control that he had deliberately maintained in the office receded from his chest like a receding tide.
What remains is a deeper weariness and a lingering unease.
However, the pleasure was fleeting.
The sense of control cracked the moment I stepped into the corridor.
“Mizuno Ai…” He silently murmured the name, his brow furrowed.
The words "case closed" on the case file were bright red and glaring, almost like an irony.
He walked back to his office, a small space piled high with files and documents, the air thick with the mixed smell of paper and coffee.
The thick file about the "Ai Mizuno" incident sat quietly in the center of his desk.
Yuki Takada didn't sit down, but stood in front of the table, his fingers unconsciously brushing against the cold plastic cover of the file.
The case closure report is logically clear, and the chain of evidence appears complete:
Ai Mizuno is a popular idol at the Ono Group.
Because she refused to be sexually assaulted by the company president, Jiro Ono, she was subjected to Jiro Ono's wanton revenge, and he eventually killed her accidentally in the B Komachi Mizuno Ai apartment.
In order to cover up his crimes, Jiro Ono hired someone to sneak into Ai Mizuno's apartment to find crucial evidence.
Unfortunately, after searching for a long time, they still couldn't find that evidence.
Of course, regarding the process by which Jiro Ono killed Ai Mizuno, he explained that he stabbed Ai Mizuno in the abdomen with the knife, and then, seeing the blood flowing out, Jiro Ono hurriedly ran away.
perfect.
A textbook example of detective work.
The evidence is irrefutable and cannot be refuted.
Jiro Ono's eventual breakdown perfectly illustrates this point.
but……
Yuki Takada's fingertips stopped.
He abruptly flipped open the case file and went straight to the appendix to the forensic report.
His sharp gaze swept over the cold technical terms and numbers.
"Multiple severe impact wounds on the body surface, consistent with repeated stab wounds... The fatal wound was caused by repeated stabs into the abdomen, resulting in excessive blood loss and death..."
The report is clear and concise.
Mizuno Ai had obvious impact-like wounds before her death, and she had been stabbed in the abdomen multiple times with a knife.
Everything points to... but it doesn't seem like an immediate death.
Therefore, it is impossible for Mizuno Ai to have died immediately after Jiro Ono left. It must have been an outsider who dealt her a heavy blow, leading to her eventual death.
……
Yuki Takada started the car and drove toward the "Hope Home" welfare home on the edge of the city. The city lights flashing past the car window reflected his furrowed brows and deep eyes.
The car stopped outside the somewhat old iron gate of the welfare home.
Yuuki Takada turned off the engine, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the steering wheel, his gaze fixed on the building shrouded in the twilight.
After much deliberation, he resolutely decided to tell the two children the truth.
After all, without their help, he might not have been able to easily find the crucial evidence for solving this case.
Yuki Takada took a deep breath and prepared to get off the bus.
"Takata Police Department..."
A familiar voice, tinged with hesitation, came from the passenger seat.
Yuuki Takada turned his head sharply and found that Miwako Sato had been sitting there at some point, her face showing concern and a little bit of... cunning?
"Sato Miwako?!" Takada Yuuki asked curiously, his eyes filled with doubt, "No, how did you get here..."
"Why am I here?"
Miwako Sato turned slightly to the side, the morning light of the setting sun outlining the soft lines of her profile. She smiled gently, a smile that seemed especially warm in the dimly lit car.
"Didn't you say you were going to the orphanage this afternoon in the office?"
"You don't seem to be doing well; you're as tense as a fully drawn bowstring. The case is closed, and you should be able to breathe a sigh of relief, but your expression is even more serious than before."
Yuki Takada was speechless for a moment.
He did mention it casually in his office, but he didn't expect that Miwako Sato would remember it and even follow him here.
He was so focused on the case and his inner struggle that he completely failed to notice that Miwako Sato was following him, an almost impossible mistake for a police inspector known for his keen observation skills.