Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 255, The Ghost Phone Call

As soon as Uesugi Muneyuki finished speaking, Ikeda Erena, who could no longer bear it, took out handcuffs and immediately put them on Miyano Hiroyuki's wrists. Miyano Hiroyuki, whose alibi had been exposed, looked ashen-faced and opened his mouth several times as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't say anything.

Even so, questions of confusion still arose from the crowd.

"Um, Uesugi-san, we still don't understand what you mean. Could you explain it more clearly?" Sawabe Yu from Haraichi Middle School raised his hand, indicating, "Don't rush us! We don't understand yet!"
How did they suddenly determine that the alibi was fake? How did they suddenly conclude that there was something wrong with Hiroyuki Miyano's phone call based on the lack of call records?

"Yes, Uesugi-san, please be more specific!" someone on Fuji TV shouted.

“Okay.” Uesugi Muneyuki picked up two identical phones: “I’ll explain it to you.”

"First of all, these are two identical cell phones, one of which belonged to the deceased Mr. Miyahara, and the other to Miyano."

"After taking the emergency inhaler, Miyano also took his partner's phone. He had already figured out how to create an alibi."

"The method of creating an alibi is—the ghost phone, which is to create the illusion that Miyahara is still alive. Because as long as everyone believes that Miyahara is still alive, it can be proven that Miyahara's death from asthma has nothing to do with him."

Uesugi Muneyuki fiddled with the deceased's phone and laughed, "The secret is simple. Because of the time crunch, Mr. Miyano didn't have time to plan too much, but he might actually be a genius in this area... You should remember that he just said his phone suddenly rang on the recording set. It was Miyahara calling him, so it proves that Miyahara was still alive at that time, thus giving him a complete alibi, right?"

“That’s right!” The banana-man’s Setakuto got into character, rubbing his chin as he said, “If that’s the case, it proves that Miyahara was still alive at that time, and the premeditated murder that Miyano-san took the emergency inhaler and caused Miyahara-san’s death is naturally not established.”

“Yes, although Miyano-san interrupted the recording and left for a while, he didn’t go too far. He was never completely out of our sight. There’s no way he would have had time to commit the crime.” Banana Man’s Yuki Himura also confirmed, “The dressing room is on the seventh floor. A few minutes… waiting for the elevator would take longer than that. And if he were to take the elevator, wouldn’t it be caught on camera?”

“…………” Miyano Hiroyuki lowered his head and remained silent. He did not respond because he knew that Uesugi Muneyuki had seen through his trick.

“Yes, Mr. Shitara and Mr. Himura of the Banana People are absolutely right. This is also the ‘illusion’ that Miyano deliberately wanted you and everyone here to understand.” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded and picked up the deceased’s phone: “But… what if this call that interrupted the recording didn’t even exist? What if it was just an alarm clock or a notification music set to play at a certain time?”

"This is one of Hiroyuki Miyano's little tricks, the ghost phone!"

Uesugi Muneyuki gestured to the two cell phones on the table and said, "Because the phone that rang in Miyano's pocket at the recording site was not Miyano's own phone, but the phone of the deceased Miyahara Toru!"

These words shocked everyone present.

Some astute individuals, such as Tsuchida and Kameyama, have already grasped what happened, while others, such as Sawabe, Sakura, and Yamaguchi Maho, have not yet fully understood what has occurred.

However, no one interrupted Uesugi Muneyuki's deduction show.

Because that's exactly what they came to see!
"After the deceased fell ill, Miyano took his partner's phone. He deliberately didn't hand in his phone when everyone else was handing it in to prepare for the recording of the program. Instead, he put his partner's phone in his pocket, set an alarm... or something else to create an alibi."

"In other words, the fact that the phone rang at that time was not accidental, but destined, because Miyano wanted it to ring."

“The recording was interrupted when the phone rang. Miyano apologized and said he would leave for a few minutes. Then, at that moment, Miyano used his partner’s phone to call his own phone and left a call record.”

"Through this ghost phone call, the illusion that Miyahara was still alive at the time can be created."

"This is Miyano's carefully crafted alibi—the ghost phone!"

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

Uesugi Muneyuki coldly said to the camera, "Shut up, let me finish... because things have gone wrong."

"error?"

“Yes, because Miyano originally planned to be the first to discover the crime scene.” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded. “But by a twist of fate, because of Senpai’s suggestion to do location shooting, we became the first to discover it, which ruined Miyano’s plan.”

"Miyahara's cell phone was always on Miyano's person, so that if she was the first to discover the crime, she could put it at the scene before calling the police. Similarly, Miyano also always carried Miyahara's emergency inhaler, so that if she was the first to discover the crime, she could put it in Miyahara's pocket. In this way, all the evidence would be airtight."

