Chapter 212 Traces in the Room
"Bourbon!?"
The next afternoon, at Dr. Agasa's house, Conan, who learned the news, looked at Maplehara in shock.
There were only two of them in the living room now. The doctor was busy inventing in his laboratory. Haibara Ai already knew what Kaedehara was going to say to Conan, so he was not interested and chose to stay in the basement.
"Yes," Fengyuan explained, "Bellmore had to make a phone call on the overpass last night. Because Haiyuan's radar reacted at that time, I made a special observation and happened to see her."
"Then you read her mouth and knew what she said?"
"Yeah. She was on the phone while looking at you guys under the bridge. You can guess from the content of her words that the person on the other side of the phone should be someone related to last night's incident... So, it's obvious."
"Toru Amuro..."
Conan murmured, his expression a bit ugly.
According to the time mentioned by Maplehara, Toru Amuro seemed to be on the phone with someone at that time.
In fact, Sera Masumi happened to be on the phone at that time, but Maplehara had already told Conan about Sera Masumi.
Compared to Sera Masumi, who is a high school student, Toru Amuro, who is apprenticed to Uncle Mouri, is obviously more suspicious. Moreover, he always felt that Sera Masaki's performance last night was sincere...
"But why..."
Conan was a little puzzled, "Didn't the transmitter and bug I accidentally put on Reina Mizuna's shoes that time be successfully recovered? There is no reason for them to keep an eye on Uncle Maori, right?"
Regardless of whether Bourbon is Toru Amuro or Masumi Sera, the frequency of the other party's appearance in the Mori Detective Agency is very high. Also, according to the news from Rena Mizuna, Bomoto should have gone out for Shirley...
"But neither we nor Xiaolan have a close relationship with Judy..." Fengyuan said, "If the organization has rarely suffered that kind of loss before, they might think that Haiyuan and the FBI have joined forces..."
As a former English teacher at Didan High School, Judy was almost inseparable from Ran and Sonoko for a while, and Conan himself often wandered around with them.
Judy later confessed her identity to the police after the Belmode incident, as did Kamal in subsequent incidents.
Conan scratched his hair nervously.
This means that the other party may be going to the FBI, so it makes sense that someone dressed as Akai Shuichi appeared before...
That guy's target should be Shuichi Akai.
However, if you act rashly now, you will only expose yourself. Even if you catch Bourbon, it will attract the attention of the organization, so...
The routine continued.
…
A few days later, early in the morning.
"Besides your mobile phone, did you forget anything else?" Feng Yuan stood at the entrance to the doctor's house and asked Hai Yuan Ai.
"No, even if you forget to bring other things, you don't have to come back to get them, right?"
Today, the doctor plans to take everyone from the Junior Detective Group to skiing. Because the distance is far and the doctor doesn't want to drive, they plan to take the bus. Halfway through, Haiyuan Ai realized that she had forgotten her mobile phone, so Fengyuan accompanied her back to get it.
Feng Yuan followed Hai Yuan Ai out of the door, and then closed the door, "Actually, you don't need to bring your mobile phone..."
"That's not possible. If we encounter another case, it will be very inconvenient if we don't bring a mobile phone..."
"That's right..." Fengyuan agreed.
The Young Detective Team will encounter something every time they go out, so they have to be fully prepared.
"But it's already seven o'clock now..." Haiyuan Ai glanced at his watch, "Even if we rush back to the station now, the doctor's bus for skiing has already left..."
"We can take the train there..." Maplehara was saying when he saw Haibara Ai, who was wearing a hood standing in the cold wind, exhaling into his hands, so he changed his words, "It's better to let Mr. Subaru take us there. Already…”
"Ah, Mr. Detective is really good at calling people..." Haihara Ai said, "But is it okay to trouble him like this?"
"No problem. Today is a day off. The curtains in the room have been opened. He should be awake by now. And we can also invite him to go skiing together... Do you mind?"
"No. I'm not a child, and I won't judge based on personal preference alone." Haihara Ai looked at Fengyuan, "But let's talk first, Kudo, I am willing to believe in him because you seem to trust him... Don’t trust too much..."
"Don't worry, I didn't say anything..."
