Novel Title: The Criminal Trainee
Synopsis:
The Special Case Investigation Division of the Metropolitan Police Department is a bizarre unit dedicated to handling “imperfect crimes.” On his first day reporting for duty, new civil servant Tanaka Hunji runs into his partner, genius detective Kirishima Toru, bowing apologetically to a corpse. “I'm sorry, but your locked-room murder was so halfhearted that I just can't get interested.”
Every case here is a “work in progress”: a locked room with an unplugged ventilation shaft, a “death message” written in the style of a murderer's confession but riddled with typos, or even a culprit calling the police to ask, “Did I forget a step?” Kirishima Toru's approach to solving cases is even more outrageous: first, he helps the culprit perfect their method, then coolly declares, “Now you've passed. Come back to the station with me for your retest.”
Then one day, a corpse is arranged like Rodin's The Thinker, with a copy of The Complete Guide to the Perfect Crime and a note beside it: “This time, I mean it.” Kirishima Toru smiles for the first time. “At last, someone who wants to graduate.” Then Tanaka Hunji discovers that the guide's author is none other than Kirishima Toru's mentor, who vanished ten years ago...
When crime becomes a qualifying exam, who sets the grading standards?
Theme: Crime solving
