"What!!! Absolutely not!!!"
Following Senichi's words, almost everyone in the room shouted in unison.
The group included not only Kinoshita and Yasuhiro Miyauchi but also Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi, who were standing on the side, strongly opposed Senichi's order.
"The performance of the Kamen Yaiba must not be interrupted!"
"There are still so many children outside waiting to watch the show!" Ayumi looked at Senichi and requested, "If the performance is stopped halfway, everyone will be so disappointed!"
"It'll be fine if we can find the culprit, right?"
Mitsuhiko looked at Senichi and said, "We Detective Boys will definitely find the murderer before the performance starts, so please, don't stop the show!"
"We will also be very troubled if we can't perform." Kinoshita also joined in, requesting, "Please!"
"Unless we can find the culprit during this period, otherwise it's absolutely not possible." Senichi said firmly.
Seeing that the other side still wanted to say something, Senichi glanced at Kinoshita and said in a low voice, "What you need to do now is to make everyone cooperate fully with my investigation. Anything else is a waste of time."
"I-I understand."
Being stared at by Senichi with sharp eyes, Kinoshita nodded vigorously, "Cooperate! Definitely cooperate! So, Detective Senichi, please catch the culprit quickly!"
"Very well, now gather everyone here."
After Senichi finished speaking, Yasuhiro Miyauchi, who was on the side, ran out with a knowing look. Soon, backstage staff and others including Hiroshi Sanba, who had just performed on stage, gradually gathered in the room.
"Everyone is here, first question." Senichi looked at the assembled crowd and asked, "Who saw the deceased this morning? Raise your hands if you did."
Arms were raised one after another, and then everyone raised their hands.
"What's going on?" Senichi frowned. "Did you all see the deceased?"
"Yes." Everyone nodded uniformly.
On the side, Hiroshi Sanba explained, "Because we have a celebratory action before the performance, at that time, all of us were present."
"Is that so..." Senichi nodded and asked, "So, what kind of person was the deceased usually? Do any of you know if he had any grievances with someone?"
The crowd looked at each other, but no one dared to speak, clearly showing some hesitation.
Finally, as the leading star, Hiroshi Sanba spoke, "Although I don't want to speak ill of the deceased, Kujou was an arrogant and difficult person to get along with. He was very strict with others.
You might not know, but many actions of the Kamen Yaiba are very cool, especially the signature 'spinning shuriken' which is very difficult. Even Tomoyuki Kuriki dared not attempt it. During substitutions, he could only deal with enemies honestly through combat.
This is also why 'Kamen Yaiba Ninja' can be distinguished from the original 'Kamen Yaiba' and even be popular, because he eliminated the shadow of the original.
It can be said that it was precisely because of Kujou's signature stunt that Kamen Yaiba became so popular. And because of this, Kujou has always been very proud of his talent.
Even the celebratory action we did together before the performance was a rule set by Kujou. He took it very seriously every time, wanting everyone to cheer together. In fact, it was a way to assert his status by establishing rules. Today, he was wearing the Mask, and that was even more annoying."
After Hiroshi Sanba finished speaking, everyone nodded in agreement. It was evident that the deceased was indeed quite unpleasant, and this view was even shared by everyone.
"Are you saying that the deceased was wearing a mask during the celebration this morning?" Senichi looked at the crowd and asked.
"Yes, he was wearing the mask when he gathered us for the celebratory action." Hiroshi Sanba nodded and looked at his colleagues behind him. "After completing it, he went to rest as usual."
"As usual?" Senichi raised an eyebrow. "Was the deceased's routine always fixed?"
"Yes, although Kujou had an unpleasant personality, he was very serious at work. That's also why Kinoshita, the head, could tolerate him."
Hiroshi Sanba said, "After the cheering celebratory action, Kujou would usually stay alone in the makeshift dressing room and wait for the second part to begin.
According to him, he wanted to concentrate and create the perfect 'spinning shuriken.' Except for notifying him to go on stage, we generally wouldn't disturb him."
"Is that so?" Senichi nodded in understanding. "Then let's proceed to verify the alibis. Those who can confirm each other's presence, stand together."
The personnel here can be divided into two groups: one consists of the actors performing on stage, and the other comprises the staff responsible for backstage work, so the screening process is quite quick.
The actors have no major issues; everyone was on stage performing, and the numerous audience members outside could serve as their witnesses.
Even when briefly leaving the audience's view during the exit, they were only in the side corridors, and their colleagues can testify.
As for the staff, surprisingly, it was quite straightforward.
During the performance, everyone was busy with backstage work. These tasks generally require coordination, and most people were gathered in pairs or small groups, and they were very close to each other. Basically, everyone had an alibi.
After a thorough investigation, only the Manager Kinoshita, Yasuhiro Miyauchi, and Kuriki Tomoyuki, did not have an alibi during the performance.
Well, here comes the classic three-choice case again.
"Hey hey... you're not suspecting me of killing Kujou, are you?" After dismissing the others, Kinoshita, who remained in the room, exclaimed in disbelief.
"Just to clear any suspicion. Don't hide anything and provide detailed information about your whereabouts," Senichi responded to Kinoshita's defense. As an experienced detective, he would not easily believe a suspect's reasons.
So, Senichi replied casually to Kinoshita's words and then turned to the first discoverer of the crime scene, Yasuhiro Miyauchi and asked, "After Mr. Hiroshi started his performance, Mr. Miyauchi, where were you at that time?"
"As I am in charge of coordinating the work, I was in the dressing room during the performance, making various calls to arrange the upcoming schedule," Yasuhiro Miyauchi said and pulled out his phone.
"These call records should count as evidence. You can check them or call each number one by one. My conversations with them were absolutely genuine!"
Senichi took the phone, looked at the call history, and indeed, there were many call records around the time of the incident.
"This is not necessarily true!"
However, before Senichi could speak, Genta, who was on the side, looked at Yasuhiro Miyauchi with suspicion and directly spoke words that irritated him.