Chapter 102 Investigation Speed is Going Too Fast, Right?!
Conan was speechless for a moment. Well, thinking back carefully, before he knew Chi Feichei, he seemed to often have situations where he didn't eat lunch or dinner.
"So I have reason to suspect you all didn't have dinner," Chi Feichei said. "Even if you did, it's alright. You can have it for breakfast tomorrow morning."
The three kids from the Junior Detective League tried hard to remember.
"Really! When you're with Conan, sometimes there's just no Meal…"
"Or maybe we just didn't have time for a Meal."
"Or maybe incidents just happen right after we start eating. Should we stop bringing Conan along when we eat in the future…?"
"Hey, hey…" Conan was getting ganged up on, but he couldn't even argue back.
"It's not because of Conan, it's because of the cases," Wataru Takagi smoothed things over, playing the nice guy. "But no matter what happens in the future, you all need to eat, or you won't grow tall. I forgot to buy Bento for you all tonight, it was my oversight."
Haibara Ai yawned. Chi Feichei thought to bring them dinner, but why wasn't she surprised at all?
…
In the Park near the Crime Scene.
A group of people sat on the Bench eating Bento.
Conan ate, not forgetting to ask Chi Feichei, "Brother Chi, about this Case, do you have any Clue?"
"Mr. Kitagawa, the first to discover the Corpse, not only works at the same Company as the deceased and Mr. Toda, but on the day of the Incident, after Mr. Toda got drunk, he also left with Mr. Kitagawa," Chi Feichei said, having reviewed the Junior Detective League's investigation. "Judging by the current Situation, there's no need to narrow it down to three Suspects this time. There's only one. We just need to prove Kitagawa is the Culprit. Has the Police investigated what he was doing at the Time of the Incident?"
Wataru Takagi nodded, his wavy wig bobbing. "He said he went straight Home to rest at that Time, and he has no Alibi either."
Chi Feichei silently withdrew his Line of Sight.
"Brother Chi, are you suspecting Mr. Kitagawa?" Conan asked thoughtfully.
"Yes, based on the Situation from your investigation, Kitagawa's story is that on the day the Corpse was discovered, it was because Mr. Toda and Ms. Muranishi hadn't come to the Company. That's why he asked the Apartment Manager to open the Room, and that's how he discovered the Corpse," Chi Feichei explained. "Why would he assume that if those two didn't go to work at the Company, they would definitely be at Home?"
"Well…" Wataru Takagi was puzzled. "Isn't it normal to be at Home if you don't go to work at the Company?"
"I see!" Conan said seriously. "Generally speaking, if you find that your colleagues and superiors haven't gone to work at the Company, and knocking on their Door gets no response, you'd also suspect they've gone Outside, right? Unless these two are often late for oversleeping…"
"We investigated at the Company where they work," Wataru Takagi said. "Mr. Toda is often late because he drinks too much, but Ms. Muranishi is a very serious worker. You could say she's never been late."
"Did Mr. Kitagawa ask the Administrator to open Mr. Toda's Room?" Chi Feichei asked again.
"No…" Wataru Takagi also realized. "If Ms. Muranishi isn't often late, and Mr. Toda is often late, he should have checked Mr. Toda's Room first…"
Conan added, "And according to Mr. Kitagawa, Ms. Muranishi is just his superior, while Mr. Toda is his Friend. They often go out drinking together. If both of them were late, Mr. Kitagawa should have asked the Apartment Manager to open his Friend's Room first to check on Mr. Toda's Situation, instead of opening Ms. Muranishi's Room first, who is of the opposite sex and also his superior. Either his Relationship with Ms. Muranishi isn't as simple as he said, or he went there specifically to discover the Corpse. In short, even if Mr. Kitagawa isn't the Culprit, he's definitely hiding something!"
Half an hour later, the group arrived at the Apartment building where the Crime Scene was.
As expected, there were Police officers guarding the area. Luckily, they didn't recognize Chi Feichei. Seeing people passing by, including boys and girls, they didn't pay much attention. At most, they glanced at Chi Feichei a couple of times to confirm he wasn't Wataru Takagi.
