"Co-Conan-kun, why are you here?" Inspector Yokomizo was startled, having completely failed to notice the boy earlier.
"Damn it, didn't you already go to sleep!" Mouri felt a headache coming on. Ran had just told him the brat was sleeping soundly, yet here he was running around again!
"But I suddenly felt so thirsty, so I woke up," Conan said with a smile.
"You've got so many issues. Hurry up and get some water, then go back to sleep." Mouri waved his hand helplessly.
Watch out or you'll wet the bed if you drink too much, you brat...
"Okay! Oh, by the way, Uncle, I have something to ask you." Conan nodded obediently, then leaned his head close to Mouri as if he wanted to whisper something.
"Good grief, what is it now?" Mouri looked impatient, but he still leaned down to listen to what the boy had to say.
"When we were in the garden restaurant, what did Mr. Sunaoka say to you on the phone?"
"It was Tsuneo-niichan who asked me to ask," Conan added, immediately using the repairman as a shield.
"Oh, that. He asked me if I wanted to go to his room to continue discussing detective stories. Then, he seemed to suddenly spot something. He said, 'What is that?' and hung up."
Mouri sighed with emotion.
He hadn't expected that the actor, who had just achieved stardom, would leave behind only those few words at the end of his life.
Conan frowned, turned to glance at Sunaoka's three companions, and then headed up the stairs.
As I thought, something is wrong...
"What, you're awake?"
Inside Room 301, where Kazuyoshi Sunaoka had been staying, Tsuneo stood in front of the french doors, gazing into the distance.
"How far have you gotten with your investigation?" Conan looked at the taped outline on the floor marking the victim's position, then looked up at the repairman.
Compared to himself, this guy had much more freedom and must have uncovered quite a few things.
"I know what those fibers near the broken glass on the floor are." Tsuneo pointed to the single bed nearby.
"Could it be?" Conan's gaze shifted back and forth between the mattress and the french doors.
"There is a bullet hole, but it's still a bit strange." Tsuneo tapped his forehead, looking a bit vexed.
"Heh, the test report on the hunting rifle and the bullet was just delivered. Do you want to hear about it?" The famous detective shoved his hands into his pockets, looking as if he had seen through everything once again.
That report is key!
With that, all the pieces fit together.
"I actually already know who the culprit is." Tsuneo crouched down and tapped the floor, signaling for the boy to look closely.
"This mark?"
Conan looked at the floorboards, which bore traces of something sharp having been dragged across them.
"I followed these marks all the way, and they led me to the door of Room 304." The repairman stood up.
"It looks like it's time for us to go and drag that culprit out..."
Villa - First Floor Lobby.
"Since it's confirmed that the bullet was fired from that hunting rifle, I don't need to stay here anymore, do I?" Katsuaki Nagatsuka, the producer, looked very anxious.
Indeed, unlike Sunaoka's manager or the scriptwriter, he needed to discuss the aftermath with the TV station and, ideally, find a new talent immediately.
"Well..." Inspector Yokomizo hesitated.
Just as Tsuneo had said, the sound of breaking glass was a crucial point. Including the bullet, there were still things about this case that didn't add up.
"We were all searching for the source of the gunshot at the time; it's possible we just ignored that other sound." Toshiaki Tahara shook his head. As a professional creator, he could guess what the police were thinking.
"Forget about glass—even if it hit a wooden board, we would have noticed it to some extent." Tsuneo and Conan walked down the stairs together.
"Mr. Tsuneo, have you solved the mystery?" Inspector Yokomizo's face lit up.
"Just as I said before, the real culprit is right here among these three people." Tsuneo sat down on the sofa and looked at the trio.
"How is that possible..." Noe Tanigawa turned to look at the two men beside her.
" regardless, please take a seat on the sofa first," Mouri said, crossing his arms.
All three of them had conflicts, big or small, with the deceased.
The manager, Noe Tanigawa, had argued with Sunaoka about his plans to switch agencies. Listening to what was said at the time, it seemed her company faced the risk of bankruptcy without their cash cow.
The scriptwriter, Toshiaki Tahara, had been subjected to Sunaoka's sarcasm and ridicule regarding the script.
Finally, the producer, Katsuaki Nagatsuka, had been publicly accused by Sunaoka of embezzlement, though the truth of that accusation remained unknown.
"On the surface, this case certainly gives the impression of a murder committed by an outsider."
"However, why the culprit chose to leave the hunting rifle at the scene has become one of our biggest questions," Tsuneo said with a nod.
Even if carrying a gun while fleeing was troublesome, they could have simply thrown it into the river and walked away.
In those turbulent waters, recovering evidence would not have been simple. The fewer flaws left behind, the longer they could delay the investigation.
"That is true," Inspector Yokomizo said, handing the ballistic report to Tsuneo.
The more they discussed it, the more it felt like the scene had been deliberately staged.
"Making it so complex... don't they find it a hassle?" The repairman glanced at the appearance of the bullet and couldn't help but quip.
Just as Conan had said, the tip of the bullet had been obviously sharpened, and a spiral hole had been drilled into the tail end.
"Is there some special meaning behind modifying the bullet like this?" Mouri couldn't figure it out.
"We'll talk about that in a moment. Let's talk about the scene the culprit set up first," Tsuneo said with a smile.
Facts proved that the more complex the crime, the more flaws it would reveal.
Especially with the rain that had fallen in the afternoon—it had pushed this culprit directly into the abyss.
Instead of all these twists and turns, they should have just stabbed him!
"..." Inspector Yokomizo cast a sideways glance at the repairman.
Just do the deduction, you don't need to teach them how to kill people...
"You're talking about the ground beneath that rifle, right?" Mouri lit a cigarette, putting on a look of deep contemplation.
"The ground? What about it?" Nagatsuka looked confused.
"Where the gun was placed, the ground was dry." Mouri looked across at the three suspects.
This proved that the rifle had been placed there before it started raining. In fact, it was very likely that it hadn't been touched by anyone until they discovered it.
"Exactly. That rifle was not the direct murder weapon in this case."
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