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Chapter 1064: Conan: Helpless, Powerless, and Wronged
There, Hattori Heiji, after hearing Inspector Megure say that the four building blocks were mixed in with other building blocks before, and that only these four building blocks were covered in fingerprints, even in the engravings, began a round of reasoning, confirming that this was the dying message left by the president.
"Looking at the photo, the president's hands were tied behind his back, right? In other words, he couldn't look at the building blocks to choose the side he wanted to dip in ink, so he could only turn around with his back facing them to get the building blocks with his hand, feeling the engravings on them to judge what was engraved on that side..."
"But, he actually managed to find these four building blocks just by feeling them a bit," Mori Kogoro looked at the photo, "while the other building blocks barely had any fingerprints."
"Because these building blocks have the kana of the same consonant engraved on the same building block," Hattori Heiji said, "you'd know if it's right or not just by feeling it a bit."
Inspector Megure leaned in to look at the photo, "So that's why only these four building blocks are covered in fingerprints."
"Exactly," Moreover, fingerprints are mainly traces left by sweat and grease on the hands. A dead person won't secrete any more, so even if you make a corpse hold the building blocks to leave fingerprints, at most it would only be the first one or two blocks. It's unlikely for all four building blocks to be covered in fingerprints like this," Hattori Heiji looked towards the ground, "The many traces left by the ink-stained rope on the floor are also evidence. It's likely the president secretly chose these four building blocks behind his back, then turned around with the blocks to get them to the ink-stained ground, dipped the chosen side in ink, and then turned around again to put the building blocks back in the pile. Because he didn't know when he would be killed, he was so afraid his hands were full of sweat..."
As he spoke, Hattori Heiji rubbed his chin, puzzled, "But this is a toy company. If the dying message left behind is 'Toy', it doesn't have any special meaning... Inspector Megure, are there any special toys here?"
Aside, Mouri Ran sighed in a low voice, "So impressive, he made so many discoveries as soon as he got here."
"Yes, as expected of Heiji, Brother Hichiji is super impressive too~!" Kazuha Toyama turned her head, but discovered Chi Feichei standing there writing and drawing in his notebook, leaned closer doubtfully, and asked in a low voice, "Brother Hichiji, do you have a clue?"
"Uh-huh..." Chi Feichei didn't look up, restoring the engravings on all the building blocks, "Could I ask you to go ask Inspector Megure about the names, height, and whether the four people who made the discovery of the corpse have anything special about their legs and feet. It would be best to have photos of the four people, and also, whether the president had the habit of tearing the calendar in advance."
"Ah, okay..." Kazuha Toyama nodded, just about to go over, but after walking two steps, looking at Hattori Heiji pressing Inspector Megure about whether there were any special things, she froze.
"Kazuha, what's wrong?" Mouri Ran asked with doubt, looked towards Chi Feichei, "Does Brother Hichiji have a clue?"
"Uh-huh..." Kazuha Toyama nodded, hesitated a bit, "Should be close to solving the building blocks riddle soon."
Mouri Ran observed Kazuha Toyama's expression, "Then why are you..."
"I was thinking, if Heiji thinks he's sad, I wouldn't be happy either, at least don't lose too much..." Kazuha Toyama paused, said seriously, "Otherwise, as his older sister, I'll have a headache, and when his mother came, she also made a request for me to take care of him. Of course, I can't just look at him being depressed!"
Mouri Ran held back a laugh, "Yes, yes, I know."
Kazuha Toyama looked towards Chi Feichei, who was looking down at his notebook, his gaze calm but also serious, hesitated, saying, "It's okay for me, but Brother Hichiji seemingly has a lot of interest in this case. Clearly, I was the one who pulled everyone into this bet, and he's still putting in effort to solve the case. If I thought of backing out midway, I'd really be sorry to him."
"That makes sense, we two haven't put in much effort..." Mouri Ran was also hesitating, considered a bit, "Then how about we directly discuss it with him? Brother Hichiji doesn't care much about victory or defeat, moreover, we can just give a little on this side, no need to lose to them..."
