"The hotel has a back door?" Officer Morimura raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why didn't I see it?"
"There is a back door," the hotel owner hurriedly confirmed her son's words. "Many guests come to our place for affairs. If they were blocked at the main entrance, it would be hard for them to leave, so I had someone install a back door inside the restroom at the end of the first-floor corridor."
"It seems that after the killer murdered the victims, he must have left through the back door," Hayashi Shuichi thought for a moment. "Did you find the female victim's ring and necklace in his room?"
"No," Officer Morimura shook his head.
"Officer Morimura, could you please check Room 305?" Hayashi Shuichi said.
"Why go to my room again?"
Okada Hirosuke's face instantly turned pale, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.
He jumped up like a frightened rabbit, spreading his arms to block the doorway, his voice trembling. "Hasn't the killer already been caught?"
"We only found the male victim's wallet. The female victim's valuables are still missing. Moreover, finding these doesn't necessarily mean he is the killer."
Hayashi Shuichi glanced at him meaningfully.
"Speaking of which, I still find you very suspicious. Perhaps you noticed the female victim's necklace and ring were missing because you had been observing them all along."
"But what about their wallets? If you didn't rummage through the bodies, how would you know their wallets were also missing?"
"I..."
Okada Hirosuke's eyes darted around in panic. He tried to continue blocking the way, but two burly officers stepped forward, grabbed him by the arms, and forcefully pulled him aside.
Officer Morimura led the officers upstairs.
A moment later, he returned carrying a machine that resembled a tape recorder. "Inspector, Hayashi-kun, we only found this in the room upstairs."
"What is this?"
Inspector Samezaki looked suspiciously at the device, which had a small tail-like microphone attachment.
Hayashi Shuichi leaned in to observe. "It looks like some kind of eavesdropping equipment?"
"I am really not a robber!"
Facing everyone's suspicious gazes, Okada Hirosuke, whose collar was already soaked with sweat, suddenly shouted in a breakdown.
After struggling with his expression for a while, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
"This is eavesdropping and recording equipment. I modified it so the microphone wire can extend very far..."
His voice grew smaller and smaller.
"I was just upstairs, extending this microphone to the window of Room 205 to eavesdrop and record the situation inside."
"Isn't that surveillance?" Inspector Samezaki glared furiously. "Did you intend to harm him? Did you kill Sakamoto?"
"No wonder you kept saying the hotel's maintenance worker was the killer," Officer Morimura interjected coldly. "So you wanted to use someone else to divert the police's attention."
"Bastard! You are clearly the murderer, yet you dare frame my son!"
The hotel owner's face flushed red with rage, her eyes widening like copper bells.
"I'll fight you!"
Saying this, she lunged at Okada Hirosuke like an enraged lioness.
Caught off guard, Okada Hirosuke's face was scratched several times by the owner.
Only then did the officers react, scrambling to pull the two apart.
Amidst the chaos at the scene, a crying voice suddenly rang out: "Kyoko! How could this happen! You..."
Everyone looked toward the sound and saw a tall man in his thirties kneeling beside the body of the female victim, Ishikawa Kyoko. He was crying and shouting while gently stroking the woman's pale cheek with trembling hands.
"He is..." Inspector Samezaki looked at the panting officer behind the man.
"Ishikawa Kiyoto, the husband of the deceased woman, Ishikawa Kyoko," the officer wiped his sweat. "By the way, he is also a subordinate of the male deceased, Sakamoto Masashi."
Upon hearing the officer's words, the gazes of everyone in the room looking at Ishikawa Kiyoto were instantly filled with sympathy.
His wife was not only dead but had died at the scene of an affair where she was cuckolding him.
The man who slept with his wife was his boss. Tsk tsk, being a man like this was truly...
"I didn't expect this woman to be Mr. Ishikawa's wife," the hotel owner covered her mouth and muttered softly.
"You know him?" Hayashi Shuichi asked in surprise.
"Yes," the owner nodded. "Mr. Ishikawa has been a regular customer at our shop recently. He also has a weird habit; every time he comes, he likes to stay in a different room."
"Officer, what exactly is going on?" Ishikawa Kiyoto's eyes were red, filled with grief and anger. "Why did my wife die here with my boss?"
"This..."
Inspector Samezaki rubbed his temples with a headache and looked at Officer Morimura, who stepped forward helplessly and briefly explained the reason.
"No, impossible! How could Kyoko betray me! I don't believe it!"
Ishikawa Kiyoto looked like he had broken down. He sat paralyzed on the ground, holding his head in his hands, his eyes full of despair.
"We only got married last year. We've always been so loving. Kyoko wouldn't betray me, she wouldn't..."
"Alright, take Okada back for interrogation," Inspector Samezaki waved his hand sympathetically. "My condolences, Mr. Ishikawa."
"I really am not the killer!" Okada Hirosuke struggled and shouted, snot and tears smearing his face. "Sakamoto and I were originally business partners, but this guy cheated me on the contract, causing me to lose a large sum of money."
"I tracked and monitored him just to record something detrimental to him, then threaten him to compensate for my losses."
"How could I kill him? If I killed him, no one would compensate for my losses."
"Save those words for when we get to the Metropolitan Police Department," Officer Morimura said coldly, taking out handcuffs and stepping forward.
"Wait a moment," Hayashi Shuichi suddenly raised his hand to stop him. "Mr. Okada, the reason you were so sure the killer was a robber earlier—was it because you heard something while eavesdropping?"
"Yes!" Okada Hirosuke nodded eagerly, clutching at this lifeline. "I was upstairs the whole time, eavesdropping and recording the sounds in this room with the machine."
"I originally intended to record the process of Sakamoto's affair to threaten him for compensation later."
"I didn't expect that just as I heard him flirting with that woman and getting ready for bed, the doorbell rang."
Okada Hirosuke swallowed hard.
"Sakamoto went to open the door while cursing, and then I heard a gunshot."
"Immediately after, the killer barged into the room and demanded money from the woman."
"That's why I said the killer must be a robber."
"Didn't you record it?" Hayashi Shuichi said. "Play it for us to hear."
"Okay, okay," Okada Hirosuke nodded hurriedly.
He walked quickly to the recording equipment, his hands trembling slightly as he operated it a few times. Soon, the machine began to play the recording from just now.
"Baby, I missed you to death!"
"Wait, wait a minute, let me take off my coat!"
"Hurry up, I really can't hold back anymore."
"Just don't 'not hold back' in a bit... Oh my, my ring seems to have fallen under the bed."
"How could the ring fall off? You weren't wearing it on your hand?"
"If people see it on my finger, won't they know I have a husband? You might be shameless, but I still have my pride! Help me find the ring quickly."
"The ring that fool bought you isn't even a diamond ring; it's worthless. Find it later! Let me kiss you a couple of times first!"
At this moment, the sound of knocking on the door rang out from the recording device.
"Damn it, who is it?"
No one responded; the knocking continued.
"Damn it, stop knocking!"
"Go see what's going on? Like this, who's in the mood anymore."
"Who on earth is outside? Don't let me..."
Bang!
Accompanying the sound of a gunshot, the recording device was instantly filled with the woman's terrified screams.
Immediately after came the sound of the door lock turning, followed by a deep male voice shouting sternly: "Hand over everything valuable!"
"Don't kill me, don't kill me!"
The woman begged for mercy in panic, her voice trembling and full of despair.
"His wallet, my wallet, and my necklace, they are all here!"
"Where is the ring! Your ring!"
"It f-fell under the bed!"
"Pick it up for me immediately!"
The recording captured the sound of the woman sobbing as she got out of bed.
A moment later, the woman said: "Here's the ring, don't kill..."
Before she could finish her sentence, four or five gunshots rang out in succession.
Then came the sound of the killer's footsteps leaving.
"Why?!" Ishikawa Kiyoto suddenly exploded, grabbing Okada Hirosuke by the collar. "You already grabbed the valuables, why did you have to kill Kyoko!"
"I didn't kill them!" Okada Hirosuke waved his hands in panic. "If I were the killer, how could I possibly record my own crime!"
"Maybe you just wanted the police to think that way," Officer Morimura scoffed coldly.
"No, he really shouldn't be the killer," Hayashi Shuichi shook his head slightly.
"Hayashi-kun, the reason?" Inspector Samezaki inquired.
"First is the height," Hayashi Shuichi pointed to the bullet hole above the door. "Look at the height of the bullet hole; it's a full 1.8 meters."
He turned to assess Okada Hirosuke's short stature.
"And Mr. Okada is at most a little over 1.5 meters tall."
