Well hello! Here is a new chapter of my Azure Redi-fanfiction. I start planning the next chapter. See you in the next chapter.
"What?! You suspect that Miyano Akemi, who is currently in pretrial detention, knows the Gin you saw earlier, and the Vodka?!" Agase asked Shizuka sitting on the sofa in her living room.
"Yeah. I can't help it, but whenever I hear about suspicious-looking men dressed in black, I immediately think of Gin and Vodka. Maybe it's because the hallmarks of suspicious-looking people about them are just so apt", Shizuka said. "I just went to the Tokyo Central Police Station to see Akemi, and he said he believed that the poison that killed Akira might have been intended for Akemi in the first place. Okita planned to kill Akemi, and Akemi's accomplices from the beginning. Kenzo realized this before Akemi, and Akira figured out the real reason he ran off with their bank robbery money. Even so, Akemi might know Gin, and Vodka".
"But you could be wrong. So I'm not underestimating your detective skills, but everyone makes mistakes sometimes", Agasa said.
"Why does Miyano Akemi's last name sound so familiar?" Agasa asked himself.
"I know that. I'm going back to my temporary home now", Shizuka said starting to walk towards Mōri Tantei Jimusho.
"Where have you been?" Ran asked as Shizuka entered Kogorō's study.
"I went to see my uncle. Did get anything out of Miyano Akemi?" Shizuka asked.
"He is still being held in custody", Ran said.
"Alright", Shizuka said, then looked out the window of Kogorō's study.
"Where is your father?"
"My father is shopping", Ran said.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and Kogorō entered the room, accompanied by a man with a dark mustache. The man in question also had a black beard, fair skin, and black eyes. He was of medium height, he had a black beard, and a black mustache, and a bald head, he was wearing a green kimono, and on his feet were white socks, and black shoes. He looked 51-years old.
"I'll make you some coffee", Shizuka said.
"Good idea", Kogorō said.
When the coffee was ready, Shizuka brought the full coffee cups to the table.
"I'm Maru Denjiro. I want to hire you to keep an eye on my wife", Denjiro said placing his wife's picture on the table after drinking some coffee.
"Is your wife in trouble?" Kogorō asked.
"It is, if I'm right about my suspicions about my wife. I suspect that my wife, Maru Ineko, is cheating on me with another man", Denjiro said. "According to her own words, my wife has started going to Koto-lessons in the city, and is therefore sometimes away from home for a long time".
The woman in the picture had fair skin, brown hair combed into a bun, violet eyes. He had a mole on the cheekbone below his right eye. He was tall, and thin. She was wearing a light colored yukata. There was red lipstick on her lips. He looked 34-years old.
"Is your wife cheating on you? All right. I'll take the case to investigate", Kogorō said after drinking his coffee. Then he took out his notebook and started writing in it.
"I'll see you at my house tomorrow", Denjiro said, placing the wad of bills on the table. He then left Kogorō's study.
"New mission then", Kogorō said, counting the money.
"Dad, who was that man?" Ran asked.
"Maru Denjiro, an antique collector, and the chairman of the Maru Group. He's even a swordsman in Kendo", Kogorō said.
"Mōri-san, what are you going to do?" Shizuka asked.
"I'll keep an eye on his wife", Kogorō said. "Denjiro-san already told me his address when we got here, so you know where I'm going to start spying on his wife".
"How often has Kogorō spied on cheating spouses?" Shizuka thought.
The sun was going down.
(On the next day)
Shizuka and Ran were sitting on the veranda of Maru Denjiro's mansion, watching the carp jumping in the pond in the yard.
"It jumped again", Ran said.
"What kind of detective takes the kids with him to report to his client on the movements of his client's wife's secret lover?" Shizuka thought.
The sun was going down.
"There's no doubt about it. Your wife is cheating on you", Kogorō said to Denjiro in the room behind the girls.
"I knew it!" Denjiro yelled angrily.
"Look at the mole below the right eye of the woman in this photo. The woman in this photo is none other than your wife, Maru Ineko-san!" Kogorō said.
"Grrr!" Denjiro growled angrily.
"How long will Kogorō let us wait? Kogorō said this morning that he would take us out to eat, but then Kogorō had to stop at this place first. What sane detective would bring children with him when telling one of his clients about the secret affairs of that client's spouse? Kogorō started Denjiro-san's wife of spying already yesterday by renting a car, sitting in which Kogorō took a photo of Denjiro-san's wife who came with her lover out of the Beika Hotel, and then Kogorō returned home to tell us what he had found out", Shizuka thought. "Yes, they are talking loudly. Aren't they at all afraid that someone might hear their conversation, because Denjiro-san lives in such a big house where Takuu has servants who could very well hear such a loud conversation, but so far no servants have been seen here".
Clack clack! Someone walked towards the front door of the mansion.
