日本語 101
Japanese 101

Baka 馬鹿 means Stupid / Idiot 
Chan ちゃん means little one, an honorific usually reserved for children or people who are close friends or family members
San さん means Mr, Mrs, A universally to address people out of respect 
Jiji 爺 means Old man
Urusai 煩い means Irritating
Miko 巫女 means Shrine maiden

 Just as Kindaichi Hajime and Aoyama Sho studied the body of the young high school girl, somebody shone his flashlight on them, “Well, well, well, why am I not surprised to see the two of you here with another death at your hands…”

“Inspector Kenmochi!” Kindaichi turned to face the source of the light and was surprised to see Kenmochi Isamu standing behind them shaking his head at them.

“Urusai Baka Jiji!” Aoyama Sho rolled her eyes at his words and pointed at Kindaichi, “this is his big idea and his death magnet attraction in effect, not mine.”

Inspector Kenmochi smiled at the strange image the two youngsters portrayed. One would have thought of them as ill-matched, as they seem to be as different as day and night. With the aloof Aoyama Sho looking around casually in an uncaring manner, while Kindaichi Hajime scratched his head, feeling embarrassed at being found on the scene again by him but still greeted him warmly nevertheless.

‘They couldn’t appear to be any more different, ne?’ Kenmochi thought to himself, ‘but their passion for unearthing the truth is the same. I could see that same level of intensity presented in their eyes when they look at the scene of a crime. Even for someone who appeared to be as disinterested as Aoyama Sho, there are still traces of her professionalism when the situation calls for it.’

It is always refreshing to see how these two youngsters worked together, unlike how his teams of investigators and a forensic pathologist.

The Forensic Pathologist on the scene, Doctor Makabe Sota is one of the most respected pathologists in Yokohama, and also a trusted old friend of Kenmochi. But even the seemingly good-natured man of late forty could not resist glaring at the irritating young profiler who was standing behind him whispering to her partner about his lack of professionalism, as he removed his gloves at the end of his inspection.

The elderly doctor was further displeased by the lack of respect shown to him by the young officer when the officer asked in a rude manner, “So what’s your conclusion, doctor?”

The way the young officer said the word doctor sounded to him as an insult, making him even angrier because no one had ever spoken to him in such degrading tone. 

“Aren’t you too young to be at a crime scene, kid?” Doctor Makabe was offended by the underlying insulting tone of the profiler but his professionalism did not allow him to lose his calm in front of the rude kid, “Inspector Kenmochi, I have finished my first inspection of the body and will be sending you my report soon.”

Smirking at Doctor Makabe’s inefficiency, Aoyama Sho sighed aloud, “I wish Akagi-san is here, he could have told us everything we need to know instantly instead of asking us to wait for his report!”

Doctor Makabe froze at the mention of the forensic monster from S.T. and forced himself to look at the young officer in front of him, “you know Akagi Samon, that monster?”

Growling at his comment, Aoyama Sho sneered at his words, “Monster? You call him a monster? I would think that you are the ugly one here. By calling and degrading others, you are only seeking to comfort yourself and lessen the bashing on your pride. Because you know it perfectly well that he is a million time better than you can ever be. What a childish loser! Just because you can’t reach his level, doesn’t mean he is a monster!”

Being spotted on his inner thoughts about Akagi Samon, Doctor Makabe stared angrily at the young officer and could not help but to wonder, ‘who is that kid who could easily read him like an opened book?’

“Aoyama-san!” Inspector Kenmochi sighed and wondered whether it was too much to expect the young girl to stay out of trouble for once.

“Sho-chan!” Kindaichi Hajime echoed with a tone of warning to the young profiler as well.

“Aoyama Sho?” Doctor Makabe’s eyes widened with surprise and obvious disbelief as he gathered the two names from Kindaichi Hajime and Inspector Kenmochi’s sentences to form the kid’s identity.

Doctor Makabe was somewhat in a shock at meeting the young profiler because it was never mentioned that the other monster from S.T. was this young. Words only mentioned that the profiling genius was deemed to be equally abnormal as Akagi Samon, “You are the monster criminal profiler from S.T.?”

“Doctor Makabe!” Both Kenmochi and Kindaichi almost shouted at him, both have taken offence by Doctor Makabe’s description of Aoyama Sho. While they would have agreed that she is not the easiest person to get along with, but they knew that the young profiler did not deserve the title of being a monster at all.

With a cold laughter of acknowledgement, Aoyama Sho proceeded to ignore the three men and slipped into her role of a profiler instantly, “the scene of the crime looks relatively clean with no sight of struggling, meaning that it could be the second crime scene.”

“Ha ha~” Doctor Makabe laughed out loud at her comment, “the girl was a drug addict, you can see from the injection marks on her hands. If I were to conclude the case now, she probably fell into the river and drown herself under the influence of the drugs.”

“That’s why I said if only Akagi-san is here!” Aoyama shot Doctor Makabe a look of disgust, “of all the amateur mistakes to make, you have to make the worst, you Baka! Do you realize the weight of your words as a Forensic Pathologist on the scene? It’s a decision deciding between crime and accident for the police. Your job is to help the detectives decide which trail to follow, not to mess everything up for them!”

“Why you little...”  Doctor Makabe was about to make a grab for Aoyama’s collar when Kindaichi Hajime stepped quietly in between to stare at the doctor with a word of warning for him.

