The Real Culprit Appears

The Real Culprit Appeared

Megure Juzo looked Lin Maoxian over. With his many years of experience as a detective, he felt that the man before him was no ordinary person, but he could not say exactly what was wrong. He glanced at the other three men, then instructed them, "Is it just these people? Then start by telling me the order in which you entered the restroom."

The young university student stepped forward first, looking a little nervous as he replied, "My name is Huang Yuyi. I'm a university student. I came here today to write my thesis."

Kisaki Eri, standing nearby, continued, "I was the one who came in right after brushing past him. I happened to have arranged to meet someone here."

Juzou Denyama, who had prepared himself early, laughed loudly and said, "I was the next one in. I come here every day because I like coming here to argue with the owner."

Wakaoji was clearly still shaken, and said bitterly, "I was the last one in. I came here to wait for a girl."

Lin Maoxian shrugged and said with a smile, "I came in after I heard Wakaoji scream. When I came in, little Conan had already gotten here ahead of me, and the victim was already dead by then. So the culprit has nothing to do with me. It's just that I'm also one of the people who discovered the case, so I came to see whether there was anything you officers needed my help with."

After hearing their answers, Megure Juzo turned to ask Conan, "Conan, is that how it happened?"

Conan answered, looking slightly startled, "Yeah, that's how it was." But in his heart, he was thinking, What's going on? Why is it a little different from before? But where, exactly?

Megure Juzo's gaze swept over them, and he said, "Starting with you, the university student. Go try and see if you can climb through."

The university student went to try in great nervousness, and under everyone's gaze, he climbed through.

Megure Juzo turned to Kisaki Eri with a smile and said, "Miss Kisaki doesn't need to try, does she?"

Kisaki Eri shrugged and said, "I probably don't need to. I can climb through."

Tenzan Juzan, standing to one side, pointed at himself and said to Inspector Megure, "Officer, I shouldn't need to try, right?"

Inspector Megure looked at Tenzan Juzan's build and said speechlessly, "You don't need to. Just looking at your size, anyone can tell you won't fit." Then he turned to Wakaoji. "Then you're the only one left. Go try it."

When Wakaoji went to try, he got stuck there and could not get through, so he said to the officer, "Officer, it looks like I can't get through."

Conan walked up to Wakaoji, jumped up, and tugged hard at Wakaoji's face, asking with a smile, "Are you really unable to get through?"

Wakaoji cried out in pain, "Ow... ow, ow, ow! That hurts like hell! Let go, you damn brat!"

Seeing that Wakaoji still had not climbed through even though he was in so much pain, it was clear that he really could not fit, so Conan had no choice but to let go.

Megure Juzo, standing to the side, looked at Kisaki Eri and Huang Yuyi. "In that case..."

Before he could finish, Kisaki Eri cut in, "In that case, the suspects are me and the university student."

Megure Juzo hurriedly waved his hands. "I didn't say that." If Brother Mouri found out about this, how was he supposed to face him? He absolutely could not admit it.

Conan looked at the people talking. The culprit probably was not that university student. He had been the first to enter, so he could likely be ruled out. Then was the culprit her? No, I keep feeling like something is off.

He borrowed the bag containing the murder weapon from the forensics personnel and looked at it carefully. The blood only reached the handle. Why was that?

"Hm?" He clearly had not touched any blood just now, so why was there blood on his hand? Had he gotten it on him when he climbed up onto the door just now? But why would there be blood there?

"Inspector, we found this on Mr. Huang's table." An officer outside ran in and handed the rope in his hand to Megure Juzo.

"That's right, the rope. In that case, everything can be explained. Then the culprit is him..." Looking at the rope in the officer's hand, Conan smiled.

Megure Juzo took the rope and asked Huang Yuyi, "What is this, Mr. Huang? Can you explain?"

The university student immediately said when he saw the rope, "That's just what I use to tie my books with. Is there a problem?"

Seeing Inspector Megure question the university student, Conan ran to the restroom door, jumped up, and pretended to be surprised as he said, "Hey, there's blood here too."

The officer beside him immediately chimed in, "We also noticed that little spot at the time."

Megure instantly flew into a rage when he heard that. "Then why didn't you report it to me at the time?" Then he turned to the university student and said, "It looks like your suspicion is growing heavier and heavier, Mr. Huang."

Huang Yuyi was shocked. "Oh, what? What does that have to do with me?"

Conan looked at Inspector Megure. "Isn't that strange? The place with blood on it was above the spot blocked by the body. If it were me, standing on the toilet, I could indeed climb into the restroom."

