No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

Sheng Youqianwu, Xincang Gongzi, Hoshino Zhixing.

Katsuyuki Kengo is the victim's colleague. There are always conflicts when they are acting. He is the one who wants to rise to the top, while the victim is the other one who doesn't want to step down.

Yumiko Niikura was constantly harassed by the victim, but as a promising actress in her twenties, she had no need to please an older actor who was about to retire.

Hoshino Haruyuki had feelings for Niikura Yumiko and always prevented the victim from getting close to Niikura, so it can be said that he had a considerable conflict with the victim.

These are the three people who confessed to their crimes. Their testimonies were written down clearly, and there were also photos taken at the scene. All three said that the victim had argued with them in their respective rest rooms, and then they all used vases to knock the victim unconscious.

"Was this how the victim looked when she was found?"

"Yes. The forensic examination determined that his cause of death was a heart attack, and the photo of the victim clutching his chest confirms this."

"But all three testimonies say that the victim died because they all hit him on the back of the head with vases from their break room."

“That’s right. We also found the corresponding vases in the three people’s lounge, and there were indeed traces of the victims’ DNA on them.”

To be honest, this case isn't a big deal at all. What's interesting is that all three suspects claimed to have killed the victim, and all of them hit him on the back of the head with a vase, but the victim died of a heart attack.

"Let me double-check, the victim's profession is indeed an actor, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Komiyama was indeed a famous actor during his lifetime. He participated in many Taiga dramas, often as the lead actor."

In other words, the victim had not received any training in head resistance to blows... Yet, he was able to get up even after being hit on the back of the head three times with a hard object, which can only mean that his talent is not only acting, but also an iron head.

Moreover, it's the kind of Iron Head Kung Fu that's been upgraded to the maximum level.

Chapter 95 The man who practiced Iron Head Kung Fu died of a heart attack.

"Ahem, so, Officer Kitahara, do you already know who the murderer is?"

"Hmm... Since the victim has already undergone a forensic autopsy, what was in his stomach?"

"The only leftovers were the food he ate at noon."

It seems that her digestive system is quite good.

"Then have someone check what other medications are in the bottle he used to store his heart medication."

"Ok."

Heart patients like the victim would carry nitroglycerin, a life-saving drug, and it's impossible for someone not to know when it's gone. So, the victim must have taken his last pill when he died, but that pill wasn't for relieving heart problems. In the end, this lecherous old man just passed away, his hands tightly clutching his chest as he died.

"Officer Kitahara, forensic investigators found stomach medicine ingredients in the victim's personal medicine bottle."

Stomach medicine...it seems my deduction was correct.

After clarifying the course of the case, Kitahara Masaki and Inspector Yokomizo got off the Shinkansen, and Inspector Yokomizo kept apologizing:

"We were supposed to let you rest for a day, but the inspectors and superintendents of our First Investigation Division all said they wanted to hear your reasoning, so... I'm really sorry!"

"No need. Besides, the sooner I resolve this, the sooner I can go sightseeing in other parts of Shizuoka."

"Oh! So, Officer Kitahara, you already know who the murderer is!"

"Hehe, I've only just gotten a few leads."

Upon arriving at the scene, the Shizuoka Prefectural Governor and several police inspectors from the First Investigation Division sat on one side, while the suspect sat on the other. The Shizuoka Prefectural Police were all eagerly awaiting the deduction of this renowned police officer, who had been hailed as a hero by the Metropolitan Police Department.

"Oh! We've been waiting for you, Inspector Kitahara. We really hope you can help us in this case and find the real culprit!"

So are all the police in Shizuoka Prefecture this impatient?

"Ahem, well, let's not delay, let's begin now. First of all, these three are the suspects in this case, right?"

"Yes."

All three suspects looked remorseful, but they were also puzzled by the situation. They were clearly the ones who did it, so how did they get involved with others?

"First, let's clarify what happened. The victim initially went to Yumiko Niikura's lounge. Because the victim sexually harassed Ms. Niikura, she knocked him unconscious with a vase. Is that correct?"

"Yes, I ran away after I hit him with the vase because I thought he was dead."

