Chapter 3609-3621 [Locking in the Protective Umbrella]
Sonoko Suzuki's thinking was initially a bit sluggish, but the more she explained, the more reasonable it seemed. She confidently stated:
"Around eight o'clock, when Ayumi saw the beginning of 'Kamen Rider' and mistakenly thought it was only 7:30, you disguised sleeping pills as normal medication for after a tooth extraction and gave them to Ayumi to drink, causing her to fall into a deep sleep."
"When a person falls asleep, they lose track of time. You take the opportunity to fast-forward the videotape to the end, then shake Ayumi awake and show her the ending credits of Kamen Rider, making her think she has slept for half an hour."
"In this way, you have successfully erased those 30 minutes and brought the time back on track."
"The alibi Ayumi gave you was for the few minutes around 7:30 and 7:30, and 8:00 after Kamen Rider finished airing—but now, the alibi for 7:30 doesn't actually exist."
"So that means!" Sonoko Suzuki tossed her hair with a flourish, feeling incredibly cool, like a protagonist who had achieved an SS-rank rating. Playing and making games really does have its uses, she declared confidently.
"Your actual alibi is only before 7 o'clock and after 8 o'clock—that one hour in between is enough for you to rush from the dental clinic to here to commit the murder and then rush back!"
After he finished speaking, the scene fell silent.
Officer Takagi paused for a moment, then looked at the high school girl with newfound respect: "I see!"
Just a few days ago, Officer Sato warned him not to blindly trust the high school girl's unreliable reasoning just because Suzuki Sonoko was Jiang Xia's classmate, but now... he's really improved!
If this keeps up, Inspector Megure will have another female friend. I'll tell him about it when he's discharged; he'll be so happy.
Eri Kisaki glanced at the silly child she'd watched grow up in surprise: "..." Was this really the Suzuki Sonoko she knew? Although this reasoning had some flaws, it sounded plausible at first glance... What exactly happened during this time? Surrounding Jiang Xia with a detective aura was actually that effective?
Sonoko Suzuki beamed and sought praise everywhere: "How was it? How was it?"
"A very interesting deduction." Surprisingly, it was Dr. Sawaki across from me who gave the first comment. She smiled and said, "But I don't have the habit of recording anime. I don't have any recording equipment at home or in my clinic."
Sonoko Suzuki choked for a moment, then thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't really mean anything that you don't have these things at home. You can just stuff them in the car when you take Ayumi home, and then throw them into any trash bag on the way—we just solved a similar case not long ago!"
The junior officers around them shuddered, recalling the time they'd been rummaging through trash bags in the parking lot and had been inexplicably covered in confetti. "..." What's wrong with these killers? Are they using the trash heap as a teleportation point? ...They don't want to dig through the trash anymore.
Fortunately, at this moment, Jiang Xia whispered a reminder: "In this case, videotapes and cameras were indeed not used."
The officers breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
Dr. Sawaki glanced at Jiang Xia, her smile fading slightly. She turned to Sonoko Suzuki and said seriously:
"Unfortunately, your reasoning is fundamentally flawed. Children sleep very soundly, especially after taking sleeping pills, and are very difficult to wake up."
"If, as you say, I return to the clinic at eight o'clock, wake Ayumi up to watch Kamen Rider, then I will need to get her back to sleep, adjust the videotape, change the clock, wake her up, take her to the car and send her home... This process will take no less than 20 minutes no matter what."
"But in reality, I took Ayumi away from the clinic at 8 o'clock and had already taken her home by 8:05. Ayumi and her parents can all testify to this."
Sonoko Suzuki: "..."
Is it really that troublesome?
She paused for a moment, then turned away and silently counted the time required for the entire murder on her fingers.
...
Conan watched this scene without any surprise: having spent so much time with Kogoro Mouri, he knew what was going to happen just by glancing at Sonoko Suzuki's confident smile and aura when she spoke.
Conan, however, became more interested in the case itself.
He temporarily put aside the suspicious Ms. Shirai and Eri Kisaki, who was there for some unknown reason, and focused on thinking.
As a famous detective, Conan, lost in thought, subconsciously began looking for Watson in his surroundings.
Soon, he looked at Ai Haibara, who was about the same height as him: she was the only one there who could whisper to him without him having to squat down.
The mini detective naturally leaned closer: "What do you think?"
"?!" Ai Haibara was tense, watching "Miss Shirai" intently, ready to flash Conan's signature smile whenever the other looked at her. Just as she was on guard, a Conan-like face suddenly appeared right in front of her.
She was startled and almost stabbed him with an anesthetic needle, but thankfully she managed to hold it in.
"...I don't want to see anything." The mini-scientist muttered irritably, turned and left: Jiang Xia's legs are still the safest.
Conan was about to follow, but when he looked up at Ai Haibara's direction, he silently stopped.
—We cannot go there.
The answer is over there.
...
After the two fake children were separated.
Curaçao lowered her eyes, staring silently at the smooth, gleaming railing in front of her.
Although the image above was greatly distorted by the arc, she quickly reorganized it in her mind and, based on these reflections, "saw" what was happening in the corridor behind her.
"Are those two brats arguing?" Curaçao sighed inwardly, marveling at the fierce competition among Uzo's men.
"That hooded kid is actually quite attached to Uzo. Aren't children supposed to have better intuition? Doesn't this kid have any sense of crisis?"
"In comparison, that bespectacled brat, although he follows Uzo every day, doesn't dare to get too close... He's more afraid than affectionate. This little accomplice's level of awareness is already comparable to many adults."
Conan was unaware that an organization executive was secretly analyzing his background.
"Think quickly." He tapped his head and began applying the formula:
"Jiang Xia is right. It's really strange that Dr. Ze Mu is working overtime specifically for Ayumi. She must be doing all this to get an alibi from Ayumi."
There are only three ways to create an alibi: people, time, and place.
"As for witnesses, there are Ayumi and her parents."
"In terms of time, the body is very fresh, and considering the phone call he received before he died, the estimated time of death should not be too far off."
"In other words, all that's left is the 'location'..."
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