Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

Upon hearing this, Sonoko could no longer suppress her smile and covered her mouth, laughing, "No, no, no matter how much he trains, he still can't... hahahaha!"

Longye: "..."

Ryūno glared at Sonoko, then sighed helplessly.

Just as Amuro Tooru and Sera Masumi were about to get to the bottom of things, a scream came from upstairs.

The loud, piercing scream immediately drew the attention of everyone present.

Judging from the sound, it should be several women screaming at the same time.

Toru Amuro and Masumi Sera analyzed:

"It's coming from the recording studio upstairs!"

"That's right, judging from the voices, it might be those women from earlier!"

After saying that, the two immediately got up and ran out of the lounge.

Soon after, Longye and his group arrived at the entrance of the recording studio where the screams had come from.

Because the recording studio door was open, Longye and the others could clearly see what was happening inside.

The people standing in the recording studio were indeed the same women who had been in the lounge earlier.

At this moment, they are gathered around the drum set, looking at their companion who is 'lying' on the drum set, and calling her name loudly.

"Hagi River! Hagi River!"

"Wait, could she really be dead?!"

At this moment, Amuro Tooru and Sera Masumi noticed the ligature marks on the woman's neck, and their expressions darkened slightly.

"He had Yoshikawa lines on his neck, so it looks like he was strangled," Sera Masumi said calmly.

Upon hearing this, the women in the recording studio all looked astonished.

……

Shortly after, Inspector Megure and his team arrived at the scene.

Upon seeing Ryūno and his group, Inspector Megure and Officer Takagi immediately stepped forward to greet them.

After briefly understanding the situation, Inspector Megure and Officer Takagi went to the front desk and asked the staff to retrieve the surveillance footage from the crime scene.

Since every recording studio here is monitored, Inspector Megure and Officer Takagi breathed a sigh of relief, believing that the case would be solved soon.

But when they saw the surveillance footage that the staff had pulled up, they frowned again.

Although the surveillance footage was working properly, half of the screen appeared to be obstructed, and the obstructed portion was located precisely where the deceased was sitting on the drum set.

After speaking with the deceased's companions, it was learned that in order to record their performance, they placed a selfie stick with their phone attached next to the monitor in the recording studio, which blocked half of the monitor's view.

The area next to the drum kit remained completely black, so the perpetrator who murdered the woman was not captured on camera.

Furthermore, the selfie stick was placed according to the victim's suggestion.

They kept looking at their phone screens while adjusting the position of the selfie stick, finally settling on its current location.

Although there was a large mirror inside, it was covered up at the victim's request.

If the mirror hadn't been covered, the surveillance cameras could have captured the prisoner's reflection, but unfortunately, the mirror was also covered...

Therefore, it is currently impossible to identify the suspect.

"Looking at it this way, it seems inevitable that this would happen in the end..." Inspector Megure pondered.

“Yeah, they probably anticipated this and used this situation to commit the crime.” Amuro Tooru walked up to Inspector Megure and whispered.

Sera Masumi added, "In short, let's watch the surveillance footage and listen to what these three have to say. They took turns going into this recording studio to try and wake the victim up."

Inspector Megure glanced around at Ryūno and the others, then squinted at Amuro Tooru, lost in thought.

No wonder he always felt something was missing; it turned out he was missing Conan and that guy Mori!

So, does this mean that the bad luck these two bring wherever they go has already infected Longye and the others?!

——"Memu Police Department?"

Seeing that Inspector Megure did not react, Sera Masumi spoke up.

Inspector Megure shook his head, putting aside his speculation.

Then he coughed lightly and led everyone into the lounge.

……

Soon after, the forensic team completed their investigation of the scene, and Officer Takagi finished compiling the basic intelligence.

The victim's name was Hagiwara Yamaji, the band's drummer and leader.

The other three are: guitarist Kikino Ranka, bassist Fuekawa Yuiko, and keyboardist Komugi Ryukai.

While the victim, Hagiwara, was sleeping, the three men entered the recording studio one after the other and stayed for about ten minutes each.

Later, because the victim, Yamaji Hagie, had not woken up for a long time, the three of them decided to go and wake her up at the same time, only to find that she was already dead.

Coincidentally, all three were captured on surveillance footage.

-

Bassist Yuiko Fuekawa was the first person to walk into the recording studio.

