No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

This time it was Xiaolan's turn to be stunned. Wasn't this just a game? How come it suddenly says that someone died here?

"She was Tianda's girlfriend. Miss Xihe was murdered by a stalker, right here. She collapsed next to that fireplace. The murderer was dead too, lying in front of the fireplace. And those paintings, weren't they painted by Miss Xihe? At least consider Tianda's feelings! Treating someone else's belongings as part of a game, that's completely—"

"Tachibana, I'm fine. This game was something that Ying and I came up with together. I think I should move on now."

Ju Gao looked at Tian Da, shook his head, and sat down to the side without saying a word.

Mr. Tianda once said that his profession was teaching psychology at a university. He took a deep breath and slowly recounted what happened back then, as if he were someone trying to overcome a difficult situation.

"Xihe is a psychologist, but she's been harassed by a patient. I was worried about her safety, so I asked Ying to help her hide in this villa for a while. But for some reason, this place has been discovered. Even though only a few people know about this place, it happened while Xihe was here alone..."

The homeowner, Ying, lay on the sofa and began to recount what had happened back then.

"Someone was burning oleander in the fireplace at the time, and it seems that Miss Xihe and the murderer died because of that. I don't know why the chimney was blocked at the time, and the house was filled with smoke, but the murderer must have been that stalker."

"Sigh, I've let it go. Five whole years have passed."

The topic ended with Mr. Tianda's determined declaration. Afterwards, the homeowner, Ying, took out the bottle of red wine and poured a glass for everyone, except for Conan and Ran, who drank juice.

As Vermouth slowly sipped her red wine, she noticed that Tachibana Taka was using a stainless steel cup that she had brought herself, making him stand out from everyone else who was using glass cups.

The homeowner, Ying, finished the rest of the red wine by herself, as if trying to forget something. Tianda then helped the homeowner back to rest.

The others left in silence, as if speaking would trigger something. Vermouth and Curaçao also returned to their room. As Vermouth watched the backs of the others, the two people with a significant age gap, Asahi and Bread, stood out, causing Vermouth to frown slightly. However, after glancing at Curaçao beside her, she said nothing and led her back to the bedroom.

Chapter 320 A Mistake from Many Years Ago

The next day, after everyone got up, most people went out to shovel snow. After all, if they didn't cooperate in shoveling snow, the roads would likely be buried, which would be very troublesome to clear later.

Meanwhile, She Niu A Si went around asking questions everywhere, completely acting as if he were doing things his own way.

"Mr. Tachibana, you're really strong. I remember you said you often go hiking, right?"

“I haven’t been there recently. Although I’m single, I still have my parents to take care of.”

"Wow, that must have been really tough."

Afterwards, Asa went to ask Tianda, asking:

"Excuse me—was it snowing this heavily on the day of the incident, just like it is now?"

"Yes, the killer's footprints extended to the back door, and the lock on the door was broken. Strangely, only the snow in front of the front door had been cleared, and one of the killer's footprints had been partially removed."

"Huh? So that means the person only started shoveling snow after the culprit arrived?"

"Yes, if he were the murderer, he should have cleaned up all the footprints... But there's no point in saying that now, since the murderer is already dead."

Vermouth and Curaçao were slowly shoveling snow when suddenly Curaçao said to Vermouth:

"Sister, look over there."

Curaçao pointed to the oleanders not far away. Some of the leaves were not covered with snow, but if you looked closely, you could see that the branches inside had been broken.

The two exchanged a glance and distanced themselves from everyone else. After shoveling the snow, the last two of them put down their shovels. As they passed Mr. Tachibana's tent, Curaçao saw that he was carrying a map of the area.

When everyone returned to the villa, all the lights suddenly went out. Upon going outside to check, they discovered that the heavy snow had broken the power lines. The homeowner, Ying, called the plumber, who said he wouldn't arrive until evening at the earliest.

However, the gas was still working, so cooking the food was no problem. It was Ran's turn to step in and skillfully started cooking. Mr. Tachibana volunteered to help, while Conan could only watch, since he wasn't tall enough to stand on the stool.

Just as the two were cooking, the homeowner, Ying, came down from the second floor and said to Ju Gao:

"The window at the end of the second-floor corridor is still open. You forgot to close it, didn't you? Snow has blown in, and the floor is all wet."

Tachibana Takashi was cutting potatoes when he heard someone say that, and he touched his nose and said:

"I didn't open the window; I definitely closed it. It shouldn't have been me who opened it."

"Oh, really?"

