Detective Conan: I, with my magical powers, am going to destroy the world!

"You're with Mr. Mori, aren't you?" Tatsuhito Funamoto nodded slightly to Akasaka Kaze. "Is there any progress on my wife's case?"

"not yet."

"Dad," the child looked curiously at Akasaka Kaze, then called out to Funamoto Tatsuhito, "I'm hungry!"

"It's already so late. Let's eat something before we go to the funeral home."

After checking the time on his watch, Tatsuhito Funamoto quickly called out to the maid upstairs.

"Hey, Hyomi! Get something to eat!"

“Okay,” the maid said, hurrying downstairs with a worried look on her face. “I think we should just order takeout.”

"Hey, hey," Tatsuhito Funamoto said, his face displeased, "You've been eating takeout all day since noon yesterday. Can't you cook something yourself?"

"I'm sorry. I'll get ready right away."

"Hmm?" Ai happened to be passing by the wheelchair. Ignoring the child's stare, she sniffed lightly and followed the scent to the wheelchair's push wheel, where she found some chopped green onions stuck to it.

Xiao Ai is quite sensitive to scallion scraps and can immediately tell that they are scallion scraps that haven't been cooked yet.

"Chichusang..."

Ai tugged at Akagi, gesturing for him to look at the wheelchair.

Akatsuka was talking to Funamoto Tatsujin when he saw the scallion bits and asked, "Has Madam been eating takeout since the accident?"

"There's nothing we can do. Hyo-mi doesn't seem to be in a good mood. Everyone's in a bad mood after something like this happens, but life goes on."

Tatsuhito Funamoto touched his son, who had been concerned about Ai, and then fell silent.

Just then, Ran came downstairs to help in the kitchen, and Akagi took Ai into the kitchen with her.

Even if the whereabouts of the pearl necklace and bracelet are unknown, it doesn't necessarily mean that evidence of Tatsuo Funamoto's crime cannot be found.

In any case, Tatsuo Funamoto had little chance to leave home to deal with the evidence.

The incident occurred between 9 and 10 p.m. the night before last, and the body was discovered yesterday. After that, the maid stopped cooking and ordered takeout instead.

Then there were the shavings on the wheelchair's push wheels.

It can be inferred that Tatsuhito Funamoto must have been in the kitchen, as for the purpose of going into the kitchen.

Chi Chufeng found a pair of rubber gloves draped over the stove. He took a light sniff and could still smell a faint scent of scallions and a barely noticeable smell of gunpowder.

"Can we wait a little longer before cooking?" Chi Chufeng asked the maid who was checking the refrigerator.

"Huh?" The maid was confused and stunned.

"With so many guests, we might not have enough ingredients. I think we should go and buy some more."

"But…".

Chapter 619 The Murderer Can Only Be You

In the living room on the first floor, Megure led everyone down the stairs, looking somewhat dejected.

Nothing was found on the other side of the riverbank, and the case seemed to have returned to square one.

"Let's stop here for today and continue the investigation tomorrow."

“Inspector Megure,” Akatsukaze said as he walked out of the kitchen, “I see everyone is tired, so why don’t we stay for a meal before you leave?”

Megure hesitated for a moment: "Why are we eating here? Besides, Mr. Funamoto and the others have to keep vigil tonight."

Akatsuka's gaze fell on Funamoto Tatsuhito.

"Is that alright, Mr. Funamoto?"

"Ah," Funamoto muttered, glancing at Akatsuka before realizing what was happening. "Sure, Takami, let's hurry up and go buy groceries. Everyone's hungry."

The maid quickly replied, "I'll go to the nearby supermarket right away."

After the maid left, Megure and his group, along with Uncle Mori, talked about the nearby garbage recycling site again, but didn't take it too seriously.

"In short, there are no pearls in the garbage bags and bins in this house, so it has nothing to do with that suspicious thing about the high-priced garbage collection."

"I haven't been able to find the pearl necklace and bracelet. If all else fails, I'll just have to wait until I get back and try to find a tall criminal with a history of jewelry robbery."

"Please wait a moment!" Kogoro Mori said anxiously. "Maybe if we investigate further, we can find some connection, and also the previous incident."

"I told you, it's impossible. How could Inspector Megure's investigation be false? Everyone who could be suspected has already been investigated!"

"But?"

Kogoro Mori, still troubled, wanted to offer some words of advice, but then he noticed that Akatsukaze had called away Tatsuhito Funamoto alone, and the two of them left the living room to talk outside.

"Ok?"

"Excuse me," Tatsuhito Funamoto hesitated, looking at Akatsuka Kaze as he adjusted his wheelchair, "is there something you need?"

For no apparent reason, Funamoto felt uneasy about Akazuka's private conversation with him, which also sent his son Touji away.

"Let me introduce myself first. I am the Onmyoji Akatsukaze. You should have heard of my name before."

"Lord Akatsuki?" Funamoto's expression stiffened. "Oh, I remember now, it's you... Have you discovered something? My wife's case..."

Touji probably never imagined that the murderer of his mother would be his own father.

Akatsuka's gaze remained calm as he faced Funamoto.

“Indeed, according to the police investigation, the culprit seems to be only a burglar who broke into the house. However, if we don’t consider the missing necklace and bracelet, the murderer can only be you, Mr. Funamoto.”

