Inspector Megure had no idea about any organization. He only wanted to know whether the person who had pried open the window was really the killer.
Looking at the three employees across from him, he racked his brain for clues to feed into the answer-producing machine. "Are you sure you didn't lose anything in either of those two break-ins?"
"That's right." After a pause, Center-Parted Hair Staff added hesitantly, "But the president has always believed that the thief broke in to steal his design blueprints."
Mop nodded as well, remembering something. "He kept saying the thief must have secretly photographed his design blueprints—President Dejima treasures his designs immensely. Whenever he sees someone else's work that resembles his, he flies into a rage."
The headscarf-wearing office worker remembered too. "Come to think of it, the president ran out this morning to argue with someone.
"He took me to another design company. The moment we entered, he started yelling things like, 'How dare you plagiarize my designs! You were the one who broke in last time too, weren't you?!' It scared the life out of me."
Center-Parted Hair Staff glanced at his boss's body on the floor and sighed. "But there's nothing we can do about that. Design is all about creativity and novelty—if people keep copying you, clients will get tired of it, and then it won't be worth anything."
Inspector Megure perked up at this, greatly interested. He had thought the killer had to be among the three suspects at the scene, but now there was an outside suspect?
Just as he was about to press for more details, Jiang Xia tactfully interrupted. "Come to think of it, your president's last words seemed to be, 'Ever since the thief came, strange things have kept happening here.' What exactly did he