"Miss Qianben, why do I see you again?" Inspector Megure was somewhat surprised to see a certain someone after arriving at the scene upon receiving the report. "At least Kogoro Mouri isn't here today."
Heh, Mouri Kogoro isn't here, but the Detective Boy is.
Facing Inspector Megure's blatantly suspicious gaze that seemed to ask why she had also become a jinx, Qianben Xixi could only respond with a smile and sigh, "I don't know either. Ever since I met Conan, unexpected incidents have been happening around me all the time."
"Ah, it must be Kogoro Mouri's influence," Inspector Megure gave her a sympathetic look. "What were you doing at the music store today? And where were you when the incident occurred?"
Sympathy aside, statements still had to be taken.
"I came to pick up an instrument today. A friend sent me a cello, and I had arranged with the store in advance to come pick it up today," Qianben Xixi explained. "After I entered the store, the clerk went into the back room to get the instrument for me, and I waited outside on the sofa seat, the one by the window."
"Hmm, can you describe what happened at the time?" Inspector Megure asked again.
Qianben Xixi: "I had just sat down not long before when I heard the clerk scream from inside—probably when he discovered the body—along with the sound of something heavy falling to the ground. Then I saw him stumble out from the back room. After that, Conan came in, and I called the police."
"Nothing else?"
"No," Qianben Xixi shook her head.
"Understood, thank you for your cooperation." After saying this, Inspector Megure took his team to continue taking statements and securing the crime scene.
Ten minutes later, a middle-aged man with a goatee suddenly rushed in from outside.
"Officers, what happened?" The man, named Naoshi Furuta, was a friend and business partner of the deceased, Koji Yamada, the owner of this music store.
"Sorry, Mr. Furuta," Inspector Megure walked up to him and said seriously, "What is your relationship with the deceased, Koji Yamada? When was the last time you saw him?"
"What?! Yamada is dead?" Naoshi Furuta paused for a moment before exclaiming in shock, "How is that possible… I—I just saw him earlier, and he was fine…"
Standing nearby, Qianben Xixi noticed that the man's eyes were evasive as he spoke, avoiding Inspector Megure's gaze and constantly looking away.
Clearly suspicious—not necessarily the murderer, but definitely not telling the truth. Even his shocked expression upon being told his friend was dead seemed feigned.
Qianben Xixi glanced at him thoughtfully.
She really didn't want to get involved in figuring out who the murderer was, nor was she interested in playing detective and solving cases. All she wanted right now was to get her gun quickly and hurry back to open her shop and make money.
The most troublesome part was that she was afraid her gun might be accidentally discovered by the investigators as evidence. She needed to think of an explanation in advance, just in case.
Of course, the best scenario would be to resolve the case quickly, giving the police no time to react, directly identify the murderer, close the case, and retrieve her gun. Otherwise, even if it wasn't discovered, as part of the crime scene that needed to be preserved, she wouldn't be able to take anything out of there until the case was closed. If the police remained clueless for too long, they might actually find the gun.
"Hmm, uncle, why are you sweating so much?" Conan pointed at Naoshi Furuta and asked curiously, "It's so cold outside today, that's really strange~"
Alright, with Conan here, the case will definitely be solved today. Qianben Xixi suddenly felt a sense of security.
"Ahaha, it's because I rushed over in a hurry after suddenly receiving a call from the police," Naoshi Furuta explained, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Oh, I see~" Conan acted cute, pretending it all made sense.
"Alright, any results from the forensics team?" Inspector Megure asked Takagi after finishing the witness statements.
Takagi: "At the crime scene, aside from the guitar string used as the murder weapon, no other suspicious items were found."
Inspector Megure nodded after hearing this and headed toward the primary crime scene with the officers beside him.
"Professor Agasa, you're here too?" Just as Qianben Xixi was about to follow them inside, she saw Professor Agasa suddenly push the door open and walk in.
