Chapter 19: I Was Just Defending Myself
Natsukawa looked at Conan and saw him resting his chin on his hand, deep in thought. Then he looked at Anya, who had stopped crying and was now glaring indignantly at Tanaka Tomofumi.
"Since that's the case, I'll go upstairs and apologize to Mr. Tanaka's brother. These kids did disturb your peace. Also, I can pay for a housekeeping company to clean your house."
Everyone thought this was reasonable and a sincere apology, but Tanaka Tomofumi's expression changed.
"My brother is asleep. You've already checked on him, so there's no need to ask him to come down. And there's no need for a housekeeping company—I'll clean it myself."
"That won't do. You have to apologize when you're wrong." Natsukawa gave an apologetic look. "If Mr. Tanaka's brother doesn't want to come downstairs, I can go upstairs and apologize."
"Yes! Anya should apologize too!"
Anya's voice was quite loud, seemingly deliberately amplified.
She cupped her little hands around her mouth, making a megaphone shape, and then shouted loudly at the stairs, "Uncle Tanaka, Anya was wrong! Can you forgive Anya?"
Inspector Megure was speechless. This child didn't seem to be apologizing at all—just like when she was crying earlier, it was so fake.
"Anya, keep your voice down! That uncle is very scary!" Ayumi clearly understood what was happening and was somewhat worried.
Genta and Mitsuhiko felt the same way, but they also had a sliver of hope that the uncle upstairs would be woken up. After all, that guy was really annoying, and if they could annoy him a little, their mood would be much better today.
Meanwhile, Conan seemed to have thought of something, but something was missing.
What went wrong? He had been guarding the front door before the police arrived, making sure no one had entered or left. Now the body wasn't in the bathroom, nor had it been moved out of the house through the second-floor window. Where could it be? The murderer must have used some special method—there must be something fishy going on.
And the murderer was very likely one of the Tanaka brothers, Kazuyu or Tomofumi.
One of them was taking a shower before they arrived, so it was highly likely he cleaned the crime scene. The other went home after they arrived, so it was possible he went to the riverbank from the back window to meet his older brother and throw the body into the river. These possibilities were all plausible.
His oversized head started working at super-speed.
Seeing that Conan hadn't figured it out yet—or rather, hadn't found the right approach—Natsukawa couldn't help but give another hint.
"You're talking so loudly, and Mr. Tanaka's older brother hasn't responded. Could something have happened? I've learned first aid and other emergency procedures."
As he said this, Natsukawa looked at Tanaka Tomofumi with a slightly provocative expression, clearly getting revenge for making Anya cry.
Let's see if I don't piss you off.
However, Tanaka Tomofumi didn't notice Natsukawa's subtle actions. At this moment, he was trying to find an excuse to get these people to leave quickly.
"I'll help explain to my brother. You should leave quickly. My brother has a terrible temper—you probably heard what he said."
Tanaka Tomofumi's expression became much more amiable, but his face twitched, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead, suggesting different thoughts entirely.
At this moment, Conan also noticed something.
This Tanaka Tomofumi seems reluctant for others to interact with his brother.
Why?
Combining this with Natsukawa's earlier words, Conan's complicated thoughts suddenly cleared.
That's it!
"Inspector Megure! Is Uncle Kazuyu really still alive?"
Conan asked innocently.
Upon hearing this, Tanaka Tomofumi's expression changed drastically, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
Inspector Megure was clearly also very surprised by Conan's question. At the same time, he noticed the strange expression that suddenly appeared on Tanaka Tomofumi's face.
Could it be...?
Without saying a word, Inspector Megure stepped onto the stairs to the second floor.
"Officer, I'm going to file a complaint for disturbing the peace! Do you have a search warrant? You can't go up to the second floor without my permission!"
Tanaka Tomofumi tried to struggle.
But Inspector Megure completely ignored him at this moment.
He was about to chase after the inspector when Natsukawa hooked his arm. "Mr. Tanaka, I think you should let your brother come down so I can apologize to him."
The smiling face looked like a demon to Tanaka Tomofumi. It was this man who had just appeared—if he hadn't insisted on seeing his brother, he certainly wouldn't have been exposed.
And that weird kid in the blue suit and shorts, and the pink-haired crybaby—it was all those three's fault. He was doomed.
If the police went to investigate, finding his brother dead would be a certainty.
"It's all my brother's fault. He was wrong. And you guys—it's all your fault. Otherwise, no one would know I killed my brother."
Tanaka Tomofumi's head slumped slightly, his glasses suddenly reflecting light, his voice soft and barely audible.
"Papa..." Anya called softly.
Natsukawa gently stroked Anya's small hand, reassuring her.
Tanaka Tomofumi suddenly raised his head, his face contorted with rage as he looked at Natsukawa and Anya, who he held in his arms.
