Ke Xue Lu Ren Wang

Not long after, a series of hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor.

A group of uniformed police officers rushed to the apartment entrance, led by Juzo Megure, followed by Detective Takagi and several members of the forensic department.

As Inspector Megure walked to the door, he saw several familiar faces, and his expression immediately became subtle.

"Hey Mori, what are you doing here?"

"Haha~ Inspector Megure... It's a long story..." Kogoro Mouri cleared his throat, trying to appear as professional as possible. "My client, Ms. Yoko Okino, recently suspected someone was following her and asked me to investigate. Unexpectedly, as soon as we arrived at her house, we found a corpse in the living room."

"Has it been confirmed?" Takagi asked from the side.

"It's confirmed." Kogoro Mouri nodded. "I was the only one who went in. After confirming that the deceased was no longer breathing, I came out and called the police. Shortly after, Ms. Yoko's manager rushed back."

Kogoro Mouri's answer was concise.

Inspector Megure nodded, then looked at Toru Hanyu and Sonoko Suzuki standing behind him.

"And what about you two? What are you doing here?"

"Officer Megure, we're here to help!" Sonoko Suzuki couldn't help but speak up when she saw Megure looking at her with that strange expression.

"We were discussing some things with Mr. Sakae Yamagishi at the time, so we came over along," Tetsuya Hanyu added.

"That's right." Yamagishi stepped forward and nodded, then looked at Inspector Megure, his tone earnest, "Inspector Megure, because Yoko is an entertainer, I still hope that the impact of this case can be minimized no matter what."

Mume didn't reply, remaining silent for two seconds before slowly speaking:

"I can't make that decision. If it's a murder case, the case will definitely be made public."

He paused, his tone calm yet profound.

"However, Mr. Yamagishi, as your manager, you should have a way to suppress this matter, right?"

Yamagishi Sakae paused for a moment, then nodded and said nothing more.

Yuzuru saw this scene and vaguely felt that Yamagishi Sakae's attitude toward this matter was a bit strange.

However, these thoughts only flashed through my mind.

He glanced around at the people present and suddenly noticed that one face was missing.

"Where's Koji-senpai? I haven't seen him this time."

In the last KTV case, it was Yano Koji who spoke up, which allowed him to enter the crime scene.

"Senior Koji is handling other matters and will be going to the countryside later," Takagi replied.

"So busy?"

Takagi leaned closer and lowered his voice: "Hanyu-kun, you don't know this, but our police force is actually in dire need of forensic doctors. We're short-staffed everywhere. Senior Koji has been looking for someone to succeed him, which is why he had you come to help him last time."

After saying that, Takagi looked at Habu Toru with a simple, honest smile on his face.

Yuzuru stared at the other person for two seconds and found that Takagi Wataru, who looked like he had thick eyebrows and big eyes, was just like that little brat Conan, both of them looking wicked.

"...Is there something on my face?" Takagi asked, feeling a little embarrassed by the stare.

"It's nothing, I just felt that Officer Takagi must be working really hard."

"Is...is that so..." Takagi scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Alright, Takagi," Megure interrupted their conversation, "take some men and go into the scene to take a look."

"Hi!"

Takagi responded and turned to lead the forensic team members into the apartment.

……

The crime scene was right in the middle of Yoko Okino's living room.

Apart from the forensic team collecting evidence at the scene, everyone else stayed in a corner of the living room near the door to avoid disturbing the evidence.

Yuzuru Hanyu and Sonoko Suzuki stood together, with Ran Mouri and Conan next to them.

Sonoko Suzuki tugged at Ran Mouri's sleeve and whispered, "Ran, do you think this might be a murder case?"

"I don't know... but there was a knife stuck in the victim's back, so it must be a murder case..." Ran Mouri wasn't very sure either.

Yuzuru listened to the conversation between the two while also observing the corpse in the center of the living room.

The deceased was a male, appearing to be around twenty years old, about 1.75 meters tall, and slightly overweight. A dagger was embedded in his back, and a large patch of dark red blood had spread across the floor.

