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Kapitel 40

"You're just a forensic doctor. What's there to be angry about?"

"I'm so angry that the police don't even listen to my opinions. I'm supposed to be the best forensic doctor in Japan, and these stupid police officers don't even listen to my valuable advice."

"That's a foolish opinion."

"Where is the stupidity? Anyway, several victims had at least one hand cut off immediately after death, no, perhaps while they were still alive. I guess they were cut off while they were still alive."

"bright--"

"It's clearly a very foolish opinion," Kiba initially thought, but ultimately didn't say it aloud. However, in terms of medical insight alone, Satomura's opinion was quite trustworthy.

"The arm showed signs of life. The degree of oxygen activation also differed. If it was severed after death, I'm willing to disembowel myself to show you. However, the foot of the same victim was indeed severed after death."

"So—what do you think this means?"

"I'm not a pervert. So I can't really understand what criminals are thinking—"

Satomura seemed convinced that the culprit was a pervert, and his statement sounded as if there was no other possibility. However, Kiba did not interrupt.

"First of all, generally speaking, whether the perpetrator strangles, poisons, or beats the head, they will kill the victim first, right? Then, if the body needs to be dismembered because it's difficult to dispose of, they will usually hide the body first, or move it to a place where it's easier to handle, or at least prepare cutting tools, and leave the body for a while, right? During this time, the body will have already started to decompose. But it feels like this perpetrator killed someone, and before even confirming whether the person was dead, he cut off the arm extremely quickly. It feels like it didn't matter whether the victim was in a state of apparent death, had stopped heart but was not dead, or was just unconscious; he was just in a hurry to cut it off."

"I see, so that means..."

"This means that at that moment, he had already prepared the cutting tools. So I guess he didn't cut because he killed, but killed in order to cut."

"Why? Is it meaningful?"

"How would I know? The police should be the ones thinking about this. I'm just judging from a doctor's perspective."

—Killed for the purpose of cutting?

What a revolutionary idea! But is such a thing really possible? What reason could drive a prisoner to go so far as to kill someone and cut off their hands and feet?

Kiba raised a question, and Satomura narrowed his large eyes behind his glasses into a crescent shape, answering:

"Who knows? Maybe it'll be used as some kind of material?"

"Materials... You don't actually think the perpetrator cooked the victim, do you?!"

"If I were to eat it, I wouldn't throw away my thigh or my hand. Prisoners aren't monsters or demons; I never said I was going to use them as food. But then again, carnivores seem to eat internal organs that are more tender than limbs. However, wild animals usually let their prey rot after killing it, supposedly making it more delicious. It's probably because the amino acids start to break down. I'm not a wild animal, so I don't know for sure, but it probably really tastes good. It's said that only humans eat raw, alive meat. But even if it's said to be alive, it's actually already dead."

Rimura smiled with a childlike expression.

Hearing his words, Kiba, who was on an empty stomach, felt nauseous and wanted to vomit.

"Eating it is probably impossible, but I think it might be used for human experiments."

"Experiment?"

"That's right, that's right. I don't know what kind of experiment it was, but without this guess, it's impossible to explain why the torso couldn't be found and why the head was trembling."

And other parts. I think the eagle's head tremor on the torso might be used for something. That's why the hands and feet had to be cut off before the experiment.

Human experimentation.

It's possible, this clue is possible, Kiba's intuition told him. It sounds far-fetched, but what stimulated Kiba's intuition wasn't a vague impression, but an extremely concrete feeling. No, rather than concrete, Kiba already had a clear image in his mind.

——Koshiro Mimazaka.

Of course, there was no evidence or basis whatsoever. However, after hearing Rimura's words, Kiba's subjective judgment undoubtedly and gradually shifted towards him. There was definitely something wrong; that guy couldn't possibly be completely unrelated to the incident. Those cold, reptilian scientist eyes. No reason was needed. For Kiba now, those eyes were more than enough to make him a target.

