The Pirated Onmyoji of the Detective World

She was curious to see what else the young man had discovered.

Yuu Aragaki, thinking that since he was bored anyway, might as well chat with the pretty lady next to him, continued his analysis: "Although I don't know why, I think Miss Shizuka, you had already contacted Mr. Shibata before Mr. Mori found Mr. Shibata."

"..."

Shizuka Ikenami glanced at Yuu Aragaki with some surprise.

This boy, simply by observing how things unfolded, somehow guessed all of this.

"That's right. I think the phone call Mr. Shibata received the day before yesterday must have been from you. Otherwise, he would never have thought to look through that novel to find your picture."

At this point, Aragaki Yuuya suddenly shrugged and stared at Ikenami Shizuka with some curiosity, asking, "However, I am quite curious about your purpose in commissioning Mr. Mori to find someone who is not even necessary to find."

Facing Aragaki Yu's slightly intense gaze, Ikenami Shizuka felt a little uncomfortable, but still covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

However, instead of answering Aragaki Yu's question, she countered by asking him, "So you already know who the real culprit is?"

Chapter 447 The Real Culprit (1)

“That’s right.” Aragaki Yu nodded.

Ikenami Shizuka: "Huh?"

She looked at Aragaki Yu with some surprise, her bright eyes wide, her small mouth slightly open, revealing her flawless white teeth.

Shizuka Ikenami stated that she had only asked the question casually and did not have high expectations for it.

However, to her utter surprise, Aragaki Yu had actually found the real culprit.

"Could it be that the murderer is Mr. Yoshikawa, the one who led Mr. Mori to discover the body?" Shizuka Ikenami lowered her eyes, glanced at Yoshikawa Takezo, and whispered her guess. "After all, in many cases, the murderer returns to the crime scene as the first person to discover the body."

As Shizuka Ikenami approached Yu Aragaki to speak, Yu Aragaki kept staring at her eyelashes, wondering why girls' eyelashes were so long.

Shizuka Ikenami's eyelashes are not only long, but also very beautiful. When she lowers her eyes and speaks softly, they tremble slightly, as if they are alive.

"Hmph?" Miss Chibo didn't get a response from Aragaki Yu after a while. She looked up in confusion and found that he was staring at her face in a daze. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at him in annoyance and embarrassment.

"Ha, how rude of me." Aragaki Yuu, whose little action had been noticed, also gave an awkward laugh.

However, I was still a little surprised by what Shizuka Ikenami had just said.

Although he had indeed been a little distracted, he still took in what Ikenami Shizuka said.

The fact that the other person can say such a thing indicates that they have handled quite a few cases in their daily life.

Those who have this opportunity are at least not ordinary people.

“First of all, it is certain that Mr. Yoshikawa is not the murderer of Mr. Shibata.” Aragaki Yu explained to Ikenami Shizuka with his arms crossed, “After all, Mr. Yoshikawa had no way to provide a strong alibi during the time when Mr. Shibata was murdered, and the risk of him returning to the scene would be far too high.”

After thinking for a moment, Ikebashi Shizuka still raised her question, "What if he has some reason that compels him to come back?"

Aragaki Yu had clearly considered this point beforehand, and thus offered his explanation without much hesitation: "Of course, if there is something worth risking to retrieve, he will come back. But no one is foolish enough to wait half a day after committing a crime before coming back to retrieve government affairs."

Shizuka Ikenami nodded in agreement, indicating that she agreed with Yuu Aragaki's point of view.

After glancing at Shizuka Ikenami, Yuya Aragaki continued, "Also, he only needed to make a phone call to confirm whether there was anyone next to the body, but Mr. Yoshikawa deliberately kept us behind just as we were about to leave the gate. If I were the murderer, I would definitely wait until all the visitors at the gate had left before entering the house alone to look for something."

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Ikenami Shizuka glanced at Aragaki Yu with a smile and teased, "So, you don't actually really are the murderer, do you?"