"Um... Brother Yuzuru."

Conan's voice came from below.

Yuzuru lowered his head and noticed that he seemed to have something to say.

"What's wrong, Conan?"

"Brother Yuzuru, have you noticed that this room seems a bit stuffy?"

Conan fanned the air with his hand as he spoke.

Upon hearing this, Yuzuru Tatsumi snapped out of his daze.

From the moment we entered, the indoor temperature was noticeably higher, and everyone's foreheads were damp with a thin layer of sweat.

"It is indeed a bit hot." Yuzuru nodded.

"I remember turning off the air conditioner when I left at four o'clock, didn't I?" Yoko Okino heard their conversation and looked up at the wall-mounted air conditioner above the living room wall.

The indicator light is on, and the air vent is blowing warm air outwards.

"No wonder it's so hot in here..." Seeing this, Mume took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"That's very strange." Kogoro Mouri stroked his chin, frowning. "If Ms. Okino really turned off the air conditioner before leaving, how did it turn on by itself?"

No one can answer this question.

Meanwhile, Conan had already quietly moved a few steps toward the corpse.

Yuzuru noticed Conan, who pulled out a magnifying glass from somewhere and began to examine the corpse closely.

The most outrageous thing is that no one present noticed Conan's actions.

After about ten seconds, Conan put away his magnifying glass, ran back quickly, and stood at Yuzuru's feet, his brows furrowed as if he was thinking about something.

"Conan, have you discovered anything?" Yuzuru asked, looking down.

Conan looked up, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke in a low voice:

"I found undried water droplets next to the body, and a chair placed next to it. Something feels very strange..."

After he finished speaking, he fell into deep thought again, seemingly trying to connect these scattered clues.

Yuzuru didn't rush to say anything. After a few seconds, seeing Conan's brows furrowing deeper and deeper, he finally spoke:

"Conan, have you ever considered that, according to Ms. Yoko, the air conditioner couldn't have turned on by itself, and the murder weapon couldn't have moved to the victim's back by itself? If that's the case, then there's only one person who turned on the air conditioner, and that's the murderer."

"Why turn on the air conditioner?" Conan was still a little confused.

"Of course, it's to hide the time of death."

"Huh?" Conan looked up abruptly.

"Hidden time of death!"

Conan's eyes widened, and with a "click" in his mind, several clues instantly connected.

Water droplets, warm wind, and the time of death.

Yup!

If the perpetrator deliberately turned on the heater after committing the crime, the rate at which the body's temperature dropped would be significantly slowed, leading to serious errors in determining the time of death!

And those water droplets...

Conan's mind raced, but Tetsuya Hanyu had already turned away.

"Twilight Eyes Police Department."

"What's wrong, Yuzuru?" Mume walked over.

"I noticed something next to the body."

Megure followed Yuu Tetsu's gaze.

Under the overhead light, there were indeed many tiny, glittering spots on the floor around the body.

Takagi also crouched down to observe, then turned back to report:

"Inspector Megure, these look like water droplets."

"Huh? Water droplets?" Mume was taken aback, but didn't react much after hearing it.

"Water droplets? I thought it was something else..." Kogoro Mouri waved his hand dismissively.

"Officer Takagi, could you please collect the water droplets and have a senior forensic investigator identify their composition?" Yuzuru said.

Takagi paused, then turned to look at Megure.

Mume nodded.

Upon seeing this, Takagi called over the forensic team and carefully collected the remaining water droplets on the floor one by one using test tubes.

Kogoro Mouri couldn't hold back any longer when he saw Toru Hanyu, a high school student, directing the police.

"Hey kid, what are you going to do with collecting water droplets?"

"Of course, I just want to see what the water droplets are made of," Yuzuru Tetsu replied casually, then countered, "And, uncle, didn't you notice?"

"What did you find?" Kogoro Mouri still seemed a little confused.

"What exactly was the time of death?"