Maori Kogoro began to understand everything

"Grandma Mi, what time will the power outage occur?"

"Time," Granny Mi thought for a moment, "It seemed to be half past twelve, because the lights came on very quickly, and I even checked the time."

"Half past twelve..."

Mao Li raised the remote control in his hand and asked, "Has anyone set a timer to turn on the air conditioner?"

"No, there's no need for a timer..." Granny Mi said in confusion, "But to be honest, I just felt a gust of warm wind blowing over me at that time, and the lights went out..."

"Detective Maori, what's the problem?"

Gojo Osamu asked immediately afterwards.

"It shouldn't be a coincidence, but someone deliberately set a timer to open it. As for the reason..."

Maori thought about it and went upstairs to the second floor, and began to check the air-conditioning remote controls in other rooms one by one. He found that all the remote controls were set with timers, and they were all set at the power outage time of "12:30".

"Although I can't be sure, if there is no accident, this should be the reason why the circuit breaker tripped and the power went out... In other words, Miss Lihua is not an accomplice..."

Mao Li said this in a deep voice, and then looked at the heavy rain outside, "In short, Miss Lihua is very likely to have been killed. Now we can only wait for the police to come tomorrow and then search the woods."

There are too few useful clues now. The only thing Mori is sure of is that the murderer is among Rokuta, Ichieda Takashi, Gojo Osamu and Mifune. As for whether the murderer is one or two of them, he is not sure yet.

Maori looked at Ichieda Takashi and Gojo Osamu who remained in the living room.

Because of his identity as a famous detective, the criminal will undoubtedly be several times more cautious and it will be difficult for him to reveal his true identity.

(I suddenly want to learn Dr. Aso’s disguise skills. It must be very convenient for investigating cases...)

After sighing a little in his heart, Mao Li did not go back to the living room immediately. Instead, he lit a cigarette and tried his best to recall all the details.

From the beginning, Miss Reika disappeared, everyone was looking for her, and then Nikaidou was drowned... sleeping pills... power outage...

The accident two years ago was obviously not that simple. After all, the person involved, Nikaido, and Yotsuga Reika, one died and the other went missing...

It was quite unreasonable that the murderer deliberately put sleeping pills in the coffee instead of poison or something, and also deliberately carried him to the kitchen sink... Obviously there was some purpose.

This was not a random killing, but a premeditated murder with a motive. The sleeping pills and the attack on him were all part of the murderer's tactics...

As for everything Rokuda and the others said, there must be lies among them... The purpose is to mislead people's thinking, but it is not obvious and very hidden.

Unfortunately, he was knocked out by sleeping pills and was not present at the most critical moment, otherwise he might have been able to find clues from the words and actions of these people.

But then again, the murderer deliberately hid Yotsui Reika somewhere, and then took the opportunity to kill Nikaidou while searching in the forest. All the telephone lines in the villa were cut off... All this shows that the murderer still has some purpose that has not been accomplished, either he still needs to kill people, or he still has some method to complete.

The most likely purpose is undoubtedly to forge an alibi.

So what was the murderer's purpose in killing him? Was it just to get rid of him, a famous detective who might have access to the truth?

"Water, drowning, drowning, water..."

Maori muttered, stroking his chin.

The key point of the case lies in "water". One possibility is that Yaeko also drowned two years ago. Another possibility is...

"The murderer hopes that we will form a habit of thinking and hide the true method of killing Shijing Lihua!"

Maori's eyes flashed with brilliance, and he quickly filtered out what Rokuda and others had said again.

If it is the second possibility, then the clue to solving the case must be with Yotsuga Reika.

But where is Sijing Lihua?

The possibility of it being in the forest is very low, but it is very likely to be in the trunks of the cars with flat tires, but there are still many problems.

The remaining possible place is the villa. Although everyone has searched it, since the murderer is among the four people of Liutian, it is very convenient to make some small moves, such as searching a certain place before others and pretending that nothing was found.

In any case, Shijing Lihua should be not far from the pool or sink, so that the murderer can disguise the murder method and create an alibi...

Maori's brain was working rapidly, and several possible places appeared in his mind.

The first was the fountain in front of the villa. The place where Nikaidou drowned was not far from the parking spot. Then there was the kitchen of the villa, where the murderer planned to use the same method to kill him. There were also several toilets and then the bathroom...

……

It was still raining outside the villa, and Maori walked to the fountain with an umbrella. Although he was still in the process of solving the case and it was not the time to think about other things, Maori did think that umbrellas were really good. He planned to ask Dr. Agasa to make a special umbrella for him, which could be used as a decoration for men on weekdays, and also as a weapon and tool for special occasions.