After this little hiccup, the curry is almost ready. All that's left is to wait for the ingredients to cook until they're tender.

Asa and Bread started talking to other people again. Asa pointed to the little doll that Tachibana was wearing and asked:

"Where did you buy this as a souvenir?"

“I’ve been taking day trips a lot lately. I don’t plan a destination; I just hop on the tram and go. I buy my souvenirs there.”

"Can I borrow it to take a look?"

"of course."

As Ah-Si looked at the small souvenirs, he said:

"Sigh, I also want to travel, but I've been too busy with work lately. Right?"

He said this to the bread, and the bread nodded and ran back to the room. It soon returned and whispered something to Asahi.

Vermouth smelled the curry incredibly delicious, but because many signs indicated that something was about to happen, she was now hesitant to eat or drink anything in the villa.

Conan, who was standing to the side, also felt something was off. Remembering that Ran, who was incredibly strong, was nearby, he blurted out without thinking:

"Uncle Asi and Brother Bread, what game are you playing? And Uncle Tianda and Uncle Ying, why do you always look like you want to say something but haven't?"

"Hey! Kid, adults always have a lot to think about! Do you think everyone is like you?"

After Uncle Mori finished speaking, he drank another can of beer.

Conan ignored Uncle Mori and continued:

"And did the deduction game start as soon as you entered the house? It's like Uncle Tachibana said he's never been here in winter, but if you've only been here in seasons other than winter, the doormat should always be at the door. But you've seen the door without the doormat, which means Tachibana has been here in winter. So here's the question: it's not something you can't say about being here in winter, but why won't you admit it?"

Conan gradually shifted the question back to Takashi Tachibana, causing Takashi to fall silent.

"Then, at yesterday's reasoning competition, you showed extreme disgust towards Mr. Ying's game. Even Mr. Tianda, who is most reluctant to talk about what happened back then, did not have such a strong reaction as you. In other words, you are even less willing to hear about that case from five years ago than Mr. Tianda, right?"

Five years ago, there was a case where Mr. Tianda's girlfriend, Xihe, was murdered by a stalker. Both of them died from inhaling the toxic fumes of burning oleander. And coincidentally, this case happened during a snowy winter.

It's very likely that Tachibana Takashi visited this place in winter, but didn't want to be mentioned, so the only time he could have come to this villa was on the day of the incident.

Tachibana Takashi was suddenly grabbed by the throat and forced to sit down on the steps. Tenda, standing beside him, asked him a question:

Did you come to the villa on the day of the incident?

"Hehe, I received a call that day. I was in the office when I received a call from Ms. Xihe, who said that one of her high school classmates would call me later and that I could give the address to that classmate."

"This is the first time I've heard of this."

When Tianda heard this, his eyes widened in disbelief.

"After that, I did receive a phone call, and without thinking much, I gave him the address. Around noon, I suddenly realized that I had given him the address without verifying his identity, so I immediately drove over to check on him. When I arrived at the villa and opened the front door, thick smoke billowed out, making it impossible to go inside. So I went to the French windows and looked inside, and found two people lying in front of the fireplace, which was burning oleander."

Conan then posed a question at the opportune moment:

"Why would Miss Nishiwa tell you that someone would come looking for your address?"

“I worked in the Citizens’ Section of the Municipal Government. This department is responsible for providing care for people who have been victims of domestic violence and stalking, so at that time I was in charge of Ms. Nishi’s case.”

"I see. That's why you had the key to open the front door. Then you used the snow shovel to clear your own footprints, accidentally shoveling away half of the murderer's footprint in the process. And at that time, you happened to see that there was no doormat at the door, which is why you said there was no doormat at the door earlier."

The homeowner, Ying, was very puzzled and asked Ju Gao why he didn't tell them the truth.

“I dare not! If others find out that I have made such a mistake, then what difference is there between me and a murderer! Because of this, I have regretted it for five whole years! I really feel sorry for Tianda, I really have no face to see him.”

Chapter 321 is up to you, Conan.

"So what? You hold these gatherings just to find out the rest of the truth? If you want to hate me, then hate me! Now that you know the mistakes I made, how am I any different from a murderer!"

When asked why they were holding a reasoning contest, the two remained silent, only exchanging a glance before lowering their heads. At this moment, Asahi and Bread, who had been watching Vermouth closely, suddenly stood up, and both of them took out police notebooks from their pockets.

"Ahem, I'm Officer Komugi from the First Investigation Division, and this is Officer Okudera from the Second Investigation Division. Let me explain why we're here at this gathering without our identities."

