Chapter 240

Shota Kamimura's expression twisted, and the look he gave Hoshikawa and Akira instantly became vicious. After a while, as if he was forcibly enduring something, he replied, "Haha, how could that be? I never thought about it that way. It's just that the deceased is my younger brother who grew up with me, and the murderer is another... younger brother. I really don't know how to face it." However, despite saying this, Shota Kamimura's eyes when he looked at Hoshikawa and Akira were filled with blazing malice.

Xingchuan Heming frowned. He always felt that this matter might not be as simple as it seemed.

The police quickly investigated the scene and found the mobile phone of the deceased Yuta Uemura. In his call log, they found the last call ten minutes ago, which was to his cousin Kenichi Uemura.

"Yes, just ten minutes ago, I was still talking to Yuta on the phone. He told me that he had just run into Hoshikawa Kazuaki in the corridor, and said that he wanted to find an opportunity when no one was around to have a good chat with him about something." Uemura Kenichi looked at Hoshikawa Kazuaki angrily, his eyes almost emitting fire, and he gritted his teeth and said, "But I didn't expect that Hoshikawa Kazuaki would actually kill Yuta like this!"

Xingchuan and Ming turned cold and retorted: "Please be careful with your words. I was just the first to find Yuta Uemura's body, but I was not the murderer. But you, shouldn't you be showing off your ridiculous demeanor as the head of the family at the banquet? You actually appeared at the crime scene at such a coincidental time. Isn't it worthy of suspicion?"

Kogoro Mouri touched his chin, and then confidently analyzed to Inspector Megure: "Although Hoshikawa Kazuaki was the first to appear at the crime scene, all the evidence at the scene pointed to him. It was too much of a coincidence, so he is even less likely to be the real murderer. The head of the Kamimura family came to the scene later, but as the protagonist of this banquet, he must have been entertaining guests at the banquet, so he also had no time to commit the crime. Therefore, the real murderer is-"

Maori Kogoro became alert, raised his hand with a serious expression, pointed at the crowd with great momentum, and then said loudly: "The murderer is you! The last person who spoke to the deceased and the one who accused others of the murderer as soon as he appeared on the scene - Uemura Kenichi, it was you who killed the deceased Uemura Yuta!"

Everyone present looked in the direction that Kogoro Mori pointed, and saw that Kenichi Uemura was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly became furious as if he was ignited.

"What did you say? You said I killed Yuta? How is that possible? Are you investigating the case seriously, you confused detective? I was at the banquet and made phone calls. Many people there can testify for me. But did you check the alibis of the other two people?"

At this time, the police officer in charge of collecting confessions had also returned with the results of the investigation. Seeing that there was a quarrel at the scene, the police officer scratched his head and said to Inspector Megure:

"Reporting to Officer Megure, we have already questioned the guests at the banquet. They did not see Hoshikawa Kazuaki and Kamimura Shouta in the banquet hall within half an hour of the incident. However, several people saw Kamimura Kenichi on the phone. However, the other person's expression looked too fierce, so no one approached to talk to him, and it is not certain when he left the banquet hall."

"Ah? It turns out that Shota Kamimura didn't stay in the banquet hall the whole time? Hahaha, it seems that I guessed wrong before. His suspicion can't be ruled out so quickly, hehe..." Kogoro Mouri touched the back of his head awkwardly and smiled ingratiatingly at Inspector Megure.

Inspector Megure looked at Maori Kogoro speechlessly, then simply ignored his explanation and said directly to Hoshikawa Kazuaki and Kamimura Shota: "Then please tell us what you were doing in the half hour before the body was found, and who can testify for you."

Shota Uemura immediately explained, "I am the host of this banquet, so I have to entertain every guest seriously. Because I don't stay in the banquet hall all the time, other guests who have already arrived at the banquet hall will not notice me. But before I came to the bathroom, I took a break in the lounge next to it. I remember that there was a waiter in charge of cleaning the lounge at that time, and he should be able to prove what I said."

Upon hearing this, Inspector Megure immediately sent his men to look for the waiter, then looked at Hoshikawa Kazuaki, waiting for his answer.

Hoshikawa and Akiya also cooperated very well and said, "Before I came to the bathroom, I had been interviewed in the lounge opposite. Of course, I was not in the same lounge as Shota Uemura. As for the evidence, the female reporter who interviewed me at the time can testify for me."

As they were talking, Xingchuan Heming suddenly remembered that when he was leaving the lounge, the female reporter who had been chasing him and asking him direct questions had said that she would definitely go back to find her. This sounded a bit strange.

At the time, it didn't seem like there was anything wrong, except that the female reporter was a little too self-centered. However, when Xingchuan and Ming recalled it now, they suddenly felt that the other party seemed to have something else to say. Moreover, when the other party first chased him, she seemed to be happy to see him leave for a while. Now thinking back, it seems so inconsistent.

However, Inspector Megure was already pressing them to go, as everyone was waiting to find the female reporter to ask for her statement. Hoshikawa and Ming couldn't refuse, so they led everyone out of the bathroom and headed towards the lounge they were using at the time.

The corridor outside the restroom leads directly to the lobby where the banquet hall is located. There are several empty rooms in the middle, which are designed as lounges by the hotel for temporary use by guests attending the banquet. According to Shota Uemura, he was taking a break in the lounge next to the restroom.

"But that lounge is the farthest from the banquet hall, right? Since Mr. Kamimura is the host of this banquet, shouldn't he rest in the room closest to the banquet hall so that he can deal with any unexpected situations among the guests at any time?" asked Inspector Megure.

"Haha, theoretically that should be true. But this is actually the first time I'm hosting a banquet of this scale, and I'm actually a little nervous. That's why I want to stay as far away from the banquet hall as possible during the break, so that I can rest better and face everyone in better condition later." Shota Kamimura explained with a smile, a rare shy look on his gentle face.

"So that's how it is." Inspector Megure nodded and did not raise any objection to this explanation. He then looked at Hoshikawa and Akira, and just as he was about to ask something else, the police officer who was looking for the waiter in charge of cleaning the hotel lounge came after him.

"Inspector Megure! We found the waiter. I didn't expect him to be in the crowd, so we quickly recorded his statement."

Everyone looked over in the direction of the sound, and saw that the waiter walking towards them behind the policeman was none other than the part-time king, Toru Amuro, who was very familiar to everyone and had just greeted Kogoro Mouri in front of everyone!