Maori looked around the fountain carefully. Nikaidou's body was still placed by the pool, covered with a piece of cloth to prevent it from being washed away by rain. There was nothing unusual in the pool.

Mao Li then turned his attention to the parking lot not far away. The six cars with flat tires were still standing in the rain. If the murderer hid Shijing Lihua in the car and moved it to the fountain, it would be easy for people in the living room to see it. It would be possible to move it into the villa through the side door, but it would be troublesome and there would also be a possibility of being discovered.

After observing the surroundings of the villa, Maori returned to the villa. This time he did not alarm other people, but just quietly checked around the bathroom again.

After checking several toilets, he felt that the possibility of the murderer hiding Shijing Lihua here was not high. Not only was it easy to be discovered, but the toilet was also inconvenient to arrange.

Finally, there is only the bathroom...

"Click!"

The corridor near the bathroom was dark, and Maori groped his way to open each door.

A small storage room, a toilet, and finally a dim bathroom. Mao Li pressed the light switch, but found no response, the light bulb seemed to be broken.

It is indeed very strange. In such a big villa, the lights are on everywhere else, but only this corridor is dim.

Maori's expression tensed. This was undoubtedly the most likely place. It was very suitable for the murderer to do something. It was even possible that the murderer had broken the light bulb here in advance.

The bathroom is not very big, and the only places to hide are the washing machine, the cabinet under the sink, and...

Mao Li checked the washing machine and the cabinet one after another, and finally walked to the covered bathtub. After reaching out to lift the cover, his eyes suddenly tightened, and then the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing an inexplicable smile.

"I see, I understand everything..."

In the bathtub, Miss Lihua was lying in the water with her body fixed with tape, and it seemed that she had been given sleeping pills. The young lady was still sleeping, but the water in the bathtub had reached her neck and was still rising slowly. I'm afraid that in about an hour, it would rise to a height that would drown her.

Maori looked at the shower head floating in the bathtub and releasing water silently. He paused and turned off the water valve.

The whole case is undoubtedly very clear now. The reason why the murderer did so many things was all for the method in front of him. The only thing that is still unclear is who the murderer is.

This is either waiting for Shijing Lihua to wake up, or waiting for the murderer to reveal himself, because the murderer will definitely come to finish the fake scene after Shijing Lihua drowned naturally...

Maori's eyes flashed as he glanced at Miss Lihua who was sleeping in the bathtub. He closed the bathtub lid again and turned to leave the bathroom.

The effect of the previous overdose of sleeping pills had not completely worn off yet, but he was not sleepy at all at the moment, and could even be considered to be highly alert.

This daughter of the Shijing Group is probably not a good person, and she might even be the murderer who caused Yaeko's bizarre death two years ago. But no matter what, the wrong has its perpetrator, and the debt has its creditor. This guy who wanted to avenge her actually troubled an outsider like her, so Mao Li had to settle the score with him...

Chapter 42: Noble Morality and Hidden Maori

After returning to the living room, Mao Li did not show anything unusual. He just yawned and said that he also wanted to go to the second floor to rest.

"Why is he like this too?" Gojo Osamu looked at Maori leaving, his face showing indignation, "I originally thought he might be able to find the murderer... As expected, what the newspapers say is not very credible. The so-called famous detective is just a fake..."

"Don't say that," Ichieda Takashi explained helpfully, "Detective Mori already had a hard time. He was drugged with sleeping pills and nearly drowned."

"Even so, there's no need to keep us waiting here, right?"

Gojo Osamu still felt a little unbalanced. "And wouldn't it be more dangerous for him to sleep alone on the second floor? Really, what on earth is he thinking?"

Maori ignored the complaints from the living room. After choosing a room on the second floor, he quietly returned to the bathroom corridor on the first floor without telling Rokuda and Mifune who were on the second floor, and hid in the toilet opposite the bathroom.

He had already asked, and the people who were in charge of searching the first floor before were Ichieda Takashi and Gojo Osamu, which meant that the murderer was very likely to be one of these two. Although it was the same to monitor in the living room, if he stayed in the living room all the time, it would undoubtedly keep the murderer alert.

Time passed little by little, and soon an hour had passed, which was the time when the murderer planned for Shijing Lihua to die. There was movement upstairs in the middle, but no one came to the bathroom.

It was past seven in the morning and the TV in the living room had already started broadcasting the morning news, but there were still no cars approaching the villa.

Granny Mi yawned and walked out of the living room.

