An Immature Murderer

"Tilefish?"

Ran clearly didn't quite understand why the tilefish was called the squarehead fish.

So, she turned into a curious child and asked, "But why is dried sea bream called a tilehead fish?"

"That's because the heads of tilefish are square."

Conan walked over, glanced at the sea bream on the table, and then said, "In some places, people also call it horsehead fish, or something like that."

"Judging from the name, it should be the name of the western region of Kyoto, Osaka, or Kobe."

Fujino picked up the thread, "After all, Ms. Ikenami's tone was Kansai dialect just now, and she also mentioned that only in the western Kyoto and Osaka regions is tilefish considered a very good ingredient."

"Fujino is right, I did study in Osaka before."

Hattori Shizuka paused for a moment, agreeing with Fujino's statement, then said with some distress, "Even though so many years have passed, I still unconsciously speak the Kansai dialect. To be honest, it does sometimes cause a lot of unnecessary trouble."

"But..."

Conan looked at Hattori Shizuka with suspicion.

This explanation doesn't seem like anything at first glance.

However, if we combine this with the previous term "iced coffee," then there's a big problem.

This lady is acting very strangely!

Just as he was about to speak, a loud shout suddenly came from behind him, "Who are you?! How dare you barge into someone else's house?"

Everyone was startled by the sound and turned around to see a woman standing in the doorway, looking furious. "I'm calling the police!"

"Etc!"

"We are just..."

Uncle Mori and Ran were both a little flustered.

It was only then that the two of them realized something was wrong.

It seems inappropriate to follow a neighbor and trespass into their home.

Fujino, on the other hand, remained quite calm, simply observing the woman before him silently.

The woman was wearing a long-sleeved athletic top, khaki shorts, had short black hair, and wore round-framed glasses. Judging from her appearance, she was probably around forty years old.

The golf club bag she was carrying on her back confirmed that she had just finished playing golf.

Judging from her behavior, she should be Shibata Shiro's wife.

If Fujino remembers correctly, this lady was actually the murderer.

The motive for the murder was likely gambling.

Shibata Shiro was actually a gambling addict, while Yoshikawa was the one who organized the gambling.

These people gambled large sums of money by playing mahjong.

Shibata Shiro, who was involved, gradually became obsessed with this thing.

As we all know, gamblers usually don't have a good ending, and Shibata Shiro was no exception.

After losing all of her family's savings and starting to sell off her assets, Mrs. Shibata finally couldn't take it anymore and threw a coin at him.

It just goes to show that gamblers never get what they deserve; this gold coin windfall was fantastic.

However, as a murderer, this woman's acting skills seem lacking.

Both are wives, but Mrs. Shibata's acting skills are clearly much worse than Mrs. Ikenami's.

When a group of strangers appeared at home when no one was home, her behavior should have been normal.

But that only applies when no one is home.

If your husband is home and a beautiful woman in a kimono, two men in suits, a girl, and a child appear in the house...

Normally, one wouldn't think the worst, right?

However, Mrs. Shibata immediately concluded that this group of people were strangers breaking into the house. Clearly, she already knew that her husband was not home or had died.

Someone like this, who immediately reveals their identity as a murderer upon entering the scene...

Even if Fujino didn't know, he could immediately identify him as an immature murderer.

"Shibata, how are you?! Cheer up!"

Just as the Mori father and daughter were about to explain, a frantic shout suddenly came from the study behind them.

"What?!"

Conan was startled by the sound. For some reason, he felt that the tune was somewhat familiar. After regaining his senses, he immediately turned around and rushed to the room behind him.

Uncle Mori was a little less impressive, only slowly following after Conan rushed to the scene.

Fujino followed Ran and Hattori Shizuka last, slowly walking towards the study behind them.

Pushing open the half-closed door, one sees an empty study. At the doorway, a man wearing black pants and a green sweater lies face down on the floor, his head still covered in bloodstains.

"Shibata, pull yourself together!"

Neighbor Yoshikawa squatted beside Shibata Shiro's body, shaking him in a panic.

"Mr. Shibata, he..."

Ran saw the scene inside the room, took two steps back, and showed a hint of fear on her face.

Fujino pulled a pair of white gloves from his pocket, turned to Ran and Hattori Shizuka, and said, "I'll go check on the situation."

