Chapter 323: A Call from the Hospital
Toru Amuro cast a sidelong glance at Conan. The bespectacled boy had spoken up even before Kogoro Mouri, his voice carrying an authority that completely belied his age. Amuro pursed his lips, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes. 'Come to think of it,'he mused silently,'Mouri and this child were the very first ones to react and sprint to the scene...'
"Conan makes a valid point," Inspector Megure agreed, nodding heavily. "Therefore, just to be absolutely certain, we expedited a DNA comparison. The results should be arriving right about—"
Right on cue, a forensics officer handed Megure a freshly printed report. The burly inspector scrutinized the document, his brow furrowing deeply. When he finally looked up, his gaze locked onto Bamba Raita with piercing intensity. "The results are conclusive. The DNA extracted from the hair on your comb is an almost exact match to the skin cells found beneath the victim's false nails."
"What?!" A collective gasp rippled through the restaurant.
Bamba stared at the inspector, his eyes wide with sheer disbelief. The shock quickly curdled into explosive fury, especially when Officer Takagi stepped forward, gently but firmly requesting a more formal DNA swab to confirm the match. Bamba's face flushed a violent shade of red, his fists clenching at his sides as he vehemently protested his innocence, his voice echoing off the walls.
Before Kogoro could place a calming hand on Bamba's shoulder to persuade him into taking the test, a new voice cut through the tension. The blond waiter—the very one Bamba had been aggressively targeting earlier—stepped smoothly into the center of the room. Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, he began to carefully list Bamba's erratic behavior from earlier in the evening. Every calm, measured word he spoke subtly painted the groom-to-be as a desperate killer trying to cover his tracks.
But the waiter's deduction didn't go unchallenged. A scruffy-looking man in the crowd—the private detective Bamba had secretly hired—immediately barked out a harsh laugh. He jabbed a finger at the blond waiter, loudly declaring that this man was actually Kamon Hatsune's secret "pretty boy." If anyone had a motive to murder the bride, the detective argued, it was the illicit lover she was about to leave behind.
The room descended into stunned silence. Just as the crowd was reeling from this dizzying soap opera of accusations, the waiter delivered the final blow.
He reached up and pulled off his thick-rimmed glasses. The meek, subservient aura of a restaurant employee vanished in an instant, replaced by a sharp, confident charisma. A slight smile played on his lips.
"My name is Toru Amuro," he announced, his voice steady and clear. "I am a private detective."
The revelation hit the room like a physical shockwave. The tragic romance of the evening shattered completely, exposing the bitter truth: both the bride and the groom had secretly hired private investigators to spy on one another on the eve of their wedding.
Amuro smoothly explained his presence. He had been commissioned by Hatsune herself, taking on the disguise of a waiter at this specific venue to keep a close eye on Bamba and see if he was secretly entertaining other women.
"Although I cannot provide physical proof of my commission with Miss Kamon at this exact moment," Amuro continued, his tone perfectly polite, "the Inspector mentioned earlier that she is expected to regain consciousness soon. She will be more than capable of verifying my identity then."
His blue eyes narrowed slightly as he shifted his focus, pointing directly at the sweating groom. "Compared to a hired professional like myself, Mr. Bamba—the victim's fiancé, who possesses both motive and matching DNA—is infinitely more suspicious."
"Inspector Megure, the preliminary investigation of the burn site is complete."
The heavy restaurant doors swung open, letting in a gust of cool night air. A tall police officer strode into the room. Despite the late hour, he wore a sharp suit and a pair of dark sunglasses. He had been forced to wait outside until the fire department fully extinguished the blazing vehicle, delaying his arrival at the main gathering.
Matsuda Jinpei casually brushed the lingering water droplets from his dark suit jacket as he walked. A wry, almost disbelieving smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I have to say, that Miss Natsume is terrifyingly strong. I nearly jumped out of my skin during the inspection. She actually ripped the crumpled car door clean off its hinges with her bare hands."
Still shaking his head in amusement, Matsuda looked up to address his superior.
And then, he froze.
Standing right next to the Inspector, dressed in a ridiculous waiter's uniform and acting as if he were just a regular civilian, was a certain blond bastard who had been entirely out of contact for far too long.
Matsuda's eye gave a violent, involuntary twitch behind his sunglasses. 'Zero.'
Drawing on years of professional discipline, Matsuda swallowed his shock, doing his absolute best not to let a single muscle in his face betray their connection. His gaze lingered on Amuro for barely a fraction of a second before smoothly sliding back to Megure, as if the blond detective were nothing more than part of the wallpaper.
Clearing his throat, Matsuda delivered his report on the intense blaze. "We found burst spray paint cans, along with a massive quantity of paper and cardboard decorations inside the vehicle. They acted as extreme accelerants, which is why the fire grew so large and burned so fiercely."
Having delivered the technical details, Matsuda glanced around the crowded restaurant, his brow furrowing slightly. "By the way, Miss Natsume accompanied the ambulance to the hospital, didn't she? Have we gotten any updates on her condition? Is she alright?"
Hearing the genuine concern in Matsuda's voice, Amuro couldn't stop his eyes from darting toward his old friend.
In truth, Amuro had known this day would come. Ever since he received the intelligence that Matsuda had transferred into the First Investigation Division, a reunion at a crime scene was inevitable. Yet, bumping into him on the very first night of his new undercover operation still threw him slightly off balance.
Fortunately, Matsuda was sharp. He likely deduced the sensitive nature of Amuro's current mission the second he saw the fake name and the waiter outfit. With the looming threat of Cointreau potentially watching his every move from the shadows, Amuro felt a deep wave of relief that his former classmate hadn't blown his cover in front of a room full of suspects and police officers.
However, what Amuro hadn't anticipated was Matsuda's apparent familiarity with Natsume Natsuki. The fact that his first priority upon entering the room was to ask about her well-being spoke volumes.
Amuro mentally reviewed the dossier he had recently acquired from Kazami Yuya. The Public Security report on Natsume's social connections clearly stated that she had only crossed paths with Matsuda two or three times, strictly in the context of police investigations.
Based on Amuro's deep understanding of his friend's abrasive and aloof personality, a handful of brief encounters at crime scenes shouldn't have been nearly enough to make Matsuda this openly concerned about a civilian.
While Amuro stood in silence, his mind racing to untangle whatever hidden connection existed between Matsuda Jinpei and the mysteriously strong Natsume Natsuki, Megure had already begun filling Matsuda in on the hospital situation.
The new evidence painted a grim picture. With the confirmation that the fire had been deliberately intensified by the spray paint cans and cardboard, combined with the discovery of a cryptic text message Hatsune had sent to Bamba roughly half an hour before the explosion, Megure's suspicion toward the groom skyrocketed.
The burly inspector stepped forward, his tone turning interrogative as he began to grill Bamba over these damning new details. The tension in the room stretched to its absolute breaking point.
Suddenly, a sharp, electronic ringtone pierced the heavy atmosphere.
Everyone turned. Kogoro Mouri blinked in surprise, reaching into his pocket as his phone signaled an incoming call.
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