Inside the private room where Tsune and the others were dining.
Only Haibara and Dr. Agasa remained.
"Ai-chan, not going out to check?" Dr. Agasa asked, blinking at her from across the table.
His expression betrayed his true motive—he wasn't exactly eager to investigate.
"Really…" Haibara glanced at the food on the table, sighed helplessly, and slipped on her shoes by the door.
The little lady thoughtfully closed the door behind her.
Just this once, I'll let you off the hook.
Standing at the doorway, Haibara looked toward the two figures discussing something nearby and stepped closer, curious to hear what they were saying.
"Miss Yada's definitely suspicious," Conan said, eyeing the young woman among the three suspects.
Something about her tearful act felt off, and after questioning, she had a motive for the murder.
"No way, she's definitely not the culprit," Tsune said, shaking his head.
The more unnatural someone acts, the less likely they're the killer.
That's just common sense!
"I think the fat guy in the suit, Mr. Hosoya, is more likely," Tsune declared, naming his suspect.
"Why?" Conan looked up, puzzled.
There were only four people in that private room, including the victim, and Mr. Hosoya was called in by the other three on short notice.
He arrived just thirty minutes after the call.
Planning a murder, poisoning, and hiding the poison in such a short time? Not that easy.
"Maybe he'd been planning to take out his old classmate who coldly dumped him," Tsune said, nodding confidently.
Yup, a crime of passion—definitely a crime of passion!
"Getting dumped means you kill someone?" Conan stared at Tsune, exasperated.
If that were the case, how many people would die every day?
"Things seem a bit different this time," Haibara said, arms crossed, teasing from beside them.
Such a big disagreement? That's rare.
And just standing here guessing doesn't seem like your style, does it?
"Our great detective's out of ideas," Tsune said with a yawn.
Full stomach, sleepy head—no idea why.
He instinctively touched his neck.
"Out of ideas?"
"She's already slipped up!" Conan said, glaring at Miss Yada.
"So you two have been at it this long and still haven't found any evidence?" Haibara glanced at the three suspects.
Pretty impressive, huh?
Fooling both of them.
The shrunken detective's reasoning skills go without saying, and Tsune…
Well, the handyman's sharp enough, but his brain works backward sometimes, not like a normal person's.
Would a normal person hold a kid's snacks hostage?
Wait.
She wasn't a kid either.
Guess being a normal person really is tough…
"Evidence…" Conan's mind raced through the items the three suspects carried.
The police had thoroughly searched the restaurant—no leads.
They couldn't have just held the poison in their hands and poured it into the beer can, right?
"What about him?" Haibara pointed at the leaner man.
"What reason would he have to kill?" she asked, curious why they'd ruled him out.
"His name's Kawamura Shinichiro. According to the other two, his family's trying to secure a business deal with the victim's father's company," Tsune explained briefly.
After police questioning, they found no motive for him to kill.
Fawning over the victim's heiress status was more his speed—poisoning her? Way too far-fetched.
"Then I pick him," Haibara said with a sly smile.
"Huh?"
Tsune and Conan both turned to her.
"Bit of an age gap, don't you think?" Tsune said, sizing up the tall, thin man in the suit.
Conan rolled his eyes.
This idiot's completely off track…
She's picking him as the culprit, right?
This isn't a game of pretend—you don't just pick someone.
Haibara shot Tsune a glare, then crossed her arms and slowly approached her chosen suspect.
"What's she doing?" Tsune leaned down, whispering to Conan.
"How should I know?" Conan scratched his head, just as confused.
While they puzzled, Haibara was already standing in front of the tall man.
"You…" Officer Takagi, mid-question, bent down to shoo the little girl away but froze under her piercing, not-at-all-childlike gaze.
"That's this year's latest pin, isn't it?" Haibara said, dismissing Takagi with a look and nodding at the pin on the man's collar.
"Y-Yes," Kawamura Shinichiro stammered, nodding.
Haibara's lips curled into a smile as she described the pin:
"This pin, made by a top brand for men, was mocked at first for looking like an olive stuck on your clothes."
"But this finely crafted, two-centimeter olive hides a secret."
"I remember a magazine caption next to its picture: 'Yearning.'"
"I heard some people put tiny photos of family or loved ones inside. Not sure if it's true."
"With such precise craftsmanship and perfect sealing, even soaking it in water wouldn't ruin the photo inside!"
Her words made Takagi and Kawamura's eyes widen.
One in shock, realizing something.
The other in panic, his face betraying the dread of a lie exposed.
Clap, clap, clap!
Tsune applauded, shooting Conan a sidelong glance.
Not even reading fashion magazines? Some great detective you are.
Conan: …
Why are you looking at me like that?
Didn't we both see the photo in that pin earlier?
The pin's craftsmanship was so good, with those intricate openwork patterns, no one would guess it was a sealed container.
Even the police only glanced at the photo inside, dismissing it.
As the truth unraveled, Kawamura Shinichiro sank to his knees. "A few years ago, I got hooked on gambling and kept borrowing money from Eto…"
Tsune had no interest in watching this groveling confession.
Using his brain this long made his stomach growl. Time to head back and eat some more…
(End of Chapter)
--+--
T/N: Although I'm an inexperienced Editor, I do have a Patreon account! Although it seems like I don't have many supporters right now, my webnovel will be released in full every day, and the advanced chapters will be uploaded to Patreon.
It may not be worth it now, but who knows, it might be different in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/DaoistRoeoNQ
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