The Missing Lighter

Recalling the various assassination and stealth techniques he was forced to learn in the training space, he knew that even if he only had half a minute, let alone five minutes, he could still kill his target quietly and escape without leaving any trace.

Jiang Hang continued to encourage Kogoro Mouri to speak.

"If I really had to choose one of the remaining three people, I would still think it would be more likely to be the Nagumo father and son."

Jiang Hang raised an eyebrow, wanting to know what Kogoro Mouri was thinking when he made this judgment.

"Because that Ms. Kasumi Hahabara has a smoking habit, and her addiction seems to be quite strong. I saw her smoke four or five cigarettes during the filming."

"After the incident, there were several newly lit cigarettes in the ashtray in her room, which she must have smoked in the half hour that followed."

"Although such things can indeed be faked, the smell of cigarettes in her room and on her body was still quite strong, so in the absence of other evidence, I think we can temporarily rule out her suspicion."

"Neither the Nagumo father and son nor his son seem to have a smoking habit. Akira Nagumo was a heavy smoker when he was young, but he said he quit smoking after getting married, so we can't rule them out as suspects based on that alone."

It seems that Shizuka Sakaki hadn't found the relevant information yet, so she immediately went to the side to check whether the information given by Kogoro Mouri was accurate.

Listening to Kogoro Mouri's analysis, although it was somewhat halting, his ideas were not entirely wrong. It can only be said that he was indeed trying very hard to use his brain to help his old classmate clear his name.

In short, after eliminating all possibilities, the only remaining suspects are the Nagumo father and son.

Nobuharu Nagumo was stepped on and kicked by Kazami Yoshiki, and was also called a good-for-nothing third-rate actor.

Akira Nagumo's son was bullied, and then he was exposed for having a secret rendezvous with a young woman.

The former is personal dissatisfaction, while the latter is the fear that if this information is leaked, it could ruin one's reputation and cause disgrace.

Both of them do indeed have the potential to retaliate against Kazami Yoshiki.

"But no matter who did it, the more important thing now is to find out where the murder weapon is. Maybe we can find the murderer's fingerprints on the weapon," Kogoro Mouri looked at Jiang Hang. "You should have been to the crime scene, right? Did you find any clues?"

Jiang Hang nodded slightly.

"I have made some discoveries, but I'm not sure yet. Shall we go back to the crime scene and take another look?"

Chapter 525: Chapter 521: The Missing Lighter

As Jiang Hang uttered those words, Kogoro Mouri and Shizuka Sakaki couldn't help but show some surprise in their eyes.

As expected of Jiang Hang, he wandered around the crime scene for almost half an hour before the police arrived without finding anything.

Of course, there was also the reason why he didn't investigate thoroughly in order not to disturb the crime scene.

But after the police arrived, he stayed by Yokomizo Sango's side, watching the police investigate the scene.

However, despite his and the police's keen observation skills, they never discovered anything.

In addition, he had an argument with the victim before the incident, so if we have to say, he had a few minutes to commit the crime after he got separated from Amashiro Ruri.

Even though he wasn't a strong suspect, Kogoro Mouri, who had been hurt before, did feel sorry for himself. So, under the pretext of assisting in the investigation of the murder weapon, he went outside the villa to smoke a cigarette. In the end, he was revitalized by Jiang Hang's verbal sparring.

He wasn't too bothered by the fact that Jiang Hang had already made some discoveries upon arriving at the scene.

After all, since Jiang Hang debuted, what he is most recognized for is his superb observational ability, which is comparable to a microscope.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have earned the nickname "Eagle-Eyed Detective" so early in his career.

Kogoro Mouri's confidence stems from his own reasoning personality.

Even without Jiang Hang's meticulous observation skills, once he enters a dormant state, the reasoning personality within him will connect all the clues and evidence to uncover the truth of the case.

In fact, he has never been particularly good at crime scene investigation, even during his time as a criminal investigator.

There's no need to compare yourself to Jiang Hang in areas where you're not good at.

Having given himself this suggestion, Kogoro Mouri nodded, indicating that he would go with Jiang Hang to re-examine the crime scene.

With Jiang Hang's observational skills, combined with his reasoning abilities, this case will surely be solved quickly, clearing his and Liuli's names.

With this in mind, the group returned to the crime scene.

Koharu Yoshino is currently at the crime scene, working with the police to re-examine the situation.

The same suspects who had no alibi were also at the crime scene, waiting to be questioned by the police.

