Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

“Mrs. Akutagawa said,” Yoshiko Ono reminded her, “that when she saw Shinzo Mito, he was standing at the top of the stairs, looking like he was waiting for someone.”

Konoe Daishi adjusted his glasses and continued, "Then he must be waiting for someone to witness Mito Hayato's body with him, right? After all, it's always a bit unclear if one person discovers something like this. Only by having a witness by his side can he clear his name."

“Yes.” Ono Yoshiko nodded and continued, “After that, Mrs. Akutagawa followed Mito Shinzo to the door of Mito Hayato’s bedroom. Then, it was Mito Shinzo who took the initiative to knock on the door.”

She suddenly stopped speaking, turning her gaze to Lin Xiuyi as if to confirm something.

Seeing her friend's hesitant expression, Kawada Yuko asked in confusion, "What's wrong with knocking? Is there a problem? Isn't knocking a normal thing to do when waking someone up?"

“Of course there’s a problem.” Yoshida Aoi’s eyes lit up as if she had thought of something, and she quickly said, “Think about it, when Lady Akutagawa and Mito Shinzo were together, shouldn’t Lady Akutagawa, as a servant, have been the one to knock on the door?”

“That’s right, that’s the problem,” Lin Xiuyi continued. “Putting aside the fact that Lady Akutagawa was a servant of the Mito family, according to the rules, she should be the one knocking on the door.”

"In addition, Mito Shinzo and Mito Hayato had a big fight last night because of Minamino Momoko, and it was very unpleasant."

“At this point, the relationship between the father and son should be very strained, and Mito Shinzo would never take the initiative to knock on his son’s door.”

"But ironically, he not only took the initiative to knock on the door, but he also discovered that the door to Mito Hayato's bedroom was locked from the inside."

He paused, then added.

"Afterwards, he found that there was no movement inside, but he did not immediately have someone break down the door. Instead, he made sure that Mrs. Akutagawa also went up and knocked on the door. Only after confirming that there was really no response inside did he ask her to find the gardener and the driver to break down the door."

"Don't you think this series of actions is a bit too deliberate?"

"I get it!" Ikenami Shizuka clapped her hands suddenly, a look of sudden realization on her face. "Actually, Mito Hayato's bedroom wasn't a secret room at all! And the door wasn't locked at all!"

"Mito Shinzo just used a little trick to make us all think that it was a locked room from the inside!"

Her words were like a bolt of lightning, instantly cleaving through the fog in everyone's hearts.

Maeda Yoto paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up as he realized what was happening.

"That's right! Mito Shinzo was waiting at the stairwell early on, firstly to find Mrs. Akutagawa as a witness, and secondly, probably because he was worried that someone might accidentally barge into Mito Hayato's bedroom and ruin his plans!"

“That’s right.” Lin Xiuyi gave Chi Bojinghua an approving look. “After that, he walked to the bedroom door and pretended to turn the doorknob, then deliberately made it look like the door was locked from the inside and couldn’t be opened.”

“He is the master of the Mito family and the father of Mito Hayato. As a servant, Lady Akutagawa would naturally not doubt her master’s words and would only subconsciously believe that the door was indeed locked from the inside.”

"So, the so-called secret room was just a play staged by Shinzo Mito from beginning to end!"

Takeshi Ikenami couldn't help but curse.
"That old guy is really cunning! He fooled us all with such a simple trick!"

Everyone couldn't help but nod, recalling how they had racked their brains to solve this escape room puzzle, and they couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. It turns out that the most difficult puzzles often have the simplest answers.

Just then, Ono Kayoko, who had been silent all along, spoke up again.

Her gaze shifted to Lin Xiuyi and Hattori Heizo, and she said calmly, "Actually, I have a guess about Mito Shinzo's disappearance for those three hours last night."

Everyone's attention was instantly drawn back to it.

Hattori Heizo raised an eyebrow, signaling her to continue.

Ono Kayoko slowly said, "Last night, when Minamino Momoko fell from the Riverview Hotel, the police searched the entire hotel and Mito Jun's body, but they did not find any tools that could be used to saw through the railings."

"But today, we found in Mito Jun's bedroom that he had been hanged with a wire saw to make it look like a suicide."

"There was powder from the hotel balcony railing in the wire saw, which is very strange, isn't it?"

Konoe Daishi adjusted his glasses and added, "According to the records of the Osaka Police Headquarters, the time Mito Jun left the headquarters and the time he arrived home were only about ten minutes apart."

"This time coincides with the driving distance from the police headquarters to the Mito residence. This indicates that after leaving, Mito Hayato did not go anywhere else, but went straight home."

"So here's the question," Ono Kayoko's gaze swept over everyone, "Since Mito Jun went straight home after leaving the police station, where did the wire saw come from?"

“Mito Jun would never hide a wire saw in his house.” Lin Xiuyi shook his head. “The balcony railing of the Riverview Hotel was inspected by the hotel at noon.”

"The murderer could only have tampered with the railing in the afternoon."

“It takes at least an hour to travel from the Riverview Hotel to Mito’s house and back, so Mito Hayato simply doesn’t have time to go home specifically to hide the wire saw.”

“So, the most likely scenario is that after Mito Jun damaged the balcony railing, he took advantage of the chaos caused by Minamino Momoko's fall to leave the wire saw somewhere hidden near the hotel,” Hattori Heizo pondered, then continued, “This way, he could avoid the police search and retrieve the tool afterward.”

His eyes lit up as he realized the key point.

"Afterwards, both he and Mito Shinzo were taken to the Osaka Police Headquarters for questioning. After the police finished questioning them, Mito Hayato went straight home. As for Mito Shinzo..."

"...But he didn't go back immediately!" Shizuka Ikenami excitedly continued, "During the three hours he disappeared, he went to the Riverview Hotel, found the wire saw that Mito Jun had hidden, and then brought it home!"

"That way, he could use the same wire saw to fake the scene where Izumi Hayato committed suicide with the murder weapon to atone for his sins!"

“I’ll arrange for people to conduct interviews and investigations right now,” Takeshi Ikenami slapped his thigh excitedly. “Yesterday’s celebration lasted all night. Even with Momoko Minamino’s fall, there must be quite a few people still staying in the hotel. Maybe some of them saw Shinzo Mito who had returned.”

"Don't forget to thoroughly search the car that Mito Shinzo drove last night," Lin Xiuyi reminded him. "If he really did go to retrieve the wire saw, there's a good chance there's still evidence left in the car." (End of Chapter)