"Photo?"

Conan, who had already entered the crime scene, paused slightly as he looked at Shibata's body.

At a glance, he noticed that the dead Shibata was still clutching a photograph in his hand.

He had just taken out his handkerchief, intending to step forward and snatch the photo from the other person's hand to take a look, but before he could succeed, a feeling of being suspended in mid-air came from his body.

"Little Brother Conan, don't disturb the crime scene."

Fujino picked up Conan, casually gave him a few instructions, and then put him aside.

"???"

Conan looked at Fujino, feeling completely bewildered.

Clearly, he was somewhat puzzled by Fujino's actions.

They haven't even confirmed whether the person is dead or not, so how can this guy be sure this is a crime scene?

Although he was indeed dead based on the circumstances... he still felt that Fujino's move was a bit too decisive.

Fujino ignored the bewildered Conan and instead reached out to touch Shibata's neck.

The System Task have all popped up. Even if a person isn't dead, they'll eventually die. That's an ironclad rule.

Even though it's confirmed that the person is dead, we still have to go through the motions.

"Brother Fujino, how is it?"

Kogoro Mouri crouched down and asked Fujino, "Mr. Shibata, he..."

Fujino shook his head, took out a pair of white gloves from his pocket, and handed them to Mori Kogoro: "Mr. Shibata has no pulse, and judging from the stiffness of his body, he has been dead for some time."

Uncle Mori's expression darkened slightly. He sighed, then took the gloves, put them on skillfully, and turned to shout behind him, "Ran, go call the police!"

"I'll take care of it."

Fujino stood up, interrupting Uncle Mori.

About ten minutes later, a Coral-head Police Officer arrived at the scene with his men.

The Coral-head Police Officer was none other than Yokomizo Sango, a devoted fan of Mori Kogoro.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries with Inspector Yokomizo, the Forensic Science Division team quickly began their investigation in the study.

"Honey!"

Mrs. Shibata cried out for Shibata Shiro in the study, tears streaming down her face.

"Mr. Mori, and Mr. Fujino, what are you doing here?"

Yokomizo Sango glanced at the sobbing Mrs. Shibata, then turned around and asked Fujino and Mori Kogoro behind him.

"We've come to see Mr. Shibata about something."

Mori Kogoro glanced at Shibata's body in the study. "But after we got here, when Mr. Yoshikawa opened the door, he found that Mr. Shibata was already dead."

As he spoke, he turned to Fujino and asked, "Am I right, Fujino- kun?"

Fujino nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"I see."

Upon hearing this, Yokomizo Sango pondered for a moment, then turned to the Forensic Science Division in the white coat inside the room and asked, "Can the time of death be determined?"

"It's confirmed."

The forensic doctor replied, "Preliminary assessment suggests that the deceased died sometime between early morning and this morning, and the cause of death was a blunt force trauma to the head..."

"This morning?"

After a moment's thought, Yokomizo Sango immediately ruled out Fujino and his group as suspects and instead focused his suspicions on Shibata Kyoko.

According to Shibata Kyoko, she left home before 5 a. m. this morning to go play golf with her friends.

As for Shibata Shiro, he returned home at 3 a. m. after playing mahjong with his friends, and was already asleep before Shibata Kyoko left.

However, judging from the newspaper left on the table and the breakfast, Yokomizo Sango believes that Shibata was probably killed while eating after waking up.

According to the video recording, Shibata's time of death was pushed back to between 8:00 and 8:45 in the morning.

Conan kept pacing around the scene, looking at Fujino with a hint of resentment.

That guy Fujino actually wouldn't let him touch the crime scene!

How can I find clues without visiting the crime scene?

He was very curious about what the photograph in the deceased's hand was.

In short, he had a feeling that it must be a very important clue.

And that Ikenami is definitely involved in this case.

But after being dragged out, he never had the chance to see it again. He could only wander around the scene, constantly trying to avoid Uncle Mori's iron fist.

Fortunately, he was still as clever as ever and immediately found a useful clue. In a childlike tone, he pointed to the shelf next to the TV with videotapes and said strangely, "Oh dear, how strange! Look, why is the shelf full of videotapes, but one compartment is empty? And there's no projector either, and there's only one speaker next to the TV."