Seeing Jiang Hang and the others return, Koharu Yoshino breathed a sigh of relief and brought over all the clues and intelligence she had gathered to report to Jiang Hang.

Koharu Yoshino's compilation of these materials was quite detailed; she recorded almost all the suspicious points in the case and the possible feedback from some staff members in the production crew that might be related to the case in her sketchbook.

Jiang Hang took it and examined it carefully before handing it to Kogoro Mouri.

"Brother Maori, take a look, can you find anything suspicious up there?"

Kogoro Mouri readily agreed, and it was at this moment that Amashiro Ruri noticed Kogoro Mouri returning and the young man beside him whom she had never met before.

She walked over with a smile and greeted Kogoro Mouri, which also disrupted Kogoro Mouri's thoughts.

"Kogoro, I haven't seen you for a while. I thought you had abandoned me. Is this your friend?"

Once a beautiful woman tries to please him, Kogoro Mouri forgets his own name.

He laughed and then introduced Jiang Hang's identity to his old classmate.

"This is Jiang Hang, the same famous Eagle-Eyed Detective. I've known him for a long time. He just happened to be passing through Shizuoka Prefecture and heard that I might be having some trouble, so he came to check on me."

Jiang Hang is indeed more famous than Kogoro Mouri.

Furthermore, when Kazami Yoshiki had his argument with Kogoro Mouri, he mentioned Eagle-Eyed Detective's name. So when they heard that another famous detective Kazami Yoshiki had criticized had also arrived at the crime scene, the suspects present couldn't help but show different expressions.

After simply using Eagle Eye Vision to observe the faces of these people, Jiang Hang already had a general idea of what was going on.

Actually, the suspects present seemed a little guilty.

The only difference is the degree of their guilt.

Take Nobuharu Nagumo as an example. His guilty conscience was related to the female entertainer named Kasumi Hahabara beside him. After hearing Jiang Hang's name, he glanced at her. Although he wasn't very guilty, he seemed to be worried that his secret would be discovered.

However, based on some of their subconscious reactions, it can be confirmed that, just as Kazami Yoshiki said, they may indeed be having a secret relationship in private.

Of course, whether the relationship was purely platonic or whether there were any other secrets between the two parties is irrelevant to this case.

The ones who are truly noteworthy are Amashiro Ruri, who is by Kogoro Mouri's side, and Akira Nagumo, who was accused by Kazami Yoshiki of having an affair with a young woman.

They had already witnessed Kogoro Mouri's reasoning abilities.

It's true that it's a bit complicated, perhaps because the other party wasn't taking it seriously at all.

However, there seem to be no similar rumors about Jiang Hang.

As long as they are present at the crime scene, they can solve the case at an astonishing speed.

Especially the TV show the other party recently participated in.

Despite being thousands of miles apart, the suspects, relying solely on a few clues on the set of the show, astutely solved a case that the police initially believed to be a suicide, and found the real culprit.

Some may question whether Jiang Hang colluded with the production team and whether everything was an act.

But those present are all veteran actors who have been in the entertainment industry for many years, and Jiang Hang's reputation still carries weight in this circle.

He developed a very close relationship with Nichuri TV, starting with his two live crime-solving appearances on their programs.

They have acquired two tokusatsu companies with well-known IPs and will release a groundbreaking tokusatsu work next year.

And then there's Shiro Juro Omiya, the former sword-and-halberd film star from the Todo Studios, who was also personally sent to prison by Jiang Hang.

More importantly, it seems that the other party recently bought a new television station and is spending huge sums of money recruiting staff, planning to make a series of big moves next year.

He is a famous detective, and he may also become their future benefactor. Therefore, when facing Jiang Hang, their inner reactions will naturally be much more intense.

Seeing how the two of them managed to calm themselves down after their initial panic, Jiang Hang didn't say anything more.

There was definitely something going on between these two.

He greeted Amashiro Ruri in a friendly manner.

Although he had never seen any of the dramas she had acted in, his knowledge of this actress came entirely from a brief introduction given to him by Shizuka Sakaki when he arrived.

But this doesn't stop him from saying he really likes the other person's work when he greets them, and he can even accurately name the roles the other person played in those works.

After greeting the other party, Kogoro Mouri seemed a little worried that Jiang Hang would steal his thunder in front of his old classmate who treated him differently, so he quickly coughed and went straight to talking about the case.

"Speaking of which, you've been out for so long, you must have been gathering clues, right? Do you already know who the culprit is in this case?" Amashiro Ruri asked Kogoro Mouri curiously.

