Tangze lowered his head, his soft brown hair hanging down and completely obscuring his face, making it impossible for anyone standing before him to see his expression.
Sonoko Suzuki grabbed Ran Mouri, who had noticed the commotion and was walking over, and whispered excitedly in a restrained voice, "Is he imitating your dad? You know, 'Sleeping Kogoro.' Tangze looks so fitting like this—'Sleeping Tang Ze Zhao'... He looks so cool!"
"Sonoko..." Ran Mouri swiftly pressed down the hand Sonoko Suzuki was reaching for her phone with, restraining her restless, looks-obsessed classmate.
Crouching behind Tang Ze Zhao, Conan began explaining the suspicious points of the case.
"In order to imitate the scene from the painting 'Heaven's Punishment,' the murderer deliberately killed the victim opposite that painting. He also moved the other exhibits from this area beforehand. On top of that, the murderer was wearing one of the displayed suits of armor throughout the surveillance footage. That's why everyone concluded that the murderer was familiar with the museum and was one of its staff members.
"But if the murderer knew the scene so well, why did he choose to commit the crime within the surveillance cameras' range? He worked here, so he had plenty of opportunities to act in a blind spot, or temporarily cover the relevant camera."
Inspector Megure stroked his chin and tried to answer, "Was it because the murderer thought it didn't matter if he was caught on camera while wearing armor?"
"I believe it was to establish that the paper Mr. Manaka was clutching was his dying message. In other words, that footage was deliberately left behind by the murderer. Inspector Megure, could you hold that note up to the light and examine it carefully? Are there many strange scratches over the writing of 'Kubota'?"
Following his instructions, Inspector Megure picked up the evidence bag and examined it. He nodded. "There really are a lot of horizontal scratches over the words... Could it be?!"
"Yes. Those were probably the victim's true final marks. He wasn't writing down that name at the time—he picked up the pen because he wanted to cross it out!"
Inspector Megure took out another evidence bag and looked at the ballpoint pen inside. "But this pen we found matches in both line thickness and ink color. Although we haven't performed a comparison analysis yet, our preliminary judgment is that this was indeed the pen that wrote those words."
"That's true. This pen was most likely the one that wrote that line."
"But you just said..."
"But it wasn't the one the victim grabbed at the end. The one the victim picked up was a pen that couldn't write!" Conan poked his head out slightly to observe everyone's positions in the room, then ducked back and continued. "When Conan found the pen, its tip was retracted. It's unlikely that the victim deliberately clicked the tip back in after throwing it away. And in the surveillance footage, the murderer never touched the pen before leaving. After that, only the few of us entered the room. The museum staff weren't gathered in the inner hall again until after the police arrived.
"In other words, the murderer took advantage of the confusion after the police arrived to swap out the pen on the floor. That means... the pen that can't write is still on him!"
Conan stretched his little hand through the gap between two steps of the ladder, intending to support Tangze's right hand and point toward the bearded old man—the museum's director, Director Ochiai.
But when he reached out, he grabbed nothing.
Conan froze, alarm flashing through him. He looked up, only to see Tangze, who should have been deeply asleep, bracing himself against the side of the ladder and getting to his feet.
How did he wake up so quickly?! I'm done for!
Almost instinctively, Conan moved away from the ladder first and hid behind a display case. Otherwise, once Tangze stood up, Conan crouching behind him would be exposed directly.
Yet Tangze neither asked any questions nor seemed confused. He walked straight toward Director Ochiai.
Reaching out, he used a handkerchief to pull a pen identical to the evidence from Director Ochiai's suit pocket.
"The murderer didn't even have time to click out the tip. He must have been in a great hurry, probably without enough time to wipe the pen clean." Tangze smoothly continued Conan's deduction. "Tell me, do you think I might find Mr. Manaka's fingerprints on this pen?"
Everyone in the room turned to look at Director Ochiai, their faces filled with shock.
Except Conan. His shocked expression was directed at Tangze.
"...Everything you said was correct, child." Director Ochiai leaned on his cane, looking both sorrowful and relieved.
