An eerie silence fell over the scene. For a moment, nobody knew what to say. It wasn't as though they could openly comment on such explosive news.
Unfortunately, Inako mistook their silence for disbelief. She grabbed the still-stunned Hatano by the arm and loudly proclaimed,
"Don't you get it yet?! He's my lover!!"
Having finally processed the revelation, Kogoro exclaimed, "Then the man I secretly photographed with you was him?!"
Afraid that everyone still wouldn't believe her, Inako snatched the briefcase from Hatano's hands, pulled out the disguise tools inside, and boldly continued,
"That's right! Look! After putting on this disguise, he became the man you saw!"
That finishing blow was so devastating that Ritsu almost felt that the deceased Denjiro might rise from the dead just to curse a few times before lying back down again.
He hurriedly stepped forward, waving his hands awkwardly with a forced smile. Otherwise, he feared the lady might start describing the details of the affair itself.
"Madam, there's really no need to explain. I've known for a while that Hatano-san isn't the murderer."
"Huh? Then you already know who killed my husband?"
"Yes. I just haven't found the evidence yet."
Conan's eyes widened.
He hadn't expected Ritsu to have already identified the culprit. He must have discovered some clue while investigating alone in the room.
'Damn it. Being a child really prevents me from participating.'
Conan irritably ruffled his hair.
'At least Sensei had already ruled out Hatano Kazuya. That meant the murderer could only be one of the remaining two people. But who?'
Still lacking any clues regarding physical evidence, Ritsu glanced at the dragon sculpture displayed atop a cabinet before walking over to Inako.
"Inako-san, may I ask what the most valuable item here is? I've noticed that quite a few collectibles have been damaged."
"The most valuable item?" Inako thought for a moment before replying, "That would definitely be the key to my husband's safe."
As she spoke, she walked over to the cabinet that had been slashed beyond recognition. Her eyes were filled with heartache.
The cabinet itself was worth quite a fortune.
But moments later, her face suddenly turned pale.
"It's gone!! Oh no! The key to the safe is missing!"
"What?!"
"Ah! Found it! Turns out I put it in a different drawer~~"
Everyone present wore speechless expressions. Ritsu couldn't help glancing at Takagi and silently complaining,
'Can panic attacks be contagious?'
But almost immediately, he realized where the problem lay.
Someone else realized it too.
Simultaneously, the adult and child shouted,
"Inako-san! Please step aside!"
Neither of them noticed anything strange about their synchronized reaction.
Kogoro narrowed his eyes and grumbled,
"That brat really copies everything he sees."
Ran was about to tell Conan not to interfere, but when she noticed the focused expression on his face, one far too serious for a six-year-old, she unconsciously halted her steps.
Why did she suddenly feel as though she was seeing Shinichi's shadow in this child?
Conan himself hadn't realized that his tone had sounded far too mature. Frowning, he examined the cabinet covered in slash marks.
Only then did he notice that while there were numerous small scratches, none of the deeper cuts connected together.
'I need to tell Sensei about this clue right awa—Huh?'
Looking up, Conan finally noticed the faint smile on Ritsu's face.
Behind the glare of his lenses, those phoenix-shaped eyes remained fixed on the cabinet, carrying the same focus and confidence Conan knew all too well.
'Looks like I don't need to tell him.'
That expression clearly meant he'd already discovered the secret hidden within all the knife marks throughout the room.
Having finally found the decisive evidence, Ritsu had no intention of wasting any more time. He had never been particularly interested in speculating about murder motives.
Turning around, he said directly,
"Inako-san, thank you for your help. Otherwise, we might have overlooked the dying message your husband left behind."
"Huh? M-Me? Did I do anything?" Inako asked, confused.
"It was because you searched for the key. Otherwise, we would've missed the most crucial piece of evidence."
Rather than continuing immediately, Ritsu raised his eyes toward someone standing nearby. That person had lowered his head expressionlessly, seemingly lost in thought.
