Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Lin Xiuyi followed Kujo Yoshiyuki's gaze.

By the window, three adults sat in different chairs, each being questioned by a police officer.

They were positioned at a certain distance from each other, clearly to avoid interference or collusion.

The first one was a man with long hair, who looked to be in his early thirties. He was wearing a dark gray casual shirt, his hair was a little messy, and he had an impatient expression on his face.

He sat there with his arms crossed, barely responding to the officers' questions, only occasionally offering a brief reply.

His gaze would occasionally drift towards the direction of the deceased, his eyes filled with complex emotions, making it impossible to discern whether it was sadness, anger, or something else entirely.

“The long-haired man,” Yoshiyuki Kujo said, “was named Naoto Miyazaki, and he was the deceased’s college classmate. According to him, he is now a freelancer, doing some design and planning work. He and the deceased had known each other for more than ten years, but they were not on good terms.”

The second one was a woman, who also looked to be around thirty years old. She was wearing a stylish beige dress, had long hair, and exquisite makeup.

She lowered her head, her hands clasped tightly on her knees, her shoulders trembling slightly, as if she was trying her best to control her emotions.

When the police officers questioned her, she occasionally looked up to respond, her eyes slightly red, as if she had been crying.

“That woman’s name is Matsuzaka Yuki,” Kujo Yoshiyuki said calmly, but Hayashi Shuichi sensed something subtle in her voice. “She’s the deceased’s ex-girlfriend. According to her, they broke up just a month ago.”

The third was a man wearing glasses, who looked to be in his early thirties, dressed in a dark blue suit and tie—a typical office worker's outfit.

He sat upright with his hands on his knees, and answered the police officer's questions clearly and logically, with a very cooperative expression.

But Lin Xiuyi noticed that his gaze kept drifting toward the dead man, and each time he looked at him, his Adam's apple would bob slightly, as if he were swallowing something.

“The last man with glasses,” said Yoshiyuki Kujo, “was an employee of the deceased’s company named Kohei Sato. According to him, he had been working at Iguchi Bussan for five years and was a key member of the business department.”

Lin Xiuyi's gaze swept across the three faces one by one, then he looked away and turned to Inspector Megure.

"What a coincidence?" His tone held a hint of surprise. "The deceased and his acquaintances are all gathered together?"

A deceased person and three acquaintances of him appeared at the same coffee shop at the same time.

To say that this was purely a coincidence would be a bit far-fetched.

“Kosuke Iguchi’s company is nearby,” Inspector Megure said, flipping through his notebook and pointing to the records. “Kohei Sato said he likes to come here for a coffee and relax during his lunch break. I’ve already confirmed this with the waitress, and she said Sato is indeed a regular here, coming almost every day at noon, sometimes alone, sometimes with colleagues.”

He paused, then continued.

"As for the deceased's ex-girlfriend, Ms. Matsuzaka Yuki, she was supposed to be shopping in the shopping district today."

"According to her own words, she came to the coffee shop to rest after she got tired of shopping, and she never expected to run into the deceased."

"The waiter also confirmed this; Ms. Matsuzaka did indeed come in alone, and she looked like she was shopping, carrying several shopping bags."

"The other deceased's college classmate, Naoto Miyazaki," Inspector Megure turned to the next page, "had an appointment to meet someone at a coffee shop to discuss something."

"According to him, he had arranged to meet a client to discuss a design project. However, the client stood him up and didn't show up." "We have already called the client that Miyazaki provided, and the client did acknowledge the appointment but said that something came up and he had to cancel the meeting. This should confirm Miyazaki's statement."

"What a coincidence." Lin Xiuyi was speechless.

“It is indeed quite a coincidence.” Inspector Megure looked pained and rubbed his temples. “According to our initial questioning, all three of them had had conflicts with the deceased before. As for a motive for murder, all three of them had one.”

He took a deep breath and began to explain one by one.

“Let’s start with Sato Kohei, the subordinate with glasses.” Inspector Megure pointed to the man who was cooperating with the police officers’ questioning. “His relationship with the deceased at the company was actually quite complicated. A year ago, Sato Kohei and Iguchi Kosuke were colleagues at the same level, both key members of the sales department, and their performance was about the same.”

"Three months ago, the position of company manager became vacant, and two people competed for it. In the end, Kosuke Iguchi won, and Kohei Sato lost."

"That's nothing unusual; it's workplace competition, winning and losing are common. But the problem is..."

Inspector Megure lowered his voice.
According to other company employees, Kohei Sato felt he lost unfairly because Kosuke Iguchi won not because of his ability, but because of his connections.

"Kohei Sato was very dissatisfied with this and had a big argument with Kosuke Iguchi at the company. It is said that the argument was very fierce and they almost came to blows, but other colleagues pulled them apart."

Lin Xiu nodded, taking the information into her mind.

Workplace competition, feeling wronged and resentful, can lead to a classic motive for murder.

But motive is not the same as fact; evidence is also needed.

"Next up is Ms. Matsuzaka Yuuki, that ex-girlfriend."

Inspector Megure's gaze shifted to the woman whose head was bowed and whose shoulders were trembling slightly.
"She and the deceased broke up a month ago. The reason was... Kosuke Iguchi's infidelity."

According to Ms. Matsuzaka, she found ambiguous messages between Iguchi and other women on Iguchi's phone. After confronting him, Iguchi admitted to it. The two had a big fight on the spot and then broke up.

"But that's not all," Inspector Megure continued. "After the breakup, Ms. Matsuzaka obviously couldn't get over it. According to Iguchi's colleagues, in the week after the breakup, Ms. Matsuzaka went to Iguchi's company several times and made a scene, calling him a heartless man, so that everyone in the company knew about Iguchi's affair."

“Iguchi was furious and called security to kick her out. Ms. Matsuzaka never showed up again after that.”

Ex-girlfriend, cheating, public argument – ​​this is a classic motive for murder. Sometimes, emotional hurt is more profound than a conflict of interest, and it's easier to make someone lose their mind.

"Finally, there's Naoto Miyazaki, the long-haired man." Inspector Megure pointed to the last suspect. "His feud with the deceased dates back to more than ten years ago when they were in college."

According to Miyazaki himself, he and Kosuke Iguchi were classmates at the time and had a good relationship. But one thing completely changed their relationship: the scholarship.

"A scholarship?" Lin Xiuyi raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.” Inspector Megure nodded. “Miyazaki said that he had excellent grades at the time and should have received a full scholarship. But Kosuke Iguchi used underhanded methods, which resulted in Iguchi taking the scholarship.”

"This incident bothered Miyazaki for over a decade. He said he cut off all contact with Iguchi after that, until they unexpectedly met again today at the coffee shop." (End of Chapter)