Ms. Moriarty wants to save Beika Town today too.

"That was just a trap set by the murderer to pin the crime on this old man. I also found five or six sets of the same things, scattered all over the house. The murderer even went as far as to design places other than the Japanese-style room, so no matter where the old man was at the time of the crime, he is not unconnected."

"But the old gentleman himself admitted that he had committed the crime."

"Because the old gentleman deliberately fell into the prisoner's trap. As for his reason, I don't know."

"But this house is a complete secret room. Do you want to say that the deceased committed suicide?"

"No, he didn't commit suicide. And the killer also left clues to the actual methods he used."

"A true criminal method..." Hattori muttered.

"Have you forgotten? When the victim was found, an opera was playing in the study, and there was a pile of books in front of the victim. The murderer played the opera in order to eliminate the possible screams of the victim when stabbing the poison needle. The books were a cover-up to prevent the victim's expression of pain from being discovered when being stabbed."

"Hahaha, what do you want to say? Whose ears and eyes is the murderer trying to cover up by going to so much trouble?"

Winette listened quietly to Kudo Shinichi's reasoning. She had already guessed the true identity of the murderer he had identified. The only thing that made her unsure was the poison needle itself. In her understanding of the types of toxins, the only type that could cause death in just a few seconds was a large dose of injection. Obviously, the poison needle was not in this category. However, her common sense had been broken several times, and now she could accept such a result.

"The murderer went to so much trouble for you!" Kudo Shinichi said to Hattori.

"what?"

"Of course it's not just you. Xiaolan, Mr. Maori, and Miss Winnett, who entered the study with you at that time, will ruin this plan."

"So, could it be!?" Hattori Heiji guessed who Kudo Shinichi was referring to, but psychologically he couldn't completely agree with him.

"So I am sure the murderer is the one who entered the room and was closest to the victim." Kudo Shinichi turned around and waved his arm to point at the criminal, "Yes, the criminal is you! Mrs. Tatsumura!"

"Madam killed the master? How could it be…"

Kogoro was as frightened as the butler. He murmured, "When we arrived at this room, was the victim still alive?"

"That's right, because at the beginning, Mrs. Tatsumura just used some kind of drug to make the diplomat fall asleep. Then Mrs. Tatsumura stabbed the poison needle into the victim while pretending to call him. Well, it's natural that no one noticed it at the time, because the sleeping drug was very powerful. If the poison needle was coated with a highly toxic substance, the victim would be poisoned to death after being stabbed, without moving. Mrs. Tatsumura prepared the opera and those books just to be on the safe side."

"But, if the sleeping pills she used were found on the body afterwards, this method would be..." Megure questioned.

"No, no one will know. Because we have been thinking that the victim died before we entered the house." At this point, Hattori has accepted the result of being outskilled. "Like you said, the victim had fallen asleep before the murderer stabbed the poison needle into his neck. In other words, the murderer deliberately brought the detectives here, taking advantage of their blind spot that the murderer would not kill people in front of them, and committed a psychological murder in the closed room. And none of us would notice it. Is that what you mean, Kudo?" Hattori explained.

"Yes."

"If that's the case, then you should produce evidence." Hattori's mentality has changed to expectations for Kudo Shinichi. "When Mrs. Tatsumura approached the victim, she did not take out the poison needle."

"Yes, when Mrs. Tatsumura entered here, she did take out the poison needle without anyone noticing." Kudo leaned over to pick up the key on the ground, untied the key's accessories, and revealed the structure inside, "Because the poison needle is on the key."

"On the key!"

"Yes, Mrs. Damura's key ring is the same style as the key ring on the victim, which means that the inside can also be opened." He turned to look at Mrs. Damura, who had her hands folded in front of her, and said, "Okay, can we show everyone the key in Mrs. Damura's hand and the design inside the key ring?"

Megure took the initiative to step forward and asked while rummaging through Mrs. Tatsumura's bag, and found the key ring inside. He forked the two petals of the key ring, revealing the structure inside. There was a tiny slot in the center, which was a needle-like structure.

