Chapter 329: He Needs to Make Some Adjustments...
As Conan walked, he noticed a gaze fixed on him. He stopped, turned his head, and saw Chi Feichi standing calmly in the Original Place, staring at him.
Huh? What's wrong with him?
Chi Feichi looked towards the other side of the Corridor and reminded him, "You were walking that way before."
Conan felt a bit awkward, then turned around and walked in the direction the group of people, including Mori Kogoro, had left. "Why didn't you remind me earlier?"
Chi Feichi followed him. "It's rare for you to be so absent-minded. I watched a bit longer."
Conan: "..."
(▼皿▼#)
You were just watching me like it was a good show, weren't you?
Speaking of which, why was he absent-minded just now?
It was because of that sentence Chi Feichi said!
"Ah—!"
Before Conan could denounce Chi Feichi's bad behavior, he was startled by a scream. After he realized what was happening, he immediately ran towards the place the scream came from.
...
In the retro style room, a knife was stabbed into the chest of the woman wearing a purple dress. She had fallen silently by the table, her eyes wide open, her face stiff.
The television in the room was still on, and three women were sitting collapsed at the room's Entrance Hall, looking at the woman lying on the Ground with terrified expressions.
"Don't be nervous, calm down first. Try not to touch anything Inside the Room!" Mori Kogoro stood at the Entrance, stabilizing the situation.
*Slap.*
The television suddenly shut off, and the sound of the TV program abruptly stopped.
"Didn't I tell you not to touch anything?!" Mori Kogoro roared with a grim face.
"Teacher, this is a coin-operated television. It shut off automatically," Chi Feichi reminded him.
Mori Kogoro was startled. He turned his head, looking speechless at Chi Feichi behind him.
Imagine, a Disciple Kuroki Jiro who shouldn't be here suddenly appearing out of nowhere behind you, and then coldly calling out 'Teacher'...
Who could stand that?
He was startled!
"Ran, quickly call the police!" Conan reminded.
"Oh, okay!" Mouri Ran took out her mobile phone, turned around, and went Outside the Door to report to police.
More than twenty minutes afterwards, the police officer arrived and sealed off the two Corridors near the Crime Scene.
Many people stood Outside the Outer Perimeter of the Caution Tape, watching and whispering, but they couldn't see the specific situation.
"So, the first ones to discover the Corpse were you three Misses," Inspector Megure confirmed the situation. He then turned around, looking at Mori Kogoro with a look of disgust. "And, Brother Mouri, who always happens to be on the Crime Scene, and..."
Saying this, Inspector Megure turned around again, half-moon eyes glancing at Chi Feichi. "Brother Chi, right?"
Chi Feichi, who had just put away his mobile phone, made a statement. "No, I only came over after hearing the scream."
Inspector Megure: "..."
From the angle of the God of Death, is there a difference between coming over first and coming over after hearing the scream? Is there?
However, from the angle of case investigation, in other words, Chi Feichi doesn't have knowledge of the process by which the Corpse was discovered. So, regarding the details of the incident, it would be better for him to ask Brother Mouri. He would get a more comprehensive understanding.
Speaking of which, there should be another Kid who wanders around the Crime Scene...
Hmm?
Conan stood Aside and didn't run around. His expression was very calm.
His emotions had been fluctuating greatly today, and his inner self was suddenly a bit too normal calm. He needs to make some adjustments...
Inspector Megure felt doubt in his heart about why Conan was so well-behaved today, but he didn't ask any more questions. He looked towards the three women. "After the evidence search, we must take your testimony. Could I ask the three of you to wait here a bit?"
Mori Kogoro immediately stepped forward, actively saying, "Then I'll be the Bodyguard for these three Misses, how about that?"
"I don't think that's necessary!" Inspector Megure decisively refused Mori Kogoro's ill-intentioned request. He shouted towards Outside the Door, "Officer Chiba, you will take care of these three Misses."
"Yes, Inspector Megure, I understood!" Officer Chiba saluted.
Chi Feichi paid attention a bit. The present Officer Chiba wasn't that fat yet. He didn't know when he suddenly got much fatter...
As for the three women, one was gentle and easygoing, one was intellectual and capable, and the remaining one had tea-colored short hair, permed into big wave curls, and wore a white trench coat. From a distance, she looked very much like 'Sherry', but her facial features and pupil color had a bit of a difference.
Mori Kogoro watched with a disappointed expression as Officer Chiba led the three women away.
"Hey, Brother Mouri..."
Inspector Megure called out, reminding Mori Kogoro to follow him, and started moving towards Inside the Room. "Officer Takagi, what's the situation?"
Conan also recovered and followed closely. Hearing this, he quietly gave a dry smile.
When he was Kudo Shinichi, Inspector Megure also called him 'Brother Kudo'.
Inspector Megure, who considers everyone Under Heaven his Junior...
"Yes, the Deceased is named Naomi Fujimura," Wataru Takagi reported. "She is 27 years old and is said to be currently working Overseas in children's clothing design..."
"At 11:31 AM, the Deceased went to the Dining Room on the same Floor and left at 11:37 AM."
Chi Feichi recognized the Deceased.
Although he was looking down at his mobile phone at the time, he didn't keep his head down the entire process.
When Naomi Fujimura entered the Dining Room, he gave her a glance.
"Hmm?" Inspector Megure looked towards Chi Feichi with doubt. "The Dining Room on the same Floor?"
"Our High School Classmate happened to be having a gathering there. Someone was attending the University the Deceased graduated from," Chi Feichi explained. "At the time, my Classmate, the Deceased, and another Classmate of ours talked in the Dining Room."
