Chapter 417

"Let's put aside the speculation about the motive for the crime and take a look at the contents of this report." Ayanokouji Fumimaro sighed and called the young people involved in the investigation team. "The report mentioned that the edges of the wounds on the body were uneven, and it seemed that they had been cut repeatedly. In short, the opinion in the report is that the perpetrator may not use a knife."

"No, even if the wound edges are uneven, this case must have been committed by someone who is good at swordsmanship."

Ms. Okita, Mr. Okita, and Tokito Muichiro all refuted the claim.

"Because the knife was not damaged at all."

"The knife...will hurt?"

The attention of everyone present was instantly focused on these three people.

"Although when the body was found, the knife that was used as the murder weapon was thrown aside carelessly, and it wasn't even put back into the sheath..." Ms. Okita blinked and raised her finger at everyone, "You should all know that in the past, samurai had three ways to test their swords - killing a living person, chopping a corpse, and chopping hard objects."

"Among them, the result of chopping corpses is recorded as 'X-cut' - if the sword can still be intact after chopping several corpses stacked together, it will be called 'several "number of corpses" cuts'."

"Although in the history of famous swords, it is always recorded what the swords have cut down to prove their sharpness." Okita-kun looked at the photos of the weapons left in the conference room, "But it doesn't mean that a sword will not be hurt if it is sharp enough. No matter how well-forged a sword is, it will quickly become a piece of scrap metal if it falls into the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use a sword."

"Because if you use force in the wrong direction, the knife will break."

"A good swordsman will reduce the frequency of the sword being damaged to ensure that the sword can be used for a longer time." Tokito Muichiro looked at Ayanokouji Fumimaro, "Didn't you check the weapon?"

"After all, we, the police, are not professionals in kendo, and we don't know the difference between being injured and not injured by a sword." Ayanokouji Fumimaro narrowed his eyes as he looked at the three people and said something sarcastic to the youngest junior high school student.

Tokito Muichiro calmly ignored the sharp edge in Ayanokouji Fumimaro's words and pointed everyone's attention to the photo of the murder weapon - "It doesn't matter. Even if you look at the photo, you can tell that the knife is not damaged. Because the reflection of a damaged knife is different from when it is not damaged."

"The reflection of a damaged sword will become irregular. We used the flash when taking the photo, so we can see the reflection of the sword in the photo." Ms. Okita took the photos of the murder weapon and threw them to Ayanokouji Fumimaro. "Although part of the blade is covered by the blood of the deceased, it is obvious that the overall reflection is complete and smooth. It is as if there is no damage at all."

“…Indeed.”

"Then it's very interesting that the edges of the wounds on the deceased's body are not neat." Okita Souji stretched his waist and looked at Hattori Heiji who was deep in thought with his chin in his hand. "Even if the murder weapon was a sharpened bamboo blade of a bamboo sword, anyone who is good at swordsmanship can create a relatively neat wound and kill with one blow... But the murder weapon here is a real sword..."

"It's to vent anger." Hattori Heiji stared at the analysis conclusion of the report in front of him and made a decisive statement.

"Huh?"

"Look, it's like they were torturing the dead." Hattori Heiji found a photo of the wound on the corpse's abdomen and explained to everyone, "The murderer was good at using a knife, so the uneven edges of the wound on the dead person must have been intentional by the murderer - because when committing seppuku, if there is no one to intervene, the person can only slowly wait for himself to bleed to death."

"So the edges of the wound on the abdomen are not neat. It's probably because the murderer used the fact that seppuku would not cause immediate death to repeatedly stimulate the deceased. As for the uneven edges of the wound on the neck, it's probably because the murderer was venting his anger on the deceased." Hattori Heiji turned his head and looked at Ayanokouji Fumimaro. "It should be written in the report, right? These wounds were formed before the deceased died completely."

"Yes, that's right." Ayanokouji Fumimaro nodded and put away his phone. "But, although your reasoning is logical this time, we police need solid evidence to identify the murderer."

"This line of reasoning also fails to point out the murderer, which is consistent with the motive speculation mentioned earlier - we can only infer the murderer's motive."

——But for magicians, they only need to find the motive to find the murderer.

The members of Chaldea have already identified the murderer, and all they need is evidence to prove his true identity. The task of finding evidence is given to the two consulting detectives of Valorum 221B.

"I guess the murderer must have a complete plan to commit the crime and a plan to destroy the tools used in the crime." Holmes sat on the sofa in the reception room, looking at William arranging flowers. "Almost half a day has passed, and the police have temporarily allowed the four suspects to move freely in Kyoto Prefecture. By the time Sherlock and Conan arrive in Kyoto, I'm afraid the murderer will have destroyed all the evidence."