"According to my inference, that should be the groove where the poison needle was placed. After she entered the study, she quickly exposed the poison needle in the groove. Therefore, this is the most powerful and direct evidence that can prove that Mrs. Damura is the murderer."

"But why? Why did she kill the diplomat?" Megure asked about her motives.

Before Kudo Shinichi could answer, Winette came out with the photos placed in the center square of the bookshelf.

"Her motive is in this photo."

Winette handed the photo to Megure, which was a photo of Mrs. Tatsumura and her husband when they were young.

When Kudo Shinichi saw that it was Winnett, his eloquent tone suddenly weakened, and he even took a step back to make way for her.

“Is there anything special about this photo?”

"Don't you think that Mrs. Tatsumura looked a lot like someone when she was young?"

Xiaolan came over and was surprised, "Huh? She looks like Miss Sachiko."

Every family member was shocked.

"How is this possible?" Master Damura muttered as he moved forward.

At this time, the person involved also started to explain. Mrs. Tatsumura closed her eyes and said, "Of course we look alike, because I am... I am Sachiko's mother!"

"What!?"

Everyone present screamed in unison, except Winette and Kudo, who were not surprised.

Winnet was surprised that Kudo Shinichi had noticed this, after all, he had never seen the photo. The reason why she could guess the secret was mainly due to the scene in the Mori Detective Agency: when Hattori Heiji mocked Mrs. Tatsumura's jealousy, she herself was not angry at all. It was as if admitting that she was full of jealousy and malice towards the perfect daughter-in-law was a relief. If she was really a wicked mother-in-law, she would never keep silent. She should have reprimanded Hattori Heiji, and would not have been generous enough to let him come. It was at this time that Winnet felt that there must be something hidden.

Master Dacun's words "remarry" also gave her enough room for speculation, but not speculation about the plot in a melodrama, but about the inside story of how Mrs. Dacun destroyed the marriage.

One of Winnet's strengths is her ability to understand other people's feelings.

Megure stepped forward and asked: "So, Ms. Sachiko is yours and the diplomat's..."

"No, to be honest, Sachiko is the child of my ex-husband and me." Mrs. Tatsumura said angrily, "She is the biological daughter of Kenji Yamashiro, the diplomat who was forced to be accused of dereliction of duty and removed from society by my husband, Tatsumura Isao, 20 years ago!"

"Yamashiro Kenji..."

Megure had an impression of this person.

"Yes, it was the diplomat who died in prison 15 years ago." She said, "Tatsumura's goal was to bring down Yamashiro, who was also a diplomat but in a hostile relationship with him at the time, so that he could get me, who was Yamashiro's wife at the time. But I didn't know anything about it. After Yamashiro was arrested and imprisoned, I entrusted Sachiko to Yamashiro's relatives for raising. Then, I was deceived by that man and began to live with this devilish man. I really knew about this when Guishan (Master Tatsumura) brought a photo of his girlfriend Sachiko home."

"At first, I thought it was just a coincidence that they looked alike. Unexpectedly, Dacun yelled, 'You must never be with this woman. I will never let that man's daughter be with my son.' Under my suspicion, I couldn't help but ask Dacun. At this time, Dacun began to talk about how he framed Shancheng for dereliction of duty. Then, my father-in-law also helped with this matter in the past."

The old man lowered his head and said, "I'm sorry, Gong Jiang... I don't know what happened to me at that time."

Megure finally figured it out: "So that's how it is. You regretted the mistake you made back then, so you voluntarily walked into the trap set by Mrs. Tatsumura, so you admitted that you did it just now."

"It's useless for you to pretend to be a good person now, eunuch. Shancheng was accused of a crime because of you and died in prison for no apparent reason."

Gong Jiang was handcuffed and followed the police officer to the door.

She stopped in front of the door and looked back at Tatsumura Guishan: "Guishan."

"Yes."

"With my current status, I may not be qualified to tell you this, but Sachiko is leaving it to you."

"it is good!"