"I see," Inspector Megure asked seriously. "Do you know what they talked about? What was the atmosphere like at the time?"
"I don't know exactly what was said. It was a bit far, and I didn't pay much attention," Chi Feichi said. "I only looked a bit when the Deceased entered and left, but there shouldn't have been an argument."
"But, you Kid, the time you recorded is really detailed," Mori Kogoro sighed.
An ordinary person would probably just say something like 'around 11:30'...
"I was playing on my mobile phone at the time," Chi Feichi said.
Inspector Megure understood. At the time, Chi Feichi was just focused on playing on his mobile phone and didn't care about anything, right?
"Inspector Megure, I found this in the Victim's skirt Pocket," a Police Officer walked over with an evidence bag, raising his hand so Inspector Megure could see the spray bottle inside the evidence bag. "This is pepper spray used for defense against wolves!"
"What?" Inspector Megure immediately perked up his mental state. "Pepper spray?"
If the Victim carried pepper spray because she discovered someone was tracking or surveillance her, then the possibility of a Stalker committing a breaking and entering Murder must be considered.
"This Miss Fujimura has lived Overseas for many years, so she must be particularly careful and cautious, right?" Mori Kogoro habitually points fingers at criminal cases.
Aside, Conan was pondering the entire Case, always feeling that something was wrong...
Chi Feichi also recalled. He remembered the method involving the coin-operated television, but he couldn't quite remember who the Murderer was. However, without considering anyone else, this Case is a very obvious 'Conan Science Three-Choice One'. The Deceased's three Friends have a strong suspicion.
"This Room is really retro..." Inspector Megure turned around, examining the layout of the entire Room.
"This entire Floor is the Retro Floor, and this is a Retro Suite," Mori Kogoro explained. "The arrangement displayed here are the furnishings of old Hotels from the past."
Inspector Megure nodded, then looked towards the television there. "So that's why there's a coin-operated television."
Wataru Takagi stood Aside, looking at the investigation result on his police handbook, and explained, "The design of this television is that after inserting a 100 yuan coin, you can watch TV program for one hour."
"By the way," Inspector Megure looked at Mori Kogoro. "I heard that shortly after you entered this Room, the television was cut off, right?"
"Right," Mori Kogoro nodded. "At the time, it was probably around 2 PM."
"According to the instructions placed on the television," Wataru Takagi looked towards the television. "With a 100 coin, it seems you can only insert one at a time."
"In other words, the time the television was opened was around 1 PM," Inspector Megure asked Wataru Takagi. "What was the Time of Death?"
"The Time of Death is between Noon and 1 PM." Wataru Takagi said.
Mori Kogoro rubbed his chin. "So, she was attacked by the Murderer right after she opened the television."
Conan looked at the pile of snacks scattered on the Ground in front of the television. Just as he was about to remind them, he discovered that Chi Feichi had walked over. "Hmm?"
Chi Feichi squatted down and asked Conan in a low voice, "What time did you meet up with those three Misses?"
"Around 1 PM," Conan said with a serious expression, explaining the situation in a low voice. "We first met Miss Kimiko Yamamoto and Miss Kaori Obayashi at the Station Entrance over in Ichiban Town. As soon as Uncle saw that these two were great beauties, he said he wanted to come to Dolphin Park to play. We waited together for five or six minutes, then Miss Kanami Kaneda arrived and met up with the other two, and then took the Train with us to come here. Oh, by the way, before coming, Miss Kimiko Yamamoto also received a phone call from the Deceased, Miss Fujimura, asking if they had left yet. That was probably around 1 PM."
Chi Feichi reconstructed the timeline in his mind. "11:37 AM, the Deceased left the Dining Room, probably returned to the Room around 11:45 AM. Afterwards, the Murderer came, murdered the Deceased, the time was probably around 12 PM Noon. The Murderer then left the Hotel, rushed to the Station, met up with the other two people, took the Train that came at 1:20 PM, arrived here at 1:50 PM, and discovered the Corpse with the others at 2 PM..."
"Wait," Conan interrupted, his voice even softer. "You suspect the Murderer is among those three people? No, if the Murderer committed the crime in the order you deduced, then Miss Fujimura would have already died around 1 PM, and it would be impossible for her to call anyone else. Then, Miss Kimiko who received Miss Fujimura's phone call at that time would be the Murderer. But, if the Murderer killed Miss Fujimura at 12 PM and left here, how did she get the television to play the program? To have the television still playing when we arrived, she must have inserted a coin into the television at 1 PM."
"Didn't you discover it?" Chi Feichi raised his eyes and looked towards the pile of snacks next to the television.
"Yes," Conan also tilted his head and looked, rubbing his chin, pondering. "It feels like that pile of snacks scattered there is very abrupt. Was that candy with the long string originally like that? Or did the Murderer add the string?"
"Don't know," Chi Feichi said. "I haven't eaten it."
Conan: "..."
His original age was 17 years old, 3 years younger than Chi Feichi. If Chi Feichi hadn't eaten this kind of retro snack, he certainly hadn't either.
Is this not important?
No, if this was a string added by the Murderer, it could prove that this Case is not simple. Someone indeed utilized the snacks to manufacture some kind of method to make the television play the program around 1 PM.
Indeed, it's better to ask for help from someone a bit older...
"Ah le le~"
Conan immediately ran next to the snacks on the Ground, acting cute and speaking up, attracting the attention of Inspector Megure and Mori Kogoro. Only then did he point at the snacks on the Ground and say, "There are so many snacks here! I've never seen them before!"
Chi Feichi: "..."
Conan is getting more and more skilled at acting cute...
End of Chapter