After Wataru Takagi bluffed his way through, he changed clothes in the Apartment, wiped off his makeup, and then used his Police identity to get the Apartment Manager to open the Room door. Turning around, he found Chi Feichei and the kids already ready to turn the place upside down. "Hey, hey, don't touch the Scene randomly…"
"It's okay!" Genta said, putting on Gloves. "While you went to buy a hat, we went to buy Gloves!"
Ayumi smiled. "Conan told us to buy them."
Mitsuhiko looked at Chi Feichei. "But Brother Chi wasn't here then, so we only bought five pairs of Gloves…"
"He…" Conan started to say, but before he could finish, he saw Chi Feichei consciously pull Gloves out of his Pocket and put them on. Conan thought to himself, *Heh*, I knew Chi Feichei wouldn't forget Gloves since he knew he was coming to help investigate.
"Judging by the sun-fading marks on the Wooden Floor, the Furniture has been moved," Chi Feichei said, glancing at the Tables and Chairs and then around the Room. He walked to the Wall, reached out and gently touched the edge of a very obvious White Patch on the Wall. He withdrew his hand and looked at the Dust on the index finger of his Glove. "Something must have been stuck or hung here originally, blocking the sun for a long time. There's still a bit of Dust accumulated on the upper edge. It was taken down in the last couple of days. Judging by the Location, shape, and size, it should be something like a Calendar, Poster, or Hanging Painting."
"Uh, is any of this related to the Case?" Wataru Takagi asked, scratching his Head.
"I don't know, but it can reflect someone's State of Life. It's never bad to collect information first," Chi Feichei said, then looked towards the Bed. "The Room's decor, Furniture, and tableware are all Beige, but the Pillow, Quilt, and Curtain on the Bed are all Gray. Even if it's a patchwork design, it wouldn't be this strange. It's too jarring."
Conan sweatdropped. *Hey, hey, what kind of Speed is this guy Chi Feichei operating at…*"
Chi Feichei turned to the three kids and asked, "I remember your investigation Notes mentioned that Ms. Muranishi likes Beige, right?"
"Yeah!" Ayumi nodded. "Also, she's a fan of the Tokyo Spirits Team, and her favorite is Cactus."
"When did you guys find out about this?" Wataru Takagi asked, puzzled.
"It was at the Izakaya earlier. We told the Landlady we wanted to publish the female Boss's Case Files in the Class Newspaper, so the Landlady told us a lot of interesting Things," Mitsuhiko explained, handing the investigation Notes he'd shown Chi Feichei earlier to Wataru Takagi. He turned to Conan and asked, "Right, Conan?"
Conan nodded. "If it's the Police asking questions, ordinary people would worry about being blamed for saying unimportant Things, and they wouldn't talk about Things unrelated to the Case either. Plus, the Case only happened a few days ago, so the Landlady might still be a bit scared. That's probably why the Police didn't learn about their Hobbies."
"I've found a Suspicious Point here. In this cold Season," Haibara Ai said, standing in front of the Balcony and looking at the pots of Cactus Outside. "Ms. Muranishi clearly likes Cactus, but she still puts non-cold-resistant Cactus on the Balcony. Isn't that strange?"
Conan felt a sense of urgency in his Heart. *Tonight's investigation is going a bit too fast, isn't it? If I don't hurry up and find something, I'll really just be here as a bystander…*
"Found it!" Genta, who was rummaging through the Wardrobe, picked up a Wall Calendar. "It's a Tokyo Spirits Team Calendar!"
Conan: …
Hey, hey…
"Ms. Muranishi is a fan of the Tokyo Spirits Team, while Mr. Toda is anti-Spirits Team," Haibara Ai said, walking over and taking the Wall Calendar to flip through it. "If Ms. Muranishi really liked the Spirits Team, she wouldn't have deliberately put the Wall Calendar away in the Wardrobe, right? And the Schedule is already filled in until the end of December, so she shouldn't have put it away even more."
Conan picked up a Matchbox, opened it, and his Eyes lit up. Finally, he'd found something.
Chi Feichei came out of the Washroom. "Ms. Muranishi has a Boyfriend, but they don't have Cohabitation."
Conan: …
This investigation Speed is going too fast, isn't it…
(End of chapter)