"My younger sister is a sophomore in college, about the same age as me, which means I'm around 20 years old now?"
"That's surprising. I originally thought the original owner was just a high school student."
Akikawa Sosuke listened to Nakajima Takuto tell him about his sister, while also organizing the information he caught from Nakajima Takuto's words.
"Repeatedly confirming whether I have insomnia means that the doctor detected sleeping pill components in my body last night."
"That's why they concluded I attempted suicide."
Akikawa Sosuke couldn't be sure whether it was poison or sleeping pills detected in his body when he was in the washroom earlier.
Although it's not entirely accurate to say so, sleeping pills can become poison if enough is consumed.
What Akikawa Sosuke was mainly concerned about was the method the original owner chose to commit suicide.
Depending on the type of drug, the half-life of its concentration in the human body also differs.
As long as the concentration of the toxin in the body is detected, the time the poison was consumed can be calculated.
Akikawa Sosuke still held onto the slim hope that he was not the murderer, and thus couldn't help but consider the minuscule possibility that the original owner was truly innocent.
"The Detectives have already concluded that I took sleeping pills after the woman died, so continuing to consider this issue doesn't seem to have much meaning."
Just as Akikawa Sosuke found his naive thoughts amusing in his mind.
Nakajima Takuto's words beside him once again caught Akikawa Sosuke's attention.
"By the way, my sister is really a handful. She's liked to talk back to Mom since middle school. I originally thought it was just puberty, but even at this age, she still often argues with Mom."
"Oh… is that so…"
Akikawa Sosuke stammered, looking like he didn't know how to respond.
"After talking about his sister's insomnia, he started talking about his sister's relationship with his mother?"
"So, the woman who died in the car, was she indeed the original owner's mother?"
Akikawa Sosuke had already guessed this after determining that the original owner was likely abused and held captive at home by the woman in the same car.
He didn't expect it to really be the original owner's mother.
"So, the original owner, who had been held captive by his mother since childhood, prepared sleeping pills and a dagger in advance, planning to kill his mother and then commit suicide on the day they went out together?"
"If I can think of it, the Detectives must have thought of it too. But they haven't directly come to arrest me yet, which means the evidence is not yet conclusive…"
"Besides my fingerprints not being on the murder weapon, they also haven't gotten a definite answer from witnesses, have they?"
"Because I unlocked the car, creating the possibility of a third party committing the crime."
"As long as this possibility isn't ruled out, they won't be able to convict me."
"Since the original owner took the sleeping pills after his mother died, he should have witnessed this non-existent 'third party'."
"To convince the Detectives and the Detectives, the scene of the mother's assassination that I fabricate must be reasonable."
"If any part of my description of that third party deviates from the original crime scene details, the Detectives will surely immediately realize I'm lying…"
"But I woke up yesterday feeling muddled. How could I have noticed so many details?"
Unable to travel back to yesterday and observe the crime scene again at this moment.
Akikawa Sosuke determined that there was only one way for him to obtain information—
That was the Detective in front of him, who was incessantly complaining about his sister's relationship with his mother.
—
Nakajima Takuto complained to Akikawa Sosuke for a while about his sister's terrible relationship with his mother.
Then he looked at Akikawa Sosuke and asked curiously:
"Although it's a bit presumptuous to ask at the time of your mother's unfortunate incident, how is Akikawa-kun's relationship with his mother?"
"This… this has nothing to do with Nakajima, does it?"
"I'm just a little curious."
"Uh, the relationship… it's… it's good, I guess…"
Akikawa Sosuke avoided Nakajima Takuto's gaze, his eyes darting away.
This scene naturally could not be missed by Nakajima Takuto.
In fact, for a Detective who is inherently better at reading people than the average person, Akikawa Sosuke's lying technique was simply obvious.
"However, Akikawa-kun doesn't seem to have shown much sadness after his mother's murder."
"If your relationship was truly good, shouldn't your reaction be different?"
Nakajima Takuto's attitude began to lose its initial gentleness and kindness, and his tone gradually deepened.
At the same time, he leaned closer to Akikawa Sosuke, staring intently at Akikawa Sosuke's eyes, which dared not meet his, continuously applying pressure.
"No… it… it was just too sudden… I don't know…"
Akikawa Sosuke's words gradually became a bit incoherent.
Nakajima Takuto could tell at a glance that Akikawa Sosuke was trying his best to find an excuse, but couldn't form complete and fluent sentences due to excessive nervousness.
"Akikawa-kun, you really shouldn't lie. Your lying skills are really poor."
"Just… a little… not good relations…"
Akikawa Sosuke whispered, then looked up, secretly glancing at Nakajima Takuto, who had suddenly become terrifying.
He seemed to want to see if the nurse, who had suddenly become terrifying, believed his words.
"Sigh—"
Nakajima Takuto let out a deep sigh.
"I really want to try my best to help Akikawa-kun."
"Eh?!"
Akikawa Sosuke's eyes widened, revealing an expression of both shock and bewilderment.
"It was Akikawa-kun who killed his mother, right?"
Nakajima Takuto said in a deep voice.
"Ah—?!"
As if stabbed in the lower back with a knife, Akikawa Sosuke cried out in surprise upon hearing this, shrinking away from Nakajima Takuto.
But how could Nakajima Takuto give Akikawa Sosuke a chance to breathe? He immediately stood up, propped his hand on the small table with the food tray, and leaned over to look at the pale-faced Akikawa Sosuke.
"Answer my question."
"No… I didn't… Mom, she… wasn't she killed in a car accident?"
"Mom… she was driving… and accidentally hit the guardrail… so she crashed and died."
"That's not right, is it? Ryoko was rear-ended after an emergency brake, and that's how she hit the guardrail!"
Nakajima Takuto looked at Akikawa Sosuke, who was panting heavily due to extreme nervousness and pressure, and made a judgment in his heart.
From the moment Akikawa Sosuke started fabricating the cause of Akikawa Ryoko's death, he was already convinced that Akikawa Sosuke had killed Akikawa Ryoko.
It was precisely because Akikawa Sosuke caused this car accident that he wanted to conceal the cause of the accident.
"What a pathetic child. He doesn't even know that the Detectives can completely determine what happened to the car before the accident through the tire marks on the ground."
"The dagger is still stuck in his mother's body, yet he's still saying his mother died in a car accident."
"What a clumsy lie."
Nakajima Takuto reached into his pocket with one hand, secretly pressing the record button on his voice recorder.
Although recordings obtained without the other party's consent do not have legal effect.
However, a recording of the culprit's confession can serve as strong evidence.
"You still want to lie to me? Ryoko was still alive after the car accident. Stop pretending, you killed Ryoko, didn't you?"
Nakajima Takuto once again intensified his tone, repeating his question.
This was not only to continue to pressure Akikawa Sosuke, who was on the verge of collapse, but also to ensure that the voice recorder clearly picked up his question.
"You… you need to show evidence… I clearly saw Mom after the car accident…"
Nakajima Takuto looked at Akikawa Sosuke, whose eyes were red and who looked like he was about to break down and cry.
He knew Akikawa Sosuke had reached his limit.
He directly reached out and ripped open Akikawa Sosuke's hospital gown, revealing his thin, bony shoulders.
Nakajima Takuto pointed to Akikawa Sosuke's unblemished shoulder and sneered:
"You want evidence, do you? This is the evidence!"