Detective Conan: The Ultimate Growth Space

At that moment, several more people entered from outside. The one leading them was Inspector Megure. When he saw Ran and the others, he said, "Sonoko, Ran, Tomoyuki, you're here too."

Zhiyong smiled and said, "We've come to celebrate with Mr. Matsumoto."

Ran asked suspiciously, "Inspector Megure, what are you doing here? Has some case happened?"

Inspector Megure quickly waved his hand and said, "No, no, it's our superior's daughter getting married, of course we subordinates have to come and support her."

"boss?"

“This is my father,” Matsumoto Sayuri said with a smile.

"You...your father?" Sonoko asked in surprise.

"You can go out now," Matsumoto Kiyonaga said to Inspector Megure and the others.

Ran and Sonoko felt extremely embarrassed when they learned that the visitor was Matsumoto Sayuri's father.

Ran and Sonoko quickly said, "We're so sorry!"

"It's alright, it's all my dad's fault for always having such a stern face," Matsumoto Sayuri said with a smile.

“Sayuri, do you really want to marry a man like that? We have plenty of excellent men out there,” Matsumoto Kiyoshi said.

"What are you still saying at a time like this?" Matsumoto Sayuri said, a little annoyed.

"I see... Well then, I respect your choice," Matsumoto Kiyonaga said with a hint of helplessness.

"I'm so old, but you still treat me like a child," Matsumoto Sayuri said in a slightly coquettish tone.

“You’re still a child at heart,” Matsumoto Kiyonaga said, picking up a bottle of lemon tea from the table next to him. “You’re all grown up now, and you’re still drinking this kind of beverage.”

Matsumoto Sayuri snatched the lemon tea bottle away and said, "What's wrong with it? I just like it. By the way, let's talk about something else. What do you think of your daughter's outfit today?"

Matsumoto Kiyonaga remained silent for a moment, then turned and walked towards the door.

He took a few steps, stopped, and said, "It's beautiful. But it's still not as pretty as your mother's."

"Honestly, can't you just give me a sincere compliment?" Matsumoto Sayuri complained.

It wasn't appropriate for Zhiyong, a boy, to be in the bride's dressing room alone, so he followed Matsumoto Kiyonaga out after she left.

He carried a video camera and pretended to film everywhere, mainly to film the groom.

This way, evidence of his crime can be preserved.

When he saw the groom enter the dressing room, Zhiyong also walked to the door.

After a while, the groom came out, and Zhiyong casually followed him for photos.

When they reached a trash can under the eaves, the groom threw a small bottle into it when no one was looking.

However, they were all captured on film by Zhi Yong.

Just then, Zhiyong heard Xiaolan and Yuanzi knocking on the door.

Zhiyong knew what had happened.

He immediately ran towards the bride's room.

At this moment, Ran and Sonoko had already opened the door.

I saw Matsumoto Sayuri lying on the ground, with a lot of blood she had vomited next to her.

The two of them screamed again.

The reason Matsumoto Sayuri vomited blood was because sodium hydroxide corroded the surface of her digestive tract.

Zhiyong went to Matsumoto Sayuri's side, took out a carton of yogurt from his pocket, and fed it to Matsumoto Sayuri.

If sodium hydroxide is ingested, immediately give the person egg white, milk, or vegetable oil and seek medical attention promptly.

At that moment, upon hearing Ran and the others' screams, Matsumoto Kiyoshi and the others arrived.

Xiaolan briefly explained what had happened.

After the ambulance arrived, it took Matsumoto Sayuri away.

The rest of the people will stay and be investigated.

After a brief investigation, the forensic team stated, "The test results show that sodium hydroxide was mixed in with the lemon tea."

“She only became like that after she drank it…” Inspector Megure said.

"What's this in the lemon tea?" Conan asked, pointing to something on the ground.

The forensic investigator examined what Conan was pointing to and said, "This is a capsule; it should be a capsule containing sodium hydroxide."

Zhiyong pulled Conan aside and said, "Conan, stand aside and don't disturb the police officers."

Conan struggled but couldn't break free. He said, "Let me go, Brother Zhiyong. I won't bother the police officers."

Zhiyong ignored Conan and handed him to Ran, saying, "Ran, keep an eye on Conan. Now that something's happened, don't let him cause trouble here."

Although Conan wanted to resist, he couldn't do anything once Ran grabbed his hand.

After listening to the forensic personnel, Inspector Megure walked over, squatted down, and examined the contents. He said, "The perpetrator likely put sodium hydroxide in a capsule and then placed the capsule into the lemon tea. By then, some time would have passed before the poison dissolved, making it impossible to determine the exact time of the crime."

He stood up and said, "In that case, during the time the bride received the lemon tea, all seven of you are suspects."

The groom, Toshihiko Takasugi, asked, "Am I also a suspect?"

“Of course, there are capsules that dissolve in water in just a few minutes.” Inspector Megure then said to the forensic personnel beside him, “Hand the capsule over to the forensic department and let them determine its type.”

“Inspector Megure, aren’t you including this old man too? He was also in the bride’s room,” Conan said, pointing to Kiyoshi Matsumoto next to him.

"How is this possible? Could it be..." Inspector Megure hadn't finished speaking.

Matsumoto Kiyonaga said, "The child is right. Since I've been inside, I'm also a suspect."

Xiaolan pointed to the camera next to her and said, "What just happened might have been filmed. We can take a look at the videotape."

