Conan's self-cultivation of fake wine

Chapter 453 Superficial Friends
  Find the murderer through clues, and find clues through the murderer.

The latter is often simpler than the former.

In Lu Ren's view, Banqiao's classmate, who has a melancholic temperament like an artist, is currently the number one suspect in the crime.

As mentioned before, no matter how complex and varied the case may seem, one thing remains the same.

—The deceased will certainly leave the cabin.

Regardless of whether the murderer killed the deceased inside the house and then took him out and dumped the body.

It's better to trick her out first, kill her and dump her body outside the house. There is no way to avoid the crucial step of leaving the cabin.

Under normal circumstances, there are only two ways to leave the cabin, through the front door or the back door.

Therefore, during this period, Banqiao, who had been staying near the back door and controlled one of the access routes, was naturally more suspicious than the other two.

Of course, this alone is not enough to explain anything.

The lame woman and the square-faced man also knew that Banqiao was building a snowman outside.

It is also possible that they tricked the deceased out of the front door, then took a long way to the steep slope and dumped the body.

But Mr. Banqiao just echoed Lu Ren's tentative lies.

This is very strange.

If the snowman was damaged by a returning tourist, there is no need for him to deliberately cover it up.

If it was him who destroyed the snowman, why did he destroy it so cleanly without leaving any traces?

Suppose it was because Genta hit his Yukio earlier and he held a grudge, he could use more violent methods to kill off his head and body.

Even if you only destroy the head, you don't have to do it so meticulously, as it will make people see the flaws. You can just pretend it's an accident.

Of course, this could also be because he was inexperienced in doing bad things for the first time and was too nervous, which led to him handling things too neatly.

But one anomaly is considered an accident, and two abnormalities combined make it difficult to describe it as a simple accident.

If there are a large number of coincidences in a case, it must be considered whether these coincidences are man-made.

So Lu Ren then asked: "When was the last time you saw the deceased?"

Mushan was the first to reply: "It was almost twelve o'clock at noon. After we returned to the cabin, we made an appointment to have dinner together. Then we each went back to our rooms and never saw each other again."

Ma Hua nodded, "Me too."

Banqiao: "I want to go a little earlier. After she turned around and went back to the cabin, I never saw her again. You were there at that time."

"Ah."

Lu Ren took out the small notebook he carried with him and wrote down what the three people said one by one.

It was just his behavior that made the three of them realize something was wrong.

They looked at each other, and finally Mushan spoke up: "Excuse me, are you here?"

"You must have heard of Kogoro Mouri, right?"

"Ah."

"I am his assistant, and what I am doing now is some simple case processing. Before the police arrive, I hope you will cooperate with my work."

The three of them looked at each other and finally nodded in agreement.

The Maori detective is a model of friendly cooperation between the police and the public. You can guess how good his relationship with the police is.

As his assistant, Lu Ren naturally has a good relationship with the police.

If you don't cooperate now, when the police arrive later, this person will wave his hands and say, "If you refuse to cooperate, it's very suspicious."

That would be too unfair.

Seeing that the three of them were very cooperative, Lu Ren was not prepared to use more drastic means to force them to recognize the reality.

"Okay, please answer the next question. From twelve o'clock to one o'clock, did you have any contact with her again? For example, make phone calls or send emails. Answer in the order just now."

Mushan: "I didn't contact him again, whether it was phone calls or emails. I just waited until dinner and no one was there, and the door couldn't be knocked. I tried to make a few calls, but I couldn't get through."

Ma Hua: "Me too. After Mushan finished calling, I also didn't get through to one of my calls."

Banqiao: "I came late. After they determined that they couldn't get through, I didn't call."

"Open the phone and let me check the call history."

Kiyama and Mahua did as they were told.

Lu Ren looked at Mushan's cell phone first. From 12:58 to 59, there were three consecutive calls.

Then he looked up the communication records and found that Mushan had made a phone call at 11:50, and the note in the address book was ice cubes.

"What's this call?"

"This is what I called Banqiao."

Mushan rubbed his trouser seams with his hands in embarrassment.

The only thing more embarrassing than having someone see your own unique remark is having to explain the meaning of the remark in person.

