Accidental Death

"Then it's up to me, a famous detective, to reveal the truth of this incident!"

Edogawa Ranpo stood up, and took out a pair of old-fashioned glasses from his pocket.

He seemed to have suddenly put away his previous casual attitude, and his eyes swept over everyone in the hall one by one, his emerald eyes were calm.

"So that's it, I know. The prisoner in this incident—" As everyone watched with breathless concentration, Edogawa ran out his hand and pointed to the person sitting on the far right of the sofa.

"Mr. Inohara. You killed Horikita Yoshi, and that is the truth."

Everyone's eyes were focused on Inohara in an instant, and their expressions were hard to hide their shock.

"What?" Inohara pointed at himself blankly, completely unable to understand why Edogawa Ranpo would suddenly identify him as the murderer.

Probably feeling that Ranpo Edogawa's accusation was unreasonable, Inohara stood up uncontrollably, frowning: "You are a detective, right? Suspecting me casually without investigation and confirmation... This is too absurd. Horikita-sensei is a boss I respect very much, why should I kill him?!"

"...I also don't think Mr. Inohara is a murderer." Suzuki Kyoko was obviously frightened by Edogawa Ranpo's words, but she still didn't quite believe it.

After all, the detective named Edogawa Ranpo has been thinking about things out of the way since he entered the door, making people wonder if what he is saying now is just random nonsense.

"Well, Mr. Ranpo, do you have any basis for suspecting that Mr. Inohara is the murderer?" Watanabe Rongxiu recovered from the shock and said.

As Horikita Yoshino's subordinate, Inohara was also a member of the military and police with them, so he naturally didn't want the other party to be the murderer.

"You should know that Inohara had an alibi at ten to eleven o'clock when the deceased was injured."

Even if Inohara is the murderer, he still has time to commit crimes!

"That? That's a clichéd trick," Edogawa Ranbu said, "as long as the clock in the study is set forward four to five ten minutes beforehand, then Horikita who enters the study in the evening will be misled, and thus in ten minutes Write a diary before 10 o'clock. After the murder, just turn the wall clock back to normal, and it is easy to create the illusion that the victim died after ten o'clock."

After finishing speaking, Edogawa ranpo looked at Mrs. Horikita: "Did the victim do any abnormal behavior yesterday?"

Mrs. Horikita pondered for two seconds and then said in surprise: "Last night, when it was just seven o'clock, my husband called downstairs to urge dinner. It was indeed a little earlier than usual. Could it be that..."

"That's right, it is precisely because of the error of the clock that the victim made such an abnormal behavior." Edogawa said slowly.

Tsujimura Fukatsuki understood: "In other words...the possibility that the criminal committed the crime before ten o'clock cannot be ruled out."

She looked at the three suspects: "Do you have an alibi before ten o'clock?"

Mrs. Horikita recalled: "No. I was in the screening room on the second floor, and Ms. Suzuki and Mr. Inohara were also staying in their guest rooms."

The latter two nodded in agreement.

"In this case, the three suspects seem to have the possibility of committing the crime?" Rongxiu Watanabe hesitated.

Then why did Edogawa Ranpo say that Inohara was the murderer?

Inohara on the side tried hard to control his emotions, and said in a calm tone as much as possible: "Detective Ranpo, since you think I'm the murderer, please present the corresponding evidence."

He took a deep breath and smiled: "Of course, if this is just your slander on the spur of the moment, I will file a lawsuit with you through my lawyer to protect my reputation."

"Since you are so impatient, then I will satisfy you." Edogawa Ranpo said, completely ignoring Inohara's expression, got up and walked in front of him.

Atsushi Nakajima stared nervously at the two.

Others may still be waiting for the truth of the incident, but Nakajima Atsushi, who has [-]% trust in Edogawa Ranpo, has already determined that Inohara is the murderer.

He was very worried that Inohara, who was cornered, would have a hard time at the last moment and cause damage to Edogawa Ranpo.

"—The evidence you want is right in front of your eyes," Edogawa Ranbu looked at Inohara and asked, "Mr. Inohara, the clothes you are wearing now are not your own, right?"

Inohara's nerves have been a little tense since the beginning, and he was taken aback when he heard his question before answering: "Yes..."

Edogawa Ranpo went on to say: "This is the clothes of the victim Horikita Zen. Isn't that right?"

At this time, Tsujimura Fukatsuki noticed that Inohara was wearing a rather old-fashioned suit, which did not match his age.

——She felt a little strange when she entered the door and saw it, but she only thought it was the other party's personal habits, so she didn't delve into it.

It turned out that these were the clothes of the deceased? !

But... what can this explain?