"Isn't it your job to make the evidence destroyed by the murderer reappear, Mr. Holmes?" William held a red rose and didn't even look at Holmes. "Isn't your treasure able to make the key to the treasure chest that has disappeared reappear somewhere in the world?"

"Conan and Sherlock are responsible for finding those clues, and you are responsible for proving the 'truth' that the clues exist in this world."

"I know," Holmes replied to William. "I will build a path for them to the truth."

However, before Sherlock and Conan arrived in Kyoto and found the first clue, they saw the scene of the second murder.

At the end of a certain alley, a young man in a Shinsengumi uniform was leaning against a wall with his head lowered. A little warm blood was flowing from his abdomen and neck, slowly seeping into the unmelted snow. Just like the on-site photos that Ms. Okita uploaded to the Chaldea chat room, there was also a knife with blood on the blade casually thrown next to the deceased.

"...It seems we have to ask the local police officers to come over first." Sherlock sighed helplessly, holding Conan to prevent him from running around, and then turned on his phone to notify Ms. Okita who was still in the hotel, "I'm already in Kyoto, are all of you together now? I mean, the members investigating the case - I know the suspect has been allowed to move freely in Kyoto Prefecture."

"What happened?" Ms. Okita retreated to the wall and talked to Sherlock, watching Hattori Heiji and Ayanokouji Fumimaro staring at the human figure drawn with chalk to look for possible clues, "We are now confirming the situation at the crime scene together..."

"We've run into a little trouble." Sherlock told Ms. Okita briefly, "The second murder has happened. The location will be sent directly to your phone - bring them here directly."

"Officer Ayanokouji." Ms. Okita hung up the phone, interrupting Ayanokouji Fumimaro's thoughts, "Mr. Sherlock has arrived in Kyoto - but he can't come directly to the hotel now."

"What happened?" Ayanokouji Fumimaro frowned subconsciously, touched the squirrel head that had somehow found its way into his pocket with his fingers, and turned to look at Miss Okita.

"A second case has occurred. Here are photos of the scene." Ms. Okita pointed her phone screen towards Ayanokouji Fumimaro. "It was exactly the same horrific scene as the crime scene at the hotel today. The victim's abdomen and neck were cut open. He was wearing Shinsengumi uniforms, and the murder weapon was casually thrown next to the body by the murderer."

"However, it looks different from the body found in the hotel today." Hattori Heiji tried to recall the condition of the body that had been taken away by the police. "This body here, I remember when I saw it, it looked like it was sitting upright. But the body in this photo..."

“It’s not a sitting posture.”

"...and there were no obvious signs of being restrained, like the body in the hotel." After leading the team to the crime scene of the second case, Ayanokouji Fumimaro went forward to conduct a preliminary examination of the body. "Although snow can be seen near the body, the snow on the road is cleared every day, so there are no footprints of the murderer at the scene. The snow in other places also shows no signs of being stepped on by anyone."

"When we found the body, the blood was still flowing out of the wound." Sherlock stood on the outer edge, holding an unlit cigarette. "Because of the temperature outside, I also saw a faint white mist rising from the blood."

"…Should we just take him back for inspection?" Hattori Heiji looked at Ayanokouji Fumimaro, "This scene is the same as the one at the hotel. It seems there are no more clues."

"How is the condition of the sword?" Ayanokouji Fumimaro asked Okita-kun.

"It's the same knife as the one we found in the hotel." Okita-kun answered Ayanokouji Fumimaro, his eyes passing over Sherlock and Edogawa Conan standing by the wall, "Before we continue to study the case, shouldn't we inform the other three suspects to be careful of their personal safety? It wasn't long after we separated that Mr. Miyanohara was killed."

"It can be seen that the remaining three people are not safe either."

"I will arrange for the Kyoto Prefectural Police to protect them." Ayanokouji Fumimaro turned on his phone, edited an email and sent it back to the headquarters. "We need to hurry up and investigate - we can't let the casualties continue to escalate."

"Does the Kyoto Prefectural Police have a list of filming locations they plan to visit?" Sherlock asked Ayanokouji Fumimaro as he watched the police bag Miyanohara Yuto's body and take it away.

"I have it here, and I have marked the places they have visited." Hattori Heiji took the opportunity to share information with Sherlock and pulled Edogawa Conan to his side. "Why are you here too? Do you know this detective brother?"

"Mr. Sherlock is an insider." Edogawa Conan lowered his voice and answered Hattori Heiji, while introducing the famous high school detective from Kansai, "His office is across from my house - I have often followed him everywhere. Mr. Sherlock brought me here this time to find evidence to solve the case in Kyoto."

"Looking for evidence to solve the case?" Hattori Heiji frowned.

"Ah, looking at Mr. Sherlock's appearance--" Edogawa Conan nodded to Hattori Heiji, "He seems to have known who the murderer of these two cases was before arriving in Kyoto."