Detective Conan: I, with my magical powers, am going to destroy the world!

"If you'd like, take me with you so I can do some reasoning, okay?"

Chi Chufeng thought about it and realized there was nothing else to do. It was just a banquet, and he would get the 20 million commission fee.

"Alright, do a good job."

Chi Chufeng patted Conan's head with the same attitude he would use on a subordinate.

Conan was already used to it and wasn't unhappy at all; on the contrary, he was quite excited.

Finally, there's another case to deduce.

Chapter 577 The Elegant Noblewoman

As evening approached, the sky suddenly turned gloomy, and soon it began to rain.

Under the cover of rain, the luxurious mansion of the Hoshi family was brightly lit on the second floor, where a grand birthday banquet was being held.

Chi Chufeng held his wine glass, leisurely sipping the fine wine.

Conan stood silently at the edge of the venue, his brows furrowing even more as he watched the lively party.

"Although the sender was likely in the banquet hall, nothing was found in the end. Madam wouldn't invite someone who holds a grudge against her here, would she?"

"I just heard about a murder that happened in this villa, but it seems to have been just an accident..."

"You can't find anything this way."

Conan looked up and asked, "How can we find the sender like this?"

"That's your business."

Chi Chufeng smiled slightly, seemingly in no hurry.

He was looking at Ruka Hoshina, the head of the Hoshina family, in the middle of the crowd.

Although she is getting on in years, she still looks like an elegant lady.

He has a rather difficult personality; he's assertive and strict, and he's very particular about time, even down to 0.5 seconds.

The villa was filled with clocks, making it seem as if the person in question was a god who controlled time.

There are quite a few eccentric rich people in this world.

"Who sent that letter? The Watcher of Time or something, could it be some kind of prank?" Conan muttered to himself again.

“Speaking of guardians of time,” Conan said, looking at Mrs. Hoshina who frequently checked her pocket watch, “you, with your strict attention to time, are quite like guardians of time yourself, aren’t you?”

"Who would scare themselves like that?"

Chi Chufeng couldn't help but chuckle, his gaze sweeping over the guests near Madam Hoshina, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Criminals are easy to find.

All you need is a prediction spell.

However, commissioning is not something that can be done so simply.

Madame Hoshino didn't seem to take the notice seriously, and treated the event like a jewelry show, constantly displaying her adornments to the guests.

“The old silver pocket watch was already very beautiful, but this gold pocket watch seems to suit you better, Madam!” a female guest exclaimed.

“Hehe,” Madame Paco chuckled to the flattering female guest, “this is a unique piece specially commissioned by a Swiss watchmaker…”

"Humph."

An old man with a white beard and bald head, leaning on a cane, passed by and said, "The old watch that was replaced because its owner was in a good mood and has been slowly rusting in the drawer is really pitiful."

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Mrs. Hoko glanced at the old man. “That watch is no longer with me. A broken watch should be thrown away.”

Suddenly, the lights in the banquet hall went out.

Conan, who had been paying close attention to Mrs. Hoshina, suddenly changed his expression.

Before anything could be done, the butler pushed a birthday cake with lit candles into the venue.

It was just approaching 6 o'clock when the "Happy Birthday" song began to play.

Amidst applause, Mrs. Hoshino walked to the cake, checked the time on her pocket watch, and, like a young girl, happily blew out the candles in one breath.

However, the most important villa clock did not ring at the same time, and Mrs. Hoshino's expression changed instantly.

"What's going on?! The bells are ringing..."

"Uh-huh~!"

In the darkness, the woman's pupils dilated in terror.

who is it? !

The scene at the banquet hall on the second floor of the Bao Ke family villa.

"So that's how it is. After the birthday cake candles were blown out and the room went dark, the owner of this mansion, Ms. Hoshina, was stabbed in the chest with a weapon by someone."

After the forensic team finished collecting evidence, Megure squatted down next to the body of the female owner who was lying next to the cake cart.

A large pool of blood could be seen flowing from his chest, and his front was also covered with splattered bloodstains, with a blank space in the middle, as if the bloodstains were being blocked.

He paused, then looked at the open balcony with its floor-to-ceiling windows behind him.

