Ke Xue Lu Ren Wang

Chapter 45 Someone Else

For a moment, the living room fell silent.

Yamagishi Sakae's expression changed several times, and he opened his mouth several times as if to say something, but in the end he did not speak.

"In other words, the time of death was not fixed due to the air conditioning."

Inspector Megure broke the silence first, turning to look at Toru Hanyu.

"Yes." Yuzuru nodded.

Megure was silent for two seconds before his gaze slowly shifted to Yoko Okino, who was standing in the corner.

"If the murderer entered the room through normal means, then the murderer must be the owner of the room."

Yoko Okino's body visibly stiffened.

"How could this be... How could I possibly kill someone..." She took a small step back, her voice trembling noticeably.

"That's right, Inspector Megure! You can't jump to conclusions so quickly! Besides, Yoko isn't the only one with the key!"

Kogoro Mouri practically jumped out and stood next to Yoko Okino, even more excited than the person involved.

Before Megure could respond, Kogoro Mouri had already turned his head and pointed his finger directly at Tetsu Hanyu.

"Ms. Yoko arrived at my office at 4:30. The distance from her apartment to my office takes half an hour by car or high-speed rail. How could she have had time to commit murder?"

"Yes!" Yamagishi Eiya immediately chimed in, "If Yoko is the murderer, she simply wouldn't have had the time to commit the crime. From a timeline perspective, there simply wasn't enough time!"

Yuzuru looked at the two people in front of him, who were singing in harmony, and sighed slightly in his heart.

Kogoro Mouri, you could say he's stupid, but he does have reasoning ability and can occasionally come up with a few useful things.

But once his idol is involved, all the little rationality he has left disappears.

However, Kogoro Mouri isn't entirely useless. If the culprit can't be found, having him identify the culprit will likely eliminate that person from the list—a classic case of the Mouri method of elimination.

As for Sakae Yamagishi...

Yuzuru opened his mouth, speaking at a moderate pace.

"Time can lie, and of course, I didn't say that the murderer was Ms. Yoko."

Kogoro Mouri opened his mouth, the words already on the tip of his tongue, but were abruptly swallowed back down.

What does it mean that time can lie?

What do you mean by not saying that the murderer was Ms. Yoko?

If she wasn't the killer, why did you analyze so much just now? Were you just playing around?

Kogoro Mouri was filled with questions, but couldn't utter a single word.

"Hmm?" Mume reacted quickly, narrowing his eyes. "Brother Yuzuru, are you saying the killer is someone else?"

"right."

In an instant, everyone's gaze turned to Yamagishi Sakae.

After all, besides Yoko Okino, he was the only one who had a key to this room.

"Why...why are you all looking at me like that?"

With so many eyes staring at him, the color drained visibly from Yamagishi Sakae's face.

"I really didn't kill anyone..."

"How is that possible?"

Kogoro Mouri walked up to the other person and pointed.

"Besides Ms. Yoko, only you have the spare key. If you're not the murderer, then who is?"

He paused, then raised his voice.

"So there's only one truth: you're the murderer!"

Watching Uncle Mori's imposing manner from the side, and comparing him with Tetsu Hanyu, Sonoko Suzuki still felt that Tetsu Hanyu had more presence.

"I...I can explain!"

Yamagishi Sakae took a step back and hurriedly spoke.

"I do have a spare key, but I lost it two or three days ago!"

"You're lying!" Kogoro Mori took a step closer. "You lost the key before the incident? What a coincidence!"

"I'm not lying! I left the key in the TV company's break room, and when I went to the restroom, the key was gone!"

When Yamagishi Sakae spoke, a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead, indicating that he was somewhat nervous.

"Is that so?" Kogoro Mouri stared intently at the other person, trying to put pressure on him with his eyes.

"That's right, Mr. Mori..."

Yoko Okino stepped out from the side and hurriedly testified for Sakae Yamagishi.

"Yes, Uncle Mori, around four or five o'clock, Mr. Yamagishi was with us too."

Sonoko Suzuki also spoke up to explain.

"Moreover, Mr. Yamagishi rushed over immediately after hearing that Ms. Yoko was in trouble."

"Alright... since you've all put it that way..."

Seeing this, Kogoro Mouri withdrew his hand and stopped pressuring Sakae Yamagishi.

Just then, Conan tugged at Yuzuru's arm and said, "Brother Yuzuru, this is what I just got from Uncle Yamagishi's pocket."

Yuzuru looked down and saw Conan handing him a strand of brown hair.

Yuzuru took the hair and gently twirled it between his fingertips.

The hair is long, shiny, and smooth, and the color is...

His gaze drifted to Yoko Okino, a few steps away.

Exactly.

"Brother Yuzuru, could this hair belong to Sister Yoko?" Conan tilted his head and lowered his voice. "Why is Uncle Yamagishi hiding the hair?"

Yuzuru looked at Conan, pondered for a moment, and said seriously, "Because he's afraid Yoko will become a suspect."

"Huh?" Conan was slightly taken aback, not expecting this answer.

Logically speaking, shouldn't Yamagishi Sakae be the prime suspect right now?

"Conan, seeing is not always believing, and hearing is not always deceiving."

Yuzuru reached out and patted Conan's fluffy head, continuing, "Okino Yoko is the most popular entertainer under Yamagishi Sakae's management. He had absolutely no reason to frame her. Taking the hair from the deceased's hand was also to prevent the police from using the hair to trace back to Ms. Yoko."

"And what about him?" Conan pressed.

"Then there's even less need for it."

Yuzuru shook his head.

"If Yamagishi Sakae himself was the murderer, he couldn't have left any evidence. All the windows in the room were locked from the inside, and there were no signs of forced entry on the door. No matter how you look at it, Yamagishi Sakae couldn't possibly have left such obvious evidence to prove himself."

Conan remained silent for a few seconds, then stroked his chin, lost in thought.

Someone who wasn't the culprit stole crucial evidence when no one was looking, all to protect their artist. The logic is sound.

But if Sakae Yamagishi isn't the murderer, then Yoko Okino isn't the murderer either...

Who stole the key?

What's the deal with that chair next to the body?

"Who...is that killer?"

Conan looked up and found that Toru Hanyu had already turned around and was walking towards Inspector Megure.

"Inspector Megure."

"Hmm? What's wrong, Yuzuru?"

Inspector Megure turned around and saw Toru Hanyu walking over.

"I suggest we investigate the deceased's identity first, and then start with his interpersonal relationships."

Yuzuru spoke.

Inspector Megure nodded, then asked, "Did you find anything?"

"Yes, this time the killer is someone else."

Yuzuru nodded. The truth is now only missing the last piece of the puzzle.