"Inspector Megure!" A police officer holding two evidence bags entered the door.
In one bag, containing the weapon, a golf club still with a blood stain.
In the other bag was a leather coat, with traces of wiped blood on the shoulder.
Both things were found at the crime scene.
Hattori Heiji discovered that the bloodstain on the left shoulder of the leather coat had been wiped, staring at the coat, pondering.
Chi Feichei paid attention with a glance, looked towards Kazuha Toyama talking with Mouri Ran.
Kazuha Toyama understood, stepped forward and pulled Inspector Megure over, asking questions in a low voice, and also got a photo from Inspector Megure.
"Hey, Hattori..." Conan expressionlessly reached out and pulled Hattori Heiji's hem, continuously staring at Kazuha Toyama whispering with Inspector Megure.
He could feel the dark cloud that used to envelop him had flown to his overhead again.
"What?" Hattori Heiji looked over, discovered that Kazuha Toyama continuously nodded and then arrived at Chi Feichei's side again, fell silent for a bit, "That shouldn't be..."
Conan withdrew his line of sight, speechlessly looked at Hattori Heiji, "What do you think?"
"Cheer up, idiot," Hattori Heiji forcefully rubbed Conan's hair, "Could it be you give up just because you encounter a bit of trouble?"
"Of course I won't just give up like that," Conan Half-Moon Eyes, "Just my mood is a bit bad, is that not okay?"
Hattori is usually in Osaka, he would not understand his mood.
He was not annoyed because he was about to lose, but because that fellow Chi Feichei sometimes will directly say the answer, he had been deprived of the joy of reasoning many times.
Thinking of him, he felt helpless, powerless, and wronged.
On the other side, Kazuha Toyama, after asking Inspector Megure the questions, then bringing the photo arrived beside Chi Feichei, handed the photo to Chi Feichei, pointing at the person in the photo to introduce them.
"Brother Hichiji, this is their company group photo. This is the victim president. Inspector Megure said he wasn't clear whether the president had the habit of tearing the calendar in advance, but heard from the other four people that he likes celebrity merchandise. That wall calendar on the wall here is what he specially bought. Usually he would write the schedule on it, so he shouldn't tear it off in advance."
"The only female in the photo is the company manager, Nao Aika. Her height is probably 165 centimeters. I also helped you ask about her alibi. On the day of the crime, around 5 PM, she went out fishing alone."
"The tallest one is Mr. Jun Hosami, responsible for sales. His height is probably 180 centimeters. He said that day he was alone at home looking at a videotape."
"The one who is a bit fat is Mr. Isao Nakagami, responsible for planning. His height is probably 165 centimeters. He said at the time of the crime he was at the racecourse."
"The one who is the shortest and looks a bit strong is the vice president, Mr. Hajime Iwatomi. His height is probably 160 centimeters. He said on the day of the crime he went to watch a baseball game."
"As for whether their legs and feet have any special places, Inspector Megure said all four people's legs and feet are very good, but the four people seemingly all have a collecting habit..."
"Miss Aika has 50 pairs of gloves. Every time she goes out fishing, she will bring three pairs."
"Mr. Hosami, who likes watching movies, has 30 pairs of sunglasses. He also bought big brand sunglasses of the same style as famous actors."
"Mr. Nakagami, who likes watching horse racing, collects hats. He will choose different lucky hats according to the race schedule. It is said he has 50 hats."
"Vice president Mr. Iwatomi, who often plays golf together with the president, has 30 pairs of white golf shoes. All are brand-name goods for exclusive use in playing golf. Every week he will take out all of them to wipe them once."
Mouri Ran listened for a while next to them, asked curiously, "Brother Hichiji, are you looking for Mr. Iwatomi? Speaking of legs and feet having special places, liking to wear white golf shoes should also be considered, right?"
"Considered..." Chi Feichei looking at the four hiragana on the notebook, recombined and sorted them, and wrote it down.