The young man's bread had now become the policeman's wheat, and he continued:

"In fact, there have been several cases of stalking and assault in Hokkaido recently. All the victims were attacked in their hideouts outside the city."

"Big brother, what is the connection between those cases and Miss Nishiwa's case?"

Bread patted Conan's head. This child's reasoning ability was even better than his own, so he didn't underestimate the child. Instead, he explained to him in detail:

"We arrested several suspects in these stalking and assault cases. Their confessions revealed that they had all received calls from unknown numbers. The callers provided them with information about the hiding places of their targets. Very few people know the victims' locations, and Mr. Tachibana works in the Citizen Affairs Division of the Hokkaido City Government. This department also handles shelter and placement applications for victims of stalking or domestic violence. After the victims submit their applications to the police, their unit inquires about the details and creates a file—"

"I'm not the only one in the unit; the entire civic education class has over a hundred people. Why are you only targeting me?!"

"Because in our investigation of previous stalker assault and murder cases, we found that Ms. Nishiwa's case was among the cases in which we were able to find out the location of the victim's hiding place. When we reinvestigated that case, we found that the murderer had called the Citizens' Division three hours before his death, and at that time, Ms. Nishiwa's supervisor was you—Mr. Tachibana."

At this point, Aji was already an officer in the Second Investigation Division, Okudera, and he continued:

"Then we went to see Mr. Tianda, told him about the case, and asked him if he had any clues."

"Huh? So you plotted against me? Are you kidding me! Tianda!"

"No, no, no, you misunderstand. Mr. Tianda and his team believe you wouldn't do such a thing, so they want to use this gathering to let our police understand your character. If we can prove your innocence, we don't intend to reveal our identities until we leave."

"I see! No wonder Uncle Tera keeps asking about Mr. Tachibana. And Bread Brother—did you go back to your room to search for information?"

"Hmm, you're very observant, Conan. And according to the investigation, the calls the suspects received were all made from public phones scattered around the area. Just now, Mr. Tachibana mentioned that he was going on a short trip, so we deduced that Mr. Tachibana was calling those stalkers from a local public phone. Then Mr. Tachibana also bought souvenirs there, and the places where those small figurines and pendants are sold are near those public phones. The surveillance camera at one of the shops even captured you making the call."

The evidence was irrefutable. Mr. Tianda and the homeowner Ying both looked saddened upon hearing the result. Perhaps it was even harder for them to believe that their former best friend would do such a thing.

Tachibana Takashi no longer dared to look at the two of them, but still continued speaking:

"Even so—it can't convict me, can it? It can't be determined whether it was instigation of murder or indirect intentional homicide. Well, at most it's just a violation of the Public Service Act, but I've wanted to quit for a long time. That kind of boring and ridiculous job is completely uninteresting."

"Why?! Haven't you always felt remorseful about what happened to Miss Nishi? Why are you helping those stalkers?"

The homeowner, Ying, was very puzzled. Tachibana Taka had previously said that his mistake had led to the stalker finding out where Nishiwa was hiding, and he felt very remorseful about it. Could it be false?

"Because I felt so tired! For the past five years, I've been asking myself why I made such a stupid mistake back then! Over and over and over again! That boring job consumed most of my time, and after get off work I had to take care of my parents who didn't recognize me! I haven't done my hobbies like hiking for years, and there are no women around me who can help me. Heh, maybe it's just that the pressure is too much. Manipulating those stalkers is the only thing I can do."

An angry Tachibana scratched his nose, slammed open a bottle of wine, and, as if due to his fastidious nature, poured it into his water bottle and began to drink it.

No one spoke. Vermouth sighed inwardly. How had things come to this? And most importantly, she believed that Tachibana Takashi harbored some unknown secret. However, Vermouth could only see through lies and disguises; she left the deduction to Curaçao. So she whispered to Curaçao:

"Sister, besides the crimes he committed in the past, what else is that man hiding?"

Curaçao nodded first, then said to Vermouth:

"Sister, do you remember? That person made a certain gesture when he was talking, and that gesture proved that he was lying."

"Oh, you mean he touches his nose when he lies?"

"Yes, he touched his nose four times in total. The first time was when he said he had never been here in winter. The third time was when he said he had closed the second-floor window. The fourth time was just now—he said that all he could do was manipulate stalkers."

Conan felt a strange unease when he saw that Takashi Tachibana still maintained his 'germaphobia' even after his crimes were exposed. As he pondered this, he also overheard Curaçao talking to Vermouth about the number of times she touched her nose. Looking around at everything, he suddenly understood something and immediately shouted: