"First, let's talk about the teeth of the deceased, Mr. Iwao Akashi."
"Hiroto-san, you mentioned that your father visited the dentist two or three days ago, didn't you?" The "Sleeping Kogoro" threw out his first question, his voice echoing with its usual calm authority.
"Yes... he told me he had gone to see a dentist before," Akashi Hiroto replied, nodding slowly.
"Is it wise for someone who just had a tooth pulled to eat spicy curry?" Detective Mouri pressed on. "I should remind you, dental extractions leave a record. Especially for the elderly, pulling a tooth is a significant procedure. A doctor would remember it vividly."
Tsuneo, leaning against a nearby wall, glanced at the detective.
What a sly old fox, Tsuneo thought. First he tosses out a leading question, then he sets the hook, rattling the suspect's composure before they even know what hit them.
"I... I didn't know he had already seen the dentist when I made the curry," Hiroto said, shaking his head.
The defense was sound enough. One could argue he was an inconsiderate or unobservant son for serving spicy food to an elderly father with dental issues, but that was a far cry from being a murderer.
As for the dental records... who was to say the tooth hadn't just fallen out naturally due to age?
"Inspector Yamamura!" An officer hurried in from the hallway and whispered urgently into the inspector's ear.
"Are you serious?!"
Yamamura's face twisted into an expression of shock. He nodded quickly and turned to the room, relaying the forensic findings.
Mr. Iwao Akashi's tooth hadn't been pulled two or three days ago. Based on the state of the gums, it had happened shortly before his death. Furthermore, the missing tooth had been found inside the house.
Unexpectedly, it was discovered hidden within the half-finished plate of curry the victim had been eating.
Had the tooth been knocked out by something hard?
"The surrounding teeth also showed varying degrees of loosening," Yamamura added, feeling a pang of pity. The old man's dental health was clearly a wreck, yet he had still forced down half a plate of spicy curry.
"How strange. Would he really be bored enough to bite down on a metal spoon?" Sonoko mused, her brow furrowed in thought. Curry was hardly the kind of food that required much chewing.
"You're half right," Mouri's voice drifted from the chair. "The victim's teeth were indeed loosened because he was biting down on something."
"Biting what?" Yamamura asked, holding up his camcorder to catch a dramatic close-up.
"The very rope used to hang him!"
As the Great Detective delivered the answer, Hiroto's head sank just a fraction lower.
"He bit the rope he was hanging from?"
"But why?" Sonoko, playing her role as the self-proclaimed Queen of Deduction, looked skeptical.
"Anyone would bite down with everything they had in that situation," Tsuneo interjected without looking up. He was still focused on the television, where a variety show featuring girls in swimwear was airing.
Today was surfing; the beach volleyball from last time had been much better.
"I've got it!" Yamamura suddenly grabbed his own necktie, stuffed it into his mouth, and mimicked the tension of being suspended from a ceiling beam.
If he were in that position with his feet dangling, he would have to bite the rope for dear life just to keep from being strangled instantly!
"Wait a minute," Yamamura said, shaking his head as he realized a flaw. "There were faint ligature marks on his wrists, but we didn't find any rope used for binding them. If his hands were free, he could have just grabbed the rope and shouted for help!"
"Of course his hands were tied. It's just that, after the victim died, the rope 'hid' itself," the detective continued.
"Hid... itself?"
The confused onlookers exchanged bewildered glances.
"It's actually quite simple. Hiroto-san, I hope you don't mind if we use this lamp in the living room for a demonstration?"
As Mouri spoke, Conan walked into the center of the room, a pair of scissors in hand.
"I don't mind," Hiroto murmured, offering no resistance.
Conan hopped onto the table and sniped off about forty centimeters of the lamp's pull-cord.
"And now?" Ran asked, holding the severed length of cord.
"Now, let's ask Tsuneo-niichan to help us out," Conan called out to the "handyman."
And turn off that damn TV! It's distracting! Conan yelled inwardly.
"Understood. First, we pin the subject down!"
Forced to turn off the television, Tsuneo grabbed the "Grip of Death" schoolboy and pinned him to the table. He took a cloth from the table and gagged Conan tightly, tying it behind his head so he couldn't make a sound.
Yamamura watched, nodding in approval. Tsuneo's movements were clean, decisive, and showed absolutely no hesitation just because the "victim" was a child.
"Next, we pull his hands behind his back and tie them with the cord using a butterfly knot," Tsuneo said, finishing the knot with a satisfied smile.
He took pride in his work; he was excellent at tying shoelaces, after all.
At this point, the pint-sized detective could do nothing but kick his legs.
"The next step?" Yamamura asked, camcorder rolling. Not only was the Sleeping Kogoro performing, but they were getting a live criminal reenactment.
"We hang him."
Tsuneo spoke without a shred of mercy. However, since the wooden beams in the ceiling weren't exposed, he simply went through the motions.
The "Great Detective" bit down on a rope through a handkerchief with a look of pure resentment as Tsuneo lifted him into the air.
"This is the point where you can remove the gag. Because he has to bite the rope to stay alive, he can't let go to scream," Tsuneo signaled for Ran to untie the cloth from behind Conan's head.
"The rope behind his back?" Sonoko stood up, inspecting the butterfly knot tied to the lamp cord. She looked thoughtful.
A butterfly knot, no matter how tightly tied, will automatically unravel if one specific end is pulled with enough force. Following Tsuneo's silent instruction, Sonoko tied one end of the butterfly knot to the main lamp cord with a permanent dead knot.
"Ready?" Tsuneo let go.
Conan mimicked the victim's final moment of exhaustion and opened his mouth. The handkerchief fell to the floor, his body "dropped," and the cord around his neck tightened instantly.
In the original crime, the force of that drop had caused the victim's tooth to pop out and fly into the curry, where it remained hidden. The impact had also loosened the surrounding teeth.
Simultaneously, the butterfly knot binding the hands behind the back unraveled on its own due to the weight of the fall. The sudden jerk on the lamp cord caused the light to click, toggling between on and off.
"Oh!"
Yamamura finally saw the whole picture. But one question remained: "At that moment, his hands would be free. If he grabbed the rope, he might have been able to make a sound."
Conan, now free, hurried to answer. "The victim was in his late sixties. After being bound and forced to endure that strain for a long time, it's highly unlikely he had the strength left to pull himself up and save his own life..."
Ran and Sonoko finally understood. Hiroto had gone to the tennis courts during the day specifically to find guests—witnesses to provide him with an alibi.
"If we hadn't visited tonight... would this have still happened?" Ran asked softly.
"No," Tsuneo said, reaching over to turn the television back on. "For this man, this murder was non-negotiable."
The plan itself was rough, almost desperate. If that tooth hadn't luckily landed in the curry, the difficulty of solving this case would have been ten times lower. If even a drop of blood had stained the handkerchief the victim was biting...
"Heh... you're right."
Akashi Hiroto took a deep breath, a smile of quiet relief spreading across his face.
Getting away with murder... was truly never as simple as it seemed.
------------------------
I've posted 40+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/DaoistRoeoNQ
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"