Chapter 258: The Deduction Show, Breaking the Alibi

When Fuji TV President Kameyama arrived with his secretary and several executives, he happened to run into Uesugi Muneyuki beginning his deduction show.

"President!" The entire production team came up to greet him, especially the director and the Production Bureau Chief.

But President Kameyama immediately raised his hand to signal that no formalities were necessary.

Do not let anything disturb the recording of the program!

We at Fuji TV are a conscientious television station; we must present the entire process of the program and the most brilliant parts of the deduction to the entire nation in their original, authentic form.

This is our social responsibility and duty as one of the five major commercial broadcasters!

"How is it? Is the person really dead?" President Kameyama could not hold back his excitement and agitation; he grabbed the sleeve of Department Director Abiru.

"It is certain beyond a doubt that he is dead!" Department Director Abiru also could not hide his excitement. Both middle-aged men saw the fires of hell in each other's sorrowful and mournful expressions: "Uesugi-kun performed an autopsy and said he died from an acute asthma attack."

"Eh? So you mean he died of illness?" A look of disappointment could not help but appear on President Kameyama's face.

If he died of illness, the highlights would be at least 80% fewer!

My ratings!

Who knows when I will encounter a dead person and Uesugi Shiro both being present again!

Kameyama wore a mask of pain.

"Emmm, yes... and no!" Department Director Abiru signaled for the President to let him finish: "However, although it was a death by illness, Forensic Examiner Uesugi has identified Miyano Hiroyuki of the Umbrella Duo as the murderer!"

"Ah? Why? Aren't these two partners?" President Kameyama was puzzled for a moment, then immediately understood: "Ah, well, they teamed up in the theater, right? That's not strange."

"President?" Neither Department Director Abiru nor Director Yayoi understood what President Kameyama meant.

But President Kameyama just shook his head, signaling that he would tell them later.

In reality, partners do not necessarily have a good relationship, especially those from a place like Yoshimoto Kogyo. Every comedian from Yoshimoto Kogyo generally has to start from the bottom in dark, gloomy little theaters with hundreds of people, beginning their path to a dream in front of a single microphone on the most primitive and broken wooden floor, and how much salary a newcomer can get is determined purely by how many people at the scene are made to laugh.

The most tragic comedians have the trope of performing for a whole month only to earn less than 30,000 yen, and with Yoshimoto making various deductions, they end up with only 8,000 in hand.

So in that situation, choosing a partner is not necessarily about being like-minded, not necessarily about mutual affection, and not even necessarily about settling.

In that situation, the most important thing is to survive.

For example, Matsumoto Hitoshi and Hamada Masatoshi of the very famous comedy duo Downtown have complained that "I can't get along with this person at all," "We have nothing to say to each other," and "He and I aren't even friends," with a terrible relationship between them.

However, the success these two have achieved in manzai cannot be described in words; they can open a theater and empty the streets of Osaka, and the new skits they write have directly rewritten the entire history of Japanese manzai, so these two are now firmly bound together, inseparable, and it is no longer possible to split them up.

What else can you do? Just settle for it, you can't just break up, right?

Hey! Now they really have broken up!

Bravo!

President Kameyama and Department Director Abiru looked at each other; they already had a premonition.

A ratings miracle! The night of the building lockdown recreated! A national spectacle! Sweeping the search results!

We at Fuji TV are invincible!

It was also at this moment that Uesugi Muneyuki began to confront Miyano Hiroyuki, who was being held down on the ground by Eirina.

President Kameyama signaled for everyone not to interfere and just watch Uesugi Muneyuki show off in silence!

Uesugi Muneyuki also noticed President Kameyama's arrival at this time. He greeted the President with his eyes, and when he saw this old ghost signaling for him to do as he pleased, even Uesugi Muneyuki was speechless.

Hironaka Mariko was right; this old ghost is just a performance ATM. As long as it can bring him ratings, he is willing to do anything.

"Indeed, an Emergency Inhaler cannot prove that you are the murderer." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded with deep conviction in front of everyone's gaze: "But this also cannot prove that you are not the murderer."

