Nakajima Takuto returned to the room at the hospital that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police DepartmentDetectives were using as their office.
Here, besides Conan and Chiba Kazunobu who were already there, another person had appeared.
It was the high school Detective who had been making waves recently—Sera Masumi.
"Detective Nakajima, hello."
"You must be Masumi Sera, thank you for your help this time."
Nakajima Takuto had heard of Masumi Sera's name a long time ago, but when he met her face-to-face this time, he couldn't help but marvel at Masumi Sera's appearance.
A face so delicate it seemed almost unreal, distinctive dark green eyes, paired with a light grey baseball cap and a very sharp and fresh short-sleeved shirt and button-up, she was incredibly cool.
Masumi Sera's personal charisma was far more outstanding than what was published in newspapers and online.
Nakajima Takuto finally understood why Masumi Sera, as a JK Detective, had such a large number of female fans.
"With such looks and charisma, she could probably attract a large group of girls wherever she goes. And yet, someone with such top-tier handsome guy charisma is a female high school student."
Nakajima Takuto grumbled inwardly.
After greeting Nakajima Takuto, Masumi Sera once again turned her attention back to the table.
On the table were the pieces of information about Akikawa Sosuke and his mother, Akikawa Ryoko, that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had collected.
And the case files that were allowed to be viewed by Detectives.
"Nakajima, how are things looking?"
At this moment, Chiba Kazunobu spoke, asking Nakajima Takuto.
"Not bad. He was quite wary of me initially, but now I've basically gained his trust."
"Just as Assistant Inspector Toda said, Akikawa actually has a strong desire to communicate with others."
"I think if I go back and persuade him properly, he should be willing to surrender."
Hearing this, Masumi Sera suddenly looked up, staring intently at Nakajima Takuto.
"If I may be so bold, Detective Nakajima, you aren't planning to induce a confession, are you?"
"No, how could we do such a thing?!"
Nakajima Takuto was startled by Masumi Sera's sudden sharp gaze and quickly replied.
"My apologies then."
Masumi Sera heard him say this, then slowly withdrew her gaze, turning her attention back to the table.
Just now, Nakajima Takuto had been completely overwhelmed by Masumi Sera's aura, and now, recalling it, Nakajima Takuto felt a bit embarrassed.
Perhaps it was due to a guilty conscience from being guessed correctly, so Nakajima Takuto didn't bother with Masumi Sera's rude behavior just now.
Nakajima Takuto couldn't help but marvel internally once again, "She truly is a Detective, so sharp."
If outsiders really found out what they had done, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department would probably be pushed to the forefront of public criticism again.
Nakajima Takuto still had some doubts about what Conan had said last night. Now that Masumi Sera was here, he spoke up and asked:
"Masumi Sera, I'd like to ask, how did you determine that Akikawa Sosuke used the dagger after the car accident?"
"Through the ligature marks."
Masumi Sera said, taking out a photograph. It was a picture of the deceased, Akikawa Ryoko, taken by a Detective from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department yesterday.
"You can see that from the position of the deceased's right trapezius muscle, there is a ligature mark about 5 centimeters wide extending diagonally downwards. This is clearly from a car seatbelt."
The vast majority of car driver's seats in Japan are on the right side, so the seatbelt goes from the right shoulder towards the lower left, which matches the position of the ligature mark.
"Then shouldn't this ligature mark have been left during the car accident? Because the car's violent imbalance caused the seatbelt to leave a mark on the deceased?"
"If that were the case, Akikawa Sosuke, who weighs less than his mother and was sitting in the passenger seat, should have a ligature mark in the opposite direction."
"And yesterday, the kid (Conan) helped me examine the suspect Akikawa's body, and no such mark was found."
Nakajima Takuto nodded slightly, "Indeed, he does look much weaker than his mother. Logically, the impact force sufficient to leave a seatbelt mark on his mother should have left a mark on him as well."
"Of course, yesterday I also examined the victim's body and confirmed that she is not prone to scarring. This suggests that the seatbelt mark was not left during the car accident."
"Then it could only have been left when the victim struggled violently after being stabbed."
"Knowing this, we can conclude that the stabbing occurred after the car accident. And then, I heard that Triazolam was found in the suspect Akikawa's body, right?"
"That's right."
"Then the entire process of the case is now clear," Masumi Sera smiled slightly.
"In other words," Nakajima Takuto suddenly became excited, "have we obtained conclusive evidence?"
"No."
The smile on Masumi Sera's face suddenly turned awkward.
"No fingerprints of Akikawa Sosuke were found on the dagger or the deceased's body, and when Officer Miyamoto found the car, it was not locked. The car is old and doesn't have an automatic locking function, and the eyewitness testimony regarding the rear-end collision is also somewhat ambiguous."
"In other words, there's still a minuscule possibility of a third party being involved."
"…"
Nakajima Takuto felt a bit speechless.
Akikawa Sosuke's motive, modus operandi, and weapon had all been confirmed.
And there were no other suspects at the scene.
This basically confirmed that the Detective's judgment yesterday was not wrong; Akikawa Sosuke did indeed kill the person.
The only thing missing was the evidence that Akikawa Sosuke was the murderer.
This situation was already common. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's usual approach was either interrogation or to have the suspect confess voluntarily.
The former requires extensive visits and investigations.
Although the Detectives had already obtained a search warrant, it would still take some time.
If he could get Akikawa Sosuke to confess voluntarily before then, it would be the best possible outcome.
It would save manpower and time, and also earn him merit.
"It's about time. I should go get him his meal."
Nakajima Takuto stood up and left the room.
"Although the term might be inappropriate for a murderer, I still think that Akikawa is probably not bad by nature."
"After all, his mother was the one who made the mistake first, and being confined at home every day, he probably lacked basic legal knowledge, which led him to act impulsively."
"If I go back this time and have a good talk with him, he should confess voluntarily."
Nakajima Takuto thought to himself, then walked towards the direction where meals were prepared in the hospital.
"Indeed, as Assistant Inspector Toda said, this is much simpler than time-consuming investigations that waste manpower."