Maori Kogoro began to understand everything

"No,"

Mao Li shook his head reluctantly, "It's nothing serious."

Yuanzi wiped the corners of her eyes and said, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have distracted myself by looking at handsome guys..."

"Um," the red-haired woman's companions gradually came over and asked, looking at Mao Li who seemed to be seriously injured, "Did Chihiro hit you?"

"Chihiro," a long-haired woman in a yellow coat frowned, "hurry up and apologize to them!"

"But..." The red-haired woman looked at Maori pitifully, "I didn't mean it. I'm sorry..."

"Hmph," the long-haired woman looked much more mature and stable than the red-haired woman, and said with disapproval, "You can only act cute now to win men's sympathy. A rich lady like you will be nothing more than an ordinary yellow-faced woman after you are over 30."

"That's too much!" the red-haired woman said angrily, "Why do you always like to make fun of me?"

"Just seeing you makes me angry!"

"Excuse me," Mao Li, who had recovered from the strife with the help of Xiaolan and the others, interrupted the quarreling women and said, "Can you let me out first?"

"Ah, sorry, sorry," the red-haired woman stuck out her tongue and made way for Mao Li, "If you need to go to the hospital, I'll pay for it."

Yuanzi snorted in dissatisfaction: "No need, we can do it ourselves."

Outside the skating rink, Maori took off his skates depressedly.

Although the injury on his calf was not serious, it was impossible for him to continue staying at the skating rink. However, he felt bored if he had to go back to the car in the parking lot...

So I had to drag Conan with me, order a cup of coffee and wait in the rest area outside the venue.

Compared to the beach in summer, the ice rink is really not that interesting, but luckily there are fireworks to watch at 7pm.

"ah!"

Two female office workers passing by noticed Maori and suddenly asked in surprise, "Are you the famous detective Maori Kogoro?"

"Ok?"

Maori was stunned for a moment, then he coughed lightly, "Yes, I am Detective Maori Kogoro."

"Wow! It's really him! Can you sign an autograph for us?"

"Of course~ Conan boy, take my paper and pen!"

……

At 6:55, there were only 5 minutes left until the fireworks started.

The red-haired rich girl Chihiro Itami was waiting anxiously in the women's restroom at the skating rink, constantly checking her watch: "Damn it, it's already 55 minutes past midnight, what are you doing? It's so frustrating, if you don't hurry up the fireworks will start..."

"Tada." The sound of roller skates tapping on the ground suddenly came from the toilet, and finally stopped outside the toilet cubicle.

"Really? You're too slow." Chihiro Itami opened the door impatiently, but suddenly stopped. She looked palely at the man wrapped in black and the shotgun pointed at her.

"wait wait wait……"

Outside the toilet, Yuanzi hurried over, but found a cleaning sign hanging on the door of the women's toilet, and several girls were waiting at the door.

"No, no, right?"

"Sorry," Yuanzi knocked on the door uncomfortably, and said embarrassedly, "Can you be faster? Will it take a long time?"

Not hearing any response, Yuanzi suddenly became distressed.

"It's really a headache. If I don't use this bathroom, I have to change my skates and go out of the rest area..."

……

"Give me, please give me."

"We are the police, please leave if you are not involved!"

The restroom at the skating rink was illuminated by the fireworks, and was crowded with tourists outside. The noise was deafening, and many people wanted to squeeze in to get a clear view of the women's restroom. It took a while for Officer Megure, who led the team, to enter the scene.

Just as the amusement park started setting off fireworks, an incident occurred in the restroom and the first person to discover it was Sonoko.

"The deceased's name is Chihiro Itami, the daughter of a company president, 27 years old..." Detective Takagi finished recording the basic information and turned to Sonoko and said, "Sonoko, can you tell me more about what happened at that time?"

"There was a sign saying it was being cleaned at the bathroom door, and no one answered when I knocked, so I stood there waiting," Sonoko said, tears welling up in her eyes. She was terrified. "When I heard the fireworks, I went outside to the window to see. At that moment, a strange man in a hooded long coat ran out, and then I went inside the bathroom to take a look..."

