Officer Sato looked at the store manager's wife, who was suspicious from head to toe, and did not press her further. At this point, questioning alone was useless. They needed evidence before the killer would keep talking and bring this case to a close.
As for where the evidence was...
Looking at the garbage dumped across the parking lot, the officer silently pulled out a face mask and put it on. Then she told the other officers, "Search! The murder weapon is very likely somewhere in this garbage."
"Yes!" The junior officers answered reluctantly, rolling up their sleeves to start digging through the trash. But then they remembered something and froze slightly. "So, Officer... what exactly are we looking for?"
"Of course..." Officer Sato trailed off and stared blankly, her gaze drifting toward Jiang Xia. Only then did she realize that she did not seem to know what the murder weapon actually was.
Fortunately, Jiang Xia caught her look and naturally continued for her. "A blue Steel Wire clothes hanger. It should be somewhat bent out of shape."
The store manager's wife: "?!"
Garbage covered the entire lot. Each officer took a large bag of trash and began searching through it while pinching their noses.
Officer Takagi stared at his notebook for a moment, then slapped his forehead. He had realized that one alibi was missing.
He turned to the store manager's wife. "Mrs. Goto, where were you between eight and eleven last night? What were you doing, and who can verify it?"
"What do you mean by that?!" The store manager's wife's voice suddenly rose as she forced a smile and retorted, "Are you saying you suspect me of killing Mika? Don't be ridiculous! Why would I kill my own star employee?!"
Conan looked toward the two high