Novel Title: The Cold Case Unit
Synopsis
The Special Investigations Division of the Police Department is known as the "Cold Case Unit." It specializes in taking over cases other departments have deemed "not worth wasting police manpower on."
On his first day as a new civil servant, Shimizu Zeyun discovers that there are no passionate detectives here, just a bunch of oddballs: the section chief, obsessed with fishing; a former forensic pathologist who leaves work on the dot every day; and his partner, a peculiar detective who wears slippers to work and claims, "Perfect crimes don't exist, because humans themselves are flawed products."
The first case: a locked-room murder. The victim is found locked inside his own apartment. The doors and windows are intact, and the murder weapon bears only his fingerprints. The only "flaw" is the overturned teacup beside the body. The tea is still warm.
The second case: a copycat murder. The killer imitates The Human Chair and hides the body inside a sofa, but the sofa is from IKEA, and the instructions say, "This product does not come with stuffing."
Shimizu gradually realizes that the "Cold Case Unit" has never dealt with "perfect crimes," but with one "imperfect crime" after another: there is a motive, but no method; a method, but no logic; or logic, but the culprit died ten years ago.
And his peculiar partner seems to have some hidden connection to these "imperfections"...
"A perfect crime only needs a genius," the detective says around his straw. "But imperfect crimes need a real detective. Because your job isn't to solve a puzzle, but to finish the story for a bunch of fools who leave holes all over the place."
Keywords: unconventional mystery / cold case recovery / flawed detective / rookie's growth / dark humor
Theme: Likes Zhu Yilong
