Chapter 2858-2870 [A chill on the back]
Seeing the family members' faces slightly changed, as if they were frightened, Inspector Otaki continued, "Speaking of malicious intent - please think carefully, the bride and groom, have you made enemies with anyone recently."
"in addition……"
He suddenly looked at the bride's brother who was sitting alone in the corner: "Mr. Ito, according to our investigation, you seem to have borrowed a total of several million from multiple financial institutions?"
The bride's brother was startled: "This..."
Inspector Otaki: “Is that true?”
"That's true." The bride's brother gritted his teeth and said, "But I didn't kill anyone! My sister is my last relative in this world. How could I kill her for just a few million!"
Inspector Otaki looked at him suspiciously and nodded: "Don't worry, we will investigate carefully and will not wrongly accuse any good person."
…
The family members were unable to provide many useful clues, so the police had to continue their investigation.
Fortunately, this family had a good sense of prevention and had installed a lot of surveillance cameras in the manor. Soon the police retrieved the footage from the corresponding location and carefully checked it.
Jiang Xia also walked over to take a look: "Is this the surveillance camera at the door?"
Inspector Otaki responded, "It's the surveillance camera installed on the inside of the gate. It faces outside the gate and can capture the flowerbed where the gun fell. Theoretically, it should also be able to capture the person who dropped the gun."
Hattori Heiji noticed something was wrong: "In theory? But what about in reality?"
"In fact, there is no one there!" The bald police officer sighed heavily:
"Although it was dark at night, if there was really someone approaching, I would definitely be able to distinguish such a large shadow. But...
"Well, it seems that the gun must have fallen from the upper floor, and the gunman himself did not enter the surveillance area."
Jiang Xia nodded, thought for a moment and said, "There are so many surveillance cameras, but they were all avoided. The murderer must be very familiar with the distribution of the cameras."
Hattori Heiji had already thought of this: "So the murderer must be an insider... But do I need to tell you that? All the people that Uncle Otaki detained were insiders."
However, Jiang Xia hadn't finished speaking yet: "And they are insiders who are very familiar with this manor - the groom's family members don't come here often, and they live a life of luxury. Every time they come to this manor, they just need to eat and rest. They are actually not much more familiar with the cameras here than outsiders."
"You mean..." Inspector Otaki stroked his chin, "Maybe the murderer is not a relative of the groom, but an employee here?"
…The more I think about it, the more it makes sense!
He made a prompt decision and waved his hand, ordering his subordinates: "Check the alibis of all staff members and bring in anyone who acted alone during that period."
"Yes!" The subordinates turned around and ran out the door.
"Also..." Jiang Xia added, "There are some strange pieces of wood near the scene where the groom died. The material of the wood looks familiar. Don't miss it when you investigate."
"Okay!" The police subordinates saluted and rushed out in an orderly manner, ready to start a new round of investigation.
…
The police are busy.
Jiang Xia pushed the door open and continued to wander around the scene.
Hattori Heiji followed behind, and thinking of what Jiang Xia had just said, he asked suspiciously: "Have you already guessed who the murderer is, and are you just looking for evidence now?"
Jiang Xia said seriously: "Of course I will look for evidence first and then find the murderer."
Hattori Heiji was skeptical, but at this moment, Jiang Xia paused and stopped in front of a street lamp.
"?" Hattori Heiji and Conan were startled and instinctively looked in the direction he was looking.
The next moment, they suddenly discovered that there were four palm-sized rectangular indentations on the lawn in front of the street lamp. They were located on the four sides, like the four corners of a larger rectangle.
"Is this... a maintenance ladder?"
The two detectives suddenly had an idea, and soon they looked at each other and ran towards the maintenance department at the same time.
…
The light was on in the maintenance department, and there was only a middle-aged man on duty at the moment.
Suddenly, he saw three more people at the door. He put down the thermos cup and asked in confusion, "Are you... today's guests? What's wrong? What's broken?"
Hattori Heiji glanced around and saw a folded ladder in the corner. He was impressed by Jiang Xia's sharpness and asked the middle-aged man, "Did you repair a street lamp just now?"
“Yes.” The middle-aged uncle nodded and smiled embarrassedly, “In fact, someone reported it last night, but we had a wedding today and everyone was busy. In addition, there were few guests in the villa area, so we postponed it and it was just repaired not long ago.”
"That street lamp was not far from the scene where the bride committed the crime." Jiang Xia asked, "Did you see anything wrong at the time?"
"The crime scene?" The middle-aged man realized it belatedly and stood up. "Someone's dead?! I was wondering why it was so lively outside!"
Hattori Heiji: “…” Uncle Otaki and his team’s intelligence gathering work was still too rough, they didn’t even notice that there was someone here.
But now is not the time to worry about these trivial matters, he asked: "Yes, so all the experiences you encountered at that time may become evidence in the future - think carefully, and don't miss any abnormalities!"
After hearing what he said, the middle-aged uncle's face became serious. He thought seriously for a long time and said cautiously:
"If I had to say something unusual, it was that when I just got to the street light, I suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps in the distance. I thought someone was being chased by a monkey, but when I looked over there, I didn't see any monkeys. I only saw a person running out of a villa in the distance and hurriedly heading to the other side of the river."
"Monkey?" Hattori Heiji was puzzled. "Is there anyone among you whose nickname is 'Monkey'?"
"Haha, of course not, I'm talking about real monkeys." The middle-aged uncle explained, "This piece of land is close to the suburbs, and monkeys and wild boars used to roam around. Although it's now a manor, some animals still come in every now and then to cause trouble - a large part of the things we need to repair are damaged by them."
"So that's how it is." Jiang Xia was satisfied with getting a new clue, and then he asked, "Do you remember which villa it was, and the exact time when that person ran out of the villa?"
"Of course I remember. That's where Miss Ito - the bride usually lives. As for the time, let me see..." The middle-aged uncle dragged the registration book on the table and turned to the latest page. "It was around 9:40 at night when I left. When I arrived with the tools, it should be around 9:45."
"9:45?" Conan was stunned by the time.
(End of this chapter)
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