"I called him and told him to come back for dinner at one o'clock."

"Ah."

Lu Ren recorded the times of several phone calls and returned the phone to Mushan. Then he picked up the mobile phone handed over by Ma Hua.

The communication records in her mobile phone were much simpler than those of Mushan, with only one phone call to the deceased.

After finishing the recording, Lu Ren looked at the artist Banqiao, "Where is your cell phone?"

"Do you want to see mine too? I didn't call her."

Seeing Banqiao's hesitation, Lu Ren suddenly had an idea in his mind.

‘Could this guy have called the deceased to come out and not deleted the communication records after that? ’

"Banqiao, what's going on with you? Show it to him quickly." Before Lu Ren could say anything, Mushan urged him first.

"Here you go." Banqiao finally opened the phone and handed it to Lu Ren.

There are two records of his communications.

11:50 and 1 o'clock. Both calls were from the same person, with the note being the lucky one.

Mushan had previously said that he called Banqiao at 11:50. So this lucky guy refers to Mushan.

Lu Ren glanced at the two of them and couldn't help but feel a little funny.

These people talk nice, but in the end they are all superficial friends.

But come to think of it, how can a true friend let his best friend work alone in a snowstorm?

After also recording the communication time, Lu Ren returned the phone to Banqiao.

He found no communication records between Banqiao and the deceased in Banqiao's mobile phone during the noon time period.

Now it seems that the reason for Banqiao's hesitation and nervousness is probably the same as that of Mushan, he didn't want outsiders to see his notes.

Of course, it could also be because he deleted his communication records, but he was still afraid that people would see the traces.

As for whether it is, just check it out and you will know.

Lu Ren snapped his fingers, and the four people, including Conan, lost their sight for an instant.

"Xiaoyou, check this person's communication records from 11:30 to 1:00 and see if there are any calls from him to the deceased."

After a while, Xiaoyou replied.

[Yes, he once called Miss Shuozi at 12:05. 】

That's it.

Lu Ren snapped his fingers again, and several people regained consciousness, unaware of the previous encounter.

Looking at these three superficial friends, Lu Ren showed a kind smile and said, "Okay, the storm is much lighter now. Let's slowly go down to the bottom of the slope and wait here for the police to come."

The three of them had no objections and nodded and followed suit.

After they went down first, Conan deliberately slowed down and kept a distance from them, and then whispered to Lu Ren: "You doubt this Mr. Banqiao."

After listening to Lu Ren's previous inquiries and some targeted measures, the famous detective quickly understood Lu Ren's intentions.

"Well, although no communication records were found, it is very likely that he deleted it himself. Just wait for the police to come and ask them to check it through the operator. Once they find it, they can take him away directly."

Lu Ren smiled and said, "How about catching the murderer before the police come."

"Not to mention that he must have done this case, even if he is really found..."

Halfway through Conan's words, his ears suddenly felt cold, and then he heard a rather familiar voice.

[I came late, and after they determined that they couldn’t get through, I didn’t call. 】

"I am a reporter, and I have recorded what they said previously."

Lu Ren put away the recorder and said with a smile, "The police don't need to completely review the modus operandi like detectives do when handling cases. As long as they have this evidence, they can put Banqiao back for interrogation. You say, this case counts Doesn’t it count as broken?”

"If you want to say that, it's not wrong." After a while of silence, Conan said slowly, "For ordinary police officers, when the case has progressed to this point, it can basically be declared solved."

"Right."

"But we are in Gunma County now. The police department of Gunma County...it's that Yamamura fuck..."

"?"

Lu Ren felt confused...

Lu Ren fell into deep thought...

Lu Ren was persuaded by Conan...

"You're right. We still have to figure out the complete modus operandi."

……

If you want to rank the kindness of all people in the world, then Yamamura Soo must be at the top.

Because he is the kind of person who would rather believe that there are ghosts in the world than people who would intentionally harm others.

Encountered cases - supernatural events, monsters causing trouble, bad weather, accidental death, deliberate seeking death. No matter what you say, it’s definitely not done by humans.

He firmly believes in the truth, goodness and beauty in the world and practices it personally. The level of kindness makes me cry.

