Chapter 103: This Case is Simple...
"She had a boyfriend?" Takagi Wataru asked in surprise. "But we investigated at her company, and no one there had heard she had a boyfriend."
"There are two stemware glasses drying in the kitchen, and because they were placed upside down, dried water stains remain underneath. Besides that," Chi Feichei said.
"Doesn't that just prove someone visited her house recently?" Takagi Wataru asked.
"No, judging from the residual water stains, the bowls and glasses were washed on the same day, or rather, less than an hour apart. Looking at the level of cleanliness, the glasses could be wiped without leaving a single mark," Chi Feichei stared at the fingertips of his gloves, "but the rim of the bowl still has some grease stains. The glasses and bowls were washed by two different people. People who wash dishes together can't be just ordinary friends; aside from family, it could only be lovers."
"In addition, there's more than one faint scorch mark on the coffee table and near the sofa, along with the smell of the same type of tobacco. The other person is male, and a smoker."
Chi Feichei walked to the sofa. "There's a mark from the side of a shoe on the edge of the sofa. Judging by the size, it should be a woman's. That position is quite specific. Combined with the cigarette burn mark on the sofa, which looks very recent, it suggests that sometime lately, a man was sitting on the sofa, and Miss Muranishi was sitting on his lap facing him. Whether they were kissing passionately or doing something else isn't clear, but their relationship was definitely intimate. If Miss Muranishi were alone, no matter how she knelt on the edge of the sofa, she couldn't have left this mark."
Silence.
Chi Feichei's voice remained calm, yet the group of children stood frozen in place listening.
Takagi Wataru even blushed. "Th-that certainly is intimate..."
"As for them not living together, you can tell from the washroom. Things like toiletries and a razor a man would use, even if taken away afterward, would leave traces if they had ever been placed there. However, I didn't find any such traces. The two probably haven't moved in together yet," Chi Feichei turned to look at Takagi Wataru. "The police should have checked the drain, right? Only Miss Muranishi's hair was found?"
"Uh, yes!" Takagi Wataru nodded dumbly.
If he ever got a girlfriend in the future, he would absolutely never let Chi Feichei visit his home!
Otherwise, every stage of their relationship could be figured out. Terrifying.
Chi Feichei didn't dwell on it. In his past life, he had seen scenes far more suggestive than this and still had to infiltrate them to gather clues.
Some dangerous bounties required infiltration and investigation, and the time available for infiltration was very short. How to obtain sufficient intelligence in a limited time was tested through repeated races against the clock.
"I think Brother Chi's deductions are correct," Conan glanced at Chi Feichei with complex feelings. Was this Chi Feichei's true ability? It was astonishing. Composing himself, he handed the matchbox he had found to Takagi Wataru. "This fell beside the wardrobe. Inside, there's a marriage registration form. Miss Muranishi had already filled in her information and name, and her seal is stamped on it. However, the groom's section isn't filled out. I think Miss Muranishi probably hid the marriage registration form inside, wanting to give the other person a surprise when he came over and saw it while smoking."
Takagi Wataru dazedly accepted the matchbox. Even the detail about smoking was correct...
"Moreover, Miss Muranishi wouldn't carelessly discard something so important. Even if she wanted to put it away, she'd store it properly. Yet it fell beside the wardrobe, indicating someone hurriedly put things into the wardrobe," Conan looked at the opened wardrobe. "Like the beige duvet cover, pillow, curtains, and the wall calendar featuring the Spirits team..."
"Quite a few thorns on the cactus are broken," Haibara Ai hid in front of the cactus. "It seems that person was also in a hurry when moving the cactus. This Golden Cactus seems to be the one the izakaya owner gave Miss Muranishi on the day of the incident. Many thorns are broken, and there are bloodstains."
"We might have the evidence now," Chi Feichei started walking towards the door. "This case really isn't difficult. We'll know for sure after checking Mr. Higashida's room."
"Yeah," Conan nodded and followed him out, finally keeping pace with Chi Feichei. "As for other evidence, once daylight comes, we just need to investigate the nearby department store, and then we can confirm who the killer is."
Takagi Wataru: "..."
This case isn't difficult?
Solved? Why did he feel even more confused?
"Um..." Mitsuhiko looked at the others. "Did you guys understand?"
Ayumi, Genta, and Takagi Wataru shook their heads in unison.
"I understand," Haibara Ai also walked towards the door. "Officer Takagi, could you please tell the building manager that we need to see Mr. Higashida's room?"
"Okay..." Takagi Wataru exchanged glances with the three children, beginning to doubt his own intelligence...
...
After seeing Mr. Higashida's room, everything became clear.
Mr. Higashida's room had a predominantly gray color scheme; the pillow, curtains, and duvet cover were also gray.
The furniture arrangement in the two rooms wasn't vastly different either.
"I see now. The real killer changed the pillow, duvet cover, and curtains to gray ones, and rearranged the furniture, to make the drunk Mr. Higashida mistake Miss Muranishi's room for his own," Takagi Wataru realized. "Taking down the Tokyo Spirits wall calendar was because Mr. Higashida is anti-Spirits. If he saw the calendar, even drunk, he would have noticed something was wrong."
"The cactus is the same," Haibara Ai added. "Moving the cactus out of the room and drawing the curtains ensured Mr. Higashida wouldn't be suspicious. Even if there were slight differences, without any obvious anomalies, Mr. Higashida, in his drunken state, wouldn't have noticed."
"On the day of the incident, after strangling Miss Muranishi, the real killer went to the izakaya and brought the heavily drunk Mr. Higashida to Miss Muranishi's room. Because of the prior setup, Mr. Higashida mistakenly thought it was his own room," Conan deduced with a serious expression. "Before leaving, the killer had Mr. Higashida lock the door chain from the outside, then left. After Mr. Higashida closed the door, overcome by alcohol, he immediately collapsed onto the bed and fell fast asleep. This way, Mr. Higashida's fingerprints would be left on the door lock and chain."
"Then, the VCR cable used to strangle Miss Muranishi also has Mr. Higashida's fingerprints..." Takagi Wataru rubbed his chin.
"Hmm..." Mitsuhiko took out the Detective Boys' notebook and looked at the entries. "Related to the VCR... Found it. Mr. Higashida knows a lot about VCRs."
"I get it!" Takagi Wataru exclaimed excitedly. "The killer asked Mr. Higashida to help fix their VCR, leaving Mr. Higashida's fingerprints on the connection cable. Later, they used that same cable to commit the crime. So, the killer's own VCR might be missing its connection cable."
"Once it's daylight, we just need to go to the department store and ask if anyone bought gray duvet covers, pillows, and curtains, and we'll know who the killer is." Conan looked at the sky outside the window, his smile stiffening slightly.
Chi Feichei looked at the time on his phone; Hissashi had been asleep in his sleeve for quite a while already. "It's only just past four in the morning. Let's wait."
"We can only wait," Conan walked to the door, giving Chi Feichei a half-lidded stare. "You were slacking off again just now, you didn't deduce anything at all..."
Clearly, Chi Feichei had figured out the killer's method long ago, yet while they were deducing, he had nonchalantly leaned against the doorframe watching the show.
"Well, anyway, it wasn't my deduction," Chi Feichei looked at Takagi Wataru. "I don't need to go give a statement, right?"
Conan: "..."
Just to avoid giving a statement?
Alright, actually, he didn't really want to give a statement either...
"But, about Mr. Chi driving us here..." Takagi Wataru paused, then yielded under Chi Feichei's direct, chilling gaze. "It's unrelated to the case, so we can just give the statement."
End of Chapter