Ignoring the repairman, who was currently engaged in what looked like a comedy routine with Inspector Megure, Hattori Heiji turned his sharp gaze toward the victim's girlfriend, Ms. Shimada.
"Excuse me, but just before Mr. Takai fell, you seemed to be standing down here taking a photo of something?"
It was a detail that sat uncomfortably in his mind. There wasn't anything particularly noteworthy about the apartment building itself, and given how pitch-black it was outside, you could hardly see anything, let alone capture a decent photograph.
"It's not a big deal," Shimada Chika explained, her voice trembling slightly. "I just wanted to take a picture to show my friends."
"Also, this phone... it belonged to Mr. Takai, right?"
Conan, using a handkerchief to gingerly hold the device he had recovered, scrolled through the screen. "It looks like he was on the phone with someone named Kawakami right before he fell. He also checked a message sent by someone named Nakamachi."
The phones of this era were nothing if not durable. Despite the plummet from the twenty-first floor, the device was still functional, save for a slightly loose battery.
"Kawakami and Nakamachi?" Chika blinked, startled. Following Hattori's suggestion, she quickly dialed their numbers, urging them to return to the scene. These were the two men who had left earlier, stumbling away in a drunken stupor.
"So, what's the verdict, Cool Kid? Did you find anything?"
While they waited, Jodie Starling leaned in, a knowing smirk playing on her lips as she looked down at Conan.
"Huh?" Conan let out a childish, innocent laugh, rubbing the back of his head before handing the phone over to Hattori. "I don't know anything!"
It wasn't long before Nakamachi Tatsuya, the man who sent the text, and Kawakami Noboru, the last person to speak to the victim, arrived at the scene.
Inspector Megure and his team were still caught in a massive traffic jam, leaving Tsuneo to handle things on the ground as requested. Tsuneo moved methodically, using Chika's camera to document the body from several angles before finally draping a white sheet over the remains.
Falling from twenty-one stories left a sight no passerby should have to witness. No need to give the neighborhood nightmares, he thought.
Meanwhile, the trio of "detectives"—Hattori, Conan, and Jodie—had already begun their interrogation.
According to Ms. Chika, she had only taken the photo to show her friends where her boyfriend lived. Nothing more.
"Yes, actually today was my first time visiting this place," Chika said, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. She looked toward Jodie. "I even said hello to this lady when I arrived this morning."
"That's right," Jodie nodded. "Today was our first meeting."
It turned out that Chika, Nakamachi, Kawakami, and the deceased Mr. Takai were all colleagues at the same company. They had gathered at Takai's apartment at noon for a celebration, marking his recent promotion to manager.
"We intended to drink until late before heading home, but Section Manager Takai..." Nakamachi paused, his expression darkening. "His alcohol tolerance was terrible, and his personality was even worse once he was drunk. He started berating the two of us, so of course, we decided to leave early."
"Heh. He told us that if we wanted to get ahead, we had to abandon sentimentality and only look upward," Kawakami interjected, letting out a sharp, alcoholic hiccup. He clearly hadn't sobered up yet. "He said people like us—people without 'guts'—would never reach his level no matter how hard we worked."
After the men left, Chika had driven them both home separately. The round trip had taken nearly an hour—the same window of time Conan and the others had spent waiting for Jodie in the living room.
"I think I understand the timeline now. So, what about this message?" Hattori asked, pointing to the phone.
The text Nakamachi had sent was a plea, asking Takai to show more consideration for his subordinates' feelings.
"I sent that after I got home," Nakamachi admitted, his voice dropping an octave. "Because... what happened to Hiraya-senpai was the final straw."
"And who is this 'Hiraya'?"
"Hiraya Sumiyo. She was a female employee at our company who committed suicide last month."
"She was Nakamachi's senior by two years in junior high," Kawakami added, casting a glance at the downcast Nakamachi. "She was also a junior to Takai and me back in university. She always went out of her way to look after her 'little schoolmate' Nakamachi."
"And the reason for her suicide?" Conan asked, looking up.
Based on the text message, the motive seemed inextricably linked to the man currently lying under the white sheet.
"It was the workload. It was crushing," Nakamachi said, shaking his head. "I think she took Takai's words too seriously. He used to tell her constantly that if her performance wasn't 'extraordinary,' she would be fired. She drove herself to the edge because of him."
"But Takai? He forgot those words the moment they left his mouth," Kawakami snarled, his eyes flashing with sudden malice. "After Chika dropped me off, I thought about it and got so angry I called him to vent. I told him Hiraya's death was entirely his fault. I told him he had climbed to his position by stepping over the corpses of his colleagues. Heh... I wouldn't be surprised if my words were what finally pushed him over that railing."
Kawakami made no effort to hide his spite. He looked like a man who felt the world was a better place with Takai gone.
"I see," Hattori muttered, frowning.
Even if the phone call had been the catalyst, a verbal lashing didn't legally constitute murder.
"Ms. Chika, you have the keys to the apartment, right?"
"Yes..."
About ten minutes later, Inspector Megure and his team finally screeched to a halt at the scene. It was 7:00 PM—peak rush hour in Tokyo.
When they arrived, they found Tsuneo, the "repairman," leaning on a wrench and a pair of pliers, which he was using to weigh down the corners of the white sheet. He was casually chatting with the three suspects while a crowd of onlookers pointed and whispered in the background.
"You're right, this Takai fellow really was a piece of work," Tsuneo said, nodding in agreement as he listened to Kawakami's rant.
It wasn't just Hiraya Sumiyo's suicide. From what he had gathered, the late Section Manager had been a master of corporate exploitation and subordinate abuse.
"Right?" Kawakami barked. "Nakamachi, why aren't you saying anything?"
"..." Nakamachi remained silent.
Inspector Megure stepped in, placing a hand on Tsuneo's shoulder to stop him from engaging in any more "unprofessional" gossip. He immediately began the official questioning. Having already been grilled by the trio upstairs, the suspects recited their stories with practiced ease.
"Tsuneo-kun," Megure said, looking perplexed. "They say the three of them took the keys and already went up to the apartment?"
"That's right," Tsuneo replied simply.
"Didn't you say this might be a murder?" Megure asked, his voice rising in exasperation as they entered the elevator. "Why on earth would you let them back into the crime scene before we arrived?"
"I had to watch one dead guy and three living suspects," Tsuneo said, looking at a smear of blood on his shiny silver wrench with an expression of pure disgust. "I was a little busy."
"Tsuneo-san, please... don't wipe that on my sleeve," Takagi pleaded weakly.
"You're wearing gloves, it's fine."
Inspector Megure sighed, shaking his head. As the elevator doors opened, he looked down the hallway. There they were: a foreign woman, a high school detective, and a primary school kid, all standing in a row with their fingers on their chins, lost in deep thought.
What sin did I commit in a past life to be cursed with this group? Megure wondered.
At least Mouri isn't here today...
(End of Chapter)
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