Watching this scene, Hattori murmured, "So that's how it is. The reason why Mrs. Tatsumura was so mean to Miss Sachiko was because she didn't want people to find out that they were mother and daughter, so she..."

Before Hattori could finish his words, he heard Kudo Shinichi coughing violently.

"Shinichi, how are you?" Xiaolan came up immediately.

He squatted on the ground, holding onto the bookshelf, covered his mouth and nose with one hand, and coughed several times. Although he felt pain in his body, he couldn't show it yet. He forced himself to stand up again, leaned against the bookshelf, and pretended to be "not a big deal".

"I just have a bad cold."

Winette observed his condition and analyzed it in her mind. Although he had recovered his adult body, the disease still remained. To be more precise, his condition was worse than that of a simple illness. Half of it was possible that the disease had worsened, and the other half was a side effect of recovering his adult body. She thought that since Kudo Shinichi had recovered, he would definitely not be able to hide it from Ai. His existence itself was also a problem. Once he stood in the open, the organization would be able to collect his information immediately. Although they could release a smoke bomb at that time, they might also be able to follow the clues to find out.

The instability is giving Winnet a headache.

Hattori was surprised by his smooth reasoning. He asked, "How do you know so much about this whole thing? Could it be that you are really lurking around here, Kudo?"

This is definitely unacceptable! Kudo felt a cold gaze coming from the side, but he didn't know that Winette was just observing his condition. He denied it flatly: "You are talking nonsense, I heard it from the kid with glasses on the phone."

"Conan said that?" Xiaolan was puzzled. Conan also had a bad cold, so how could he run outside to call Shinichi in such a short time?

Winette also felt that his statement had many problems. He might as well say that she told him, at least it would not arouse more suspicion. Mobile phones were not yet popular, and people like her who held bricks were still a minority. Public telephone booths and landlines were still the mainstream means of communication.

Kudo Shinichi twitched his eyebrows and continued with pain: "Yes, he said that a strange detective came from Osaka and asked me to come here quickly. Well... But I came here because I heard that there was a big case."

"Liar!"

Xiaolan faced Kudo directly, "He just told me that you didn't ask me if I was okay on the phone, which is really weird. You are nearby, right? I dare say you must be nearby. When you saw me worried, you smiled secretly, right!?"

"Hey, Xiaolan..."

"Why do you treat me like this?" Tears welled up in her eyes again, "You know how...how..." I am

"Don't be stupid," Kudo said, thinking quickly, "Don't forget, I'm a detective! I can tell whether you are good or not just by listening to your voice."

Kudo Shinichi couldn't show off for more than three seconds before he started coughing violently again.

Xiaolan was worried about his condition and ran outside when she saw that he was in a bad condition. "I'll go get a doctor!"

"I see. My reasoning was wrong from the beginning." Hattori was relieved. "No matter how you look at it, I lost this match. Kudo Shinichi, you are really good... Your reasoning is better than mine."

"Come on, there is no such thing as winning or losing or being superior or inferior in reasoning. This is because... in this world -"

"There is only one truth!"

Hattori went from being surprised to smiling. He turned around and touched his hat.

Winnet could tell from his body language that he was shy.

"You're right. It turns out that I care too much about winning or losing, so I'm not calm enough." Hattori turned his head and said.

Immediately, he saw Kudo crawling on the ground, holding his chest.

"Kudou, are you really just catching a cold? Kudou! Are you okay, Kudou?"

Winnet also realized that something was wrong.

Kudo Shinichi's state before he turned back into an adult was similar to his current state. "Get out of the way." She pushed Hattori away and touched his forehead and neck. The temperature was very high. An unreasonable guess formed in her mind: Could it be that he was going to turn back again? If so... Winnett pulled up one of his arms and propped him up from the ground, but Kudo hesitated, and Winnett even wanted to lift him up as if he were a rock.

"Hey, what's going on?"

