Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Chapter 270 Love is a light, so green it makes you panic.
"The hotel has a back door?" Officer Morimura raised an eyebrow slightly. "How come I didn't see it?"

“There’s a back door,” the proprietress quickly confirmed her son’s words. “Many customers come to our shop to have affairs. If they get blocked at the main entrance, it’ll be hard for them to leave. So I had someone install a back door, which is inside the toilet at the end of the corridor on the first floor.”

“It seems the killer left through the back door after committing the murder,” Lin Xiuyi thought for a moment. “Were the female victim’s ring and necklace found in his room?”

“No,” Officer Morimura shook his head.

“Officer Morimura, could you please check room 305?” Lin Xiuyi said.

"Why are you going to my room?"

Okada Hirosuke's face turned deathly pale instantly, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

He jumped up like a startled rabbit, spread his arms to block the doorway, and said in a trembling voice, "Haven't the murderers already been caught?"

"They only found the male victim's wallet; the female victim's belongings are still missing. And finding these doesn't necessarily mean he's the murderer,"

Lin Xiuyi gave the other person a meaningful look.
"To be honest, I still find you very suspicious. The necklace and ring of the female victim might have been missing because you had been observing them.

"But what about their wallets? How would you know their wallets were missing if you hadn't searched the bodies?"

"I……"

Hirosuke Okada looked flustered and tried to block the way, but two burly police officers strode forward and forcefully pulled him aside from the left and right.

Officer Morimura led his officers upstairs.

A moment later, he returned with a device that looked like a tape recorder: "Inspector, Mr. Lin, we only found this in the room upstairs."

"what is this?"

Inspector Samezaki picked up a small tail with a microphone-like device attached to the back of the machine and looked at it with a puzzled expression.

Lin Xiuyi leaned closer to examine it: "It looks like some kind of eavesdropping device?"

"I really wasn't a robber!"

Facing the suspicious gazes of the crowd, Okada Hirosuke, whose collar was already soaked with sweat, suddenly broke down and shouted.

After struggling for a moment, he slumped his shoulders in dejection.

"This is a monitoring and recording device. I modified it; the microphone cable can extend very far..."

His voice grew softer and softer.

“I was upstairs just now, and I put this microphone by the window of room 205 to eavesdrop and record what was happening in the room.”

"Isn't this surveillance?" Inspector Samezaki glared angrily. "Are you trying to harm him? Did you kill Sakamoto?"

“No wonder you kept saying the hotel maintenance worker was the murderer,” Officer Morimura interjected coldly. “So you were trying to divert the police’s attention by using other people.”

"You bastard, you're the murderer! How dare you frame my son!"

The proprietress was so angry her face turned red, and her eyes bulged like saucers.

"I will fight with you!"

As she spoke, she pounced on Hirosuke Okada like an angry lioness.

Caught off guard, Okada Hirosuke's face was scratched several times by the proprietress.

The officers then realized what was happening and hurriedly pulled the two apart.

Amidst the chaos, a cry suddenly rang out: "Xiangzi! How could this happen! You..."

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw a tall man in his thirties kneeling beside the body of the deceased woman, Ishikawa Kaori, crying and gently stroking her pale face with trembling hands.

“He is…” Inspector Samezaki looked at the panting police officer behind the man.

“Kiyoto Ishikawa, the husband of the deceased woman, Kaori Ishikawa,” the officer said, wiping his sweat. “By the way, he was also an subordinate of the deceased man, Masashi Sakamoto.”

After the police officer finished speaking, everyone in the room looked at Ishikawa Kiyoto with immediate sympathy.

His wife not only died, but she died right there at the scene of his infidelity, the very place where he was being cheated on.

The man who slept with his wife was his boss, tsk tsk, what a man...

"I never expected this woman to be Mr. Ishikawa's wife," the proprietress muttered under her breath, covering her mouth.

"You know him?" Lin Xiuyi asked in surprise.

“Yes,” the landlady nodded, “Mr. Ishikawa has been a regular customer of our shop recently. He also has a very strange habit: he likes to stay in a different room every time he comes.”

"Officer, what exactly happened?" Kiyoto Ishikawa's eyes were red, filled with grief and anger. "How could my wife and my boss die here?"

"This one……"

Inspector Samezaki rubbed his temples, looking at Officer Morimura with a headache. The latter stepped forward helplessly and briefly explained the reason.

