As dusk fell, several police cars sped along the road, their lights flashing but their sirens silent. As the vehicles came to a stop outside the Kuroki residence, the lights on several of them were turned off completely.
The door of the first car was pushed open, and Inspector Megure stepped out with a very serious expression: "Alright, everyone, perk up and get ready."
"yes!"
...
At this moment, Guangyou and the others were searching for clues in the bathroom, but progress was very slow.
"Inspector Megure and the others should be arriving soon. Conan, be careful not to get kicked out again." Kouyu glanced at his watch, estimated that it was about time, and then left the bathroom with Ai.
Just as he reached the door, Inspector Megure's voice rang out from outside: "Kuyo, are you guys inside? If so, please open the door for me."
"Coming right away!"
Upon hearing the sound, Guangyou quickened his pace, opened the door, stepped aside to make way, and pointed towards the bathroom. "The deceased is in the bathtub. No one has disturbed the scene yet."
"You did a good job." Inspector Megure nodded, then gestured to the officers behind him to head towards the bathroom.
Watching Inspector Megure and the other officers' backs, Kōyū recalled the woman's situation earlier and said to Ai, "Let's go check it out."
"By the way, do you have any clues now?" Ai asked, raising her own question. "It seems that the person died from suffocation."
She hadn't looked closely; she had just glanced at the woman from the side. Apart from the bloodstain on her wrist, there were no other obvious injuries on the woman's body.
The woman's face showed some bruising and cyanosis, and even some swelling, all of which indicated that she died of suffocation. However, she did not confirm this further and therefore could not make a definitive conclusion.
“I think the same thing as you, but…” Guangyou’s doubts remained unresolved, “Who did this?”
As he approached the bathroom, Kōyū saw Conan standing at the bathroom door, looking inside. He leaned closer and asked, "So, did you find any clues?"
"How can it be that fast? We don't have a single clue right now. The only thing I'm sure of is that this case is definitely not a home invasion robbery and murder case." Conan stroked his chin, deep in thought.
"Ai and I believe the woman's primary cause of death was suffocation, and I suspect this bathroom wasn't the primary crime scene, though I don't know exactly where."
This conjecture was not unfounded. Guangyou discovered that there were no mushroom-shaped bubbles or obvious water accumulation around the woman's mouth and nose, indicating that the woman had not drowned.
Of course, it's also possible that the murderer attacked the woman before she even stepped into the bathtub, but that's highly unlikely. After all, bathing is a rather private activity, and it's improbable that...
"It doesn't seem impossible."
For some unknown reason, Kōyū suddenly revealed a mischievous smile, which vanished in an instant as he quickly turned his attention to Takagi.
At this moment, Takagi was, as always, holding his notebook, reporting the available information to Inspector Megure: "Inspector, the deceased this time is named Yuri Kuroki, she is thirty-two years old and a full-time housewife."
"Inspector, the test results are in." The forensic officer next to the bathtub walked up to Inspector Megure and said, "The preliminary assessment is that the primary cause of death was asphyxiation."
Upon hearing this, Inspector Megure made a decision: "It seems this is another murder case."
The situation is now very clear. The guesses of Mitsuyu and Ai have been confirmed by professional forensic experts: the woman did not commit suicide, but murder!
The most urgent task now is to find the murderer, but based on the clues that everyone currently has, this is almost an impossible task.
Especially for Conan, who is very particular about evidence, it was difficult to continue the reasoning. So he said to Mitsuyu, "I'll go upstairs to look for clues."
"Go ahead, and let me know if you find anything."
After Conan went upstairs, Kōyū also began to ponder.
First, Guangyou mentally organized the information he currently had. He then realized that the information he had was pitifully scarce; at present, he had only confirmed the identity, name, and age of the deceased.
Knowing that staying there and racking your brains would not yield any results, Kōyū glanced at Inspector Megure, who was also deep in thought, and then took Ai's hand and started strolling around the ground floor.
After walking around the ground floor, Guangyou concluded that this was most likely the work of someone he knew, because upon inspection, he found no evidence that the doors or windows had been forcibly pried open.
There were no signs that the room had been ransacked, and the more valuable items were still in their original places.
Apart from those serial killers, the motives of strangers committing crimes are generally for money or for human lives.
There is no evidence for the former, but Guangyou has ruled out this possibility in his mind. On the other hand, the latter cannot be ruled out for the time being. Although the deceased's appearance can only be described as average, everyone has different tastes, and some people may like it.
However, if it is for someone else, then the possibility of it being committed by someone you know is even greater. The reason for this is that the deceased was the mother of a third-grade child and a full-time housewife, so she generally did not travel far and her activity area was basically near her home.
According to Tetsuya Kuroki, they have lived here for eleven or twelve years, which is enough time to get to know their neighbors.
The current evidence does not support this view, but that's what Mitsuyu believes.
"The owner of this house seems to like flowers." Ai glanced at the floral elements everywhere and suddenly said, "It seems the deceased knew how to arrange flowers."
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