Bang!
The sound of shattering glass rang out. Aizen and his group, who had already turned to leave, along with Heiji Hattori and Kazuha Toyama, turned around and looked in the direction of the sound.
A window had been shattered, and shards of glass were falling to the ground.
"What happened?"
Kazuha Toyama followed Heiji Hattori to the spot where the glass shards had fallen.
Heiji Hattori said, "The window on the third floor, I don't know who broke it."
"Ran, Sonoko, you two stay here and watch the window. Remember not to leave."
Aizen told the two women, then ran forward, while Conan ran ahead of him.
"Kazuha, just to be on the safe side, go find Uncle Shigematsu."
Heiji Hattori told Kazuha Toyama, then ran into the villa with Conan.
"Heiji..."
Kazuha Toyama called out upon seeing this, but Heiji Hattori showed no sign of stopping.
Aizen came to Kazuha Toyama's side and said to her, "Kazuha, let's go find Butler Shigematsu together."
"Thank you, Aizen."
Kazuha Toyama nodded in agreement and immediately walked with Aizen into the villa to find Akio Shigematsu.Aizen and Kazuha Toyama, of course, couldn't find Akio Shigematsu. A short while later, they went to the third floor and saw Heiji Hattori and Conan waiting outside the door.
Upon seeing them, Heiji immediately asked, "Well, did you find Uncle Shigematsu?"
Aizen shook his head, "No, Kazuha and I searched many places and asked many servants, but they all said they haven't seen Butler Shigematsu since recently."
Hearing this, Heiji looked at the closed door and said, "That's bad. The key to this house is always with Uncle Shigematsu."
Aizen stepped back, saying, "In that case, let me kick the door open."
Heiji didn't object and walked to the side. Kazuha Toyama and Conan followed suit.
Bang!
The door was tightly shut, but it was kicked open by Aizen.
The door was kicked open, and what greeted Aizen and the other three was blood—a trail of blood extending into another room.
Hattori Heiji and Conan quickly went inside.
Aizen turned to Toyama Kazuha and said, "Kazuha, why don't you just stand at the door and not go in?"
"It's...it's alright!"
Toyama Kazuha, though somewhat frightened, smiled and said she was fine, feeling a warmth in her heart; it felt good to be cared for.
Nodding to Toyama Kazuha, Aizen went inside. Toyama Kazuha followed behind, cautiously peering inside, as if receiving Aizen's protection.
Upon entering the next room, Aizen and Toyama Kazuha saw Shigematsu Akio sitting on the floor, leaning against a table. However, Shigematsu Akio had a knife stuck in his chest, clearly dead.
"Ahhh!!!"
Toyama Kazuha screamed in terror, immediately hiding behind Aizen, clutching his clothes tightly, her head bowed, afraid to look ahead.
Seeing this, Aizen said to Hattori Heiji and Conan, "You two, don't mess up the scene, understand? I'm calling Inspector Megure."
With that, Aizen took out his phone and called Inspector Megure, without dialing the police.
Hattori Heiji and Conan responded, but still looked around, trying their best not to touch anything or disturb the scene—something they, as detectives, naturally knew.
Kazuha Toyama had stopped clutching Aizen's clothes and stood to the side with her head down, embarrassed by her earlier behavior.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
A moment later, Mikio Morizono walked in, leaning on his cane.
"Why were you shouting so loudly?"
Yurie Morizono followed, walking in with her legs spread wide, and asked with a frown.
After these two, Yuji Sakuraba, Kaede Katagiri, and Kikuhito Morizono also entered the room. They were all shocked to see Akio Shigematsu murdered.
Aizen addressed Mikio Morizono and the others, saying, "Gentlemen, I've already called the police. Please don't leave until they arrive."
Mikio Morizono asked, "Mr. Aizen, did Shigematsu commit suicide... or was he murdered?"
Aizen looked at the bloodstains on the ground and said, "Judging from the bloodstains extending from the doorway, Shigematsu was likely killed and dragged here. If he committed suicide, even if he walked here, the bloodstains wouldn't be scattered like this."
"Ran, Sonoko, have you two stayed here the whole time? Has anyone escaped from here since we came up?" From the next room, Heiji Hattori loudly asked Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki downstairs, a question Aizen and the others overheard.
"Sonoko and I have been here the whole time. We haven't seen anyone leave through the window,"
Ran Mouri replied, a response Aizen and the others also heard.
Heiji Hattori and Conan emerged from the adjacent room and, under everyone's gaze, approached the body of Akio Shigematsu. Heiji knelt down and took a set of keys from Shigematsu's pocket with a handkerchief.
Heiji stood up, holding the keychain, and said, "I remember that only Uncle Shigematsu had keys to all the rooms in this house, is that right?"
Mikio Morizono replied, "The keys to all the rooms in this house are on Shigematsu."
Conan asked, "Is there a spare key for this room?"
Mikio Morizono looked at Yuji Sakuraba and said, "I don't know about that, Sakuraba, do you know?"
Yuji Sakuraba replied, "For rooms like this that are rarely used, only Uncle Shigematsu would have a key."
"In that case, I'll have to verify it,"
Heiji Hattori said, walking outside.
Aizen followed, saying, "We should try it. If this keychain has the key to this room, then this is a locked room."
Hearing this, everyone else followed and stood near the door.
Hattori Heiji tried key after key, and after more than a dozen attempts, one key finally opened the lock. This meant that before the room was kicked open, it was a sealed room.