"No, impossible! How could Xiangzi betray me! I don't believe it!"

Kiyoto Ishikawa looked utterly devastated, burying his face in his hands and collapsing to the ground, his eyes filled with despair.
"We just got married last year, and we've always been very much in love. Xiangzi won't betray me, she won't..."

“Alright, take Okada back for questioning,” Inspector Samezaki waved his hand sympathetically. “My condolences, Mr. Ishikawa.”

"I'm really not the murderer!" Kosuke Okada struggled and shouted, his face covered in snot and tears. "Sakamoto and I were business partners, but he cheated me on the contract, causing me to lose a lot of money."

“I stalked and monitored him just to record things that would be detrimental to him, and then threaten him to compensate me for my losses.”

"How could I possibly kill him? If I did, no one would compensate me for my losses."

"You can talk about these things in detail when you get to the Metropolitan Police Department," Officer Morimura said coldly, pulling out handcuffs and stepping forward.

"Wait a minute," Lin Xiuyi suddenly raised his hand to stop him, "Mr. Okada, the reason you were so sure the murderer was a robber just now, was it because you heard something while you were eavesdropping?"

“Yes!” Hirosuke Okada nodded eagerly as if grasping at a straw. “I’ve been upstairs eavesdropping and recording the sounds in this room with my device.”

"I originally wanted to record Sakamoto's affair so I could blackmail him into compensating me for my losses."

"I didn't expect that just as I overheard him flirting with that woman and getting ready to go to bed, the doorbell rang."

Hirosuke Okada swallowed hard.
"Sakamoto was cursing as he went to open the door, and then I heard a gunshot."

"Immediately afterwards, the murderer broke into the room and demanded money from the woman."

"That's why I said the murderer must be a robber."

“Didn’t you record it?” Lin Xiuyi said. “Let us hear it.”

“Okay, okay,” Hirosuke Okada quickly nodded.

He strode to the recording equipment, his hands trembling slightly as he operated it a couple of times. The machine then began playing the recording he had just heard.

"Baby, I've missed you so much!"

"Wait, wait a minute, let me take off my coat!"

"Hurry up, I really can't hold back anymore."

"Just don't lose your temper later... Oh dear, I think my ring fell under the bed."

"How did the ring fall off? Weren't you wearing it?"

"If someone sees it on my finger, they'll know I have a husband. You're shameless, but I am! Quickly help me find the ring."

"The ring that idiot bought you isn't a diamond ring, it's worthless, we'll find it later! Let me kiss you a couple of times first!"

At that moment, a knocking sound came from the recording device.

"Damn it, who is it?" No one answered, and the knocking continued.

"Damn it, stop banging!"

"Let's go see what's going on. Who's in the mood to go around like this?"

"Who's outside? Don't let me..."

"boom!"

With a gunshot, the recording equipment was immediately filled with the terrified screams of women.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of the door lock turning was heard, followed by a deep male voice shouting sternly, "Hand over all the valuables!"

"Don't kill me, don't kill me!"

The woman pleaded frantically, her voice trembling with despair.

"His wallet, my wallet, and my necklace are all here!"

"Where's your ring! Your ring!"

"It fell...it fell under the bed!"

"Pick it out for me right now!"

The recording could be heard of a woman sobbing as she got out of bed.

After a moment, the woman said, "Here's the ring, just don't kill me..."

Before she could finish speaking, four or five gunshots rang out in succession.

Immediately following was the sound of the perpetrator's footsteps as he left.

"Why?!" Kiyoto Ishikawa suddenly sprang to his feet, grabbing Hirosuke Okada by the collar. "You've already robbed them of their valuables, and you still want to kill Kaori!"

"I didn't kill them!" Kosuke Okada waved his hands frantically. "If I were the murderer, why would I record my own crime?"

“Maybe you’re deliberately trying to make the police think that way,” Officer Morimura scoffed.

“No, he probably isn’t the murderer,” Lin Xiuyi shook his head slightly.

"Lin-kun, what's the reason?" Inspector Samezaki asked.

“First of all, it’s height,” Lin Xiuyi pointed to the bullet holes on the doorway. “Look at the height of the bullet holes, they’re at least 1.8 meters tall.”

He turned and sized up Okada Kosuke's short stature.
"And Mr. Okada is at most only 1.5 meters tall."

