Maori Kogoro began to understand everything

He has short hair, straight sideburns, and often wears round-frame glasses. I heard that he is also a mystery fan, but he has only met Mao Li a few times for parent-teacher meetings, and his meetings were very casual and they never talked about the case.

But on Friday, Mr. Kobayashi suddenly took the initiative to contact Maori.

"The Boy Detective Team of the 21st Century?" Maori exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, yesterday after school, a freelance writer named Sugimori came to me at school and said that he wanted to interview Kojima-san and his team of detectives," Teacher Kobayashi said uncertainly, "so I thought, I should ask Detective Maori who attended the last parents' meeting first..."

"Freelance writer?" Mao Li frowned. "Why would he suddenly want to interview a group of elementary school students?"

"This... I'm not too sure. The other party seems to be a famous writer. I heard from the police that Kojima-san and his colleagues often help solve cases, especially Conan and Ai. But... it must be because of Detective Mori, right?" Kobayashi paused and asked nervously, "So I want to ask Detective Mori's opinion, so..."

"me?"

Mao Li held the phone and drooped his eyelids. "Forget about the interview. Although they must want to be interviewed, it's not a good thing for elementary school students."

"Okay, okay," Teacher Kobayashi said, somewhat disappointed, "Then I'll reply to him right away."

"Click."

After hanging up the phone, Mao Li prepared to take a nap, but within a few minutes, Mr. Kobayashi called again in a hurry: "Sorry, Mr. Sugimori said he didn't know if he could interview Detective Mao Li and the Junior Detective Team."

"I have already agreed with Ms. Yoko to participate in the interview program hosted by her on Nichimi TV, so I will not accept other interviews for the time being. Let him find other materials."

Mao Li let out a sigh and put down the phone.

He didn't mean to deprive the children of the right to be interviewed, but if the Junior Detective Team became famous, it would be easy for those guys in the organization to notice Conan and Xiao Ai...

But it seems that these kids are now quite famous...

……

On Saturday, a burst of police sirens suddenly sounded in Mihua, and several police cars stopped on the roadside outside an ordinary apartment building. Not long after, a special call was made to the Maori Detective Agency.

Maori hurried to the apartment and as soon as he went upstairs he saw the calm Inspector Megure.

"What's going on, officer?"

"Brother Mori," Officer Megure's face improved when he saw Mori, "The victim is Mr. Masato Sugimori, a freelance writer..."

"Sugimori?" Maori looked to the side and noticed that Teacher Kobayashi had also been called to the scene, looking like he was being questioned.

"Yes," Inspector Megure said in a deep voice, "It was Masato Sugimori who was originally planning to interview Conan. The time of death was probably between 11 and 12 noon yesterday. The murder weapon was a camera tripod. The murderer is likely an acquaintance, or the person this writer was interviewing..."

"Have you found the suspect?" Conan's voice suddenly sounded from behind, and everyone present was stunned at the same time.

Maori looked back and found that not only Conan, but also Ayumi and Ai followed him: "Why are you guys here?"

"How can we just ignore Teacher Xiaolin when he's in trouble?"

Mitsuhiko and the others complained at once: "Besides, isn't Uncle Maori a member of our Junior Detective Team? How could he leave us behind?"

"You guys have so many reasons," Mao Li frowned, "Since you're here, just be quiet and don't interrupt..."

Megure coughed lightly and interrupted Maori: "As for the suspects, we have found four people, all of whom left messages on the phone at the time of the crime. The first one is Mr. Kobayashi..."

Maori nodded slightly to Mr. Kobayashi, who looked worried, and followed Inspector Megure into the room where the murder scene took place.

Outside the door, you can see a man in a vest slumped against the wall, his head covered in blood, and his originally handsome face looks a little hideous and scary.

Maori took a look at the body and turned to the scene arrangement. He found the blood-stained murder weapon, a tripod, among a pile of books. As the man's body was carried away, the tripod was also installed by the forensic personnel.

The answering machine was on the low table next to it, splattered with blood, and the message light was still flashing.

Mao Li took a closer look and found that some of the blood on the message button had been wiped off.

"That's the problem," explained Inspector Megure. "Someone pressed the message button after the crime and set it to leave a message. If the victim regained consciousness after the criminal escaped, he should have called for help or the police. And there was no blood on the victim's fingers..."

"So it was the prisoner who pressed it?" Maori asked.

"That should be correct," Megure nodded. "The important thing is that when the body was found, the door of this room was not locked, and the key was placed next to the phone, so it was not to delay the discovery of the body. It is very likely that the criminal left a message on the answering phone himself to forge an alibi, so we called Mr. Kobayashi over..."

Maori silently put his hands in his arms.

He had already taken a rough look. The criminal looked quite panicked. There was blood on the door handle. It was probably because he had touched the blood on the answering machine while wearing gloves, and the blood got on the door handle again when he escaped.

