“Look at this bankbook,” Conan said, opening it and pointing to the expenditure figures. “Don’t you guys sense something’s off?”
After a closer look, Kōyū discovered that there had been a large expense every month for the past year, and this expense was the reason why Conan realized something was wrong.
"Interesting, but that doesn't necessarily mean she has a problem."
Withdrawing his gaze, Guangyou chuckled softly and began to ponder in his mind whether there was important information hidden behind these numbers. He wasn't sure yet, but there was a high probability that something was wrong.
The changes in the bank account balance alerted both Mitsuyu and Conan, but Ai Haibara failed to grasp what they were thinking.
"What's wrong with these expenses?" Looking at the numbers on the bankbook, Ai asked, slightly puzzled. "The numbers are a bit high, is there a problem?"
Conan and Kouyu exchanged a glance, nodded in unison, and said simultaneously, realizing that the deposit amount was incorrect:
"Gambling debts."
"Pretty boy".
After saying that, the two of them froze on the spot. Then Conan turned around and looked at Kōyū with disdain: "What are you thinking about?"
“Just think about it normally.” Guangyou snatched the passbook from his hand, pointing to the strings of numbers on it. “Look, the dates of these large expenditures are very regular, and the amounts are relatively fixed. How can gambling debts be stable?”
Conan snatched the passbook back and argued, "How do you know they're not paying in installments? Maybe they owe a huge debt and have agreed with their creditors to pay off portions periodically?"
After hearing Conan's explanation, Kōyū rubbed his forehead and said helplessly, "I still have to pay for Alipay? Look at the surrounding decorations, and think about the salary level of Kuroki Tetsuya's father, Kuroki Kenji. Besides, as a housewife, how much money can Kuroki Yuri gamble? At most a few hundred thousand yen, why would she need to pay it back for a year?"
"It seems...that's true. I didn't think things through this time. But what exactly is your idea? And what is this Alipay?"
Conan, being rather naive, didn't quite understand Kōyū's guess.
"Never mind what Huabei is, let's get down to business. A young man just called saying he needed to speak with the deceased. Everything seemed normal at first, but there was something off about the last thing he said. He said something to me..."
Recalling the contents of the phone call, Guangyou truthfully said, "He asked me to tell the deceased that 'the music store needs to contact her,' and it was this sentence that aroused my suspicion."
"A music store? There were no musical instruments in the deceased's home, nor was there ever a music store. Her son had never learned any instruments, and I didn't see a single music book in her house..."
"Hmm, now that I think about it, that person does seem to have some issues, but I still don't understand your thought process."
This statement also caught Conan's attention, but after thinking about it for a long time, he still couldn't understand what necessary connection it had with Mitsuyu's guess.
His reaction was within Mitsuyu's expectations. After all, Conan was relatively innocent compared to him, and had seen little of this kind of thing and had little experience.
"First of all, this is just my guess. You also mentioned the deceased's situation: he never ran a music store and didn't own any musical instruments. So the question is, what was the connection between the deceased and the music store?"
Guangyou posed this question to the other two, and while waiting for their answers, he was still mentally crafting...words.
After thinking for a moment, Ai replied, "Because...people?"
Upon hearing the correct answer, Kōyū snapped his fingers and praised, "Bingo, my Ai is so smart, unlike someone who still hasn't figured it out..."
Conan, who was deep in thought, suddenly snapped out of it and looked at Kōyū with a puzzled expression: "Who said I didn't figure it out? Isn't it because of the people at the music store?"
Kōyū scoffed at his somewhat hindsight-based behavior: "Ai just said that answer, so yours doesn't count."
Hearing this, Conan was a little unconvinced: "How can it not count? I was just thinking about it more deeply and didn't have time to pay attention to you. Besides, business is more important. We need to solve this case as soon as possible."
“That’s true. I won’t argue with you anymore. As for why it’s because of talent, I won’t explain. Let’s continue.” Guangyou said, “Actually, I think ‘Music Store’ isn’t a real music store, but a code.”
Following this explanation, Ai continued, "According to you, this 'music shop' represents that man, so when the deceased heard this sentence, she would understand that it was a man who was looking for her?"
“Smart. Of course, let me state upfront that these are all just my speculations,” Guangyou said after thinking for a moment. “I can’t think of any other explanation for these expenditures at the moment.”
The reason he felt there was something wrong with these expenses was because the deceased was a housewife. Apart from the daily household expenses, she didn't have any major expenses. At most, she would occasionally go out shopping for clothes.
For the past year, there has been a relatively large monthly expenditure, which has remained quite stable, generally between 100,000 and 200,000 yen.
This inevitably raises suspicions. The house was built over a decade ago, and any mortgage should have been paid off long ago. Moreover, this amount started a year ago, which doesn't match up at all.
As for a car loan, that's impossible too, because this passbook is a private passbook, and the reason that led Guangyou to this conclusion is that in addition to that large expenditure, there is also a monthly income of 500,000 yen.
He guessed that this was probably living expenses that Kenji Kuroki was sending home, since his job required him to be with the company and he would be away from home for long periods of time, so he would naturally have to send living expenses home.
In daily life, they certainly wouldn't need that much. Guangyou believes that the extra money should be the pocket money that Kuroki Kenji gave to Kuroki Yuri, for her to go shopping and buy clothes and such.
Another reason why a car loan was impossible was that after Guangyou went around, he found that he didn't own a single car, not even a bicycle.
Gambling debts are out of the question. Even if he did incur gambling debts, Mitsuyu believed that with Kenji Kuroki's salary and the family's savings, he could easily pay them off.
Of course, these expenditures have no direct relation to whether Kuroki Yuri is keeping a lover outside; these are purely Kōyū's own speculations.
After all, her husband spends very little time at home, and Kuroki Yuri is at the age where she is very sexually active. If something really happened outside, Mitsuyu wouldn't be surprised at all.
It's worth noting that Japan has one of the highest rates of train derailment in the world, so it's understandable that Kōsuke would have such a thought. However, all of this is just his speculation, and without evidence, no one except the deceased can prove it.
Not wanting to miss any clues, Conan suggested, "Why don't I tell Inspector Megure this news and have them investigate that man? They might find something."
"Yes, this is the only way at the moment."
…
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