Detective Conan: Developing a younger version of Ran Eri, and the stunning Yukiko.

"You mean these have been replaced?" Miwako instantly understood the deeper meaning behind Shiraishi's words.

"Do you remember those things the landlady mentioned to you earlier that seemed unrelated to the case?"

Instead of responding directly, Shiraishi asked a question in return.

“Hmm. The landlady said the deceased’s favorite color was beige, and also mentioned that Miss Muranishi particularly liked the Soul Team and cacti. She also mentioned some of Mr. Higashida’s habits, but strangely, none of this was mentioned in the statement.” Sato Miwako was somewhat puzzled.

"That's because these contents seem to have nothing to do with the case, and saying too much might get you reprimanded by the Metropolitan Police Department. The proprietress herself doesn't want to cause trouble for herself."

Shiraishi spread his hands, saying that the Metropolitan Police Department already had a bad reputation, so the proprietress naturally didn't want to mention it too much.

"Huh? The Metropolitan Police Department's image can't be that bad, can it?"

... ...... ....

Miwako muttered to herself, "Even if it's terrible, there should be a limit."

"And then there's the calendar that was taken from next to the bed for some unknown reason?" Shiraishi pointed to where the calendar had originally been.

Is there anything strange about this?

Miwako frowned slightly. After all, with mobile phones being so convenient these days, not everyone is fond of using calendars.

"Look at this calendar that the Higashijin Soul Team released this year, which is kept in the closet. It matches the marks left on the wall perfectly. Most importantly, it's filled with plans all the way up to December." As he spoke, Shiraishihara handed over the calendar.

"That's true, Detective Shiraishi. You have a very keen eye for detail."

Miwako Sato sincerely praised the detective for always noticing clues that are easily overlooked.

"Since so many plans are recorded on the calendar, it shouldn't be put away under normal circumstances. So it seems a bit strange. Why is that?"

"Officer Sato, if you look closely, you'll notice that the furniture in the room has been slightly moved."

Shiraishihara reminded Sato Miwako.

"Oh, so what does that prove?"

After being reminded by Shiraishihara, Sato Miwako's mind did not become clearer; instead, she became even more confused, like a little dazed bug.

Shiraishihara gently tapped Sato Miwako's head.

"Use your brain, Officer Sato."

"Well--"

Miwako Sato couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. Was it all her fault for being so stupid?

She was very good at catching criminals, but in terms of reasoning ability, she wasn't much better than her colleagues.

Shiraishi bent down to pick up a box of matches from the ground, sighed softly, and said, "This is important evidence that fell off when the cabinet was moved."

Conan always manages to find evidence at crime scenes that the forensic team missed, and Shiraishihara is no exception.

"Isn't this just a box of ordinary matches?"

Sato Miwako gasped softly, unable to understand why the forensic department would overlook such evidence.

"There's something hidden inside. Open it and you'll find out the truth."

Shiraishi handed the matchbox to Sato Miwako.

First.

146. Eri Kisaki, slightly tipsy, coordinates perfectly, her fighting power is off the charts.

Chapter 146

"Huh! There's a note here!"

When Miwako opened the matchbox and saw the note, she exclaimed in surprise, "This, this is—"

"This is Miss Muranishi's marriage application." Shiraishihara had naturally already seen it.

"But the application form doesn't have the other party's name written on it, yet it's stamped with a seal?"

Miwako was full of doubts. Why would such an important thing be hidden in an inconspicuous matchbox? Obviously, she didn't want others to find it, but it wasn't anything she wanted to hide.

Instead of responding to Miwako Sato, Shiraishihara pointed to the last suspicious point—the bonsai cactus.

“This cactus is also strange. It started raining heavily early on the day of the incident. Since Miss Muranishi loves cacti so much, how could she leave them unattended when she went out?” Shiraishi walked to the balcony and gestured to Sato Miwako with the cactus.

"In other words, the murderer moved many things to achieve some purpose, but why would he do that?" Miwako wondered.

"This is actually just a tactic used by the real murderer to conceal the fact that he committed the crime."

"This is... the murder method used by the real killer!"

Sato Miwako rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought. "397," she thought, then a flash of inspiration struck her: "I understand, someone has misled Mr. Higashida!"

Sato Miwako eagerly arrived at Mr. Higashida's room and was surprised to find that it was exactly the same as the room where Ms. Muranishi lived.

In this way, Miwako Sato has already deduced the truth of the matter.

Mr. Higashida was framed, and the real murderer who killed Ms. Muranishi was none other than Mr. Kitagawa!

Afterwards, Sato Miwako took Shiraishihara and immediately went to Mr. Kitagawa's room. Mr. Kitagawa lived in the same apartment building as his colleagues, but in different rooms.

"You're from the Metropolitan Police Department again. Haven't I explained this to you countless times already?" Kitagawa opened the door, his face full of impatience.

“That being said, we still have a few questions we’d like to ask you, and we hope you can cooperate.” Miwako said earnestly.

“That’s all I know. That day, because I didn’t see Higashida and Muranishi at the company and no one answered the phone, I asked the manager to help me open the door. The door was locked with a chain lock and I didn’t know why Higashida was in her room. So I woke him up and asked him to unlock the chain lock. When we entered, we saw Muranishi who had already died.”

Kitagawa explained again.

"You mean, after Mr. Dongtian killed someone, he not only didn't flee the scene, but instead kindly opened the door for you so you could discover the body?"

Sato Miwako's eyes flashed; what murderer would be so stupid?

"Uh... I, how would I know? Besides, it was your Metropolitan Police Department that determined him to be guilty, not me."

Kitagawa panicked for a moment, but quickly calmed down.

"So, when you were drinking with Mr. Higashida that night, was he extremely drunk?" Miwako didn't rush to refute, but instead asked a question in return.

“That’s right, he was completely drunk, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked me to help him back.” Kitagawa answered without even thinking.

"So, how can someone who is so drunk that they've lost the ability to move commit murder?"

A beautiful smile appeared on Miwako's lips. Although this had been mentioned before, it was Kitagawa's personal admission that made it all the more significant.

"W-This... Hey! Officer, what do you mean by that? Are you doubting me?"

Kitagawa's expression changed slightly. He couldn't think of a reasonable explanation for a moment, and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed and angry.

"You were caught off guard and got angry?"

Sato Miwako sneered.

Kitagawa realized the situation was bad, took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down: "Officer, please don't provoke me on purpose."

Based on the situation at the scene, I simply cannot be the murderer!

"Then why did you change the bed and curtains in Nishimura's room? You changed them from beige to gray," Sato Miwako said unhurriedly.

"Hey, I've never done anything like that!"

At this point, Kitagawa was no longer simply feeling guilty; he was filled with fear. "Officer, if you can't produce any evidence, don't blame me for suing you for defamation!"

"The evidence is... your shopping records!"

Sato Miwako was full of confidence. At this moment, this beautiful and confident policewoman looked particularly charming, and Shiraishihara, who was standing next to her, couldn't help but be attracted by her charm.

“Mr. Kitagawa, stop resisting. You recently purchased the same items as those found at the crime scene at a nearby shopping mall. This can serve as strong evidence of your crime.”

"Besides that, you deliberately hid the spirit calendar in Miss Nishimura's room, moved the cactus pot to the balcony, and changed the layout of Miss Nishimura's room—all of these were your doing!"

"What...what do you mean?!"

All of Beichuan's methods of committing the crime were seen through by the sharp-eyed policewoman, and Beichuan's psychological defenses completely collapsed.

"What I mean is, you went to all this trouble just to decorate Ms. Muranishi's room to be the same as Mr. Higashida's room!"

The goal is to make Mr. Higashida mistake Ms. Muranishi's room for his own!

"I didn't, why would I do that?" Kitagawa said through gritted teeth.

"After you murdered Ms. Muranishi, you took Mr. Higashida, who was drunk and unconscious in the tavern, to Ms. Muranishi's room, making him mistakenly believe that he had returned to his own room. Then, you only need to remind him to lock the chain lock at the door, thus creating a 'perfect locked room'."