The officers who had been surrounding Kubota all turned and walked toward him. Inspector Megure frowned as he accepted the pen Tangze handed over, drew a line on his notebook, and found that just as Tangze had deduced, it wrote nothing at all.
That paper wasn't the victim's dying message. It was a setup prepared in advance with Kubota's name on it, meant to frame him!
"Where were you at the time of the crime? Do you have an alibi?" Though he asked the question, Inspector Megure was already signaling for his subordinates to prepare the handcuffs.
"I was wearing this knight's armor, standing here, waiting for Mr. Manaka to arrive for our appointment." With his scheme exposed, Director Ochiai made no attempt to argue. He merely clasped his hands behind his back and looked at the enormous painting, "Heaven's Punishment." "Waiting to pierce that devil here, just like in this painting."
"To complete this work, I practiced for a long time in advance. I considered everything—the route, the cameras' angles, and Mr. Manaka's possible reactions."
"So the rumors about the armor moving around were you practicing murder." Inspector Megure suddenly understood.
Although he had been mentally prepared, Tangze was still deeply puzzled to see the murderer standing there and confessing everything as though pouring beans from a bamboo tube.
The murderers in Conan's world were a little too honorable, weren't they?
Still, he had to play along, so Tangze asked cooperatively, "Was it because he was going to close this museum and turn it into a restaurant? And you chose to frame Kubota because he had been secretly selling exhibits all along and had no respect for art?"
"That's right. I have been the director here since the day this museum was founded. Every exhibit is like one of my children. I could not tolerate them." Director Ochiai swept his gaze over everything around him with burning nostalgia.
"Unfortunately, you aren't some righteous knight slaying demons. You're merely a vicious murderer. You're under arrest." Inspector Megure frowned and waved his hand. Two officers stepped forward and handcuffed Director Ochiai.
"A knight who slays demons is himself already tainted by blood, trapped deep in the mire. That is the meaning of 'Heaven's Punishment.'" Director Ochiai did not resist. He merely met Tangze's calm gaze. "That is why all my plans fell into the eyes of the children. This is the punishment I deserve."
Tangze knew perfectly well that the old man meant he and Conan had solved the case together. Unfortunately, aside from him and Conan himself, no one would likely notice that plural.
Thinking that, Tangze turned and glanced at Conan, who was frozen in the corner, not even knowing where to put his hands and feet.
Conan was breaking out in even more cold sweat than Kubota, who had been framed.
So it seemed Tangze had also identified Director Ochiai as the murderer beforehand. That step he took forward when he was stabbed must have been intended to point out the truth...
I shouldn't have used the tranquilizer needle. I'm done for. If Tangze says what happened earlier, Ran will definitely...
But after that one glance, Tangze ignored the immobile Conan and walked over to Inspector Megure. "This case involved a complicated method, a shocking scene, and the recent supernatural rumors. It will definitely receive widespread coverage. Could you please leave my name out of it and not reveal it to the reporters?"
"Why?" Inspector Megure looked surprised. "Your name is Tangze, right? Brother Tangze, your deduction was excellent. Once this case makes the papers, everyone will only praise your talent. You're well suited to being a detective, and we should properly thank you for assisting the police this time. We'll make that clear to the reporters."
Brother Kudo had suddenly vanished, and just when a new external brain had finally appeared, this new brother looked like he wanted to run away. He had to persuade him.
Tangze looked troubled. He leaned close to Inspector Megure's ear and whispered a few words.
Inspector Megure's expression shifted dramatically, from confusion to shock. After looking Tangze up and down several times, he finally patted his shoulder sympathetically. "I understand. All right, I respect your wishes. I'll tell everyone not to reveal your name."
Even though his identity was on the verge of being exposed, Conan could not help wondering what Tangze had whispered to Inspector Megure. He wanted to hear it too.
But when he saw Tangze narrowing his eyes and walking toward him step by step, Conan forgot all about his curiosity. He reflexively backed away until, like a frog pinned to a dissecting table, his limbs went weak and his back pressed against the wall behind him.
Right then, he felt like the victim who had just been carried away, about to be nailed in place by a single sword.
Before you continue