Yuji Kudo, the manga artist behind Detective Conan.

[Kudo is completely absorbed...]

Conan felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck his head. Such a low-class nickname, you could tell what kind of person it was just by hearing it. He couldn't believe that his brother hadn't changed it at all.

After researching the cases of Shinichi Kudo on his phone, Conan noticed that he rose to fame in his youth, but now his fame is only known within Tokyo. This made Conan even more certain that Higashino was using the same tactics he had used before.

"Miss Atsumi's death is beyond doubt; she was murdered, that much is true. But to say that the three of them couldn't tell who killed her is an exaggeration."

Seeing Higashino standing brazenly in the restaurant, his face hidden behind a flowerpot, Conan felt his teeth ache. He couldn't help but think that the people around him were blind, unable to even see this.

"I think the murderer is you, Ms. Aijima Yasuko... right?"

Officer Hagiwara readily stated the murderer's name, and before the other party could launch a fierce rebuttal, he raised his palm to indicate that there was no need to rush.

"We've spent some time going through the whole process, but there are still a few things we don't understand. We'll have to trouble Detective Kudo to clear things up for us later."

"Of course. By the way, Officer Hagiwara, please submit my assistance payment from yesterday and today together. It would be even better if Chief Sato could approve it a little faster."

Seeing that Higashino even mentioned compensation, Conan changed his mind about giving him a good beating.

"At first, I think Ms. Atsumi probably noticed that her chair was a bit loose after you entered the store and sat down."

Officer Hagiwara walked to the table next to the women's table, placed his hand on the chair that was close to where Atsumi had died, and gently shook it. The chair immediately creaked.

"That's right. Atsumi was very unhappy and said that the restaurant where Taiko works is terrible, so she changed the chair herself." Ms. Junka nodded.

"But she probably didn't expect that the new chair would be just as broken as the original one." Officer Hagiwara walked over to the forensic officer, put on gloves, and began to search through the chair, which was broken into pieces because the deceased had fallen.

"As you can see, whether it's the broken chair or the chair over there, two screws are missing. So someone tampered with the chair beforehand. The only person who could do that is Ms. Aishima Yasuko, who works at this restaurant."

"You must be talking about the poisoning method, right? What does a chair have to do with poisoning...?" "Of course it's related." The old Kudo's reasoning, reeking of alcohol, rang out from the booth: "Because the chair is your poisoning technique."

She first coated the two support bars under the chair next to her with poison, which were within hand reach. After changing the chair, Miss Atsumi realized that the chair was also abnormal. Being very concerned about her figure and weight, she was afraid of being ridiculed and did not change the chair.

“She grabbed the support bar of the chair she was sitting on, and that’s when she found the poison in her hand.” Officer Hagiwara picked up an evidence bag: “The poison was detected on the spoon that the deceased used. The reason we didn’t find out who had the poisoned spoon, as we originally thought, is because the poison wasn’t on the spoon.”

“In restaurants like this, the self-service spoons on the table are usually placed with the rim facing upwards, so if Miss Atsumi is too eager to grab the cutlery, she will definitely end up eating the poison that has been transferred from her hand to the spoon.”

Old Kudo then asked Inspector Hagiwara, "You said there's something you don't understand, what is it?"

"I'm wondering, how is Ms. Aishima able to pinpoint that Ms. Atsumi will definitely sit on that side?"

If Ms. Atsumi hadn't sat on the tampered side of the chair in the first place, her killing process would have been completely useless, only harming people other than her target.

“Conan told me about the time when the girls first entered the restaurant and took a selfie in front of that table. This child is very perceptive and asked me why Atsumi was initially standing on the left, but immediately moved to the right after hearing that a photo was being taken.”

Thank you, but I don't remember asking that...

Noticing the stares from others, Conan gave an awkward smile.

"This is because, as a plus-size woman, Ms. Atsumi's face appears more three-dimensional and less round when she stands on the right side in photos. I think this habit can be discovered by simply checking the photos on these women's phones."

After taking the photos, these people naturally sat down in the seats closest to them.

"The person who first suggested taking photos was indeed Taiko."

The women looked at their friend in horror. (End of Chapter)