Kurosawa Hoshino and Inspector Megure entered the restroom.
Inside, they found Hattori Heiji and Conan, who had arrived earlier, along with a bald man in a suit carrying a black box.
"Found any clues?" Kurosawa asked Hattori.
Hattori rubbed his nose. "Someone died here. Blown to pieces by a bomb. Also found a metal fragment—something designed by President Ishikawa." He gestured to the bald man beside him.
"Kurosawa-kun, I know you. Tokyo's high school detective." The man spoke weakly. "I'm Ishikawa, president of Mantendo Games. That metal plate in the restroom is specially attached to the leather suitcases our company uses. I had them made that way—same color, same style. Personal preference."
Inspector Megure said, "So the victim might be one of your employees?"
"Absolutely not. Only three employees used these suitcases today. I saw them when I arrived. They're all outside. All accounted for."
"I see." Megure nodded, then turned to Kurosawa. "Hoshino-kun, shall we go out and question them together?"
"Alright."
On the way out, Kurosawa reminded him, "Inspector, don't mention that someone died inside. And don't mention the suitcase."
"Understood." Megure was puzzled but trusted Kurosawa unconditionally.
Hattori and Conan walked at the back. Hattori lowered his voice. "Kudo, did you find anything?"
Conan nodded. "A little."
"Same here. I found something too."
"What is it?"
"The metal fragment." Hattori's eyes narrowed. "It was bent abnormally."
Conan's eyes lit up. "We're thinking the same thing. The bomb was in the suitcase. Otherwise, the explosion wouldn't have happened like that."
"Exactly. The bomb wasn't in the toilet. It was in the suitcase that got blown up."
"Then the question is—how did the victim get that suitcase? President Ishikawa said only three employees use that type of suitcase, and they're all here. The victim might not even be from their company."
"Yeah."
A short while later, Inspector Megure found the three Mantendo Games employees.
Hideaki Nakajima. Koji Ueda. Hironobu Takeshita.
A strange coincidence: the three graduated from the same school, joined the same club, and now worked at the same company.
"Hoshino, what do you want to ask them?" Megure asked.
"Inspector, don't rush. Have them put down their suitcases first. Then call them over one by one."
"Alright." Megure nodded and instructed the officers.
Sonoko asked curiously, "Hoshino, what are you doing?"
Ran was equally curious. "Yeah, why not call all three over together?"
"Just watch." Kurosawa raised an eyebrow at them.
Nearby, Hattori crossed his arms. "Kudo, can you figure out what Kurosawa is doing?"
Conan shook his head. "No."
A few minutes later, three suitcases were lined up in front of everyone.
Megure waved, and one of the three Mantendo employees—Ueda Koji—was called over.
"Officer, hello." Ueda looked puzzled. "What's going on? You took my suitcase and now you're calling me over."
"Hoshino, you're up." Megure stepped aside.
Kurosawa took the lead, staring at the man across from him. "Do you know what's in your suitcase? Is it okay to open it?"
"Yes. Go ahead."
"Then open it."
Ueda obediently did as told. The suitcase contained only some documents.
"Please stand here and don't move. Inspector, next."
Soon, the second man—Nakajima Hideaki—was brought over.
He had already seen Ueda open his suitcase and knew what was coming. His expression was visibly tense. "Um, my suitcase contains company secrets. I can't let you see them."
"Alright. Next." Kurosawa nodded.
Hattori frowned. "What exactly are they doing?"
The third man, Takeshita Hironobu, approached.
Kurosawa asked, "Is it okay to open your suitcase?"
Takeshita remained silent.
The contents of his suitcase originally belonged to Nakajima's. In other words, he had switched their suitcases. If he opened it now, he'd be exposed.
"If you can't open your own, then open his." Kurosawa slid Nakajima's suitcase in front of Takeshita.
"Wait! No!" Nakajima shouted, trying to stop him.
Megure's expression hardened. "Mr. Nakajima, please cooperate. Otherwise, we will become suspicious of you."
Cold sweat beaded on Nakajima's forehead. He shut his mouth and glanced to the side—his expression froze.
Takeshita looked even worse. His face was deathly pale. His fingers trembled.
"Takeshita, are you feeling unwell?" Nakajima said. "Never mind. I'll open it myself."
To avoid further police suspicion, Nakajima disregarded the exposed money inside the box and prepared to open it again.
"NO!" Takeshita lunged forward, grabbing his arm. "You absolutely cannot open it!"
"Why?" Nakajima frowned. "It's my box. Why can't I open it? Even if I throw it away, it's none of your business."
That enraged Takeshita. "If you want to open it, go home and do it yourself! Don't get me killed!"
"What do you mean by that?"
Takeshita punched Nakajima, knocking him to the ground. He straddled him and started slapping his hateful face with both hands. "I mean I want to kill you, you despicable bastard! Yoshimi committed suicide because of you!"
Chaos erupted.
The officers finally pulled Takeshita away. Nakajima scrambled to his feet and roared at Takeshita, who looked like he wanted to devour him alive. "Takeshita, have you lost your mind?!"
"Yes, I lost my mind. I lost it when Yoshimi died." Takeshita's voice was raw. "I switched your suitcase a long time ago. I planted a bomb inside. I didn't expect there to be an explosion in the bathroom too. Otherwise, you would have gone home, opened the suitcase, and been blown to pieces."
The room fell silent.