Chapter 92: The Smoke
William continued to eye Kazi as the tension between Detective Matasaburō and Ksenia boiled over. There was shouting on Ksenia’s end and a cool, logical refutation by the detective.
"You can’t just declare him dead willy-nilly! He might be alive! What’s the word—MIA?"
"If he’s missing in action, then there’s a good chance he’s the killer," Detective Matasaburō replied.
"What evidence do you have, buddy?"
"No evidence," he said. "Only logic. If he’s not here, either he doesn’t want to be found or he can’t be found. I hope you realize what the first option entails."
Ksenia growled. There wasn’t much she could say to that.
William drew in a erratic breath of air. ’I can understand both sides. Paul was pretty fidgety. If you were to ask a group of people on who would likely be a serial killer, they would probably choose him. Still, I got the vibe he was just super awkward. Not like...a murderer or something.’
The detective was going too far in his view. There was no evidence implicating him but there also wasn’t evidence deeming him innocent. Why not just look over the other evidence, find the killer, then try and find Paul?
"Your Honour," Kazi suddenly called. "We have a basic timeline of events. We have listened to all testimony, made some suspects, and now sit at a crossroad: where is Paul? That is the question I believe we should be answering."
’Oh, okay.’ William leaned forward, listening.
Danzaburou consulted with the jury before responding. "The jury agrees! Continue, Defender!"