Chapter 3607, page 3619: [Eri Kisaki's Suspicion]
The subtle time discrepancy made Eri Kisaki a little more suspicious of "Ms. Shirai's" behavior. Soon, this lawyer queen, who had seen countless cases, keenly spotted that sense of déjà vu.
After get off work, he refused to leave the detective agency, chatted with his colleagues every now and then, and postponed the appointment time... All these factors combined make this behavior seem like he was trying to create an alibi.
"Could it be that Miss Shirai...?"
A hypothesis quietly surfaced in Eri's mind. Looking at Curaçao's retreating figure, she pondered carefully: "However, the deceased's time of death was around 7:30 PM. At that time, Ms. Shirai was indeed still at the law firm. She stayed with me the whole way there."
"Unless the murderer used some trick to conceal the time of President Nakamoto's death, Ms. Shirai could not possibly be the murderer."
“But the time of death is not so easy to change. And I remember that Ms. Shirai was already at the law firm not just at 7:30 p.m., but even earlier, and she never left—no matter what tricks there are, it is impossible to postpone the time of death so much.”
Eri Kisaki took off her glasses, rubbed her temples as if in pain, and continued to ponder: "Ms. Shirai can't be the murderer, but her behavior is indeed a bit strange. Could she have an accomplice? Or did she somehow know that the victim would be murdered tonight?"
As I was thinking, a voice came from beside me: "What's wrong?"
Eri Kisaki came to her senses and realized that it was Jiang Xia who had come over.
After hesitating for a moment, Eri Kisaki shook her head, not voicing her suspicions: she wasn't Kogoro Mouri, and wouldn't accuse someone of being the murderer without evidence.
but……
When Eri looked at Attorney Shirai again, her gaze held a hint of inquiry: she seemed to know too little about this unassuming lawyer colleague, and it seemed she would have to pay more attention to her in the future.
...
Beside the railing.
Curaçao was quietly trying to keep her presence out of sight when suddenly she felt a chill run down her spine, as if she were being watched by something ominous.
Curaçao: "..." Was it Uzo, the bespectacled kid, the hooded kid, or those two high school girls who were aiding and abetting the evildoers... or those policemen who were being manipulated?
...Surrounded by enemies on all sides, she was already struggling to analyze the situation.
Just be vigilant about everything, and you can't go wrong!
...
While the lonely members of the organization silently fought against the world, Jiang Xia took Officer Takagi's notebook and began to look through the statements of the other neighbors in the apartment building.
Suddenly his fingertip paused, stopping on a certain page.
Officer Takagi peeked over and introduced the clinic like a warm and dedicated salesperson: "This is Ms. Sawaki, a dentist who runs her own dental clinic. She usually finishes get off work at 6 p.m., but today she worked overtime to see a child, so she didn't finish until after 8 p.m. and came back here—by the way, the child she saw was Ayumi, isn't that a coincidence?"
As soon as he finished asking the last question, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the already marginalized lawyer, Shirai, had quietly shrunk even further into the corner.
Officer Takagi glanced at the strange lawyer, but didn't think much of it. He continued to Jiang Xia, "I just called the Yoshida family. Mrs. Yoshida said that Dr. Sawaki took Ayumi home just after 8 p.m. That means she has a sufficient alibi between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Jiang Xia nodded, seemingly lost in thought.
Sato Miwako sensed something was wrong: "Do you think there's something wrong with this Dr. Sawaki?"
Jiang Xia seemed to think for a moment: "Judging from the address written here, Zemu Dental Clinic is very close to Ayumi's house, less than a 5-minute drive away. So the time she helped Ayumi extract her tooth was between 6:30 pm and 8 pm."
"I remember Ayumi didn't have any cavities. Does it really take this long to pull a regular baby tooth?"
Officer Sato's expression hardened, finally realizing the problem: "Speaking of which, I just checked her clinic's website; there are plenty of openings for the next two days. She's deliberately working overtime tonight—could it be to sabotage Ayumi and make that child her alibi?... Takagi!"
Officer Takagi paused for a moment, then immediately replied, "Yes, sir!"
Miwako Sato: "Call the Yoshida family and ask her in detail about the specific process of the tooth extraction, especially whether Dr. Sawaki disappeared from her sight. If so, how long did she disappear?"
Jiang Xia picked up his phone: "Anyway, they're all acquaintances, I'll make the call."
Curaçao: "..." You're going to do it? Who knows what kind of statements you'll get out of him? Questioning important witnesses is something the police should do, right?
Officer Takagi breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay!"
Compared to myself, Jiang Xia will definitely be able to get more important clues out of him!
Curaçao: "..."
...
"Jiang, Brother Jiang Xia?!"
Yoshida Ayumi, thinking it was a call from the police, excitedly answered. After one sentence, she was shocked to realize it wasn't the police at all—it wasn't a policeman! That voice...it was Jiang Xia's brother's!
Her detective instincts quietly faded, and she instinctively began to reflect: "I was a little distracted in class today, I won't do it again! I took Dr. Sawaki's playing cards without permission when I had my tooth pulled today, but I've already returned them. I... I stayed at Dr. Sawaki's hospital and watched an episode of Kamen Rider, but... but..."
Officer Sato sighed and took the phone from Jiang Xia: "I'll ask them myself."
With a different person around, Ayumi Yoshida's thoughts became clearer.
Thinking of the person behind Officer Sato, she was more enthusiastic than when doing her homework. She racked her brains and thought: "Around 6:30 tonight, Conan and I went to the dental clinic. After that, Conan dropped me off and left. Sister Sawaki took me to get a tooth pulled."
"It was just past 7 o'clock after I had my tooth pulled. I felt very sleepy, so I took a nap. At 7:30, Kamen Rider started airing, and my sister Sawaki woke me up to watch the anime."
Thinking of someone who might be listening in, Ayumi Yoshida quietly emphasized, "It was Sawaki-neechan who invited me to watch it at her house, not me being unreasonable. Besides, I even took my medicine obediently while watching the anime, I behaved very well!"
Officer Sato: "..." Just how many times has Jiang Xia knocked on the door of these kids? These kids are so unruly... cough, so lively, they're almost becoming model students.
but……
She recalled Ayumi Yoshida's tone: "Ayumi, why do you sound so dejected?"
When Yoshida Ayumi was reminded of something painful, her lips trembled, and she almost cried: "I was so tired. I fell asleep as soon as Kamen Rider started airing, and by the time I woke up, that episode had already finished..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com