"If he wanted to shoot at that height, he would have to raise his arm high."
Hayashi Shuichi raised his arm to demonstrate.
"But in that case, due to the recoil, it would be very easy for the bullet to go astray."
"So the killer's height must be at least 1.7 meters. Secondly, the killer must have visited the hotel before."
"In the recording just now, after shooting Mr. Sakamoto through the door, the killer clearly used a key to open the door. I think he must have come here many times before and made copies of all the hotel room keys."
"Besides that, the killer should also know Mr. Sakamoto, perhaps very well."
"A crime committed by an acquaintance?" Officer Morimura frowned.
"Yes. To be able to hit Mr. Sakamoto right between the eyebrows through the door panel with one shot from outside indicates the killer was very familiar with the deceased,"
Hayashi Shuichi nodded.
"Not only did he know his height, but he also knew his habit of opening the door."
"Secondly, there is a problem in the recording. Did you notice it?"
Hayashi Shuichi said in a deep voice.
"Mrs. Ishikawa's ring had fallen under the bed at that time. If the killer didn't know her, he certainly wouldn't have known she was wearing a ring."
"Yet he specifically demanded it, and after learning the ring had fallen under the bed, the killer even specifically made Mrs. Ishikawa pick it up."
"At that time, the killer had already killed one person. The longer he stayed at the crime scene, the more dangerous it became, yet he still did it."
"Either the killer knew beforehand that the ring was extremely valuable, or that ring held significant meaning to the killer."
Hayashi Shuichi slowly walked toward Ishikawa Kiyoto.
"The possibility of the former has been negated by the conversation in the recording, so it can only be the latter."
"The ring..." Officer Morimura's eyes widened, and he looked sharply at Ishikawa Kiyoto. "The killer is you!"
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Ishikawa Kiyoto's face instantly turned ashen. He subconsciously took a few steps back, only to hit the wall.
"How could I kill Kyoko! She is my wife!"
"Precisely because she is your wife,"
Hayashi Shuichi sighed, his voice tinged with pity.
"And you loved her very much. That's why, after discovering she was having an affair with your boss, you killed them out of rage."
Saying this, he pointed to Ishikawa Kiyoto's right hand.
"Just now, when the recording played to the part where the killer made Mrs. Ishikawa look for the ring, your hand subconsciously pressed against your right trouser pocket."
"You pretended to be a robber and took their valuables, likely intending to disguise the scene as a robbery-homicide."
Hayashi Shuichi approached step by step.
"You might have thrown away the other items after escaping, but that ring... because you loved your wife deeply, perhaps you didn't have the heart to throw it away and still have it in your pocket."
"You..." Ishikawa Kiyoto swallowed, his eyes revealing obvious panic.
"Mr. Ishikawa," Officer Morimura led the officers to surround him. "Please let us check the contents of your pocket."
"...No need to trouble yourselves,"
Ishikawa Kiyoto gave a bitter smile and reached into his pocket to take out a ring. Visually, it was clearly a pair with the one he was wearing.
"Indeed, I killed Kyoko."
"Even if she cheated, you didn't have to kill her," the hotel owner said with a face full of emotion. "It's two human lives, after all."
"I met Kyoko at Sakamoto's company. I pursued her for a long time until she finally agreed to be my girlfriend last year."
Ishikawa Kiyoto laughed neurotically, a trace of madness in his eyes.
"Not long after we started dating, she said she was pregnant and wanted to marry me. I didn't think much of it at the time and agreed happily."
"But this year, after the child was born, she started to distance herself from me. I thought I had done something wrong and tried every way to please her."
"Until a senior in the company couldn't stand it anymore and privately warned me..."
"Only then did I know that before Kyoko agreed to be my girlfriend, she had long been hooked up with our boss."
"When the senior first told me this, I didn't believe it. To prove Kyoko's innocence, I secretly followed her, and then I saw her and Sakamoto running here to hook up and sleep together!"
Ishikawa Kiyoto clenched his fists in anger, his eyes filled with hatred.
"Sakamoto only has what he has today, becoming the company president, entirely by relying on his wife, the daughter of the former president."
"So after he hooked up with Kyoko, fearing their relationship would be exposed and the old president would kick him out, he specifically had Kyoko marry me to cover up their relationship!"
"Even that child isn't mine, but Sakamoto's!"
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"