Although Subaru Okiya and Shuichi Akai have guessed that Ai Haihara is Shiho Miyano, neither Maplehara nor Conan will admit this or their own identities.
With that said, Feng went to Kudo's house and pressed the doorbell.
The door was quickly opened.
Okiya Subaru was fully dressed and looked like he was about to go out.
"Good morning, Mr. Subaru, are you planning to go out?"
"Yeah... I'm going to go out for a run," Okiya Subaru still squinted his eyes, "I feel a little rusty lately."
"Then do you want to go skiing together?" Fengyuan asked, "Doctor and the others have already passed. Because we are coming back to pick up things, we are temporarily separated from them. I would like to ask you to send us there."
"Want to go skiing with everyone? Sure!"
"Then let's take the doctor's car? You can take them all on when you come back... I know where the car keys are."
all the best. Soon, Subaru Okiya drove Maplehara and Ai Haibara to the ski resort in the doctor's Scarab car.
But after a while, Fengyuan, who was sitting in the car, noticed an acquaintance on the roadside. Realizing that Kaedehara seemed to want to say hello, Okiya Subaru also slowed down and stopped beside the man.
"Officer Takagi!" Maplehara pressed down the car window and shouted.
"Huh?" Officer Takagi yawned.
"Are you spying?"
"That's right... I just happened to change shifts with Chiba."
"Are you coming to the night shift so soon?" Haibara Ai sat down next to Maplehara and looked at Officer Takagi, "Did you do something outrageous and offend the Megure Police Department?"
Just a few days ago, Officer Takagi was kidnapped and taken to Hokkaido because his name was the same as that of Officer Datehan who died in a car accident a year ago. He almost died there due to hunger, thirst and cold. Fortunately, he ended up in Juvenile Rescued with the help of the detective team.
It's just that he was already dying when he was rescued, and he looked like he had just finished his night shift in a few days, so Haihara Ai asked this.
"No! I feel that I have recovered very well, so I applied to come back to work on my own!"
Officer Takagi defended, "But now I still dream about that incident. Every time I wake up the moment the board falls, and then I say to myself - it's okay, it's okay, it didn't fall!"
"falling down!"
As soon as Officer Takagi finished speaking, there was a scream not far away. Feng Yuan also heard a dull crash.
"Whoa! Someone fell!"
The screams of passers-by continued. Officer Takagi turned around and looked in the direction of the sound, "Is it the road on the other side?"
"Hurry up and get in the car." Fengyuan opened the car door and made way for his seat. Haibara Ai also sat back, "Let's go over and take a look!"
"ah?"
"Hurry up!" Okiya Subaru also urged.
After Officer Takagi got into the car, Subaru Okiya stepped on the accelerator. In just a few seconds, they arrived on the other side of the road, where many people had gathered in front of an apartment building.
Officer Takagi took out his detective card and squeezed into the crowd. Maplehara and Haibara Ai were following behind him, while Okiya Subaru was a few steps behind.
"I'm a police officer!"
As soon as Officer Takagi squeezed into the crowd, he saw a man lying on his back on the ground. It could be seen at a glance that he was dead. He obviously fell to his death from a building. "What happened?"
"When I was jogging past this road, this man suddenly fell from the top..." the passerby replied.
"Does anyone know who this person is?" Officer Takagi looked around, but no one responded.
"Hey, Officer Takagi..."
"ah?"
Officer Takagi looked at Maplehara who made the noise, and then noticed that he gestured towards the chest of the deceased. Following Fengyuan's gaze, he noticed a mobile phone in the deceased's breast pocket.
"Ah, cell phone..."
Officer Takagi, who had already put on gloves, carefully took out the mobile phone, "Huh? It was sending a strange email before it fell, and it seemed to be sent to many people..."
Feng Yuan poked his head and took a look.
The email reads:
[If you want to kill me, just come. I’ll open the door and wait for you. Just prepare to die in my hands! 】
Judging from the appearance of the deceased, it is very likely that this was a homicide.
Strange, Conan is obviously not here...
It must be Subaru Okiya's fault...
Thinking like this, Maplehara suggested to Officer Takagi: "How about sending it to a group again?"
