No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

“Officer, the deceased clearly died of poisoning. I haven’t touched anything since I entered this room. I’ve only been communicating with everyone in the room, and I haven’t made any physical contact with the deceased, such as shaking hands. In other words, I have no possibility of poisoning him.”

Seeing that Inspector Megure was still hesitating, Dan Kuroto, played by Masaki Kitahara, continued:

"Actually, the deceased had eaten some cookies on the table before they had lunch. That is, the deceased did not come into contact with any poison at that time. He ate the hamburger after he went to the toilet, and died after taking two bites of the hamburger."

After Inspector Megure verified with others, he knew that Dan Kuroto was telling the truth. He also learned that Dan Kuroto had not gone through the restroom and that he had not bought the hamburger, so the possibility of him poisoning the hamburger was very low.

"Alright then, Mr. Dan Kuroto, what are your thoughts?"

"First, Mr. Xia Jueyong, who bought the hamburgers, did not poison them, because I noticed that all the hamburgers they bought were the same, so it was impossible for him to know in advance which hamburger the deceased would take. Second, Mr. Imai Tetsuo was responsible for making coffee for the deceased, but he probably didn't put poison on the coffee cup either. If the coffee cup was poisoned, the deceased would have been poisoned by the biscuits he ate before eating his lunch hamburger. Finally, this leads to the conclusion that the deceased came into contact with the poison while he was in the toilet."

Inspector Megure nodded, understanding the deceased's activities: first, he was working; then, around lunchtime, he ate cookies; he went to the restroom; and finally, he ate a hamburger and passed away.

"Ahem, so what's the order in which you go to the toilet?"

After questioning, the three employees quickly gave the order in which they went to the toilet: the first to go in was Natsuyuki Yu, the second was Imai Tetsuo, the third was Zaitsu Ukihiko, and the last was the deceased, President Izujima.

"Hmm—it seems the murderer is clearly you! Mr. Zaitsu, you were the one before the president went into the restroom, only you could have poisoned the victim!"

Seeing that Inspector Megure had reached a conclusion so quickly, Dan Kuroto shook his head and said:

"Officer, please don't be in such a hurry. Let the surveillance personnel check the toilet for any toxic residue first. Besides, we don't have any leads yet."

"Oh, right, right, right."

Dan Kuroto sighed. If it weren't for him as 'Kitahara Masaki,' Inspector Megure would still have to rely on 'the unconscious Kogoro' to solve the case. He looked around the scene and noticed a bottle of laxatives on the president's desk, in addition to cookie wrappers and a coffee cup. There was also a sign in the restroom that read 'Save Water.'

"May I ask the three of you, did the deceased use laxatives before his death? Also, when was that water-saving paper put up?"

"Oh! The president has been using laxatives for a long time because of his hemorrhoids. And the water-saving paper was also put up by the president. It was put up not long after Akemi came, after the burglary. He didn't care about our water usage before, but now he's so anxious."

"So that's how it is," Dan Kuroto immediately realized, combining this with what the president had said before his death about "water usage," and understood what Miyano Akemi had come to do earlier.

However, this is not very relevant to the case. Let's find a chance to take out a magnifying glass later and find out where the evidence is.

"Inspector Megure, the toxicology analysis is complete. We found no trace of poison in the toilet, but a significant amount of poison was found on the right side of the victim's belt. The amount of poison found on the fingertips of the victim's left hand, the handkerchief, and the hamburger was very small."

"What! There are no traces of poison in the toilet, but if the poison wasn't put in the toilet, where could it be? Mr. Tan, what exactly is going on?"

This design studio was actually converted from a small house, so the workspace was very close to the restroom, separated only by a corridor with no obstructions. This means that if you didn't come into contact with the toxic substance in the workspace, you must have come into contact with it in the restroom.

"Please rest assured, officer. The only way the deceased could have had poison on his pants and belt is in the bathroom. So, the poison in the bathroom must have been taken out by the deceased, which is why it wasn't detected. The contaminated item is quite obvious: the toilet paper roll! The deceased, who needed to use the toilet due to an upset stomach, would have changed the toilet paper and removed the roll. As for why there was no poison on other parts of the toilet, it's because the deceased held the roll with his right hand, while he used his left hand to operate the flush valve, faucet, and door handle. The newly changed toilet paper was used after the poison was flushed away."

"Takagi, quickly find the roll in the trash can and take it to the surveillance personnel!"

As Dan Kuroto had predicted, the scroll was indeed covered in poison.

"Ahem, Mr. Tan, although we can say that the murder weapon has been found, we still don't know who the murderer is."

"Haha, it's actually quite obvious. The murderer is the person who always makes coffee for the president—Tetsuo Imai, that's you! You put laxatives in the president's coffee every day, and today you finally carried out the murder plan. It's because the president suggested eating hamburgers today, so after handing the president the laxative coffee, you also gave him a cookie, just to make the president feel uncomfortable and go to the bathroom."

