Chapter 259: Ghost Call

As soon as Uesugi Muneyuki finished speaking, Ikeda Erena, who could no longer endure it, pulled out handcuffs and immediately locked them onto Miyano Hiroyuki's wrists. With his alibi shattered, Miyano Hiroyuki's face turned ashen; he opened his mouth several times to say something, but nothing came out.

However, even so, confused inquiries still rang out at the scene.

"Um, Uesugi-san, we still don't understand what you mean. Could you explain it more clearly?" Sawabe Yu from Haraichi raised his hand, signaling: Don't go so fast! We haven't understood yet!

How was it suddenly determined that the alibi was fake? How was it suddenly shown through the comparison of call logs that the phone call from Miyano Hiroyuki was problematic?

"Yes, Uesugi-san, please explain it more clearly!" someone from the Fuji TV side also shouted.

"Alright." Uesugi Muneyuki picked up two identical mobile phones: "I will explain it to you once."

"First, these are two identical mobile phones; one belongs to the deceased Miyahara, and one belongs to Miyano."

"After Miyano took the Emergency Inhaler, he also took his partner's phone while he was at it. By then, he had already figured out how to create an alibi."

"This method of creating an alibi is—a Ghost Call, which is to forge the illusion that Miyahara was still alive. Because as long as everyone thought Miyahara was still alive, it could be proven that Miyahara's death from asthma had nothing to do with him."

Uesugi Muneyuki fiddled with the deceased's phone and smiled: "The mystery here is very simple. Because time was tight, Miyano-san didn't have time to design too much, but he might truly be a genius in this regard... You should all remember that he said earlier that his phone suddenly rang at the recording site, and it was Miyahara calling him, so it could prove that Miyahara was still alive at that time, and thus he possessed a perfect alibi, right?"

"That is indeed correct!" Shitara Osamu of Banana Man began to get into the role. He pinched his chin and said: "If that's the case, it could prove that Miyahara was still alive at that time, and the premeditated murder charge of Miyano-san taking away the Emergency Inhaler leading to Miyahara-san's death would naturally not hold up."

"That's right, although Miyano-san interrupted the recording and left for a while, he didn't go very far and never completely left our sight the whole time. He couldn't have had time to commit the crime," Himura Yuki of Banana Man also affirmed: "The lounge is on the seventh floor, so those few minutes... waiting for the elevator would take longer than that, and if he took the elevator, he would have been caught on surveillance, right?"

"............" Miyano Hiroyuki hung his head in silence. He did not respond because he knew Uesugi Muneyuki had already seen through his tricks.

"Yes, the views of Shitara-san and Himura-san from Banana Man are very correct. This is also the 'illusion' that Miyano deliberately wanted you and everyone present to understand." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded, and he picked up the deceased's phone: "But... what if this phone call that interrupted the recording program didn't exist at all? What if it was just an alarm clock or a notification music set to play at a certain time?"

"This is Miyano Hiroyuki's little trick, the Ghost Call!"

Uesugi Muneyuki gestured toward the two phones on the table: "Because at the time at the recording site, the phone ringtone that sounded in Miyano's pants pocket was not Miyano's own phone, but the phone of the deceased Miyahara Toru!"

Once these words were spoken, the expressions on the faces of everyone present were filled with shock.

Some sharp-witted people like Tsuchida and Kameyama already understood what was going on, while others like Sawabe, Sakura, and Yamaguchi Maho had not yet fully grasped what had happened.

But not a single person interrupted Uesugi Muneyuki's deduction show.

Because they were here to see exactly this!

"After the deceased had his attack, Miyano took his partner's phone. He deliberately didn't hand over his phone when everyone else handed theirs in to prepare for the recording, but instead kept his partner's phone in his pants pocket and set an alarm... or something else to create an alibi."

"In other words, the phone ringing at that time was not a coincidence, but destined, because Miyano wanted it to ring."

"After the phone rang, the recording site was interrupted. Miyano apologized and said he would leave for a few minutes, and it was at this moment that Miyano used his partner's phone to call his own phone, leaving a call record."

"And through this Ghost Call, the illusion that Miyahara was still alive at that time could be created."

"This is the alibi Miyano carefully designed for himself—the Ghost Call!"

"But... if that's the case... Miyahara's phone was clearly in the lounge." Sawabe still didn't understand.

Uesugi Muneyuki said coldly to the camera: "Shut up, listen to me finish first... because things went wrong."

"Wrong?"

"Yes, because Miyano originally intended to be the first person to discover the scene." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded: "But by a twist of fate, because of the senior's suggestion for an outdoor shoot, we became the first discoverers, which ruined Miyano's plan."

"Miyano had been carrying Miyahara's phone on him, intending to put it into the scene before calling the police when he acted as the first discoverer. Likewise, Miyano had also been carrying Miyahara's Emergency Inhaler on him, also intending to stuff it into Miyahara's pocket when he acted as the first discoverer. That way, all the evidence would have been seamless."

