Chapter 102: Who Can Refuse the Inheritance of an Entire Zaibatsu?
On the boundless sea, the Hatamoto family's luxury cruise ship sailed slowly through the darkness.
A deathly silence and moonlight enveloped the entire vessel.
The Hatamoto family members felt a chill in their hearts. They had initially been pleased with the benefits brought by the death of their patriarch.
However, the series of murders had extinguished their desire to seize the inheritance.
Who was the murderer? Would there be another victim?
If so, would I be the next one to die?
This question lingered in the minds of everyone in the Hatamoto family.
The luxury cruise ship was no longer opulent.
One person had died in each of three places: the bedroom, the bathroom, and the deck partition.
"The body is still warm, the blood hasn't coagulated yet. Hatamoto Kitaro's time of death is no more than ten minutes."
Mouri Kogoro was utterly exhausted.
What was all this about?
Going to investigate a case on Tsukikage Island, three people died there; just hitchhiking back to Tokyo, three more died.
Was he really a grim reaper?
Six murders in three days—a record that even frightened him.
"Judging from this, it seems that Kitaro and Tatsuo died around the same time."
Natsukawa stroked his chin. "Killing both Kitaro and Tatsuo simultaneously is obviously unrealistic; there might be more than one culprit."
"That makes sense."
Conan carefully examined the wound. "This wound is different from the wound on Hatamoto Gozo. This opening is four centimeters wide, while Hatamoto Gozo's wound should be less than three centimeters."
"The murder weapons are different; it's indeed possible that they were killed by different people."
Mouri Kogoro nodded seriously, then angrily threw a punch!
"Aren't you afraid of having nightmares if you get this close, brat?"
This punch made Mouri Kogoro feel completely satisfied.
For some reason, this punch felt like revenge.
It felt great!
The ladies were taken to the restaurant to rest by Yor and Ran, while Mouri Kogoro's eyes scanned the remaining three men.
He couldn't rule out Hatamoto Takeshi as a suspect for the time being. After all, he had escaped from the storage room.
Even so, among the three—Hatamoto Ichiro, Hatamoto Shoji, and Butler Suzuki—at least one was the murderer.
Ten minutes later,
Mouri Kogoro learned of the three men's movements over the past half hour.
Hatamoto Ichiro was drawing in his room before the incident and only came out when he heard a loud noise outside.
Hatamoto Shoji was cleaning the kitchen and was also attracted by the noise.
Butler Suzuki was in the control room confirming the flight path and came out because he needed to use the restroom.
None of the three had an alibi, and all three were alone at the time of the incident.
Very good, a classic three-way choice.
"Strange, why haven't the police arrived yet? Did Butler Suzuki call the police?" Natsukawa asked casually.
Butler Suzuki's expression remained unchanged. "The waves are too high, and visibility is poor at night, making it difficult for helicopters to fly. The Metropolitan Police Department said they cannot come to the scene. However, they will conduct an investigation on the entire ship after it docks tomorrow morning."
Conan frowned. "Why didn't you say something so important sooner?"
Three people were already dead, and there was still Hatamoto Takeshi missing. If the police didn't arrive, there might be more deaths.
After all, not every murderer was as daring as the assassin from Tsukikage Island to provoke the police.
This murderer was clearly one of the Hatamoto family's own people. Ordinary people, unlike professional assassins, certainly wouldn't dare to provoke the police.
Conan took a deep breath, suddenly finding Butler Suzuki a bit suspicious.
Uncle Natsukawa had previously said that the person who killed Hatamoto Tatsuo looked a bit like him. Could he be the murderer?
"I'm sorry. The master's death made me a little distracted, and I forgot to inform everyone."
Butler Suzuki bowed ninety degrees in apology.
Conan and Mouri Kogoro couldn't say anything to him. This reason was perfectly reasonable.
Ten minutes later.
Everyone on the cruise ship except for Hatamoto Takeshi gathered in the restaurant.
Natsukawa, Mouri Kogoro, and Conan were responsible for searching all the rooms.
Jumping overboard was unrealistic. Hatamoto Takeshi must still be somewhere on the ship.
"Anya, listen to Aunt Yor, or I'll give away all the local specialties when we get back."
Natsukawa saw Anya's restless state and immediately stopped her.
The little girl had already put on her sunglasses, clearly ready to cosplay again.
That wouldn't do. The outfit from Tsukikage Island made Anya look like Vodka.
If Anya and Vodka stood together, they'd probably look like father and daughter.
Damn it, her father was jealous!
He'd throw the black suit away when they got home!!
"Oh~" Anya sat down listlessly.
She wasn't going to play detective anymore. She'd better think about where to hide the black suit when she got home.
Only at times like this did the luxury cruise ship reveal its inconvenience.
There were too many rooms. Searching them one by one was a real hassle.
"By the way, Uncle Natsukawa, are you sure it was Butler Suzuki?"
Natsukawa thought for a moment, deciding he should change his statement. "Not necessarily. Visibility is too poor at night. I can't guarantee that person was Butler Suzuki, but he was definitely wearing a suit."
Conan stroked his chin and asked after a few seconds, "By the way, did the back of his suit jacket flutter when he ran?"
Butler Suzuki's tuxedo had a long back. It would probably have fluttered in the wind when he ran.