"Guess there's a guest coming here", Shizuka said to Ran.
Ran nodded.
"Who is this man wearing sunglasses?!" Denjiro asked, no doubt talking about his wife's secret lover.
"I don't know that yet", Kogorō said.
Pom Pom! The guest rang the doorbell.
"Um? A guest?" Denjiro asked.
Pom Pom! The guest rang the doorbell again.
"Hey! Go to the front door! Is there anyone there?! Oh yeah...I asked the housekeepers working here to spend their time in town so they wouldn't know you were coming here", Denjiro said to Kogorō.
"That explains why we haven't seen any servants here", Shizuka thought.
"Sorry I have to talk to my guest in the annex now. I'll be back soon!" Denjiro opened the sliding door of the room, and closed it as he went into the hall to meet the guest.
"Of course", Kogorō said.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go to the outbuilding", Denjiro said to his guest, then walked out of the house with the guest.
The girls and Kogorō waited for Denjiro's return for a very long time.
Pring! The landline on the table in the corridor outside the room rang.
Kogorō opened the door of the room:
"That's annoying! What the hell is that customer doing?!"
"He probably can't hear the phone ringing because he's in the outhouse!" Ran said.
Kogorō approached the phone to answer it, but then the phone stopped ringing:
"What now?!"
Kogorō then returned to the room, closing the door behind him.
Shizuka looked around.
"What now?" Ran asked.
"Did you just hear something strange?" Shizuka asked. Shizuka felt like she had just heard something.
"No, not really", Ran said.
The group continued to wait as the sun went down more.
"It's been quite a while since Denjiro-san went to speak to his guest in that outhouse he mentioned earlier, hasn't it?" Shizuka asked.
"Of course. What exactly are they talking about?" Ran asked.
Pring! The phone rang again before stopping, causing Kogorō to open the door to the room.
"Huh? Did it stop ringing?" Kogorō asked.
"It used to ring a bit more", Shizuka mused.
"Where the hell is Denjiro-san?! It's been two hours since Denjiro-san went to talk to his guest!" Kogorō said looking at his watch.
Prying! The phone rang again before it stopped ringing.
"That happened before! What's going on?" Shizuka thought. He felt like something was wrong now.
"I've had enough! I'm going to the annex!" Kogorō said walking towards the side building.
"What's going on?" Shizuka thought.
"Yeeeeek!" Someone suddenly yelled from the direction Kogorō had just gone, so the girls ran over to see a housekeeper slumped on the ground, on his backside, and another housekeeper looking at Kogorō nervously.
"What happened?!" Shizuka asked.
"Who are you?!" The housekeeper asked looking at Kogorō and the girls nervously.
"No, but who are you?!" Kogorō, who had recently fallen to the ground, on his backside, asked. He had apparently bumped into the housekeeper, and fell to the ground because of it.
"We are the housekeepers who work here!" The housekeeper said standing up.
"What's all the fuss about?" Ineko asked as she came wearing a pale kimono, and a light brown handbag in her left hand.
"Mrs!" Housekeepers said.
"What is happening here?" Ineko asked.
"I found this man snooping inside the house when we got back here just now!" The housekeeper pointed at Kogorō.
"Thief?!" Ineko asked.
"No! I'm a detective...I was hired by the owner of this house!" Kogorō said standing up at the same time. "Your husband asked the housekeepers who work here to spend their time in town so that I could come here and talk to your husband without the housekeepers who work here overhearing our conversation. For your husband did not want the housekeepers who work here to know that I am coming here to talk to your husband for the reason that that's why your husband hired me".
"Detective?!" Ineko asked. "Why couldn't my husband have a conversation with the detective he hired within the hearing of the housekeepers who work here?!"
"Because the subject of our conversation was a bit sensitive", Kogorō said, looking troubled. "I guess you should talk to your husband about it".
"Where is my husband now?" Ineko asked.
"A couple of hours ago, he went to the outbuilding to talk to his guest who came here", Kogorō said. "It seems that their conversation is still in progress".
"Get my husband here", Ineko said to the housekeepers.
"Yes ma'am", The housekeepers walked towards the side building and then Ineko looked at Kogorō.
"Well, how much did you find out about my secret, and how much did my husband actually pay you to spy on me?" Ineko asked walking in front of Kogorō. "I've done my best to keep my affair a secret from my husband! I'll pay you twice as much as my husband paid you! Keep my affair a secret!"
"Ma'am", Kogorō said nervously.
"Yaaaaaak!" The housekeepers screamed in the outbuilding, startling everyone, causing everyone to run into the outbuilding.
"What happened?!" Kogorō asked.
The trembling housekeeper pointed inside the outbuilding.
