The thin fishing line was difficult to spot in the night, but fortunately, everyone already knew where one end was. Soon, they found the other end as well.
"It goes down the cliff behind us." Inspector Otaki shone his searchlight downward, then put on gloves and heaved the fishing line up.
Feeling the sticky muck on his gloves, he clicked his tongue. "Why is this line covered in mud... Ah, it's here!"
With one final tug, he pulled up the end of the line—a heavy lead weight was tied to it.
"I see!" Inspector Otaki studied the lead weight, vaguely feeling that he understood. "The murderer was very familiar with the victim's habits. They knew that Mr. Kanazawa would definitely sit in front of the television at eight every evening to watch that program, so they fixed a Sniper Rifle to the treetop beforehand and adjusted its angle.
"Then, at exactly eight o'clock, they stood beneath the cliff and yanked down the lead weight. The iron hook at the other end of the fishing line pressed the trigger, firing the Bullet through the victim's head."
Hattori Heiji rubbed his chin. "But wouldn't that make this the work of an outsider?"
"Why can't it be the work of an outsider?" Inspector Otaki did not understand where that "wouldn't it" had come from. "With this setup, the murderer could accomplish their goal without entering the Villa. It wouldn't attract attention, and it would make escape easier too—oh, right."
He suddenly remembered something and looked at Jiang Xia. "I remember you saying that over the past few months, the victim kept receiving threatening photos sent by an anonymous person? Do you think that person could be the murderer?"
Hattori Heiji pressed at his temple, feeling a headache coming on. "Logically, there's nothing wrong