"Ran, call the police!" Kogoro Mori's voice came from the distance, shattering Qianben Xixi's last glimmer of hope. She now only prayed that the victim wasn't the editor she had signed with, otherwise her shop upgrade plan would go down the drain.
"He's dead, no need for an ambulance." Conan's voice followed. "The cause of death is… hmm, there seems to be a bitter almond smell in her mouth. No mistake, it's cyanide poisoning."
"Hey, you little brat, stay away from the body!" Mouri Kogoro roared, followed by Conan's pained yelp, before silence fell once more.
When Qianben Xixi went upstairs, she saw Conan alone, holding his head with two large bumps on it, standing at the corridor entrance with a resentful look.
"Does it hurt? How did you get beaten up again?" Qianben Xixi asked with feigned concern, though her eyes gleamed with schadenfreude.
"Tch~" Conan pouted, feeling embarrassed at being seen in such a sorry state, muttering through gritted teeth, "That damn old man."
Fifteen minutes later, police cars arrived downstairs. The familiar Inspector Megure, along with his subordinates, rushed to the crime scene—the break room of the publishing house's physical department—and began collecting evidence.
The victim this time was a young, beautiful woman, a new intern at this publishing house. The cause of death, just as Conan had said, was cyanide poisoning. From the victim's wide-open eyes and strained mouth, it was clear she had exhibited obvious signs of suffocation before death, consistent with cyanide poisoning.
Once again, it was that familiar smell, that familiar formula. Of the incidents Qianben Xixi had experienced this month, nine and a half out of ten involved cyanide poisoning. She even wondered if cyanide was rampant in this world—how could anyone get their hands on it so easily?
Just as Qianben Xixi was grumbling to herself, the police had completed their preliminary investigation and secured the scene.
The victim, Miss Honda Yumi, was twenty-two years old, having just graduated from university. She had only been interning at this publishing house for a month.
"Ah, what a shame, how could this happen?" Mr. Sakata, a colleague nearby, covered his face and murmured in disbelief. "Yumi was supposed to become a full-time employee next month… I never expected this. It must be her, she was jealous of Yumi!"
The man speaking was in his thirties, wearing a white shirt and black work pants with rolled-up sleeves. He seemed like a decent person but was now grieving and slightly agitated over his colleague's death.
"Sir, could you elaborate?" Inspector Megure perked up upon hearing a suspicious lead and immediately inquired.
"It's like this…" Mr. Sakata said excitedly. "A few days ago, Yumi was particularly upset, so as a colleague, I asked her what was wrong. She said she was being ostracized…"
At this point, Mr. Sakata pointed at a girl with a ponytail and black-framed glasses in front of him. "It's her, Noda Rei! She was jealous of Yumi's beauty and popularity, so she killed her!"
"You're talking nonsense! I didn't kill anyone!" The accused Noda Rei instinctively denied it vehemently, shouting angrily, "Sakata, you jerk! You're slandering me!"
"Now, now, Mr. Sakata, you can't make accusations without evidence," Inspector Megure quickly intervened to mediate.
"Of course I have evidence," Sakata said confidently. "Yesterday, a colleague heard her complaining in the breakroom while boiling water, saying that Yumi only got her permanent position because she had an improper relationship with the editor-in-chief. She claimed she was more capable but got eliminated, and said she hated that vixen to death."
"Is that true, Miss Noda?" Inspector Megure asked sternly.
"Of course it's true!" Sakata continued. "If you don't believe me, ask Mami."
"Um, who is Mami?"
"It's… it's me…" A small figure squeezed out from the gap, timidly raising her hand. "I… I really did hear it… I'm Uesugi Mami."
Sakata: "See!"
Inspector Megure: "Alright, Miss Noda, care to explain?"
"You bastard, Sakata!" Noda glared fiercely at Uesugi Mami, then gritted her teeth at Sakata. "I wasn't wrong. The dirty things she did—why can't I talk about them?"