The side building had scratches on the walls, things had been destroyed, the table had been knocked over, the wallpaper was slightly torn, some of the floor cushions were also torn, and Denjiro was covered in blood, holding a katana in his hands, and he was pinned to the back wall of the building with the katana.
"My husband!" Ineko screamed in shock.
"Ran, call the police!" Kogorō shouted.
"Yes!" Ran said.
"Someone didn't like Denjiro-san! Did it, a guest who came here before do this?!" Shizuka thought in disbelief.
The police arrived after the sun had already set.
"The victim is Maru Denjiro, 51-years old", Megure said as police investigated the crime scene while standing next to Ineko. "The victim is the owner of this house. Your husband practiced swordsmanship, didn't he?"
"Yes. He was a 3rd degree swordsman", Ineko said looking at the picture of her husband's cradle on the wall on the right side of the room.
"Your husband must have been very skilled", Megure said. "Was this really his sword?"
"Yes. My husband used it as a decoration in the alcove", said Ineko.
"From the condition of this room, it looks like your husband and the murderer had quite a sword fight. Which means the killer must have been a skilled swordsman as well", Megure said walking closer to Denjiro. Megure then saw a black notebook on the floor in front of Denjiro's feet, which he picked up:
"Is this the victim's notebook?"
"It's full of meetings", Megure said as she read Denjiro's notebook. "Irene-kun, you're sure you saw that guest when he came here earlier, right?"
"Yes. Ran and I were in the yard when that guest arrived here, and we heard him coming here. The guest went to the front door of the house, and rang the doorbell, and soon after that, Denjiro-san went to meet his guest. Denjiro-san did not return to talk with Mōri-san, so I guessed Denjiro-san and his guest's conversation would take a long time", Shizuka said.
"Let's see this. Today, Denjiro-san was supposed to meet with Mōri Kogorō, Suwa Yuji, Hatano Ikuya, and Akutsu Makoto", Megure said reading the notebook. "These Four People".
"Keibu! We found a suspicious man!" The police shouted outside.
"What?!" Megure asked, running with the others to the veranda of the side building to look at the man the police had just found.
"This man wandered in front of the house!" The police said holding the man. The man's skin was tanned. He was tall, and thin. He was wearing a brown suit, black shoes. He had short, black hair, wore glasses, and a blue tie. He looked 37 years old.
"I'm not guilty!" The man shouted nervously.
"Oh! Hatano-sensei!" Ineko said after recognizing the man.
"Hatano? Is that man mentioned in this notebook Hatano Ikuya-san?" Megure asked pointing to Denjiro's notebook in his hand.
"Yes! He's my husband's doctor!" Ineko said as the policeman loosened his hold on the doctor, rubbed the right arm that the policeman was holding. "Hatano-sensei comes here every week to do health checks on my husband".
"Your husband's doctor...", Megure said reading the notebook.
"Let go! Let go, I said!" Someone shouted to the police, who brought a man to the scene. "Do you have any idea who I am? I'm Akutsu-sensei, the great engraver!"
Akutsu was 48-years old. He was short, and a little fat. He was wearing a gray jacket, a pink shirt. His skin was slightly tanned, he had short, black hair, and black eyes.
"Akutsu? Akutsu Makoto?" Megure asked looking at the notebook. "So 3 of the 4 people mentioned in Denjiro-san's notebook are already here".
"Now I understand!" Kogorō said. "The killer is a person who has already been here! And that person is the last one to appear here, that is Suwa Yuji-san!"
"Why is this about me now?" A man asked, startling Kogorō a little. "I'm Suwa Yuji. What exactly is all the commotion about?"
The man was 46-years old. Suwa Yuji had tanned eyes. He was thin, and tall. He had slightly droopy eyes, and a mustache that was parted in two. He was wearing a black suit.
"Something surprising has happened here, but are you a kendo swordsman?" Shizuka asked when she saw the scar between the thumb and index finger of Suwa's left hand.
Suwa, Kogorō, and Megure were surprised by what they heard.
"How did you know that, young lady?" Suwa asked.
"From your left hand", Shizuka asked.
"From my left hand?" Suwa asked.
"Do you see that little scar between your thumb and your forefinger? I have heard that people who practice fencing often accidentally injure themselves with their swords in that very spot on their left hand when putting the sword back in its sheath, because the blade of the sword sometimes accidentally touches that very spot on the fencer's other hand, because the fencer then hold the scabbard in place with one hand near the mouth of the scabbard! That's why I thought you were a swordsman", Shizuka said.
"Is he right?" Megure asked.
"Yes, although I got this scar when I was still an inexperienced swordsman", Suwa said. "Now I have my own dojo where I teach young swordsmen".
"So you really are to blame!" Kogorō said to Suwa.
"Guilty?! What are you talking about?" Suwa asked.
"Maybe they should all see the situation with their own eyes so they can understand what it's all about", Shizuka suggested.
