News in media companies usually spreads quickly.
The news that Michihiko Suwa was shot dead soon spread throughout the Beika TV Station building. As soon as his body was taken away by the police, a group of colleagues from the news department came running with cameras and excited faces.
"Mr. Matsuo! Mr. Matsuo!"
"May I ask how you feel now?"
"Please tell us, there are rumors that your show is going to be canceled. Do you think it is because your fans cannot accept this?"
"Or maybe you, Mr. Matsuo, had a conflict with Director Suwa, so—"
Excited reporters rushed to shove their microphones at Takashi Matsuo, bombarding him with questions like a cannon, making Matsuo's expression grow darker and darker.
"Shut up!" He opened his eyes wide and shouted at his colleagues to leave. "Are you guys done yet!?"
The police nearby quickly moved in to stop the group of media personnel.
When a police officer tried to escort Takashi Matsuo to the side, he was seen trembling with his shoulders and his eyes darkening, as if struggling to hold back his emotions: "We did talk about canceling the show... but Mr. Suwa told me that he still wanted me to continue hosting it."
"Also, the reason Mr. Suwa came to the mixing room during the broadcast was actually to discuss this issue with me. He said at the time that we could discuss how to make the content more interesting after the show was over…"
By the time Matsuo Takashi said this, his eyes were already filled with tears.
The reporters all raised their microphones and looked at him quietly.
"I, Takashi Matsuo, swear here in front of everyone! I will inherit Mr. Suwa's will and continue to host this program, and..." Matsuo gritted his teeth, his eyes becoming extremely determined, "I will bring this case to the screen and do my best to track down the murderer who killed Mr. Suwa!"
At that moment, the TV in the mixing room was broadcasting Matsuo Takashi's resounding declaration.
"Does this guy think we police can't catch the murderer?"
Inspector Juzo Megure looked unhappy as he heard this.
Because before the incident, Michihiko Suwa was monitoring the program here, naturally the TV was turned on and tuned to the Nichiuri TV channel, and now Nichiuri TV was broadcasting the station's live evening news.
"It's obvious that a colleague from the same company has died, yet those reporters were so excited that they even carried cameras to broadcast it live..."
Standing at the entrance of the mixing room, Nanae Asamiya looked at the reporters with a strange expression on her face.
On the other hand, Eri Kisaki had a calm expression, as if used to it:
"Mr. Hayashi, let's continue with the previous topic. Did you find something just now?"
"Yes, there is no doubt that the murderer is Mr. Matsuo."
Hayashi Yoshiki, who had just walked around inside the mixing room, came over and said with a smile.
He didn't lower his voice at all.
Because the reporters and Matsuo Takashi were at the door, when he heard this, Matsuo, who had just been tearfully facing the cameras, reacted strongly. He suddenly turned around and said, "What nonsense are you talking about, Mr. Hayashi!?"
"How could I possibly kill Director Suwa? Although I had some arguments with him before, that doesn't mean anything..." He shook off the cameras, walked over, and shouted anxiously, "Hey, you police officers aren't really going to suspect me just because of what he said, right? And hasn't the time of Suwa's death been determined yet?"
"Director Suwa's death should have occurred within the 40 minutes between 20:15 and 20:55."
The person who answered was Hayashi Yoshiki.
With a noble smile on his handsome face, he raised his index finger and said, "At 20:15, Mr. Matsuo, you asked the staff to call and confirm Director Suwa's location, and they responded very quickly. I was nearby at the time, so I heard it."
"I called at that time—"
"These details aren't important. For the sake of efficiency, could you please listen to me first?" Hayashi Yoshiki interrupted. "After the show ended at 20:55, no one answered the phone when the staff called again. Therefore, I will temporarily set the time of Director Suwa's death within those 40 minutes."
"That's right! I was recording the show during that time, wasn't I? How could I have had time to kill Suwa-san!?"
"When the show was about to end, a 4-minute VCR was played. Mr. Matsuo, you left the room without saying anything, correct?"
"That was only 4 minutes!?"
Matsuo Takashi shouted loudly.
He was secretly pleased, thinking that the 4-minute window was the ingenious part of his murder plan.
"You have to realize that the recording studio is on the 9th floor. How could I have run from the 9th floor to the 4th floor to kill Mr. Suwa and then back again? How could I have had enough time!?"
To Matsuo Takashi's surprise, Hayashi Yoshiki nodded and acknowledged this.
Rolling up the sleeve of his left hand and glancing at his watch, Hayashi maintained that incredibly clear expression: "When we first heard the news of Mr. Suwa's murder, everyone rushed here from the backstage of the studio. Because the stairwell was blocked, it took about seven minutes... I think even if we hurried, it could only be shortened to about six minutes."
"Uh, you actually had time to notice things like that?" Inspector Megure was a little surprised.
Hayashi Yoshiki did not respond.
After hearing this, Takashi Matsuo straightened his back and said, "So you also know it definitely couldn't be me—"
"But if we finish shooting from the 7th floor instead and then return to the studio, it would only take about two minutes round-trip."
The calm voice of Hayashi Yoshiki made Matsuo's face suddenly turn pale. His heart tightened and he almost couldn't breathe.
But he still clung to a sliver of hope and spoke calmly, "What 7th floor? Didn't the police just say the murderer entered from outside—"
"Due to the TV station's set design, the structure of the entire building is irregular, and the positions of windows in different rooms vary. If you look up from the window of this mixing room, you'll find no windows on the 5th and 6th floors, but there are windows on the 7th floor."
Hayashi Yoshiki's words made Matsuo Takashi feel weak at the knees.
If possible, he truly wished that mouth would stop speaking.
However, Hayashi Yoshiki continued:
"You know what, Mr. Matsuo? When I opened the flip window and looked out, I found the exact same window on the 7th floor directly above. That's when I realized this method."
"But because it felt a bit too simple and not very interesting, I didn't intend to record it as material."
"Wait, Mr. Hayashi, you mean..."
Inspector Megure looked a bit dazed. He turned his head toward the flip window in the mixing room and asked hesitantly, "Did Suwa Michihiko actually open the window and look up when he was shot and killed by the murderer from the 7th floor?"
"But why would he open the window and look out?"
"I'm not sure about that. Maybe the murderer told him to look outside through a phone call or something, using an excuse like: 'There are aliens outside! Come take a look.'"
Hayashi Yoshiki said this with a smile, making Inspector Megure's lips twitch slightly.
Meanwhile, Takashi Matsuo, who had been reacting fiercely earlier, was now speechless.