Science: The Little Shota of the Maori Family

Half an hour later.

Maori Kogoro sat exhausted on the chair, panting, "I'm so tired. I think it's about time for us to go back, right?"

"Dad is so useless." Xiaolan complained to Maori Kogoro for a while, then glanced at him and said in surprise: "Huh? Why is the sign that was just put there gone?"

"Maybe the renovation inside was completed and the staff took it away." Watanabe Toru guessed.

"I see... In that case, this is a rare opportunity, let's go in and take a look."

"What?" Maori Kogoro said reluctantly: "But I'm already very tired."

"After we finish touring this exhibition hall, let's go eat." Xiaolan urged: "Hurry up, hurry up."

Kogoro Maori stood up helplessly.

Following the aisle, the three of them arrived at the entrance of the exhibition hall.

"It's so dark here. '640'" Xiaolan felt a little scared. Girls have an instinctive fear of the unknown and dark environment.

Maori Kogoro walked inside: "That's why it's called the Hell Exhibition Hall."

"Dad, wait for me."

The exhibition hall displays various demon statues, knight armor, and works of art. Combined with the dark environment, it makes people feel as if they have entered another world.

"Wow, what a huge painting! It really looks like hell." Xiaolan stood in front of a huge painting with an amazed expression.

"This painting is called 'Divine Punishment', and it depicts a righteous knight subduing a demon." Maori Kogoro read the description below the painting and smacked his lips. "How bloody."

Tick-tock...tick-tock...

In the silence, the clear sound of dripping water reached the ears of the three people.

"Huh? Is there a water leak?" Xiaolan turned around in confusion, her pupils dilated in an instant, and she saw a picture from hell.

A man covered in blood was nailed to the wall by a long sword. Blood splattered everywhere, dyeing the wall a creepy red. The dripping sound of blood was like the man's sobbing, which made people shudder and tremble their souls.

"what--"

Screams echoed throughout the exhibition hall.

……

Ten minutes later, Inspector Megure arrived with his team.

Seeing Maori Kogoro also at the scene, Inspector Megure said speechlessly: "Mauri, why is it you again?"

Maori Kogoro scratched his head embarrassedly: "Yes, officer, it is me. I have been watching the scene since the body was found. No one has touched the body."

"Thank you then." Inspector Megure thanked him casually and turned his gaze to Director Ochiai and the others: "So, has anyone seen the criminal?"

Director Ochiai shook his head. "I've checked with everyone, but it seems no one saw it."

"Officer, maybe that surveillance camera captured the murderer." Iijima pointed to a surveillance camera in the exhibition hall, which was facing the direction of the murdered boss Manaka.

Officer Megure hummed, "Then let's go to the monitoring room first."

monitoring room.

Maori Kogoro crossed his arms and taunted the murderer, "The murderer is such an idiot. He didn't even know he was being filmed by the surveillance camera. Ah...it's Boss Manaka..."

On the surveillance screen, Boss Manaka walked into the Hell Exhibition Hall alone, looked around, and then looked down at the time on his watch.

At this moment, the knight's armor behind him suddenly moved, and with a clean and neat move, he pierced Boss Manaka's throat with his sword and nailed him to the wall.

"What a cruel method." Inspector Megure took a breath and pressed the pause button.

Maori Kogoro thought for a moment, "I think I've seen this scene somewhere before."

"It's that painting," Watanabe Toru reminded him. "The painting called 'Divine Punishment', the demon that was killed died in the same way as Boss Manaka."

"That's right." Maori Kogoro also remembered and speculated with his chin in his hand: "Could the murderer have killed Mr. Manaka in this way in order to imitate the painting?"

"But the murderer is too bold to do this. If this scene is seen by tourists, it will cause a commotion." Inspector Megure frowned.

"No, it won't be seen by tourists." Maori Kogoro shook his head. "I remember that before the incident, someone put up a 'No Trespassing' sign in the exhibition hall corridor."

"What!" Inspector Megure's expression suddenly changed: "When was that?"

Maori Kogoro recalled: "It should have been around eleven o'clock. At twelve o'clock, the sign was taken away."

"Hmm... Judging from the time on the videotape, the crime occurred around 11:30. So, that sign must have been placed by the murderer..." Inspector Megure analyzed. "Furthermore, the murderer is very familiar with the location of the armor and the scene. This shows that the murderer is most likely among the museum staff."

"Inspector Megure," a police officer suddenly interrupted, "The deceased seemed to have written something on a piece of paper before being killed."

"What!" Inspector Megure quickly shifted his gaze to the surveillance screen.

Sure enough, Boss Manaka was seen writing something on a piece of paper with a pen, then throwing the pen away, crumpling the paper into a ball and holding it in his hand, and was then killed by the murderer.

"Hurry, take that paper down." Inspector Megure ordered.

A police officer took the paper ball from Boss Manaka and handed it to Officer Megure.

Inspector Megure held his breath and carefully opened the paper ball.

There was only a name written crookedly on the paper.

Kubota.

"How, how could my name be here?" Kubota opened his mouth and took two steps back in panic.

Maori Kogoro looked at him coldly: "It seems that the truth has been revealed. In order to avoid being captured by the surveillance camera, you deliberately put on armor, but you didn't expect to be recognized by the deceased..."

"No, it's not me. You must have made a mistake." Kubota denied loudly.

