Chapter 46: One of Three – Requesting Monthly Tickets (σ≧▽≦)σ.
Jiang Xia entered the side room and surveyed the crime scene.
It appeared there had been a fierce struggle—the walls were covered in knife marks, even the ceiling. The surrounding objects were also shattered on the floor.
Opposite the door, a corpse, clutching a katana, was pinned to the wall by another long sword piercing its chest.
The deceased was the head of the household, Maruta Denjiro.
…
A while ago, Maruta Denjiro suspected his wife was having an affair, so he entrusted Mouri Kogoro with the investigation.
This afternoon, Mouri Kogoro found the results and came to report.
During their conversation, other guests visited. Maruta Denjiro left Mouri Kogoro and went to the side room to receive the guest first.
Then he ended up like this.
…
After being reported, the Police brought in three suspects.
One of them was Maruta’s wife’s lover and family doctor.
The other two were individuals who had borrowed money from Maruta Denjiro: one was a sculptor, and the other a kendo instructor.
Jiang Xia's gaze swept across the room, his attention drawn to the corpse's calf.
—A fresh Shikigami was firmly clinging there.
“…” If the case is solved and the murderer receives their due punishment, the Shikigami’s obsession will dissipate.
…And then he can spirit the ghost away.
Just thinking about the Shikigami count increasing by one.
Jiang Xia looked at the “kendo instructor” among the three suspects, secretly fast-forwarding to the conclusion: “You’re the murderer, aren’t you?”
“?!” Inspector Megure’s heart sank when he heard Jiang Xia’s conclusion.
—A few minutes ago, Mouri Kogoro had said the exact same thing as Jiang Xia.
Because Mouri Kogoro believed that with so many fight marks in the room, the only person who could fight Maruta Denjiro, a kendo master, to such an extent, could only be another kendo master, Suwa.
But soon, at the reminder of a certain first-grader, the Police gradually discovered some unusual details and concluded that the murderer was not Suwa, but someone who deliberately framed him.
Inspector Megure: “…” What’s wrong with Jiang Xia today?
Mouri Ran leaned over and whispered to Jiang Xia:
“The deceased’s grip on the sword is wrong—normally the dominant hand should be in front, but he clearly held it backward.”
“That’s right,” Mouri Kogoro said steadily:
“This sword grip, and the fight marks, clearly show it was deliberately set up by an amateur—not just the four walls of the room, but even the ceiling is covered in knife marks. Who would fight in such a place?
“Therefore, the murderer must have ambushed and killed Mr. Maruta, and then, to shift the blame to the kendo instructor, deliberately disguised the scene like this!”
“…” Conan gave Mouri Kogoro a faint look. This was clearly his line just now.
And when he said it just now, Mouri Kogoro had even bonked him on the head. Yet now, Uncle Mouri actually took it for himself… bah! Hypocritical uncle.
Jiang Xia crouched down, pretending to examine the corpse, secretly reaching out to tug at the Shikigami on Maruta Denjiro’s leg, while casually saying, “Those are using our reverse psychology.”
The Shikigami was a little afraid of him and slowly shrank a bit.
But it still stubbornly clung to the corpse, refusing to let go.
Jiang Xia had no choice but to regretfully release his hand.
He stood up and looked back at the messy room: “Being able to carve so many knife marks indicates that the murderer had ample time to set up the scene. Even if he wasn’t familiar with kendo, a little practice would show him how to hold the sword more comfortably; it’s hard to hold it backward.”
Conan paused slightly, then quickly understood Jiang Xia’s meaning: “You mean the murderer set these up to make us conclude that ‘the scene was deliberately arranged by an amateur,’ and then eliminate the expert first?”
And among the three suspects, only one kendo instructor could be considered an “expert”… Was the murderer really Suwa?
However…
Inspector Megure pondered, stroking his chin, feeling that this deduction was not rigorous enough:
“But, it’s also possible that some amateur knew Mr. Suwa would be here today, so they deliberately made the murder scene more exaggerated, so that when we see these marks, we’d think Mr. Suwa was pretending to be an amateur to set up the scene, but in reality, it’s an amateur who set it up, and because it’s so amateurish, it’s easily mistaken for an amateur scene deliberately set up by an expert.”
Jiang Xia: “…” He barely understood what Inspector Megure was saying.
But if he kept going down this path, it would be endless.
So Jiang Xia silently turned his head away, pretending not to hear him, and continued his own point:
“The deceased bled a lot. When the murderer posed him, some blood would inevitably get on his clothes, hands, or shoe soles. We can try to test Mr. Suwa’s person. If there’s none, then search along the path for discarded clothing.
“Additionally, there’s one more thing…”
Jiang Xia walked to the wall, where a tall cabinet made of many drawers stood.
Compared to other areas, the cabinet was more severely damaged, with dense and chaotic knife marks on it.
Moreover, upon closer inspection, it could be seen that the scratches on the cabinet were actually of two types:
One type was very deep, as if deliberately carved, and had strange breaks in the middle.
The other type was consistent with the knife marks elsewhere.
“The order of these drawers has been adjusted.” Jiang Xia tapped the cabinet door with his knuckles, secretly advancing the case progress bar, “The deceased carved words here. After the murderer discovered it, he scrambled the order of the drawers, and then, to conceal the carvings, he had no choice but to make the entire room appear as if it had been slashed by random knives.”
As he spoke, his gaze followed the broken lines in a circle.
Then Jiang Xia put on gloves, took out several drawers, and rearranged them.
Soon, with a click.
As the drawers returned to their original state, the knife marks on them perfectly restored, the broken lines reconnected, finally forming the two hiragana characters “すわ.”
—Which is the pronunciation of “Suwa.”