"Do you have any ideas, kid?"
Shinichi Kudo felt it was strange when he saw the surveillance footage, but after hearing Yuta Iijima report what Kubota Kuraike had done, he made a bold guess.
He stood on tiptoe to shorten the distance between himself and Takashi Sosuke as much as possible, and whispered in a low voice:
"Brother Yingsi, when I was watching the surveillance, I noticed that the victim's expression changed a little strangely. At first, I didn't understand why he had such an expression, but after hearing Mr. Iijima's remarks, I thought of something."
"Oh? What did you think of?"
Fujiwara Yu raised his eyebrows. He originally thought that Kudo Shinichi didn't notice anything strange in the surveillance video, but he didn't expect that this kid had such strong insight and was very careful. He was indeed a good candidate for a detective.
It’s a pity that the police and detectives have never been interested. If Kudo was willing to become a policeman, he would be very happy.
"Lan dragged me here early this morning to look at the exhibition. There weren't many people in the museum at the time. That guy named Kubota wasn't wearing gloves when he was adjusting the position of the artwork, and the curator gave him a good scolding. Don't you think that's strange?"
After finishing his words, Kudo Shinichi couldn't help but squint his eyes to assess Toji Sosuke's height. He secretly used his hands to measure the height difference between himself and Toji, muttering to himself: "What on earth did Toji-san eat to grow up? His height is really enviable."
After listening to Kudo's description, Fujiwara Yuu quickly realized what Kudo meant. He glanced at someone with interest and said in a deep voice:
"It seems that you and I have the same suspicion. He has already decided who the scapegoat will be from the very beginning."
"Huh? Brother Toji, do you suspect him too?" Kudo Shinichi thought that his guess would be faster than Toji Sosuke, but he didn't expect that he had already thought of it. He frowned in confusion, and wanted to say that he won this time of reasoning.
Fujiwara Yu noticed that Kudo Shinichi was frustrated for a moment, and guessing his thoughts, he couldn't help but say:
"Because you didn't see the note. It did say 'Kuda', but if you look closely you'll see several transparent scratches on it. Plus, only the staff inside the museum know where the surveillance cameras are, and not everyone can fit into the armor. So, you should understand, right?"
There were several transparent scratches on the note... The surprised expression when he saw the surveillance video... The murderer deliberately waited until he picked up the pen before killing... Is this what happened?
Shinichi Kudo, who had figured it out, showed a confident expression. Now the mystery was completely solved. The next thing to do was very simple. The murderer must not have disposed of that thing yet.
"Brother Yingsi, let me help you get the key physical evidence."
"Hmm? What do you want to do?"
Fujiwara Yu originally planned to let Takagi Shigeru arrange a body search, but after hearing what Kudo Shinichi said, he became curious about what method he planned to use.
"Hehe!" Kudo Shinichi blinked mysteriously and said smugly, "Just watch my performance. It can be easily solved with just one method!"
So, Fujiwara Yu saw the worst acting in the world, no doubt about it.
He couldn't help but remember that when he had nothing to do, he had investigated Kudo Shinichi's background. If he remembered correctly, his biological mother was Kudo Yukiko, a well-known actress with an angelic face and talented acting skills.
Fortunately, Miss Yukiko was not present, otherwise she would have fainted from anger after seeing her son's poor acting skills.
Kudo Shinichi took off his coat and walked towards the director, Ochiai Tamio, with his big white teeth bared. He said in a tone that was as exaggerated as a sow could climb a tree:
"Mr. Director, I really love this art museum. I can't bear to see it close. Could you please sign an autograph for me so that when I see your signature, I can still remember that there's an art museum here?"
“…”
Fujiwara Yu's mouth twitched slightly, and he covered his eyes with his hands, not daring to look at the scene directly. It was so embarrassing. His habit of embarrassing others came back again. This guy's acting skills were so good that he could dig out a skyscraper on the floor of the art museum.
Another person who was also full of question marks was Ran Mouri. She witnessed Kudo Shinichi yawning and asking herself "When can I go home" every five minutes. How could Shinichi like the art museum if he spoke like that?
Sato Miwako and Takagi Wataru, who were still questioning Kubota Kura Kei, suddenly had small eyes. Why did they suddenly leave the book signing event from the crime scene? Didn't Inspector Takashi care about this seemingly not-so-bright high school student?
As the person being asked for an autograph, Ochiai Tamio stroked his beard cheerfully, enjoying the compliments he received. Undeterred, he pulled a beautifully shaped ballpoint pen from the breast pocket of his suit, but when he prepared to sign, he hesitated.
Kudo Shinichi smiled harmlessly at this. He stepped forward and asked knowingly:
"Huh? Mr. Director, you don't want to sign for me? Eh... is the pen broken? But Mr. Director, how do you know the pen is broken when you haven't even tried it? And if you knew the pen was broken, why did you carry it with you?"
"...I, I just forgot that this pen was broken." Ochiai Tamio said with embarrassment. He wanted to get away with it, but the policeman next to him was not a pushover.
When Miwako Sato noticed that the director's expression was not right, she thought of the piece of paper with the words "Kubota" written on it. She reached out and took the evidence bag from Takagi Wataru and looked at it under the incandescent light in the guard room.
The translucent note soon showed dozens of scratches, which proved that the ballpoint pen used by the victim, Takayuki Manaka, in the surveillance footage was unable to write at all, and the content on the paper was written in advance by the murderer.
Manaka Takayuki did not leave any death message, he just wanted to erase the wrong "murderer". Kubota Kuraike was framed, and the real murderer was the guy who swapped the ballpoint pens!
Sato Miwako reached out and snatched the ballpoint pen from Ochiai Tamio's hand, put it into the evidence bag, and shook it gently. She raised the corner of her mouth and asked:
"Mr. Ochiai, may I examine the fingerprints on this ballpoint pen? Also, could you please tell me what you were doing during the time of the incident? Is there anyone who can testify for you?"
Ochiai Tamio lowered his head and said nothing. After a few seconds of silence, he curled up a bitter smile. After all, he could not escape the punishment of the law and had no way to argue.
He raised his head and looked at Takashi Sosuke, who had noticed him from the beginning, and said slowly:
"At that time, I was waiting for the person I had an appointment with. I stood in that exhibition hall in my armor, waiting for that heartless demon... Just as you thought, I was the murderer who killed Shinaka."
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