"Yeah, Shin—ah… I came out shopping with Conan." He almost slipped and said Shinichi, but Professor Agasa awkwardly scratched his sparse hair and changed the subject. "Are you here to buy a guitar?"
"Yeah, to pick one up. By the way, Professor Agasa, weren't you supposed to go camping today?" Xiaxi asked the question that had been bothering her.
"Oh, that." Professor Agasa laughed awkwardly. "I thought I had enough tents at home, but it turned out I was one short, so I brought Conan along to buy one, along with some other things."
So that's how it is… Qianben Xixi nodded and followed Professor Agasa to the room at the back of the music store, which was the crime scene.
By now, everyone who was in the music store at the time of the incident had gathered there.
Aside from the store clerk, Taro Nikaido, and the middle-aged man who had just arrived, Naoshi Furuta, there was also the cleaner at the music store, Ms. Mieko Fujiwara.
Another classic case of three suspects, though this time it wasn't cyanide poisoning but a hardcore method like string throat slitting. The victim's neck had been slashed open, blood had pooled on the floor, and a faint smell of blood still lingered in the room.
"According to Mr. Nikaido, who discovered the body, the time of death is preliminarily estimated to be around 9:04 this morning," Inspector Megure asked the cleaner, Mieko Fujiwara. "Where were you at that time?"
Mieko Fujiwara, a woman in her fifties with a wrinkled face, thought for a moment and said, "I should have been cleaning a room on the second floor."
Inspector Megure: "Can anyone confirm that?"
Mieko Fujiwara shook her head. "I was alone."
"So you have no alibi, then." Inspector Megure noted this down in his notebook.
Mieko Fujiwara: "Yes, I don't."
"And you, Mr. Furuta, when did you arrive?" Inspector Megure asked again. "From what I understand, Mr. Nikaido said he saw you here just before the victim died. What were you doing here?"
Inspector Megure then turned his attention to Naoshi Furuta. The man kept wiping sweat with his handkerchief as he spoke, "I came around a little before nine… probably around 8:55. I wanted to discuss the price of that violin with Koji. I wanted to buy it, but we couldn't agree on the price yesterday, so I came again this morning."
"Yes, I can confirm that. Mr. Furuta and the store manager argued about this yesterday—I heard it from outside," added the store clerk, Taro Nikaido.
"Alright, I understand. And what about you, Mr. Nikaido? Do you have an alibi?" Inspector Megure asked.
"Yes, as I mentioned earlier, after Mr. Furuta left, the store manager started playing the violin because he was in a bad mood. That's when a customer came in," he said, glancing at Qianben Xixi. "It wasn't until I went to get the violin for her that I discovered the body and called the police."
"Um, Miss Qianben, is that correct?" Inspector Megure also looked at Qianben Xixi.
"Yes," Qianben Xixi recalled. "I did hear violin music when I came in, but it stopped shortly after. I thought the person playing was just practicing."
"So, at the time of the victim's death, both of you were in the outer hall, correct?" Inspector Megure nodded. "That means the only ones with alibis are Mr. Nikaido and Miss Qianben."
"Wait, Inspector, I was already gone from the Music Store by then. I wasn't there either…" Naoshi Furuta said anxiously. "I didn't kill him."
"No one said you did, Uncle," Conan chimed in. "Why are you so quick to deny it?"
"No, I wasn't…" Naoshi Furuta broke into a cold sweat again.
"Alright, Mr. Furuta. Since you claim to have left before the crime occurred, how can you prove you actually left and didn't return? Do you have an alibi?"
Naoshi Furuta: "No… but, but I left something at the hotel next door. They can confirm I was there."
"Oh, what did you leave?" Inspector Megure asked. "Don't worry, we'll verify your story with the hotel you mentioned to rule you out as a suspect. But until then, please cooperate with our investigation."
"Fine…" After hesitating for a long time, Naoshi Furuta finally admitted in defeat, "I stole Koji's violin while he wasn't around. When I got the call from the police, I urgently left it at the front desk of a nearby hotel."