いわとみ, Iwatomi.
Kazuha Toyama peered over to see the characters on the notebook, asked in surprise, "C-Could it be the murderer is..."
"No," Chi Feichei rewrote a name, "The true culprit is this."
Hosami.
The dying message left by the president, indeed was 'Iwatomi', but the one who killed him is Jun Hosami.
Before June 29th, Jun Hosami stole one pair of Hajime Iwatomi's white golf shoes, changed into the white golf shoes that day and hid here. Afterwards, after knocking out the president, he tied up the president and subdued him behind the table, and intentionally knocked over the ink. He placed a camcorder in front of the president's head, transmitted the footage in front of him to the television, and continuously walked around on the other side of the table.
After the president woke up from unconsciousness, due to the large table blocking the view, he could only see the other party's trouser leg and shoe from under the table. According to the white golf shoes, he speculated that the one who attacked him was Hajime Iwatomi. He also saw the ink accumulated beside his hand after being knocked over, and started painstakingly using the building blocks to leave the dying message - 'Iwatomi'. He also carefully put the building blocks back into the pile.
Little did he know, all of this was filmed by the camcorder placed on the ground. Jun Hosami also intentionally gave him this period of time to make his subtle move.
Jun Hosami didn't let the president see the area above his trouser leg, but continuously, through the camcorder footage transmitted to the television, watching the president finish leaving the dying message. Only then did he go behind the table, use the golf club to beat the president to death, took away the camcorder, and used the remote control to turn off the television.
The pen holder on the tabletop didn't fall, but the ink bottle fell on the edge of the table. There are traces on the ground where things were placed to block the splattered blood, and the television was in external input state. It was because of this that he deliberately pushed the chair to subdue the president in the designated location, also in order to let the president be able to see the white golf shoes on his feet.
Just at the time of committing the crime, that leather coat Jun Hosami was wearing got splattered with bloodstains. His left shoulder also happened to rub against the wall calendar on the wall next to him. Therefore, the bloodstain on the left shoulder of the leather coat has traces of being wiped, and a bloodstain was also left on the wall calendar.
Because Jun Hosami is taller by 20 centimeters than Hajime Iwatomi, based on Hajime Iwatomi's height, it's simply impossible to wipe the bloodstain on the wall calendar at that high location. Once the police discovered the bloodstain on the wall calendar, not only would Jun Hosami's framing fail, he would also be listed as the prime suspect because of his height being taller than other people.
So, Jun Hosami tore off the wall calendar, and hid that page for June.
He entered the door and thought the wall calendar was weird, it is because the deceased died on June 29th, but the wall calendar was already torn to July.
It's also possible the president tore it in advance, so only then did he let Kazuha go ask Inspector Megure whether the president had the habit of tearing the wall calendar in advance.
A person who cherishes this celebrity wall calendar and will write the schedule on the wall calendar, is unlikely to have torn the wall calendar in advance. Even if he tore it in advance, then it would only be because there was no schedule on the 29th and 30th. Then, after tearing that page for June, he would also write the schedule on the wall calendar for July.
But that page for July on the wall calendar was clean, not even one character or one circle.
As for the evidence of Jun Hosami committing the crime, one can go look for the hidden wall calendar. The wall calendar has the possibility of being destroyed, but Jun Hosami wore Hajime Iwatomi's shoes.
Hajime Iwatomi must take out all his shoes every week to wipe them once. If one pair of shoes is missing, it will be easy to notice. Maybe this will become the key for the police to solve the riddle and for Iwatomi being framed.
Jun Hosami is unlikely to have thrown away the shoes. He should find an opportunity to put the shoes back in Hajime Iwatomi's home. Then, as long as the police dog is used to find that pair of shoes, plus the wall calendar situation and corroborating reasoning, the police can then request Jun Hosami to go to the Metropolitan Police Department to accept the investigation, and at the same time can also get a search warrant.
If that evidence is not enough, other evidence can also be found to prove Jun Hosami committed the crime.