"Aunt Mi, where are you going?"

Yizhi Long asked in confusion.

"Go to the bathroom..."

"Let me go too!"

"I'll go too."

Ichieda Takashi and Gojo Osamu hurriedly caught up with Granny Mi.

The restroom was near the kitchen, just across a corridor from the bathroom, so Maori soon heard the noise.

Sure enough, someone was rushing towards the bathroom.

In the dim light, Maori only saw a figure. The other person looked around for a while, quickly rushed into the bathroom, took off his suit jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and reached out to open the bathtub lid.

"I finally waited for you,"

Mao Li followed him into the bathroom, one hand in his pocket, "Mr. Ichieda Takashi."

"what?"

Ichiji Takashi turned around in horror and saw Maori standing at the bathroom door. He laughed dryly with cold sweat, "What are you talking about, Detective Maori, I just..."

"Do you want me to explain it more clearly? The murderer of this murder case, Mr. Ichieda Takashi?"

Maori looked directly at Ichieda Takashi. "First, he hid Miss Reika in the bathtub to prepare himself. Then, he took the opportunity to go to the forest to find Miss Reika and called Nikaidou to the fountain to drown him... Then he put sleeping pills in my coffee and planned to use the same method on me. Do you still want to deny it now?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Detective Maori,"

Yizhi Long pointed at himself and said, "Do I look like a murderer? Besides, you and I have no grudge against each other, why should I kill you? And..."

"So what are you doing in this bathroom?"

Mao Li raised an eyebrow and interrupted, "Isn't it for Miss Lihua?"

"How, how could it be? I just wanted to take a shower here. I didn't even know Miss Lihua's body was in there!"

"Oh? Why do you think Miss Lihua's body is in the bathtub? Oh Moses Doyi..."

"Because,"

Only then did Ichiji Takashi realize that he had let the cat out of the bag. He broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly explained, "Detective Maori, didn't you just say that? The corpse and the like..."

"I just said that you hid Miss Lihua in the bathtub."

Mao Li said coldly, "Mr. Yizhi Long, are you still trying to quibble?"

Ichieda Takashi was still trying to argue: "Well, I was just guessing. Nikaidou was drowned, and you were also forced into the water by the murderer, so I think the same might happen to the young lady..."

"What happened?"

Finally, hearing the noise, Rokuda and Mifune ran downstairs and gathered around the bathroom door in confusion.

"Uncle Detective,"

Mifune said in dissatisfaction, "Why are you yelling so early in the morning?"

"I seemed to hear what happened to Miss Lihua. Did you find the eldest lady?"

Gojo Osamu and Granny Mi also followed.

Being watched by everyone, Yizhi Long became even more nervous. He laughed dryly and said to Mao Li, "Besides, everyone just drank the coffee that Granny Mi brought before. I didn't even know who would take which cup, so I didn't give them sleeping pills in advance... Someone must be framing me..."

"yes,"

Gojo Osamu was still confused about the situation, so he helped out by saying, "Detective Maori, it's not us who gave you the sleeping pills. Wouldn't it be terrible if you drank them yourself?"

"There are so many ways to avoid drinking it,"

Mao Li looked at Yizhi Long and shrugged, "You can do something else while giving the drug, as long as you don't let yourself drink the coffee. Besides, whether you drank the coffee at that time is still a question."

"But how did you, Detective Maori, get that cup of coffee? You just took it casually..."

"There's no need for me to drink it, because it doesn't matter who it is. Whoever drinks that cup of coffee will be like me. The criminal's purpose is not even to kill people, but just to get a confession, or to be forced into the water by the murderer..."

At this point, Mao Li paused for a moment, then raised his voice: "I'm right, Mr. Ichieda Takashi! You want people to think that the method used to kill Miss Lihua is the same as before!"

"One?"

Everyone was confused and looked shocked. "What's going on? Is Yizhi the criminal?"

"One branch you ..."

"What? Haha, why are you talking like I'm a murderer?"

Yizhi Long smiled stiffly and said, "Well, even if I did a good job, did you see me committing the crime? I just wanted to take a shower here..."

As he spoke, Ichieda Takashi became more confident, just like the other criminals that Maori had met. He even smiled at him smugly, "A so-called famous detective who can determine the murderer based on imagination without any evidence? Then I can be a famous detective too! Anyone can!"

Mao Li sighed speechlessly, feeling that there was nothing more to say about the murderer in this case. He turned and walked out of the bathroom, then stood in the corridor:

"Didn't I just tell you, Mr. Ichieda Takashi, why do you think Miss Reika is dead?"