"Good idea, at least that saves us the trouble of explaining", Kogorō said, returning with the others to the annex, and the suspects saw what had happened to Denjiro and looked really nervous.
"H-How did this happen?!" Hatano asked.
"So this is why there are cops here now, and you mean I did this?!" Suwa asked.
"It's obvious when you look at this place!" Kogorō said. "The killer was clearly a skilled swordsman! In other words, you!"
"You've got it all wrong!" Suwa said. "I'm only here to repay Maru-san the 5 million yen he loaned me!"
"Did Suwa-san borrow money from Denjiro-san?" Shizuka thought.
"Are you here to pay a debt?" Kogorō asked.
"Here's the money, as you can see", Suwa took a wad of bills from the inside pocket of his jacket.
Kogorō looked surprised, but then Megure pushed Kogorō aside, and then Megure began to speak:
"The murder took place between 3 and 5 o'clock. Where were you at that time?"
"I think I was meditating alone in my dojo", Suwa said.
"Is there anyone who can verify this?" Megure asked.
"N-No", Suwa said.
"Suspicious", Kogorō said.
"Hey, that sword isn't right!" Ran said to her father.
"Incorrect?" Kogorō asked.
"The way he's holding his sword...it's in the wrong position!" Ran said pointing at the sword in Denjiro's hands as the others also looked at said sword.
"Yeah, and in the picture it's the other way around", Shizuka said looking at Denjiro's swordsmanship picture. "The corpse's hands are holding that sword wrong! What if the murderer put the sword in Denjiro-san's hands?"
"So does that mean someone actually put the sword in his hands afterwards?" Megure asked.
"Why on earth did the murderer mess up the room so thoroughly? To hide the possible death note left by the victim in this room, or a clue? It should be investigated further, but I believe Suwa-san is the murderer because of his kendo background, although I don't know his motive", Shizuka thought, sitting for a in front of the wall.
"Ah! So the killer tried to frame Suwa-san as the culprit by destroying everything in this room with a sword?" Megure asked. "But the killer made a mistake by messing up the corpse's sword grip! Akutsu-san! What about you?"
"I also borrowed money from Maru-san...10 million yen", Akutsu said.
"Did you also come to repay your debt to him?" Megure asked.
"No, because I needed more time to pay, so I came to ask for an extension of the time to pay my debt", Akutsu said.
"Where were you between 3:00 and 5:00?" Megure asked.
"I was alone in my studio", Akutsu said.
"So you don't have an alibi either, do you?" Kogorō asked.
"What did you come here for?" Megure asked Kogorō.
"Who me?" Kogorō asked, pointing at himself in surprise.
"Of course. The victim planned to see you today as well", Megure said.
"You can't be serious!" Kogorō yelled, rubbing his hands together. "I came here to report something to the victim, because the victim hired me to investigate a matter. You see, Denjiro-san hired me to find out whether Mrs. Maru is cheating on her husband or not".
"Huh!" Ineko shouted nervously.
"Ms. Maru cheating on her husband?!" The housekeeper asked in surprise as everyone looked at the lady in disbelief.
Now Kogorō looked nervous.
"Detectives are not supposed to tell people about cases investigated by detectives!" Shizuka thought looking at Kogorō.
"Where were you when the murder happened?" Megure asked Hatano.
"Let me think", Hatano said. "I watched a movie in Ginza at 3:00. I often watch movies there".
"Huh? Hatano-sensei smells different. It's a woman's perfume", Shizuka thought upon noticing the matter. "I have smelled this perfume somewhere before".
Shizuka stood up, and walked past the women in the room, sniffing them discreetly, until she smelled the perfume Mrs. Maru was wearing, which smelled the same as Hatano-sensei in the perfume:
"It's Mrs. Maru's perfume! Does that thing mean that Hatano-sensei is the man that Mrs. Maru cheated on Denjiro-san with?!"
"Ms. Maru, when your husband hired Mōri-san yesterday, your husband said that you started going to town for Koto-lessons. Did you meet Hatano-sensei when you went to town for Koto-lessons earlier today, because Hatano-sensei's clothes now have the same perfume that you wear?" Shizuka asked.
"Uh?!" Mrs. Maru was surprised.
"Ugh", Hatano-sensei muttered nervously as Kogorō sniffed Hatano-sensei's left shoulder.
"Irene is right. It's the same perfume. Do you wear women's perfume?" Kogorō asked Hatano.
"No", Hatano said.
"I know! Are you the man Mrs. Maru cheated on her husband with?!" Kogorō asked in surprise.
"It's true! I'll admit now that keeping it a secret makes sense, but I've been secretly dating Hatano-sensei!" Ineko shouted.
"What?!" Megure, and Ran asked.
Ineko grabbed Hatano's right hand:
"But we are innocent! We were both at the Beika Hotel today from the afternoon until the evening!"
"Are you sure you haven't agreed to tell the police the same story?!" Kogorō asked.
"What?!" Ineko asked.
"Regardless of the subject, aside from Kogorō, none of the three visitors here have an alibi!" Shizuka thoughts. "Even so, I suspect that Yuji-san is the criminal who was murdered by Denjiro-san!"
"I'm sorry, but that phone might be able to help with the progress of the investigations, as it seems it has received calls at some point", Shizuka said after seeing one of the buttons on the phone on the floor flash green. "Denjiro-san got calls before, though the caller turned off the phone at some point, didn't he, Mōri-san?"
"It was", Kogorō said.
"Then let's check the call records", Megure said, pressing the green button on the phone, listening to the calls that came to the answering machine:
"This is Hatano. Are you there, Maru-san? Oh well. Anyway, I'll be there at 5:00 as agreed". Beep! "Call made at 4:38". "This is Suwa. I thought I'd be there at 6:00, but I think I can arrive earlier. I've made arrangements for next month's level exams. I'll let you know the details later". "Call taken at 4:41".
Everyone looked at the phone after hearing the messages previously recorded on the answering machine.
"I see. Hatano-sensei was supposed to come here at 5:00", Megure said looking at the suspects. "The appointment with Suwa-san was scheduled for 6:00, but Suwa-san called the victim in advance and arrived at 5:00, right?"
"Yes", Suwa said.
"I also left a message on voicemail!" Makoto said walking slightly towards Megure.
"Are you sure?" Megure asked.
"I do not lie!" Makoto yelled. "I said I'd be a little late, but I'd pay him back what I owed! I also said I'd kill him if he sold it!"
"You would kill him?!" Megure asked.
"Well, yes, because he threatened me", Makoto said. "He said he would sell my sculpture I lent him if I didn't pay him back!"
"What is that sculpture like?" Megure asked.
"That dragon", Makoto pointed to the dragon sculpture on top of the dresser on the wall on the right side of the room, which was small and brown. Apart from the sculpture in question, the other objects on top of the dresser were destroyed.
"There's something strange about the scratches in that closet!" Shizuka thought. "That dragon is the only sculpture left intact! Did Suwa-san leave that sculpture intact to frame Akutsu-san as the culprit?! And is the death note possibly left by the victim also in that chest of drawers, and that's why it's damaged so badly?! Could it be that Denjiro- san threatened to sell something that belonged to Suwa-san as well if Suwa-san didn't pay back the money he borrowed to Denjiro-san, and that Denjiro-san actually sold something that belonged to Suwa-san?! That could very well be the motive behind Suwa-san murdering Denjiro-san!"
Makoto walked in front of the dresser, looking at her sculpture:
"Great! You weren't damaged at all!"
"Good for you, Akutsu-san! You are so lucky!" Shizuka said to Akutsu. "It's a wonder that your sculpture was the only undamaged object in this room! It must be really important to you".
Akutsu looked at Shizuka in surprise.
"Aha. I got it now", Kogorō said. "Akutsu-san, you are a killer!"
"What?!" Akutsu asked.
"You killed Maru-san, and tried to frame Suwa-san as the culprit", Kogorō said. "But you made a couple of mistakes. First, you put the corpse to hold the sword incorrectly. Second, you couldn't harm your dragon sculpture. It seems you didn't care about killing someone, but you couldn't bear to cause damage to your precious sculpture!"
"This is just a coincidence!" Akutsu said.
"Then why did you lie about leaving a message on ihri's answering machine?!" Megure suggested.
"I didn't lie! I really left a message for Denjiro-san!" Akutsu said.
"Now that come to think of it, the phone rang three times earlier today!" Shizuka thought. "The second and third time it stopped ringing immediately, but the first time it rang over and over again!"
"Say, Akutsu-san! Did anything seem strange when you called the victim earlier today?" Shizuka asked. "Like maybe no one's answering your calls or something? Earlier today, Ran and I were outside the room where Mōri-san was talking to the victim before the crime. Then the victim went to see his guest who came here. After that, Mōri-san, and the phone on the table in the hallway outside the room the victim used for the conversation rang three times earlier today! The second and third times the phone stopped ringing immediately, but the first time it rang over and over again. Isn't that right, Mōri-san?"
"That's how it was. I was about to answer the first call when the phone suddenly stopped ringing. What was the reason for that?" Kogorō asked.
"Now that you mention it, I had to call him for a long time", Akutsu said looking thoughtful. "Just when I thought he was going to finally answer my call, my call was diverted to his answering machine".
"Our answering machine is set to take messages after 10 rings", Ineko said.
"See? What did I tell you?" Akutsu asked Megure.
"What time did you call the victim?" Megure asked.
