Ke Xue World: The Confrontation between Black and Red

Of course, this scrutiny was short-lived.

When the priest who was serving as the witness looked over, Karasuma Soshin showed a social smile that was no different from that of most of the guests.

The focus is also on the protagonist of the wedding.

At this point, the wedding has come to the step where the bride and groom exchange rings.

The little flower girl took the small red velvet gift box containing the ring out of the small flower basket and handed it to the bride and groom.

This part went smoothly. The beautiful red diamond ring sparkled on the bride's finger, reflecting extremely dazzling light.

"Now, you may kiss your beautiful bride."

The priest with a Western face looked at the groom, Hojo Shuya, with a calm and loving gaze.

The moment the priest finished speaking, Hojo Shuya took the bride's hand.

He didn't intend to kiss the bride's face directly, so when faced with this part, he chose to kiss the bride's ring.

However, just as his lips touched the ring face inlaid with red diamonds, the next second, Hojo Shuya fell to the ground with a "bang".

The bride standing opposite Hojo Shuya covered her mouth in fear, and the guests were suddenly in an uproar.

At the side of the wedding stage, Sato Miwako, dressed as a bridesmaid, rushed forward and arrived next to Hojo Shuya before others could react and check on his condition.

After testing his breathing, he let out a long sigh of relief.

Inspector Megure and others who arrived later also breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this.

It's okay not to die, it's okay not to die.

The groom who fell unconscious was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, and the rest of the wedding process naturally could not continue.

However, the wedding banquet, which was originally intended to announce the marriage between the two families and combine the power of the Hojo and Aso families, did not end abruptly.

The frightened bride was helped aside to rest. Hojo Yoshihito and Hojo Reie, who had barely calmed down, began to comfort the guests and led them to the inner hall on the left side of the main hall.

The two frightened cute little flower girls were hugged and comforted by their respective parents, who still held the small flower baskets filled with flower petals in their hands.

The police investigation also quietly began at this time.

In full view of everyone, everyone saw with their own eyes that the groom suddenly fell to the ground after kissing the bride's ring face.

The bride's ring with a beautiful red diamond was sent for testing immediately.

During the entire wedding banquet, apart from the bride who wore the ring, the ring only passed through the hands of three people.

One is the housekeeper who accompanies Hojo Reie and has been responsible for keeping the valuable wedding ring since before the wedding banquet.

One was the ring exchange session, where the groom, Hojo Shuya, personally put the ring on the bride.

And the last one is the little flower girl who carries a small flower basket and hands the ring box that was placed in the small flower basket by the housekeeper to the groom.

Faced with this situation of having to choose one of three, the police certainly would not suspect Hojo Shuya, who is still on the way to the hospital and whose specific condition is unknown.

I would never think that the person who tampered with this would be a five-year-old flower girl who is now in the arms of her parents and crying.

However, when faced with the police's questioning, the housekeeper who was responsible for keeping the ring firmly denied it:

"The wedding rings have indeed been in my personal possession since this morning, but I have always kept them in my suit pocket.

It has never been opened, and no one has tampered with the ring.”

Maori Kogoro, who was listening on the side, looked unconvinced:

“Who knows if you have ever opened it secretly.”

The housekeeper calmly explained:

"Today is Master Xiu Ya's wedding banquet. I have been busy since this morning and there have always been people around me."

"But this doesn't take too much time. In the long time from this morning till now, you can easily do it by just finding an excuse like going to the toilet.

Is there anyone following you when you go to the toilet?"

Kogoro Mori argued clearly.

The housekeeper was very angry:

"What do you mean, I told you I didn't do it.

What evidence do you have to prove that I did it? Young Master Xiuzai and I have no grudges in the past or today, so why would you harm him?"

Kogoro Mori was stuck on the spot. There was indeed no evidence to prove that the housekeeper was the one who caused Hojo Shuya to fall into a coma for no reason.

But there are only three suspects in total, one is a victim and the other is a child. With only this one person left, who else can she suspect?

On the wedding stage at that time, the bride, as the ring wearer, was under the gaze of the guests throughout the whole process.

The remaining priests did not touch the rings during the entire process, and when presiding over the ceremony, they were at least three body lengths away from the bride and groom.

Kenji Hagiwara, who is a social expert, did not participate in the questioning.

After walking around the stage, Kenji Hagiwara set his sights on the little flower girl.

The little flower girl, who had been coaxed by her parents for a while, was no longer crying, but her eyes and nose were still red.

"Hello, sweet and brave little lady."

The little flower girl nestled in her mother's arms raised her head and looked at Hagiwara Kenji curiously.

