Chapter 7 - The Truth behind the Mask

45 minutes later, it was a lot more quiet. The man in the front row had died, so the police had to get all of the people away from the crime scene. Only Teitan students remained in the hall, but far away from the stage, on the other side of the room, behind the tape. Alongside the police officers securing the crime scene, the coroner inspecting the body and forensics securing any possible evidence, were three witnesses from the audience, Ran and Dr. Araide, because they were onstage and thus witnesses at the time of the death, Kogoro, Yukiko, Heiji and Kazuha, because they were also close to the victim and could provide help in the investigation.

Now Inspector Megure arrived on the crime scene; he immediately went over to Detective Takagi, who arrived shortly before him, to inform himself about the general situation.

"So, the victim is Kouhei Kamata, a 27 year old doctor at the Beika General Hospital, is that correct?" Megure asked Takagi, who nodded accordingly.

"According to our three primary witnesses, he suddenly collapsed during the play, without any visible reason. But you see, the play was already commencing at that point, so naturally the room was completely dark and the attention of the audience was focused on the stage." Takagi explained.

"I see." Megure looked through his notes. "Time of death?"

"Well..." Takagi scratched the back of his head. "We couldn't really determine that yet. As is common courtesy for plays these days, the members of the audience all turned their cell phones off and since it was still dark, nobody could really look on their watches; not that anybody had thought about checking the time, as quite a panic ensued after the victim died. So, all we can do is guess at this point."

Megure clicked his tongue. "I understand. Rather unfortunate circumstances, but I guess the culprit factored that into his plan." He looked over to the coroner. "Were you able to determine the cause of death yet?"

The coroner looked up from his clipboard. "Yes, Inspector. It was probably..."

"Potassium Cyanide." A male voice interrupted the coroner. "The victim most likely drank Potassium Cyanide and died from that."

"Ehhh?" Megure and Takagi exclaimed in unison and looked over to the dark-skinned person who just said that.
"Ha-...Hattori-kun?" Megure said when he recognized the high school detective from Osaka. "What are you doing here? And how did you determine the cause of death? Don't tell me you examined the body before the coroner arrived...!?"

Heiji shook his head. "No, Inspector, I didn't need to, ya can tell by simply looking at the body. Ya see, when a person dies, they usually lose the oxygen in their blood, which makes their lips and fingernails turn purple." Heiji pointed at the corpse. "But as ya can see, the lips and fingernails of the victim turned pink instead, which strongly suggests he died from Potassium Cyanide. This particular poison interferes with the electron transmissions in the body, which usually causes the color of the lips and fingernails to brighten. If almond traces can be found in the mouth of the victim, then there can be no doubt about it."

"So? Did you find traces of almond?" Megure asked the coroner.

"Yes, we did." The coroner replied. "Everything is as this boy has just explained."

Takagi smiled. "As expected of Hattori-kun!"

"Still, you didn't answer my question about why you are here." Megure continued.

Before Heiji could answer, Ran stepped forward. "Inspector Megure, I think I can tell you the approximate time of death."

"R-Ran-kun?!" Megure exclaimed, not having noticed the girl before.

"You see, the play started at 2 pm." Ran explained. "So, the death has occurred roughly around 2:40 pm. The play had reached its romantic climax, which in the rehearsals always happened after about 40 minutes. The play proceeded without any major incidents or delays, so the time should be fairly accurate." She turned to the Black Knight standing beside her. "Isn't that right, Araide-sensei?"

Dr. Araide as the Black Knight simply nodded to her question and gave an affirmative grunt. Looking at him, Ran blushed a little bit. She was still feeling good about their kiss, even though a murder had just occurred.

"Ah, I see!" Takagi exclaimed happily. "Teitan High School is the high school that Ran-san attends. Judging from the dress you're wearing, you participate in the play as an actress, right? That must be why Hattori-kun is here, to watch one his friends perform!"

"Yes, that's right." Ran nodded and blushed even more as Takagi pointed out what she was currently still wearing (there had been no good timing for Ran and Dr. Araide to get out of their costumes).

"Tsk, we should've noticed right away that all the students here are wearing the same uniform that Ran-kun usually wears..." Megure sighed. "Wait...does that mean that your father..."

"That's right!" Kogoro exclaimed from behind Megure, who immediately turned around to see Yukiko and Kogoro, who was just putting his blazer back on. "Of course, I'm here too! I couldn't miss my daughter playing the lead role in a play like this now, could I?"

