Because of the light streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling window across the street, it was difficult to see who it was for a moment.
"No...it can't be...Mr. Kuroiwa..." Hirata murmured, hiding behind Kogoro.
Kogoro ignored him, first calling out, "Don't go any further," before walking step by step into the doorway himself.
Careful not to step on any footprints that might be left on the ground, he walked around to the piano, gently lifted the figure's head, and tested the carotid artery with his fingers.
“It’s hopeless. He’s been dead for some time now,” he sighed. “It was Mr. Kawashima.”
Conan, standing at the door, instinctively tightened his grip on his watch.
"Hello, Conan!" The voice from the watch snapped him out of his daze, and he realized that the call was still going on.
"What happened?"
Yoruichi Toyama's voice was still urgent, but she seemed to have a bad feeling about it.
"It was Mr. Kawashima. He was found dead in the activity room where the piano was kept..."
With a heavy heart, Conan spoke as the Moonlight Sonata still echoed.
"Kawashima... what about Mr. Kuroiwa?" Yoruichi Toyama continued to persistently ask this question.
"Oh, right!" Conan realized something and was about to turn back to find Secretary Hirata when Kogoro strode to the door.
"Go find the key! Mr. Kuroiwa might..."
Hirata readily agreed, swiftly retrieved the spare key, and opened the door to the lounge.
However, to everyone's surprise, the Black Rock Village Chief, who had been lying on the sofa, groaning and clutching his head, had disappeared without a trace.
...
When Yoruichi Toyama and her group arrived at the event center, panting, Kogoro Mouri, with the assistance of the village police officers, had already conducted a brief survey of the scene and temporarily kept all the villagers who had participated in the ritual in the hall.
"Mr. Kawashima's death occurred approximately one hour ago, or, to be precise, within 30 minutes..."
Kogoro clearly knew that this timeframe was far too vague, and scratched his head in frustration.
"I have already called Inspector Megure and asked him to bring a forensic doctor over as soon as possible to conduct an autopsy."
“About an hour and a half ago, Mr. Kawashima reportedly went to the restroom and hasn’t returned to the auditorium since,” Conan added.
“During this time, we and Uncle Kogoro stayed at the main entrance of the activity center and did not see anyone coming in or out, so the most likely culprit is someone who was also participating in the ritual at the time.”
"What about my father?" Kuroiwa Reiko, who arrived shortly after, pressed on, "Could it be that he also..."
Having just discovered "that thing" at home, and then seeing Kawashima's cold corpse, it was hard for Reiko, Kuroiwa's daughter, not to imagine the worst-case scenario.
Murasawa Shuichi, who was standing next to her, had to reach out and put his arm around her trembling body.
“Chief Kuroiwa hasn’t been found yet,” Kogoro continued, “but we found footprints on the sand outside the lounge window. Maybe he jumped out of the window and left.”
"According to Uncle Kogoro's judgment, Mr. Kawashima should have drowned in the sea, and then his body was dragged into the activity room. The only way to get there was through the floor-to-ceiling window of the activity room."
At this moment, Conan is still in the preliminary stage of collecting clues, so he is seriously playing the role of Kogoro's assistant.
"These two rooms happen to be on the same side of the activity center, right next to the beach."
"You brat, what do you mean!" Kuroiwa Reiko screamed in terror. "Are you trying to say that my father is the murderer who killed Uncle Kawashima?"
It's certainly not certain yet...
Yoruichi Toyama had been silently observing everything since arriving at the activity center.
Moreover, there is no evidence.
These things could still be the work of Asahi, who was lurking in the shadows.
Just like in the original story, he killed Hideo Kawashima and then lured Chief Kuroiwa to another place...
A more suitable place to commit murder...
But another thought kept lingering in my mind.
Ever since Yoruichi Toyama saw the book "Death on the Nile" in Kuroiwa's study, she had a vague sense of unease.
Was it really not Kuroiwa who killed Kawashima?
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