As Ran hurriedly went to question Conan on the other side of the camera, Kōyū couldn't help but feel a little helpless. The most painful thing in the world is having the person you love by your side, knowing that she loves you too, but you can't bring yourself to say it.

Following the plan, Conan identified Mari and then had her imitate Tatsuya's movements, including the essential shirt-flicking gesture, and sing "Crimson Venus." Afterward, Conan asked Mari to eat the rice balls he had prepared beforehand, but she refused. He then asked Inspector Megure to search her coat.

Mari had a cold sweat on her face, but she didn't show much panic. She said, "My coat also had toxins on it. I put it on after I touched Tatsuya. Even if there were toxins, that can't be used as evidence."

Guangyou said from the side, "No, no, no, it's not about checking whether your clothes have any toxins."

Mari looked back and saw Inspector Megure searching her coat and finding a lighter, the very same lighter that Tatsuya had used and that had been lost.

Upon seeing this, Mari's expression finally changed drastically.

Conan, holding the bow, continued, "So this jacket doesn't actually belong to Tatsuya; she switched his clothes to destroy evidence!"

Kōyū continued from Conan's words: "Mari-neechan applied potassium cyanide to the inside of Tatsuya's coat, on his left elbow, from the very beginning. Whenever he put on the coat, the elbow of his inner clothing would be contaminated with the poisonous potassium cyanide. Then she requested the song 'Crimson Venus' for Tatsuya-nii."

“That’s right, Kousuke is absolutely right. Tatsuya, without knowing anything, took off his coat and then touched his left elbow, which was covered in reading material, with his right hand. After that, no matter what Tatsuya ate, he would be poisoned.”

Mieko, clearly unaware of the mystery, looked at Ran and Sonoko and asked, "But, why is that?"

"Her motive lies in this old photo of the band on the table. It's from the past, a photo taken when the store manager was still in the band."

Inspector Megure picked up the photo, looked at it but didn't see anything, and said, "Besides the manager, there's no one else here, is there?"

Conan's expression darkened, and he said, "There's another person, the inspector. She's inside too. She's the woman next to Tatsuya, also known as Ms. Mari!"

Mari tilted her head and said, "Yes, that's right, it's me. I had plastic surgery before, all to be a better match for Tatsuya! I really like Tatsuya. I've liked him ever since I joined the band. So when he was chosen as a professional singer, he told me that even if I came to be a manager, I had to join his team. I was really happy to hear that, because I felt that he must have feelings for me too. That's why I had plastic surgery. I wanted to be a woman worthy of Tatsuya!"

Mari wiped her eyes and continued, "But after I had plastic surgery, his attitude completely changed. He would always call me ugly in front of everyone. Whenever this happened, he would ask me to sing the song 'Red-Nosed Reindeer.' In fact, he only made me the manager in the first place to slander me."

Mari clenched her fist and said, "So, so, I absolutely cannot forgive him, because I love him too much!"

At this moment, Kōyū came out, holding the photo, and said to Mari, "Miss Mari, you are wrong, you are really wrong. In fact, Tatsuya has been in love with you for a long time, but you just didn't know it!"

Mari shook her head: "Absolutely not, don't lie to me anymore."

Kōyū shoved the photo into Mari's hand and said, "Look at the back of this photo. This song is the love song that Tatsuya wrote for you. I bet Tatsuya's new song that he's about to release is this one."

Sumii Gou, who was standing next to him, said, "That kid has actually come to me many times. Every time he mentions your name, he always says, 'Why does Mari care so much about what others think? Why did she get plastic surgery for me?'"

Mari's eyes were slightly red, and she opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Kōyū sighed and said, "Tatsuya-nii probably hopes you can go back to your original form."

Mari couldn't take it anymore. She knelt on the ground, calling out Tatsuya's name, and burst into tears.

Kōyū walked up to Mari and said earnestly, "Although you think I'm young, I've seen many couples and encountered many similar situations when I was homeless. My days on the streets have made me much more mature and I've learned a lot. You know, when you truly like someone, you don't care about their appearance. You shouldn't feel inferior, and you shouldn't get plastic surgery just to be with Tatsuya-nii. Loving beauty is human nature, but if you change your appearance simply to make others like you, then you're really wrong."

Mari looked up at Kōyū with her face still wet with tears. Kōyū continued, "If you love someone, you should express it bravely. Although Tatsuya-nii also has a problem with this, look, Yui, oops, Sonoko-neechan does this better than you. Although a large part of the people she likes may be for their appearance."

Kōyū didn't notice Sonoko's face darkening and continued, "But she will bravely say it. I know it's hard, it's really hard to say it to someone you like, because you're afraid of being rejected. But you have to take that step eventually. Right now, because of your inferiority complex, because you didn't say it properly, you almost missed each other forever!"

Upon hearing this, Ran exclaimed, "Almost? Did Tatsuya make it?"

Mari looked at Kōyū and learned the result she wanted from him: "Well, thanks to the rescue measures I took earlier and the timely medical attention, Tatsuya-nii was saved. However, he may have to stay in bed for a while because of the potassium cyanide."

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