She had no time to take care of Hattori. If his true identity was known to everyone and he turned back into a child, even if he was killed, it would be useless. Sooner or later, the truth would be revealed. She whispered in Kudo Shinichi's ear, "Hide in the bathroom quickly. It's in the right room under the stairs." She quickly sent Kudo Shinichi to the blind spot at the staircase, and Winette took off his coat and shirt in a few seconds.

As Kudo Shinichi became smaller, his pants fell to the ground.

Winnett put her clothes in an umbrella as a cover, and finally breathed a sigh of relief when she confirmed that Kudo Shinichi had entered the bathroom. At this time, Xiaolan ran to the study with the doctor and found that Kudo was missing. She hurried to the stairs and saw only Winnett.

"Ms. Winnet, have you seen Shinichi?" she asked anxiously.

"I saw him running out in a hurry. Maybe something important happened?"

"The important thing... is just an excuse! He is hiding everything from me!" Xiaolan said angrily.

She chased out of the house and came to the street. She looked around but could not find any trace of Kudo Shinichi, and finally returned disappointed.

Xiaolan's eyes were red: "Miss Winnett, why do you think he always disappears without saying a word?"

"Maybe there is something going on." Winnett said, gently hugging Xiaolan in her arms and stroking her back. "If you believe in his feelings for you, then believe that he must be doing this for your own good. Detective is not a safe profession. I have seen detectives whose families were destroyed by revenge by criminals... Of course, he may not encounter such a dangerous thing, but he may have accepted an invitation from a national agency and needs to act in secret... This kind of thing is very natural abroad."

Well, it's not natural at all, it's not an M16 or CIA, but it seems to work well.

"Could it be that he is protecting me in secret because I have fallen into a similar situation?" Xiaolan wiped her eyes with her sleeves. "Well, then I have to cheer up... and not let him worry..."

"Come to think of it, Conan seems to be still in the bathroom. Did he have a stomachache?"

"what!"

Xiaolan couldn't help blushing. She actually forgot about Conan!

……

294 The Jealous "Big Sister"

At Winnet's reminder, Xiaolan went downstairs and opened the door on the left. Conan, who had just turned back into Kudo Shinichi, was sitting on the toilet with his upper body naked, holding his glasses and grinning.

"Conan," Xiaolan's expression showed guilt, "Why did you stay in the bathroom for so long? I've been looking for you for a long time."

Conan had an embarrassed smile on his face, not knowing how to explain. He hadn't felt it when he first changed back, but now he felt exhausted all over his body, unable to exert any strength. He wanted to stand up, but his legs went weak and he fell into Xiaolan's arms.

"Conan! How are you, Conan?" He scared Xiaolan so much that she kept calling out.

Winnett entered the bathroom and touched Conan's forehead in Xiaolan's arms.

"It's nothing, he just fell asleep because he was too tired," Winette said to Xiaolan, "Children's immunity and physical strength are relatively weak, and he is very tired after recovering from a high fever. He just needs to rest well. Just in case, let him take some cold medicine."

"It's okay."

Xiaolan breathed a sigh of relief.

The coffin is meant to be a reminder of the old wife

Just in case, Winnett tells Xiaolan and the police in the name of "Kudo Shinichi" not to announce that Kudo Shinichi solved the case. The case has been solved, and the Mori family is ready to return. Winnett and Hattori are with them. Xiaolan invites Winnett to stay for a while, but she refuses on the grounds that "Conan needs to be taken care of."

Hattori also said goodbye to the Maori family, followed by Winnet.

"No, why are you following me?" Hattori initially thought they were just passing by, but after turning two corners, he realized that was not the case. "By the way, did Kudo really leave on his own initiative, in that state?"

Winette nodded and helped Conan explain that he was afraid that he would stay too long and would not be able to say goodbye to Xiaolan properly. Hattori sighed and said, "He is also a lovesick person." He then continued to walk forward two steps, then turned back immediately when he realized something was wrong.

"What about the first question?"

"I'm planning to go to Osaka, and I'm following you just for the sake of going along the way."

"What are you going to do in Osaka?"

"Personal reasons," said Winnett. "It's impolite to pry into a lady directly. If you don't mind, I can find my own way."