—Once the wounded are put into that box, they never come back.

That's what everyone in town says.

—Capture monsters and let them devour human corpses.

— Send the wild beasts in.

"Brother Kiba, what's wrong? But even if it's for experimental use, that cutting technique was terrible. A doctor would have been far more skilled. The victim's incision looked like it was chopped off with a machete or axe; the cutting was careless. Besides, even with the same victim, the foot was already dead when it was cut off. There was no sign of life at the cut. That means a considerable amount of time passed between the hand and the foot being severed; the victim probably died during the cutting process, so it must have taken a lot of time. But the perpetrator is very eager to learn. You can see that his cutting technique is getting better and better."

"clever?"

"By the fourth one, it was almost a clean cut. I only saw a picture of the first one and didn't collect it, but the wound on the second one was a gruesome mess. However, when cutting the fourth one, the perpetrator seemed a bit carried away, deliberately pausing just before making the cut. Perhaps the perpetrator was practicing his cutting technique, so the motive might not have been murder or dismemberment, but rather testing the knife. This hypothesis might be quite interesting. However, it doesn't explain why the torso and head couldn't be found."

"Testing the sword, it's not the Edo period anymore, how could that be possible?"

No matter how revolutionary the ideas are, the "testing with a knife" theory is still unacceptable. However, the possibility of human experimentation seems quite high, and Kiba also feels that this hypothesis has some connection to the Kanako incident. Of course, Mimasaka's involvement is necessary.

—It's still early, not enough.

"Just a quick aside. Satomura, have you ever heard of the doctor Mimasaka Koshiro? The name is Mimasaka, the character for beautiful, the character for horse, and the character for slope."

"Of course, he was quite famous before the war, known as a genius surgeon. His surgical skills were outstanding. He was a true master."

Praised as a master surgeon, he's a legendary figure. However—I remember he originally majored in immunology at Imperial University. (Also published...)

He wrote a very advanced paper. I've read it too; his name is so distinctive that I remember it clearly. After all, "mimasaka" is generally pronounced as "美作" (měisò), meaning beautiful, and "作" (zuò), meaning work.

"Really? — So you're that famous."

A genius surgeon would probably have made an even more beautiful incision.

"However, because he conducted research that was too unconventional, he was ostracized from the center of academia and eventually expelled from academia—I remember it was fourteen or fifteen years ago. I don't know where he went after the war, I only heard that he devoted himself to researching methods of immortality."

"Undying?"

"Research on how to prevent death. I haven't read the paper, so I don't know the details. But what's certain is that he was not only a skilled surgeon, but also a scientist who often displayed brilliant inspiration in his research. However, this inspiration..."

Those who occupy the center of academia are unnecessary.

Rimura tapped his broad forehead with his index finger.

"The more talented you are, the more likely you are to be ostracized."

"Immortal—"

I don't really understand. Humans are creatures that die very easily. Kiba has witnessed countless soldiers die before his eyes in a way that is almost laughable.

"He's not some immortal, has he lost his mind?"

—The Immortal Who Dissolves Corpses.

—They will never die.

— Adding rapeseed water will not kill you.

Kusumoto Yoriko

What's going on? This unsettling coincidence, yet I have absolutely no idea how it's connected. So, it must just be a coincidence. Trying to force myself to piece together these clues will only create more confusion; let's just accept the discomfort as pure discomfort.

Satomura wiped his glasses with gauze. He said, "Anyway, it would be better if his theme was something like athlete's foot."

Then ask

"Then, what happened to Mimasaka?"

Kiba vaguely evaded the question.

Satomura was surprised and wiped his glasses again.

"But then again, if the police don't accept my opinion, how do they plan to solve this dismemberment murder case?"

He tilted his head, showing his confusion.

"That's easy. Of course, we should start the search from the more common-sense clues. If we just listened to you, the criminal would either be a complete psychopath, a mad scientist, or a knife-testing killer. The police don't even have that kind of person in their minds."

