"H-How is that possible?" Inspector Yokomizo's face was a mask of confusion.
That gun wasn't the direct murder weapon?
But the bullet definitely came from that gun.
"Let's start from the beginning," Tsuneo said, casually picking up a piece of fruit from the table and taking a bite.
"Early this morning, the culprit stole the spare key to the villa, entered Room 301 where Mr. Sunaoka was staying, and propped the mattress from the room up against the french doors."
The villa owner was beyond words.
Tonight, there was a murder here, my window was smashed by a rock, and now you're telling me I was robbed earlier too???
"Propped the mattress up?" Noe Tanigawa looked puzzled.
"What is the point of standing a mattress up there?!" Katsuaki Nagatsuka couldn't understand what the man in front of him was talking about.
"The culprit then left the villa, stole the hunting rifle and rope, walked to the cliff opposite the villa, and took aim at Mr. Sunaoka's room."
"No, to be precise, he took aim at that mattress." Tsuneo extended two fingers, mimicking a shooting gesture.
The exact spot where the bullet needed to hit had been calculated in advance based on Kazuyoshi Sunaoka's height.
The primary purpose of doing this was simply to leave that bullet hole in the glass.
"So, that pane of glass was shot through by the culprit early in the morning." Inspector Yokomizo nodded.
Although he didn't understand the rest yet, at least he now knew why no one heard the sound of shattering glass when the gunshot rang out around eight o'clock.
"Correct. After that, the culprit left the hunting rifle where it was, tied the rope to a nearby tree, and threw the other end down the cliff to create the illusion of an escape by water."
Tsuneo continued his explanation:
"Once all that was done, he returned to the villa, entered Room 301 again, dug the bullet out of the mattress, put the mattress back in its original place, collected the scattered glass shards from the floor, and drew the curtains."
Drawing the curtains was to hide the bullet hole in the glass.
"If Mr. Sunaoka had opened the window to get some air as soon as he returned to the room..." Kogoro Mouri mused.
If that had happened, this case likely wouldn't have occurred at all.
"If the bullet was taken out of the mattress, then how on earth did it..." Inspector Yokomizo listened to this point and couldn't help but wonder how that bullet ended up inside Sunaoka's head.
"Let's look at this photo." Tsuneo took the forensic report from the police.
"The spiral hole at the base of the bullet was obviously made with an electric drill."
"As for the tip, it was sharpened with something like a file."
"As long as you screw the pre-prepared weapon into that spiral hole, the job is done."
"When night came, the culprit ate dinner with everyone in the garden restaurant, quietly waiting for the moment Mr. Sunaoka returned to his room," Tsuneo went on.
The victim was prone to getting drunk and kept pouring drinks for himself. He was likely always the first to leave during gatherings.
The culprit clearly knew this habit well.
"Shortly after Mr. Sunaoka returned to his room, the culprit found an excuse to leave the table. Holding the weapon he had prepared in advance, he shot and killed him at close range."
Shot and killed?
The expressions of everyone present changed.
Clearly, they had already guessed what the weapon might be.
"That weapon... could it be a bow and arrow?" Inspector Yokomizo suddenly realized.
"A bow and arrow?" Nagatsuka and Toshiaki Tahara both turned their heads to look at Noe Tanigawa.
She had mentioned going to the archery range earlier.
"After positioning Mr. Sunaoka's body according to his plan, the culprit opened the curtains and threw the glass shards he had collected earlier onto the floor."
"Finally, he left the 'arrowhead' inside Mr. Sunaoka's head, unscrewed the arrow shaft, and quickly fled the scene."
Tsuneo turned his head, looking for the figure of the Reaper elementary schooler.
Not back yet?
Just as the repairman finished speaking, applause rang out in the room.
The scriptwriter, Toshiaki Tahara, clapped his hands and said, "Mr. Tsuneo, it seems you are more suited to writing TV drama scripts than I am."
"Your scenario is truly perfect."
"Is that so? My scriptwriting skills aren't as good as yours," Tsuneo chuckled dryly.
"But didn't Mr. Mouri speak with Mr. Sunaoka on the phone?" Inspector Yokomizo still couldn't figure that part out and turned to look at Mouri.
"That is correct." Mouri nodded, his gaze involuntarily shifting to Noe Tanigawa.
Although the gunshot might have been fabricated by other means, Sunaoka's voice couldn't be faked.
At that time, Toshiaki Tahara was in the garden restaurant and had no opportunity to run upstairs and kill someone after the call. Katsuaki Nagatsuka was holding the phone at the front desk talking to someone from the TV station, so he was also unlikely.
The only one under suspicion was Noe Tanigawa, who had gone to the archery range during the day and had returned to her room around the same time as Sunaoka.
The beautiful manager looked somewhat flushed and helpless under everyone's gaze.
"It wasn't her. And the actual time of the crime was not after the phone call." Tsuneo shook his head.
Conan had slipped back in at some point. Standing beside Mouri, he asked, "Uncle, do you remember Mr. Sunaoka's lines?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Mouri glanced at him sideways.
What do phone calls have to do with reciting lines...
"Lines?"
"Mr. Mouri, what did Sunaoka say on the phone?" Noe Tanigawa stood up and asked him.
"He said, 'How about it? Come to my room and let's continue discussing detective stories.'"
"Wait, and then, 'What is that!'" Mouri recalled carefully, confirming that it was just those two sentences.
"Those are lines from the episode of the drama series that aired tonight!" Tanigawa looked shocked.
Word for word!
"They were really lines???" Mouri looked down at Conan.
Conan beamed back at him.
I was watching it with Ran, after all...
"In other words, the culprit recorded that sentence in advance and played it for Mr. Mouri over the phone." Inspector Yokomizo confirmed this point.
With this, the mystery of the time of death was solved.
"Inspector Yokomizo! Just as you ordered, we searched Room 304 and found this!" An officer ran down from upstairs, holding a transparent evidence bag.
Inside the bag was a crossbow and an arrow shaft without a head.
The threads at the front of the shaft, used for screwing on a tip, were stained with blood.
Yes, Conan had gone to issue false imperial decrees again.
"It really was like that!" Inspector Yokomizo turned to look at Tsuneo.
"He was probably too overconfident," Tsuneo said with a smile.
It was true that there wasn't much time to dispose of the weapon, but finding a place to throw it away wouldn't have been that hard. The police were lucky to have found the items in the room.
"Room 304..."
Noe Tanigawa and Katsuaki Nagatsuka simultaneously turned their heads to look at Toshiaki Tahara.
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