This is the story between Yumiko Niikura and the victim.

"That's not actually the case. After you left, the victim regained consciousness and went to Hoshino Haruyuki's room. Because there had been a significant conflict between the two of them over Ms. Niikura, and the victim had just been rejected by Ms. Niikura, he went to Mr. Hoshino's lounge and said things like 'Ms. Niikura is my woman.' As a result, he was knocked unconscious again by the angry Mr. Hoshino."

"So that's how it is. I was wondering why he suddenly barged in and started yelling at me."

This is what happened between Hoshino Haruyuki and the victim.

"After the victim regained consciousness for the second time, he couldn't release the anger in his heart, so he ran to Katsunaga Kengo's dressing room and said that he could never replace him in acting. He even tore up the script that Katsunaga Kengo was reading. Finally, he was knocked unconscious by a vase and then Katsunaga Kengo moved him to the victim's own dressing room."

"I knew he was going to start cursing at me. We usually keep to ourselves, but what he said that day was just too much for me to handle, so...did I kill him?"

This is the story between Katsuyuki Kengo and the victim.

"No, actually none of you three are the real murderer! Because after being moved back to his rest room, the victim woke up again, suffered a heart attack, and took the last pill in the bottle, but the replaced pill couldn't save him."

"But it's possible that he was knocked unconscious and died before he could take his medicine?"

Officer Yokomizo scratched his head and suddenly realized that the victim was really lucky to be alive.

"Impossible, because as a life-saving drug, the victim would definitely have made sure there was at least one pill in the bottle. The fact that no pill was found in the bottle after his death means that he took the last pill. Moreover, he died clutching his chest, which further indicates that he was conscious during his heart attack, but the medication he took was ineffective, so he could only die clutching his chest."

Finally convinced, the group thought of something and asked:

"So that means the murderer is someone else?"

"Of course. The murderer was someone who could get their hands on the victim's personal medicine bottle, which means the murderer must have had a close relationship with the victim. Only in this way could the real medicine be replaced with fake medicine."

Upon hearing this assertion, everyone looked at one person: the victim's wife.

"If you need evidence, I have already asked Officer Yokomizo to check the contents of the medicine bottle and found that there was another medicine in it - stomach medicine."

The victim's wife was quite nonchalant. When she saw that Kitahara Masaki had already shifted the suspicion to her through deduction, she directly admitted to switching the medication.

"Hehe, I thought this method would fool these incompetent police officers in Shizuoka Prefecture. If these three hadn't all claimed to be the murderer, none of this would have happened."

Haha, you should blame your husband for having a steel plate stuck in the back of his head, otherwise how could he be so hard?

Yes, this story tells us that if you practice external skills but not internal skills, it will all be for nothing.

After the police took away the victim's wife, the three suspects who thought they had killed someone came to thank Kitahara Masaki. Moreover, after the victim sent the money, Katsumata Kengo would become a big name in their agency, and Niikura Yumiko and Hoshino Haruyuki could openly date without any lecherous old men interfering with them.

Everyone was happy, except for the murderer who initially thought his plan could fool the police.

And that so-called famous actor is nothing more than a stinking old man who deserved to be beaten to death.

Chapter 96 Reporters These Days Are Terrifying

Finally, I can start my trip.

We solved a fairly interesting case, but isn't the most important thing about coming to Shizuoka sightseeing?

It's a pity that Vermouth went to Okinawa on a mission and couldn't come and play with me.

"Sir, sir!"

As Kitahara Masaki sat on a bench in front of the tram stop, wondering how Vermouth was doing, a rather hurried voice suddenly came from beside him.

"Is there a problem?"

Looking at the person asking the question, she appeared to be a young office lady who had recently started working. She had a great figure, and the way she bent over while asking the question made a certain part of her body stand out even more.

"Um—could you pretend to be my boyfriend for a moment?"

What the heck? This kind of cliché that's been overused in light novels is something I've seen before, back when Pangu created the world.

"why?"

"Ahem, it's like this, two men in my company have been harassing me by abusing their positions. And this time I got a job reporting on tourist attractions in Shizuoka Prefecture, and those two are thinking of coming along too... So please help me, I'm very afraid of what they might do to me."

