The smuggling and kidnapping case from this morning was led by Shiratori and Detective Chiba, and they were still processing it.
Miwako Sato was on her day off, so Juzo Megure had to lead the team for this murder case himself.
Naturally, the rookie Wataru Takagi had come along with him.
Come to think of it, Yuu Hoshimiya had been a police consultant for quite some time now, but this was the first time he had participated in two consecutive cases from start to finish in a single day.
Previously, he would encounter a case at most once a day; usually, he was just notified to show up at a crime scene to help solve the mystery.
Much like Inspector Megure and Ninzaburo Shiratori before him.
Because of this, he wasn't shunned like Kogoro Mouri and Conan, who were often treated like harbingers of death who brought murder wherever they went.
Yuu Hoshimiya patted Sakurako's perky buttocks, intending to get up and greet the arriving detectives.
The latter simply blinked dumbly and asked, "Why did you hit me?"
He was momentarily speechless!
He could only proactively pull Sakurako, who was sitting on his lap, up before standing up himself.
Sakurako finally realized what was happening, her face turning an even deeper shade of crimson.
Just now, she had misunderstood and thought Yuu wanted to do more "strange things" to her.
The two walked straight to the door, and the moment it was pulled open.
Kazuha and Momiji, who had been eavesdropping outside, tumbled inward, falling right into Yuu's arms—one on each side.
Seeing people eavesdropping, Sakurako was startled. She hurriedly bowed and then ran out of the room like a frightened rabbit.
Momiji and Kazuha clung to Yuu's arms on either side, pouting their small lips.
Kazuha was the first to attack.
"Teacher, what were you doing in that room? I thought I heard some very strange noises?"
Momiji also frowned slightly, pressing her soft body against him as she asked in a gentle, cooing voice, "Husband, I don't like it when people lie to me. As long as you tell me the truth, I can forgive you!"
Hearing Momiji's direct and provocative way of addressing him, Kazuha glared at her with dissatisfaction, acting spoiled to keep up.
"Darling, just tell us! I'm very broad-minded too!"
It was truly difficult for the normally spunky Kazuha to act this coquettish.
At the same time, a sharp, scrutinizing gaze shot over from Shizuka Hattori standing at the door!
Yuu Hoshimiya naturally wouldn't fall for their traps. Forget the fact that he hadn't "eaten" the soft maid yet; even if he had, now wasn't the time to talk about it.
He broke free from the two girls and delivered three sharp slaps to each of their small butts.
"We are in someone else's house; no acting up."
"Besides, what could I possibly do in such a short amount of time? I was just using some interrogation techniques. Don't overthink it."
"All of you behave yourselves right now. I'll deal with each of you one by one when we get home..."
At these words, all three women blushed and immediately became obedient.
Yuu walked out with his arms around Kazuha and Momiji's waists, but he let go once they reached the hallway.
Inspector Megure greeted Yuu with a look of pure joy.
With Yuu Hoshimiya here, this case was already in the bag; it was just a matter of following the procedure.
He and Takagi began questioning the relevant suspects according to standard protocol.
In the living room, Masumi Sera stared intently at the last small cake on the tray, resting her chin in her hand as she pondered.
After a moment, she walked over to the coffee table to observe further.
Soon, she actually made a discovery.
"Look at this. There's a capsule that hasn't fully dissolved at the bottom of this teacup."
Inspector Megure hurried over. Sure enough, there was a capsule at the bottom of the tea. He frowned and said, "It looks like the killer poisoned the cake and then dropped the capsule into the teacup during the chaos."
"This killer is quite bold. They didn't even take Brother Yuu into account!"
Yuu couldn't help but roll his eyes at Juzo Megure. This fat guy...
Forget it. For Midori Megure's sake, he'd give Juzo some face and not snap back at him.
However, Yuu still planned to wait for Serika Wakamatsu to receive her "bento" before solving the case.
And if his deduction was wrong and the old woman didn't die, solving the case a bit later wouldn't affect anything anyway.
Seeing Yuu's expression, Inspector Megure gave a wry smile and turned back to address the group.
"In other words, this poisoning case is related to the Baumkuchen."
"There are four people who touched this cake: Manager Shiina, who originally bought it; Mr. Fujinami, who sneaked a bite in the car; and Miss Yonehara and Secretary Satake, who sliced and plated the cake. All four of you had the opportunity to poison it."
Hearing this, the withered Serika Wakamatsu spoke up, "Then am I cleared of suspicion? I didn't touch the cake the entire time. This has nothing to do with me!"
Inspector Megure nodded. "Mmm!"
Just then, a forensics officer walked in from outside and whispered a report to the Inspector.
Megure gasped, "Nani?! No poison was detected on the other seven pieces of cake? Does that mean the poison was only placed on the piece the victim ate? How is that possible?"
"What if the victim hadn't been the one to eat it? Was the killer trying to commit a random, indiscriminate murder?"
Megure looked toward Yuu Hoshimiya with a pleading gaze.
Yuu ignored him, instead leaning in to whisper into Masumi Sera's ear.
Hearing the information Yuu shared, Masumi let out a gasp of surprise and immediately pulled him toward the bathroom.
She called out to the others, "I'm borrowing Yuu-sensei for a moment!"
The two quickly disappeared from everyone's sight.
Masumi hugged Yuu's arm tightly against her chest. He instinctively tried to pull it out, but he couldn't.
Masumi was holding on with a death-grip! However, this girl was truly flat-chested!
It was a total washboard; he felt absolutely nothing. It was like night and day compared to her mother, Mary!
To be honest, she couldn't even compare to Ai Haibara.
