"Who sent you?" Inspector Samezaki asked sternly.
"I don't know," Goto Luna replied. Seeing disbelief on their faces, she quickly added, "Really! They contacted me by phone. The money and invitation came by mail."
"Yusaku confirmed Goto was snuck into the event through connections," Hayashi Shuichi said. "Check with the organizers to find who's behind her."
Samezaki left to arrange the investigation. Yusaku turned to Hayashi Shuichi. "You think Goto's the killer?"
"Probably not," Hayashi Shuichi shook his head. "She came to make a scene without even meeting her backer and then argued with the police to leave. A killer wouldn't be that stupid."
"Then why investigate her backer?" Yusaku asked, confused.
"Why not?" Hayashi Shuichi grinned. "Her backer wanted to ruin Miyagi and make a spectacle. Let's help them make it bigger."
Yusaku was speechless at his chaotic streak and changed the topic. "Three suspects, minus Goto, leaves two. Why'd you say Sharon Vineyard might be a killer?"
"If I lied, you'd see through it," Hayashi Shuichi replied. "So, I'm not answering that."
Yusaku frowned but didn't press. "Do you still think Vineyard's the killer?"
"You already see it," Hayashi Shuichi said, glancing at Miyagi Yuko, who was glaring at Goto with feigned grief and hatred. "She's overacting."
"Maybe she and Miyagi were truly close," Yusaku said with a smile.
"The deeper the love, the stronger the hate when betrayed," Hayashi Shuichi mused. "But she's a great actress, making her husband's death look so convincing."
"Convincing?" Fujimine Yukiko, who'd approached unnoticed, gasped. "You mean Miyagi Yuko's grief is all an act?"
"What else?" Hayashi Shuichi countered. "If we got married—"
"What are you blabbering about?!" Yukiko blushed, glaring at him. "Who's marrying you?!"
"Just an example," Hayashi Shuichi said, exasperated. "If you gave up your rising acting career to marry me, but I kept fooling around with other women, and one even showed you our compromising photos publicly, what would you do?"
"I…" Yukiko tilted her head, thinking.
Before she answered, Hibari Eri's voice came from behind. "I'd ruin you, sue you to leave you penniless, and watch you regret your life in poverty."
Hayashi Shuichi felt a chill down his spine.
"I'd probably kill you, then myself," Sharon Vineyard, joining the conversation, said. "How's my answer, kid who suspected me?"
"Just routine suspicion," Hayashi Shuichi said calmly. "You handed Miyagi that last glass of water."
"Your expression back then didn't match your words," Sharon said meaningfully. "It felt like you were already wary of me."
"You misread me," Hayashi Shuichi replied quickly.
"You sneaked glances at me every time you passed by," Sharon smiled. "If not suspicion, then what? A crush? Why else keep staring?"
Eri and Yukiko's sharp gazes pinned Hayashi Shuichi, awaiting his explanation.
He braced himself. "I was curious, okay?"
"Curious?" Sharon scoffed. "Plenty of American actresses here. Why just me?"
With the girls' stares growing sharper, Hayashi Shuichi threw caution to the wind. "Because you're mature and beautiful. Happy now?"
Sharon chuckled, glancing at Yukiko. "Saying that in front of your girlfriend? Not afraid she'll get mad?"
"She's not his girlfriend!" Yukiko and Eri snapped in unison.
Sharon smirked at the girls, then at Hayashi Shuichi, her meaning clear.
Eri and Yukiko blushed under her gaze. Hayashi Shuichi, thick-skinned, shrugged it off.
Watching Yukiko's shy reaction, Yusaku felt irritated and redirected the focus. "Shouldn't we be discussing Miyagi's killer?"
"Shuichi said it's Miyagi Yuko," Yukiko said, fully trusting his judgment.
"Her performance is flawless," Sharon remarked. "But too perfect. Real life isn't a stage. Their relationship wasn't as loving as she portrayed. Still, that alone doesn't prove she's the killer."
"What about the timing?" Eri added. "Miyagi Yuko was gone for a while before he collapsed. She can't poison him from a distance."
"Maybe she poisoned the waiter's water tray earlier," Mouri Kogoro suggested. "So when Miyagi took a glass, he'd be poisoned."
Everyone stared at him like he was an idiot. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
"First, waiters move randomly with the soda water," Eri said, exasperated. "How could she ensure Miyagi got the poisoned glass? If someone else took it, an innocent person could've died."
"Maybe she used a timed poison device," Kogoro ventured. "Like in spy movies."
"She's just a former actress, not a spy," Yukiko rolled her eyes. "Where would she get a device like that?"
(End of Chapter)
----------------------------------------
If you'd like to follow the story earlier than the public release, come join my Patreon:
👉 patreon.com/TripleCrown07
There, you can read up to 40 chapters in advance, enjoy exclusive content, and help support me to keep releasing chapters more regularly.
Thank you so much for your support and for being part of this journey! ❤️