Chapter 173: The Culprit Apprehended
Fortunately, Kaeya was merely looking to cause a bit of mischief for Shuichi Akai, not to genuinely obstruct the investigation. With his subtle meddling out of the way, and with Conan Edogawa's deductions guiding them, Inspector Megure and his team located the culprit with surprising speed.
"Nakamura, why would you do this?" Takano Hideki's voice cracked, his finger trembling as he pointed at the apprehended man. "Haven't I always treated you well?"
Seeing that his scheme had been utterly exposed, Nakamura ceased his struggles. A venomous glare, steeped in long-simmering resentment, fixed on Takano Hideki. "Treated me well?! When have you ever treated me as anything more than a dog on a leash? You summoned me at your whim and dismissed me when you were done, using me like a common servant. You call that being good to me!" His voice climbed in pitch and volume with each word, the final sentence erupting as a furious, guttural roar that echoed with years of suppressed dissatisfaction.
Takano Hideki was momentarily stunned by the sheer force of the accusation. "Then… then you could have just refused…" he stammered, his defense weak. Then, as if recalling his own importance, a wave of self-righteous indignation washed over him. "Besides, if I hadn't been funneling business to your company, would you have had so much money to throw around? How dare you say I wasn't good to you! Hmph, you ungrateful wretch!"
"So your stinking money gives you the right to trample all over my dignity whenever you please!" Nakamura shot back, utterly lost in his own world of perceived injustices, convinced that Takano's patronage was a curse, not a blessing.
Just then, a police officer standing nearby took a step forward, preparing to escort Nakamura to the station for a formal statement. The simple movement was enough to shatter Nakamura's fragile composure. In a flash of desperate motion, he wrenched an arm free and produced a handgun, aiming it squarely at the approaching officer.
The officer's training kicked in instantly. He raised his hands in a placating gesture, careful to make no sudden moves that might provoke the gunman further.
Nakamura jabbed the gun toward the officer, a clear warning to keep his distance, before sweeping the barrel across the room. "Stay back! All of you!" he commanded, his voice ragged with panic.
Fearing Nakamura would lose control and open fire, Inspector Megure and his team had no choice but to comply, cautiously taking several steps back. As the crowd shuffled, Matsuda Jinpei seized the opportunity. Using the others as a screen, he melted back into the throng, slipping out of Nakamura's direct line of sight.
Catching Matsuda's maneuver from the corner of his eye, Inspector Megure felt a flicker of relief before turning his full attention back to the front. He needed to keep the culprit's focus squarely on him.
From his own concealed position, Conan Edogawa was also taking aim. He subtly adjusted his Stun-Gun Wristwatch, his finger hovering over the activation button, waiting for the perfect moment—the instant Nakamura's trigger finger relaxed even slightly.
Nakamura's gaze swept the room, his eyes wild. He pointed the gun at Takano Hideki, then, in a move that baffled everyone, he suddenly swiveled and aimed directly at Natsume.
"It's all your fault! Everything is your fault!" he snarled, his face a mask of hatred, as if she had committed some unforgivable sin against him.
Natsume blinked, her expression one of pure, logical confusion. "…I'm sorry, but we just met today. How, exactly, have I wronged you?"
"Of course she isn't in the wrong," a cold voice cut through the tension. Aether regarded the unraveling man with icy disdain, a sneer playing on his lips. "Men like you, utterly useless and skilled only at blaming others, probably think that anyone who breathes better air than you is committing a personal offense."
Inspector Megure's eyes widened in horror. He shot a desperate, frantic look at Aether, trying to signal him to shut up and not provoke the armed and unstable man.
"Shut up! What do you know? You don't know anything!" Goaded by Aether's words, Nakamura's arm jerked again, the gun now pointing directly at the man known to the world as Cointreau. This latest development left both Conan Edogawa and Shuichi Akai with identical expressions of bewilderment.