These two were definitely the main reason he had ended up like this.
"Die!"
He raised his hand, a dagger now gripped behind his back.
"Watch out!"
Conan's eyes widened in horror. Activating his power-enhancing shoes at this point was too late—he didn't even have time to aim the tranquilizer watch. He could only shout a warning.
Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko stared blankly, their expressions showing fear, but their minds were blank, unsure what to say.
The Metropolitan Police officers were even more useless at this moment. They hadn't noticed Tanaka Tomofumi's actions at all, currently busy restoring the first floor.
Tanaka Tomofumi had only dared to act because he saw this situation.
Once Inspector Megure came downstairs, his arrest would be a certainty—he might as well take revenge on this father and daughter who had annoyed him for so long.
"Ahhh!"
A piercing scream followed by a loud bang caused Inspector Megure, who had just confirmed Kazuyu's death upstairs, to rush down again.
His body was rather bulky, making him seem quite large, but he was surprisingly fast, displaying unexpected agility.
Just past the spiral staircase, he saw a hole smashed through the wooden wall opposite him. From his angle, he could clearly see Tanaka Tomofumi lying sprawled on the floor.
Even though it was a wooden wall, it shouldn't break like this, right?
Tanaka Tomofumi's eyes were closed, his expression pained, and his mouth was wide open with drool. Considering the state of the wooden wall, it was clear he had smashed through it.
Inspector Megure was completely bewildered. He had only been upstairs for less than thirty seconds—what had happened downstairs?
"Inspector Megure, I was just acting in self-defense."
Tanaka Tomofumi's unexpected wall-penetration incident was, of course, Natsukawa's doing.
Seeing Inspector Megure come down, Natsukawa shrugged helplessly and said, "He attacked first. Everyone here can testify to that."
Although the man's voice had been soft, Natsukawa was very close and had naturally heard the threat.
Plus, given his spy training and reflexes, wouldn't a counterattack be normal?
To actually try to attack him? What a fool.
Inspector Megure speechlessly called for officers to carry Tanaka Tomofumi away. He was unconscious—what was the point of leaving him there?
"What exactly happened?"
Inspector Megure asked after a long silence.
Natsukawa shrugged—he wasn't a detective. He turned to Conan. "Little detective, it's your turn."
It was indeed Conan who had suggested the person upstairs was dead, so Inspector Megure followed Natsukawa's gaze and looked at Conan.
The case was gradually becoming clearer. It seemed that Tanaka Tomofumi had murdered his brother and then staged the whole thing, playing both roles.
The only strange thing was why Tanaka Kazuyu's voice could still be heard upstairs when they made noise downstairs—Kazuyu should have been dead by then.
While Inspector Megure couldn't figure it out, Conan clearly had.
He had recovered from the shock of Natsukawa kicking Tanaka Tomofumi through a wall and, under everyone's gaze, walked to the telephone.
"The voice we heard earlier wasn't from Tanaka Kazuyu, but from the answering machine."
Conan said, standing on tiptoe and pressing a button on the phone.
"Hey! You guys are so noisy! Can you please be quiet?"
A loud voice came from the phone.
"Eh! That was the voice just now—exactly the same as that guy upstairs!"
Genta was extremely shocked.
He was the one who broke something and triggered Kazuyu's roar—he remembered that voice very clearly.
"As long as you record this audio beforehand, turn off the phone's ringer, and when you want the sound to play, you just use a cell phone to call the landline, and the answering machine at home will run automatically."
Conan, hands in his pockets, looked at Inspector Megure with a confident expression, as if the answer was obvious.
The members of the Detective Boys were all looking at Conan with shining eyes.
Only Anya pursed her lips. After getting to know him over this period, she knew that Conan was actually seventeen years old—just a little short.
Seventeen years old—wasn't it normal for him to solve mysteries? If she were seventeen, she could definitely do it too.
Anya, still young and naive, couldn't comprehend Conan's idea of shrinking after taking the drug. She only thought that Conan's small stature was due to some kind of illness.
"I see. Then why did the TV upstairs automatically turn off?" Inspector Megure asked again.
"There's probably more than one TV remote. Judging from Mr. Tanaka Tomofumi's preparations, he didn't just decide this on a whim—he probably prepared another remote beforehand."
A police officer, reading the situation, rummaged through the unconscious Tanaka Tomofumi's pockets and pulled out a small black remote, along with a cell phone.
"Conan is really smart—he doesn't seem like a six-year-old at all," Inspector Megure genuinely remarked. "It seems that spending time with Mouri-kun makes even a child smarter."
Conan could only offer an awkward yet polite smile.
Who's been with whom for so long? Uncle Mouri is just his mouthpiece!
[End of Chapter 19]
If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review!
P*atreon/Soulforger (advanced chapters)
Buy me coffee - ko-fi*com/soulforger01