Megure Juzo thought about it. "That's indeed true."

Conan continued analyzing, "And did the culprit really get blood on himself? If not, then look at the bag that uncle is holding. The knife the culprit used only has blood up to the handle."

Megure Juzo looked at the bag. There truly was none. "That is a little strange. How did it end up like this? The part without blood is..."

Conan hinted meaningfully, "Maybe there was something tied there in the first place..."

Megure Juzo immediately caught on. "Oh, right. The culprit could tie a rope to the knife and stab the victim with it, then pull it out after it pierced the victim. The blood that splattered would have happened when the knife was pulled out. But if the culprit didn't get any blood on himself, why would there be blood there?"

After watching for a long while, Lin Maoxian knew it was time for him to step in. That woman was also extremely capable, so he could not let her get ahead of him. "Because the one who went over the top of the restroom wasn't the culprit. It was the victim's corpse."

Megure Juzo glanced at the man who had spoken. He had long felt that this man was not simple, so he took the opportunity to see just what he did and probed, "You're saying the corpse went over this door?"

Lin Maoxian walked to the side of the restroom and analyzed, "The blood on top of this door got there after the victim was thrown into the restroom. After the culprit stabbed the victim to death outside, he threw the body into the restroom, blocking the door, and then pulled the murder weapon out from outside the restroom. That was all he had to do. That way, even if it was found that a customer in the shop did it, anyone who couldn't pass over the top of the restroom could easily be cleared of suspicion."

Megure Juzo said, "Then could the culprit be...?"

Kisaki Eri, standing to the side, took over and pointed at Denyama. "The culprit is you, Mr. Denyama."

Megure Juzo was very pleased. As long as this case was solved, it would not have any bad impact on him. He ordered his subordinates, "Good. Take this man to the station."

Tenzan Juzan felt terrified. How could this be? His arrangement should have been flawless. How had they discovered evidence so quickly? Right, evidence. They did not have any evidence at all. This was only their deduction. He steadied himself and said, "Hey, wait a minute. You don't have any evidence at all. Can you just arrest someone like this?"

Megure Juzo laughed loudly. He was still trying to argue when death was staring him in the face. "Of course we have evidence that you killed her, don't we? Miss Kisaki."

Kisaki Eri, however, was very calm. "No. Even if you arrest him, if I were the one defending him, he could still be acquitted within a few hours."

Denyama was instantly delighted. "Heh-heh, of course. I came here specifically to shoot the breeze with the owner! How could I possibly be the culprit?"

At that moment, Conan, who had been watching from the side, chimed in, "That's right. I heard it just now too. Uncle, you even said you hurt your finger while practicing baseball."

Tenzan chuckled. "That's right. Good thing my wedding ring..." Before he could finish, he saw his own finger and knew something was wrong, because the ring was no longer there.

When Conan saw this, he smiled and asked in feigned surprise, "Huh? That's strange. Wasn't your wedding ring on the ring finger of your left hand? Uncle, when you came into the shop, there was clearly a bandage wrapped around your ring finger. Did you rewrap it again when you went to the restroom?"

Megure Juzo, standing to the side, also caught on. "That's right. The thing the killer used to strangle the victim's neck and tie the murder weapon was this bandage." He pointed at his subordinates and said, "In that case, the victim's blood should definitely be stuck to the bandage. Go take the bandage off and have a look."

Kisaki Eri smiled sarcastically. "Oh my, you really are a careless killer. Such an important piece of evidence is still wrapped around your hand even now. No matter how capable I am, I won't be able to defend you."

Tenzan Juzan flew into a rage. "Gah, get out of my way! Aaaaaah..." He charged toward Kisaki Eri, thinking that if it had not been for this woman and that man, how could he possibly have been exposed? He would teach this woman a lesson first, then deal with that nosy man afterward.

Bang! Bang!

The two police officers who stepped forward were instantly knocked to the ground by Tenzan.

When Lin Maoxian, who was standing to the side, saw Tenzan charging toward Kisaki Eri, he immediately stood in front of her and blocked Tenzan's path.

When Tenzan saw the man before him blocking his way, he could not help putting a bit more force into it.

Watching Tenzan come at him with a punch, Lin Maoxian wanted to test just how much his increased attributes had changed him, so he did not dodge. He stayed where he was and let the fist land on his body.

With a bang, Lin Maoxian involuntarily took several steps back, but a notification from the space rang out in his mind.