After Mori Kogoro finished taking photos, Chi Feichi placed the items into an Evidence Bag and handed it to Officer Ogura.
It was already past three in the morning when the four of them returned to the hotel. In the Japanese-Style Living Room, they found the proprietress, who had been waiting there the whole time. Seeing no one else, they decided to question her first, and then asked the Hotel Staff some questions.
The proprietress recognized the knife used as the weapon, pointing out that it was the "sacred knife" kept in the hotel's Shrine.
The Hotel Staff had also seen, to varying degrees, the activities of Eri Akachi and the others, and mentioned that Mouri Ran's group had not been in the Japanese-Style Living Room, but in the Lounge.
"So you were here..."
Mori Kogoro arrived at the Lounge and scanned the room, confirming the number of people.
His Daughter was here, Haibara, that Kid, was here, Raiko Honda was here, Eri Akachi was here, Tokyoichi Bando was here, Harumi Fukatsu was here... good, everyone's here.
Raiko Honda turned her head and explained, "Teacher Eri said it would be more comfortable to sit here."
Mouri Ran looked over at the newcomers, confirming their numbers.
Her Old Dad was here, Brother Feichi was here, Officer Ogura was here... huh, where's Conan?
"Father, where's Conan?"
"Hey?" Mori Kogoro turned and looked around. "Didn't that Kid, Conan, follow us?"
"He headed towards the Courtyard on our way here," Chi Feichi said as he walked to a Bench by the Window and sat down, nonchalantly taking out a Notebook and a Ballpoint Pen. "He probably went to the Restroom. Now, let's confirm everyone's movements between 10 PM and 12 PM."
Conan had likely gone to check the depth of the Snow.
A Little One like him, suddenly and quietly running off from the Corridor while following the group, wouldn't easily attract attention. If he hadn't been keeping an eye on that Troublemaker Conan, he probably wouldn't have known when Conan had fallen behind either.
The others turned to look at Mori Kogoro.
When it came to matters like questioning people after a crime, the Famous Detective was the one with the most authority.
"Ahem..." Mori Kogoro had no time to worry about where Conan had run off to. He composed his Expression and said seriously, "Please Cooperate with us! First, Teacher Eri, when we met you, you were just coming back from a bath in the Open-air Hot Spring, correct? So, what time did you go to the Open-air Hot Spring?"
"Yes," Eri Akachi nodded. "I went to the Open-air Hot Spring around 9:30 and left at about 10:00."
"Did you see Ms. Asuka Shibasaki?"
"As I was leaving the Open-air Hot Spring to come back, she was just arriving..."
Haibara Ai got up and sat down next to Chi Feichi, watching him write down everyone's activity times in the Notebook. She saw Feichi poke his Little Head out from the Yukata Collar to look at the Notebook and resisted the urge to pull Feichi out and start the betting.
*No, I'll wait until Feichi finishes shedding his skin to play with him...*
Mouri Ran, thinking about Conan's unknown whereabouts, wanted to go look for him but had to stay and wait to be questioned. She was sitting on pins and needles and only relaxed when she saw Conan walk in.
Conan, deep in thought with his head lowered, walked over to Chi Feichi's side and leaned in to look at the Information Chi Feichi was recording in his Notebook.
[
9:30 PM: Tokyoichi Bando is in his own Room. Eri Akachi arrives at the Open-air Hot Spring to Take a bath. Raiko Honda goes to the Lounge to Organize her Interview Content and remains in the Lounge.
9:45 PM: Raiko Honda sees Asuka Shibasaki pass through the Lounge, heading towards the Open-air Hot Spring.
10:00 PM: Eri Akachi leaves the Open-air Hot Spring and sees the arriving Asuka Shibasaki.
10:20 PM: In the Lounge, Raiko Honda sees Eri Akachi return.
10:25 PM: In the Lounge, Raiko Honda sees Ema Anzai heading for the Back Door. At the same time, we, on our way to take a bath, encounter Eri Akachi in the Corridor.
10:30 PM: The time written on the note Ema Anzai received to meet at the Shrine.
