The Sleeping Detective, a repairman who occasionally moonlights as a detective, a high school detective from Kansai, and a brat who constantly hangs around corpses.
Inspector Megure looked at these four individuals speechlessly.
This lineup is truly star-studded...
But having said that, is it really okay for you all to appear together at a high school campus and bring this kind of unfortunate tragedy with you?
"Since you are all here, I assume no one has touched the body after the crime occurred, correct?" Inspector Megure asked them, clasping his hands behind his back.
Yes, these people knew the police procedures inside and out.
"Of course, Inspector Megure. Preserving the integrity of the scene is the most basic part of an investigation!"
"Before the coroner arrived, absolutely no one approached the body!" Maori Kogoro laughed confidently.
With me, the famous detective Maori Kogoro here, how could I let anyone else touch the corpse!
"Can the cause of death be determined?" Officer Takagi looked at the coroner.
"Yes, I believe he was..." The coroner held the clipboard where he had been taking notes.
"Potassium cyanide, right?"
"I reckon this fellow was poisoned to death after drinking potassium cyanide, nine times out of ten." The representative from Osaka, Hattori, took a step forward.
"Correct. It's not hard to tell from the color of his lips and fingernails." Tsuneo took a small cake from Conan's hand and spoke while eating.
The repairman had been forced to participate in quite a few poison cases.
He knew at least this much common sense.
Normally, people lose their color after death. However, not only were the deceased's lips and fingernails not purple, but they actually appeared pink.
This was evidence of potassium cyanide poisoning.
"Exactly. The difference between potassium cyanide and other poisons is that after ingestion, the electron transport system in the cells begins to operate. It circulates through the blood to the whole body without using the oxygen in the blood, which ironically makes the complexion look better."
Hattori continued to explain to the crowd.
Tsuneo nodded, indicating he had noted this knowledge point.
"Is that so?" Inspector Megure glanced at the two of them, then turned to the coroner he had brought along.
Having you guys here is truly my luck...
"That is indeed the case. This can be confirmed by the smell of almonds in the deceased's mouth." The coroner nodded; he had also deduced that the deceased died from potassium cyanide poisoning.
"Hey, Tsuneo-kun, don't get too close to the corpse while you're eating." Inspector Megure stopped a certain someone who was munching on a small cake.
"Alright, alright." The repairman shoved half the cake into his mouth with a fork and, like Hattori, squatted down beside the deceased.
If he remembered correctly, this case was quite bold.
Inspector Megure: "..."
"Ahem, in any case, let's continue the investigation. Did Mr. Urata buy the drink he consumed himself?" The orange-clad stout officer withdrew his gaze from Tsuneo and the others, turning to the deceased's three companions.
"He didn't buy it." Yumi Noda, who sat next to the deceased, shook her head.
"I bought them. At the time, I bought four drinks at the drink stall over there. After I handed all the drinks to Mr. Mitani, I went to the restroom."
The speaker was a woman with short hair wearing a green hoodie.
Her name was Mai Kogami, a clerk at Beika General Hospital.
"That's correct." The chubby Yota Mitani was a security guard at the hospital. He confirmed that he had indeed received the four drinks.
"I see. Mr. Mitani, you handed that drink to Mr. Urata personally, is that right?" Inspector Megure looked at him.
The four drinks were handed to him all at once.
If Ms. Kogami, who bought the drinks, had poisoned one, then who received the poisoned drink would have been a matter of chance.
"No, I handed two drinks to Noda at the same time, so she was the one who personally gave it to Urata." Yota Mitani looked chubby and simple-minded, but he quickly understood the implications involved.
Four people ordered four drinks.
The deceased, Kohei Urata, and Mai Kogami both ordered iced coffee. Yumi Noda ordered orange juice, and Yota Mitani asked for oolong tea.
"What are you saying? You were clearly the one who chose the iced coffee for Urata just now!" Yumi Noda was unhappy hearing him say this.
Out of the two iced coffees, you were the one who decided which one to hand to me, right?
"Excuse me, please give me an iced coffee too!"
Just as the situation was getting tense, Tsuneo walked up to the drink stall and ordered an iced coffee from the high school girls.
"At a time like this, you're still drinking..." Conan revealed his dead-fish eyes.
He had been very well-behaved today, not saying a single superfluous word and only daring to observe the corpse from a distance. But it was hard to say how long he could keep up this state.
"Now, now, please don't get agitated. What is the relationship between Mr. Urata and you three?" Officer Takagi smiled, trying to smooth things over.
"Actually, we all graduated from Teitan High School and were members of the drama club back then. Coincidentally, we now work at the same hospital. So, the four of us coming to watch the Culture Festival play together has become an annual tradition," Mai Kogami nodded and explained.
"I never expected something like this to happen to Urata. It's truly unbelievable," Yota Mitani said, bowing his head.
"Urata was extremely happy recently because his medical theory was likely to be recognized," Yumi Noda added, her emotions having settled down a bit.
Hearing this, Maori Kogoro stepped forward and asked, "Miss Mai Kogami, why did you go to buy the drinks alone just now?"
After all, carrying four drinks by oneself was a bit of a struggle, wasn't it?
And for something as boring as lining up to buy things, usually someone would accompany you.
"Because there were so many people coming to see the play, I asked everyone to go back to their seats first so they could save good spots."
"While I was in line, Urata actually came looking for me, saying he wanted to help me carry the drinks. But very quickly, his face turned pale, and he turned around and left." Mai Kogami seemed puzzled by his reaction at the time.
"His face turned pale?"
"Did something happen at that moment?" Inspector Megure and Maori Kogoro looked at each other, both with question marks all over their faces.
"I think he must have seen that I was also working at the counter selling drinks."
A high school girl wearing glasses and an apron spoke calmly, her tone indifferent. At the same time, she handed the iced coffee to the repairman.
"It's Ayako!"
"So you're a student at Teitan High too." Yumi Noda only noticed her now, looking surprised.
"Yes." Ayako Ninagawa nodded, unhurriedly giving Tsuneo his change.
"She's someone capable of big things..." The repairman commented with a straw in his mouth.
Conan and Hattori looked at him speechlessly at the same time.
You two are about on par with each other...
Someone just died from drinking iced coffee, and you went and bought one to drink like it was nothing...
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