The dinner discussion continued for over an hour after Masutaka Shirokuchi left.
Masutaka Shirokuchi returned to his study to work, and as though freed from all restraint, the others talked at length about the unfortunate former editor Akiba, then moved on to some of the less-than-normal tendencies in Masutaka Shirokuchi's books.
It had to be said, the public really did have sharp eyes. Though the others had no way of knowing what exactly had passed between them in private, traces of how he had oppressed Editor Akiba still unconsciously seeped through Masutaka Shirokuchi's works.
"Mr. Akiba was always injured, and they weren't ordinary bumps and bruises." Kakuji Ideda swirled his glass, his expression tinged with regret and bitterness. "I'm not saying Mr. Shirokuchi laid hands on him. What I mean is..."
"I'm guessing those injuries sometimes corresponded to what Mr. Shirokuchi was writing about?" Tangze stated the theory bluntly.
The table fell silent for several seconds.
None of the magazine staff answered directly, but their averted gazes and expressions made it easy to see that he had hit the mark.
Masutaka Shirokuchi's hunger for power had swelled rapidly after he became famous, and it had first erupted upon the editor who worked most closely with him.
Mori Kogoro's brow immediately furrowed.
Since they were sitting in the man's home and eating the meal he had arranged, Mori Kogoro did not flare up on the spot.
But once the eventful dinner was over, he and Tangze privately sought out Kakuji Ideda, who had brought the matter up himself.
"You suspect he was forcing his editor to test injury methods from mystery novels?" Mori Kogoro crossed his arms and asked with suspicion and scrutiny. "And that didn't provoke any resistance from the editor, nor did a single word leak out? That's a