"We have recorded the messages separately," Megure brought out a player, "There are four messages in total..."

"Beep!"

"There are 4 messages... I'm Kobayashi, the homeroom teacher of Class B, Grade 11, Teitan Elementary School, who just called. A-choo... Sorry, it seems to be a pollen allergy... I've asked for you, and Detective Mori said he accepted an interview with Nichiuri TV. I'm so sorry... Beep, 25: a.m...."

"Shansen? I'm Qinghua. I drank too much yesterday... I'm sorry, I'm not angry anymore... You always refused to take me back to your house, so I wondered if there was another woman at home..."

Mao Li listened carefully, but the recording contained background sound of television.

"Speaking of pollen allergies, the pollen is even more severe today. I wonder if anyone has any strategies for dealing with pollen allergies..."

"Well," the second message came to the end, "Please contact me after you hear the message... Beep, Friday at 11:26 a.m...."

"This is the 11: a.m. show "Total Heart TV" broadcast by Nichiren TV," Officer Megure interrupted. "My wife Midori likes this show very much and often records it for me to watch with her... I think if I ask her, she will know the specific broadcast time of this segment. It is indeed the time when the message was left."

Maori had dealt with Officer Megure's wife, Midoro, when he was working at the Metropolitan Police Department. He nodded and watched Megure play the third message.

"I'm Higaki... I want to meet you. I'm on my way to your house now... If you're not at home, forget it. I'll come another day..."

"The next stop is Ao Sui..." A station announcement suddenly sounded in the message, "Ao Sui, please watch your step when you get off..."

"I'm so sorry about the car, bye... Friday 11:27 a.m...."

Maori looked up and exchanged glances with Inspector Megure.

"The background is the announcement from the train," Megure explained. "We checked and found that Okuho Station is at least 35 minutes away from here. And because the conductor who made the announcement that day had a pollen allergy, he didn't even finish saying 'watch the space under your feet', so the announcement wasn't recorded in advance."

"So your alibi is sufficient?"

"And one last message..."

"Beep, I'm Inaba from Xingrongkan. I want to ask how the report I asked you to report is going... Editor-in-chief, what day is it today?"

The person in the message seemed to be shouting at someone else, and a middle-aged man immediately replied: "It's the 22nd, you should at least remember it, Inaba!"

"S-Sorry, that means the deadline is only a week away. Please do your best, Shansen! Ah, I don't mind the last report that exposed the inside story. Please take care of me in the future... Editor-in-chief, are you really going to watch the night game today?"

"It's okay. We're playing at the Dongdu Stadium today."

"Beep, 11:29 a.m. Friday..."

"It was from the company. In addition to the person who called, there was also an editor-in-chief." Megure turned off the player. "We have contacted the editor-in-chief. They said that editors often come in and out frequently and are not sure. However, the editor named Inaba should have been in the editorial department at the time. Because his cell phone was not working well, Inaba often asked him about the date..."

Megure paused, looked at Mr. Kobayashi who was waiting outside and continued, "That is to say, except for Mr. Kobayashi, the other three have clear alibis. Although Mr. Kobayashi said that he had been staying in school, he did not have a sufficient alibi. He had enough time..."

"But," Mao Li frowned, "Didn't they say that the criminal left the message to create an alibi?"

"The problem is that this could be an attempt to disrupt our police investigation..."

"Teacher Kobayashi has no motive, and even if Teacher Kobayashi is the murderer, there is no need for him to do this. If he doesn't leave a message, it won't arouse suspicion."

Maori then looked at Kobayashi Sumiko who was talking to Ayumi and the others.

The incident happened a little suddenly. The writer who had originally approached Mr. Kobayashi for an interview and report suddenly died. Mr. Kobayashi turned out to be the biggest suspect. It was too much of a coincidence to say it was a coincidence.

Perhaps the criminal knew from the beginning that the victim had contacted Mr. Kobayashi, and knew it quite clearly.

"Officer," Mao Li turned to Megure and said, "Can I ask those people again?"

"It's OK..." Officer Megure said in a daze, "Is there something wrong?"

"There are a few suspicious points. There is nothing wrong with the second message even if it was from the TV here. As for the last message, if we rule out the editor-in-chief as an accomplice, there is a way to fabricate false evidence..."

Maori looked at the crime scene again.

"So now the only one who really has an alibi is Higaki in the third message."

Chapter 132: The Popular Young Detective Team

"Dangdangdang..."

The investigation was still ongoing when a piercing warning sound suddenly came from a nearby railway crossing. It lasted for several minutes until the train passed.

Maori stood by the guardrail of the corridor outside the apartment, looking at the street after the rain for a while, while Conan and a few others were whispering about something. Conan in particular looked a little excited, as if he was eager to try.