'Weren't you specifically reading the script to determine whether or not it was worth attending the play? Seems like the possibility of missing Ran-chan's performance was existent in your mind...' Yukiko thought to herself.

"Mouri-kun and Yukiko-san!" Megure exclaimed. "Ahh, but that also means that this is also the high school of Kudo-kun! With him around, surely this case will be solved in no time...!"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you." Yukiko said and shook her head. "Shinichi had to run errands before the play began and from what we could tell, he wasn't in audience when the murder happened. And well, he isn't around now either; with practically the whole school knowing about this case by now, he should already be here and eager to solve this case though; but he isn't, so he probably went home."

Megure sighed. "And here I was hoping for some Kudo-kun, but instead I only get some Mouri-kun, what a letdown... at least I still got Hattori-kun around..."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, letdown...?" Kogoro questioned with an indignant look on his face.

"Ahh, just a joke, old friend, just a little joke..." Megure said with an apologetic smile.

'But ... would Shin-chan really go home like this ... he wouldn't just abandon Ran-chan because of a play, would he...?' Yukiko thought.

Megure and Takagi continued the investigation, interrogating the suspects about where everyone was, the order and process of ordering the drinks, since they suspected the culprit poisoning the victim through his drink. After the student selling the drinks told them about how she rejected the marriage proposal of the victim, Kogoro threw in the possibility of suicide, so Takagi and three of the witnesses/suspects went outside to check the car of the victim.

"Suicide..." Heiji mumbled while they were outside. "No, that's not it. The strange lines spoken, the cups, the unused gum syrup and milk ... but who could the culprit b-" Heiji noticed the Black Knight smugly grinning and looking him. "What's up? Ya got something on yer mind?" The Black Knight shook his head and went off to where the drinks were sold. Heiji slightly tilted his head. "What's with this Araide guy, acting so strange? If it wouldn't have been impossible for him to commit the crime, he might fall into suspicion if he acts like that..."

Shortly after that, Takagi returned. "Inspector Megure!"

Megure and Kogoro turned around. "Ah, Takagi, did you find anything?"

"Yes." Takagi held up an evidence bag with a little bottle in it. "We found this in the glove compartment of the car; we believe that this bottle indeed contains Potassium Cyanide."

The Inspector grimly nodded. "Good, give it to the analysts. Still, from all the evidence, testimonies and general circumstances, we can conclude that this case is indeed a suicide."

"Wai-..." Heiji wanted to say, but he was interrupted.

"Wait, Inspector Megure!" The Black Knight exclaimed, drawing the attention of everybody to him.

Ran gasped. 'This voice...'

"This case is not a suicide. No, in front of this elevated stage, Kamata-san's incurable habit was used against him, to take away his life. At least, if my deduction is in fact...", the lips of the Black Knight curled up to a confident smile. "...the truth!"

"Eh ... you are ... the doctor of this school, Araide-san?" Megure asked, still in surprise over the sudden interruption of the Black Knight.

'No, he's not Araide-sensei...' Ran thought.

"No, I'm not Araide-sensei." The Black Knight said while removing his helmet. "The good doctor wasn't able to perform today, so he was replaced by me..." The helmet was off, revealing the person behind the cloak of the Black Knight. "...Shinichi Kudo!"

"EHHHH?!" Megure, Kogoro, Takagi, Heiji, Kazuha and Yukiko exclaimed, while Ran was just staring at him with her mouth slightly open and a blush on her face.

'It ... it was Shinichi this whole time...?' Ran thought to herself. 'I didn't kiss Araide-sensei, I kissed Shinichi in front of the whole school ... I see ... all these feelings, it wasn't because I fell for Araide-sensei all of a sudden, it was because of my love for Shinichi ... I felt it ... even through the costume...'

"K-Kudo-kun...?" Megure stuttered. "How ... why are you in that costume ... you took Araide-san's role...?"

Shinichi nodded. "That's right. Araide-sensei passed out shortly before the play began. As it turned out, he was already the replacement for another student, who refused to take part in the play after the recent incident here at our school ... and I just happened to be the only guy in the backstage area who wasn't needed for the production of the play, so Sonoko spontaneously recruited me to play that part." Shinichi went over to his mother. "And well, although I'm usually more often in positions where skills taught by my father come in handy, I'm still the son of the famous and skilled actress Yukiko Fujimine as well, so this task wasn't too daunting for me." He said and gave his mother a cheeky smile.