"It's all his fault for ruining my plan!" Nakamura screeched, his words tumbling out in a frantic, incoherent stream. "If it weren't for him, I would have succeeded long ago! None of this would have happened today…"
From his disjointed rambling, the pieces finally clicked into place for the onlookers. Nakamura had already made one attempt on Takano's life—the very day Natsume had first met the man. That attempt had been thwarted, and now they understood why Nakamura held such a bizarre grudge against her.
"Is that so?" Aether continued, his voice devoid of any emotion, completely ignoring Inspector Megure, who was now signaling so hard his eye had started to twitch. "Then you can only blame your own bad luck and shoddy planning. In short, your own incompetence."
That was the final straw. Aether's relentless, dispassionate critique shattered the last of Nakamura's control. He aimed squarely at Aether's chest, his finger tightening on the trigger.
Seeing the shift, Matsuda Jinpei exploded from his cover. He lunged, no longer concerned with stealth, and slammed into Nakamura. He grabbed the gunman's hand, forcing it upward just as the trigger was pulled.
Simultaneously, a near-silent thwip cut through the air as Conan's tranquilizer needle found its mark in Nakamura's neck.
Nakamura felt a sharp sting, and his consciousness began to swim in a dizzying fog. His finger spasmed instinctively.
BANG!
The gunshot ripped through the room, causing everyone to flinch. The bullet, thankfully, flew harmlessly upward, shattering a crystal drop from the ornate chandelier overhead. No one was hurt.
Matsuda wrestled the gun from Nakamura's limp grasp, his expression puzzled as the man suddenly collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. He was sure he'd seen a faint glint of something, a flash of white light, just before Nakamura went down.
He glanced across the room and met the wide-eyed, equally confused gaze of Conan Edogawa, who was conspicuously hiding his hands behind his back. Could it really have something to do with that kid? Matsuda wondered.
"Creak…"
With one crisis averted and the culprit apprehended, a wave of relief washed over the room. Takano Hideki's tense nerves finally began to unwind. He saw his 'angel,' Natsume, smiling and chatting with the man beside her. A pang of annoyance struck him. He decided to march over, interrupt them, and secure a time and place for his next, hopefully more successful, confession.
He had only taken a few steps when a strange, grinding sound echoed from above.
Takano looked up instinctively. The grand chandelier, its support weakened by the stray bullet, swayed precariously. With a final, sickening snap, it broke free from its mooring and plunged directly toward him.
His mind went blank. His body froze. All he could do was stand there, a statue of terrified paralysis, watching the mountain of crystal and metal grow closer and closer.
His last coherent thought was a flash of bitter irony: So, that guy Nakamura succeeded in the end after all…
Before the chandelier could crush him, a blur of motion tackled him from the side, shoving him clear of the impact zone. In the split second before they hit the floor, his savior twisted their bodies, positioning themself underneath to cushion his fall.
It all happened in a heartbeat. A few seconds later, the stunned onlookers finally processed the near-disaster and rushed forward to help.
"Mr. Takano, are you alright?"
Helped to his feet, Takano Hideki shook his head, trying to clear the ringing from his ears. He finally turned to look at the person who had saved him. A young woman with medium-length, silver-grey hair was looking at him, her gentle eyes filled with concern as she asked about his condition.
After confirming that Mr. Takano was unharmed, Noelle gave a small nod and returned to Natsume's side. Takano's gaze remained fixed on her, tracking her every step with a newfound sense of awe.
Nearby, Shuichi Akai's brow furrowed. He looked from the glittering shards of the chandelier scattered across the floor to Takano Hideki, who had been at the epicenter of the crash yet emerged without a single scratch. It was as if the fragments had deliberately avoided him and his rescuer. A coincidence?
Conan Edogawa had also noticed the strange detail. The chandelier had fallen right in front of him. But he quickly dismissed the thought, chalking it up to Mr. Takano and the maid-like girl having astonishingly good luck.
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