"Sister Yoko, do you know anything about my mother's killer?"
Akikawa Kyousuke looked directly at Okino Yoko and asked.
"I don't know."
Akikawa Kyousuke then noticed a momentary look of confusion on Okino Yoko's beautiful cheeks as she shook her head.
"Then why doesn't my sister want me to become an artist?"
"Because I know how difficult the entertainment industry is and how everyone maintains a harmonious relationship only on the surface," Okino Yoko replied.
"Just like when we were at the Imperial Theater before, Xiaokong, you might feel like you didn't do anything to Mr. Saihara, but you were jealous and resentful of him.
Even when I was an idol in the Earth Lady team, during my seven years in the Japanese entertainment industry, I encountered countless intrigues and schemes. That's why I don't want you, Kou-chan, to experience such things."
Okino Yoko's expression and tone were sincere, and her words were very convincing.
However, Akikawa Kyousuke knew Okino Yoko wasn't telling the truth.
It wasn't because he detected any microexpression revealing her lies, but because he was certain.
Through her absence from filming last year and her current persuasion to keep him from becoming an artist, Akikawa Kyousuke was confident that Okino Yoko knew about the internal circumstances surrounding the car accident.
---
'This woman…'
Akikawa Kyousuke simply grabbed Okino Yoko's hand.
It wasn't only to gauge her internal emotions by feeling the temperature of her palm.
He had another purpose—to detect lies.
Even though Okino Yoko held Akikawa Kyousuke's hand with both of hers, she didn't notice that his middle finger was always resting on her radial artery.
This is the most common spot to measure one's pulse, located on the inner wrist near the thumb.
---
Compared to polygraphs, which rely on detecting changes in physiological indicators like heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and skin conductance to determine lies, using the pulse is less reliable.
But in this crude setting, it was one of the few methods Akikawa Kyousuke could rely on.
The human pulse can reflect a person's psychological changes in real-time.
When someone lies, they might feel nervous or anxious, causing their heart rate to spike momentarily, leading to an irregular or accelerated pulse.
Some might even feel uneasy while lying, causing slight tremors in their body that could affect pulse stability.
---
Yet, to Akikawa Kyousuke's surprise, Okino Yoko's pulse showed no irregularity when she spoke.
This proved that Okino Yoko could lie without blushing or her heart skipping a beat.
While many consider idols and artists to be adept at lying, few can avoid physiological reactions.
Moreover, Akikawa Kyousuke noted something peculiar:
Okino Yoko's response to his question aligned precisely with the "half-truth strategy" used in counter-surveillance techniques—a method of acknowledging partial truths to remain physiologically stable and avoid detection by polygraphs.
This strategy was far more sophisticated than people like Toda Kyouji, who lied directly and fooled only themselves.
If Okino Yoko was doing this deliberately or subconsciously, it meant this woman was no simple individual.
---
'She's deliberately hiding the details of the car accident from me. Simply asking her won't reveal the truth.'
Although Akikawa Kyousuke couldn't extract information about the true culprit behind the car accident from Okino Yoko, he didn't leave empty-handed.
At the very least, Akikawa Kyousuke was now sure that Okino Yoko had no connection with the original owner or his mother, as confirmed by the Metropolitan Police's investigation.
---
'Yoko Okino's concern for me is genuine, so she shouldn't be the killer either.
If she had been trying to save me from "Mother," she wouldn't have left such obvious clues that pointed to me as a suspect.
She probably didn't even know I had prepared sleeping pills beforehand.'
---
At this moment, the possibility of Okino Yoko being the killer or the mastermind was dismissed.
But with that, new questions arose in Akikawa Kyousuke's mind.
What was the killer's motive for murdering Ryoko Akikawa?
---
'Based on the current information, the only benefits Ryoko Akikawa's death brought me, apart from granting me freedom, are the two life insurance policies and the car accident compensation insurance.
But so far, no one has shown any interest in the insurance money.'
---
Ryoko Akikawa's insurance beneficiaries were Akikawa Kyousuke himself, and his own insurance beneficiary was Ryoko Akikawa.
The original owner's father had already passed away, and Akikawa Kyousuke ruled out the possibility of the original owner murdering his mother.
The final beneficiary would be Okino Yoko.
But as Japan's top star, Okino Yoko didn't lack the insurance money amounting to barely 100 million yen.
Thus, the possibility of the killer murdering for insurance money was also ruled out.
---
'So Ryoko Akikawa had enemies in the past and moved frequently with her child to avoid them…'
Akikawa Kyousuke felt a headache forming due to the lack of information.
If Ryoko Akikawa truly had past grudges, investigating without the original owner's memories would become exponentially harder.
---
Because of Okino Yoko's concealment, Akikawa Kyousuke increasingly felt that the truth behind the car accident was far from ordinary.
---
'Does Okino Yoko's judgment have to be accurate?
Can danger really be avoided just by not becoming an artist?'
---
With various doubts in mind, Akikawa Kyousuke withdrew his hand from Okino Yoko's.
---
"Sorry, Sister Yoko, but I still think life is much more interesting now than it was before."
Akikawa Kyousuke noticed an extremely worried expression on Okino Yoko's face after hearing his words.
Moments later, Okino Yoko nodded, as if she had made a decision.
---
'It seems it has little to do with the identity of being an "artist."'
Akikawa Kyousuke thought to himself and then thanked Okino Yoko.
"Thank you."
Upon hearing Akikawa Kyousuke's gratitude, Okino Yoko showed a faintly helpless smile.
It was the expression of a mother who had finally given in to her child's insistence after a great psychological struggle.
---
"By the way, why didn't you see Miss Itakura?"
"In the morning, I asked her to check on Sister Yoko's stage event," Akikawa Kyousuke replied, looking confused.
Upon hearing his words, Okino Yoko looked extremely embarrassed and turned away for a moment.
---
(End of Chapter).