"It was shortly before our meeting, so it was before 4:00", Akutsu said.
"You probably heard the phone ring when you killed Maru-san!" Kogorō said. "So that's why you're telling us this nonsense now!"
"No! I actually left him a message!" Akutsu shouted.
"How strange!" Shizuka thought. "If Akutsu-san was really a murderer, why would he make up a lie that people would see right through? But the message Akutsu-san mentioned isn't on the answering machine. Aha! Now that I think about it, someone left a strange message! One that no one would normally would send. If that's the case, then the killer is indeed Suwa-san, as I thought".
"Ms. Maru, is there anything valuable here?" Megure asked.
"Yes, and one of the boxes has a security key!" Ineko said opening one of the dresser drawers to see something surprising:
"It's gone! The security key is gone!"
"What?!" Megure asked.
"So it was you!" Kogorō shouted, grabbing the collar of Akutsu's coat with both hands.
Ineko opened the second drawer of the dresser, and was surprised again when I took the key from that drawer of the dresser:
"Huh? Here it is. It was in the second dresser drawer. Strange, because this key is usually in the dresser drawer I opened earlier, and not in this second dresser drawer".
"Ma'am", Megure said, looking disgusted like the others.
"But it's really strange! My husband always kept the safety key in this first dresser drawer I opened!" Ineko said closing the chest of drawers.
Shizuka then noticed that the scratches on the dresser drawer looked different in the middle than the scratches at the beginning, and at the end:
"Those chest of drawers! None of those big sword marks are connected! I see! The victim made a kanji of the murderer's name on that chest of drawers with his sword, and the murderer saw it! After meeting Denjiro-san, Suwa-san put the chest of drawers in the wrong places so that the kanji of his name wouldn't show in that dresser drawer. Then called Denjiro-san's phone from here, or Suwa-san went back to his dojo, and called Denjiro-san's answering machine from there, arranging a fake time for his conversation with the victim to remove his own name from the suspect list".
Shizuka aimed her stun watch at Kogorō's neck as Kogorō released his grip on Akutsu's jacket:
"I'm sorry, Mōri-san, but the show starts now!"
Shizuka fired a stun arrow into Kogorō's neck. Snap!
"Ugh!" Kogorō swayed a bit until he sat down, leaning against the sliding door in front of the back wall of the room.
"Now what, Dad?" Ran asked as Shizuka walked behind the sliding door to sit on the floor.
"I believe I know who the perpetrator is and why this room is in this condition", Shizuka said in Kogorō's voice.
"Ma'am, is it okay if I ask your housekeepers for one favor?"
"Okay", Ineko said.
"Great. Is there a paloroid camera in this house?" Shizuka asked the housekeepers.
"Yes, but why do you ask?" The younger housekeeper asked.
"Because we need that camera now. Could you get it here?" Shizuka asked.
"Sure. Just a moment", the Junior Housekeeper said as he went to get the camera. He returned after a while with the camera:
"Here".
"Thanks. Irene, now take a picture of that dresser", Shizuka said.
"Sure", Shizuka said, and walked out of hiding, taking the camera from the housekeeper, and using the camera to take a picture of the chest of drawers. Snaps! A photo came out of the camera, and Shizuka shook the photo a little until a picture of a chest of drawers appeared in the picture. Shizuka then handed the camera back to the younger housekeeper:
"I took a picture".
Shizuka walked in front of Kogorō, and bowed before Kogorō, pretending that Kogorō would whisper something to Shizuka:
"Really? You want me to edit this picture with a carpet knife, and put it back together like a puzzle? Oh well".
Shizuka sat on her knees on the floor, and took a carpet knife from her pocket, which she used to cut the chest of drawers in the picture into square pieces at the chest of drawers, and began to rearrange them, putting the carpet knife back in her pocket as the others gathered around her to watch her. Finally, he finished the puzzle after arranging the pieces in their right places:
"Suwa?!"
"What do you mean?!" Suwa asked.
"Look. Mōri-san just told me to cut out the chest of drawers in this photo from this photo, and rearrange them roughly where the sword marks are, and which are not connected. Aha! So you're right, Mōri-san!" Shizuka said. He then walked back behind the sliding door, and sat down on the floor, beginning to mimic Kogorō's voice:
"Of course I am. I realized the killer's trick when I saw the lady opening the dresser drawers earlier, and when she found the safety key in the dresser drawer where it's not usually".
"What do you mean, Mōri-kun?" Megure asked. "Anyway, I have to take Akutsu-san down to the station".
"What?!" Akutsu asked.
"Not so fast", Shizuka said.
"Mōri-kun?" Megure asked.
"I've definitely figured it out this time, Keibu-dono", Shizuka said. "I just needed the photo taken by my assistant just to confirm my suspicions. Based on that photo, I found out who committed the crime that happened here".
