Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Seeing the Mito father and son about to engage in a physical fight next to Minamino Momoko's corpse in full view of everyone, Department Head Ikenami Goji's face turned ashen, and he roared...
"Enough! Stop it, all of you! Quick! Stop them!"

Upon hearing the commotion, several police officers who were maintaining order on the perimeter rushed forward and separated Mito Shinzo and Mito Hayato, who were already fighting.

Mito Shinzo was still struggling and cursing frantically, trying to break free of his restraints and lunge at his son again.

Mito Hayato was panting heavily, his face showing a fierce, reckless attitude.

Lin Xiuyi stood aside, his gaze shifting back and forth between the almost out-of-control Mito Shinzo and the seemingly collapsed but actually emotionally complex Mito Hayato. He felt that the development of events, especially Mito Hayato's sudden "confession," had an indescribable strangeness to it.

Admitting in public to having an affair with his father's wife was undoubtedly a bombshell, drawing everyone's attention to this ethical scandal.

But... was this really just something he said in a moment of emotional breakdown?
If he, Mito Hayato, really is the murderer of Minamino Momoko, then at this critical juncture, by proactively exposing the most sensitive and suspicious relationship between himself and the deceased, wouldn't he be putting himself directly under the spotlight and becoming the most suspicious person in the eyes of the police and the public?
Normally, murderers would try their best to hide their special relationship with the victim, especially if it is something that could be the motive.

Just as Lin Xiuyi was thinking rapidly, Ikenami Goji strode forward and personally stood in front of Mito Shinzo, who was being held back by two police officers, panting heavily, and looking as if he might explode again at any moment.

"Mr. Mito, please calm down! The cause of death is still under investigation. We will verify your son's statement one by one."

"We hope you will cooperate with the police investigation and refrain from causing any further trouble."

Takeshi Ikenami's words were like a bucket of ice water, temporarily extinguishing Shinzo Mito's furious rage, but also making him even more frustrated.

He was panting heavily, his eyes fixed on his separated son, Mito Hayato. His finger trembled as he pointed at him, his lips quivering. He couldn't utter a complete sentence due to extreme anger and humiliation, and could only let out low, animalistic gasps from his throat.

Meanwhile, Mito Jun, after the initial outburst and confrontation with his father, seemed to have exhausted all his courage and strength.

His face was frighteningly pale. He avoided his father's gaze, which seemed to want to devour him whole, and stiffly turned his head to look at a point on the ground, no longer making eye contact with anyone.

Seeing this, Takeshi Ikenami gestured to the officers beside him: "Keep an eye on the two of them, question them separately, keep their distance, and don't let them have any more contact."

Immediately, he led several criminal police officers and technicians who had investigated the scene to the most crucial location: room 603 on the sixth floor, the place where Minamino Momoko fell to her death.

Lin Xiuyi and Hattori Heizo exchanged a glance and quickly followed.

Ikenami Tsuyoshi noticed the commotion behind him, glanced at them, and did not stop them, which was tacitly allowing them to follow.

Seeing this, the others hurried to follow.

The group took the elevator to the sixth floor. The door to room 603 was open, and two police officers were guarding the door.

Upon entering the room, a scent mingled with expensive perfume, alcohol, and a certain ambiguous aroma wafted towards me.

The room was a luxury suite, but it was a complete mess at the moment.

Women's underwear, stockings, and high-end dresses, and men's shirts and ties, were scattered haphazardly on the carpet and sofa.

On the small round table near the viewing balcony, there was an almost empty wine bottle and two stemmed glasses, with dark red wine stains still remaining on the glass. On the soft, large double bed, the bedding was crumpled and disheveled, a pillow had fallen to the floor, and the sheets were wrinkled, clearly indicating that a fierce battle had taken place here not long ago.

"Tsk tsk..."

Kogoro Mouri couldn't help but click his tongue, his eyes darting between the messy bed and the clothes scattered on the floor.
"The battle is fierce... Mito Hayato lives in apartment 602 next door, I wonder if he's been eavesdropping... Ouch!"

Before he could finish speaking, he felt Liuli pinch his arm hard.

Kogoro Mouri then realized that it was extremely inappropriate to say such things at the crime scene, so he quickly coughed awkwardly twice, shrank his neck, and shut his mouth.

"Judging from the smell of alcohol on them, Mito Shinzo and Minamino Momoko had indeed drunk quite a bit and were in a slightly tipsy or even drunk state."

As Lin Xiuyi spoke, she strode towards the heart of the incident: the viewing balcony facing the riverbank, which should have offered an excellent view of the fireworks.

The balcony is semi-open, separated from the outside world by several decorative white wooden railings.

At this moment, one of the railings, located slightly to the left of the center of the balcony, broke off at the base, leaving a glaring gap.

Lin Xiuyi squatted down and carefully examined the broken parts of the railing base that remained on the balcony floor.

The cross-section is rough, but upon closer inspection, one can find that the outer part has relatively smooth cutting lines similar to the broken section of the railing downstairs.

However, because it broke off from the root and may have been torn by a greater force during the fall, the marks are not as obvious as the piece in my hand, but those marks are definitely not caused by natural aging or breakage due to force.

“The railing was tampered with, and the location was very well chosen,” Hattori Heizo also squatted down to observe. “It’s right in the center of the balcony, where the view is best. Whether you’re leaning on the railing to enjoy the view or leaning against it after drinking, it’s easy to find a good spot to rest your head on.”

"The criminal had a clear objective: to kill someone, and he meticulously planned the illusion of an accident."

Lin Xiu nodded, stood up, and looked toward the right side of the balcony, where the balcony of room 602 next door was located.

The two balconies are about a meter apart, with decorative protrusions and drainage pipes on the hotel's exterior wall in between. For an agile adult, it is not impossible to climb over them.

He walked to the edge of the balcony near room 602, and, using the bright light coming from inside the room, bent down to carefully examine the outer wall and railing base of the balcony of 603.

Soon, Lin Xiuyi made a discovery.

On the outer side of the balcony of room 603, on the wall facing the direction of 602, there is a faint but unmistakable footprint.

The footprints are only in the front half; the back half and the heel are almost unrecognizable, as if they were deliberately wiped away, or the whole thing was not left behind due to incomplete climbing movements.

The edges of the footprints were stained with a little dust from the balcony and tiny stains, possibly from the exterior wall. (End of Chapter)