The next day, when Ms. Nishimura's body was discovered, most people would naturally assume that Mr. Higashida committed the crime; that's your modus operandi.

"Damn it!" Kitagawa was speechless and collapsed to the ground.

"Detective Shiraishi, my reasoning should be sound, right? Is there anything you'd like to add?"

Sato Miwako turned around, puffed out her chest proudly, and looked at Shiraishihara with anticipation in her eyes. It was thanks to Shiraishihara's careful guidance that she was able to understand all of this.

"Officer Sato, your reasoning is absolutely brilliant! Even I, the great detective, am completely outmatched."

Shiraishihara teased her, and Sato Miwako's face lit up with a bright smile, her beauty captivating.

Kitagawa was still making a last-ditch effort, but Shiraishihara's series of additional deductions plunged Kitagawa into a complete dead end.

“Besides shopping records, the wound on your thumb is also key evidence.”

Shiraishi noticed a thorn wound on Kitagawa's thumb and immediately recognized it as being caused by a cactus thorn.

"Your thumb must have been pricked by a cactus, right? ... In that case, there must be your bloodstains on the thorns of the cactus in Nishimura's room. That's irrefutable proof."

Upon hearing this, Kitagawa's legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground, weeping and confessing his crimes.

It turns out that Kitagawa and Nishimura were lovers with a deep and harmonious relationship.

However, one day Nishimura suddenly proposed to Kitagawa, and Kitagawa accepted. But from then on, Nishimura began to interfere in every aspect of Kitagawa's life.

Kitagawa tries to stop Nishimura's behavior, but Nishimura continues to try to control Kitagawa as his fiancée.

Kitagawa could not bear it any longer. The thought of marrying Nishimura in the future made him feel hopeless and that life was worse than death. So he plotted to kill Nishimura and frame Higashida, and he carried it out.

"This man is too ruthless. If he didn't want to marry the woman, why did he accept the proposal?"

Miwako Sato couldn't understand Nishimura's actions at all.

"Not everyone is suited for marriage, and Kitagawa is exactly the kind of person who is not suited for marriage but is completely unaware of it."

Shiraishihara deeply realized that people don't necessarily have to get married. It is actually a tragedy to be forced into marriage by worldly trends when one is clearly not suited for the other.

The host has acquired a brand new Persona.

Shiki-o-ō: The most powerful form of slumber mastered by certain schools of Onmyōdō, similar to a familiar. Depending on the prayer master's will, it can cast curses and drive away illnesses, but its nature is similar to that of demons and spirits, making it extremely ferocious.

Specific Ability: Origami Master.

Not long after, Inspector Megure arrived at the scene with his men.

"Miwako, you said on the phone that you found the real culprit, what exactly happened? Oh, Shiraishi, you're here too!"

"..."

Shiraishi nodded expressionlessly, thinking to himself that if the Metropolitan Police Department's detectives could solve cases independently, he wouldn't need to be here.

"Inspector Megure, here's what happened..." Miwako Sato briefly recounted what had happened.

"I see, so that's the truth! I understand now, Sato, thank you for your hard work!"

Inspector Megure's lips twitched slightly. He knew in his heart that he and his subordinates seemed to really be unable to do without the help of detectives.

Without the detective's assistance, a series of problems would have arisen, and an innocent person would have been wrongly accused.

Kitagawa was subsequently arrested by the police, while the female detective Sato Miwako, who successfully apprehended the real culprit, naturally returned to the Metropolitan Police Department with her colleagues.

"Detective Shiraishi, what are your plans for the future?" Sato Miwako suddenly asked before leaving.

"I...I'm fine," Shiraishi replied without hesitation.

"Then come with me to the Metropolitan Police Department. I'll treat you to dinner after I finish my work."

"Eh? Officer Sato, if you're busy, you don't need to go to all this trouble."

"I'm not busy. This case wasn't my responsibility to begin with. I'll be back at the Metropolitan Police Department to handle things quickly. You won't have to wait too long."

"OK then."

Shiraishi then followed Sato Miwako and rode in a police car to the Metropolitan Police Department.

As Miwako Sato said, she quickly finished her work after returning to the Metropolitan Police Department.