Chapter 49: Masayoshi: Haibara, You Are So Despicable

Yamamoto stared blankly down at Yamashita.
This fellow, secretly making a trip to the washroom, had actually gone off to do such a thing?
Yamamoto immediately hurried over and said, "Seiichi-san! Even if it costs me my life, I will push this request through to the company!"
If he couldn't get this approved, then life wasn't worth living anyway!
Seiichi patted Yamamoto's shoulder and said earnestly, "I appreciate your sincerity, but life is the most important thing."
"Yes, yes, yes, life is the most important thing," Yamamoto nodded repeatedly.
Having just witnessed Takeshita's end, he was well aware of how precious life was.
If he failed to secure those revenue shares and theater screenings from the company, he would simply resign and flee straight to Africa, running as far away as possible.
Under Sato's watchful gaze, Seiichi and Yamashita signed the contract, agreeing with Yamamoto to finalize the terms completely over dinner next time.
Takeshita's death seemed to have brought even more immense benefits to Seiichi.
Combined with Seiichi's previous remarks, Sato was now a hundred percent certain that Takeshita's death had been orchestrated from behind the scenes by Seiichi.
After Yamashita and Yamamoto left, Seiichi flashed a smile at Sato.
"Despicable!" Sato said through clenched teeth.
"How is this despicable?" Seiichi said with an innocent air. "If you understood business, you would know that I am the most sincere person of all, never resorting to shady tactics like dual contracts."
"Right, you just frequently take people's lives instead," Sato retorted.
Seiichi looked at Sato with the innocent innocence of a little white lotus.
He had never killed anyone in his life.
Sato seemed to read the meaning in Seiichi's eyes and sneered, "Using someone else's hands to kill is even more despicable than doing it directly."
"I did nothing of the sort, Officer Sato should not make wild accusations," Seiichi said.
Seiichi insolently swept his gaze over Sato's body from top to bottom, then leaned in close and whispered, "You don't happen to have a recording device on you, do you?"
"Heh, feel free to guess," Sato took a step back.
"I'll guess you don't," Seiichi said. "Officer Sato understands the law much better than Kogoro Mouri; you know better than to infringe upon an innocent citizen's right to privacy."
With malicious intent, he added, "After all, Officer Sato only recently had her driver's license revoked for drunk driving. Violating regulations again might get you expelled from the Metropolitan Police Department, no?"
Sato gritted her teeth, looking as though she wanted to tear Seiichi apart with her bare hands.
Seiichi shook his head at Sato, took Ai by the hand, and walked away.
Sato glared at Seiichi's retreating back, grinding her teeth.
This time, while provoking her, that arrogant fellow had left behind a crucial clue.
That was Takeshita's mistress.
As long as they thoroughly investigated the relationship between that mistress and Seiichi, they would once again have justifiable grounds to investigate Seiichi.
Sumitomo Seiichi was definitely not innocent.
Sato turned to investigate that woman; she had to prevent the woman from leaving Japan or being murdered by someone.
Since Seiichi had given her this tip, it meant he was already confident enough to disregard whatever impact that woman might have.
Ai held Seiichi's hand without uttering a single word.
Seiichi stroked the top of her head and asked in a low voice, "Why do you think I managed to successfully reach a cooperative agreement with those two companies this time?"
"Sincerity," Ai replied without the slightest hesitation.
"Exactly, sincerity is the ultimate killer move," Seiichi said.
Ai nodded in agreement.
Sincerity is the ultimate killer move.
The most important part of that phrase was the suffix—'killer'.
If you refuse to accept my sincerity, then I simply have to kill you.
Seiichi seemed genuinely intent on grooming Ai to become his subordinate in corporate management, and tested her further, "How do you think this movie should be promoted?"
Ai pondered for a moment.
Bearing Seiichi's despicable conduct in mind, she stated bluntly, "As a terrifying horror film that scares people to death."
Seiichi looked at Ai in utter disbelief and said with simulated indignation, "How could you use other people's suffering as a stepping stone purely for your own benefit?"
Ai was momentarily stunned.
Meow?
Was he talking about her?
Seiichi said indignantly, "Those who profit from human tragedy possess not an ounce of shame. Such people are mere vermin in the gutter—you must never emulate them."
"I... I understand," Ai said, completely bewildered.
This sudden burst of a strong sense of justice left Ai completely at a loss.
You, someone who kills people as effortlessly as slaughtering chickens, actually care about profiting from human tragedy?
Ai cautiously glanced around the surroundings, but there was no one else in sight.
Standing beneath the high moral ground from which Seiichi was pointing fingers and lecturing her, Ai felt utterly ashamed of herself.
"As someone with a certain status in society, you must pay closer attention to your own conduct and avoid leaving such obvious stains," Seiichi lectured.
The attacks against him by the Justice Daily were nothing more than baseless speculations; while they possessed a certain internal logic, they utterly lacked evidence.
If he were to blatantly profit from human tragedy himself, that simply wouldn't do.
"Understood," Ai whispered softly.
Yet, due to her profound distrust of Seiichi's character,
she strongly suspected that Seiichi would secretly find some other way to profit from Takeshita's tragedy anyway.
After all, judging by Seiichi's past behavior, he had never once been an upright person.
...
"Utterly devoid of conscience! Japan is finished!"
Inside the offices of the Justice Daily, the editor-in-chief stormed into the newsroom, the rage on his face still unabated as he muttered endlessly about how Japan was doomed sooner or later.
"Editor-in-chief, what happened?" Koike stepped forward with a concerned expression.
"Hmph!"
The editor-in-chief let out a cold snort and tossed a photograph onto the desk. It showed Takeshita curled up on the floor, while The Ring played on a screen before him.
"That horror movie by Sumitomo Seiichi scared someone to death. To prevent the news from leaking and harming the film's prospects, they shifted all the blame onto the deceased's wife.
It's simply horrifying; this is the sort of method used to wipe out an entire family!" the editor-in-chief said furiously.
Koike looked at the photograph and said in a low voice, "Didn't the police state that it was the deceased's wife who added caffeine to the deceased's water, causing..."
"Look at who handled the case!" the editor-in-chief bellowed angrily. "Mouri! Chosokabe! Megure! With these three gathering together, isn't it whatever Seiichi wants the conclusion to be?"
Koike's jaw dropped.
Those three individuals had already been branded by their newspaper as Seiichi's staunch lackeys.
The editor-in-chief pointed a finger at Koike and ordered, "You, right now, immediately, at once! Go write a report about how The Ring scares people to death. We must give a voice to that innocent woman locked away in prison; we cannot allow her to be wrongfully imprisoned!"
"Yes!" Koike shouted loudly.
"Go!" The editor-in-chief handed Koike a few more photographs and some documentation.
Koike did not hesitate to return to her desk, pick up the materials, and begin drafting the report, completely unconcerned that it was already past normal working hours.
For the sake of justice, for the sake of giving a voice to that innocent woman, what did a little overtime matter?