In the recording studio, she sewed buttons and sleeves for her companion, a wooden boat, which was dyed with flowers.

The second person was guitarist Musashi Iroha.

She rented a guitar from the store, but a string suddenly broke while she was practicing, so she went into the recording studio to change the string and tune the guitar.

The last person is keyboardist Xiao Mu Liu Hai.

She went into the recording studio and made some revisions to the score.

-

After comparing the footage with the surveillance videos and confirming the 'evidence' that proved the three men's actions, Inspector Megure affirmed their statements.

Since the police did not find the murder weapon at the scene or on the three individuals, Inspector Megure expanded the search area to the entire recording studio.

Unexpectedly, despite a thorough search, the forensic team was unable to find the murder weapon.

Seeing this, Inspector Megure and Inspector Takagi were no longer as 'relaxed' as before, and both frowned deeply.

Generally speaking, the murderer must have a deep connection with the victim.

They subconsciously assumed that the murderer must be among the victim's three "companions" and had not paid attention to the other guests in the recording studio.

Since they entered the store, several groups of customers have already left.

Could it be that... this time the perpetrator is not someone close to the victim, but an 'outsider'?

Was the murder weapon taken away by the guest who just left?

Thinking of this, Inspector Megure immediately turned to look at Officer Takagi, preparing to ask him to bring back the guests who had left earlier.

Chapter 350 It's not strings, it's yarn

Upon hearing Inspector Megure's instructions, the victim's three companions immediately asked:

"Officer, have you investigated any other bands?"

"Speaking of which, Hagiwara does often get into arguments with other bands."

"That's right...maybe that's where the grudge started."

"She also got into a fight with the band that performed with us before. Those people mocked our former lead singer for committing suicide because he ruined his voice..."

Upon hearing this, Officer Takagi pressed further, "Excuse me... who was that former lead singer who committed suicide?"

Guitarist Kifune Ranka's face was filled with reminiscence: "Her name was Shoutou Akane, a girl with a beautiful voice. She taught us many singing techniques. However, she knew absolutely nothing about what girls should know. Hagi taught her to cook, while I taught her makeup and dressing up..."

After listening to the three people's recollections, Sera Masumi asked, "Could you show us the practice footage you filmed in the recording studio?"

Upon hearing this, keyboardist Xiao Mu pulled out his phone from his pocket and showed everyone the practice video.

After watching the video, Sera Masumi and Amuro Tooru both smiled.

Based on this video, they have basically identified the perpetrator.

Seeing the confident expressions on their faces, Longye shook his head helplessly.

To be honest, when he discovered that the victim had been strangled, his first thought was that the murder weapon the perpetrator had chosen was a musical string.

After all, the guitar proficiency skill he had just acquired included various ways to use guitar strings.

However, as Tatsuno examined the ligature marks on the victim's neck more closely, he ultimately ruled out this possibility.

The ligature marks on the victim's neck were not caused by the strings.

The marks looked more like they were made by a thinner rope than by the strings.

Furthermore, given that Inspector Megure and his team failed to find the murder weapon in the store, there are currently only two most likely scenarios.

Either the murder weapon is still on the three of them—just like the case that happened when they flew to Los Angeles last time, the murder weapon was actually part of their 'clothing' and had been worn by the perpetrator ever since.

Either the murder weapon was actually on the victim's body—a case of the unseen being right under the nose.

After all, the criminal is not like him; he doesn't have a system backpack or steel pipe space, so the murder weapon could not possibly disappear into thin air.

As for the suspect, it's even easier to say. First of all, it's certain that he has absolutely no connection with the customer who just left the store.

This... isn't this a classic three-choice scenario? The murderer must be one of the victim's three companions.

Although all three women have so-called 'proof' that they did not have time to kill when they entered the recording room.

But with just a little thought, the flaws become apparent:

— Bassist Yuiko Fuekawa sewing buttons and sleeves in the recording studio.

Guitarist Iroha Musen is changing strings and tuning his guitar in the recording studio.

Keyboardist Xiao Mu is revising sheet music in the recording studio.

Of these three people, only one's 'proof' is untenable.

They overheard a conversation between several people in the lounge earlier. Whether it was sewing clothes or changing guitar strings, these were all 'unexpected events' that were difficult to prepare for in advance.

The only thing that can be prepared for in advance is revising the sheet music.