"I'm a police officer who's catching a bad guy, and now I need a cute and brave little lady to answer some questions to help me catch the bad guy successfully.

Would you be willing to help me catch the bad guy?"

Kenji Hagiwara's sweet smile and soft voice perfectly soothed the little flower girl.

Seeing the little girl nod, Kenji Hagiwara slowed down his tone and began to ask formal questions.

"Was the little red box containing the ring handed to you personally by the housekeeper?"

"Ah."

"Do you remember when I gave it to you?"

The little girl thought for a moment and said softly:

“After the housekeeper gave me the box, I saw a red-haired brother in a black suit coming in.

The red-haired brother has rubies in his ears."

The little girl didn't have a clear concept of time, but she was very impressed by the color of Karasuma Soshin's hair and the ruby ​​earring he wore on his left ear.

Especially when Karasuma Soshin walked in against the sunlight, the little girl immediately remembered Karasuma Soshin's short dark red hair that was particularly eye-catching and almost shining in the sunlight.

"Has anyone touched the little box?"

The little girl shook her head.

Hagiwara Kenji's eyes flickered slightly.

There's none?

He originally suspected that someone had tampered with the red diamond ring face inside the ring box while the flower girl was in it.

But the little girl's shaking head made him fall into layers of mystery again.

Karasuma Soshin, who was asked by the police about his arrival time, casually glanced at the priest who was saying goodbye to Hojo butler in the distance.

As he walked closer, he glanced at the small flower basket that was still on the little girl's wrist and she hadn't put it down yet.

Then, when Hagiwara Kenji looked over, his eyes naturally fell on Hagiwara Kenji, and he replied calmly:

“I didn’t really pay attention to the time, but it was 11:15 when I arrived at Qianhe Mansion. I encountered a little surprise before entering the main hall, which delayed me for a few minutes.

So the time to enter the main hall is roughly between 11:20 and 25:.”

Kenji Hagiwara carefully sorted out the existing clues, but no matter how he thought about it, he still felt that there must be a fourth person hiding here.

A person who took advantage of no one's attention and secretly tampered with the red diamond ring, causing Hojo Shuya to suddenly fall to the ground and become unconscious.

"vomit…"

At this moment, Jinpei Matsuda, who had walked to the side of the wedding stage, suddenly covered his nose and began to bend over and vomit violently.

Attracted by the voice, Kenji Hagiwara first looked at Kokunran, then his gaze fell on the policeman who was walking past Jinpei Matsuda and now stopped and turned around.

Finally, it stopped on the policeman holding two ring boxes.

When the rings were exchanged, the box containing the rings was handed to the bride and groom by the flower girl.

The bride and groom opened the box and took out the rings.

First, hand the ring box back to the flower girl, and then proceed to the next step of wearing the ring.

When Hojo Shuya fell to the ground, the two little flower girls who were holding the ring box were so frightened that they let go and started crying looking for their parents.

If the small flower basket hadn't been hanging on her wrist, it would have probably fallen to the ground.

After Hojo Shuya fell to the ground, everyone was concerned about his safety and life or death.

Even when the investigation into the case began, everyone's focus was on the precious red diamond ring that was suspected to have been poisoned.

The empty ring box that fell on the wedding stage was just like the red rose petals all over the ground, no one cared at all.

However, in the opinion of the police responsible for collecting traces at the scene, this ring box might be stained with the criminal's fingerprints.

So he picked up the two empty ring boxes that fell on the stage, intending to put them in an evidence bag and send them to the forensic department for testing.

I just didn't expect that after taking a few steps, the ace of the virgin group next to me would suddenly bend over and vomit.

The policeman holding the empty ring box looked at Matsuda Jinpei who was vomiting in shock. Just as he was about to step forward to ask him, he was stopped by Hagiwara Kenji who arrived quickly.

Soon, Inspector Megure and others were also attracted by the commotion caused by Jinpei Matsuda.

Seeing Jinpei Matsuda's familiar state, everyone's eyes fell on the two empty ring boxes.

Inspector Megure, wearing gloves, looked around the empty ring box carefully, and suddenly reached out to the black velvet pad in the ring box.

With a gentle pull, the black velvet pad that was supposed to be stuck to the box was easily pulled out.

Under the velvet pad are four petals of a black lily.

"Black Lily again. Looks like this was done by the criminal who sent the tricolor lilies to Chairman Hojo."

As Inspector Megure was speaking, he suddenly felt that the black velvet pad in his hand felt a little strange.

The feel of the velvet pad in the jewelry box was somewhat different from the one he had violently removed to hide a surprise for his wife.

So he took off his gloves, squeezed the black velvet pad hard, and immediately felt his palms become moist.