For someone with this level of blindness, you can't just prepare food for him. You have to feed it to his mouth and watch him swallow it in person.

Lu Ren wanted to take a shortcut, but... there is no shortcut in Brother Cao's life dictionary, only down-to-earth efforts and nonsense.

The world is beautiful, there are no cases, abilities are imaginary, and confidence is off the charts.

Lu Ren sighed secretly, gathered his thoughts and walked towards the bottom of the slope faster.

Five minutes later, several people went down to the bottom of the slope.

Standing in front of the lake and looking at the corpses floating on the lake at close range, Mahua began to cry again.

The other two people also looked away, unable to bear to look directly at the body.

Lu Ren and Conan had no such concerns and were carefully observing the corpse, searching for possible information.

[Homo sapiens (death)

It is highly not recommended to eat...]

have to.

Lu Ren turned off the system panel expressionlessly.

Identification is as useless as ever in terms of autopsy, you still have to rely on yourself.

To find out the murderer's modus operandi is to find out how the deceased died.

Bodies are floating in the lake, and there are only two ways to die. One is drowning in the lake, and the other is to kill and then dump the body.

If it was the former, Lu Ren squatted down and tried to submerge his hand into the lake. The feedback was very cold.

Although the lake is not frozen, the temperature of the lake is still very low due to the weather.

If a person without special training suddenly falls into this icy lake, he or she may drown due to hypothermia, cramps, difficulty breathing, cardiac arrest and other factors.

From this aspect, the basic drowning conditions are basically met.

As for how he drowned, Lu Ren glanced at the skis floating not far from the body, then stood up and looked back at the steep slope.

One possibility naturally comes to mind.

——The deceased slid all the way down to the bottom of the slope. Due to poor visibility, he did not discover the lake in front of him in time and fell into it.

Just... is this possible?
  When Lu Ren first came into contact with the deceased at noon today, he just felt that this person was harsh, harsh in speech, and extremely self-centered.

I didn't feel the hysteria, excitement-seeking, and madness that didn't care about her own life from her.

It is currently known that Banqiao called her out.

Then what? Two people meeting to go skiing on such a stormy day? Did the latter agree?
  This is impossible no matter how you think about it.

Moreover, this lake is actually still some distance away from the bottom of the slope. Although it is not long, it is not in a state where as long as it reaches the bottom of the slope, it will instantly fall into the lake.

If this is the case, the scenic spot will definitely take more precautions in this area, otherwise the risk factor will be too high.

Even taking into account the low visibility in snowy weather, there is no guarantee that the deceased will fall into the lake.

For any murderer, this method with an excessively high survival rate is something they cannot tolerate no matter what.

If both of them slipped to the bottom of the slope, Banqiao pushed the deceased into the lake.

But... the possibility of this method is still not high.

not enough time.

Banqiao called the deceased at 12:05. It took five minutes for the deceased to put on his clothes and shoes and walk over, which was 12:10.

Banqiao himself returned to the cabin at one o'clock.

In other words, his crime time was less than the middle fifty minutes.

It takes ten minutes to slide from the cabin to the bottom of the slope.

In the remaining forty minutes, he had to climb to the top of the slope again. And in order to avoid accidents, he had to set aside at least ten minutes.

Thirty minutes of climbing in a snowstorm...

Lu Ren glanced at the steep slope covered with snow and thought that it would be difficult for even himself to climb up within thirty minutes, let alone an art college student.

Excluding the possibility of drowning in the lake, looking at the scene in front of us, it is easy to come to another conclusion.

——The murderer deliberately created the illusion that the deceased had drowned by throwing a skateboard into the lake.

Just to do that, throwing a skateboard isn't enough.

That is, the result of the autopsy must be death by drowning and suffocation, and if you want to do this...

Lu Ren looked at the college students who were huddled together to keep warm, "Besides here, are there any other lakes nearby?"

"No, only this place."

"OK." Lu Ren turned around and patted Conan on the head, "I found the evidence."

Conan, "?"

What do you mean by finding evidence? Have you been watching this for five minutes?

Seeing that Conan was still puzzled, Lu Ren did not hide his intention to be the Riddler. After briefly sorting out his thoughts, "First of all, it can be confirmed that the deceased fell into the lake and drowned. It was just an illusion created by the murderer."