Even though Ai had shrunk into a primary schooler, there was still a slight curve to her chest.
Masumi sensed Yuu's movement and her face flushed, but she said nothing.
They soon arrived in the bathroom and flipped on the lights.
What met their eyes were neatly arranged diamond-shaped tiles in a lush green color.
Looking down from the top, the entire wall appeared to have a layered gradient, growing lighter toward the bottom.
Masumi's gaze became dazed as she slowly stepped inside, before the realization finally dawned on her.
"This is..."
Yuu nodded slightly.
"Mmm. It's the Diamond-Shadow Illusion. It seems like the color gradually fades, but in reality, it's just a calculation error in the brain caused by the eye catching a specific focal point. It's similar to a magic trick."
"If you took the 'darkest' tile from the top and put it next to the 'lightest' one at the bottom, they would actually be the exact same color. Deceiving the human senses is often that easy."
Masumi nodded in realization.
"Which means the disappearing dying message in the Karuizawa villa and the word 'EYE' that vanished in the Osaka villa were both based on this principle. That explains everything."
"They simply swapped the tile with the message with a tile from another spot. Since no one there could see through the principle, they assumed the message had vanished into thin air."
Yuu walked to Masumi's side. "Exactly. I just asked Sakurako. She said the first letter of the disappearing bloodstain she saw was an 'S'."
Masumi rubbed her chin, falling back into thought.
"S... Every person in this villa, except for the poisoned Ikuro Wakamatsu, has an 'S' in their family name or given name. That doesn't seem very helpful!"
Seeing her thinking so hard, Yuu chuckled. "Keep at it, Masumi. I'm counting on you to solve this one. If you can crack the case, I'll give you a mysterious gift."
He whispered the last sentence directly into Masumi's ear!
The snaggle-toothed girl froze instantly. Her face—turned away from Yuu—turned bright red, and ripples spread through her heart.
Don't do this! What are you thinking?!
Sensei and Mom are a couple!
But her racing thoughts were beyond her control. Suddenly, images of what she had peeped at the door flooded her mind.
That incredibly magnificent, perfect physique... that terrifying eighteen centimeters!
Wait, no! If everything is left to me, what is Sensei going to do?
Masumi couldn't help but ask.
Yuu laughed softly and ruffled her short hair. "I'll be watching from the side. This simple case is practice for you!"
In truth, what he wanted to do was provide cover for the killer!
He had actually seen the killer poison the cake in front of him and drop the capsule into the tea during the commotion.
He didn't even need to investigate to know who the culprit was.
However, Yuu had just asked Sakurako; Kohei Wakamatsu was a very good man who was deeply loved by others.
His dying message in Karuizawa was "Son"—meaning Ikuro Wakamatsu!
This was information Yuu had gathered from Serika Wakamatsu's safe using magic.
If the wife hadn't provided cover for her stepson and worked with him to create a fake alibi, the investigation wouldn't have shifted to an outsider.
Furthermore, his findings didn't stop there; he had found a great deal of shocking information.
Serika Wakamatsu and Ikuro Wakamatsu—this mother and son pair were absolute filth, worse than pigs or dogs!
Therefore, Yuu had changed his stance. He intended to stand on the side of the killer and provide a little help to let them get away with it.
The questioning had ended, and the others in the villa were instructed to wait in the study for the time being.
In the living room, the energetic Kazuha was arguing with Inspector Megure.
"Fatty Officer, you don't believe me? The victim was clearly a total glutton."
"I clearly saw him reach for the piece of cake that was further away and slightly larger!"
"Momiji, didn't you see it too?"
Momiji naturally took the side of her family, and besides, she had seen the same thing, so she chimed in to support her.
Juzo Megure's face was dark with frustration, but since the two girls were with Yuu, he didn't dare offend them or say anything back.
Just then, Takagi returned with a Baumkuchen bought from the same shop.
Megure quickly spoke up, "Takagi, take the remaining seven pieces of cake and piece them together to compare."
"The two people who sliced the cake both said they cut it into eight equal portions, but these two say the pieces were different. Piecing them together will make it clear."
The seven small pieces were placed atop the whole Baumkuchen. Upon comparison, it was indeed cut into eight equal portions.
This left Kazuha and Momiji's claim without ground, and the two girls looked completely bewildered.
At that moment, the two girls saw Yuu and Masumi return. They swarmed Yuu again, chattering and asking for his opinion.
Beside them, Inspector Megure also looked on with expectation.
Yuu naturally knew the trick, but he wouldn't say. He spoke up instead, "Masumi is very good at this kind of case. I'm just helping out."
Hearing this, everyone looked at him with resentment.
He clearly knows, yet he's holding back and won't say! How detestable!
Masumi, of course, didn't want to disappoint Yuu. She didn't say it out loud, but she really wanted that "mysterious gift."
She carefully observed the stacked cakes.
Soon, a glint flashed in the girl's emerald eyes, and a confident smile touched her lips.
She had seen through the trick; now she just needed to direct the focus elsewhere.
Seeing this, Yuu smiled and said, "Just as the capsule dropped in the teacup is a red herring, some things require looking through the surface to see the essence. The evil fruit planted at the beginning will naturally bloom into a flower of sin!"
Hearing this, Masumi's brow furrowed as if she had thought of something. She turned and ran toward the hallway.
Inspector Megure leaned in and whispered, "Brother Yuu, are you using my case to flirt with girls? You've got to be careful!"
Yuu raised an eyebrow. "Relax, Brother Megure. It's only a matter of time before the case is solved!"
With that, he and the three women walked out of the living room toward the study.
He wanted to see if everything was proceeding as he expected along the way. If any changes occurred, he could correct them in time.