When I smelled it closely, a feeling of dizziness came over me.

The next second, Inspector Megure fell down with a bang.

"Inspector Megure!!!"

No one expected that Inspector Megure would suddenly fall down.

Holding the empty ring box, Takagi Wataru looked at Inspector Megure who was lying unconscious on the ground in horror.

Matsuda Jinpei, who was about to have his soul vomited out, got close and his eyes went black immediately due to the smoke, and he almost followed in the footsteps of Inspector Megure.

Kenji Hagiwara immediately realized that the problem was with the black velvet pad.

The reason why Hojo Shuya suddenly fell into coma might not necessarily be because he bent down to kiss the red diamond ring on the bride's hand.

Instead, when Hojo Shuya took the ring, his finger had already touched the unknown black liquid that had soaked the black velvet pad.

The moment he bent down to kiss the bride's ring, just like Inspector Megure put his face close to his palm, he smelled an unknown liquid and fell into coma.

The policemen hurriedly lifted Inspector Megure from the ground, intending to send him to a nearby hospital immediately, just like they had done with Hojo Shuya before.

The priest, who had just said goodbye to Butler Hojo, saw this scene and immediately stepped aside, making way for the main hall entrance.

After the unconscious Inspector Megure was hurriedly carried out of the door, he continued walking towards the door.

But just as the priest stepped out of the main hall door, a cute child's voice suddenly came from behind him:

"Father, are you going to run away?"

The priest turned around and saw that the person who said this was a six or seven-year-old kid with glasses. He replied in a good-natured manner:

"Little friend, you probably want to ask me why I want to leave.

The groom was unwell and all subsequent wedding procedures were cancelled.

I finished my work for today ahead of schedule, so I left early. "

Conan looked at the kind and friendly middle-aged priest and said seriously:

"No, I'm talking about the criminal who escaped, stole the ring box, and caused Brother Hojo and Inspector Megure to suddenly fall into a coma."

The priest looked confused, as if he didn't understand why Conan said that.

"Eh eh eh..."

"Kid, what nonsense are you talking about? How could the prisoner be the priest?"

Kogoro Mouri walked over angrily and picked up Conan.

Conan was suddenly picked up and moved his arms and legs in panic. After hearing Maori Kogoro's voice, he quickly explained:

"Meiya told me."

"Who is Meiya?"

Following the direction of Conan's finger, Kogoro Mouri saw a five-year-old girl nestled in her parents' arms.

Hearing the voice, Kenji Hagiwara came over and asked in confusion:

"When I asked she said no one had touched the ring box."

Kogoro Mouri immediately turned his head and looked at Conan.

Judging from the raised hand, if Conan didn't give a reasonable explanation, the hand would fall on the back of Conan's head.

Conan, who was very aware of the crisis, immediately explained:

"Meiya didn't see anyone touching the ring box, but she saw someone touching her small flower basket shortly after she received the ring box from the housekeeper."

Meiya, who had been taught by her parents in advance, kept the ring box in the small flower basket ever since the housekeeper gave it to her, and had never opened it.

Shortly after Karasuma Soshin entered the room, Miya, who was walking around with a small basket of flowers, accidentally bumped into someone, or was tripped by someone.

As a result, the small flower basket in her hand fell to the ground.

“However, she did not fall to the ground, but was carefully supported by the priest behind her.

The kind-hearted priest not only helped Meiya up and comforted her softly, but also helped her pick up the small flower basket that had fallen to the side and the petals that had fallen on the ground.

Hearing this, Maori Kogoro was thoughtful:

“That is to say, when the priest was picking up the small flower basket, he secretly switched the ring box in the basket, but Mei Ya didn’t see it.

So when Hagiwara asked her about it, she just shook her head. "

The priest still had that gentle smile:

“What Mr. Maori said is just speculation.

I did help Miss Meiya who almost fell, and I did help her pick up the small flower basket and petals.

But I didn't change the ring box.

From the time Miss Meiya fell to the time I picked up the small flower basket and returned it to her, only a dozen seconds passed.

If it was just as Mr. Maori said, I would move the ring from one box to another, and then put it back into the small flower basket quietly.

This is not something that can be done in a few seconds.”

As he spoke, the priest looked tenderly at the little flower girl Meiya, who was nestled in her parents' arms:

“Moreover, when I did this, I did it in front of Miss Mei Ya, and she could prove that I only picked up the small flower basket and petals for her.

The ring box did not fall out of the small flower basket at that time."

Kogoro Mori thought what the priest said made sense.

Especially when Mei Ya nodded, most of the others also thought that it was just an accident.