"What do you think?" Aragaki Yu rolled his eyes at Ikenami Shizuka, who was standing right next to him, with an annoyed look.

"Heh, just kidding." Ikeba Shizuka snorted softly before staring at Aragaki Yu and asking, "So who exactly is the murderer? Wait, you don't actually think..."

Just as Shizuka Ikenami spoke up to ask, she noticed that Yuu Aragaki's gaze had fallen on Kyoko Shibata, who was explaining something to Inspector Yokomizo.

"That's right, the real culprit in this case is Ms. Kyoko Shibata!"

Shizuka Ikenami noticed that although Yuu Aragaki didn't emphasize his words, they still sounded very confident.

"What? You're saying Ms. Shibata is the real culprit? How is that possible?!" Ran, who had been captivated by the conversation between Aragaki Yu and Ikenami Shizuka, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise when she overheard Aragaki Yu's words.

The crowd not far away, startled by Xiaolan's sudden voice, changed their expressions after realizing what she had said.

Inspector Yokomizo, Kogoro Mori, and Takezo Yoshikawa: "???"

Kyoko Shibata: "!!!"

Only Conan, who had been running around the corpse, glanced in Ran's direction with slight surprise. After seeing Aragaki Yu next to Ran, he showed an expression that said, "I knew it."

Noticing that everyone present was looking in his direction, Aragaki Yu stopped lowering his voice, since it would be exhausting to explain again later.

"That's right, the murderer is Ms. Kyoko Shibata, who at first glance has a perfect alibi."

"!!!"

When Shibata Kyoko heard Aragaki Yu repeat the sentence, her expression changed drastically, and she showed a look of fear.

"Ms. Shibata is the murderer!?" Inspector Yokomizo asked Aragaki Yu with some surprise.

Yoshikawa Takezo looked at Shibata Kyoko with disbelief and asked, "Mrs. Shibata, this can't be real, can it?"

Kyoko Shibata lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly, and her face looked rather unpleasant, but she did not offer any explanation.

Although Kyoko Shibata's current behavior has already said a lot.

However, Inspector Yokomizo still couldn't quite understand. "Brother Aragaki, you're not wrong, are you? Mrs. Shibata left home at five in the morning after preparing breakfast. If that's the case, why would there be a morning newspaper that was delivered here at six in the morning on the table? And when Mrs. Shibata finished playing golf and was driven back by her friend, it was already past seven in the evening. Weren't you and Mr. Mori already here by then?"

“You’re absolutely right.” Aragaki Yu smiled and glanced at Inspector Yokomizo, not refuting his words. “We were indeed already here at that time.”

"That……"

Before Inspector Yokomizo could finish speaking, Aragaki Yu continued to explain, "But don't you think that's a bit too vague? After all, 7:05 and 7:10 are both after 7 o'clock!"

"Huh?" Officer Yokomizo was taken aback.

Although he could understand each word that Aragaki Yu said, he couldn't understand what Aragaki Yu meant when they were put together.

“What I mean is that Mrs. Shibata may have already gone home before we arrived here,” Aragaki Yu said, looking at Shibata Kyoko who was silent beside him.

"Hmm? Let me think about it first..." Officer Yokomizo muttered with a puzzled expression.

Chapter 448 The Real Culprit (2)

"Wait, so the breakfast on the table might actually be..." Officer Yokomizo suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and his expression turned to surprise.

“That’s right. I think it was probably a late-night snack she prepared for her husband who didn’t get home until 3 a.m.,” Aragaki Yu said, walking to the dining table and picking up the newspaper. “But if you put a morning paper on top, it looks just like breakfast.”

"What about the videotape? He clearly recorded a period drama at eight o'clock in the morning and even re-broadcast it!" Yoshikawa Takezo still couldn't believe Aragaki Yu's deduction and argued excitedly.

