Later, at 9:20, Yoshioka Juro came to visit.
The surveillance footage showed that after pressing the doorbell at the front gate and getting no response, Yoshioka Juro puzzledly twisted the handle and pushed the door open.
After a while, he hurriedly ran back out and quickly left the camera's range.
"According to the timeline, after leaving the Kojima Residence, Mr. Yoshioka Juro immediately called the police without stopping."
After carefully watching the footage through once, Inspector Megure paused it, picked up his notebook again, and turned toward the people who had appeared in the surveillance footage.
In Inspector Megure's view, among this group of witnesses connected to the case, if he had to name the most suspicious...
Jiang Xia and the two security company employees could be ruled out first—the security staff had acted in pairs, and they had not even entered the door. They had merely chatted at the entrance for a few moments before leaving with the cat. Jiang Xia had not even entered the yard. The three of them could be completely cleared.
As for the remaining three people who had entered the house...
When the security guards arrived, they had met the victim, so Izumi Takeo, who had left before then—the witness escorted here by two high school girls and an elementary school student—could also be ruled out.
Of the remaining Kojima Chihiro and Yoshioka Juro, who was the more suspicious...
Inspector Megure shoved the absentminded Jiang Xia aside, revealing Kojima Chihiro hiding behind him. "Um, pardon me, but when you left, was your mother still alive?"
Kojima Chihiro froze. She had the distinct feeling that Inspector Megure was implying something, as though he had already decided she was the murderer.
She angrily slammed a hand on the table. "I didn't kill her! It had