"Who was it?!" Megure asked.
"The murderer is you, Suwa-san!" Shizuka lifted Kogorō's right hand up from the hole in the door, pointing at Suwa.
Everyone looked at Suwa in surprise.
"Hey wait a minute. Suwa-san is practicing swordsmanship, so he wouldn't have put a body to hold the sword wrong", Megure was saying.
"That's why we were fooled so easily, which is exactly what Suwa-san wanted!" Shizuka said.
"What?!" Megure asked.
"To make himself look suspicious, he put sword marks around the room and then put the sword in the victim's hands. But he secured an escape route for himself by deliberately making the victim hold the sword incorrectly. By doing this, he made it look as if someone had tried to frame him as the culprit, and thus he was able to remove all self-doubts", Shizuka said.
"He's right, Mōri-kun!" Megure said. "And besides, how do you explain the dragon sculpture?! You just accused Akutsu-san of being a murderer!"
"I lied then because at that stage of the investigation there was no confirmation of Suwa-san's guilt, unlike now", Shizuka said.
"You lied?!" Megure asked.
"Of course. And as for that dragon sculpture, Suwa-san purposely left it undamaged to make Akutsu-san look suspicious! That's how Suwa-san tried to frame Akutsu-san as the culprit", Shizuka said.
"Nonsense. This is our first time meeting", Suwa said. "How would I have known the dragon belonged to him?"
"About the defendant", Shizuka said.
"The call that Akutsu-san swore he made to the victim when Akutsu-san called the victim earlier today. I assume you heard it while you were doing the killing", Shizuka said:
"Akutsu-san told us earlier that Denjiro-san threatened Akutsu-san. The victim said that he would sell Akutsu-san's sculpture that Akutsu-san lent to the victim if Akutsu-san didn't pay back his debt to the victim! Maybe that call was like this:
"If you sell my dragon sculpture that I lent you I swear I will kill you!" So you probably came up with a plan on the spot to frame Akutsu-san as the culprit. Also, both you and Akutsu-san owe the victim, and the victim took Akutsu-san's sculpture, so maybe the victim took something from you too, Suwa-san, and threatened you too by selling something you took from you if you didn't pay back your debt to him. Maybe it went like this:
"Suwa-san, you came here earlier today to pay your debt to Denjiro-san, and to get back from him what he took from you. But maybe Denjiro-san told you that he sold the item you took from you, and you will kill him in a fit of rage if the item that what he had sold was important to you. After meeting Denjiro-san, you went back to your dojo, and from there you called Denjiro-san's answering machine, arranging a fake time for your conversation with the victim in order to remove your own name from the suspect list. Or maybe you made that call to the victim's phone already here. Then you came back here again while the police were already there here to make you look like an innocent person who came here for the appointment he made to pay his debt to the victim".
"But Akutsu-san's message wasn't on the tape!" Megure said.
"It's because Suwa-san rewound the respondent's tape, and then went back to his dojo, and recorded his own message over the first message, the one left by Akutsu-san!" Shizuka said.
"But Hatano-sensei could have done it too", Suwa said, and Hatano looked nervous.
"No. In your message you confessed that you yourself were the murderer!" Shizuka said.
"What?!" Suwa asked.
"You left a message on the answering machine that you will arrive earlier than planned. Isn't that strange for you too?" Shizuka asked. "Do you go to someone's house early even though you know they're not home? You said that because you knew Maru-san was here, in the annex, as a corpse!"
"Heh heh! Maru-san said he was meeting someone between 4:00 and 5:00, so he asked me to come anytime other than that time. So I thought coming before the agreed 6:00 is fine with him", Suwa said. "Do you still doubt me?"
"I don't doubt you guys killed him", Shizuka said. "I'm sure of it!"
"What?!" Suwa asked.
"In this room is the final proof that you are the murderer!" Shizuka said. "Namely, the death note left by the victim in this room, after seeing which you destroyed this room to hide said death note".
"W-where?!" Megure asked.
"The real reason for destroying the room was to hide something! That is the death message I just mentioned!" Shizuka said.
Everyone looked around.
"Encrypt that death message?" Megure asked.
"Yes. Namely, the death note Denjiro-san left behind about Suwa-san's guilt, which is very close to you, Keibu-dono", Shizuka said. "Or have you already forgotten the photo my assistant took earlier that he took of that dresser? I did. The death note left by the victim is in that dresser, and Suwa-san saw it when he was here before, so that's why Suawa-san destroyed this room. Right, because it's about that from the marks on the chest of drawers".
Everyone looked at the scratches on the dresser drawers in surprise, and Suwa now looked nervous.
"Look closely at the sword marks on the dresser drawers", Shizuka said. "Some of those sword marks are not connected to each other. I noticed it when the lady was looking for the security key earlier, and found it in the chest of drawers, where it is not normally kept".