(End of Chapter)
There, Hattori Heiji, after hearing Inspector Megure say that the four building blocks were mixed in with other building blocks before, and that only these four building blocks were covered in fingerprints, even in the engravings, began a round of reasoning, confirming that this was the dying message left by the president.
"Looking at the photo, the president's hands were tied behind his back, right? In other words, he couldn't look at the building blocks to choose the side he wanted to dip in ink, so he could only turn around with his back facing them to get the building blocks with his hand, feeling the engravings on them to judge what was engraved on that side..."
"But, he actually managed to find these four building blocks just by feeling them a bit," Mori Kogoro looked at the photo, "while the other building blocks barely had any fingerprints."
"Because these building blocks have the kana of the same consonant engraved on the same building block," Hattori Heiji said, "you'd know if it's right or not just by feeling it a bit."
Inspector Megure leaned in to look at the photo, "So that's why only these four building blocks are covered in fingerprints."
"Exactly," Moreover, fingerprints are mainly traces left by sweat and grease on the hands. A dead person won't secrete any more, so even if you make a corpse hold the building blocks to leave fingerprints, at most it would only be the first one or two blocks. It's unlikely for all four building blocks to be covered in fingerprints like this," Hattori Heiji looked towards the ground, "The many traces left by the ink-stained rope on the floor are also evidence. It's likely the president secretly chose these four building blocks behind his back, then turned around with the blocks to get them to the ink-stained ground, dipped the chosen side in ink, and then turned around again to put the building blocks back in the pile. Because he didn't know when he would be killed, he was so afraid his hands were full of sweat..."
As he spoke, Hattori Heiji rubbed his chin, puzzled, "But this is a toy company. If the dying message left behind is 'Toy', it doesn't have any special meaning... Inspector Megure, are there any special toys here?"
Aside, Mouri Ran sighed in a low voice, "So impressive, he made so many discoveries as soon as he got here."
"Yes, as expected of Heiji, Brother Hichiji is super impressive too~!" Kazuha Toyama turned her head, but discovered Chi Feichei standing there writing and drawing in his notebook, leaned closer doubtfully, and asked in a low voice, "Brother Hichiji, do you have a clue?"
"Uh-huh..." Chi Feichei didn't look up, restoring the engravings on all the building blocks, "Could I ask you to go ask Inspector Megure about the names, height, and whether the four people who made the discovery of the corpse have anything special about their legs and feet. It would be best to have photos of the four people, and also, whether the president had the habit of tearing the calendar in advance."
"Ah, okay..." Kazuha Toyama nodded, just about to go over, but after walking two steps, looking at Hattori Heiji pressing Inspector Megure about whether there were any special things, she froze.
"Kazuha, what's wrong?" Mouri Ran asked with doubt, looked towards Chi Feichei, "Does Brother Hichiji have a clue?"
"Uh-huh..." Kazuha Toyama nodded, hesitated a bit, "Should be close to solving the building blocks riddle soon."
Mouri Ran observed Kazuha Toyama's expression, "Then why are you..."
"I was thinking, if Heiji thinks he's sad, I wouldn't be happy either, at least don't lose too much..." Kazuha Toyama paused, said seriously, "Otherwise, as his older sister, I'll have a headache, and when his mother came, she also made a request for me to take care of him. Of course, I can't just look at him being depressed!"
Mouri Ran held back a laugh, "Yes, yes, I know."
Kazuha Toyama looked towards Chi Feichei, who was looking down at his notebook, his gaze calm but also serious, hesitated, saying, "It's okay for me, but Brother Hichiji seemingly has a lot of interest in this case. Clearly, I was the one who pulled everyone into this bet, and he's still putting in effort to solve the case. If I thought of backing out midway, I'd really be sorry to him."
"That makes sense, we two haven't put in much effort..." Mouri Ran was also hesitating, considered a bit, "Then how about we directly discuss it with him? Brother Hichiji doesn't care much about victory or defeat, moreover, we can just give a little on this side, no need to lose to them..."