Inspector Megure: "Then where were you earlier, and what were you doing?"
"I went to the restroom…"
"Can anyone confirm that?"
"No, I was alone in the restroom at the time…" Noda's confidence immediately wavered.
"So no one can confirm it, right?" Inspector Megure pressed.
"No… I…" Noda stammered.
"Um, Officer, I actually saw Yumi go to the restroom too…" Uesugi Mami timidly raised her hand again from the corner of the crowd, whispering, "But Yumi probably can't testify now… Uh, why are you all looking at me?"
"Ara ara, this lipstick seems to have a bitter almond smell," Conan's voice suddenly drew everyone's attention. "Sister Natsuya, smell this."
Qianben Xixi, who had been watching Conan running around the room, immediately went to his side and leaned down to sniff the lipstick in his hand. "Indeed, it smells like bitter almonds."
"I've got it!!" Kogoro Mori suddenly slapped his forehead. "The culprit is you, Miss Noda!"
He stroked his chin, analyzing under everyone's watchful eyes: "Just as Mr. Sakata said, you killed Miss Yumi out of jealousy."
Noda: "I didn't!!"
Ignoring her protests, Kogoro Mori continued confidently, "You calculated that Miss Yumi would need to go to the restroom to touch up her makeup, so you took the opportunity to smear poison on her lipstick in advance. When she went to the breakroom to eat, the poison came into contact with her food, entered her mouth, and caused her to die from poisoning."
"Impossible!" Noda argued. "If I had smeared poison on her lipstick in advance, why would I go to the restroom and increase suspicion on myself?"
Kogoro Mori: "Of course, it was because you wanted to confirm whether she had reapplied her lipstick, watching her step into your trap. If she hadn't reapplied her lipstick at that moment, you would have provoked her into doing so according to your plan. Am I right?"
"Nonsense!!" Noda shouted angrily. "Officer, I didn't kill anyone! Maybe… maybe it was Editor Akino! Hah, Yumi was his mistress, but she wasn't satisfied. I heard Yumi recently threatening him, saying she'd tell his wife and children if he didn't get a divorce…"
Before she could finish speaking, Akino Kumaji on the other end immediately shouted in reprimand, "That's slander! Just because I didn't let you stay, you're trying to drag me down too?! Noda Ryo, stop struggling and confess obediently!"
Clearly, all suspicion still rested squarely on Noda Ryo.
"Sister Natsuya, what do you think?" Conan suddenly asked Qianben Xixi beside him.
"What do I think?"
"Who do you think the culprit is?" Conan asked curiously. "Do you also think it's Noda Ryo?"
"Of course not." Qianben Xixi knew that when he was deducing, he liked to exchange ideas with others to confirm his guesses, and besides Ran, she was the only one around.
"Oh? Then who do you think it is?" Conan's eyes lit up as he pressed further.
Hoping to solve the case quickly so she could sign the contract, Qianben Xixi shared her speculation.
"Of course, it's Mr. Sakata," she said. "Actually, he was also involved with Miss Yumi. When he discovered she was two-timing him and planning to abandon him to cozy up to Editor Akino, he killed her in a fit of rage. The evidence is the lipstick mark on the inside of his white shirt collar and the hickey on his Adam's apple. The method was likely pre-calculating the dosage—applying a tiny amount of cyanide to his own Adam's apple beforehand. During their intimate moment, the victim came into contact with it. Because the dose was small, it wasn't immediately fatal, and some residue remained on her lips, which is why she didn't succumb until she drank afternoon tea."
Qianben Xixi finished in one breath and looked at Conan. "What do you think?"
Conan:…
Conan was utterly stunned. He had only asked casually—why did she have to tell him every single detail? And why was this person solving cases so quickly? He did suspect Sakata, but he hadn't found the evidence yet!
If there were such a thing as a regret pill in this world, he would never have opened his mouth just now! Argh, how annoying—give back the joy of deduction to him!