Science: The Little Shota of the Maori Family

The exam was over in just one morning.

"It's over! I think I'm going to fail again this time." Yuantai lay down on the table, holding his head with his hands, wailing in pain.

This scene happens almost every month, and Mitsuhiko and Ayumi are no longer surprised.

"Xiaotuo, how did you do on the test?" Ayumi asked Watanabe Toru with concern: "I feel that the math problems this time are a bit difficult."

"I think so too." Mitsuhiko agreed, "Especially the last question. I think I got it wrong. It's a pity that I can't get a perfect score this time."

The last question?

Toru Watanabe recalled the question. It was a logic question. From the perspective of a first-grade student, it was indeed difficult, but for Toru Watanabe, it was very simple.

He wrote down the answer in five seconds, two of which were spent yawning.

Seeing that Watanabe Toru didn't say anything, she thought he didn't do well in the exam either, so Ayumi comforted him, "Tetsu, it doesn't matter if you didn't do well in the exam. After all, you just transferred here. Next time, you will definitely do well."

"Ayumi is right. Try harder next time, Toru." Mitsuhiko also cheered for Watanabe Toru.

Watanabe Toru was silent for a moment, then nodded.

018. Police car downstairs in the apartment building

After school, Toru Watanabe went straight home.

Kogoro Mouri is not in the office. He must be investigating Yoshida Fujiya for himself.

After watching TV for an hour, Xiaolan arrived home with the ingredients she had bought.

"Sister Xiaolan, let me help you." Watanabe Toru turned off the TV and got up from the sofa.

"Okay." Xiaolan handed the lightest tofu to Watanabe Toru and suggested, "Xiao Toru, how about having omelet rice and tofu soup for dinner?"

"it is good."

"By the way, how did you do on the test today?"

"That shouldn't be a problem, Sister Xiaolan. If I win, what rewards will I get?"

"Well, let me think about it. If Xiao Che gets one, how about I take you out for a nice meal?"

"Okay, it's a deal then. Sister Xiaolan, pinky promise."

After dinner, Kogoro Mouri also came back. The three of them sat around the low table. In front of each of them was a plate of omelet rice with ketchup and a small bowl of tofu soup.

"Wow~ It's so refreshing to drink a can of beer after work." After drinking a can of beer in one breath, Kogoro Mouri showed an expression of enjoyment.

Xiaolan was still thinking about the commission and asked, "Dad, how is your investigation going with Yoshida Fujiya?"

"We've basically investigated everything." Maori Kogoro opened another can of beer. "He's an office worker, a manager at a financial company. Oh, and he has a daughter who goes to the same school as Toru."

"It doesn't sound like anything special."

"Well, but I heard he's recently developed a gambling habit and even borrowed money from loan sharks," Maori Kogoro continued. "I heard from the company's employees that the manager's behavior has seriously affected the company's image and operations, and it seems he's about to step down."

"Then the people who sent anonymous letters to you, Dad, could they be those loan sharks?" Xiaolan said thoughtfully, "They want to use Dad to investigate Mr. Yoshida, and then kidnap his family and force them to pay back the money."

Maori Kogoro shook his head. "These are all open secrets. A little investigation will reveal them. There's no need to go through me. But you're right about one thing. The mysterious client might actually harbor evil intentions towards this man named Yoshida Fujiya. To be on the safe side, I will contact him through the email address he left to further confirm his intentions."

Watanabe Toru, who was eating silently with his head down, heard this and looked up and glanced at Kogoro.

He didn't expect that Kogoro Mouri was so principled. He was defending the client for concealing information yesterday, but today he was thinking of terminating the commission because the client might have malicious intentions.

However, for me, this information is enough.

After dinner, Kogoro Mouri went to the office on the second floor. He wanted to contact the client by email. After verifying whether the client was a good person, he would decide whether to send the results of the investigation to the other party. Xiaolan began to clean up the kitchen leftovers after the meal, and Toru Watanabe was responsible for helping.

After putting the cleaned dishes into the disinfection cabinet and wiping the knives, forks and chopsticks dry and putting them in their proper places, Xiaolan wiped her hands on her apron and said to Watanabe Toru, "Xiao Toru, let's take a bath together later."

Watanabe Toru's eyes lit up in vain, and he agreed without any hesitation: "Okay, Sister Xiaolan."

"Then go and run the water first, and I'll bring the clean clothes over later."

……

May 12th was the day Mrs. Yoshida was going to kill her husband. Watanabe Toru was a little nervous. Although he had roughly guessed Mrs. Yoshida's method of killing and had made some preparations, the outcome was still unknown.

