Chapter 161: Searching for Evidence
Mountain Villa Living Room
"Actually, the reason I joined the chat room was because I first met Red Herring online. He invited me into the chat room, so I knew his identity."
"Who is he?" Natsukawa asked, playing the straight man perfectly.
Kaito gave Natsukawa's question a mental thumbs up, then continued, "He was the veteran magician who died a month ago—Harui Fuden.
As for you, Tanaka Kikue-san, according to the information I found, you should be the granddaughter of Harui Fuden-san, correct? The reason I attended this gathering was to find out why the Red Herring account was still active after Harui-san's death."
Tanaka Kikue was silent for a long time, then said in a low voice, "Harui Fuden is my grandfather—that's true. And the account was his before—that's also true. But that doesn't mean I'm Shadow Mage! It only means that I inherited my grandfather's username, Red Herring. Shadow Mage has absolutely nothing to do with me."
"Tanaka-san, you..." Hamano Toshiya's face turned deathly pale. He already had a guess about the identity of the next victim.
If Tanaka Kikue was Harui Fuden's granddaughter, then she would definitely know that he had mocked Harui Fuden in the chat room.
The other person who'd mocked Harui Fuden was Escape King, who was now dead.
If Doi Takaki hadn't revealed Tanaka Kikue's identity, he would probably be the next to die.
Everyone in the living room took a step back, distancing themselves from Tanaka Kikue. If she was the murderer, she might be hiding a weapon, and being exposed now could trigger a violent reaction.
"I checked the previous chat logs in the chat room and found that the reason Harui Fuden-san, who had retired, returned to performing was because of certain comments in the chat room.
Then, about a month ago, Harui-san returned to perform magic, but due to his age or a mistake, he failed and died in the accident.
The matter should have ended there, but some people in the chat room didn't seem to accept Harui-san's comeback and even mocked him after his death.
Is that why you killed them?"
Kaito, as expected of a super genius with an IQ of 400, analyzed the entire case thoroughly in a very short time. The "some people" he mentioned were none other than Escape King Nishiyama Mutsuo and Hamano Toshiya, who was also present in the living room.
Conan frowned as he watched Doi Takaki's performance.
Damn it! Someone else solved the case first!
But there was nothing he could do about it. The people in the chat room knew more about the case from the beginning. If I were in the chat room, I could definitely solve it faster than this Doi Takaki!
Tanaka Kikue remained silent for a long time, opening her mouth several times but not knowing what to say.
Kaito's reasoning left her speechless, but she still didn't admit to being Shadow Mage, vehemently denying it.
Conan and Kaito lacked direct evidence that she was Shadow Mage. Without evidence, all reasoning was just speculation.
"Why don't we check Tanaka-san's room? Shadow Mage would need meticulous planning to continue committing crimes. If Tanaka-san is Shadow Mage, we should be able to find something in her room—like the murder weapon."
Natsukawa's suggestion was supported by the others, and Conan nodded repeatedly. Uncle Natsukawa is reliable at crucial moments.
"Everyone go check. I'll stay here and watch over Tanaka-san," suggested the assistant Sukama, who hadn't spoken much.
"That's a good idea." Aragoshi nodded in agreement. Tanaka Kikue couldn't be taken upstairs—if she suddenly attacked or destroyed evidence, it would be troublesome.
Keeping her downstairs under supervision was the best solution.
Second Floor - Outside Tanaka Kikue's Room
Considering that almost everyone present was a chat room member, and aside from the children, only Ran was an outsider, she was sent into the room to investigate. This would minimize any accusations of evidence tampering.
"Be careful," Natsukawa reminded her.
He remembered that Tanaka Kikue had brought a crossbow, which was somewhat dangerous and could easily cause injury if one wasn't careful.
"I understand," Ran nodded solemnly.
The villa was probably not frequently occupied. The furnishings were simple: a bed, a wardrobe, a table, and what appeared to be Tanaka Kikue's personal suitcase.
Ran searched carefully and quickly found a suspicious item.
The blankets on the bed were pulled back, revealing a silver metallic crossbow lying there.
"This is..." Ran reached out and picked up the crossbow.
"Be careful—the bolt is still loaded," Natsukawa warned.
Ran nodded and carefully picked up the crossbow.
Suddenly, Conan's pupils contracted as if he'd noticed something, and he shouted, "Ran-neechan, be careful! It looks like there's fishing line attached to the trigger!"
Ran was already nervous, and Conan's shout made her hand tremble, causing the crossbow to slip from her grasp.
The other end of the transparent fishing line on the trigger was connected to something, and when it fell beyond the line's limit, it instantly became taut.
The taut line triggered the mechanism.
Whoosh—
A silver metallic bolt shot out, heading straight for the people at the doorway.
Oh no!
Conan and Kaito's expressions changed drastically as they tried to react.
However, everything happened too suddenly. They had no time to respond, and they had nothing on hand to use as a shield.
Sonoko stood frozen, her pupils dilated, her body motionless.
"Ahhh!!!" Sonoko screamed in terror, her mind screaming at her to get out of the way, but the doorway was crowded with people and she couldn't retreat.
All she could do was raise her hand to cover her face, hoping the arrow wouldn't strike her pretty cheek.
BANG!
Sonoko felt the wind rush past her, but after a long moment, she felt no pain. She opened her eyes and stared blankly at the closed door.
The arrow had been stopped by the door at the crucial moment. The remaining half of the arrowhead was less than five centimeters from her cheek, demonstrating its lethal power. If it had hit her face, she probably would have died on the spot.
"Th-thank you, Natsukawa-san."
"It's nothing."
Natsukawa waved his hand dismissively.
He'd been leaning against the door after opening it, gripping the doorknob, and had reacted immediately to Conan's exclamation.
"That was lucky." Natsukawa didn't open the door immediately, but first asked, "Ran-san, keep your distance from the crossbow."
To be honest, Natsukawa had been a bit scared. Ran had been too reckless. If he hadn't been by the door, Sonoko might be dead.
"It's not a repeating crossbow, is it?" Conan also asked cautiously.
"It's all Conan-kun's fault! You shouted too loudly and scared Ran-neechan, which caused this!" Anya scolded Conan, then looked at her father with admiration.
Such fast reaction speed! As expected of Papa—top-tier spies are truly amazing!
(End of Chapter)
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