The strangled school idol (1)

Teachers and members of the disciplinary committee were at the front of the crowd trying to keep everyone from getting any closer to the hanging corpse as the police arrived.

"Do not step any further!" Bentaro, the head of the disciplinary committee shouted.

"Please, You guys are the ones that are almost standing underneath her. I've been here at the front and no one's gotten closer to the corpse than you guys have," Reiju grumbled under her breath.

"HEY stop shoving! Chinatsu shouted as she backed into Hoshi.

"Stop shoving! I almost fell because you all were shoving poor Chinatsu!" Hoshi glared.

"EVERYONE! Get back to class this instant!" the principal yelled as he pushed through the crowd with two detectives and two officers.

"Hold on! Before you all disperse, did ANYONE see what happened?" one detective asked.

The detective was a young man in a tan trench coat. He also wore a deerstalker, giving him a striking resemblance to Sherlock Holmes.

"Kintaro, don't interfere with the student's studies you trash," a female detective in a suit growled.

"One of them might've seen the murder!" Kintaro, the male detective argued.

"You're nothing but a mystery fanatic. Suicides happen. Its sad, but common."

"I passed my tests just fine! But my instincts are saying this is murder! Just look at the rope! I can tell even from down here that it's tied in an odd way to something inside the building!"

"So? maybe she just tied the rope to something inside then leapt out and hung herself?"

As the two detectives argued, Reiju pushed her way towards them.

"I was the first to notice it," she stated.

The two immediately turned to face Reiju.

At around 11:45, I saw her fall out of the window with a noose around her neck. It was a bit hard to make out who it was from the classroom, but I guess this is Miyabi Homura, our school idol or something," Reiju stated.

"You've got a keen eye to have noted the time you witnessed the crime at. Call forensics and have them thoroughly examine the body!" Kintaro ordered.

"This is JUST a suicide! We are not going to call the entire team just to appease your ego!" the female detective snarled.

"Then just head back! We both know all you care about is rising in the ranks!"

"I'm sadly assigned as your partner despite my numerous protests! If I return alone, I'll be blamed for letting you run wild!"

"Seriously, just change partners."

"We both know our stubborn chief will deny it and tell us to just get along!"

"Well whatever, I'll do it myself. Miss witness, please accompany me."

"NO! You're not bringing-"

Kintaro grabbed Reiju's arm and ran inside the building before the female detective could finish.

"Sorry about Nakayama. She's a cranky bitch that only cares about having a high rank. I'm Kintaro Kindaichi, Tokyo Metropolitan Police's finest detective," Kintaro smiled.

"I'm Reiju. I'm just a student here," Reiju grumbled.

"Nice to meet you Reiju. Just watch where you step, there might be clues strewn about.

Reiju and Kintaro made their way to the second floor as Shiruka floated behind.

"I should probably just observe for now," Shiruka thought.

Upon reaching the second floor, Kintaro put some gloves on and pulled out a digital camera.

"Wait here until I finish," Kintaro stated as he begun taking photos of the scene.

He then smiled as he made his way to the window.

"Just as I thought, the rope is tied crudely to something above the window. The bucket is the only thing she could have used to stand on considering the anchor for the rope is at the top of this tall window frame. Reiju! Was the window open all the time?" Kintaro asked.

"No, I looked out 5 minutes earlier and it was closed," Reiju replied.

"This window looks old. There also don't appear to be any foot prints on the still. Hey! are forensics here yet!?" Kintaro shouted out of the window.

"Not yet sir, though they should be in about 3 minutes," an officer shouted back up.

"Looks like we got 3 minutes until they arrive and about 3 more minutes for them to get up here."

Kintaro then whipped out a flashlight and shined it around the room. He then retreated towards the entry and scanned the hallways.

"Reiju, are you familiar with this building's layout?" he asked.

"Not really," Reiju replied.

"When you noticed the body, what happened afterwords?"

"Everyone gathered by the window, then we all ran out."

Kintaro then walked up to the window and called Reiju over.

"Can you pinpoint your class window from here?"

"Yeah, that one there," Reiju declared as she pointed.

"It's hard to make out anyone. Hmm. HEY! Go into to classroom 2-C on the second floor and stand in front of the window!" Kintaro shouted down to the officer.

"Nakayama'll get mad!"

"Don't care! It's for the investigation. Just take the stairs, she's probably still conversing with the principal in his office!"

The officer sighed and did as he was told. As he entered the school building, the forensics team arrived.

"Oh? hung from a window? You got another hunch Kin-kun?" the lead forensics officer smirked.

"Yeah, come on up Kaemi and bring the boys as fast as you can!" Kintaro shouted down.

A team member pulled out his fancy camera as Kintaro retreated inside. Once the team member was done taking photos, Kintaro gazed out the window.

"Reiju, can you see the officer in the classroom from here without sticking your head out?" Kintaro asked.

"Yeah, now that he's pressed up against the window, I can see him."

"Then our culprit likely fled when they saw everyone gazing down."

"Huh? Why's there a student in here?" Kaemi, the head forensics officer asked as she and three men arrived.

Kaemi wore round glasses, a white lab coat, t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. She had freckles, average sized breasts, and messy ginger locks.

"Oh don't worry about her, she's the one who noticed the body first at around 11:45," Kintaro explained.

"11:45 huh? You get some photos?" Kaemi asked.

"Not as high quality as your guys' but they'll do."

"Everyone out of the room, take the pictures then hoist her up asap," Kaemi ordered as she put on her gloves.

Once the team finished taking photos, they hoisted Miyabi's body back up through the window and laid her on a tarp they brought.

"Hmm, looks like the rope killed her. I'd also estimate her time of death to be around 30 minutes ago, so in the range of 11:40 to 11:45. Hey witness, when you saw her was she already hanging out?" Kaemi asked.

"No, I saw her fall out. She didn't look like she was moving much," Reiju answered.

"Did you see her exit the window?"

"I saw her slide out, but she was already halfway out when I noticed."

"Her hands. Did you notice her hand position?"

"It was hard to notice from far away."

"Well that complicates things. If this was a murder, they did a damn good job at masking it as suicide."

"Did you notice anyone running away from the building?" Kintaro asked.

"No, we were all running down through the school, and all crowded around at the base until you arrived.

"It looked like the crowd was bigger than just your class size. Hmm. Kaemi, check her hands, that should be the conclusive proof."

"Well, you called us out here anyway. Better be something," Kaemi grumbled as she examined one of the victim's hands.

"Looks like some stress from grabbing the rope, though that could just be written off as her tying the rope around herself. Hmm? her other hand looks a little more clenched than the other like she was- _!"

Kaemi suddenly went silent as she stared at the victim's hand.

"Get a focus on her nails immediately!" she barked.

"Her nails? Did she scratch her murderer?" Reiju asked.

"No, I didn't see that, it looked more like she nicked something the culprit had on them," Shiruka answered.

The forensics team surrounded the body as Kintaro tried to peak over.-

"You did right to call us. This could be something big," Kaemi seriously stated.

"Well what'd you find!?" Kintaro grumbled.

Kaemi ignored him until the team was done with their work. She then flashed a small bag full of tiny bits of white power.

"Cocaine. We found tiny traces of cocaine in her nails," Kaemi stated.