In the interrogation room, the suspect's train of thought was nowhere near as convoluted.
Hearing Inspector Megure's words, he first froze, then flew into an unprecedented rage. "My reputation may be bad, but that's only because I love digging up scandals. You actually suspect me of plagiarism?! Don't slander me! Either it was a coincidence, or that guy found some way to peek at my files—he copied me. I came up with this proposal entirely on my own!"
Conan: "..." Damn it, this again. Exactly like that rich, handsome, successful guy who threw someone downstairs last time.
But that very similarity gave him a powerful sense of déjà vu. Could this really be another case orchestrated by that person?
Beside him, Amuro Tooru silently scrutinized Hashizume Akira. After watching him for a long while, he found no trace of deception—this reporter genuinely felt insulted. It seemed the proposal really had been written by him. Could the victim have found a way to spy on him through surveillance cameras or something else? Or had it simply been a pure coincidence?
Unlike Conan, who was full of doubts, Amuro Tooru was, for some reason, quite accepting of things like "coincidences." It was hard to deny that the world contained some utterly unbelievable coincidences. Compared with those bizarre coincidences that came in all varieties and could be talked about for decades, the one before them barely counted as anything.
Just then, a young officer ran over from the Forensics Department.
He seemed to be looking for Inspector Megure, but before entering the interrogation room, he was stopped by Amuro Tooru. "What is it?"
The young officer said, "We found several coffee stains on the floor mat beneath the victim's driver's seat. Toxic substances were detected in them—the composition is exactly the same as