At Night
Juzo Megure, Kogoro Mouri, Seiji Ishimoto, Yukiko Tanaka, Tsuneaki Niikura, Kenichi Shibata, Conan, Aizen, and Wataru Takagi returned to the scene of Masao Takada's death, the banquet hall.
The reason why the nine people gathered here was not because Conan called them here in the name of Mouri Kogoro, but because Mouri Kogoro himself had made a discovery and wanted to deduce the case.
After everyone arrived, Megure said, "Brother Mouri, now that everyone is here, can you tell me who the criminal is?"
"Of course!"
Mouri Kogoro straightened his clothes, coughed twice, and pointed his finger, saying, "The criminal is you!"
"What?!" "How could it be?!"
Everyone looked over and saw that Mouri Kogoro was pointing at Kenichi Shibata. Others might have been just surprised, but Yukiko Tanaka was surprised and unbelievable. She didn't believe that her boyfriend would do such a thing.
Kogoro Mouri said, "Originally, you wanted to kill Mr. Ishimoto because of your father, so you hired Hiraoka. However, Hiraoka's plan to shoot Mr. Ishimoto failed, and he accidentally killed Councillor Takata. So, you used last night to kill Mr. Hiraoka to silence him..."
"Wait a moment."
Shibata Kenichi raised his hand to stop him, and then said, "I do have hatred for Ishimoto in my heart. It is true that I did come to the banquet last night, but I don't know Hiraoka at all. Besides, when I left the banquet yesterday, I went straight to work and didn't go anywhere else."
Kogoro Mouri smiled and said, "Is that really the case, Mr. Shibata?"
Shibata Kenichi said loudly, "Of course, you can go to my place of work and ask."
Kogoro Mouri said, "Mr. Shibata, of course I asked where you worked, but they said that you were about an hour later than usual. During this hour, can you tell us where you went?"
"I...I..."
Shibata Kenichi was speechless. After a few "I"s, he finally said, "I don't know what happened. I passed out in an alley. When I woke up, I found nothing was missing from my body. I didn't understand what happened, but I still went to work."
"Mr. Shibata, you say that hey, hey, hey..."
Mouri Kogoro was very proud. Just as he was about to say something, he felt dizzy and stumbled. Fortunately, Aizen came over and helped him sit on the stairs. At the same time, he placed the speaker that Conan had asked him to attach to Mouri Kogoro.
"Mouri brother, what's wrong with you?" "Mr. Mouri!"
"Cough cough!"
Conan, who had anesthetized Mouri Kogoro, coughed twice in Mouri Kogoro's voice and said, "It's nothing, I'm just a little tired of standing and talking, so I sat down to talk."
"Before we uncover the case, let's replay what happened last night. I think we should start with Councillor Takada walking to the podium. Okay, everyone, please stand in the same position as last night."
Next, Conan replayed what happened last night. With the help of Aizen, Conan showed everyone the method by which the criminal killed Masao Takada. He used a spotlight connected to a microphone to kill people.
Megure said, "But, Mouri-kun, it was clearly Mr. Ishimoto who was attacked?"
Conan replied, "The criminal did that only to deceive the police and divert their attention. From the very beginning, the criminal's target was Councillor Takada. The criminal first sent a threatening letter to Mr. Ishimoto, letting everyone know that someone was trying to kill him. Then, using the method I just described, he killed Councillor Takada the moment he passed by him. In this way, everyone will think that the bullet that was originally intended for Mr. Ishimoto killed Councillor Takada because of misaiming. Then, the criminal only needs to recover the motor and pistol to make Councillor Takada's death an accident."
Megure nodded greatly and asked, "Mouri-kun, who is the criminal then?" Shibata
Kenichi immediately said, "It's Ishimoto, it's Seiji Ishimoto..."
"What nonsense are you talking about? If you don't have evidence, I will sue you."Seiji Ishimoto was furious when he heard this. Anyone who was framed would be angry.
"Of course I have evidence!"
Shibata Kenichi raised his hand and said, "This is the remote control that controls the motor. I found it in your company. You are quite calculating, Ishimoto. On the one hand, you pretended to be intimidated, but on the other hand, you made other arrangements. The moment Councillor Takata passed by, you killed him."
Seiji Ishimoto said angrily, "Damn bastard, stop talking nonsense. I didn't kill anyone at all."
Conan said, "Mr. Shibata, your reasoning has a fatal flaw. That is, the reason why Councillor Takata passed by Mr. Ishimoto was because Mr. Takada was leading the way. It is impossible for Mr. Ishimoto to arrange for Councillor Takata to pass by him in advance."
"Tsk!"
Shibata Kenichi curled his lips unwillingly when he heard this. He knew that what Mouri Kogoro said was right. It was precisely because he knew that what Mouri Kogoro said was right that he was unwilling to accept it.
Suddenly, Tsuneaki Niikura chuckled and said, "Mr. Mouri, you're not trying to say I'm Councillor Takata's murderer, are you? If so, without proof, I urge you not to speculate. Until you speak, I'll pretend nothing happened. Otherwise, if your reasoning fails, be prepared for a letter from my lawyer."
Conan added, "Mr. Tsuneaki, your threatening words will only make me more certain you're the culprit."
Everyone looked at Tsuneaki Niikura, but he remained calm and said with a smile, "Well, if you insist, Mr. Mouri, then I have nothing to say. But I don't want to hear your long-winded speeches. Just state the evidence. I don't have time to waste on you. I'm very busy."
"He's so confident. Could it be..."
Conan's heart sank, a sense of foreboding. But at this point, he couldn't back down, and could only speak his mind.