"You're right!" Megure said after noticing that thing.
"The killer changed the positions of the dresser drawers on purpose after seeing the death message Denjiro-san made with his sword on the dresser drawers," Shizuka said. "If you want to put those dresser drawers back in their right places, take the top row drawer, 2nd from the left, and replace it with the rightmost dresser drawer in the same row, the same way they are now in the photo my assistant just took. Next, take down the left drawer of the next row and replace it to the leftmost drawer of the 5th row 2nd row, 2nd column and the rightmost drawer of the same row 3rd row and 2nd column and the rightmost drawer of the 4th row Finally 5th row, 2nd column and 4th row, 3rd column on the left, and then look again at the chest of drawers, and the photo my assistant took of the chest of drawers earlier. Think of this as a big puzzle that is put together by taking a model from the picture on the cover of that puzzle box, as is usually done when putting together a puzzle".
"W-what is this?!" Megure asked putting the drawers of the dresser in their proper places, and then looking at the dresser, and the photo Shizuka had taken of the dresser earlier, while backing away a little surprised to see the kanji in the dresser, and the kanji in the photo:
"Suwa"?!"
"I'm guessing that when Suwa-san was busy deleting the message Akutsu-san left on the victim's answering machine, that's when the victim wrote this death message on the dresser with his sword. However, Suwa-san understood what the victim was doing, so Suwa-san switched the drawers of the dresser to different places on the dresser and then put on those dresser drawers with their own sword marks to make the letters written by the victim unreadable. But the dresser drawers would stand out as the only damaged item in an otherwise undamaged room, so Suwa-san used his sword to destroy everything else in this room as well. Suwa-san did it all to hide the death message the victim left for us, which the victim had written on the chest of drawers with his sword! However, Suwa-san didn't consider that the lady would later look for the security key in the chest of drawers, and find that key in a different chest of drawers than usual, which could be suspicious to the lady", Shizuka said.
"But why? You had money to pay your debt!" Megure said to Suwa. "Because of the sword", Suwa said.
"The sword? The one the victim was holding?" Megure asked looking at the sword one of the police was holding.
"Hmph! No, not that boring, ordinary sword. It's the sword I left him as collateral for my debt. My family sword, passed down in my family for generations time. That sword is called Kikuchiyo", Suwa said.
"So that sword was historically part of your family, an important sword?" Shizuka asked as she came out of hiding, and walked over to Ran's side.
"Yes. It was an important sword historically belonging to my family", Suwa said looking at Shizuka. "However, Denjiro-san only saw the monetary value of my sword. He did not appreciate its historical value in any way, even though he was an antique collector, young lady. So he had the nerve to say this to me when I came here to demand my sword back from him after paying my debt to him:
"Oh, that sword? I sold it. However, selling it didn't give me much money. Let's think of the money I got from it as interest on your loan".
"That's what he said?!" Shizuka asked.
"Yes. And before I knew it, I had hit him with the sword. Yes. Just like that! Aaaah!" Suwa took the sword from the policeman, and quickly ran past Megure towards Kogorō by the sheath of the sword to attack Kogorō.
"Yeeeeek!" Ran cried out in shock.
"Mōri-san!" Shizuka yelled, grabbing Ran by the shoulders, hoping to wake Kogorō up so he could dodge the attack in time. As the sword approached Kogorō's forehead, cutting off a couple of Kogorō's hairs that fell to the floor, Suwa stopped his attack and put the sword back into its sheath.
"The rest happened just as you said. Yet you didn't even flinch when I attacked. You are truly an extraordinary detective, Mōri Kogorō-dono. It seems my biggest mistake was not realizing you were here", Suwa gave the sword to Megure, bowed to Kogorō, and then the police handcuffed Suwa and took Suwa out of the building.
"It was close! Humans always walk guided by some kind of light. However, those whose souls are blackened by stains seem to continue their eternal delusions, prisoners of nihilism", Shizuka thought, relieved that Kogorō was okay.
Suwakin had earned Shizuka's respect when Suwa had stopped himself from attacking Kogorō at the last moment.
"Wonderful, father!" Ran said walking in front of Kogorō as Shizuka loosened her hold on Ran's shoulders.
Megurekin walked in front of Kogorō:
"I've changed my mind about you again!"
"Huh?" Kogorō said as he woke up. Then Ran saw a small wound on her father's forehead, with a little blood coming out:
"Oh? There's something on your head".
"Oh", Kogorō wiped his forehead with his right forefinger and middle finger, and then looked at the blood on his fingers:
"Blood! It's blood! I'm bleeding!"
Kogorō ran around the room with Ran and Megure calming Kogorō down.
"By the way, Kogorō's injury turned out to be a 3 millimeter scratch", Shizuka thought looking at Kogorō.