It's incredible that there are so many women with excellent acting skills in the world of Detective Conan.

Kitahara Masaki was not the type to be fooled by a pretty woman's sweet talk, but in order to make the trip a little more peaceful, he should resolve this pointless farce as soon as possible.

I called Officer Yokomizo and asked him to send two patrolmen over to thoroughly interrogate the two people who had committed official harassment.

"Okay, that way they won't bother you anymore, if they're not afraid of social death."

Hmm...maybe they'll start wanting to kill you, but that's none of my business.

"Really? Thank you so much! I..."

"Alright, alright, let's stop testing each other. I already know you resigned from that newspaper."

Kitahara Masaki has just learned from the testimonies of the two men they arrested that the office lady in front of him has already resigned, and the two men who were arrested said that this woman has been using them all along, using their positions at the newspaper to obtain more information, so she was lying from the beginning.

"Hehe, I couldn't hide it from Officer Kitahara after all. But I did not lie about the harassment. I admit that I caused some misunderstandings with them through my words. However, I did not expect them to try to do those bad things to me so quickly, so I had no choice but to resign."

"You're also at fault for deceiving two older men's feelings with sweet words, so don't pretend to be innocent in front of me. I'll ask you one last time—what is your purpose? Why did you use such a ridiculous deception to get close to me?"

The office lady took out a business card from her bag, on which her name was clearly written—Someya Hotaru…President of Z Generation Magazine?

"Well, I can only tell the truth in front of Officer Ming. I got some start-up capital by selling information I obtained from the Daily Mail, so I resigned. After all, creating a magazine that I write myself has always been my dream. Of course, those two disgusting old men wanting to get closer to me is also one of the reasons I resigned."

It's so pitiful. According to the police station, those two uncles argued endlessly over how to treat Sometani Hotaru to a meal. It can only be said that Tengu lost from the very beginning, and lost completely.

"Then, in order for my magazine to launch smoothly, I want to make the column interviewing you the highlight of my first issue!"

After they've used up those older men, is it my turn?

"I'm sorry... I find your way of doing things really unsettling. If you twist what I've said even slightly, it could very well become a weapon against myself. So let's forget about the interview you mentioned."

After saying that, Kitahara Maki boarded the tram and headed to the tourist attraction.

People who manipulate others' feelings for their own dreams are unlikely to tell the whole truth. Moreover, the person currently using the public pseudonym "Kitahara Masaki" is a handsome and righteous police officer who hates evil, loves his colleagues, is good at deduction, and is not "Napoleon" who can judge others based on moral principles, nor "Yawenyi" who can blow off a skull with a single shot from 700 yards, nor "Haibara Osamu" who hates the organization to the core.

The persona they're using must adhere to certain principles, or they'll easily be exposed. And it would be incredibly foolish to have a journalist record something they shouldn't say.

However, when Kitahara Masaki started strolling through the hot spring town, he suddenly realized that the reporter hadn't given up and was clumsily following him. But if he confronted her directly, she'd probably just go along with it, saying, "What a coincidence!" and then launching into her usual stunt.

Unfortunately, I am the man you can't have.

Ignoring her, Kitahara Masaki bought souvenirs for everyone in the Metropolitan Police Department in one day. He also bought a lot of local specialties from Shizuoka. Because he had money, he bought anything that interested him, since he could give it away if he couldn't finish it or use it later.

"Tomorrow I'll visit the perfume museum, the day after tomorrow I'll get up early to see the waterfall, and finally I'll find a good angle to take a couple of pictures of Mount Fuji."

After checking into the local hotel, Kitahara Masaki discovered that the persistent guy had moved into the room next to his.

Are journalists this driven these days? If I weren't going undercover, I probably would have just torn off the 'Kitahara Masaki' persona and gone to play chess all night.

To Kitahara Masaki's surprise, Someya Hotaru didn't make any move that evening. Could she just be all talk and no action? Well, that's fine, it saves him a lot of trouble. He just wants to finish his trip this time.