"You're all getting more and more ridiculous. If there were many police officers with me at the time, how could I have been the first one to enter the living room? Where would I have had the time to upright the bookshelf?"
"Besides, if the knife was fixed to the bookshelf with tape, wouldn't that method be spotted by the police at a glance?"
"And, constantly checking the time is just my personal habit."
Everyone's deductions had caused Keizo Masuo to break out in a cold sweat. He quickly came up with a set of excuses in his mind and blurted them out.
"You definitely did it like this!" Conan once again climbed onto the bookshelf, horizontally inserting the paper knife he had folded for Officer Shiratori to use in the reenactment, into the gap between the books on the top shelf and the cabinet body.
This row of books seemed to have been specially chosen, allowing a knife to be inserted between the cabinet bodies perfectly, not even wobbling.
"Next, just place two books on top of the bookshelf to cover the protruding part of the knife, making it less conspicuous."
"If you do this, even if the bookshelf falls, it won't leave any tape marks. The police, seeing the scattered books, will also think it's traces from the victim struggling with the culprit."
This Great Detective, with his innocent smile, once again cornered the culprit.
"I see!"
"This way, the reason why the knife was stabbed horizontally into the victim's back can also be explained!" Takagi figured out another crucial point.
When these illogical phenomena appeared one by one and then fit together perfectly, the truth of the case was already very clear!
"Because there are police everywhere here, I think the most crucial evidence should still be on him," Tsuneo glanced at Mr. Masuo, who was still trying to argue.
The item used to connect the other end of the kite string, which he had removed from the bookshelf, should still be hidden on him, with no opportunity to dispose of it.
Keizo Masuo opened his mouth but said nothing. After a moment of silence, he took out a crumpled ball of tape from his suit pocket, which also contained a thumbtack.
By simply sticking the thumbtack upside down on the top of the bookshelf and tying a loop from the kite string onto it, then hanging it, his wife would, upon exercising to a certain extent, step down and send herself to her demise.
Every day at precisely two o'clock, she would exercise in the living room. By calculating this time, he could call back from the Metropolitan Police Department and create the most perfect alibi.
"Looking at it this way, the purpose of this tag is also very clear," Officer Shiratori seemed to have finally woken up, picking up the handwritten tag with the weight loss goal displayed on the bookshelf.
If the police had entered immediately, even if they had discovered the thumbtack, the perpetrator could have argued that the nail was used to hang the tag.
"Hehe, I tried hundreds of times to adjust this thumbtack to the most perfect position. When I uprighted the bookshelf, I didn't think much of it and just tore it off directly. I never expected it to become the most fatal evidence."
Keizo Masuo gave a powerless smile, holding the crumpled tape and sighing.
"Why did you kill your wife?" Takagi genuinely couldn't understand the motive.
"I did it for the insurance money. I had previously taken out a very high amount of insurance for my wife, which is why I devised this murder method." Keizo Masuo's expression had calmed down a lot.
At this point, saying anything else was useless.
"No, I think you did it to protect the people in those photos," Officer Sato glanced at a certain elementary school student, then smiled and exposed Mr. Masuo's lie.
"Actually, you conspired with your friends to personally plan and rob the bank you were in charge of, right?"
As soon as these words were out, Keizo Masuo's face changed again.
"Is that true?!" Takagi and Shiratori were both surprised.
"Yes, he is very likely the mastermind of this robbery. With him, the bank manager, coordinating internally, the plan was naturally foolproof."
"But unfortunately, by sheer coincidence, Mrs. Masuo also went to the bank that day and happened to be taken hostage."
"She heard the robbers' voices and immediately recognized them as friends of the couple." Officer Sato saw Keizo Masuo completely collapse to his knees, knowing her deduction was correct.
Conan stood at a distance, holding the photo album open in his hands, using it to hint at the murderer's motive to the police.
"You didn't tell your wife about robbing the bank?" Tsuneo was a bit curious about his thinking.
For something like this, couldn't everyone just sit together and happily divide the money?
Worst case, after spending it all, just rob it again in a few years. The banks in Beika Town don't seem that hard to rob anyway.
"Yes, she truly was unaware of this matter and even said she knew who the robbers were." Keizo Masuo knelt on the ground, a bitter smile on his face.
The mechanic suddenly felt that there was something wrong with this guy's head…
…
Half an hour later.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
"You're finally back!" Professor Agasa and the others had waited at the Metropolitan Police Department until evening, and their patience had worn thin.
"Thanks to this guy, we might have to stay a bit longer," Tsuneo cast a sideways glance at the dog-headed detective, returning the Professor's car keys.
The Great Detective had figured everything out but insisted on personally guiding Takagi and the others to slowly solve the case, which wasted a lot of time.
They might also need to give a simple statement later.
"Then I'll take the children home first," the Professor drove off with the three kids and Akemi.
"Sure enough, that guy was the culprit," Haibara was the first to notice Keizo Masuo's intense focus on time.
This outcome was not unexpected.
"Officer Takagi just told me that Mr. Masuo said in the car that he robbed the bank for his extravagant wife," Conan nodded.
"Precisely because of that, this person is unfathomable," Tsuneo gave a couple of powerless laughs.
His wife, to him, gave the impression of someone who would settle things down if she got money.
To cover up a robbery by committing a murder, one can't say it's illogical, only that he's sick!
"To 'earn money' for his wife, but because she knew the truth, he decided to kill her?" Haibara hugged herself and nodded, roughly understanding the motive.
"Humans are complex animals," Conan sighed, sounding prematurely aged.
Committing more wrongs to cover up a certain crime – such things happen too often.
"Conan-kun, what are you saying?" Officer Sato, who happened to be passing by the three, heard this line, stopped, and bent down to ask curiously.
"Eh?"
"I-I saw on TV that humans are also animals, I wonder if it's true or not?" Conan quickly changed his expression, patting his head and saying with a smile.
"…" Haibara and Tsuneo both instinctively moved two steps away from him.
Strange man!
(End of chapter)
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