"ah?"
"Hurry up! If the criminal is nearby, officer, if you delay any longer, they will react, right?"
"Ah, yes, yes..."
Officer Takagi quickly pressed the button to send the email, and the next moment, three cell phone rings were heard from the crowd of people watching.
They were two men and a woman, standing together in front of the apartment door. Each took out their mobile phones and checked their emails.
"It seems to be given to those three people..." Haiyuan Ai said.
"That means you know the person who fell?" Officer Takagi looked at the three people, "Why didn't you tell me just now?"
"Ah, that..."
The first person to reply was the man on the left, named Keisuke Ogino, a photographer. "I heard a loud noise and rushed out of the room. I didn't even see the man's face."
"Me, me too!" The next person who replied was Yue Yuanxiang, who is a magazine editor. "Because I heard such a loud sound, the coffee I was drinking spilled!"
"I also came here after hearing the sound..."
The last person to reply was Kazuto Sodezaki, a reporter, "If the person who fell down is the person who just sent me an email...could it be President Katsumoto who fell down?"
"Liar..."
"No way…"
"Is it the president?" Officer Takagi asked.
"Yes, he is the president and editor-in-chief of Katsumoto Publishing House. Katsumoto's masterpiece! You know "Weekly Great" which has been selling very well recently, right?"
"Ah, the one with many celebrity scandals..."
"Do you live in the same apartment?" Fengyuan asked.
"It's a coincidence, it's so close to the company..."
"I'm thinking about moving. I'm a freelance writer, not a club member."
"However, we live on the third floor, and the president is on the 26th floor."
Each of the three people explained something. After hearing this, Officer Takagi planned to take the three people back to the Metropolitan Police Department for questioning, "Excuse me, could you all please follow me - eh? Xiao Kong?"
He was pulled by Feng Yuan mid-sentence.
"It's been less than four minutes since I heard the exclamation," Maplehara stopped Officer Takagi from continuing and whispered to him, "Now we should go and take a look at the rooms of these three people..."
"Huh?" Officer Takagi was a little confused.
"Brother Shinichi said so...Look..."
With that said, Maplehara waved his cell phone in front of Officer Takagi. In fact, the above are completely unrelated text messages.
However, Officer Takagi didn't see what was written on it at all. Thinking that it was Kudo Shinichi who said it after all, and that was all, he quickly changed his words and asked to see the three people's rooms.
Everyone then walked towards the apartment.
Haibara Ai followed Feng Yuan, but Okiya Subaru glanced at the corpse on the ground and did not move for the time being.
"Mr. Subaru, why don't you go up and have a look together?" Kaedehara asked.
"...Okay." Okiya Subaru followed him anyway.
"But," Haihara Ai asked as he walked, "can we learn anything by looking at the room?"
"Judging from the degree of damage to the body, it should have fallen from a very high floor... It is probably the 26th floor where the deceased lived..."
"If this is murder, I'm afraid the prisoner will have to rush downstairs immediately after pushing this man down." Subaru Okiya took over Maplehara's words and explained, "As long as they can be found in the room, they were still in the room just now. The traces can be eliminated from the suspects."
"Furthermore, we happened to pass by the scene and decided to check the room immediately. The prisoner could not predict this situation, so he would not go back to his room to make arrangements after the murder."
"Oh I got it…"
Hui Yuarai nodded thoughtfully and glanced at the two people who had just explained.
Excluding the previous action to save Edogawa Conan, this was the first time she had seen Okiya Subaru's reasoning ability.
He is indeed the first Watson designated by Kudo...
Hui Yuarai thought to himself and followed him upstairs.
The first one to be inspected was Ogino Keisuke's room.
"So, Miss Tsukihara and Mr. Sodezaki..."
Officer Takagi had already figured out the reason for this under Maplehara's reminder. When Ogino Keisuke opened the door, he said, "Please open the door and wait here in the entrance hall."
"OK."
Not only these two people, but Okiya Subaru and Haibara Ai also had no intention of following, because Officer Takagi just wanted to do a quick inspection, and if there were any results, they would know it outside.
Kaede followed Officer Takagi in, and Mr. Ogino followed him, but Mr. Ogino kicked a paper bag when he just entered the room, "Wow!"
