Chapters 3583 and 3595 [Evil Hobbies]

After silently criticizing him, James added meticulously in his mind, "Shuichi could indeed do that. And if there were more protrusions on the outside of the hospital building, others might be able to do it too if they tried."

However, of course, this kind of thing cannot be told to the police on the other side.

Faced with the high school girl's unreasonable questioning, James simply shrugged helplessly: "I'm sorry, we can't walk along the outer wall of the building. After all, the FBI agents are just ordinary people with better physical strength."

"Besides, even if we were to concede that the ward windows were completely sealed, it would be impossible for us to climb through the glass and get out."

Sonoko Suzuki shook her head seriously, like a detective on a fierce attack: "The windows of the ward are indeed closed, but there must be a few windows in the whole hospital that are open. Even if there are no windows, there are still ventilation ducts - as long as you want to get out, you can avoid the surveillance and reach the outside world silently."

James: "..."

He understood.

The real issue isn't whether James and Judy had the opportunity to commit the crime, but rather that the girl opposite them has a preconceived notion that they are the murderers and is trying to prove it.

Beside her, Judy, though her mind had been a bit foggy lately, gradually sensed something was wrong. She glanced at James and tried to communicate with him through eye contact: "Didn't we say that if we used the same line from yesterday to clear things up, the misunderstanding would be resolved? But now, only a day has passed, why are those two high school girls targeting me again?"

"..." James didn't know exactly what had happened in that short day.

But the general reason is obvious even to a child.

—What else could it be? Of course, it's that despicable cadre codenamed Uzo who tampered with things!

He clenched his fist involuntarily, but clearly, there were more important things to do now than get angry.

That is to find out the situation and get rid of this inexplicable scapegoat.

Since the other party is discussing this based on the premise that "the FBI is a murderer," then the kind of argument we just made is meaningless.

James subtly shifted his perspective, saying innocently, "Why are you so sure the murderers are me and Judy? We're here in Tokyo on vacation, we have no connection with the locals, and Judy's contact with the deceased was limited to getting her hair done a few times."

"As you can see, Judy's hairstyle was always perfect; she never ruined her hair. We had absolutely no motive to have any enmity with the deceased."

Officer Sato and Officer Takagi kept turning their heads to the left and then to the right as they listened to the back-and-forth debate, finding that both sides had a point.

However, when it comes to motivation...

The two officers remembered something, exchanged a glance, and their expressions became complicated.

At the same time, Sonoko Suzuki and Ran Mouri exchanged a glance, as if hesitating whether to speak up in front of so many people.

James noticed their strange looks and his eyes lit up—something was wrong!

And wasn't the reason he brought Judy to this treacherous banquet precisely to find out the problem?

"What's wrong?" James pushed up his glasses and asked calmly, "Is there some connection between us and the deceased that I haven't noticed? -- Don't hold back, just say it. I firmly believe there's some misunderstanding between us, and only by speaking out can the misunderstanding be completely resolved."

Judy was about to nod in agreement when she suddenly realized that with James's words, everyone's eyes had turned to her.

Judy: "...?"

Why are you looking at me like that!

And with such a chilling gaze... I... I didn't actually kill that hairdresser, did I? But I have no recollection of it at all.

She suddenly felt uneasy, her heart pounding, as if something extremely ominous was about to happen.

She wanted to stop James from asking further questions, but reason prevailed and she kept quiet. In that moment of internal struggle, Sonoko Suzuki decided she didn't want to keep playing coy.

This straightforward high school girl put her hands on her hips and looked at Judy: "Ms. Judy, since you're not a real teacher anyway, you don't have to worry about losing your job, so I'll just say it directly—you really like reading those teacher-student comics, don't you?"

"A teacher-student comic?" Judy felt as if the word triggered a memory, but she couldn't quite place it. She frowned, trying to recall, before answering, "I do occasionally read comics, but what does that have to do with the hairdresser's murder..."

"..."

As she struggled to recall, a memory she had desperately tried to seal deep within her mind began to slowly unravel.

Soon, a series of gray scenes flashed before Judy's eyes, gradually filled with vibrant and vivid colors as cold sweat poured down her face.

—She went to the bookstore to pick out reference books in order to get closer to these high school students.

—When she answered the phone, the enthusiastic shop assistant brought over a large stack of comics that fit the "teacher-student" theme.

—In order to meet Shuichi in time, she bought all the comics without even looking at them.

Before she could examine the comics closely, Shuichi first saw the contents of the large stack of comics and heard her say that they were reference materials…

ah--!!!!!

The tingling sensation on her scalp that she had finally managed to suppress returned to Judy's mind. Her fingers tightened suddenly, and her toes curled up sharply inside her shoe.

Seeing that she lowered her head and remained silent for a long time, Suzuki Sonoko had no choice but to blush and proceed with a detailed deduction: "Not only did you inexplicably become a teacher at Teitan High School, but you also bought a lot of erotic comics with teacher-student themes, and you even secretly took pictures of us and Conan on our way to and from school. These are all evidence that you have ulterior motives!"

"And when you disguised yourself and destroyed the comics you had already read, you were unfortunately caught by Miss Mika."

"At first, you weren't sure how much she saw, so you only eavesdropped and monitored her without taking any action. But yesterday, Ms. Mika met us and told us about your missing comics... So that night, you rushed here and silenced her to hide your shady intentions!"

James: "..." What kind of nonsense is this? It's getting more and more absurd...

He shook his head and retorted, "We were far away at the hospital last night, and Judy has been living in a different place for so long. How could we possibly keep an eye on an ordinary citizen?"

Sonoko Suzuki: "Don't you have listening devices?"

James was about to explain when he realized he was about to fall into the trap of proving something, so he stopped talking in time.

“Judy isn’t that kind of weirdo, and she never reads those kinds of comics.” James changed his approach, gesturing to Judy standing behind him. “There must be some misunderstanding here…”

Before he could finish speaking, as he turned to the side, he saw Judy's expression and suddenly froze.