Disclaimer: Detective Conan is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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"Inspector, why don't you hear out the detective's reasoning? He's already figured out the victim's cause of death."
Vodka's words caught Megure's attention. To be honest, he also wanted to solve the case as quickly as possible, because rumors had already begun spreading online, claiming the murderer was a member of the "Earth Ladies Team." Some bloggers were even stirring things up, suggesting the group should be renamed the "Hellish Women Team."
Although Megure felt somewhat resistant toward relying on detectives, he had no choice but to compromise in order to close the case quickly. "Detective McAllen, have you really already determined the cause of death?"
Originally planning to slip away, Ritsu had no choice but to bite the bullet and recount the results of his investigation. He spread his hands and said, "As for the murder weapon, I've asked my assistant, Adkov, to look for it. That's all I know for now."
Megure had to admit that Ritsu was indeed an excellent detective, capable of serving as both a coroner and a forensic analyst on his own. He couldn't help but wonder why someone this talented hadn't become a legitimate police officer and instead chose to be a detective.
That thought made him recall an old friend. He had heard that the detective business hadn't been doing well lately, could it be because of this McAllen in front of him?
"Inspector Megure, I found this in the trash can outside."
"That's Takahashi's camera!" Kaoru exclaimed the moment she saw it, then turned to her teammates. "How did it end up in the trash?"
The three of them all shook their heads, indicating they didn't know. But since the camera had been thrown away, it was likely connected to the killer.
Hearing a familiar voice, Ritsu couldn't help but turn around. It seemed today wasn't a good day to go out, not only had a murder occurred, but the lead investigator was someone he knew well, Inspector Megure. Worse still, the owner of that voice was his former subordinate, Hayasaka Yuna.
Megure took the DSLR camera from Hayasaka. He wasn't very good with high-tech devices and was afraid of accidentally deleting important evidence by pressing the wrong button, so he said, "Ahem, Hayasaka, do you know how to use this?"
In the past, Hayasaka might have teased him a little, but now she aspired to become a seasoned, cool-headed detective like a certain someone. So she simply took the camera and began operating it.
There were quite a few photos stored on the camera, all taken during today's autograph session. From the images, it was clear that the victim, Shoichiro Takahashi, had solid photography skills, each shot had good composition and lighting.
Without a sound, Ritsu stepped up behind Hayasaka and looked at the photos. Suddenly, he noticed something suspicious and reached out to take the camera for a closer look but to his surprise, she quickly grabbed the back of his hand, twisted her body, and continued to rotate her right arm counterclockwise, locking his left arm in place.
Caught off guard, Ritsu was forced into a bent-over position. He couldn't help thinking, 'She's improved her grappling techniques. Not only faster, but more vigilant too.'
Seeing that she was about to pin him to the ground, Ritsu naturally didn't give her the chance. He swiftly turned to face her, neutralizing the hold, then pulled his arm free and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Officer, I just wanted to take a look at the photos. There's something odd about one of them."
He broke free of her hold that easily? Hayasaka frowned slightly, growing suspicious of the masked man in front of her. His skills were clearly above hers, who exactly was he?
Vodka's hand had already moved to his side, nearly drawing his gun to shoot this audacious policewoman. But upon seeing McAllen break free, he calmly lowered his hand and slipped it back into his pocket as if nothing had happened.
Megure hadn't expected Hayasaka to react so strongly either. He quickly smoothed things over. "Hayasaka, honestly… McAllen is a detective, not a suspect."
"A detective?" Hayasaka sized him up, then recalled what he had just said. "You mentioned something strange about a photo?"
"Yeah. Can I take a closer look?"
Hayasaka didn't want to hand it over, but after catching Megure's subtle glance, she reluctantly passed him the camera, warning, "Be careful. Don't mess with anything."
"Understood."
Ritsu couldn't help but think to himself, 'I didn't expect her personality to change this much after nearly two years.'
Back when they worked together, she always had a bright smile. Now, she looked like everyone present owed her millions. What he didn't realize was that her current expression closely resembled his own when he had been a criminal investigator.
Lowering his head, Ritsu examined the photos. When he reached a particular image, the corners of his mouth curved slightly beneath the mask. He deliberately coughed twice, pretending to have a cold, then said confidently, "I already know who the killer is and I can also determine where the murder weapon was discarded."
"What? McAllen, are you serious?" Megure was stunned. He had only glanced at the photos, how could he already know everything?
Hayasaka frowned as well. She had just reviewed the photos herself and hadn't noticed anything unusual. What exactly had he seen?
Ritsu had no intention of going through a lengthy explanation. He pulled up the suspicious photo and handed the camera back to Hayasaka. "Officer, take a closer look at this one. You should be able to spot what's wrong."
"What's wrong…"
Hayasaka studied the group photo carefully, but couldn't see anything unusual. It was a bit embarrassing, was she really that much worse than this detective?
Noticing her awkward expression, Ritsu quickly added, "I'm sure you've noticed it too, the color of something has changed."
Hayasaka paused. He was giving her a way out… 'The color changed?' She zoomed in on the image, and soon she also spotted the inconsistency.
Watching her reaction, Ritsu slipped one hand into his pocket and looked toward a certain person whose expression had grown tense. Calmly, he said, "Something that should have been white has now turned red or more precisely… a dark red, almost black."
He raised his hand and pointed at the manager, Yamada Mika, who was nervously picking at her fingernails. "The killer is you, Yamada Mika."
Everyone looked shocked and turned their gaze toward Yamada.
Only Hayasaka didn't look over. What intrigued her more was this, how had he deduced the murder weapon from just that detail? And how did he even know where it had been discarded?