Meanwhile, Zaitsu Ukihiko, who had gone to the restroom before the president, asked:

"But I went to the toilet before the president. If I had gone to the toilet too, wouldn't I have been the one who died?"

"Hmm, you guys just said it yourselves—the club president recently told you to conserve water, so the flush button you pressed when you went to the toilet was naturally the smaller one, so the murderer knew just by listening to the flushing sound. Even if you did take out that roll, all he had to do was give you an alcohol wipe to clean your hands, right? In short, all we need to do is find the container of the poison in this room, and it'll all be over."

Chapter 186 I will expel every single FBI agent.

It took an hour for the officers from the First Investigation Division to finally find the container used to hold the poison.

"Mr. Dan Kuroto! We've found the container, and even found fingerprints on it! Hmm? Takagi, where is Mr. Dan Kuroto?"

"Um, he said the murder weapon might have been thrown outside by the murderer, so he went outside to look for it."

Before the investigators from the First Investigation Division could react, Kitahara Masaki, having removed the 'Dan Kuroto' mask, had already left, and at the same time, he had obtained what Miyano Akemi had hidden in the toilet.

It can only be said that the people sent by the brewery were too incompetent. They didn't realize that what Miyano Akemi had hidden was a waterproof box that was stuck under the float in the water tank. It was this box that caused the toilet to keep leaking, leading to soaring water bills. That's why President Izujima asked the employees to conserve water.

However, Kitahara Masaki had originally wanted to ask President Izujima about Miyano Atsushi, but then he was killed. At this point, all Kitahara Masaki had left to investigate was this waterproof box.

Once opened, it contained cassette tapes, each labeled with a serial number, the meaning of which was unclear. However, one only needed to listen to them to find out.

After finding a quiet place, Kitahara Masaki took out the cassette tape with the highest serial number and listened to it. He discovered that the contents of the tape were actually recorded by Haibara's mother, Miyano Elena, and all she said was about her concern for her youngest daughter.

After listening to one of the tapes, Kitahara Masaki completely lost the will to listen to anything more. After all, it was recorded for Ai Haibara, and listening to it any longer made him feel uncomfortable. So he took a taxi straight back to Professor Agasa's house.

"Kitahara-kun! Did you find out anything?"

"Heh, just as I was about to ask something, Dr. Miyano's friend was killed."

"What! Could it be that you were exposed? No, if you were exposed, you wouldn't be able to come back."

After giving Conan a chop to the neck, Kitahara Masaki continued:

"This has nothing to do with the Black Organization. It was just that the president's employees had a long-standing grudge, so they killed him. As a result, I ended up solving another boring case. In short, I got nothing and was left with nothing but a mess."

After casually dismissing Conan, Kitahara Masaki took Haibara to the computer room, where he took out the cassette tape and gestured for Haibara to listen to it.

Kitahara Masaki had only sat down to rest when he saw Haibara startle and cry. This made him jump to his feet, unsure of what to say. Fortunately, Haibara broke the awkward silence.

"Thank you, Kitahara-nii. I thought I would never hear my mother's voice again."

"Okay—you can listen to it slowly for now, I'll go back first."

After leaving Professor Agasa's house, Kitahara Masaki felt exhausted. Although the investigation had yielded decent results, there was actually no information that could defeat the Black Organization...

Does this mean we should continue to plot against Potter? But regarding Potter's entourage, Kitahara Masaki is completely clueless. This character, who never appeared in the previous life, who knows what kind of trump cards she might have?

"Ah—Officer Kitahara, why do you look so scary? Have you encountered a very difficult case?"

The voice of Kurihara Rinaga—the female owner of the shop that Kitahara Masaki frequented—suddenly reached Kitahara Masaki's ears.

I've unknowingly gotten close to home. Let's grab a dessert before heading back.

"Yes, this case has really stumped me."

"Ahem, although you're still feeling down, I have some bad news for you—our shop will be closing down next week."

Huh!?

Kitahara Masaki suddenly looked up, and after noticing that the female shopkeeper's expression didn't seem fake, asked:

"Ms. Kurihara, your shop was doing quite well, why did you suddenly close down?"

"In order to catch up with Inspector Kitahara, I plan to close this shop, then study hard for the civil service exam, and finally become a policewoman!"

"Oh, good luck then."

Their initiative is so high, it really gives me the creeps.

"Hello, Officer Kitahara, this is the dessert you ordered."

"Oh, by the way, if this shop closes down, where will you work after that, Mr. Amuro?"

"Oh, please don't worry about me. I've already found my next part-time job at Poirot Cafe, which is not far away. I hope Officer Kitahara will take good care of me in the future."