"There are a large number of Miyahara's fingerprints on the inhaler, as well as yours. You will certainly say that you were carrying it for him to use, so it's not strange for his fingerprints to be on it. Very well, so let's not talk about this first."

"First, we must confirm a fact, which is why Miyahara Toru appeared here." Uesugi Muneyuki said to everyone at the scene: "As everyone knows, Miyahara Toru did not participate in the program recording today, nor did he have any announcements at the Odaiba Building. Furthermore, since he has asthma and his partner is not by his side, as an A-list comedian, it is impossible for him to have no agent or staff member by his side."

"However, there is no one by Miyahara Toru's side." Uesugi Muneyuki pointed to the lounge: "Why is this?"

Sure enough, upon hearing him say this, everyone showed a thoughtful expression.

That's right, what was the reason Miyahara Toru, who had no program today, appeared in the Odaiba Building with no one by his side?

"Stop beating around the bush!" Miyano Hiroyuki's face turned even uglier when he heard Uesugi Muneyuki say this: "I'll just ask you, Forensic Examiner Uesugi, on what grounds do you think I killed someone? What evidence do you have? I don't know why Miyahara came here either! I had originally arranged to go eat with him after the program recording ended! I don't know why he is here!"

"As his partner, I also feel very sad about his death, but that is not a reason for you to randomly accuse me of being the murderer!"

"You say I am the murderer, show me the evidence!"

Sure enough, after hearing Miyano Hiroyuki say this, everyone, including the several comedians, still believed Miyano Hiroyuki's story more. After all, they were partners for twenty years, and he died suddenly of an asthma attack; saying that his partner killed him was really a bit...

Uesugi Muneyuki nodded after hearing this: "Indeed, apart from the Emergency Inhaler on your person, I cannot find any more evidence."

"However, that Emergency Inhaler on your person is the most important evidence!" Uesugi Muneyuki said sternly facing the camera: "Because this Emergency Inhaler is the evidence that you killed him!"

"You didn't need to kill him directly at all; you only needed to take the Emergency Inhaler from his hand when your partner suddenly had an asthma attack, and then hold him down so he wouldn't have a chance to call for help."

"This was not a planned murder, but an accidental one." Uesugi Muneyuki said to the crowd: "Miyahara Toru indeed had no recording duties today, nor did he intend to come to the Odaiba Building, but because it involved a certain matter, he still came voluntarily to discuss an important thing with his partner."

"Obviously, the two sides did not reach an agreement, and the two had an argument. When the conflict erupted, because of his agitation, Miyahara's asthma attack was triggered. Because the acute attack came very quickly, Miyahara immediately fell into a situation where he could not breathe properly."

"Miyano took his Emergency Inhaler at this very moment and watched his partner fall to the brink of death with his own eyes."

"Afterwards, in order to fabricate an alibi, he immediately came to the recording scene, arriving nearly an hour earlier than the scheduled time." Uesugi Muneyuki said: "Because doing this could create an alibi for himself!"

"It was originally a death by illness, so no one would suspect him. That is why you were always very calm, and you had even thought about how to be the first to discover your partner's corpse and how to explain your own affairs."

Uesugi Muneyuki sighed: "What a perfect plan. Because it was a death by illness, there would be no autopsy or dissection. Because it was a death by illness, after an inspection, criminal suspicion could be quickly ruled out. In fact, even the most brilliant Forensic Pathologist cannot accurately determine the time of death for an asthma patient after an attack. Some asthma patients just go into temporary shock and do not die immediately; an error of a few hours is normal. Even I did not think of the possibility of homicide at first."

"But... Miyano-san, if I am not mistaken, the matter your partner came to discuss with you today is related to the Yokohama Case, right?"

As soon as Uesugi Muneyuki said this, it was like dropping an atomic bomb on the scene!

The Yokohama Case?

The case of the female executive of the Sumitomo Mitsui Group murdered in Yokohama? The Tokyo Bay Serial Body Dumping Case? The largest police-gangster gun battle in the Yokohama Tank Road since the Cold War?