“Doctor surely you are not going to attack my partner, are you?”Kindaichi Hajime flashed his detective badge wallet secretly at the doctor, ensuring that his action was out of the sight of Aoyama and Kenmochi.

Kindaichi Hajime did not like to reveal his identity to people, but sometimes his status as the top detective could be useful, especially to threaten those big headed arrogant professionals.

“Detective Kindaichi,” Doctor Makabe paled at the sight of the badge wallet belonging to the top detective of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, “I send my apologies to your partner.”

Just as Doctor Makabe bowed his head, his mind was spinning from the startling revelation of their partnership. It was unknown to everyone that the top detective of Tokyo Metropolitan Police has teamed up with their top criminology profiler. Judging from the protective manner the young detective towered over the young profiler, Doctor Makabe could tell that the detective was displeased by his offensiveness towards the profiler.

Even his old time partner, Inspector Kenmochi Isamu looked rather upset with him at this moment. What is it about that young profiler that earned the respect of the top detectives? With her oversized shirt and messy hairdo, the young profiler could easily pass for a child wearing the clothes of an adult; surely there is nothing impressive about that kid, right?

“I am not discounting the possibility of drowning because it did appear to be a case of drowning at first glance but what kind of drowning? Whether if it is an accidental drowning or homicidal drowning? If it is homicidal, then our perp can also be a female. Because in homicidal drowning cases, coupled with the possibility of drug influence, the victim will be rendered senseless and defenceless, meaning that the perp can easily commit the act. Under this situation, there will be no mark of violence on the victim as she is submerged in water. ”  

Aoyama Sho ignored the outright stare of disbelief from Doctor Makabe and continued to explain her thoughts, “Isn’t that right, Doctor?”

“Eh… yes…” Doctor Makabe continued to stare open mouth at the young profiler in front of him, “you are quite right about that…”

“But it is the way the drowning is plotted that made me feel uneasy. Look around this place, would it be somewhere you will come often? Not likely. Is it accessible to the public easily? Not quite if you do not have any form of transportation. Walking is an option too, though time-consuming, but it depends on whether the victim is motivated to come here at all. Then, the question would be why here if it is that troublesome to reach this place? Do you think anyone in their right mind would come here to drown themselves?”

“That girl is probably under the influence of drugs!” Doctor Makabe argued half-heartedly, “she would not have a clear mind to consider all these points.”

“What drugs? Can you confirm that it’s drugs? Or it could easily be some form of tranquillizer or hypnotic drugs. All you have was the 2 – 3 injection marks on her right arm to conclude that, doctor!” Aoyama questioned with a challenging look in her eyes.

“She could be new to drugs?” Doctor Makabe swallowed hard under the pressure of the intense look coming from the young profiler; he was beginning to understand why the young profiler was classified along with Akagi Samon. The two of them could easily make anyone feel like a fool in front of them, despite their professional knowledge.

“Boo Poo! Did it not look strange to you how the marks were found on the outer of her right arm instead of inner arms as a result of self-injection? We would also need to determine whether the girl was left-handed, if not, the probability of injection by a non-professional is getting higher as we analyze the death,” Aoyama Sho directed her flashlight on the injection marks on the arms to explain her doubts.   

“I…. see….” Doctor Makabe uttered in shame, “You mean to say that Akagi Samon could have told you that instantly?”

“Bingo!” Aoyama Sho smirked as she watched how shaken the doctor was by her challenge, “He is not the top Forensic Pathologist for nothing you know. Unlike you doctor, I can rely on him to tell me all the possible injuries the victim might have suffered from with one glance. That detail would have been most useful in determining whether aside from the obvious drowning, what could have caused her death. The data on hands are too little to form any theory, as there are too many possibilities on hand. Was she lured here or transported here is one question, how was it done will be another question.”

“If the injection was done by others, then it would be possible for the murderer to transport the victim to here under the disguise of slipped and downed. But to prove the option that she was transported, we need tracks… probably by car or van which are small enough to drive down these trails,” Kindaichi mused over the probabilities that Aoyama Sho has presented to them, “but the presence of possible drug within the reach for a school girl is worrisome.”

Aoyama Sho gave Kindaichi a thoughtful look before considering share her other views, “Besides that, the uneven big shoe print at the side of the river upstream also troubled me. It suggested that it could be where the schoolgirl jumped or was dumped into the river. A further search upstream should provide more clues to that. But there's something about the print that looks out of place to me. On the first glance, it would point towards a male, but I feel that it seems to support the theory of a female perp instead. The big size seems to hint of a male perp but note how unevenly the pressure of the print was spread out with the most pressure on the heels and near to none at the sides? That is how the shoe print of somebody wearing an oversized shoe would produce. The way the heel of the print sank deeper than any of the other area of the print also suggested that the owner of the print was carrying something heavy to the riverside.”

“In short, the possibility that we are looking at a female perp is very high? And our victim was carried from somewhere and dumped into the river, instead of leaving it out buried or in the open as an obvious murder, because an accidental death is always less serious than a homicidal death,” Kindaichi Hajime rephrased Aoyama’s observation.

“Probably….” Aoyama Sho rested her chin on the palm of her hand as she considered the facts, “But...somehow it feels like she is trying to frame someone rather than throwing us off her scent. Everything about this scene seems….too deliberate…”

“I shall take my leave and I will give you the report as soon as possible,” Doctor Makabe interrupted meekly asking for their perm