"He would have to raise his arm high to fire at that height,"

Lin Xiuyi raised her arm to demonstrate.
"But in that case, the recoil makes it easy for the bullet to miss."

"Therefore, the murderer must be at least 1.7 meters tall. Secondly, the murderer must have been to the hotel before."

“In the recording just now, after the murderer killed Mr. Sakamoto through the door, he obviously opened the door with a key. I think he must have been here many times before and made a copy of all the hotel room keys.”

"In addition, the murderer should also know Mr. Sakamoto, or even be very familiar with him."

"Was it committed by someone you know?" Officer Morimura frowned.

"Yes, the fact that the killer could hit Mr. Sakamoto in the forehead from outside the door, through the door panel, shows that the killer was very familiar with the victim."

Lin Xiu nodded.

"I not only know his height, but also his door-opening habits."

"Secondly, there's a problem with the recording, did you notice it?"

Lin Xiuyi said in a deep voice,

"Mrs. Ishikawa's ring had already fallen under the bed. If the murderer didn't know her, he certainly wouldn't have known she was wearing a ring."

"But he specifically asked for it, and after learning that the ring had fallen under the bed, the murderer even made Mrs. Ishikawa pick it out."

“The murderer had already killed one person. The longer he stayed at the crime scene, the more dangerous it would be, but he still did it.”

"The killer either knew beforehand that the ring was extremely valuable, or the ring held great significance for the killer,"

Lin Xiuyi slowly walked towards Ishikawa Kiyoto.

"The former possibility has been ruled out by the conversation in the recording, so it can only be the latter."

"The ring..." Inspector Morimura's eyes widened, and he suddenly looked at Kiyoto Ishikawa. "You're the murderer!"

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Kiyoto Ishikawa's face turned deathly pale instantly. He instinctively took a few steps back, only to bump into the wall.

"How could I possibly kill Xiangzi! She's my wife!"

"Just because she's your wife,"

Lin Xiuyi sighed, her voice filled with pity.

"And you loved her very much, so you killed them in a fit of rage after discovering that she was having an affair with your boss."

At this point, he pointed to Ishikawa Kiyoto's right hand.
"When the recording played the part where the murderer asked Mrs. Ishikawa to find the ring, your hand subconsciously pressed the right pocket of your pants."

"You pretended to be a robber and stole their valuables, probably intending to stage the scene as a robbery and murder."

Lin Xiu approached step by step.

"You may have lost the other things after you ran away, but that ring, because you love your wife so much, you may not have been able to bear losing it and it's still in your pocket."

“You…” Ishikawa Kiyoto swallowed hard, his eyes revealing obvious panic.

“Mr. Ishikawa,” Officer Morimura said, as he and his officers surrounded him, “please allow us to check the contents of your pockets.”

"...You don't need to trouble yourselves,"

Kiyoto Ishikawa gave a wry smile, reached into his pocket and took out a ring. Judging from its appearance, it was clearly a pair with the one he was wearing on his hand.
"It was indeed I who killed Xiangzi."

“Even if she cheated on me, there’s no need to kill her,” the proprietress said with a sigh. “It’s still two lives lost.”

"I met Xiangzi at Sakamoto's company. I had been pursuing her until last year when she finally agreed to be my girlfriend."

Kiyoto Ishikawa gave a hysterical laugh, a hint of madness in his eyes.
"We had only been dating for a short time when she told me she was pregnant and wanted to marry me. I didn't think much of it at the time and happily agreed."

"But this year, after the baby was born, she started to distance herself from me. I thought I had done something wrong, so I tried my best to please her."

"Until a senior colleague in the company couldn't stand it anymore and privately reminded me..."

"I only found out that Xiangzi had already been having an affair with our boss before she agreed to be my girlfriend."

"When my senior first told me all this, I didn't believe it. To prove Xiangzi's innocence, I secretly followed her, and then I saw her and Sakamoto come here for a date and to sleep together!"

Kiyoto Ishikawa clenched his fists in anger, his eyes filled with hatred.

"Sakamoto's success today, and his position as the company's president, are all thanks to his wife, the daughter of the former president."

"So after he got involved with Xiangzi, he was afraid that their relationship would be exposed and the old president would kick him out, so he arranged for Xiangzi to marry me to cover up their relationship!"

"Even that child isn't mine, it's Sakamoto's!"

(End of this chapter)