This matter had attracted the attention of the entire nation. Although the Kudo-kai was wiped out at the end of September, the subsequent personnel transfers, criminal penalties, and the handling of terrorism have not been fully disclosed to this day. NHK and the five major commercial broadcasters have done special program after special program, connecting with the Metropolitan Police Department and the National Police Agency time and time again, but the news received was always that it was still under investigation, still being handled, and involved state secrets that could not be disclosed for the time being. Everyone was left hanging.

Now Uesugi Muneyuki has personally said that Miyahara Toru's death and the Umbrella Duo are involved in the Yokohama Case!

President Kameyama felt as if he had heard the news of the outbreak of World War III; he was filled with astonishment and excitement.

Ratings, here they come!

A tsunami of endless ratings is about to descend upon our Fuji TV again~

Miyano Hiroyuki's pupils dilated sharply.

Impossible! How could he know?

Did this guy install a surveillance camera in the lounge? But that's impossible; the lounge was checked by Miyahara before anything was said!

Oh right, this guy did handle the Yokohama Case, he might know some inside information!

Oh no, if Uesugi Muneyuki knows something, my life...

Fortunately, he made preparations in advance!

"Wait! You say I did it, but I have an alibi!" Miyano Hiroyuki suddenly roared: "I can prove that during the recording of the program, Miyahara was still alive!"

"You all remember, right? During the recording, I forgot to hand over my phone and received a call; that call was from Miyahara. I'm sorry, everyone, I lied because it involved my private affairs!" Miyano Hiroyuki continued to roar: "But it is absolutely true that it was Miyahara calling at that time."

"You can check Miyahara's phone; there is a call record on it!"

Everyone at the scene remembered this very clearly. During the recording, Miyano's phone did indeed ring suddenly. He immediately apologized to everyone and then jogged away from the recording set temporarily.

Upon hearing this, Ikeda Erena immediately checked Miyahara's phone.

The tall beauty's expression changed. She held up the phone; the time on it was 11:16, and there was indeed an outgoing call record—it was Miyahara calling Miyano.

This call record was the most powerful proof that Miyahara was still alive!

And with the validity of this call record, it meant that all of Uesugi Muneyuki's deductions and accusations were completely overturned!

If Miyahara was still alive at that time, then Miyano could not be the murderer!

Uesugi?

President Kameyama and Department Director Abiru's eyes became somewhat uncertain. Banana Man showed signs of doubt, Tsuchida still had that sleepy look, and Sawabe Yu was even more certain; he firmly believed that Miyano did not do it.

Yamaguchi Maho had caught her breath by now. The girl looked at Uesugi Muneyuki cautiously, wanting to see clearly what he was thinking. At the same time, Miyawaki Sakura instinctively looked at Senior Mai, and seeing that Senior Mai was not panicked at all, she wasn't panicked either.

Besides, being held by Mai-sama is so happy~ the girl thought infatuatedly.

I want to be held by Mai-sama forever~

The atmosphere at the scene varied, but there was no doubt that after Miyano Hiroyuki presented the key alibi, everyone began to question Uesugi Muneyuki's deduction.

Since Miyahara was still alive at that time, it meant that he had a sudden illness afterward and died of natural causes.

Forensic Examiner Uesugi, has he crashed and burned?

Has the legendary rookie Forensic Pathologist, the miracle of a 100% case-solving rate, fallen?

"You really are a genius, Miyano." Facing the ironclad alibi, Uesugi Muneyuki sighed and said to the crowd: "Thank the Great God of Asama and Bishamonten; it was me who came today. If it had been anyone else, they would have been fooled by this guy today."

"A very perfect alibi design, Miyano-san, you are so strong." Uesugi Muneyuki slowly walked to Miyano Hiroyuki's side and took his phone from him: "But unfortunately, Senior Mai and I both have the habit of checking the time."

"The time of that call was 11:12, not 11:16." Uesugi Muneyuki held up Miyano Hiroyuki's phone call log: "Then the question arises: why isn't that call that interrupted the recording at 11:12 on your phone? There is only this call at 11:16?"

"Could it be that you secretly took your partner's phone and called yourself to create an alibi?"

Miyano Hiroyuki's pupils dilated, his mouth hung open, and his face showed an expression of disbelief.

Impossible, my plan was perfect; how could it be seen through at a glance...

Is this person, Uesugi Muneyuki, even human?

(End of this chapter)