10:40 PM: We arrive at the Open-air Hot Spring. A sign indicating private use is hung at the Women's Bath. Ran, Ai, and Harumi Fukatsu head to the Entertainment Center to play ping-pong.
10:45 PM: Harumi Fukatsu leaves the Entertainment Center to go back and remove her Contact Lenses.
10:50 PM: A strange sound comes from the Women's Bath.
10:55 PM: Harumi Fukatsu returns to the Entertainment Center.
11:00 PM: We finish our bath in the Men's Bath and go to the Entertainment Center to find Ran, Ai, and Harumi Fukatsu, who haven't started their bath yet. During this Period, Ran saw no one else pass by the Entertainment Center towards the Open-air Hot Spring. At the same time, Eri Akachi arrives at the Hotel Lounge and begins to Discuss Matters with Raiko Honda.
11:15 PM: Tokyoichi Bando arrives at the Lounge, joining Raiko Honda and Eri Akachi's Meeting.
11:30 PM: We leave the Entertainment Center and head to the Open-air Hot Spring.
Around 11:40 PM: Asuka Shibasaki's Corpse is discovered.
11:55 PM: We go to the Hotel to look for Ema Anzai and see Raiko Honda, Eri Akachi, and Tokyoichi Bando having a Meeting in the Lounge.
12:05 AM: We go to the Shrine via the Back Door and discover footprints in the Snow.
12:10 AM: Ema Anzai's Corpse is discovered in the Shrine.
...]
Conan couldn't help but notice the handwriting in the Notebook.
This Guy, Chi Feichi, his handwriting was still so good-looking. The characters were perfectly straight and square but not rigid, and each stroke had an indescribable spirit. Being able to see a whole page of it was simply a pleasure... ahem, Solve a Case, solving the case is what's important!
"At the Open-air Hot Spring, we found a Knife that is the Suspected Weapon, and a blood-stained Bath Towel," Mori Kogoro said after finishing his questioning. "According to the proprietress, that Knife was the 'divine knife' previously kept in the hotel's Shrine, and the Bath Towel belongs to Ema Anzai. Although we're not yet sure if any of the Blood on the Bath Towel belongs to Ms. Ema Anzai, the Weapon should be the same one. In Other Words, the Culprit's sequence of actions should be: after 10:30, they went to the Warehouse to Murder Ms. Ema Anzai and left a Kimono Sleeve Hannya paper doll. Afterwards, carrying the Knife and Towel, they went to the Open-air Hot Spring. The Culprit was also carrying a Stapler. After knocking out Ms. Asuka Shibasaki, who was bathing, with the Stapler, they killed her with the Knife. Finally, the Culprit abandoned the Knife, Stapler, and Towel at the Open-air Hot Spring, left a Kimono Sleeve Hannya paper doll at the Entrance to the Women's Bath, and left."
Conan leaned in, looking at the timeline Chi Feichi had compiled, and pondered.
Based on this, Tokyoichi Bando had no Alibi before 11:15 PM, giving him sufficient Time to commit the Crime. Moreover, the note asking Ema Anzai to go to the Warehouse was signed with Tokyoichi Bando's name.
Eri Akachi could have gone to the Shrine to Murder Ema Anzai from the Corridor after meeting them. Afterwards, if she wanted to go to the Open-air Hot Spring to Murder Asuka Shibasaki, she would have had to pass by the Lounge and the Entertainment Center where Ran was. By using Wooden Boards to move across the Courtyard, it's Possible to Avoid passing the Lounge and leaving footprints in the Snow, but to reach the Open-air Hot Spring on the Cliff, she would have had to pass the Entertainment Center; it's impossible to climb there from the Snow-covered Mountain. And Ran did not see Eri Akachi pass by. Furthermore, if the strange sound we heard from the Women's Bath Next Door at 10:50 PM was the Time Asuka Shibasaki was murdered, then Eri Akachi wouldn't have had enough time to commit the Murder and rush back to the Lounge to Meet Up with Raiko Honda.
