Oritis in the world of Detective Conan

Chapter 460: Research on the Abyss (Part 1)

The police then began their usual questioning.

Miss Linghang's voice was very nervous: "I don't know, I really didn't kill anyone. Inoue harassed me sometimes, but I had planned to quit after the concert."

"Then why are you going around Mr. Watanabe? As far as I know, you should have a lot of interactions at work." Inspector Megure asked calmly.

"Mr. Watanabe has such a fierce look on his face. Except when we are working, I don't dare to look him in the eye." Miss Linggami looked timid.

"I've been staying in the cloakroom all day, helping to sort out the extras' clothes. I have no idea what's going on outside."

"Can anyone prove that you were in the cloakroom the entire time?"

"This...no."

Inspector Megure nodded and turned to Mr. Shimada: "So where were you an hour ago?"

"Of course I was in my room working on my script. Those two guys kept complaining that I had too many settings and wanted me to make major changes. It was so annoying!" Mr. Shimada seemed to be forcing himself to remain calm. "I was in my room the entire time. Can't the staff outside the door testify for me?"

"At the time of the incident, most of the staff were already preparing near the stage, so no one could testify for you." Sera Masumi had been observing the ashes scattered on the ground, and now he clapped his hands and stood up.

The last person to be questioned was Ms. Yanaka: "Yes, I don't have an alibi either. I had a big argument with Watanabe in the utility room and then went to my room to check the financial statements."

Maori Kogoro immediately launched his elimination method: "So the murderer is indeed you, Miss Yanaka. You are resentful because Mr. Watanabe exposed the truth about your financial fraud, so you strangled him with the most common towel around here!"

"If I'm the murderer, then who killed that Inoue guy? I have nothing to do with Inoue." Miss Yanaka still looked nonchalant. "To be honest, after Watanabe and I separated, I have been falsifying financial statements in my room. I had no time to commit the crime."

Miss Yanaka threw a stack of financial statements on the table. "That's all I have. I was just busy destroying the old, real statements. I think I can still find the ashes in my room."

Sera Masumi discovered the blind spot: "Burning financial statements in the room? There should be a lot of smoke in that room. How do you deal with this?"

"When we built this venue, we knew many people smoked, so in addition to the smoking room, there are ventilation ducts running through the back room." The director scratched his head. "I was the one who proposed this request, because I often smoke while reading the script myself."

Conan immediately thought of something: "Are the ventilation ducts in that room connected to the ones in the smoking room?"

The director nodded: "Yes."

Conan and Sera Masumi looked at each other, and both thought of the murderer's modus operandi. The two people should have been killed by the same murderer. Mr. Watanabe's death was completely without any technical content, but Mr. Inoue had an explanation.

Because of the existence of the vent, the smoking room is not a completely sealed room, but the width of the vent is not enough for an adult male to pass through. Therefore, Mr. Inoue can only have been sent here after his death or after being knocked unconscious, and the murderer escaped back to his room through the vent on the top.

After thinking of the method of committing the crime, Conan ran to the director and asked: "Uncle Director, before you went to the smoking room, who else went there?"

"I don't know about that. There were a lot of people going to the smoking room, most of them were staff members who had finished their work. The show was about to start, so I hurried to find Inoue."

"But I saw some staff pushing a cart loaded with coat racks and plastic mannequins towards the smoking room."

Now Sera Masumi understood who the murderer was. She smiled confidently and looked at Conan below. Sure enough, Conan also looked like he knew the truth.

Seeing that Maori Kogoro was still searching for clues in circles, Sera Masumi made a direct decision: "I already know the truth of this case. The murderer is you, Miss Linggami."

"After Ms. Yanaka and Mr. Watanabe had an argument, you took advantage of the situation and strangled him with a towel before dumping the body in the utility room. As for how you managed to get rid of an adult male, I think it was because you were carrying a stun gun, as evidenced by the electric shock marks on Mr. Watanabe's neck."

"As for Mr. Inoue, it's even simpler. He's been harassing you, so you can easily trick him into your room with an excuse and knock him out."

"Then you can disguise yourself as a staff member in the work clothes you prepared in advance, push the coat rack and Mr. Inoue disguised as a plastic mannequin to the smoking room."

"Finally, tie Mr. Inoue's waist with a rope, remove the vent cover and the fan blades inside, secure Mr. Inoue to the vent with the rope, and then reinstall the fan blades. Then, all you have to do is retreat along the ventilation duct to your room and pull the rope back."

"Mr. Inoue no longer needed a rope to secure himself. He had been stuck in the vent by the fan blades. He might have woken up in pain, but in the noisy venue, no one would have heard his cries for help."

Xiaolan felt that this way of death was too tragic, and she was so scared that she hid behind Kisaki Eri. Kisaki Eri coughed a few times and rubbed her temples.

"I finally get out here and yet I encounter something like this, sigh." Kisaki Eri sighed in her heart.

Miss Lingshang seemed a little excited: "What you just said is just speculation, do you have any evidence?"

"As for evidence, you probably threw away the work clothes used as a disguise and the rope used to pull Mr. Inoue." Sera Masumi thought for a moment. "Then, those plastic mannequins in the cloakroom should be able to verify their number."

Inspector Megure's eyes grew sharper. "So that's how it is. Since you've been staying in the cloakroom the entire time and haven't left, how do you explain those plastic models that suddenly disappeared? And don't tell me a staff member came to help retrieve them. All the staff here have been questioned by our police."

"I..." Miss Lingshang's face suddenly twisted. "It's all their fault! If it weren't for them, how could my twin sister die so young?"

[Photographer: They really are twins.]

[Violinist: Wow, I went to the concert to join in the fun, I just happened to be nearby.]

[Sculptor: How can you get in without a ticket?]

[Violinist: I'm just watching from a distance.]

[Jack: I've prepared tea and am ready to watch the show.]

"My sister and I were abandoned by our father when we were young. Our mother raised us with great difficulty, but she died in a car accident last year."

"My sister originally wanted to become an entertainer to earn some living expenses, but she didn't expect that this guy, Inoue, said he had inside resources to share. My sister fell for it and was invited to a hotel by him. In the end, she jumped to her death!"