"Then how do you explain this piece of paper?" Maori Kogoro snorted coldly. "From the surveillance video, it seems that the murderer didn't touch this piece of paper at all. No one touched the body after it was discovered. So, this must be the suicide note left by Boss Manaka before he died. The name on it is the murderer's name."

"I..." Kubota was speechless, not knowing how to explain.

Inspector Megure asked in a deep voice, "Mr. Kubota, the incident happened around 11:30. Where were you?"

"At that time, I was alone in the office handling matters assigned by the director."

"So, you don't have an alibi?"

"Wait, wait a minute." Kubota said anxiously, "I have no reason to kill Boss Manaka."

"Kuoda, there's no point in covering it up."

"Iijima, you..." Kubota looked at Iijima beside him in horror, a bad premonition rising in his heart.

096. Auntie, is there a reward for first place?

Iijima mercilessly exposed Kubota's secret: "You secretly took the artworks here out to sell, and the truth came to light a few days ago. Isn't that right, Mr. Manaka is asking you for a huge amount of compensation?"

"I..." Kubota stammered, lowered his head, and couldn't utter any words to defend himself.

"Officer." At this time, a police officer hurried in, holding a bag and said, "We found the bloody armor in Mr. Kubota's safe."

"Really?" Inspector Megure's expression froze as he looked at Kubota. "Mr. Kubota, do you have anything else to say now?"

There was no alibi, a motive for murder, and now he had found bloody armor in his own safe.

Kubota's face turned pale, knowing that nothing he said would help.

Watanabe Toru looked around and finally found a ballpoint pen next to a set of knight armor. He picked up the pen and handed it to Maori Kogoro: "Uncle, I found a pen."

"Oh?" Maori Kogoro reached out to take the ballpoint pen from Watanabe Toru, and then suddenly stopped.

"Inspector Megure, I'm afraid we've all been fooled. Kubota is not the murderer," he said.

"Mori, what did you say?" Inspector Mu Mu looked at Kogoro Mouri in surprise.

……

After Kogoro Mouri pointed out one suspicious point after another, Inspector Megure finally realized that he and others had fallen into a trap set by the murderer.

He asked aloud, "So, brother Maoli, who is the murderer?"

"There's only one person who can make Mr. Kubota have no alibi and make him bear the charge of murder." Maori Kogoro pointed at the white-bearded old man who was silent in the corner. "I'm right, aren't I, Director Ochiai? You are the murderer who killed Mr. Manaka. As for the evidence, it's the ballpoint pen you hid on your body that can't write."

Is Director Ochiai the murderer?

Everyone present looked at Director Ochiai in disbelief.

Inspector Megure stepped forward and asked, "Director Ochiai, where were you when the incident occurred?"

Director Ochiai was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke, "At that time, I was wearing armor, standing in this exhibition hall, waiting for that heartless demon—Boss Manaka."

"Are you...are you admitting that you are the murderer?"

"Yes," Director Ochiai said calmly. "He's a demon. He wants to destroy this sacred museum for his own selfish gain and take away the artworks I treasure. That's why... I'm blaming Kubota because he dared to sell these precious works of art without my permission."

Kubota opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word to blame Director Ochiai.

……

The next day, Maori Detective Agency.

Kogoro Mouri held the newspaper and looked at the reports and photos about himself, grinning from ear to ear.

Although he was still confused about how he solved the case, it didn't matter anymore. The words "Famous Detective Maori Kogoro" on the report made him very excited.

"Uncle, congratulations," Watanabe Toru said with a smile, "This art museum case has made your name a household name."

Maori Kogoro laughed heartily: "It seems that my road to fame is about to begin."

"How about we go out for a big dinner tonight to celebrate this happy event?" Watanabe Toru took the opportunity to suggest.

"No problem." Maori Kogoro agreed readily: "It's up to you to decide whether to eat He's cuisine, Chinese cuisine, or Western cuisine."

It can be seen that he is in a really good mood today.

……

July 15th, the day before summer vacation.

Kobayashi Sumiko stood on the podium holding her final exam transcript.

She looked around and the classroom was quiet.

Some people straightened their backs and looked at her, while others lowered their heads, not knowing what they were thinking.

"Everyone has made great progress in this final exam, and I'm very happy for you. In addition, there are two students who got first place this time: Watanabe Toru and Edogawa Conan. I hope everyone can learn from them."

"Transcripts will be distributed below. Students whose names are called, please come up and receive them."

"Ikeda Kazumi."

"Have!"

"Nobitaro."

"Have!"

"Yoshida Ayumi."

"Have!"

……

"Toru Watanabe."

"Have!"

After class, Ayumi and the other two surrounded Watanabe Toru and Conan, their eyes full of envy.

"Both Tohru and Conan are so awesome, they're tied for first place." Ayumi is proud of her two friends.

Conan chuckled twice and looked at Watanabe Toru.

There was no doubt that he would get first place, but it was a bit beyond his expectation that Watanabe Toru would get first place with full marks just like himself.

"Summer vacation starts tomorrow." Mitsuhiko's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Dad promised me that as long as I could get into the top ten in the final exam, he would take me on vacation to Karuizawa."

"Karuizawa, I heard it's a great place to escape the summer heat." Ayumi looked longingly at her.

"I'll take lots of pictures and show them to you guys later."

"Okay, okay." Ayumi said excitedly, and then asked Watanabe Toru: "Tetsu, do you have any plans for the holiday?"

Watanabe Toru shook his head: "I should just stay home."

"Where's Conan?"

"Me too."