"Now that you mention it, no."
The two chatted as they searched, and Conan asked for some details before starting to think.
Mouri Kogoro searched the other floors.
Half an hour later, the three met in the ship's corridor.
"Nothing?" Mouri Kogoro asked.
Natsukawa shook his head and pointed to the last room. "This is the last one."
"This should be Akie-san's room."
Conan remembered it clearly.
He had gotten almost everyone's room information from Hatamoto Natsue to make the investigation easier.
Natsukawa remembered that Hatamoto Takeshi was in Hatamoto Akie's room.
The door slammed open.
Natsukawa went in first.
"Come out, Hatamoto Takeshi-san. Hiding is useless. Three people have already died. If you continue to hide, it will only deepen suspicion. When the police come tomorrow, you won't be able to escape either."
"Will this work?" Conan looked at Natsukawa speechlessly.
Natsukawa said this to every room, but they still hadn't found Hatamoto Takeshi.
As soon as he finished speaking, the wardrobe creaked open.
Hatamoto Takeshi walked out.
"..." ×2
Mouri Kogoro: "If I'd known this would work, I would have said the same thing when I was looking for him."
Conan's lips twitched, feeling like he'd been slapped in the face.
But this Hatamoto Takeshi—wasn't he a bit of a pervert?
He emerged from the wardrobe with black stockings on his head, a bra hanging from his shoulder, and several dresses and lace panties trailing behind him as he moved.
"Sorry, I'm so sorry."
Hatamoto Takeshi awkwardly removed all the clothes from his body.
How embarrassing. These were Natsue's sister's private items.
But...
Natsue's sister was quite well-endowed. She was at least a D-cup. No wonder her dress today showed off her figure.
"How did you get out? Did you have accomplices?" Mouri Kogoro shouted. "Tell me your accomplices honestly. Three people are already dead. Don't be so stubborn."
"Three people?"
Hatamoto Takeshi went from embarrassment to shock, then asked in horror, "Weren't two people dead? How come there's a third one? It's not Natsue, is it!?"
No one answered.
Seemingly realizing a slight flaw in his words, he corrected himself. "I'm not the murderer. The reason I know two people died is because when Tatsuo died, I saw a bunch of you gathered around the deck partition."
"Then how did you get out?" Conan asked.
Hatamoto Takeshi shook his head, confused. "I don't know. When I heard the noise, I thought something had happened to Natsue, so I went to the door to check what was going on outside. But as soon as I leaned against the door, it opened automatically."
"So, you didn't have an accomplice, and you don't know who opened the door?"
Mouri Kogoro's eyes widened, his tone filled with distrust.
"Of course! How could I kill Natsue's grandfather? Actually, when Natsue's grandfather talked to me, he clearly forgave me. He said that as long as I was willing to get along well with Natsue, he would forgive me for what I had done. The Hatamoto Group would be entirely inherited by Natsue. I've even seen the will. Killing him was completely unnecessary."
Hatamoto Takeshi spoke with increasing confidence. Who could refuse the inheritance of an entire zaibatsu with such immense wealth?
Good heavens!
Natsukawa smacked his lips. "No wonder he's a sellout."
The Zaike family, the Amemura family (his adoptive family), and the Hatamoto family—he'd betrayed them all. He wanted revenge, but in the end, he was defeated by Hatamoto Gozo's money tactics. What was the difference between him and Zaike Yuji, who committed suicide after his company was acquired?
One sacrificed his cowardly life for money, the other sacrificed his fragile principles for money.
Mouri Kogoro was utterly speechless.
Although he liked money, he really looked down on this kind of person.
He really didn't know what Hatamoto Natsue saw in this guy.
However, Mouri Kogoro didn't think he was the murderer. The flower at Hatamoto Gozo's death scene was clearly left by someone else. Even the floor was wiped clean. How could he not have noticed the flower?
The flaws were too obvious. He almost wanted to complain.
Just then, the room suddenly went dark.
"What happened?" Mouri Kogoro was completely bewildered, then Conan's watch-shaped flashlight shone in his face.
"Damn it, don't shine that thing on me!"
Conan turned around, confirming that Hatamoto Takeshi was still there, equally bewildered.
It wasn't him!
At this moment, Natsukawa had already reached the door.
"The lights outside are off too."
"Same here. It must be a power outage!" Mouri Kogoro scanned the area outside the window and made his judgment.
"Oh no!" ×3
Except for the bewildered Hatamoto Takeshi, the other three ran out.
Their destination was the restaurant.
If it was just a tripped circuit breaker, that would be fine, but if someone pulled the switch, it meant someone else was likely to die.
"Kyaa!"
Sharp screams echoed throughout the cruise ship.
The sea even rippled from the sound.
"What happened!" Natsukawa was the fastest, arriving at the restaurant to find two figures clashing in the darkness.
"Is that Natsukawa-san? The culprit has appeared!" Ran's voice was shrill.
The terrifying atmosphere created by the culprit had completely rendered her unable to fight. She was now hiding in a corner, clutching Anya.
"Aunt Yor, defeat the bad guys! Charge! Justice may be late, but Aunt Yor will never be absent!"
Where did she learn all this nonsense?!
End of Chapter 102
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