"Takagi, go investigate who entered and left the backstage area from the start of the concert up to intermission."
"Yes, sir." Takagi acknowledged the order and hurried out.
"Heiji, how can you tell the fatal wound was the chest stab just from the ligature mark?" Kazuha asked. She and the other two girls still looked completely lost.
"Because this ligature mark is too clean," Heiji explained. "Its width matches the rope exactly—perfectly, without even the slightest gap."
"What does that prove?" Sonoko asked, curious.
"When someone dies by hanging, even if they want to die, their body will still struggle instinctively before they stop breathing. In that situation, it's impossible for the rope to leave only a single, smooth mark like this." Heiji's gaze sharpened. "Unless the person was already dead when they were hung. Only then would the rope leave an even, unbroken ligature mark."
Heiji's explanation left the three girls stunned. A simple mark on the neck could reveal that much?
[Why would the murderer do this? They already killed him—why go out of their way to stage it as a suicide?]
Conan's mind filled with questions.
Just then, Takagi ran back, his expression grave as he glanced toward Okino Yoko's group.
"Inspector Megure, from the start of the concert until now, only Miss Okino Yoko, Mr. Eiichi Yamagishi, and Miss Tomoko Ikezawa have entered or exited this backstage area."
"Tomoko Ikezawa? Bring her here immediately," Inspector Megure said sternly.
"I am Tomoko Ikezawa. You still haven't told me what's going on," Tomoko Ikezawa said, looking confused.
"Someone has been murdered here," Inspector Megure replied, his face grim.
Tomoko Ikezawa's expression changed—yet her eyes kept darting around uneasily.
"Then it's my turn to ask. What were you doing back here during that time?" Inspector Megure pressed.
Tomoko Ikezawa's face turned cold. "What do you mean by that? Are you implying I'm the one who killed him?"
Inspector Megure's words made her hesitate.
"I only came back to touch up my makeup. I had no idea someone was murdered," Tomoko Ikezawa said arrogantly.
"Were there any witnesses?"
"All the dancers were on standby behind the curtain at the time. I was the only one here."
"In other words, you have no alibi." Inspector Megure's expression hardened.
"Just because no one saw me, that means I killed him? You need evidence!" Tomoko Ikezawa shouted.
"Inspector Megure, we found an ice pick in a dressing-table drawer. It has blood on it."
Officer Takagi held up an ice pick, his face tense.
"Miss Tomoko Ikezawa, do you have anything else to say?" Inspector Megure asked sharply.
"Impossible! I'm not the murderer—how could there be a weapon?" Tomoko Ikezawa cried out.
Heiji walked over, eyes narrowing as he looked at Takagi. "Which dressing table was it found in?"
"That one," Takagi said, pointing.
"That's Yoko's dressing table, not mine!" Tomoko Ikezawa shouted, as if she'd just grabbed a lifeline.
Everyone immediately turned to look at Okino Yoko.
"That… that is my dressing table, but I don't know anything about a weapon! It wasn't me—it wasn't!" Okino Yoko stammered in panic.
No one could stay calm after being singled out as the murderer.
"Inspector Megure, we couldn't find Miss Yoko's fingerprints on it," Takagi reported. "But there aren't any other fingerprints either."
"In my opinion, Yoko was afraid her scandal would be exposed, so she struck first," Tomoko Ikezawa sneered. "And to avoid suspicion, of course she wiped off her fingerprints."
A sharp glint flashed in Heiji's eyes. "What did you mean by that, Miss Tomoko Ikezawa?"
"Oh my, you don't know?" Tomoko Ikezawa said with mock surprise. "Yoko received a threatening letter before the concert. It said, 'If Yoko doesn't cancel the concert, her scandal will be exposed.' I'm sure that man was the one who sent it. To keep the scandal from getting out and ruining her image, she killed him. The motive is obvious."
"That's not true! I… I didn't kill him!"
Tomoko Ikezawa's words threw Okino Yoko into even deeper panic.
A confident curve appeared at the corner of Heiji's mouth.
And with that, the last suspicious point is gone.
"Inspector Megure, we found this fountain pen in the victim's pocket," Takagi said.
The moment Okino Yoko saw the fountain pen, her expression changed.
"Take it and check for fingerprints," Inspector Megure ordered.
He handed it to the forensic officer. The result came back shortly afterward.
"Inspector Megure, according to our match, this has not only Akiyoshi Fujie's fingerprints… but someone else's as well."
"Whose?"
"Okino Yoko's."
Boom!!
Okino Yoko swayed—and sank weakly onto a stool.
"Miss Yoko, do you have anything else to say?" Inspector Megure demanded, his voice stern.
"It wasn't me… it really wasn't," Okino Yoko said, tears streaming down her face.
"How could this happen?" Ran stared in disbelief.
"How could Sister Yoko kill someone? It's impossible," Sonoko said, refusing to accept it.
"Heiji…" Kazuha looked to him for help.
Heiji nodded and walked over to Okino Yoko. "Miss Yoko, you knew Mr. Akiyoshi Fujie, didn't you?"
"Mr. Heiji…?" Okino Yoko looked up. Her beautiful eyes were full of helplessness.
"Go on. Just say it. It'll be fine," Heiji said gently.
Okino Yoko stared at him for a long moment, then finally nodded faintly. "Akiyoshi Fujie was my nominal boyfriend in high school. I was the one who gave him that fountain pen."
"Was he really only nominal?" Tomoko Ikezawa asked skeptically.
Heiji ignored her completely, keeping his eyes on Okino Yoko, waiting for her to continue.
"At the time, Akiyoshi Fujie kept insisting that I be his girlfriend. He seemed sincere, so… to stop him from constantly pestering me, I agreed for a while—just to observe him." Her voice trembled. "But not long after, I was scouted to become a star, and we lost contact."
"So, to bury this dark part of your past—or because he used it to threaten you—you killed him. Is that what you're saying?" Inspector Megure asked grimly.
"No! I really didn't kill him!"
Okino Yoko looked at Inspector Megure in terror.
"However, the evidence is here. Miss Yoko, please come back to the station with us." Inspector Megure signaled to Miwako Sato.
[No. There are still too many suspicious points.]
Conan felt something was deeply off.
"Yoko, if you killed him, why would you make it look like suicide afterward? That doesn't make sense," Conan said.
Kogoro Mouri's eyes lit up. "Inspector Megure, this is a misunderstanding! Someone must be framing Miss Yoko!"
"Hm. That is a suspicious point," Inspector Megure admitted. "Miss Yoko, why would you do that?"
"I didn't kill anyone! I really don't know!"
Okino Yoko pleaded frantically, her eyes turning toward Heiji—hoping he would help her.