"Have you seen that person's face?" Takagi continued to ask.

"No, my face is covered by a hat and scarf..."

"Well."

Inspector Megure walked to the outside of the toilet cubicle in a deep voice and saw a bloody mess inside. A red-haired woman with her eyes wide open had slipped over the toilet, and the wall behind her was covered in splattered blood.

A shotgun that appeared to be the murder weapon fell at the feet of the body.

"How tragic..." Megure took a breath, "It seems that the murderer planned to use the sound of fireworks to cover up the sound of gunfire and then escape in his coat... But brother Mori, you are here too, what a coincidence."

Maori stood beside the body and examined the fatal wound: "Conan is here too."

A fatal shot to the chest. Judging from the situation at the scene, the time of death was indeed around 7 o'clock...

But no one would have expected that this previously delicate and dainty rich girl would be murdered in the blink of an eye.

As expected, the power of himself and Conan has erupted again...

"Anyway, Officer Megure, let's investigate this gun first."

Maori said so.

There were many suspicious points at the scene. One of them was the gun being left at the scene, and another was a blood letter on the wall that appeared to be a death message.

The "S" written by fingers on the wall where the body was leaning against was particularly eye-catching. The key point was that the deceased was shot dead with a fatal wound in the chest, so there was no way such a thing could be left behind...

Finally, why did Chihiro Itami stay alone in this restroom with a sign hanging on it...

"Ok?"

Maori noticed Chihiro Itami's right hand which was in the pocket of her plush coat.

"That gun is mine," Chihiro Itami's former companions rushed to the scene, and the long-haired woman who had argued with Megure explained, "It's the shotgun I used for target shooting practice. It should have been placed in an automatic locker with an electronic lock along with other people's guns..."

"Who are you?" Inspector Megure looked at the long-haired woman in confusion.

"Chihiro and I are all friends who play target shooting," the long-haired woman pointed at the two men and one woman behind her, "because this place is very close to the shooting range, so we came here together..."

Maori walked to the side of Xiaolan and Sonoko and quietly observed several of Chihiro Itami's companions.

Chapter 94: Not all high school detectives are reliable

Based on Mao Li's many years of experience in handling cases, under normal circumstances, when there are no other suspects, it is right to first suspect the victim's companions.

Among these people, the long-haired girl who had a very bad relationship with the victim was named Izumi Sano, 28 years old, a white-collar worker.

As for the other three...

The lady wearing a blue hoodie kept sobbing and wiping her eyes. Her name is Komatsu Yoshiko, a 30-year-old housewife.

The pretty boy I met at the skating rink before, Yasuji Misawa, is a 29-year-old bank clerk.

The last one is a young man with a tough and steady face, stubble on his chin, and a handsome and melancholy uncle face. His name is Oda Kunitomo, a firefighter, 29 years old.

The current situation is that all four of them know the password of the electronic lock of the locker where the guns are stored, and because they have practiced targeting during the day, they all have gun smoke reactions on their bodies.

However, the suspects were narrowed down to four people because the guns were disassembled and stored in an ordinary suitcase. The only people who knew the password of the luggage box, knew that guns were stored inside, and could assemble the box were the victim and these four companions.

This way, the murderer will be found sooner or later. All we need to do is to interrogate him to find out his alibi when the fireworks started...

"Officer," Izumi Sano looked at the muzzle of the gun covered with saliva, and said helplessly to Officer Megure, "No matter what, we were at the skating rink when the first firework was set off. It can't be the murderer, right?"

Officer Megure looked at the suspects and asked, "Really? You're all at the skating rink?"

The pretty boy Misawa Yasuji nodded hurriedly and pointed at Xiaolan and said, "Except for Oda, we were all with this girl at the time."

Xiaolan helped to testify: "Indeed, the three of them arrived when the fireworks were set off. They were only a few seconds late at most. It would take at least 30 seconds to run from the bathroom..."