"Then can anyone at the scene answer me why we found Miyahara's phone in the lounge, while Miyahara's emergency inhaler was still in this guy's suit pocket?" Uesugi Muneyuki laughed.

"Ah? Could it be...right, Miyahara-san's phone was found by Miyano, on the small table in the break room!" The banana-man Shitakura suddenly understood: "But if it's an emergency inhaler..."

“Yes, because I’m here.” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded with a smile, then his expression turned serious: “Because I’m going to perform an autopsy, because I reminded everyone not to disturb the scene and to get out of my way, so Miyano could quietly put his phone, which isn’t something he has to carry with him, back somewhere at the scene. But with me watching him, he couldn’t find a chance to put the emergency inhaler back on Miyahara.”

"He could only keep the emergency inhaler on his person and keep looking for an opportunity to get close." Uesugi Muneyuki said softly, "Before he could take it out, he was subdued by Master Erina."

"At the same time, this guy probably didn't expect that Mai-senpai and I had kept track of the time."

"The ghost phone is indeed a great alibi design, but there is a bug in it, which is that when the recording is interrupted, it is not the phone ringing, but an alarm clock or something else that plays."

"Just then, I asked Mai-senpai what time it was because I was hungry. She told me it was 11:12."

"The call record shows 11:16. Why? Of course, it's because the phone rang, interrupting the live recording. I apologized, strode out of the studio, thought about the whole plan, and then it took a little extra time to call my own phone."

"And these four minutes are the key to cracking the ghost phone!"

"Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh!!!" A chorus of exclamations erupted from the audience.

Unraveling the complexities of the matter with composure, rigorous logic, and a closed-loop evidence system.

Now I understand!
So this is ah!

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Even now, Miyano was still unwilling to admit defeat. He struggled desperately and roared, "This is not evidence! This is just your deduction! You have no evidence to prove that I killed anyone! What right do you have to arrest me and handcuff me?"

“The evidence is right here.” Uesugi Muneyuki sighed. “First of all, there’s the emergency inhaler. I searched all of Miyahara’s pockets and couldn’t find it, but it’s on you. Do you know what that means?”

“…………” Hiroyuki Miyano remained silent.

"Then, although there are no surveillance cameras inside the lounge, there are at the entrance. We can ask Fuji TV to retrieve the footage. If I'm not mistaken, only you and your partner entered the lounge during this period, and only you came out. I don't need to explain what that means, do I?"

"...Didn't I say this was just..."

"Finally, it's a matter of timing. President Kameyama, Director Abiru, if my memory serves me right, Fuji TV's on-site camera equipment should have had cameras pointed at Mai-senpai and me the whole time. There must have been a real-time time recording on it. And at 11:12, Mai-senpai and I's conversation should have been recorded. We can invite a lip-reading expert to verify what we were saying."

"Yes! Our station will fully cooperate with you, Uesugi-kun!" President Kameyama was so excited he was practically floating on air.

Yes~ yeah, yes, yes, yes, yes~
It's all recorded! Got it!

He could feel the volcano of ratings boiling over, rolling out from Mount Fuji!

It's about to erupt!!!

Great! We've recorded Uesugi-kun's entire live deduction process. Fuji TV is saved!

With President Kameyama's full support, Uesugi Muneyuki slowly approached Miyano and placed the emergency inhaler and two cell phones in front of Miyano Hiroyuki: "Miyano-san? Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

With Uesugi Muneyuki's actions, the incredibly strong psychological defenses of the handcuffed top comedian finally crumbled.

I'm so damn unlucky!

Thinking of this, Hiroyuki Miyano both laughed and cried. His knees buckled, and he knelt on the ground, taking a deep breath. He looked up and saw his partner's corpse and Uesugi Muneyuki's scrutinizing gaze. He licked his lips, and when he opened his mouth, his sobs preceded his words: "It's you! It's all because of you! It's all your fault! Uesugi Muneyuki! You demon!!!"

“I didn’t mean to kill Tetsu!” Hiroyuki Miyano shook his head vigorously, his eyes filled with tears. “Although we didn’t get along, we were partners for over 20 years! Why would I want to kill him unless I had no other choice?”

"He forced me into this! I was forced into it, I had no choice, I had no other option!"

"Because if I don't kill him, he will, he will tell the truth."

"In that case, my future, and the future of the Umbrella Duo, are all over, all over! Aaaaaah!"

"Waaaaaah~" As if recalling his past days in the theater, Hiroyuki Miyano couldn't help but cover his face with his hands, tears streaming down his face.

That matter… Uesugi Muneyuki’s gaze gradually became complicated.

Hiroyuki Miyano wasn't lying; his decision to kill his partner really was related to Muneyuki Uesugi!
(End of this chapter)