Kogoro Mouri scratched his head somewhat awkwardly.

How would he know that?

He just went out for a smoke to clear his head.

Instead, Jiang Hang suddenly stepped forward and nodded slightly to Amashiro Ruri.

"Brother Mori does have some ideas in mind, but he just needs a few more pieces of evidence to confirm the killer's identity. I trust Brother Mori's reasoning ability, so let's give him a little more time."

Upon hearing Jiang Hang's words, the people present displayed various expressions.

Of course, the one who was most excited was Yokomizo Sango, who was Kogoro Mouri's only supporter.

He was the person who trusted Kogoro Mouri the most at the scene, and now that Jiang Hang had expressed this opinion, he naturally believed even more that Kogoro Mouri's reasoning ability would not disappoint.

"Mr. Mori, what clues are you still missing? Do you need my help?" Yokomizo Sango asked Kogoro Mouri with a look of admiration in his eyes.

Only Kogoro Mouri scratched his head somewhat awkwardly, indicating that he didn't need any help for the time being, and that he would gather everyone together as usual once he found the final clue.

Having received such a reply, Yokomizo Sango left with great joy, even leaving Kogoro Mouri a quiet environment to think things through and search for the final clues.

All I can say is that once this guy recognized Kogoro Mouri's abilities, he no longer had any doubts about him.

If Kogoro Mouri is indeed the culprit in this case, then he could take this opportunity to completely eliminate all clues that are detrimental to him.

However, this is probably because the famous detective Yokomizo Sango things.

As Jiang Hang muttered this to himself, he saw Kogoro Mouri looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Hey, Jiang Hang, what do you mean by this? How would I know any clues? Aren't you trying to trap me?"

Jiang Hang pointed to the sketchbook that Kogoro Mouri was still holding, which contained his research data on Koharu Yoshino.

"The crime scene is here. Apart from the victim's body being moved out, nothing else has been touched."

"Plus the information you have, I think with your abilities, you're really only one step away from uncovering the truth."

"Trust in your deductive reasoning, Sleeping Kogoro. You don't want to disappoint Ruri-san, do you?"

Jiang Hang, who was originally a homebody, became somewhat eccentric after living in Japan for half a year.

And these cringeworthy lines do indeed have a significant effect on people like Kogoro Mouri.

Seeing Kogoro Mouri studying her materials intently, Koharu Yoshino still had some doubts.

She and Kogoro Mouri had actually interacted a few times in private.

It wasn't when I was working on cases with Jiang Hang, but when I was taking on simpler, smaller cases to practice my skills.

Jiang Hang would normally not accept those requests to catch cats and dogs or investigate extramarital affairs, unless he happened to come across one while browsing for requests at a meeting.

However, if someone actually commissions a case and Jiang Hang is not at the agency while Koharu Yoshino and the others are available, they will naturally selectively accept some of the commissions.

And those clients often don't just hire one detective to help them.

For wealthy people, efficiency is all they care about, so they will naturally contact multiple detectives for help.

Under these circumstances, she actually completed several requests with Kogoro Mouri.

While she had to admit that Kogoro Mouri was quite capable in handling those cat and dog catching requests, his speculations about the whereabouts of the cats and dogs were sometimes downright outrageous.

This is completely misleading and trying to distort her thinking.

After only working together once or twice, Koharu Yoshino began to have considerable doubts about Kogoro Mouri's true reasoning abilities.

Is this guy really Tokyo Twin Stars, on par with Jiang Hang?

Hearing Jiang Hang spouting those cheesy words about the "soul of deduction," Koharu Yoshino began to wonder if Kogoro Mouri truly possessed a second personality.

But seeing the other person scratching their head in front of her documents, looking no different from usual, Koharu Yoshino wondered if Jiang Hang was overthinking things.

Jiang Hang gave Koharu Yoshino a reassuring look.

Although Kogoro Mouri usually a clueless detective, he can be trusted when a friend or family member is suspected of committing a crime.

What's more, Kogoro Mouri now has him by his side to help and assist him.

Watching Kogoro Mouri gradually develop a smoking habit due to reviewing information, Jiang Hang patiently waited for Kogoro Mouri's next move.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Kogoro Mouri, who was getting a little annoyed by the information, reached into his pocket, took out a cigarette, and then reached for his lighter.

But the next moment, a look of confusion appeared on Kogoro Mouri's face.