Maori drooped his eyelids, looked at Teacher Kobayashi on the other side, and then found Megure who had answered the suspect's call.

"Brother Mori," Officer Megure turned on the speakerphone and said, "This is Ms. Touda, who is also a freelance writer. She said she called from her home yesterday..."

"Hello, is there anything else?" A female voice with obvious impatience came from the phone, "So what's going on, Mr. Police? Did Shansen get into any trouble?"

"Well," Inspector Megure responded, "We still have some information about Mr. Sugimori..."

"Nothing happened anymore."

Maori helped hang up the phone while Inspector Megure looked at him in a daze.

"The Toudou Loop Line passes through here at roughly the same time every day. The time when Ms. Pengtian left her message was exactly when the train passed by. If she was nearby, there would be no way there would be no sound..."

Inspector Megure nodded dazedly and said, "Then only Mr. Inaba is left."

At Xingrong Hall, the editor-in-chief, who received another call from the police, sounded very busy. The background sound was full of various shouting voices, and someone was asking the editor questions.

"Inaba? He went out on his motorcycle to hold a seminar with writers. We can't help it. We are busy here and don't have enough staff..."

"It doesn't matter," Mao Li replied, "Just ask a few questions."

"you are?"

"Ah, I'm Kogoro Mori, special advisor to the Metropolitan Police Department..."

"Mouri Kogoro? Isn't he the famous detective?" the editor-in-chief asked in surprise, "Did Inaba really commit a crime?"

"It's nothing important. I just wanted to confirm the information of a few people. Mr. Inaba happened to be among them," Maori asked calmly, "I wonder if there was anything special about yesterday afternoon?"

"Anything special?" The editor-in-chief thought in a deep voice, "It seems that there is nothing special. The editorial department is still so busy. I was so busy that I seemed to have a cold. But I feel much better today..."

"Does Mr. Inaba always go out on a motorcycle?"

"Well, since there are no special cars here, we don't have to worry about traffic jams if we use motorcycles, so Inaba has always used his old motorcycle..."

"Does Mr. Inaba know a freelance writer named Masato Sugimori?"

"Shansen? I seem to know him, but we seemed to have had a falling out before... Sorry, I have a lot of things to do here..."

"The last question," Mao Li said seriously, "is about the night game."

"Eh?"

"Because Mr. Inaba mentioned the night match in the phone message."

"Ah, this is about the professional baseball games these past two days. I wanted to go, but I felt very uncomfortable and my eyes were bloodshot, so I could only sleep at home. I could go today, but the weather is a bit worrying..." The editor-in-chief was talking, and suddenly interrupted, "Wait a minute, Inaba is back, you can ask him if you have any questions..."

"In this case, we can ask him to come directly to Mr. Sugimori's house on his motorcycle... Yes, because there are several other suspects, it would be better to ask them in person..."

After getting the response, Mao Li hung up the phone. When he looked up, he saw Inspector Megure and others who looked like curious babies.

"Is Mr. Inaba the murderer?" Inspector Megure was the first to come to his senses.

"Because now he is the only suspect..." Mao Li said as a matter of course, "It's only right to call him over for questioning, right? Otherwise, we can only assume that the murderer originally intended to leave a message, but suddenly gave up in the end... This would be a wide range, right?"

"That's right..." Officer Megure stammered and laughed dryly, "Then let's investigate Mr. Sugimori's social relationships... Takagi?"

"Yes, Inspector!"

"Uncle Maori," Ayumi asked worriedly, "Teacher Kobayashi is not the criminal, right?"

"Of course not," Mao Li said with a smile, "Because Mr. Kobayashi has always been single and doesn't have any emotional disputes. He has almost no contact with the victim except for this interview..."

"But……"

"Of course there is also an absolute reason, that is, the victim would not allow women to enter his room. If you want to explain the reason..."

Mao Li took a photo of the corpse at the scene and his eyes fell on a key with a silver pony logo.

"Mr. Shansen lives in a one-bedroom apartment of no more than 10 square meters, but he wears designer clothes and has the key to a Ferrari sports car hanging on his belt. It's clear that he is the kind of person who would rather cut down on his living expenses in order to maintain a luxury car lifestyle..."

"And the room keys were not put together, which shows that Shansen is actually a vain person. This is also the reason why Miss Qinghua refused to take the second message home."

"Really?" Ayumi became happy and ran away to talk to Teacher Kobayashi.

Mao Li reluctantly put down the photo.

In any case, the editor named Inaba is undoubtedly the most suspicious person now. The relationship between the editor and the freelance writer is also different from that of others. He is the most likely person to enter Sugimori's room.

Although the information collected is not sufficient, after excluding the suspicion of several other people, subtle loopholes can still be found in Inaba's message.