"Brother Maori, are you saying that Dr. Urata deliberately drank the beverage in this kind of setting to commit suicide, just to cast suspicion on her?" Inspector Megure asked, turning his head to look at the high school girl, Ayako Ninagawa, who had her head lowered.
You couldn't deny it; although Brother Maori's angle of analysis was a bit tricky...
It wasn't as if they hadn't encountered cases before where the deceased, even in suicide, wanted to drag others down with them.
"The things they are saying... it's really mind-boggling..." Tsuneo watched the two middle-aged men discussing the victim's suicide with such serious faces.
As expected of Teacher Maori. You really are something!
"It's always like this." Conan revealed a speechless expression.
This muddled uncle made deductions that could make one's jaw drop every single time. Yet, he always found such convenient reasons that Inspector Megure would invariably follow his train of thought.
"It really is tough work~" Hattori sighed.
Someone had already revealed their hand.
"By the way, Dr. Urata seemed to be looking for something all day today, didn't he?" Mai Kogami said, looking at her two companions.
"Yeah, I heard him say he was looking for his driver's license," Yota Mitani nodded.
"Why? Did you recall some specific detail?" Inspector Megure asked upon hearing their conversation.
"All three of us came in Mr. Urata's car today. His expression seemed a bit off," Yumi Noda explained.
The man had appeared to be searching for something in the car the entire time.
"Takagi-kun, go with them to check the car. There might be some clues." Inspector Megure ordered the three suspects to take Officer Takagi outside to examine the interior of the vehicle.
It had already started to rain outside. covering their heads with their hands, they ran out together into the downpour.
...
"Just my luck. First a bizarre murder case, then the play gets stopped halfway, and now the heavens aren't giving us any face and it starts raining. The celebratory atmosphere is completely ruined."
Sonoko stood by the window, complaining as she looked at the gloomy sky.
"It can't be helped. No one wanted this to happen. We'll just have to find another chance to finish the performance next time," Dr. Araide comforted her with a smile.
Hattori looked at the lead actor playing the Knight. "He's pretty handsome, isn't he?"
"Yeah, they make a good pair," Tsuneo nodded.
The repairman indicated that the male and female leads of this play were very compatible.
"..." Conan turned his head away.
These two are doing this on purpose to piss me off...
"Inspector! I found this in the glove compartment of Mr. Urata's car!" Officer Takagi and the others ran back, holding a transparent evidence bag.
Inside was a small brown medicine bottle. It hadn't been tested yet, so the specific contents were unknown, but it was very likely potassium cyanide.
"Good work. I just received a call from the forensics team. They said there were absolutely no traces of toxic substances in the drink cups of the four individuals," Inspector Megure said with his hands behind his back.
Since there was no poison reaction in the drink cups, the scenario of poisoning by tampering with the drink could basically be ruled out. If this small bottle really contained a poison like potassium cyanide...
Then, just as Brother Maori said, this case was very likely a suicide.
"No, this is definitely a homicide case, and the evidence is solid," Hattori interrupted the conversation between Inspector Megure and the others.
"Evidence is solid?"
"But the deceased Mr. Urata's cup, as well as the other three, showed no traces of poison."
"Furthermore, Mr. Urata drank the beverage completely before collapsing and dying. This case seems..." Inspector Megure looked at the three people who had been standing obediently to the side.
If you want to claim this is a homicide, there are simply too many questions.
Maori Kogoro also looked over speechlessly, wanting to hear what this dark-skinned brat from Osaka had to say.
"Exactly. At first glance, Mr. Urata's situation seems to fit the suicide theory. However, if one utilizes a certain object and a habit of the victim, accomplishing this murder is not difficult."
Hattori turned his head to look at Tsuneo, who had already finished his iced coffee.
"A certain object?"
"A habit?" Inspector Megure and Maori Kogoro asked in unison.
"The poison used by the killer was potassium cyanide, which is difficult to dissolve in cold water. As long as one digs a hole in an ice cube, uses a smaller piece of ice to cap it, and then seizes the opportunity to place it into Mr. Urata's cup, the trick is complete." Hattori nodded with a smile.
This method of poisoning was designed to be extremely clever and bold.
One had to understand the victim's habits extremely well.
"But, even if poisoning the ice cube delays the time of poisoning, which explains the timing of death, surely there would be dissolved poison residue left in the cup?" Inspector Megure expressed his confusion.
Ice takes time to melt. While this method explained the delay, the most important factor—poison residue—was still not detected.
"As for why there was no residue inside the cup..." Hattori looked at Tsuneo again.
Conan had long since revealed the confident smile of a famous detective.
That's right, just like that!
The repairman sucked on the straw, making the distinct sound that indicated the coffee was all gone.
In the next moment, he unscrewed the lid, tilted the cup back, dumped two ice cubes into his mouth, and began to chew.
Crunch, crunch.
"I-Ice cubes?!" Inspector Megure revealed a look of shock.
There was no demonstration more vivid than this...
"Wrong guess. The poison wasn't drunk; that guy ate it, just like me." Tsuneo had great teeth. With a few crunches, he chewed up the ice and swallowed it.
"Oh, right!"
"Inspector, don't you often chew the leftover ice in your cup too?" Takagi clapped his hands, understanding the method.
"I see. If one knew about Mr. Urata's little habit beforehand, one could indeed use this method to poison him. And no poison would be detected on the cup itself!"
Inspector Megure nodded. The biggest doubt in his mind had been resolved.
"Then, who would the culprit be?" Maori Kogoro swept his gaze over the four involved individuals.
Aside from Ayako Ninagawa, the high school girl who had been engaged to him, he couldn't see what conflict the other three would have with Mr. Urata...
Sure enough, the culprit is Ayako Ninagawa!
A crime of passion turned to hate. She might have discovered another side of Mr. Urata and decided to kill him.
Maori Kogoro had already conjured up a possibility in his brain, even inventing a motive for her.
"Let's use the process of elimination," Hattori said, looking at Yumi Noda and Yota Mitani, who had merely sat in their seats passing the drinks.
"These two, just as mentioned before, couldn't possibly have unscrewed the lid and inserted the ice cube in such a short amount of time."
Maori Kogoro nodded in agreement and declared, "Just as I thought! It was Miss Ayako Ninagawa, who was responsible for making the drinks. The culprit is you, isn't that right!"
Good, good. Thanks to the Maori Elimination Method, another person has been cleared!
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