“It’s actually very simple…” This time, without needing Aragaki Yu to explain anything, the homemaker Ran nervously raised her hand and said, “I think as long as we know the length of the videotape, we can just delay the recording time to the required time.”

"That's right, so that's how it is!" Officer Yokomizo clapped his hands, looking at Ran with some excitement.

This expression startled Ran, who nervously hid behind Kogoro Mouri.

Kyoko Shibata opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to explain something, but when she looked up and noticed Yuu Aragaki's eyes, which seemed to see through everything, her heart suddenly skipped a beat, and she subconsciously looked away guiltily.

"So, Mrs. Shibata's entire itinerary is probably arranged like this." Aragaki Yu squinted at Shibata Kyoko. "First, you should persuade your husband, who doesn't get home until around 3 a.m., to take a hot bath first, and then delay his bedtime a little longer."

Kyoko Shibata: "!!!"

"You then made him eat the food prepared on the table before 5 p.m. under the pretense of having a late-night snack. Then, while your husband was eating, you called him from the hallway and then killed him from behind with a wooden knife."

Aragaki Yu described Shibata Kyoko's crime in a completely emotionless tone.

"Next, all you need to do is set up the video recorder, lock the front door, and then you can go out. At five o'clock sharp, you get into your friend's car. Finally, you just need to go home around seven o'clock in the afternoon, take out the morning newspaper from the mailbox in the entryway, and put it on the dining table."

As Aragaki Yu described the situation, Shibata Kyoko's expression grew increasingly grim.

She stared intently at Aragaki Yu in front of her, her expression unpredictable.

Kyoko Shibata found it hard to understand why this boy knew so much detail, as if the entire incident had happened right before his eyes.

"I see!" Inspector Yokomizo exclaimed with a look of sudden realization. "This way, we can indeed create the illusion of being attacked while having breakfast in the morning!"

Ran asked softly, "But how did Mrs. Shibata know we were coming here to see Mr. Shibata?"

Inspector Yokomizo stroked his chin, politely pondering for a moment, but only for a second before looking in Aragaki Yu's direction. "Yes, Aragaki, what exactly is going on?"

Just as everyone was expecting an explanation from Aragaki Yu, his words surprised everyone.

"No, I don't think Mrs. Shibata could have foreseen this at all."

Before everyone's expressions could turn puzzled, Aragaki Yu quickly explained, "I think Mrs. Shibata originally planned to call the police herself, but when she got home, she discovered something that surprised her."

"An unexpected situation!?" Inspector Yokomizo was taken aback. After looking around the crime scene, he remembered the bloodstains that the forensic team had found in the corridor.

Then Inspector Yokomizo suddenly clapped his hands and said excitedly, "I get it! Mr. Shibata didn't die immediately; he desperately crawled from the attacked corridor to the living room to try and call for help!"

“That’s right.” Yuu Aragaki nodded and continued, “Just as Mrs. Shibata was surprised to find Mr. Shibata’s body in the living room, the phone in the living room suddenly rang.”

"Telephone?"

After he said that, the room suddenly fell silent. For some reason, Aragaki Yu brought up the telephone again.

This time, it was Yoshikawa Takezo who reacted first, "Wait, could that be the voicemail I left when I said I was going down to call him?"

Yuu Aragaki nodded, revealing a look of "you're a promising student." "After hearing the voicemail, Mrs. Shibata immediately thought that instead of calling the police herself, it would be better to let someone else discover the body and call the police first. Then she could pretend to be unaware of the situation and come back, which would make it less likely to arouse suspicion."

After hearing Aragaki Yu's explanation, Officer Yokomizo made a "hmm" sound and nodded.

He looked at the boy in front of him with some shock, and finally understood why Inspector Megure valued Shiragaki Yu so much.

"But that doesn't make sense either." Suddenly remembering something, Yoshikawa Takezo raised his own question, "Then how do we explain that photo?"