Chapter 134: How Could a Car Accident Happen in a Place Like This!
It was an undeniable fact that Shunian was the murderer, caught red-handed by Natsukawa and Conan while attempting to execute his crime. Now that Shunian was dead, the case was effectively closed.
The only remaining question was Shunian's motive for the murder. According to the police officer's report, his reason for killing Abbot Tennei had been discovered.
"So Monk Shunian was the younger brother of Monk Tunnian, who died two years ago—is that correct?" Inspector Megure confirmed with the officer once more.
The officer nodded and continued, "According to Detective Mouri's deduction, Tunnian was killed by Abbot Tennei, so Shunian's purpose was clearly revenge. However, it's unclear how he knew about Abbot Tennei's previous methods of committing murder."
"That's right!" Conan suddenly interjected and launched into his own deduction:
"From decades ago until now, there have been three cases of Tengu murders at Mountain Mist Temple.
The first was the death of Monk Tenfu more than twenty years ago. The second was the death of Monk Tunnian two years ago.
These two cases have only one point of intersection: Abbot Tennei. Only Abbot Tennei personally witnessed both incidents.
Moreover, he had sufficient motive in both cases. The motive for the first was to compete for the abbot's position, and the second was to separate his granddaughter from Tunnian.
As for this third case, as the officer mentioned, Master Shunian came seeking revenge.
As for how Master Shunian determined that Abbot Tennei was responsible, it might be related to what Akako-neechan mentioned yesterday."
After finishing his explanation, Conan innocently turned back to look at Kogoro Mouri. "Isn't that right, Uncle Mouri?"
"Hahaha, yes, yes! Inspector Megure, what Conan said is exactly what I was thinking. This kid's pretty sharp!" Kogoro laughed heartily, as if he were the one who'd stayed up until 3 AM working out the deductions.
"Alright then." Inspector Megure waved his hand dismissively. Some mysterious force prevented him from asking who this Akako person was—as long as the case was solved, that was all that mattered.
"However, Mouri, don't bring Conan to crime scenes next time. Look, his clothes are stained with blood. Kids don't know their own limits—they can easily contaminate evidence."
Natsukawa thought to himself: Inspector Megure really doesn't know his own situation. With the Metropolitan Police Department's current case-solving methods, without Conan, they'd be arresting the wrong culprits left and right.
"Conan's actually very well-behaved. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have discovered that Shunian was planning to frame the Tengu for Tennei's death."
Conan was moved to tears internally. What a good person!
The Mountain Mist Temple case concluded early thanks to the timely discovery.
Both the original culprit and the current perpetrator had perished in their conflict.
The remaining three young monks hastily finished giving their statements before immediately beginning to compete for the position of abbot.
Natsukawa didn't know the specifics, nor was he particularly interested. The group of six packed their belongings and prepared to return to Tokyo.
Because of Sherry's situation, Natsukawa also needed to visit Shirahata Pharmaceutical, so Anya's hot spring trip was officially canceled.
However, Anya didn't throw a tantrum.
Not because she was being obedient, but because of the whole magic learning incident—she was still somewhat afraid to speak up, only hoping her papa would forget about it and not actually force her to become a magic apprentice.
The profession of witch simply wasn't suitable for her.
Koizumi Akako had hurriedly departed right after Inspector Megure solved the case, taking the Mist Tengu mask with her.
Seeing her rush off in such a hurry, Natsukawa felt something was off.
This case had nothing to do with Koizumi Akako, and the profession of witch wasn't illegal, so why did she need to flee so quickly?
This question was finally answered at the parking lot.
"Who did this?!" Kogoro's voice echoed throughout the entire mountain—a mixture of anger and despair. He collapsed to his knees beside the car, burying his face in his hands as tears streamed down. The good mood he'd gained from solving the case plummeted instantly.
"What's going on?"
Natsukawa turned around in confusion, looking at Kogoro kneeling beside the trunk of the Mercedes. Conan and Ran behind him also wore strange expressions. What happened?
"What's wrong, Uncle Mouri?"
As he approached, before he could even see the damage, Natsukawa felt himself step on something hard. Looking down, he saw the Mercedes emblem lying on the ground.
Good grief!
He'd thought that only Uncle Mouri's reckless driving could prevent disasters, but now it seemed fate's counterattack was terrifying! The rear emblem was completely gone.
He couldn't help but recall the loud crash he'd heard on the way to Mountain Mist Temple last night.
Natsukawa quickened his pace and came up behind Kogoro.
The rear license plate area of the Mercedes was badly dented, the emblem was missing, the taillights were shattered, and the exhaust pipe was bent at an awkward angle to one side.
Natsukawa stepped forward and touched the deformed trunk.
BANG!
The entire trunk suddenly popped up, nearly hitting Natsukawa in the face. Luckily, he reacted in time and bent backward, otherwise his chin would definitely have taken the hit.
"How could a car accident happen in a place like this?!"
Natsukawa exclaimed in disbelief, glancing at the ground behind the Mercedes.
"There must have been another vehicle parked here." Conan carefully observed the area, trying to find clues about the hit-and-run driver.
There were some shards of glass on the ground—fragments of headlights, indicating a rear-end collision.
"Hey, Uncle Mouri, there seems to be a piece of paper here." Conan ran to Natsukawa's side and reached into the damaged trunk to pull out a piece of paper.
"Conan!" Ran called out softly. Her father was in a terrible mood—wouldn't Conan just be asking for trouble?
Sure enough, there was a loud "thwack" sound as Kogoro's fist came down. Conan instinctively ducked and swerved to the side, narrowly avoiding it.
Natsukawa took the paper from Conan's hand.
"Who did this?! I just picked up my Mercedes, and now the emblem's completely gone!" Kogoro wailed, tears welling in his eyes.
Although the Hiramoto Foundation would cover the repairs, the damage was extensive—it needed major bodywork. It was a brand new car! Who could stand this?
"Uncle Mouri, this looks like a check!" Natsukawa examined it carefully, counting the zeros. "This is a check for twenty million yen."
"What?!" Kogoro's eyes widened as he snatched the check, scrutinizing the amount carefully.
After a moment, he suddenly burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Well, when you put it that way, it doesn't hurt so much anymore!"
The repair costs would be covered by the Hiramoto Foundation, and the person who crashed into the car had left behind a twenty million yen check—this money was practically free. He'd be a fool not to appreciate this windfall.
The master of mood swings, Kogoro Mouri, felt much better, though getting home would be a bit troublesome. His car was in this condition—there was definitely no way to drive it.
Fortunately, Inspector Megure hadn't left yet, so they could still hitch a ride back, though Kogoro would have to swallow his pride.
Natsukawa finally understood why Koizumi Akako had that expression earlier—she was probably the one who'd crashed into the Mercedes.
But why would a witch travel by car instead of riding a broomstick? Had she taken her broom to the magical broom shop for maintenance?
Also, isn't Koizumi Akako seventeen? She shouldn't even have a driver's license at that age. No wonder she'd walked away in such a hurry, and hesitated when he'd asked her questions.
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