"What's wrong?" Officer Takagi looked back.
"What is this bag?" Maplehara noticed Mr. Ogino squatting and taking out another small bag from the bag he just kicked.
"I brought it back when I went to attend the funeral." Mr. Ogino explained casually and stood up.
"Then what? Is there any evidence that you were still in the room just now?"
"Look, look, the TV is still on."
"I'm afraid this cannot be used as evidence." Officer Takagi shook his head.
"Oh! Then this should be enough, right?"
Mr. Ogino picked up a glass of beer on the table in front of the TV, turned 180 degrees, and showed the beer to them.
"The foam in the beer hasn't disappeared yet! Because I've been drinking beer and watching TV!"
"Yes, yes..." Officer Takagi accepted the evidence.
Because delaying for too long would cause the alibi of the other two to disappear, Officer Takagi took a photo of the beer with Maplehara's help, and then they headed to Miss Tsukihara's room.
There is a cup of steaming coffee in Miss Tsukihara's room.
Maplehara noticed that there was a bag in her room that was exactly the same as Mr. Ogino's room, and after asking about it, she learned that all three of them attended the same funeral.
Next was Mr. Sodezaki's room. He was in a hurry. When Officer Takagi came out, he pulled him to open the door of his room.
In his room, he found a still smoking cigarette butt in the ashtray. According to him, after hearing the noise downstairs, he put the cigarette he had just smoked on the ashtray and went out.
In other words, the alibi provided by these three people are foam, heat and smoke respectively...
Then after other police officers arrived, Officer Takagi went to the president's room on the 26th floor to check. There was nothing particularly noteworthy in the room. Some clues still required Officer Takagi to investigate through police channels.
After the basic investigation was over, after thinking for a while, Fengyuan asked Haiyuan Ai: "Haiyuan, is there any way to make the beer that has been standing for a while regenerate foam?"
"Recreate the bubble? There are many ways..."
"It's a little simpler." Seeing that Haiyuan seemed to be giving a very professional speech, Fengyuan quickly added, "Don't be too complicated, it's the kind that ordinary people can easily complete..."
"That's a lot, salt, sugar and so on..."
"Ah, yes!" Fengyuan suddenly realized.
So, what's in that little bag is...
"I said, you should know such a simple thing, right?" Haiyuan looked at Fengyuan suspiciously and whispered, "Could it be that you want me to have a sense of participation, so you ask me this..."
"No... that's what reasoning is like. Sometimes you just need inspiration to awaken what you already know..."
"Really?" Haiyuan Ai didn't dwell on this question anymore, "But if you just ask this, do you already suspect that person?"
The person she was talking about was obviously Mr. Ogino, who used the foam of his beer as his alibi.
"Well, because he is a photographer." He already learned the identities of these people from Officer Takagi's follow-up questioning.
"Photographer? Ah...I see..."
"Mr. Subaru, you must have noticed it, right?" Kaedehara turned back to look at Okiya Subaru, who had been following silently.
"Yes..." Okiya Subaru replied, "Obviously I am a photographer, but when I encountered such a thing, I didn't bring a camera with me..."
"He has no intention of filming the scene with his mobile phone...and not just because of this, but also because of the bag..."
Feng Yuan took over, "Even Officer Takagi, who entered his room for the first time, didn't kick the paper bag, but he kicked it himself... Judging from the position of the bag, it seemed more like he did it on purpose... And he did It was also weird when I got that glass of beer..."
"What's going on?" Hui Yuan Ai asked. She also saw that scene at the entrance.
Feng Yuan gently pressed Hai Yuan Ai's shoulders, "Try turning around 180 degrees and take a look?"
But now someone else is watching...
Haiyuan Ai rolled her eyes at Fengyuan angrily, but still turned around obediently, then turned back and looked at Fengyuan in confusion.
"Isn't it weird to show others the glass of beer?" Fengyuan explained, "It's more like blocking other people's view... I guess he took advantage of this moment to put the salt into the beer. inner…"
"What a keen observation..." Subaru Okiya praised.
"It's also because I suspected him before... However, the problem now is that there is no evidence..."