Harumi Fukatsu had been with them since after 9:00 PM. She was only gone from the Entertainment Center between 10:45 and 10:55, when she returned to her Room alone to remove her Contact Lenses. This Time is enough to create the strange sound or Murder Asuka Shibasaki, for instance, by hiding her Framed Glasses somewhere, leaving to put them on before committing the Murder, and then pretending she had returned to her Room to change Glasses. But Harumi Fukatsu had no Time to Murder Ema Anzai, let alone take the Weapon to the Open-air Hot Spring to Murder Asuka Shibasaki after killing Ema Anzai.
Raiko Honda had been in the Lounge since 9:30 PM. Although she had enough Time to commit the Crime during the periods when she was alone and didn't encounter anyone, if someone had passed by the Lounge and noticed she was gone, her Lie would have been exposed. Raiko Honda couldn't be certain that someone wouldn't go to the Lounge while she was away committing the Crime. So, the Possibility of Raiko Honda being the Culprit is also low.
Currently, the one with the most Suspicion is Tokyoichi Bando, but he felt that a Murderer who could think of a Method to not leave footprints in the Snow wouldn't be that simple.
Moreover, his own Discovery also pointed to the Murderer being Eri Akachi...
"But, Ai and I were in the Entertainment Center from 10:40 PM onwards. If anyone wanted to go to the Open-air Hot Spring, we would have definitely seen them, but we didn't see any Suspicious Person pass the Entertainment Center," Mouri Ran turned her head to look at Haibara Ai, who was sitting with Chi Feichi. "Right? Ai."
Haibara Ai nodded. "Not even a human Shadow, let alone a ghost's."
Mouri Ran: "..."
Mentioning ghosts at a time like this made her a little scared.
If a Monster was the Murderer, then that would indeed...
"That's right," Mori Kogoro stroked his Chin. "And besides the footprints left by Ms. Ema Anzai when she went to the Warehouse, there were no footprints from the Murderer in the Snow. That's also very Weird..."
"Could it be the Curse of the Kimono Sleeve Deity?" Harumi Fukatsu asked, her face tense.
"N-No way..." Mouri Ran shrank against the Sofa's Backrest, feeling a distinct lack of security without a Living Body Pillow to hug.
*No...*
Conan mentally denied the Possibility of a 'Murder by the Curse of the Kimono Sleeve Deity'. He leaned closer to Chi Feichi's ear and whispered, "Brother Chi, just now in the Courtyard Outside, I walked a full Circle along the Eaves. The footprints in the Snow from the Back Door to the Windowside of Teacher Eri's Room were at most five centimeters deep, while the footprints in Other Places were over ten centimeters deep. It snowed Again after we went to the Shrine to Collect Evidence. The areas not covered by the Towel have another layer of Snow, so it's Normal for footprints to be over ten centimeters deep. So..."
Haibara Ai leaned in to listen, lowering her voice to pick up where he left off, "It's Possible Teacher Eri is the Murderer. After she met us in the Corridor, to Avoid being seen by Miss Honda in the Lounge, she climbed out of her own Window. Using some Method that wouldn't leave footprints, she went to the Shrine, murdered Ms. Anzai, and then used that same Method to return to her Room. That's why there's a path of footprints with the Wrong depth leading to her Room Window. But how did she Murder Miss Shibasaki afterwards? She didn't have enough Time, and Sister Ran and I really didn't see any suspicious figures pass by outside the Entertainment Center."
"That's right," Conan frowned in thought. "The Method to not leave footprints should be moving by placing Wooden Boards on the Snow, but the Time for the Crime..."
He couldn't figure this Point out at all.
"Anyway, it's already past four in the morning. The Police from Yamagata Prefecture should be able to get here in about an Hour. Everyone, please wait here for the Time being," Mori Kogoro instructed, then looked at Chi Feichi, who was huddled with the two Children whispering. He called out, "Feichi, I'm going Outside to Smoke. Want to Go Together for some fresh air?"
"Okay."
Chi Feichi chose to abandon Conan from the Case Solving Squad. He closed his Notebook and followed Mori Kogoro out to the Corridor.
Conan looked up to see Haibara Ai following them, thought for a moment, and silently tagged along as well.
(End of Chapter)