"Inspector Megure!" A police officer holding two evidence bags entered the door.
In one bag, containing the weapon, a golf club still with a blood stain.
In the other bag was a leather coat, with traces of wiped blood on the shoulder.
Both things were found at the crime scene.
Hattori Heiji discovered that the bloodstain on the left shoulder of the leather coat had been wiped, staring at the coat, pondering.
Chi Feichei paid attention with a glance, looked towards Kazuha Toyama talking with Mouri Ran.
Kazuha Toyama understood, stepped forward and pulled Inspector Megure over, asking questions in a low voice, and also got a photo from Inspector Megure.
"Hey, Hattori..." Conan expressionlessly reached out and pulled Hattori Heiji's hem, continuously staring at Kazuha Toyama whispering with Inspector Megure.
He could feel the dark cloud that used to envelop him had flown to his overhead again.
"What?" Hattori Heiji looked over, discovered that Kazuha Toyama continuously nodded and then arrived at Chi Feichei's side again, fell silent for a bit, "That shouldn't be..."
Conan withdrew his line of sight, speechlessly looked at Hattori Heiji, "What do you think?"
"Cheer up, idiot," Hattori Heiji forcefully rubbed Conan's hair, "Could it be you give up just because you encounter a bit of trouble?"
"Of course I won't just give up like that," Conan Half-Moon Eyes, "Just my mood is a bit bad, is that not okay?"
Hattori is usually in Osaka, he would not understand his mood.
He was not annoyed because he was about to lose, but because that fellow Chi Feichei sometimes will directly say the answer, he had been deprived of the joy of reasoning many times.
Thinking of him, he felt helpless, powerless, and wronged.
On the other side, Kazuha Toyama, after asking Inspector Megure the questions, then bringing the photo arrived beside Chi Feichei, handed the photo to Chi Feichei, pointing at the person in the photo to introduce them.
"Brother Hichiji, this is their company group photo. This is the victim president. Inspector Megure said he wasn't clear whether the president had the habit of tearing the calendar in advance, but heard from the other four people that he likes celebrity merchandise. That wall calendar on the wall here is what he specially bought. Usually he would write the schedule on it, so he shouldn't tear it off in advance."
"The only female in the photo is the company manager, Nao Aika. Her height is probably 165 centimeters. I also helped you ask about her alibi. On the day of the crime, around 5 PM, she went out fishing alone."
"The tallest one is Mr. Jun Hosami, responsible for sales. His height is probably 180 centimeters. He said that day he was alone at home looking at a videotape."
"The one who is a bit fat is Mr. Isao Nakagami, responsible for planning. His height is probably 165 centimeters. He said at the time of the crime he was at the racecourse."
"The one who is the shortest and looks a bit strong is the vice president, Mr. Hajime Iwatomi. His height is probably 160 centimeters. He said on the day of the crime he went to watch a baseball game."
"As for whether their legs and feet have any special places, Inspector Megure said all four people's legs and feet are very good, but the four people seemingly all have a collecting habit..."
"Miss Aika has 50 pairs of gloves. Every time she goes out fishing, she will bring three pairs."
"Mr. Hosami, who likes watching movies, has 30 pairs of sunglasses. He also bought big brand sunglasses of the same style as famous actors."
"Mr. Nakagami, who likes watching horse racing, collects hats. He will choose different lucky hats according to the race schedule. It is said he has 50 hats."
"Vice president Mr. Iwatomi, who often plays golf together with the president, has 30 pairs of white golf shoes. All are brand-name goods for exclusive use in playing golf. Every week he will take out all of them to wipe them once."
Mouri Ran listened for a while next to them, asked curiously, "Brother Hichiji, are you looking for Mr. Iwatomi? Speaking of legs and feet having special places, liking to wear white golf shoes should also be considered, right?"
"Considered..." Chi Feichei looking at the four hiragana on the notebook, recombined and sorted them, and wrote it down.
いわとみ, Iwatomi.
