Ishikawa| a newspaper journalist| unexpectedly meets Asako| a woman who used to work for his company some time ago as a phone operator. Three years ago| she
accidentally heard the voice of a suspect who committed a still-unresolved homicide. Since then| the suspect's voice has remained lodged in her mind as a terrifying
memory. One night| her husband invites over his colleagues| Kawai| Hamazaki| and Muraoka. She realizes that Hamazaki's voice sounds exactly the same as the unseen
suspect's! A few days later| Hamazaki is found dead in a rain-soaked coalfield; her husband is kept in police custody as the primary suspect. Ishikawa tries to help
Asako and launches his own investigation. However| the investigation soon runs into difficulty as both Kawai and Muraoka had alibis. To make matters worse| her
husband implausibly confesses