Inspector Megure and Heiji said in confusion.
"Cassian, the locked room trick Heiji deduced is perfect. You saw him experiment with my pocket earlier."
"That's right, there are no flaws in my deduction!"
I smiled leisurely and pointed at Inspector Megure's pants.
"Huh~ Check if the key really went in properly."
Heiji turned the pocket inside out to check the key trick. Then, it had gone into the pocket but not into the coin pocket inside.
"What, how can this be... I clearly pulled the fishing line through the coin pocket. Why didn't the key go in there?"
"That's because Inspector Megure was sitting."
"What?"
"Since he was sitting, the pocket was pressed, reducing the space for the key to enter, so the fishing line came off the tape before the key could go into the coin pocket. Moreover, like the fat diplomat, if it's someone like Inspector Megure, even more so!"
Heiji said as if making an excuse.
"But even if by chance, one in a million, no, one in ten times..."
"It would be the same no matter how many times you try. Think carefully! What form was the key in when it was inside the diplomat's coin pocket."
Heiji thought for a moment and eventually acknowledged my words.
"I see. It was clearly folded. There's no way it could have gone in with a fishing line..."
Heiji, still seemingly unconvinced, held up the fishing line and needle and asked.
"Then what's this? I found a fishing line with a needle in the living room!"
"That's a trap set by the culprit. To frame the grandfather."
I showed the several fishing lines and needles I had collected while going around various rooms.
"These are what I found while going around various rooms. As if asking to be found. They were in every room of this house."
"Huh! Such a..."
"This is because the culprit didn't know where the grandfather would go, so they hid them in several rooms."
Heiji, now realizing that his deduction was the culprit's trap, asked me as if arguing.
"Then how did the culprit escape from this study? Until we entered, it was a perfect locked room!"
"The culprit didn't escape from the locked room. They entered with us and committed the murder."
Everyone was surprised at those words.
"That means the culprit is..."
"That's right. The culprit is you, madam!"
"M-Madam..."
"How can that be..."
Kogoro asked me.
"So, the victim was alive until then?"
"Yes, the madam had only put him to sleep with drugs or something beforehand. And then, while pretending to wake the victim, she stabbed him with a poisoned needle. Moreover, to prevent any groans or distorted expressions from being seen if he was stabbed with the poisoned needle, she piled up books beside him and played music."
Then Heiji spoke as if denying my deduction.
"But when we carried the madam, it didn't seem like she took out anything. Show me evidence that the madam did it!"
"You'll know by looking at the key the madam has. Because she uses the same keychain as the victim."
At those words, Inspector Megure took out the key from the madam's bag and checked. Then, as I said, it was the same keychain, and that keychain was also split in half, with a groove carved into it that could hold a poisoned needle.
"No! This groove!?"
"Yes. She probably put the poisoned needle in this groove. She had the keychain crafted so she could quickly take it out as soon as she entered the room. In other words, this keychain with the carved groove is the decisive evidence that the madam is the culprit."
"But why would the madam kill her husband..."
"The answer is in this photo."
I showed a photo frame of the diplomat couple when they were young and said.
"Look here, doesn't the madam resemble someone a lot?"
Inspector Megure looked closely at the photo and said in surprise.
"Ah! Right! She looks just like Yukiko! How can this be?"
Then the madam, as if giving up, began to tell the whole story.
"It's natural that she resembles me. Yukiko is my daughter."
"What? What!!!???"
"Yukiko is my daughter from my ex-husband. My ex-husband was a diplomat who was framed for corruption 20 years ago and was socially buried. He died in prison 15 years ago. I didn't know that the one who framed him was my current husband, and I was deceived by sweet talk and ended up living with that evil man."
Inspector Megure seemed to remember the case.
"Ah~ I remember that case. But we don't know if it was a frame-up, do we?"
"I found out when my son brought a photo of Yukiko, saying she was the person he wanted to marry. At first, even though she's a girl, I thought she resembled me when I was young, but my husband strongly opposed when he saw the photo. So, I wondered why and pressed him, and he started confessing that he framed my ex-husband. And all to get me."
"Such a..."
"And then I found out that the grandfather was involved too."
Hearing that, the grandfather, unable to look at the madam, bowed his head and said.
"I'm sorry, child. I must not have been in my right mind back then."
Hearing that, Inspector Megure seemed to understand the whole story and said.
"So that's how it is... Feeling guilty for what he did in the past, he tried to take the blame as the culprit, even though he knew about the trap the madam set."
The madam looked at the grandfather with cold eyes, as if still unable to forgive him, and said.
"It's no use regretting now. He has already gone to the other world with an unjust frame-up."
With those words, the police took the madam away. While being taken away, the madam told her son to take care of her daughter.
'Then wouldn't the children end up marrying each other?'
After the case ended, Ran, Kogoro, and Heiji came to me and praised me.
"Cassian, you were so cool today."
"As expected of my son-in-law."
"Besides Shinichi, there's another one. Next time, I won't lose."
I pointed at Conan, who was on everyone's back, and said.
"This case was solved by the boy detective, Conan. I just spoke. Right, Conan?"
"Ah~ Uh... Yes..."
Conan seemed to want to say something but just acknowledged it. I decided to give this case to Conan. Since Conan was clearly on my back and passionately pointed out evidence and deductions, I couldn't ignore his efforts.
"What? Really???"
"Yes, Conan wanted to play detective and found various things, so it was possible."
"Wow~ Conan is amazing, isn't he?"
Ran praised Conan, but I started teasing again as my mischievousness kicked in.
"Our child is so clever. I'm thinking of raising him as a detective."
At those words, Ran also laughed and said.
"Huhu! That's right. He seems like he'll become a good detective."