"What? You stole that violin?!" Taro Nikaido exclaimed in shock.
"What violin?" Inspector Megure asked.
"It's the violin I wanted to buy but couldn't agree on the price for," Naoshi Furuta confessed. "It's a violin made by a famous craftsman, worth fifty million on the market."
Inspector Megure: …
"Theft is indeed a much lesser crime than murder," Conan remarked. "Did you notice anything, Sister Natsuya?"
"Oh, nothing. Forget I asked." Conan suddenly remembered something, his expression changing as he quickly shut his mouth.
Qianben Xixi: "…"
"So now it's clear. The only person here without an alibi is you…" Inspector Megure said sternly, "and that's you, Ms. Mieko Fujiwara, the cleaner."
"Yes, yes, that's definitely her!" Naoshi Furuta blurted out. "I know Koji was always very dissatisfied with her, often cursing her and even withholding her salary, so she held a grudge!"
"Hmph, what a pair of scoundrels," Conan muttered under his breath, still annoyed.
"Ms. Fujiwara, do you have anything to say?" Inspector Megure asked.
"No," Mieko Fujiwara shook her head. "That's right, I killed him. Mr. Furuta is correct. He constantly beat, insulted, and withheld my pay, so I held a grudge. Today, he attacked me again, and in a fit of rage, I killed him."
Everyone: "…"
"Um, well…" Inspector Megure was also a bit stunned. "Are you sure? You're confessing? You killed him?"
Mieko Fujiwara affirmed, "Yes, I confess."
"I don't think it's her. But why would she confess?" Conan suddenly whispered. "Wait, I know. Did you notice? While she was speaking, she kept glancing at that male shop assistant."
"Hmm," Qianben Xixi indicated she had seen it.
"I see, so that's how it is." Conan's glasses suddenly reflected light. "But there's still one piece missing, no decisive evidence yet…"
Qianben Xixi: "I guess the tape he used to create the alibi is probably in his pants pocket."
"So that's it. There's a rectangular bulge in his right pocket, no wonder it felt like his right hand kept unconsciously moving toward it." Conan pondered, feeling everything had connected into a line—he could solve the case!
Thinking this, he raised his wrist, instinctively searching for a target. Among those present he knew, besides Professor Agasa, there was only the person beside him…
"Conan, why are you pointing your watch at me?" Qianben Xixi smiled kindly.
"Heh, heh…" Conan laughed awkwardly. "I'm just playing with my watch…"
Qianben Xixi: Smiling.jpg
Conan: …
"Wait, you already figured out the truth earlier?" Conan realized the other person had known before he even found the evidence.
"Yeah, it just came to me in a flash," Qianben Xixi brushed it off and urged, "Hurry up and solve the case."
Conan: …
So he could only turn to Professor Agasa to perform their usual double act. After all, it wasn't the first time they'd done this, and both were quite adept.
Finally, it's over. Qianben Xixi sighed. While Conan was passionately deducing, she hid in a corner and took out her phone.
It had vibrated twice earlier, seemingly indicating new emails. Only now did Qianben Xixi have time to check them.
The first was from Rum: [I've informed Gin to handle the gun matter. —Rum]
No wonder his superior had directly asked her earlier if she needed help. Qianben Xixi thought, then opened the second email. The sender was Gin.
[If you get exposed, I'll have to personally eliminate you. —Gin]
The implication was: if you refuse help out of arrogance and your identity is exposed, then he'd have to go through the trouble of silencing you.
Look at that, is that even human language? Qianben Xixi suddenly felt all her earlier gratitude had gone to the dogs.
[I take back what I said earlier. Please continue to toil away. 🙂 —Asti]
Inside a Porsche 356A parked in a nearby alley, Gin opened his phone and let out a light scoff.
"Big brother, is Asti okay over there?" Vodka asked.
Gin: "Hah, she's doing just fine."