Hattori Shizuka was successfully drawn to Conan.

She glanced at Conan curiously, her eyes slightly upturned like a vixen's.

Actually, she had also noticed that this child was somewhat unusual...

Whether it was coming up with ideas beforehand or ordering iced coffee, she subtly displayed a wisdom beyond her years.

However, she didn't think much of it, simply assuming that she must have been influenced by spending too much time with the two Great Detective.

In contrast, Fujino has probably seen through her by now, and has even deduced that she is Osaka.

"That's right..."

Yokomizo Sango stepped forward, glanced at the empty seat next to the television, and nodded.

"Maybe it was sent for repair?"

Mori Kogoro, with his hands in his pockets, turned to Mrs. Shibata and asked, "Is this what I meant, Mrs. Shibata?"

"No, actually it's my husband..."

Shibata Kyoko seemed hesitant, but before she could finish speaking, Yoshikawa interrupted her, saying, "Alright, this little thing shouldn't be important, right? Let's get this sorted out so I can go home!"

"Mr. Yoshikawa, you look very nervous."

Fujino, who had been observing silently from the sidelines, saw that the time was ripe and slowly stepped forward, asking Shibata Kyoko, "Mrs. Shibata, what were you trying to say just now?"

"This..."

Shibata Kyoko sighed, "Actually, my husband sold the projector and the sound system."

"Sold?"

Yokomizo Sango was taken aback. "Excuse me for asking, is your family's financial situation not very optimistic?"

"That's not true..."

Shibata Kyoko hesitated for a moment.

Before she could say anything, Yoshikawa, who was sitting next to her, couldn't sit still any longer. "Wait, this kind of thing is completely unimportant..."

"Mr. Yoshikawa, please do not interrupt Mrs. Shibata again and again."

Yokomizo Sango somewhat displeased at this point, and said in a deep voice, "Or is there some unspeakable secret behind this?"

"This..."

Upon hearing this, Yoshikawa panicked, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

"It's probably related to mahjong."

Fujino pondered, "If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Shibata has been involved in gambling at mahjong all along. That would explain why the stereo and projector in the room were sold off."

"Is that so?"

Yokomizo Sango frowned. "Mrs. Shibata, is it really as Fujino- kun said?"

"That's right..."

Shibata Kyoko sighed, "My husband was indeed involved in the gambling scheme orchestrated by Yoshikawa ... Thanks to him, we sold our computer, car, jewelry, and even the loudspeaker."

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this.

Yokomizo Sango was the first to recover, his eyes slightly narrowed as he looked at Yoshikawa: "Mr. Yoshikawa, can you explain what Mrs. Shibata said?"

"This..."

Yoshikawa stammered and couldn't speak for a long time.

"I remember you were the first one to open the door back then, weren't you?"

Yokomizo Sango's expression gradually darkened, as if he had already determined that this guy was the murderer. "You didn't have an alibi at the time. If Mr. Shibata usually gambled, you might have killed Mr. Shibata because of gambling."

"Wait a minute! We do gamble sometimes, but that doesn't warrant killing someone!"

Yoshikawa panicked upon hearing this.

Gambling-related crimes are minor, but murder is far more serious.

Turning his head, he looked at Fujino and his group, then said repeatedly, "Those people must also be suspects, right? Although you all seem to know each other, but..."

"Huh? These guys are the least likely to be murderers! How could Sleeping Kogoro,' and the dark detective Fujino be murderers? The odds of that are lower than winning the lottery."

Yokomizo Sango was taken aback upon hearing this, then laughed in disbelief.

In his view, it's not impossible for Great Detective to commit murder.

However, the probability of winning the lottery is probably higher.

"You mean the Sleeping Kogoro?!"

"And there's High School Detective Fujino?!"

Both Yoshikawa and Kyoko were taken aback.

"Yes."

Yokomizo Sango nodded, then proudly introduced, "Accompanying these two is Mr. Mori's daughter, Ran, and Conan, who is staying at Mr. Mori's house... As for that beautiful lady..."

Yokomizo Sango looked at the unfamiliar woman and pondered for a moment before turning to continue, "This must be Mrs. Mori, right?"

Fujino: "..."

Ran: "..."

Conan: "..."

Hattori Shizuka: "..."

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this.