Sonoko nodded and said, "That's right. The camera was almost out of power just now, so we put it on the table and went out. Maybe we filmed it."

Inspector Megure took the camera and said, "Excellent, it might have captured the process of the murderer committing the crime."

After letting it pass by once.

"It seems there weren't any scenes of poisoning filmed," Matsumoto Kiyonaga said regretfully.

"After watching this videotape, it seems almost everyone touched this bottle of lemon tea. That means everyone had a chance to poison it," Inspector Megure said, frustrated.

"Yes, this is troublesome," Matsumoto Kiyoshi sighed.

Then, the group started watching the videotape.

Zhiyong quietly walked up to Inspector Megure and gently tugged at his sleeve.

When Inspector Megure saw that it was Tomoyu, he was about to speak when Tomoyu gave him a shushing gesture and a wink.

He glanced at Matsumoto Kiyonaga, then walked to the side with Tomoyuki.

Zhiyong went with him to the next room before saying, "Inspector Megure, I already know who the murderer is."

"Really? Brother Sato, who is the murderer?" Inspector Megure asked excitedly.

“Inspector Megure, let’s handle this discreetly. Don’t make a big fuss, or it will embarrass your superior. The murderer is the groom,” Tomoyuki explained.

"What? How could it be him? Brother Sato, are you sure you're not mistaken?" Inspector Megure exclaimed in surprise.

“It’s definitely him, there’s no mistake. It’s just that I don’t know why he would do that; only the groom knows. I noticed something in that videotape, and combined with something I discovered before, that’s why I’m certain it’s the groom,” Zhiyong replied.

"The videotape doesn't show who poisoned it. Did you discover something, Sato?" Inspector Megure asked.

“There were two cans of lemon tea. Matsumoto-sensei drank one, and Sonoko drank the other. When Sonoko went out to buy batteries, she didn’t take the lemon tea can with her. She put it on the table. From the videotape, it looks like Sonoko’s lemon tea can was placed on the table right next to Matsumoto-sensei’s can. Later, Matsumoto-sensei didn’t notice and just picked up the can that Sonoko had drunk from,” Zhiyong explained.

……

Chapter 141 An Old Grudge from Twenty Years Ago

Inspector Megure speculated, "The bride was carrying Sonoko's lemon tea. Could it be that someone wants to harm Sonoko?"

“Sonoko has been drinking lemon tea for so long. If someone had harmed her, it wouldn’t just be Matsumoto-sensei who would be down now, but Sonoko too,” Tomoyu said, rolling his eyes.

Inspector Megure slapped his forehead and said, "That's right. So that means that between the time the bride took the wrong lemon tea and the time she collapsed, someone put poison in the lemon tea."

“Yes. That is to say, if the lemon tea was poisoned, it wouldn’t have the fingerprints of Manager Matsumoto and Senior Umemiya. That would prove that the poisoned lemon tea came from Sonoko,” Tomohisa explained.

"That doesn't seem to prove that the murderer is the groom," Inspector Megure said, puzzled.

Zhiyong continued, "From the videotape, we can see that after Matsumoto-sensei mistakenly took Sonoko's can of lemon tea, the only people who could have come into contact with the lemon tea were Ran, Sonoko, Conan, the bride and groom. However, at that time, the only people who had the opportunity to poison it were the bride and groom."

"Well... it seems like this." Inspector Megure thought about what was recorded on the videotape.

“Sodium hydroxide will quickly absorb moisture and become a highly toxic liquid when exposed to air. If the bride herself poisoned it, there should be an item in that room that can be sealed and contains a desiccant to ensure its safe possession,” Zhiyong explained.

Inspector Megure nodded and said, "That's right, that's exactly it."

“I also filmed some videos, and I happened to capture something: the groom was in the hallway, throwing a small glass bottle into a trash can. There seemed to be something in the bottle. I heard Xiaolan scream at that moment, so I rushed back. Now that I think about it, that bottle must have been the one containing poison,” Zhiyong explained.

"Really? Brother Sato, can we use your camera too?" Inspector Megure said.

“Of course.” Zhiyong handed the camera to Inspector Megure.

Zhiyong added, "By the way, judging from the timeline, I think the poison and the capsule were put in separately, and if I'm not mistaken, Matsumoto-sensei saw him put the poison in."

"You mean, the bride knew it was poisoned, but she still drank the lemon tea?" Inspector Megure asked, puzzled.

"That should be the case, but I don't know the specific reason. I'm just speculating based on what happened. To find out the truth, we still need to ask the two of them," Zhiyong shrugged.

Inspector Megure nodded, picked up the camera, and walked out.

By this time, Conan had already figured out who the culprit was, but there were still some questions he hadn't figured out yet.

Inspector Megure walked in and pulled Matsumoto Kiyonaga aside.

He repeated what Zhiyong had just said and showed the video that Zhiyong had taken to Matsumoto Kiyonaga and the other man.

After the culprit was identified.

Matsumoto Kiyonaga then played the video in front of everyone.

When the video reached the moment when the groom threw the glass bottle, Matsumoto Kiyonaga froze the frame.

At this moment, Matsumoto Kiyoshi's face was full of murderous intent, and the scar on the corner of his left eye looked even more ferocious.

Matsumoto Kiyonaga stepped forward and grabbed Takasugi Toshihiko by the collar, staring at him angrily and saying, "Why? Sayuri loves you so much, why did you do this?"