"So, who at the scene can answer me: why did we find Miyahara's phone in the lounge, while Miyahara's Emergency Inhaler is still in this guy's inner suit pocket?" Uesugi Muneyuki smiled.

"Ah? Could it be... That's right, Miyahara-san's phone was found by Miyano, right on the small table in the lounge!" Shitara of Banana Man suddenly understood something: "But if it's the Emergency Inhaler..."

"Right, because I arrived." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded with a smile, his expression turning serious again: "Because I was going to perform an Autopsy, because I warned everyone not to disturb the scene and told them all to get away, Miyano could quietly return items like the phone—which don't necessarily have to be carried on one's person—to a location at the scene. But because I was watching him, he couldn't find an opportunity to put the Emergency Inhaler back on Miyahara."

"He could only keep the Emergency Inhaler on his person and keep looking for a chance to get close."

Uesugi Muneyuki said softly: "He didn't have time to take it out before he was subdued by Master Eirina."

"At the same time, this guy probably didn't expect that Mai and I had noted the time."

"The Ghost Call is indeed a great alibi design, but there is a bug in it: what rang when the recording was interrupted was not a phone ringtone, but an alarm or something else."

"It just so happened that at that time, I asked Senior Mai what time it was because I was hungry, and the senior told me it was 11:12."

"And the call record was at 11:16. Why? Of course, because after the ringtone sounded, interrupting the recording, apologizing, walking away from the studio, and thinking through the whole plan before calling his own phone, it required some extra time."

"And these four minutes are the key to cracking the Ghost Call!"

"Oh Oh Oh!!!" A great wave of admiration erupted throughout the venue.

Peeling back the layers, calm and composed, logical and rigorous, with a closed loop of evidence.

Now it was clear!

So that's how it was!

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" At this point, Miyano was still unwilling to admit defeat. He struggled desperately and roared: "This isn't any evidence! This is just your deduction! You have no evidence whatsoever to prove I killed anyone! By what right are you arresting me and putting handcuffs on me?"

"The evidence is right here." Uesugi Muneyuki sighed: "First is the Emergency Inhaler. I searched through all of Miyahara's pockets and didn't find this item, yet it was on your person. Do you know what that means?"

"............" Miyano Hiroyuki remained silent.

"Then, although there is no surveillance inside the lounge, there is surveillance at the entrance. We can have Fuji TV pull the footage. If my prediction is correct, only you and your partner entered the lounge during that time, and then only you came out. I don't need to say what that means, do I?"

"............ Didn't I say, this is just..."

"Finally, it's the issue of time. President Kameyama, Department Director Abiru, if my memory serves me correctly, there should be camera angles from Fuji TV's on-site equipment that were aimed at Senior Mai and me the entire time. There must be real-time recording timestamps on them. At 11:12, the conversation between Senior Mai and me should have been recorded. We can invite a lip-reading expert to verify what we were saying."

"We can! This station will fully cooperate with you, Uesugi-kun!" President Kameyama was so excited he felt like he was ascending to heaven.

That's~ right, that's right, that's right~

It was all recorded! We have it!

He could feel the volcano known as ratings boiling, rolling out from Mount Fuji!

It's about to erupt!!!

Great, we recorded Uesugi-kun's entire on-site deduction; our Fuji TV is saved!

Having obtained the full support of President Kameyama, Uesugi Muneyuki slowly approached Miyano and placed the Emergency Inhaler and the two mobile phones in front of Miyano Hiroyuki: "Miyano-san? Is there anything else you would like to say?"

Following Uesugi Muneyuki's actions, the incredibly tough psychological defense of the handcuffed top-tier Comedian finally collapsed.

I am so damn unlucky!

Thinking of this, Miyano Hiroyuki cried and laughed at the same time. His knees went weak, and he knelt on the ground, taking a deep breath. When he looked up, he saw his partner's corpse and Uesugi Muneyuki's scrutinizing gaze. He licked his lips, and as he opened his mouth, his sobbing voice outpaced his words: "It's you, it's all because of you, it's your fault! Uesugi Muneyuki! You devil!!!"

"I didn't mean to kill Toru!" Miyano Hiroyuki's eyes filled with tears as he shook his head vigorously: "Even though our relationship wasn't good, but... but we were partners for over 20 years after all! Unless it was a last resort, how could I have wanted to kill him?"

"It was all forced by him! I was also forced, I had no choice, I had no other way!"

"Because if I didn't kill him, he was going to, he was going to tell everyone about that matter."

"If that happened, my future, the future of the Umbrella Duo would be completely finished, completely finished, ahhhhh."

"Wuuuuuu~" Seemingly recalling the theater days of the past, Miyano Hiroyuki couldn't help but cover his face with both hands, tears streaming down his cheeks.

That matter... Uesugi Muneyuki's gaze gradually became complex.

Miyano Hiroyuki was not lying; his choice to kill his own partner really did have something to do with Uesugi Muneyuki!

(End of this chapter)