Conan: About the fact that I have a black brother

Date Ko cordoned off the scene and followed Natsume to the lounge next door.

The layout of the lounge is almost the same, the difference is that the room where everyone gathers now uses a cooler navy blue tone, while the crime scene is a brighter red.

Perhaps someone had smoked, as Lin Xiaochen and the other two smelled a pungent smell of smoke as soon as they stepped in.

Lin Xiaochen coughed twice unconsciously.

Natsume waved his hands in the air, trying to dispel the smell, and asked, "What's going on? Who's smoking in there? Where's the waiter? Don't you know how to stop them?"

"Master, this spare lounge looks like this when it is opened. We have tried our best to ventilate it." A black-haired man in a well-dressed suit walked over, "Please forgive me."

"It's been so long and the smell is still there?" Natsume glanced at the waiter with dissatisfaction.

"Master, it is because the ventilation cabinet in this room is damaged and has not been repaired yet, so it is used as a backup lounge." The waiter explained, "However, the smell will be dissipated before the room is locked. Regarding this, please forgive me for a moment..."

"Go get the shift schedule." Natsume interrupted him.

The waiter was stunned for a moment and was about to respond and leave.

"Wait." Lin Xiaochen raised his hand to stop him, "What's wrong with your arm?"

He pointed to the waiter's left hand, which had been hanging down: "Can't you lift it up?"

The waiter paused and looked at Lin Xiaochen: "Sir, there is nothing wrong with my arm." He raised his left arm as if to prove it. "Did my posture affect your judgment?"

His eyes blinked, revealing a bit of innocence and confusion.

Lin Xiaochen hummed: "Indeed, I am not familiar with these etiquettes. Please go get the schedule."

Natsume didn't bother about Lin Xiaochen's sudden question. He looked at Ida Kou who had already walked to the sofa.

Yi Dahang held the police manual in one hand and recorded the testimonies of several witnesses in the other.

"As soon as we entered, we saw Chang Shan collapsed on the sofa. The man was standing beside him, stretching out his hands and looking like he was doing something." Fujiwara Mieko folded her hands on her knees, looking very dignified. "Maybe that man killed Chang Shan."

"Okay, ma'am, some people said that you and Mr. Changshan had an argument at the banquet. Can you explain the situation?" Although Date Ko was asking Fujiwara Mieko, his eyes fell on Takei Yuriko, who was sitting next to Fujiwara Mieko with a pillow between them.

It was not because of anything else, but because of the awkwardness in her that made Yi Dahang particularly concerned.

Different from Fujiwara Mieko who was strong and calm but revealed a hint of fear, Takei Yuriko seemed to be completely overwhelmed by sadness. She sobbed softly, and from time to time she used a handkerchief to wipe away the corners of her eyes and her tears. She looked so pitiful.

This action is not at all what a girl would do when encountering a crime scene.

It’s normal to be sad, it’s normal to be afraid, it’s normal to be calm, but having only one emotion is not so normal.

"It's just some old story." Fujiwara Mieko said vaguely.

"Excuse me ma'am, but could you please describe it in detail?"

Fujiwara Mieko bit her lip reluctantly.

Haiyue Chunhui, who was sitting next to her, interrupted: "Mr. Policeman, Mieko doesn't want to talk about it herself. As her friend, I know a little bit about the inside story. Why don't we chat privately later?"

Although Ida Hang was puzzled, he still agreed.

"So, ladies, apart from the lounge, when was the last time you saw Mr. Changshan?"

"After Mieko and Changshan quarreled, Mieko and I went to drink together on the other side of the hall." Haiyue Chunhui said, "After that, I danced with my brother and then separated from Mieko. Until just now, I wanted to take a break, and I met Mieko again at the door of the lounge."

Fujiwara Mieko's voice was a little muffled: "After the quarrel, I went to the dressing room to change into another dress, and then continued to socialize and danced with Mr. Natsume. After that, I was a little drunk with my father, so I wanted to go back to the lounge to rest for a while."

The two people's statements corroborated each other, and Yi Dahang did not hear anything wrong for the time being.

Yuriko Takei said timidly, "After I soiled Mieko's clothes, I went to the bathroom to tidy up my appearance, and then returned to the hall. The dance had already started, and the lights were too dim. I accidentally soiled my clothes, so I went to the bathroom to clean them up again."

As she spoke, she looked down at her collar, and there was indeed a small red stain there, as if it was stained with dragon fruit juice.

Yi Dahang was puzzled. Under normal circumstances, shouldn't one prepare an extra set of dresses to change into when encountering such occasions?

He looked at the room layout the waiter had just given him with some uncertainty, and confirmed that the bathroom was farther away from the main banquet hall than the dressing room.

"As expected, a poor person who didn't even remember to prepare an extra dress?" Fujiwara Mieko seemed to have guessed what Date Kou was thinking, "What a disgrace to the noble family."

Yuriko Takei lowered her head embarrassedly, rubbing the white cloth on her knees with her fingers, showing a bit of helplessness.

"I then went back to the party because no one invited me and my dress couldn't be seen by anyone, so I went to sit in the lounge for a while until my dress was dry before going back to the hall," she added. "Then I heard screaming, so I went to the lounge with everyone else."

"When you returned to the lounge, was there anyone inside?" asked Yi Dahang.

"No……"

"So you lack an alibi for that period?"

"…Maybe…"

Ida Hang nodded to show that he understood.

Due to the family connections, Natsume was not able to question several people, so he chose Kogoro Mori who was standing aside and listening, and asked them if there was anything unusual in the lounge.

Lin Xiaochen didn't like the strong smell of tobacco, so after asking the waiter, he stood by the door and waited until the smell in the lounge faded before going in again. When he got close to the sofa, he was dizzy from the pungent smell of perfume.

Lin Xiaochen rubbed the tip of his nose with his index finger, wondering in his heart: Why didn’t I feel that the smell of perfume was too strong before the banquet?

The waiter had been waiting on the side for a long time. Seeing that Lin Xiaochen was the only one with an empty seat among the police officers, he approached and handed him the form: "Mr. Policeman, this is the shift schedule. The day the lounge was locked, I was on duty."

Lin Xiaochen took it and said, "You were on duty? Why didn't you tell me just now? Don't you remember what happened in the past few days?"

"Sir." The waiter smiled apologetically, "I've been busy these past few days, and my schedule has been a bit messed up. I'm really sorry for the trouble this has caused you."