Kazuha Toyama peered over to see the characters on the notebook, asked in surprise, "C-Could it be the murderer is..."
"No," Chi Feichei rewrote a name, "The true culprit is this."
Hosami.
The dying message left by the president, indeed was 'Iwatomi', but the one who killed him is Jun Hosami.
Before June 29th, Jun Hosami stole one pair of Hajime Iwatomi's white golf shoes, changed into the white golf shoes that day and hid here. Afterwards, after knocking out the president, he tied up the president and subdued him behind the table, and intentionally knocked over the ink. He placed a camcorder in front of the president's head, transmitted the footage in front of him to the television, and continuously walked around on the other side of the table.
After the president woke up from unconsciousness, due to the large table blocking the view, he could only see the other party's trouser leg and shoe from under the table. According to the white golf shoes, he speculated that the one who attacked him was Hajime Iwatomi. He also saw the ink accumulated beside his hand after being knocked over, and started painstakingly using the building blocks to leave the dying message - 'Iwatomi'. He also carefully put the building blocks back into the pile.
Little did he know, all of this was filmed by the camcorder placed on the ground. Jun Hosami also intentionally gave him this period of time to make his subtle move.
Jun Hosami didn't let the president see the area above his trouser leg, but continuously, through the camcorder footage transmitted to the television, watching the president finish leaving the dying message. Only then did he go behind the table, use the golf club to beat the president to death, took away the camcorder, and used the remote control to turn off the television.
The pen holder on the tabletop didn't fall, but the ink bottle fell on the edge of the table. There are traces on the ground where things were placed to block the splattered blood, and the television was in external input state. It was because of this that he deliberately pushed the chair to subdue the president in the designated location, also in order to let the president be able to see the white golf shoes on his feet.
Just at the time of committing the crime, that leather coat Jun Hosami was wearing got splattered with bloodstains. His left shoulder also happened to rub against the wall calendar on the wall next to him. Therefore, the bloodstain on the left shoulder of the leather coat has traces of being wiped, and a bloodstain was also left on the wall calendar.
Because Jun Hosami is taller by 20 centimeters than Hajime Iwatomi, based on Hajime Iwatomi's height, it's simply impossible to wipe the bloodstain on the wall calendar at that high location. Once the police discovered the bloodstain on the wall calendar, not only would Jun Hosami's framing fail, he would also be listed as the prime suspect because of his height being taller than other people.
So, Jun Hosami tore off the wall calendar, and hid that page for June.
He entered the door and thought the wall calendar was weird, it is because the deceased died on June 29th, but the wall calendar was already torn to July.
It's also possible the president tore it in advance, so only then did he let Kazuha go ask Inspector Megure whether the president had the habit of tearing the wall calendar in advance.
A person who cherishes this celebrity wall calendar and will write the schedule on the wall calendar, is unlikely to have torn the wall calendar in advance. Even if he tore it in advance, then it would only be because there was no schedule on the 29th and 30th. Then, after tearing that page for June, he would also write the schedule on the wall calendar for July.
But that page for July on the wall calendar was clean, not even one character or one circle.
As for the evidence of Jun Hosami committing the crime, one can go look for the hidden wall calendar. The wall calendar has the possibility of being destroyed, but Jun Hosami wore Hajime Iwatomi's shoes.
Hajime Iwatomi must take out all his shoes every week to wipe them once. If one pair of shoes is missing, it will be easy to notice. Maybe this will become the key for the police to solve the riddle and for Iwatomi being framed.
Jun Hosami is unlikely to have thrown away the shoes. He should find an opportunity to put the shoes back in Hajime Iwatomi's home. Then, as long as the police dog is used to find that pair of shoes, plus the wall calendar situation and corroborating reasoning, the police can then request Jun Hosami to go to the Metropolitan Police Department to accept the investigation, and at the same time can also get a search warrant.
If that evidence is not enough, other evidence can also be found to prove Jun Hosami committed the crime.
(End of Chapter)