Yukiko smiled as well, but also raised an eyebrow. "Oi oi ... even though you're my son, I bet my Shin-chan was still sweating bullets before going on stage to kiss Ran-chan in front of the entire school..." She whispered to him, inaudible for everyone except him.

Busted. "Hahh... shush now, Mom..." He mumbled, sounding like he did when he was caught staying up late reading books again when he was six years old; his big words simply couldn't deceive his own mother. Shinichi turned away from his mother and addressed the group of people looking at him. "Anyway, I believe my acting skills are no longer needed, but rather my detective skills. And as a detective, I can assure you, this case is solved!" Shinichi went over to Heiji. "Hattori, do you have a 10 yen coin with you? I would use my own money, but this costume has no pockets for change."

"Uh... sure, I've got one or two, but what do ya need a-..." Heiji said, a bit confused, but then he looked past Shinichi at the suspects, who. "Ah, I see what ya've got in mind. Here ya go." He said and gave him a 10 yen coin.

"S-Shinichi...?" Ran, who stood beside Heiji and Kazuha, whispered.

Shinichi took one step from Heiji and towards her, leaned closer to her ear and whispered: "We should talk about this later, but let me solve this case first."
Ran answered with a solemn nod and a small smile.

'It's better this way.' Shinichi thought. 'I can't tell anyone else how I really got to play this part...'

Earlier, before the play, as Ran was busy getting into her costume:

Shinichi was walking through the backstage area, making his way to Ran's changing room.

"Hey, Shinichi-kun!" Shinichi came to a halt, turned around and looked straight at Sonoko, who called out to him. "Is everything taken care of?"

"Yep, all done." Shinichi confirmed. "The staff is informed and all other errands have been dealt with as well. All that's left for me to do is wish Ran luck for her performance and then I can sit down in the audience and try to enjoy the play."

Just as he wanted to get going again, Sonoko threw him an intriguing grin. "Huh, so you're really planning on doing that? I was wondering whether or not you would, considering that you and Ran seemed to have a little argument..."

Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "Argument? I don't think we were having one... well, Ran behaved a little strange after she told me about her replacing the lead actress, but I didn't know why and I still don't really know..."

"Well, you probably reacted very coldly when she told you about it, considering the kiss scene and all." Sonoko explained.

"K...Ki-" Shinichi completely froze all of a sudden. "Kiss scene?! The play has a kiss scene ... and Ran is playing that part?!"

His sudden outburst surprised Sonoko. "Y-Yeah ... here, take a look at the script." She handed him the copy that she carried with her. "But ... you were there at the reading, as opposed to Ran who was sick on that day, where we discussed that scene in particular. So, this shouldn't really surprise you, should it?"

Shinichi flipped through the pages of the script. "No ... I mean, yes, I was there ... but I wasn't aware until now."
He started to read the important part, the kiss scene. 'Damnit,' Shinichi thought to himself. 'I was there at the reading, it's true, but at the time Dad had just sent me the newest draft for his next Night Baron novel, so I was reading that rather than the script of the play; and because I was so immersed in the writings of Dad and because the play didn't really interest, I didn't pay any attention to what was said in class...' Shinichi finished reading, eyes widening. 'Oh no ... Ran thought that I knew about the kiss scene ... that's why she reacted so weird, because she thought I didn't care that she would kiss another guy on stage in front of the whole school...'

Sonoko took the script from his hands. "Well, you're aware now. I thought you might get a little jealous, but that certainly didn't work out like I imagined. Anyway, you don't have to worry, just because Ran will have this little, extremely romantic scene with Araide-sensei, doesn't mean she lose interest in you." Sonoko winked (Shinichi wasn't sure how to interpret that wink). "I have to go back and make some last preparations; Ran is getting changed in Room D, so if you still want to wish her luck, go ahead." She said and left Shinichi standing there.

"A romantic kiss scene between Ran and Araide-sensei..." Shinichi mumbled, while nervously fidgeting with the wristwatch that Professor Agasa recently gave him as a gift. "... I have to stop this!"

"So, Kudo-kun," Megure said, "if this wasn't a suicide, who is the murderer then? And how did the culprit do it? Care to explain your deduction to us?"

Shinichi flipped the coin up. "Don't worry, Inspector Megure, I won't leave out any detail," he said and caught the coin in midair, before expertly solving the case in his usual style.