Funamoto's expression stiffened: "You think I killed my own wife?"

"There is a method of investigation called crime scene reconstruction, which involves criminal behavior, criminal psychology, and the crime environment. In fact, you can tell at first glance that the murderer is not an outsider."

Akatsukaze, watching Funamoto Tatsuhito remain silent with his fingers clenched tightly, continued his reasoning:

"I've already asked the maid. Touji has been playing on the first floor since evening. Even Mr. Taru, who was playing with him, was exhausted. They played until 9 p.m., when the madam was about to go home. The maid only started cleaning up after her friend left and didn't rest until around midnight."

“We were really tired from playing yesterday, so we went to bed early,” Funamoto said.

"Is that really the case?" Chi Chufeng asked seriously. "Judging from the situation in Madam's room, there should have been another familiar person there at the time. When she took off the earring in front of him, she was hurriedly called to the balcony to watch the shooting stars by the acquaintance. While looking up at the night sky, she was shot from behind. The scene was then disguised as a crime committed by an outsider."

"But haven't the police already searched the place?" Tatsuhito Funamoto said urgently. "If I'm the culprit, where are the necklace and bracelet? I haven't even left the house since Kaneyo's incident."

“There’s one more place the police haven’t searched,” Chi Chufeng interrupted, “inside the vacuum cleaner.”

0 .. 0

Yesterday you and Touji were playing a bean-throwing exorcism game, right? While the maid and her friends were discussing it in the living room, you two made a mess of beans all over the first floor, especially on the carpet next to the stairs.

"I think the reason for doing this was probably to make it easier to dispose of the necklace and bracelet after murdering the lady. For example, they could remove all the pearls and throw them onto the carpet on the first floor from the second-floor stairwell, across the handrail. The reason you stayed out so late was also to give the maid time to clean up after you committed the crime."

Facing the trembling expression on Tatsuhito Funamoto's face, Akasaka Kaze continued:

"The pearls were scattered on the dark, long-pile carpet to avoid making noise and to make them less distinguishable from the beans. Since the maid started cleaning after her friend left at 11 o'clock, she would naturally use the vacuum cleaner."

"In other words, Mr. Funamoto's plan was to wait until the police left, then have the maid throw away the vacuum cleaner bag containing the pearls as flammable garbage, and then have it collected in the parking lot by someone he had hired beforehand."

Perhaps he plans to retrieve the pearls from the parking lot himself after his leg heals, and then rehire the workers to dispose of the necklace as stolen goods? "Tu."

Chapter 620 Murder Using a Bean-Throwing Game

Tatsuhito Funamoto lowered his head and remained silent, neither admitting nor denying.

“Indeed,” Chi Chufeng sighed, “the hiring operation was very clean, and I’m afraid we won’t be able to trace it back to you through that worker, but it’s not like there’s no evidence at all.”

Tatsuhito Funamoto tensed up and looked up at Akaso Kaze.

"evidence……"

"There are too many shortcomings in your method of committing the crime. The most difficult thing to deal with is the gunpowder reaction. Since you chose a handgun as the murder weapon, this cannot be avoided. So Mr. Funamoto probably used the rubber gloves from the kitchen, right?"

Chi Chufeng paused for a moment, then finally analyzed: "Mr. Funamoto secretly hid a pair of gloves after dinner that day, wore them on his hands when committing the crime, and pulled the trigger through the lace curtain. He then secretly returned them the next day at breakfast, when he sent the maid away to wake the madam up."

"The reason you were in such a hurry to have the maid cook was that you wanted her to wear gloves to wash the vegetables, so that she could wipe off your fingerprints and wash away the gunpowder residue on the gloves."

"Of course, these are just my speculations. The police will have to verify them. I believe that once the whole thing is checked, there will be results."

"I……"

Tatsuhito Funamoto's smile was bitter.

"As expected of the legendary Onmyoji, you figured it all out in such a short time? It's as if you saw me commit the crime with your own eyes."

"But I don't regret it. In the past two weeks, after being discharged from the hospital and resting at home, I discovered that she had to throw a party at home every week. These expenses added up and she even borrowed a lot of money."

The look on Funamoto's face was a mixture of sadness and hatred, his expression one of profound sorrow.

“My wife has always wanted to enter the entertainment industry, so she really enjoys socializing at parties. I knew this beforehand, but I never expected it to come to this. We’ve run out of savings and are taking out loans. When we’re really broke, we’re even thinking of mortgaging our only remaining property, this house.”

Akatsuka watched silently as Funamoto cried and complained, without interrupting.

"She has no regard for this family at all; all she thinks about is parties and extravagance."

Tatsujin Funamoto gritted his teeth and continued, "When I stopped her from mortgaging the house, I even laughed and said, 'We can break up. It seems you don't have the energy to keep me going. There are countless new sponsors waiting for me.' I also said that I didn't want Toshi, that I was fed up with the kids, and that a divorced woman with a burden was not suitable for someone like her as a celebrity."

Tatsuhito Funamoto's voice choked with emotion.

“Such words are utterly unforgivable for a wife and a mother.”

"Is that so?" Chi Chufeng remained silent.