"Ah! Really, you're doing this until the end? Let's go home quickly."
So, I saw Ran, Kogoro, and Conan off and was about to go home when Heiji kept following me.
"Aren't you going?"
"Ahaha... Well, the thing is, I have nowhere to stay, so let me stay over."
"Seriously, you came all this way without booking a place to stay?"
"I was only thinking about Shinichi while coming..."
I thought about sending him to a nearby motel but ended up giving him an empty room in my house. Heiji was impressed by the size of our house.
"Wow~ You're really well-off. It's similar in size to the diplomat's house from today."
"Yes, I have what I inherited from my parents and what I earn as an onmyoji."
"Then your parents..."
"Yes, both passed away in a plane accident."
"Sorry, I asked something unnecessary."
"No, it's fine. More importantly, let's eat first."
Come to think of it, Heiji was the first guest to stay over at this house. I made a meal, and Heiji praised it, saying it was delicious. The next day, Heiji left, saying he would return the favor if I ever came to Osaka. He seemed like a guy with a good personality.
'Come to think of it, isn't that guy's father a monster whose deductive skills surpass Shinichi?'
In the Conan worldview, there are three monsters in terms of deductive skills, and one of them is Heiji's father, 'Hattori Heizo'.
'Well, I'll see him later.'
After sending Heiji off, I went to school and heard from Ran that Conan's cold wasn't getting better, so he was absent from school today.
'After struggling on my back like that, as expected... Even if not a pie girl, I should give him some yuzu tea as a gift.'
It had been two weeks since Heiji left. This time too, I spent my days taking care of rich people's affairs without any special events. School life had changed a bit; now I had become very close with Sonoko and Ran, so after school, we went shopping together and ate delicious things together. Moreover, since Ran's house wasn't far, after classes ended, I would drop her off at the office with my bike and then go home.
However, on days when Ran went to the market to buy groceries, my bike couldn't handle the increased weight because it had too little power, so it wouldn't go, which made me angry, so I had it modified. I added an electric motor, so when it ran fast, it could match the speed of a supercar, and I tuned the exterior using off-the-shelf parts. The bike cost 240,000 yen, but the tuning cost alone was 400,000 yen. So, now it had become a completely different bike.
'Phew~ Now I feel a bit relieved.'
When I rode the modified bike to school, Ran saw it and said in surprise.
"Wow~ Is this that bike? It's completely different!"
"I did some tuning. How is it?"
"The red color is so pretty now!"
"Right? Since it's red, shouldn't it be three times faster?"
"Huhu~ Maybe so."
Now, it didn't lack power even with Ran on it, and the ride comfort was definitely better. Seeing that Ran liked it, I regretted not doing it sooner.
When I visited the Mouri Detective Agency after a long time, Kogoro had a very happy face.
"Oh~ Son-in-law, you came?"
"Nice to see you. But you seem to have some good news?"
"I received a request to appear as a guest on a program called 'That Will Tell You' on the broadcasting station. It seems the world is finally recognizing this Mouri detective. Hahahaha~"
'Ah~ The broadcasting station episode.'
"Oh~ That's good news. If you appear on TV, it will promote you and bring more clients."
"Right? Uhahaha~"
Kogoro was overjoyed. Ran and Conan were looking at Kogoro with pitying eyes.
"Brother! I drank the tea made from the yuzu you gave last time. Thanks to that tea, my cold seemed to go away quickly. It was tasty too."
"Really? That's good."
Lately, Conan had changed a bit; since we solved cases together and I took care of him when he had a cold, the sense of wariness seemed to have faded, and he seemed to think of me as a friendly rival of sorts. I'm not sure if this is fortunate or not.
I decided to give a hint about this case.
"Hmm... But that's strange..."
At my words, Ran asked.
"Huh? What is it?"
"I keep having a bad feeling. Did you all decide to go to the broadcasting station with Mouri detective when he goes?"
"Well... Probably so?"
"Really? So that means..."
I sat at the table and pretended to do a fortune-telling act. Then Ran's expression turned bad.
"By any chance! Is there going to be another murder case?"
"I don't know about that, but..."
At my words, Kogoro and Conan also started listening intently. Since my fortunes had been accurate so often, they couldn't ignore my words anymore.
"Mouri detective's one-year fortune depends on this matter."
"What? Is that true?"
Kogoro was surprised and asked again.
"Yes, and what I see is someone dropping something below a window."
Kogoro, as if trying to remember my words, closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, then said.
"Someone dropping something below a window... I understand. I'll remember it."
With this much hint, even a 10-year-old could solve it, I thought.
"Conan, want to play Tekken with me after a long time?"
"Sure! I won't lose this time."
Of course, I beat him badly again.
A few days later, the program that Mouri detective was invited to as a guest started on Nichiyuri Broadcasting Station, and as in the original, the PD murder case occurred. But this time, since I gave a hint, Kogoro seemed to have solved it well without Conan's help.
This case was where a fading talent, holding a grudge against the PD, shot and killed the PD who was sticking his head out the window from the floor below, but people thought he was killed on the same floor and were confused.
'I'm glad it was solved well.'
So, after solving the case on air, Kogoro appeared on the news being interviewed, showing off and laughing strangely. Seeing Kogoro's pathetic appearance, it seemed like the one-year fortune I told him about would fly away.
The next day at school, Ran came to me and told me about that day's case.
"Dad said to thank you."
"I saw it on the news. I'm glad it was solved well."
After finishing the story about the case, Ran hesitated for a moment as if it was difficult to say, then made a request to me.
"Um... And I decided to meet my mom after a long time, and when I talked about you, she said she really wants to meet you..."
"Really?"
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