Stay away from Conan.

Chapter 1691 The decisive key

"So, brother Akechi, what you mean is that Kusuda Rikuu actually came a long time ago and signed his name in another sign-in book, but someone swapped the page with his name and moved it to the sign-in book for latecomers, right?"

Listening to Gao Yuan's words, Officer Megure said thoughtfully.

"Oh, interesting—"

However, just after Inspector Megure said this, Asabuki Akira once again showed a smug expression and smiled confidently:

"So, according to this line of thought, someone deliberately put the page signed by Kusuda, who arrived earlier, into the sign-in book for the latecomers, right? But, don't you think this is too coincidental? To do this, the page must be replaced immediately after Kusuda signed, otherwise more early guests will also sign on the same page, and it will be very troublesome to change it at that time, right? So, can this be done...

"You mean to say that Haruna is the murderer's accomplice? Otherwise, no one else can do this!"

So, hearing that she was an accomplice, Shigeno Haruna vehemently denied it and said to Inspector Megure and the others:

"No... I never swapped pages or anything like that! That's absolutely not possible!"

"That's it!"

Sonoko also said:

"And this approach is too suspicious, isn't it? Who can guarantee that Kusuda's signature is in the right place, and there were no other guests around him at the time? So, the feasibility of this approach is too low, isn't it?"

After a quick thought, Sonoko felt that this was completely a fantasy.

However, at this point, Gao Yuan still smiled, looked at the band members present, and said:

"Indeed, the feasibility of doing what Mr. Akira Asabuki said is of course very low... But, as Shigeno Haruna said just now, she did not change the pages of the book. The only thing she did was...

"Mr. Asabuki Ken, she listened to your request and replaced the sign-in book with the new one after the performance started!

"And this is enough!"

"Eh? What do you mean? Brother Mingzhi, you really confused me. Didn't you just say that you were going to swap the pages? Why are you saying now that the possibility is very low... What on earth are you talking about?"

At this point, Inspector Megure was becoming increasingly confused by the situation.

"Don't worry, Officer Megure. What I mean is actually very simple. As for Shigeno Haruna, she only needs to change the sign-in book after the performance begins. As for Kusuda Rikuu's signature...it was inserted into the sign-in book a long time ago by swapping the pages!"

This time, Gao Yuan looked directly at Chao Chuxian and spoke sternly.

"This... this is impossible..."

But at this time, Shigeno Haruna wanted to help explain something and said:

"Because when I got the sign-in book, the theater hadn't opened yet, and I kept it in my possession, so it's impossible for someone to sign it in advance..."

"I said, it's about swapping pages, not signing in advance... If the murderer can get Kusuda Rikuu to sign in a specific place in the sign-in book in advance, then everything will be inconsistent with the current situation." Looking at the band members in front of him, Gao Yuan said casually:

"About this point... Speaking of which, have you forgotten what happened during the 'previous festival'? As for the page with Kusuda Rikuu's signature, didn't you already have it a week ago?"

——A week ago, at the "eve of the festival" held at the Haido City Hotel, Kusuda Rikuu broke into the party venue and arrogantly signed his name on the guest sign-in list at the door.

I already knew this through what happened that day as narrated by Shirozuka Hisui. After further investigation, Shirozuka Hisui discovered that the sign-in book used for sign-in was the same model of detachable sign-in book, both last time and this time.

Therefore, after Gao Yuan figured out the method of swapping the pages, but before he could figure out the specific details, Shirozuka Hisui had already completely understood the method. Through the private communication between Gao Yuan and Shirozuka Hisui just now, Gao Yuan was clear about all the details, which led to Gao Yuan's current reasoning -

"That's right! The murderer used the page where Kusuda Rikuu signed his name in the sign-in book of the 'pre-festival' a week ago, and swapped it into today's sign-in book in advance, and then asked Miss Shigeno Haruna to swap that sign-in book out after the performance began, thus creating the illusion that Kusuda Rikuu was a late guest.

  "Therefore, the murderer who could do this must be Mr. Akira Asabuki, who asked Ms. Haruna Shigeno to switch the sign-in book! There is no other possibility except you!

“And it is because of you that you are able to commit the crime after doing this!

"After all, switching the pages to create the illusion that Kusuda Rikuu was late was to create your alibi - if Kusuda Rikuu arrived after 7:30, then you couldn't be the murderer anyway.

"But now that the false impression of the time when Kusuda Rikuu arrived at the scene has been solved, the murderer's time of committing the crime must be re-inferred! Based on the preliminary judgment of the autopsy, the time of death of the deceased was between 6 and 8:30, and until 6:55, Miss Osuga Yui had been staying in the lounge at the crime scene. Therefore, the actual time when the crime could have been committed was between 6:55 and 8:30. And during this time period, Mr. Asabuki Akira, you had the perfect opportunity to commit the crime—

"Isn't it?"

  In one go, Gao Yuan stated his reasoning:

"Also, since the investigation has not found any witnesses to see Kusuda Rikuu appear in the theater, if my guess is correct, Kusuda Rikuu did not enter the theater through the main entrance, so your modus operandi should be like this -

"You and Kusuda Rikuu agreed to let Kusuda Rikuu into the theater through the internal entrance in the lounge at 7 o'clock when the performance started. When all the staff went to the stage, you, the special person, would be the only one who would not have to go on stage. Then you took him to the lounge and killed him. After doing all this, you went on stage.

"And it was precisely because you had just killed someone that you had such a big problem with your conducting during such an important performance today..."

At this point, Gao Yuan had told a logical story, but—

"evidence!"

After hearing all this, Chao Chuxian was obviously unconvinced and asked Gao Yuan:

"Having said so much, where is your evidence? Indeed, I admit the story you told..."

"Mr. Asabuki, could you please take off your coat?"

  At this point, Gao Yuan changed the subject and interrupted Chao Chuxian who was about to speak:

"Just now, when the air conditioner was not working properly, the room temperature was so high and you did not take off your suit jacket like everyone else. When the air conditioner temperature dropped and your fiancée, Ms. Osuga Yui, felt cold, you did not take off your coat and show your gentlemanly demeanor to show your concern for your fiancée. Instead, the assistant manager noticed it...

"So, twice in a row, you didn't take off your clothes. Is there any special reason? Can you show us?"

At this moment, Gao Yuan didn't intend to waste words, and pointed directly to the decisive key to prove that Chao Chuxian was the murderer...