As the school bell rang, Watanabe Toru stuffed his textbooks into his schoolbag and said to Ayumi, "Ayumi, can I come to your house to play today?"

"Huh?" Ayumi was stunned. She didn't expect that Watanabe Toru, who was usually a bit "unsociable", would suddenly ask to go to her house to play.

"Of course." Then, Ayumi agreed and asked Mitsuhiko and Genta: "Mitsuhiko, Genta, do you want to come with us? Mom told me this morning that she would go buy a cake today."

"I'll go." When Yuantai heard that there was food, he agreed without hesitation.

Mitsuhiko was relatively calm, and after thinking for a while he said, "Then let's go to Ayumi's house and play for a while."

The four of them packed their things, put on their backpacks, chatted and laughed, and headed to Ayumi's house together.

In front of the apartment building, several police cars with flashing lights were parked.

Mitsuhiko asked curiously, "Strange, did something happen? Why are there police here?"

"Could it be that a thief stole something from someone's house?" Yuantai guessed.

"It's possible. I heard there have been a lot of thefts recently. Those damn thieves should all be arrested." Ayumi said indignantly.

019. Kudo Shinichi's suspicion

It wasn't until they got home that the three guys realized something was wrong.

Policemen were coming in and out, the house was in a mess, and Mrs. Yoshida, with red eyes, was being interrogated by a fat police officer.

"Mom, what happened? Why are there so many police officers at home?" Ayumi asked.

"Ayumi, you're back." Mrs. Yoshida didn't answer her daughter's question: "Go back to your room with Xiaotetsu and the others first. Mom has something to deal with the police."

"Oh." Ayumi nodded obediently.

Watanabe Toru quickly scanned the living room and did not see Yoshida Fujiya's body. It seemed that it had been moved away by the police.

"Hey, what on earth happened in Ayumi's family? Why are there so many police officers?"

In the room, Mitsuhiko asked everyone.

"I don't know either." Ayumi shook her head, her face showing nervousness and trepidation. This was the first time she had encountered such a situation.

"The house must have been robbed." Yuan Tai guessed, "When we came in, the house was in a mess. The thief must be looking for valuables."

This time, Mitsuhiko agreed with Genta's opinion. He comforted Ayumi: "Don't worry, Ayumi, the police will definitely catch the thief."

"Hmm." Ayumi hummed anxiously.

"Um, I'm going to the bathroom." Toru Watanabe had his own actions. After finding an excuse to come out of the room, he hid behind a pot of green plants in the living room and eavesdropped on the conversation between Inspector Megure and Mrs. Yoshida.

"Mrs. Yoshida, according to the forensic department, your husband died of potassium cyanate poisoning. We also detected the same poison in the wine glass. I have a few questions for you."

"Yes." Mrs. Yoshida wiped the tears from her face and nodded.

"Where were you between half past nine and ten this morning?"

"Today I went to Ginza with some friends. We left home around 9:00 AM. I met up with my friends at 9:15 AM and have been with them ever since."

"Then, can you tell me the contact information of those friends of yours?"

"of course."

Ten minutes later, the police verified the situation and found that Mrs. Yoshida was indeed with her friend between 9:30 and 10:00 this morning and had not left for even a minute.

In other words, Mrs. Yoshida had a clear alibi.

"It seems very likely that your husband died of suicide," Officer Megure analyzed. "Madam, has Mr. Yoshida behaved in any strange way recently?"

"What's strange..." Mrs. Yoshida said after thinking carefully, "My husband has been in a bad mood recently because of his gambling."

"Gambling?" Inspector Megure asked in surprise, "Your husband still gambles?"

"Yes." Mrs. Yoshida nodded bitterly. "He also borrowed a lot of high-interest loans. However, he confessed to me some time ago and promised that he would never gamble again, so I forgave him."

"Well, it seems your husband was probably pressured by loan sharks and felt guilty towards his family, so he impulsively chose to commit suicide."

"How could that be?" Mrs. Yoshida covered her mouth.

"Although it's regrettable, this is probably the truth of the matter." Inspector Megure said regretfully, "Mrs. Yoshida, please accept my condolences."

"Yes, I'm sorry to trouble you."

"Please wait a moment, Officer Megure."

Just then, a voice sounded at the door. Watanabe Toru looked over and saw a young man walking in from outside.

Kudo Shinichi? Why is this guy here?

Watanabe Toru frowned. This murder case was about to be concluded as suicide, but he didn't expect that a plague god would suddenly appear.

"Oh, it's Kudo, why are you here?" Inspector Megure also saw Kudo Shinichi.

