After Akabane Kunihiko died in the aquarium's "underwater tunnel" viewing area, not a single visitor admitted to having come with him.
However, Kudo Shinichi used his phone to call the numbers in his contacts and discovered that several people immediately declined the calls...
He then persuaded Shiraishi to temporarily collect the visitors' phones on the grounds of "checking whether any recordings contained footage of the murderer."
But the real purpose was not to examine the recordings. It was to determine whether any of them were contacts in the victim's phone!
And that little fishing expedition reeled in three people!
All three were in Akabane Kunihiko's contacts, and all three were inside the aquarium, yet none of them had admitted earlier to being there with him...
"You three know why you've been brought here, don't you? Continuing to lie won't do you any good. Confess what you know as soon as possible!"
Akasaka, with his pompadour hairstyle, pulled a long face and directly assumed an "interrogation" stance toward the two women and one man before him—also to increase their psychological pressure.
After hearing Akasaka's words, the two young women looked somewhat embarrassed, while the sole man wore a thoroughly baffled expression.
"None of you want to talk? Then we'll go one at a time... First, explain exactly what relationship you had with the victim who died not long ago, Akabane Kunihiko. Why were your phone numbers in his call records when all of you claimed earlier not to know the victim?" Akasaka demanded.
Shiraishi said nothing, merely observing their reactions from farther away.
Megure likewise tacitly allowed Beika Police Station to take the lead in the investigation...
"Officer, what are you talking about? That dead guy just now? I really don't know him!" the man said immediately.
"Oh? Still playing tough?