The atmosphere in the restaurant on the first floor of the hotel was very solemn. Everyone was sitting in their seats in their pajamas, sleepy-eyed, looking around but no one was the first to speak to break the silence.
When Sosuke Takashi went down the stairs, he did not see Keiryo Maekawa. It seemed that his previous speculation might be wrong. He had not shown up yet, and it was possible that he was not the one who gave the sleeping pills. Whether he is still alive... is still a question.
He frowned and looked at Nakayama Maiko, who lowered her head and said nothing, not knowing whether he could pry open her mouth.
Sugino Takashi, who was sitting next to his fiancée, looked worried. He looked at Takashi Sosuke and broke the silence:
"Officer Ying Si, what exactly happened?"
"According to Ms. Nakayama herself, she was in the same room with Mr. Maekawa when she suddenly fell asleep. When she woke up, she found blood on the carpet and Mr. Maekawa had disappeared."
"Maekawa?"
Sugino Takashi looked at Nakayama Maiko in surprise, obviously not understanding why his fiancée was sleeping in Maekawa Keiryo's room. Was there something going on between them?
Noticing Sugino Takashi's gaze, Nakayama Maiko threw herself into his arms and said timidly:
"Aaron, there's nothing between him and me, you have to believe me."
"Silly boy, of course I believe you, but now that Maekawa is missing, I'm a little worried."
Seeing that Nakayama Maiko's emotions were gradually stabilizing, Fujiwara Yuu also spoke at the right time:
"Mr. Maekawa's whereabouts are currently unknown, so I hope everyone can join me in searching for him. In order to avoid being left alone, please act together."
"Officer Takashi, are you sure we don't want to act separately? That would be very inefficient," asked Jun Yamaguchi.
"There are only two possibilities for Mr. Maekawa's disappearance." Fujiwara Yuu leaned in front of Yamaguchi Jun, resting one hand on the table and said, "The first possibility is that he has been killed by the murderer hiding among us. The second possibility is that he is the murderer in hiding... If you don't want to die, you should join us."
"Oh, okay, okay."
Everyone searched the hotel together, but couldn't find Maekawa Keiryō. They were certain he wasn't in the hotel. So, where else could he be? It could only be the live-action script-killing stage some distance away.
Asano Kensaku found a few flashlights and distributed them to everyone, then said with a grim expression:
"Um, Officer Takashi, are we really going there? It's scary at this hour."
"Those who are timid can stay, but they cannot go back to their rooms to rest. Please stay in the restaurant." Fujiwara Yu glanced at Asano Kensaku speechlessly and spoke.
After hearing this, Nakayama Maiko refused to go and insisted that Sugino Takashi stay with her. Uchida Ami and Asano Kensaku, who were not as courageous, also chose to stay. In the end, only four people went to the teaching building.
However, what surprised Fujiwara Yu was that the unsociable and talkative Takenaka Yuto actually chose to go with them to find Maekawa Keisuke, which was somewhat contradictory compared to his previous behavior.
The four of them, holding flashlights, headed towards the teaching building along the route that Kensaku Asano had previously taken them.
Before arriving at the teaching building, Miyano Akemi looked at the time displayed on her watch and whispered in Fujiwara Yu's ear:
"It will take twenty minutes to walk at a normal speed, but if we run, we should be there in about five minutes."
"Then it takes ten minutes to go back and forth. That's plenty of time."
Dinner ended at 8 pm, and Maekawa Keiichi was discovered missing at 10 pm. There was a full two-hour gap, and I'm afraid that apart from him and Miyano Akemi, no one else had an alibi.
Yamaguchi Jun shone his flashlight and discovered that the door, which should have been locked, was actually open. He was a little bold the previous second, but the next second he silently retreated to the side of Takagi Sosuke, swallowed hard, and asked:
"Um, Officer Takashi, why don't you go up front?"
"Why would you follow me if you were afraid?"
"I'm not scared at all. I just think the police have more experience and are more suitable to go first!"
Fujiwara Yuu didn't bother to expose the other party's lies. He just wanted to find Maekawa Keiryo as soon as possible. He walked at the front of the team with a flashlight, searching the first floor to make sure there was nothing missing before stepping onto the stairs to the second floor.
Just after passing the first classroom, his sensitive sense of smell allowed him to smell a strong smell of blood. It seemed that Keisuke Maekawa was in great danger.
"Second-year Class B?" Yamaguchi Jun hid behind Takenaka Yuto, poking his head out and muttering, "Isn't this the place where the victim's body was found in the script-killing game? Could Maekawa be in there?"
"I guess so."
Opening the door to the second-grade Class B classroom, the pitch-black space gave off an eerie feeling. Fujiwara Yuu felt a touch on his arm, and he patted the back of Akemi's hand to soothe her.
He walked boldly towards the podium and saw Keiichiro Maekawa lying in a pool of blood, his heart no longer breathing or beating.
"Ah! It's true, a murder really happened!
"Jun Yamaguchi never thought that he would encounter such a bad thing when he came to participate in a script. The person who died was actually his colleague. This is too unlucky.
Takenaka Yuto looked helplessly at Yamaguchi Jun, who had fallen down in shock, and put his hand to his lips to remind him:
"Shh, be quiet, don't disturb Officer Yingsi from investigating the case."
He really couldn't understand how a person could be so noisy when he was scared.
Fujiwara Yu bent over and examined Maekawa Keiryo's body. Judging from the degree of rigor mortis, he had been dead for no more than two hours. He looked at his watch and saw that Maekawa had been murdered between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