"...A few seconds before the lights came back on, the murderer, carrying the murder weapon, escaped from the inner courtyard through the balcony over there..."

"The key is the bloodstains splattered on the ground in front of the lady. The bloodstains stop in front of her, which is evidence that someone was standing here when the murder weapon was pulled out and was splattered with blood. However, among the guests at the scene, although some people were splattered with a few drops of blood, none of them were covered in blood."

Conan surveyed the scene and began to deduce the truth.

"Moreover, there were bloodstains on the window frame and the balcony railing, so the prisoner who was splattered with blood must have escaped through that window."

Megure said speechlessly, "You yourself said that it rained all the way until evening, and the ground was soaked. If the prisoner jumped off this second-floor balcony to escape, he should have left footprints, right? But look down there, there's nothing in the yard."

“That’s true…” Conan frowned slightly. “It’s starting to rain again. The weather forecast said the rain would stop by evening.”

Chi Chufeng stood on the balcony with his hands in his pockets, silently watching for a while before returning to the main hall.

He was very relaxed.

Conan, meanwhile, was deep in thought.

The situation at the party can be roughly reconstructed, but the problem lies in how the killer disappeared and the murder weapon.

Another thing that bothers me is the threatening letters that have been sent for several years.

Nothing happened in the previous few years, but this time when they came, a murder occurred.

Then came the accident that happened here four years ago.

The deceased was a watchmaker, and it happened to be the day of his birthday party.

Chapter 578 This lady is truly a failure.

"Hmph," the bald old man said, leaning on his cane as he looked at Mrs. Hoshina's corpse.

"It's only natural that ghosts would kill. That watchmaker didn't die in an accident; he was murdered! By this cold-blooded woman who thought she could control time and considered herself a god!"

"Hmm?" Inspector Megure returned indoors and pressed for an answer. "What exactly is going on?"

The old man glanced at Megure and said in a deep voice, "It was a very severe storm at the time. The clockmaker was wearing a safety rope when he went to repair the dial of the big clock outside. However, a strong wind blew him off, and he fell into the well in the yard below the clock."

"It sounds like an accident caused by negligence, but if this woman hadn't started her birthday party at the last second and had instead gone to find someone immediately, perhaps nothing would have happened."

"Were people already missing when the party started?" Inspector Megure asked in surprise.

“Yes,” chimed in a square-faced, bearded man with a pipe, “the watchmaker drowned in the well during the party, and his body wasn’t found until breakfast the next day. If the party had been postponed and they had gone to find him immediately…”

"Everyone was so busy after the party started that there was no time to look for people."

"It seems that the one who hated the victim the most was the deceased watchmaker."

The others felt a chill run down their spines and all looked at Akatsuki, who seemed to be deep in thought.

Chi Chufeng smiled but remained silent.

Conan was not affected by the old man and his group's words. He only noted down the more objective parts of their statements and spent the rest of the time searching for clues at the scene.

Committing a crime in a public place, especially in the dark, it's impossible not to leave traces. Besides bloodstains, it's worth considering how the perpetrator stabbed the woman in a vital spot in the chest in the dark.

Moreover, it is clear from this case that the murderer was one of the guests at the birthday party who was just pretending to run away and had been hiding in the crowd the whole time.

Although sounds could be heard in the darkness, no one actually saw the prisoner escape from the balcony; only the French windows were open.

The only remaining questions are how the murderer disposed of the murder weapon and why there was no blood splattered on his body.

“It’s fluorescent paint,” Conan suddenly said.

He approached the victim's body, shielding the light above the necklace with his hand, and said, "The necklace around the victim's neck was coated with fluorescent paint; it glows in the dark. That's probably how the perpetrator found the location. Has anyone touched this necklace?"

"Huh?" the butler stammered in response. "A lot of people. It seems like everyone touched each other at the party, because this birthday party was also a showcase for the new piece of jewelry that Madam had just bought."

"That's right. She even proudly took out that gold pocket watch and let me touch it. Doesn't that make everyone a suspect?"

"Of course," Chi Chufeng said with a smile, addressing the guests who were all talking amongst themselves. "The culprit is among these people here."

The bald old man frowned as he looked at Chi Chufeng, and the others didn't look too good either.

But none of them dared to say anything.