"By the way, Mr. Itsuki, I've been wanting to ask you this for a while now."

"Is Mizuho your adopted child? But she always calls you 'uncle' and hasn't changed her surname..."

Mizuho Tsuzuki is the girl who is very close to both Futami and Ai.

She's also a girl with a story behind her.

Seeing that Mr. Itsuki was engrossed in his conversation, and that Kindaichi, the other party involved in "that incident," was also present.

Yoruichi Toyama had no doubt that Mr. Itsuki would tell that story.

Although it doesn't involve inheritance, it's still a story about parents committing heinous crimes for the sake of their children.

“Mizuho’s biological father is named Tetsuo Tsuzuki. He’s a TV director, and we used to know each other well in the industry…”

As expected, Mr. Itsuki, who had attracted much attention, began his story with such an opening remark.

Almost a year ago, the famous non-fiction writer Tachibana Goryo held a birthday party at his villa and claimed that he would publish a new work.

In order to win the copyright to this sure-fire bestseller, Mr. Itsuki and the editor from the magazine he was working with went to the banquet.

Many media professionals were also present with the same purpose, including director Tsuzuki.

Because Tachibana Goryeo claimed that he would decide who would own the copyright by solving a mystery, Mr. Goryeo even invited Kindaichi to act as an outside helper.

...When the story reached this part, Kindaichi suddenly felt a curious gaze upon him.

When he turned around, he saw Yoruichi Toyama looking at him with a half-smile.

Although he didn't say anything, his face clearly said, "See, I told you you'd always run into trouble"...

...Ptooey!

Kindaichi cursed inwardly, then turned away.

But he also knew that he had indeed gotten himself into a huge mess in this story.

Before the banquet was over, Tachibana Goryo was found dead in his own study.

And standing beside him, holding a bloodstained murder weapon, was Kindaichi.

The police who arrived after receiving the report ignored Kindaichi's explanations and forcefully identified him as the murderer.

In order to clear his name, Kindaichi had no choice but to escape when no one was looking and embark on a journey to find the real culprit.

"Wow, you've got guts, kid!" The young Akamon looked at Kindaichi for the first time, his expression filled with envy.

They don't seem to dislike such experiences; on the contrary, they find them interesting topics of conversation.

“However, the culprit is certainly not this Kindaichi kid,” said antique dealer Yagi. “Since Mr. Itsuki says so, could the real culprit be that director Tsuzuki?”

"But what was his motive?"

Mr. Itsuki, whose purpose was not to play a detective game but simply to express his thoughts, nodded and proceeded to speak directly from the perspective of Director Tsuzuki.

Mizuho, ​​Tsuzuki's only daughter, suffers from congenital renal insufficiency and can only survive by undergoing a kidney transplant.

Having lost his wife at a young age, Tsuzuki regarded his daughter as everything and donated one of his kidneys without hesitation.

However, the transplant surgery failed.

Unable to donate his other kidney to his daughter and unable to find a suitable donor, Tsuzuki, filled with anxiety, ultimately chose to take a desperate gamble.

He colluded with unscrupulous doctors at the hospital to smuggle human organs from overseas in hopes of finding a kidney that would be a match for his daughter.

These elements were all incorporated into Tachibana Goryo's new work, which exposes the underground organ black market, and he even used Tsuzuki's real name.

To cover up his crimes, Tsuzuki killed Tachibana Goryo and framed Kindaichi.

Furthermore, in the process of Kindaichi searching for Tachibana Goryo's manuscript in hopes of obtaining clues to the murder case, Tsuzuki also killed anyone who might know about the manuscript.

It should be said that because of committing a crime, he sank deeper and deeper into the mire.

However, they still couldn't escape the combined attack by Kindaichi and Akechi, who had taken over command of the police force.

With his crimes exposed, Tsuzuki had no choice but to commit suicide to atone for his sins.

Before he died, he only wished to donate his only remaining kidney to his daughter.

This time, the surgery was successful, but Mizuho also lost her father forever.

"Fortunately, Mizuho has your uncle to take care of her," Yoruichi Toyama chimed in at the opportune moment.

"Mr. Itsuki is such a kind-hearted person."

"Oh dear, I just..." Mr. Itsuki, who was also not good at dealing with praise, had his face flushed and steaming as he soaked in the hot spring.

"That child, Mizuho, ​​really deserves our sympathy."

"Moreover, during the time I lived with Mizuho, ​​I became more and more able to empathize with Tsuzuki's feelings at that time."

"As a father, I'm afraid he would really do anything for his child."

"Oh? Is that so?" Yoruichi Toyama deliberately pressed for an answer.

"Even if we ask Mr. Itsuki to kill someone?"

The question was a bit too sharp, causing Mr. Itsuki, who was immersed in his emotions, to suddenly pause and be speechless.

After all, as a normal person, who would casually talk about "murder"?

This is probably a moral view that humans have developed based on their instincts of living in groups and reproducing.

"Not killing" is the bottom line for every rational human being. Therefore, any idea that violates this bottom line, even if it only appears in one's mind or is spoken aloud, will trigger a stress response and lead to subconscious avoidance.

Yoruichi Toyama gazed calmly at Mr. Itsuki, as if awaiting his answer.

He also glanced at the others out of the corner of his eye.

Kindaichi chuckled.

"Yuanshan, don't ask anymore! Mr. Itsuki is all talk and no action. How could he possibly dare to actually kill someone!"

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