Smiling, Ritsu said:
"Isn't that right, Suwa Yuji-san?"
Suwa calmly adjusted his suit jacket. Without the slightest hint of panic, he replied,
"Officer, you certainly enjoy making jokes. What does Maru-san's key have to do with me?"
"Turning yourself in would reduce your sentence, yet you're still determined to deny it. Criminals like you are truly stubborn. Though I don't mind. It just means you'll spend a few extra years behind bars."
Standing before the cabinet, Ritsu began rearranging its drawers while explaining,
"Suwa-san, you've fallen victim to your own cleverness. Your plan to frame Akutsu-san was actually quite good. But you should've chosen only one method."
When Suwa remained silent, he continued,
"Leaving behind the telephone recording was your first mistake. You staged signs of a struggle throughout the room, yet only Akutsu-san's sculpture and the phone recording that established his alibi remained completely untouched.
Preserving one of those would have been enough. Keeping both only made your intention to frame him obvious."
Listening to his teacher's explanation, Conan nearly laughed. Was this an online tutorial teaching criminals how to commit murder properly?
'As expected of Sensei. Not only did he expose the killer, he attacked his pride too.'
"Your second mistake was failing to remove the dying message left by the victim on the cabinet. There was a lighter sitting right on the desk. If fire could've solved the problem, why go through all that trouble?"
After swapping the final two drawers, Ritsu stepped aside and tapped the cabinet's surface.
"See the words carved on it? Looking back now, doesn't all the effort you spent staging the scene make you feel... like an idiot?"
Carved prominently into the cabinet was,
ゆうじ
Which meant,
Yuji.
"I'd been wondering why Denjiro-san never tried to escape the room after being stabbed in the back."
"Because he knew that even if he ran outside, Kogoro-san and the others in the main house wouldn't hear him. And in order to investigate his wife's affair, he'd already dismissed all the household servants."
"So the only thing he could do was carve your name into the cabinet when you weren't paying attention."
Removing his glasses, Ritsu took out a cleaning cloth and wiped the lenses.
"Are you still planning to argue your way out of this?"
"...Heh. As expected of the MPD's genius detective."
Suwa knew there was no longer any path to escape. Raising his head, he smiled.
"The moment I saw that you were the officer handling the case today, I knew my little trick wouldn't fool you."
Takagi frowned. "Suwa-san, hadn't you already prepared the money? Why did you still kill Denjiro-san?"
"Because he sold the treasured heirloom of the Suwa family, the famous sword Kikuchiyo. He even mocked it as nothing more than a worthless blade!"
"I lost control of myself in that moment. I simply grabbed the decorative sword nearby and slashed him from behind."
"Just like this—"
In one swift motion, Suwa snatched the katana being held as evidence by Takagi. Using the force of his left foot pushing off the ground, he lunged forward with a massive step.
The blade flashed from its scabbard and cut directly toward Ritsu.
"Onizawa-san!"
"Inspector!"
Ritsu seemed completely oblivious to Suwa's sudden attack. After putting his glasses back on, he looked directly at the descending blade.
His right foot stepped diagonally forward. At the same time, he twisted his waist to the left. Using a hiraki-ashi sidestep from kendo, he effortlessly evaded the strike.
But he didn't stop there.
Almost simultaneously, his left thumb tucked inward while the remaining four fingers aligned together, forming a hand spear.
With maximum speed, he thrust toward Suwa's throat.
The strands of hair hanging over his forehead swayed from the sudden movement. The violent intent that had briefly gathered within his crimson eyes disappeared once more.
His fingertips came to a gentle stop against Suwa's Adam's apple.
He could even feel the man's terrified swallow, the movement of the Adam's apple rising and falling beneath his fingers.
"Checkmate, Suwa-san."
----
bonus chap every 20 PS
read ahead on my p4-treon.com / Siamus404