Kiba wanted to continue by saying, "That's why the police are so bad," but he swallowed his words.

"Ninety-nine percent of dismemberment murders are committed to facilitate the disposal of the body. Following this clue is always the right approach. Otherwise, it's driven by resentment and the desire to tear the victim to pieces. An investigation will reveal the answer. The less you complicate the problem, the higher the case-solving rate will be. Bizarre ideas will only waste time."

"Really? But what I said is true. Besides—if the dismemberment was done for the convenience of disposing of the body, it would be even more puzzling."

"What's the meaning?"

"If you really wanted to dispose of it properly, why use such a half-baked method? It's not just this time; most dismemberment cases involve much more than just cutting off limbs and heads. But if you're going to cut it, why not cut it finer? If you don't have time, fine, but if you have the time to go that far, why not put in a little more effort? Chop the meat into small pieces, break the bones, mix them into animal feed or scatter them in the fields as fertilizer—you'd be guaranteed not to be discovered. If you're really desperate and don't want to get caught, I don't think there's any reason you can't do something this simple. Anyway, doing it halfway is just as disgusting."

It's disgusting, but Rimura seems completely oblivious.

Kiba felt like vomiting. But then he thought covering his mouth was too effeminate, so he swallowed the saliva that welled up inside him.

"That's what you say, but disassembling a whole person isn't an easy task, is it?"

"No, that's not true. Cutting off hands and feet is actually very simple. It won't take an hour. Of course, it's a bit more difficult to cut them off if they're still alive. But it can be done in a whole day. I think people who don't do it are those who secretly yearn to be caught."

"Is this one also?"

“I already said that this time is different. It wasn’t cut to cover up the crime or for easier disposal. The wound looks like it was cut while the victim was still alive, which is really strange. That’s why I said my opinion makes more sense.”

Rimura pouted to express his dissatisfaction.

"This guy is just like a child," he said, closing Kanako's medical record with a bored expression.

"But what's going on today? Why are we talking about dismemberment cases all the time?"

What does "[all]" mean?

"Brother Guankou just arrived too, also here to talk about the dismemberment murder case."

"The pass, why?"

He was searching for clues everywhere; was his visit to the research institute really not a coincidence?

"He said, let me think, he said he got a list of followers of a religion called something like 'Sealing Evil God,' and found that several of the followers' daughters—about ten, I think—were missing. Because that religion is very suspicious, he suspects it might be related to the dismemberment case. But going directly to the police seems like the evidence is too weak. So he came to me. Although I think it's a bit strange that he came to me—but you know, he's always very serious, right? He doesn't want to just brush it off, so I listened to him and plan to tell Oshima about it tomorrow—"

It must be the religion that Aoki was talking about.

"—This is a copy of the roster; the original is in his hands. This copy was carefully made; you can tell at a glance."

Rimura took a stack of papers out of the drawer and handed them to Kiba.

"Perfect timing, Kiba-kun. I'm counting on you to pass this on to Aoki-kun. If it's useful, keep it for yourself."

"snort."

The police probably already knew about this. However, Kiba wasn't sure if they even had a roster. Kiba didn't say anything, silently accepting the package. His silence wasn't for any particular reason; it was simply a habit stemming from his training in buttock torture.

Kiba accepted the document and immediately opened it. Sekiguchi had probably copied it in a hurry; the handwriting wasn't neat. Kiba quickly scanned it, a habit typical of detectives. Silent contemplation was pointless; asking around and gathering information like this would always yield some results, regardless of their usefulness. Kiba had gained quite a bit from Satomura.

There seems to be something wrong with something in the roster.

--Um.

The roster appears to be arranged in the order of the Japanese syllabary (hiragana and katakana).

Kuwano Sadako, Awada Takashi, Kubo Junkong - a little higher.

"Kusumoto Kimie"