Hashimoto Maya, who had finally managed to lower his profile: "?!"
Forget Jiang Xia—he was my nominal boss. Why were you suddenly calling me out too?!
Though exhausted, he could not help but feel Killing Intent rise within him.
But now, following Lawyer Tatsumi's words, both the detectives and police turned to look at him.
Hashimoto Maya could only maintain the appearance of a good-natured citizen and smile. "What did you say?"
Lawyer Tatsumi patiently guided him along. "Before discussing the commission with you, I went to the restroom. While I was gone, didn't the Landline Phone in my room suddenly ring?"
"..." Hashimoto Maya had no desire to testify for this man, but concealing evidence at a time like this would be even worse for him.
He could only reluctantly put on a look of sudden realization. "Oh! I remember now. Someone claiming to be Mrs. Tatsumi called. I spoke with her for a few sentences, and then Mr. Tatsumi took over the call."
Perhaps the enormous number of search tasks had temporarily boosted his intelligence. Inspector Megure was unusually sharp and caught the meaning behind Hashimoto Maya's words. "'Claiming to be Mrs. Tatsumi'—right! Mr. Hashimoto had never heard Mrs. Tatsumi's voice before, and after the victim died, he had even less chance to hear it. If the caller had been another woman rather than Mrs. Tatsumi, he would have had no way to tell. So..."
"The person who called really was my wife." Lawyer Tatsumi sighed, as though suddenly remembering something. "Right, because of my work, all my phones have automatic recording enabled. That conversation should have been recorded as well. It is not time for the regular cleanup yet, so we should be able to retrieve it from the hotel."
"Uh, I see."
Inspector Megure had not