Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

At this point, Shinzo Mito made a throat-slitting gesture.
“Create another ‘accident’ to legally and legitimately inherit her estate and insurance money.”

"I just didn't expect that my dear son and my loving new wife would be even less patient than me, and would take action first after only a month."

Mito Hayato remained silent, as if all his strength had been drained away.

He originally thought he was the one playing chess, placing Minamino Momoko by his father's side as a pawn, waiting for an opportunity to seize the family fortune.

Little did he expect that the chess piece he had carefully chosen was, in his father's eyes, a piece of fat meat waiting to be cut.

“The police told me,” Shinzo Mito took a puff of his cigar, steer the conversation back to reality, “that two sections of the railing on the balcony of room 603 had been tampered with. The one that caused Momoko Minamino to fall was probably done by you. And the other one? Did you do that too?”

"No!" Mito Hayabusa immediately shook his head in denial. "I only damaged one, the middle one. Breaking one piece is enough to cause an accident."

"Adding another one would not only be redundant, but would also increase the risk of it being discovered as sabotage!"

"And...and I had just finished when I heard the noise in your room stop. I was afraid you would find out, so I quickly ran back to my own room. There was no time to destroy a second place."

"Hmph, do you think that just because we've only found one place, it doesn't seem suspicious?"

Mito Shinzo, his face full of mockery, criticized his clumsy actions.

"When you tampered with the railings, didn't you think about leaving any traces? Didn't you think the police would notice? What tools did you use? Did you clean it up properly?"

Faced with his father's barrage of questions, Mito Hayato's face flashed with regret and lingering fear, and he subconsciously answered...

"I...I used a portable miniature wire saw that I bought online. It's very fine, but it cuts wood very quickly. I wore gloves, and afterwards I hid the wire saw in...in a trash can outside the hotel. I was planning to dispose of it later tonight or tomorrow..."

“I was too hasty at the time. I thought that with so many people and so much chaos at the fireworks festival, the police might treat it as an accident. I didn’t expect to encounter so many people who are good at reasoning, and that they would even discover the cutting marks.”

"Foolish!" Mito Shinzo commented mercilessly. "Underestimating the enemy, rash, and lacking in foresight! If you had even half the caution I had back then, you wouldn't have been targeted so quickly!"

He abruptly changed the subject and asked a crucial question.
"Does Momoko Minamino know that you tampered with the railings? Did you tell her about your plan?"

Mito Hayato immediately shook her head, her tone firm: "No! How could I tell her something like that?"

"A woman like her can conspire with me for money today, but tomorrow she can sell me out completely for greater gains or to protect herself!"

"Telling her is like giving her a handle that she can use to threaten me at any time!"

“I didn’t even tell her the exact time, I only hinted that I might look for an opportunity during the celebration.”

Mito Shinzo squinted his eyes and slowly exhaled smoke rings, seemingly digesting the information.

"The other railing wasn't your work... so who was it?"

He muttered to himself, his brow furrowed.

"Could it be... Peach herself?"

"Momoko?" Mito Hayato was taken aback, then found it absurd. "Why would she break the railing? And she fell down herself..."

"Although she drank quite a bit of red wine with me, given her alcohol tolerance, she definitely wasn't drunk to the point of being unconscious," Shinzo Mito recalled the details of the incident.
"On the contrary, she seemed... a little too enthusiastic at the time, and kept pestering me to go to the balcony with her to watch the fireworks."

"If I had agreed then and followed her to the balcony, I would probably have stood next to her, which is the inner part of the balcony, according to habit..."

He paused, his voice growing even colder.

"Then, it's probably your old man who fell from the sixth floor."

This deduction made Mito Jun gasp, a chill running down his spine.

"What a pity, she didn't expect you to make a move tonight," Mito Shinzo sneered. "In the end, she's the one who dies first. How ironic."

At this point, he turned his gaze to his son again.

"If I were the one falling off the balcony tonight, what would you have done next according to your original plan?"

Mito Shinzo took half a step forward, almost face to face with his son, giving him no room to flinch.

"Should we keep that woman who knows too much and has a huge appetite, and share the Mito family business with her, or..."

Under his father's intense gaze, fine beads of sweat appeared on Mito Jun's forehead.

He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and revealed his original plan.

“Peach told me that you bought her a huge insurance policy. If you die unexpectedly, as her wife, she will definitely stay at home for a while under the pretext of being heartbroken. Then I will find an opportunity to create an ‘accident’ so that she will also get into trouble. In this way, the insurance money and the family property will all be mine.”

"You're not entirely stupid, kid." Mito Shinzo snorted, and instead of cursing his son's cold-bloodedness, he unexpectedly praised him.

Mito Hayato looked at his father with some surprise, completely not expecting him to react this way.

"If you answer that you'd be living happily ever after with that slut, I'll look down on you instead," Mito Shinzo said calmly. "People of the Mito family should have this kind of guts: either don't do it at all, or do it thoroughly."

He glanced at the police headquarters not far away; the officers at the entrance were clearly keeping an eye on the situation.

“It’s a pity you didn’t learn the patience of our ancestors.” Mito Shinzo’s tone was tinged with regret. “Our ancestors were able to seize power in a chaotic world by being patient and scheming. But you were too eager for quick success.”

The father and son had been so frank with each other. Looking at his father's deeply lined face, Mito Hayato suddenly recalled their conversation and couldn't help but ask,
"Dad, we already have enough wealth to live comfortably for generations to come. Why would you risk everything to try and get Taozi's insurance money?"

Who would complain about having too much money?

Mito Shinzo chuckled, his tone filled with greed.
“That bitch Minamino has already inherited billions of yen from her two husbands, but she’s still not satisfied. She’s willing to marry me according to your arrangement, isn’t it just for more money? People’s desire for wealth is never satisfied.”

He paused, then turned to look at Mito Hayato.

"Moreover, the Mito family's businesses have been declining in recent years, and many projects are losing money."

"If we can get this huge insurance payout, it will be just enough to cover the losses and revive the family business."

"In the end, everything I've done is for the Mito family." (End of Chapter)