"Yeah. Although there is a skateboard in the lake, she didn't wear goggles or gloves. She didn't look like she was out skiing."

Huh?
  Lu Ren took another look and found that it was exactly what Conan said.

It seems that his observation of subtleties is still not as good as Conan's. If this could be discovered at the outset, there would be no need for lengthy arguments.

After secretly remembering this point, Lu Ren withdrew his gaze and continued calmly: "Once this point is confirmed, the murderer will be exposed instantly."

"Brother Ren, do you know how the murderer dumped the body?"

"I don't know." Lu Ren waved his hand, "It doesn't really matter, as long as you grasp the key points. You still remember a case we cracked, the murder of a rich man's daughter."

"Which one?"

"I can't remember the name. I can only say that in that case, the deceased was obviously drowned in water and suffocated to death, but the murderer wanted to create the illusion that she was pinned down in the pool and suffocated to death."

Hearing this, Conan's pupils shrank sharply.

Seeing his performance, Lu Ren smiled and said, "It seems you have understood. Today's case is exactly the opposite."

Conan: "The deceased was pinned to death in the pool, but the murderer created the illusion that she drowned."

"Yes. There is a substantial difference between the two ways of death. The former has water accumulation in the lungs, and the latter does not have water accumulation in the lungs."

Lu Ren looked at his slender fingers as if admiring a piece of art.

"After an autopsy, we found out that she was actually killed intentionally, and we naturally found out where the murderer committed the crime. It was either the murderer's room or the deceased's room."

"The crime took place in the murderer's room."

Conan corrected Lu Ren's statement and gave corresponding explanations.

"If it was the deceased's room, the murderer would have put gloves and goggles on the deceased to avoid exposing any flaws."

"So the evidence to solve the case is hidden in the pool in the murderer's room. The deceased's hair, fingerprints, and DNA should be found there. Coupled with the communication records, it is completely enough to convict him."

"I see." Lu Ren patted Conan's head and praised, "Well done."

"..."

With this analysis, the murderer's method of dumping the body becomes irrelevant.

But Conan was a little unwilling. He still wanted to follow his own habits and fully introduce the process of solving the case, even if the case was basically declared solved.

"Brother Ren, aren't you curious about the murderer's method of dumping the body?"

"I'm not curious. I really want to know. When the case is solved, I can directly ask the murderer."

"How can this be done?"

Conan shook his head like a rattle.

"If you really want to know, I have a clue here."

Lu Ren informed Conan of the previous discovery. He couldn't figure out what was wrong with the snowman, but there was no doubt that there was something wrong.

"The snowman's head..." Conan's glasses suddenly began to reflect light, "I know!"

"Oh?"

"The murderer used the snowman made by Genta and the others. He took off the snowman's head and rolled it into a big snowball to serve as the snowman's body."

"As for Yukio's original body, it was used as a murder prop. The snowball was a vacuum. After the murderer killed the deceased, he put her and the skateboard in it."

"Then he pushed the snowball down the hill and let it roll all the way into the lake. The snowball melted when it met the water, creating the illusion that the deceased had drowned."

Lu Ren asked: "Can it be done? The snowball won't scatter?"

"Use salt. The salt will melt the snow. The melted snow absorbs heat and causes the unmelted snow around it to harden. This creates a solid snowball!"

Conan paused for a moment, "The snow in the ski resort uses the same principle, but it uses ammonium sulfate instead of salt, and calcium chloride is used to melt snow on the road."

"in this way."

Lu Ren knew that spreading salt would melt the snow, but he didn't know what happened next. This was a gap in knowledge accumulation.

And Conan's level of thinking is really high enough. Just by looking at a snowman's head, one can deduce that the murderer placed the deceased in a hollow snowball.

Asking himself, Lu Ren knew that he couldn't do this, at least not yet.

"Yes, quite impressive." Lu Ren patted Conan's head in approval.

"..."

Conan responded with a stiff smile.

The case has been solved by you in advance, and now you come back to praise him for his greatness. Should he be happy, or should he be happy...

(End of this chapter)