"Hey! Mr. Amuro, you've already found a new job so quickly? That really hurts my feelings. I told you guys last month, but you said it right in front of me. Even I feel bad about it. Anyway, we were just talking about how Inspector Kitahara is facing a really tough case. Isn't your main job a detective? Hurry up and help Inspector Kitahara!"

Amuro Tooru has grown quite used to this somewhat eccentric and refreshingly quirky female store manager. What interests him now is the difficult case that Kitahara Masaki has mentioned.

"I wonder what case Officer Kitahara is referring to? Perhaps I can offer my humble assistance."

"Haha, if you have an uncle who's a member of parliament, then maybe you can help me. I'm not troubled by any murder case lately, but by a group of foreigners wandering around Tokyo..."

"Foreigner?"

"Yes, most of them are probably Americans. There have been several cases involving them, and there's nothing I can do about it. It's really frustrating. Anyway, let me enjoy this last dessert first."

FBI agent Amuro Tooru immediately understood who the foreigner Kitahara Masaki was referring to was. Due to the nature of the First Investigation Division, they often couldn't arbitrarily search foreigners, which was why Kitahara Masaki had handed James's case over to the Public Security Bureau.

I never imagined their infiltration of Tokyo had become this severe. Even Kitahara Masaki felt the pressure.

However, Kitahara Masaki felt no pressure whatsoever; he simply wanted to put some pressure on Amuro Tooru, urging him to kill a few chickens as a warning to the other monkeys not to act so blatantly.

As Kitahara Masaki ate his dessert, he thought that Amuro Tooru, who loved Japan, would definitely not care. Expelling all the FBI agents without leaving a single one alive was probably one of Amuro Tooru's goals.

That's great, Amuro Tooru. I'm not a demon; I just wanted to push the Japanese Public Security Bureau to its limits.

After perfectly shifting the blame for the so-called "difficult case," Kitahara Masaki encountered a truly difficult case the very next day—a woman was found lying in a pool of blood, with only two bloody footprints on the ground. The murder weapon was nowhere to be found, and there wasn't even a suspect...

Ah—it seems it's my turn this time.

Chapter 187 still presents a choice of three.

"Takagi, what about the surveillance footage around here?"

“Kitahara-senpai, the surrounding area is not covered by municipal surveillance cameras.”

Kitahara Masaki looked up and around, and it was indeed the case.

Has the deceased been identified?

"Yes, it's confirmed. Although it's not in our Metropolitan Police Department's database, a search online yielded the results. The deceased's name is Ninomiya Kiyomasa, a relatively unknown idol. However, after a preliminary investigation into her relationships, we found that she had no enemies, no one had taken out a large insurance policy for her, and her belongings were not stolen. At this stage, we cannot identify any specific suspects."

Oh, this isn't a proof question or a three-choice question. Could it be that I've been complaining about the number four too much lately, so they've given me this troublesome case?

Where is the murder weapon?

"No murder weapon was found at the scene, but the victim's abdomen suggests that he died from excessive blood loss due to stab wounds."

"What about the bloody footprints? What do the forensic experts say about the two bloody footprints found near the deceased?"

"We can only confirm that these are size 44 shoes, and it is highly likely that the perpetrator was male, but we don't know why there were only two bloody footprints and then no trace."

Kitahara Masaki crouched down and looked closely at the ground. He noticed that in addition to the two most obvious bloody footprints, there were also a few drops of dried blood on the ground, which must have dripped from a height.

"The prisoner probably took a couple of steps and then realized that the soles of his shoes were covered in dirt, so he took off his shoes and picked them up—and then wrapped them in some container or his clothes."

A person carrying a package that appears to be bleeding would be very conspicuous during the day, but since the crime occurred at night, there were virtually no eyewitnesses.

That leaves only the most direct, but also the most time-consuming, method: a search.

"Sato, you take a team to investigate the surrounding residents; Takagi and Chiba, take a team to search the surrounding alleys, parks, and any places where things can be hidden; Inspector Megure, you take a team to the entertainment company where the deceased worked and ask why the deceased came home so late last night, who else stayed out that late, and who knows where the deceased lived."

After giving the instructions, Kitahara Masaki personally went to the deceased's home, which was not far from the street where the deceased had collapsed.

After asking the landlord for a spare key, Kitahara Masaki put on shoe covers and a hood and went inside. He discovered that although the deceased, Ms. Ninomiya, was an idol, her living conditions were poor, and most importantly, it was outside the city's surveillance range. Compared to a wealthy celebrity like Yukiko, she was worlds apart.

Kitahara Masaki took out a magnifying glass and looked around the room, only to find that there were no clues, just like when he was next to the deceased.

After searching through everything in Ninomiya's house, they found only one thing of value—her diary.

June 23nd, sunny