In the living room. The terror caused by the bandaged man clung to their hearts.
Damn it, what's going on? Why don't any of the clues fit together?
Conan, sitting on the sofa, was so frustrated he felt like he was going crazy. "No, there has to be another clue."
"Conan, where are you going?" Ran tried to stop him.
"The cause of Ikeda Chikako's death has already been determined. She was strangled from behind with something like a cloth and then thrown from the storeroom window in the last room on the second floor, right when Sonoko and I saw it," Heiji said calmly.
"You saw Chikako fall from up there?" Kakutani Hiroki shouted.
"No, what we saw was the bandaged man."
"What? The bandaged man appeared again?" Kakutani Hiroki's face changed drastically.
"What should we do? What if we all just stay in the living room tonight? What if the bandaged man shows up again?" Takahashi Ryoichi said, terrified.
Everyone in the living room?
Heiji smiled coldly. "This Takahashi Ryoichi is very cunning. This way, by morning, he'll have a perfect alibi and can get away with the crime. But this also indicates one thing: this guy probably doesn't plan to kill anymore."
"I'll go get the bedding."
"Ayako, I'll go with you."
Kakutani and Ayako went to get the bedding. That night, everyone planned to stay in the living room.
Heiji went out the back door and walked over to the kitchen window, looking up. The storeroom window wasn't large; it could probably just barely fit Ikeda Chikako's body.
The kitchen window was slightly misaligned with the one in the storeroom on the second floor, so at that moment, he had only been able to hear the noise but didn't see Ikeda Chikako's body fall.
However, there was no doubt that Ikeda Chikako had been thrown from the storeroom by Takahashi Ryoichi; of that, there was no question.
As for the method used to kill Ikeda Chikako, he probably used Atsuko's death to lure her to the storeroom, strangled her with a bandage, and then threw the body.
That method was very simple, and definitely not the C-Rank mission the system required.
The real method that needed to be deciphered was the one Takahashi Ryoichi used to kill Ohta Masaru. That was the most crucial part.
"Heiji-niichan, have you figured something out?"
Conan suddenly poked his head out of the storeroom window.
Heiji glanced at Conan, "What are you being so curious for, kid? Go back to sleep."
Damn it, can't count on this Hattori guy!
Conan started running all over the villa again. He couldn't understand it: why would the bandaged man kill Ohta Masaru and Ikeda Chikako? What was the purpose of a seemingly motiveless murder?
Heiji returned to the back door, and just as he was about to open it, his movements froze.
On the door, there was a nail hole, the size of an iron nail. Judging by the hole, there had previously been something like a nail deeply embedded there.
"Shit."
Heiji cursed under his breath, and a bitter smile formed on his lips. "It seems my IQ has also dropped after 'crossing over.' How did I not notice such a simple mechanism until now?"
Suddenly, he turned around and ran towards the small forest in front of the back door.
After running for about five minutes, Heiji suddenly stopped. Seeing a small tree about a meter and a half tall in front of him, a sharp glint appeared in his eyes. "So this was it."
Tied to the top of the small tree was a long steel wire. At the end of the wire, an iron nail was firmly attached. A little further down the trunk, there was also a rope, not very long, with one end showing signs of being burned.
"There must be another piece of rope somewhere else."
Heiji walked back in the direction of the villa, and after a few steps, a smile spread across his lips.
In a bush, there was not only a piece of rope fixed to the ground but also a windproof kerosene lamp, which was still burning.
"If the back door opened automatically with this mechanism, then the window that broke on its own must have followed a similar principle."
Inside the villa!
"What? You already know who the murderer is and the method he used?" Conan shouted, shocked.
He was still completely confused. How was it possible that this Hattori guy had already figured out who the killer was?
"Hey, kid, sometimes I feel like you don't want me to find the killer," Heiji said, looking at Conan suspiciously.
"Conan, don't bother Heiji-niichan while he's solving the case!"
Ran shot Conan a glare from the sofa.
"Sorry, Ran-neechan."
"No, apologize to Heiji-niichan."
"Sorry, Heiji-niichan."
Conan said reluctantly, feeling very annoyed inside. That girl, Ran!!!
"You said you found the killer? Isn't it the bandaged man? Did you find out where he is?" Kakutani Hiroki asked with pleasant surprise.
"If so, if we all go together, he shouldn't be able to escape," Takahashi Ryoichi said enthusiastically.
Heiji, sitting on the sofa, didn't move.
"I never said the killer was the bandaged man."
Everyone was shocked and looked at Heiji in confusion.
"The killer is you, Takahashi Ryoichi."
Boom!!!
A buzz echoed in everyone's mind, and their faces filled with horror.
"But... but how is that possible? When the bandaged man appeared, I was the first to show up in front of everyone, right behind Kakutani," Takahashi Ryoichi explained hastily, with a mocking smile.
Kakutani Hiroki nodded.
"That's right. The first time the bandaged man appeared, everyone was present. But that was nothing more than a dummy, an illusion created from the storeroom with a hanging string. The purpose was to make us believe, from the start, that the bandaged man was an outsider."
Conan's eyes widened, and he looked at Heiji in amazement. "Right, if that's the case, then many suspicious points fit together." This Hattori guy...
"After doing all that, you put the dummy away and appeared before us, pretending to be surprised. After killing Ikeda Chikako, you repeated the same trick for the purpose of creating another illusion and fabricating an alibi for yourself. Haven't you all noticed that on both occasions, Takahashi Ryoichi was the last to appear?"
With Heiji's words, everyone looked at Takahashi Ryoichi, because it was a fact.
That's right. Once might be a coincidence, but twice isn't. But when did this Hattori guy start suspecting him? No, there's a fatal flaw in this.
Conan suddenly frowned.
"Heiji-san, have you forgotten? The storeroom window isn't very big. To throw a dummy out and then pull it back in, I'd have to lean out. But, look at my build, it's impossible for me to fit through there," Takahashi Ryoichi said with a smile.
Exactly, that's the flaw. Conan thought grimly.
---------------------------
Hey guys, I want to apologize for not uploading any chapters lately. My mother passed away a week ago, and honestly, I just didn't have the energy to do anything. The chapters that were uploaded were the ones already scheduled.Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your patience and for still being here. Starting tomorrow, uploads will return to normal.