"30 seconds?" Officer Megure turned to the melancholy-looking Oda Kunitomo and said in a deep voice, "Where were you at that time?"

"On the chair next to the skating rink," Oda said calmly, "I don't like to watch fireworks and join in the fun. At that time, I turned my back to the fireworks and smoked."

"So you're the only one without an alibi..."

"But I saw him," Oda looked at Maori and said, "He was also next to the skating rink at that time."

"Oh?" Officer Megure said in surprise, "Brother Maori, is what he said true?"

"Well, this,"

Maori frowned and said, "I was chatting with my fans at the time, so I didn't notice whether Mr. Oda was there, but..."

Maori walked over to the body and said, "I think we should check if Miss Itami put anything in her pockets. Maybe there will be some clues."

"Huh?" Officer Megure noticed Chihiro Itami's pocket and reached out to pull out the corpse's right hand in surprise. "Indeed, the hand was in the pocket when he was about to be shot... a cell phone?"

The corpse was holding a keypad phone in his right hand, which surprised Inspector Megure.

"There is no message on the screen. Did you want to call the police before you were killed?"

Inspector Megure tentatively pressed the redial button, and a row of “#” signs appeared on the phone screen, followed by the three letters “KIX”.

"KIX? And what does the # at the end mean?"

"KIX#?"

Sonoko leaned in closer and asked, "Maybe you pressed the wrong button because you were nervous?"

"KIX, KIX..."

Maori rested his chin on his hand and fell into deep thought.

Maori is not sure what the death message "KIX" left by the victim refers to yet, but without considering what "KIX" means, based on the alibi alone, the only possible murderer is Oda Kunitomo, but is it really that simple?

From Maori's point of view, he is more suspicious of the woman named Izumi Sano. Although she has an alibi, an alibi is often a tool used by murderers to clear themselves of suspicion.

In addition, there are blood letters and guns. It is not impossible that these were left behind intentionally by Izumi Sano, because these things do not prove anything. The blood letter can be seen as problematic at a glance. As for the gun, other people can take it.

Therefore, unless the code is solved or decisive evidence is found, there is no way to identify the murderer...

"Officer," Sano Izumi said in embarrassment, "Can you let us change our skates first? We came directly from the skating rink."

"Okay," Officer Megure nodded, "It's no problem if you have a detective with you, but please come back here immediately after you change..."

"Skates?"

Maori's expression changed slightly, and he looked at the skates on everyone's feet thoughtfully.

It's not comfortable to stand here in skates all the time, but...

"Can you wait a little longer?"

Maori called out to a few people.

"what happened?"

Everyone looked at Maori in confusion.

"Any questions?"

"I have been feeling very strange since just now." Maori squatted back in front of the corpse and looked at a splattered blood on the ground. There were two slanted parallel lines in the middle of the long bloodstain. Although they were very short, they still looked quite eye-catching.

"Sonoko," Maori turned around and asked, "did you hear the fireworks when the crime happened?"

"Eh?" Yuanzi was stunned. "Yes, there was a whoosh and then a bang. It was very loud. It might have been mixed with the gunshots at that time. Then I ran to the corridor window..."

"Are you sure it's the noise outside, and not in the bathroom?"

"This..." Yuanzi said uncertainly, "It seems to be outside..."

Maori smiled, stood up and looked at Sano Izumi and the others: "At the beginning of seven o'clock, the fireworks will be three consecutive red, yellow and blue. Even if it is outside, you should hear three sounds."

"Ah!" Officer Megure exclaimed, "Could it be..."

"That's right. What Sonoko heard was actually just the sound of gunfire. I don't know how the murderer used some method to make it sound like fireworks."

Mao Li walked up to Sano Izumi and the others and said, "In other words, your alibis are all invalid, and you are the most likely murderer."

"Who is the murderer?"

Inspector Megure's eyes lit up and he looked at Maori expectantly.

"It's Miss Sano Izumi," Conan interrupted with his cute little face tilted up, "right, Uncle Maori?"