"Uncle, is that the back door to the kitchen?"
Conan suddenly pointed to a door next to him and asked Yoshinori Ara.
Yoshinori Ara looked and said, "Yes, that's the back door to the kitchen."
Conan nodded, looked at the footprints on the ground, and didn't ask any further questions, as they were likely left during the day, when he had walked around the area.
Aizen said, "Let's go check out the place where the hot water is boiled."
Everyone agreed and headed towards the hot water place.Looking at the small shed set up for boiling water, Aizen pointed to a small window and asked, "Mr. Ara, which window is that?"
Ara looked up and replied, "That's the window at the end of the second-floor corridor."
Aizen said, "So, if we just climb onto the roof, we can get to the second floor without anyone noticing."
Kikue Tanaka immediately understood what Aizen meant and said, "Mr. Aizen, I wasn't the only one boiling water at the time; Mr. Sugama was there too. Mr. Sugama and I weren't familiar with each other at all before. Whether I wanted to go up that way or he wanted to go up, the other person would have noticed."
Kiyohiro Sugama spoke up, "Ms. Tanaka and I stayed downstairs the whole time and didn't go up."
Kikue Tanaka said, "Actually, I left two or three times. I went to the bathroom two or three times because I wanted to know how the water was heating up, but each time I was gone for less than a minute, and there were several minutes between each departure.""I only left once, so I don't think it could be Mr. Sugama who committed the murder, right?"
Aizen said, "If you're sure, Ms. Tanaka, that I was only gone for less than a minute, then it definitely wasn't Mr. Sugama. Less than a minute is far too short."
Kikue Tanaka nodded and said, "I can confirm that I was gone for less than a minute."
Aizen looked at everyone and said, "So it seems that no one is a suspect. Alright, everyone, let's not stay outside any longer and go back to our rooms."
Everyone walked towards the room, and Naoko Kuroda said, "So, the only culprit left is Kaito Kid?" Kikue
Tanaka said, "There's also the Escape King and the Shadow Priest. It might be either of them."
Everyone returned to the room and sat down at the table in the living room.
Yoshinori Ara picked up a glass of red wine and said, "Everyone, have a drink to warm up."
Soon, Yoshinori Ara opened the red wine and poured it for everyone.
"Hmm?"
Conan stared at the upside-down wine bottle as Aragaki poured red wine for the person next to him, a sudden realization dawning on him. A slight smile played on his lips; he knew the culprit's method of not leaving footprints near the body.
"Although I know the method and to proves that Phantom Thief Kid isn't the murderer, I still have no clue who the real culprit is."
Conan frowned again. Although he knew the culprit's method, he still didn't know who the real culprit was. If it wasn't Phantom Thief Kid, nor the yet-to-arrive Escape King and Shadow Priest, then the four people currently in the room all had alibis. At most, only Ara's alibi was invalid, but the problem was that there was no way to confirm that he was the culprit based on that alone.
As everyone drank their red wine, they did feel a bit warmer.
Aizen put down his glass and said to the two women beside him, "Sonoko, Asami, I'd like to ask, during our usual conversations, has Kaito Kid ever clashed with Mr. Hamano?"
Sonoko Suzuki thought for a moment and shook her head, "No, they haven't clashed."
Asami Uchida chimed in, "But Shadow Priest did clash with Escape King and Mr. Hamano."
Aizen asked, "Oh? And why did they clash?"
"It was Fuden Harui,"
Asami Uchida said. "Didn't he die a month ago in an accidental performance? When we were discussing it in the chat room, Shadow Priest suddenly said he was killed by us, and then he got into an argument with the room leader, Escape King, and Mr. Hamano."
"Fuden Harui is probably my favorite magician."
Kiyohiro Sugama suddenly said, then looked at everyone and said, "Do you think it's possible that Kaito Kid's favorite magician was Fuden Harui, and that he killed Hamano-san because Fuden Harui was harmed by the Escape King and Mr. Hamano?"
Kuroda Naoko spoke up, "Kaito Kid didn't say anything at the time, and it was Shadow Priest who was angry about it, not Kaito Kid."
Aizen said, "That's nothing. As long as there are two phone lines, you can communicate with two accounts. Maybe Shadow Priest doesn't even exist; it's just another account Kaito Kid created."
Tanaka Kikue said, "Now that you mention it, I remember. A few months ago, there was no one named Shadow Priest in the chat room. He joined later."
Yoshinori Ara nodded in agreement, "That's exactly right."
"Wait!"
Kuroda Naoko suddenly exclaimed in alarm, "If Shadow Priest is just another alias of Phantom Thief Kid, and Escape King and Shadow Priest haven't arrived yet, could it be that Escape King has already..."
Everyone fell silent upon hearing this, understanding the meaning behind Kuroda Naoko's words. It was possible that Escape King had already encountered some misfortune.
Yoshinori Ara said gravely, "I contacted Chief Escape King last night. He said he would definitely come today, but he hasn't arrived yet. I'm afraid... I'm afraid something really happened to him."
Aizen said, "Although we can't be completely certain yet, Phantom Thief Kid is definitely the most suspicious. Fortunately, he's already left, so everyone should be safe."
"As for how to leave, don't worry. We were originally planning to go back tomorrow. If we don't go back tomorrow, Master Mori will definitely notice something's wrong and come looking for us. So we'll only stay here for one more day at most. Don't worry."
Hearing Aizen's words, Naoko Kuroda and Kikue Tanaka visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Clearly, they didn't want to stay any longer, fearing something might happen.