"I saw a police car parked downstairs, so I came up to take a look out of curiosity." Kudo Shinichi said, "Officer Megure, isn't it a bit hasty to conclude this murder was a suicide so quickly? Don't you find it strange? If someone wants to commit suicide, can't they just pour poison into their mouth? Why go to all that trouble and mix it into the red wine?"

"This..." Inspector Megure was speechless.

"Also, someone planning to commit suicide would probably leave a suicide note. Did the police find any in this room?"

"No." Inspector Megure shook his head.

Kudo Shinichi gave a look of astonishment. "In other words, the murderer could have smeared the poison into the cup first, then placed it on the table with the wine. If my guess is correct, the deceased must have enjoyed drinking wine on a daily basis. Seeing the wine on the table, he naturally poured himself a glass and died of the poisoning."

It must be said that Kudo Shinichi has a strong talent for solving crimes. Within just a few minutes of entering the house, he had guessed most of Mrs. Yoshida's methods of committing the crime. He looked at Mrs. Yoshida with smug eyes, and was almost about to say, "You are the murderer."

020. Key suicide note

Inspector Megure naturally also heard that Kudo Shinichi was suspicious of Mrs. Yoshida.

He reminded Kudo Shinichi: "But Kudo brother, as you said, where is the evidence?"

"The evidence should still be at home," Kudo Shinichi said. "After all, this is an uncertain murder case. The murderer can't be sure whether the victim drank the red wine. If not, then the same method must be repeated. And the key poison naturally can't be thrown away so early. To be on the safe side, it should still be hidden somewhere in the house. As long as it is found, we should be able to detect the murderer's fingerprints on it. Am I right, Mrs. Yoshida?"

Mrs. Yoshida's face had already lost all color. She bit her lips and remained silent.

Inspector Megure seemed to have guessed something. He ordered his subordinates, "Search this place thoroughly. Also, find a female officer."

Are they going to search Mrs. Yoshida?

Watanabe Toru knew he couldn't wait any longer, so he shouted, "Huh? What is this?"

His shouting attracted everyone's attention. Inspector Megure came over, took the things from Watanabe Toru's hand, took a look, and his expression changed slightly. He asked hurriedly, "Little boy, where did you find these two things?"

"It's right there." Watanabe Toru pointed under the wine cabinet.

"Inspector Megure, have you found anything?" Seeing Inspector Megure's unusual expression, Kudo Shinichi came over. He knew Watanabe Toru, but the case was more important at the moment, so he didn't ask why Watanabe Toru was here.

Inspector Megure said in a deep voice: "The victim's suicide note and the poison he took have been found."

"What, what?" Kudo Shinichi was surprised.

"Mr. Yoshida wrote in his suicide note that he felt guilty towards his wife and daughter because of his gambling, and even lost his job because of it. He was too ashamed to continue living and hoped that his wife would take good care of their daughter. However, the authenticity of this suicide note can only be confirmed by comparing it with the victim's handwriting."

Inspector Megure handed the two items to the forensic officer, then looked at Mrs. Yoshida and asked, "Madam, when you came back, didn't you see the letter?"

Mrs. Yoshida opened her mouth and shook her head. "No, my attention was all on my husband at the time. I had no time to think about anything else."

"I see." Inspector Megure nodded in understanding.

Twenty minutes later, the identification results came out, confirming that the suicide note was written by the victim Yoshida Fujiya, and the poison in the bottle was potassium cyanate.

"It seems that Mr. Yoshida committed suicide." Inspector Megure said to Kudo Shinichi, "Brother Kudo, your previous suspicions were not unreasonable, but now that the suicide note and the poison have been found, it can also be proved that the wife has nothing to do with this case."

Kudo Shinichi pinched his chin. His intuition told him that things were not as simple as they seemed, but the evidence was right in front of him and he had no choice but to believe it.

Am I really overthinking it? Kudo Shinichi began to doubt his own judgment.

After the case was declared a suicide, everything became much simpler. After completing the record, Inspector Megure led his team away from the scene. Yoshida Fujiya's body will be returned, and how his funeral will be handled is no longer the police's business.

"Auntie, Auntie..." Toru Watanabe called Mrs. Yoshida softly.

"Huh?" Mrs. Yoshida came back to her senses. The police had just started to suspect her, which made her tense. Especially the young man's eyes, it seemed that he could see through her secrets. If Watanabe Toru hadn't found the suicide note...

Oh, right, the suicide note.

Mrs. Yoshida grabbed Watanabe Toru's shoulders and asked, "Toru, where did you find that suicide note and that small bottle?"

"It's under the wine cabinet."