Inohara seemed to show a dumbfounding expression: "Yes, Mr. Ranpo is right, these are Mr. Horikita's clothes, but I just borrowed Mrs. Horikita's clothes temporarily because I accidentally soiled my clothes yesterday. —— Mrs. Horikita also knew about this. If you take this as evidence that I am the murderer, I am sorry to disagree."

Mrs. Horikita explained from the side: "When it was raining yesterday evening, Inohara-kun said that he saw the potted lily of the valley plant in the yard was blown down by the wind, so he went out and moved the flowers to the door—but he was caught in the rain Wet and dirty clothes, so I suggested that he change into my husband's clothes first."

She said, pointing to the two pots of lilies of the valley under the eaves outside the door: "These are the two."

Atsushi Nakajima looked over.

Those were two triangular flower pots the size of palms, so it was no wonder they were blown down in the wind.

Edogawa Ranpo seemed a bit reluctant: "Inohara-kun, since it's raining outside, why don't you take an umbrella?"

He walked to the closet in the entrance, picked up an umbrella, and opened it with a bang: "It shouldn't be difficult for you to hold the umbrella with one hand and hold the flowerpot with the other like this—this way, you won't get wet .”

Inohara scratched his head: "I was a little anxious when I went downstairs, and I didn't notice that there was an umbrella here..."

"Do not."

Edogawa turned around and looked at Inohara, but what he said made the latter's heart sink suddenly: "It's not because of carelessness that you don't open an umbrella, but because you want to get wet in the rain."

Everyone was silent, only the footsteps of young people in the empty hall.

"After you killed the victim in the study last night, you accidentally got blood from the victim's wound on your clothes. This is decisive evidence. If you are found, the police will immediately know that you are the murderer. So you borrowed 'Lily of the Valley was killed' Going out with the wind blowing down' reason, deliberately letting yourself get wet in the rain, so that you have a reasonable excuse to change and wash your clothes."

Edogawa paused in disarray: "You should have worn a very dark dress yesterday, so Mrs. Horikita couldn't see the blood on it with the naked eye even if the real culprit who killed her husband appeared ostentatiously She is also unconscious in front of her eyes."

Madam Horikita was speechless for a moment.

Suzuki Kyouko's expression was pale: "... Inohara-kun was indeed wearing a black suit yesterday."

"Detective Ranpo, I have to admit that you have a rich imagination," Inohara said with a gloomy face, "but in the final analysis, this is just your baseless imagination. Having said so much, do you have any evidence?"

Edogawa Ranpo: "Indeed, no one witnessed the process of your committing the crime. Judging from your reaction, those blood-stained clothes must have been cleaned by you with bleach, right?"

Tsujimura Fukatsuki clenched his left hand tightly.

It is true that the luminol reagent reacts specifically to blood stains, but the hypochlorous acid in the bleach interferes with the detection.Even testing the clothes won't yield any results.

In short, there is no evidence.

No matter how reasonable Edogawa Ranpo's "guess" is, without evidence, it will always be just a guess.

Inohara was frantic, and looked helplessly at Edogawa Ranpo: "There is no blood at all, I stayed in my room until ten o'clock yesterday!! I only went downstairs when I saw Suzuran being blown down .You are simply baseless nonsense!"

"You're the one talking nonsense, right?" Edogawa Ranpo retorted dissatisfiedly.

He pushed the glasses with his empty hands, and raised the corners of his mouth: "'Stay in your room until ten o'clock'? It's a big mistake to say that. There is a big hole in your words."

Atsushi Nakajima was at a loss: "A loophole?"

Tsujimura Fukatsuki also looked at Ayatsuji pedestrian beside him with some puzzlement: "Teacher, the loophole refers to—"

"Enough! You are simply making assumptions based on your own subjectivity."

Inohara raised his voice, and looked at Ayatsuji pedestrian as if he was trying to grab a life-saving straw: "Detective Ayatsuji! Do you agree with this detective? It's too ridiculous to conclude that I am the murderer!"

Ayatsuji, who had been silent all this time, raised his head, and his eyes fell on the latter without the slightest warmth.

Inohara looked at Ayatsuji pedestrians unexpectedly, and couldn't help but shudder in his heart.But still bit the bullet and said, "Detective Ayatsuji, what do you think?"

Ayatsuji Xingren stood up, but he seemed to be a bit out of line with the answer: "There is a wooden support in the corner on the left side of the house. The two pots of lily of the valley were placed there before, right?"

Madam Horikita nodded yes.

As if realizing something, the blood on Inohara's face faded.

The detective's voice was calm and indifferent: "The structure of this house is very special. You can understand it just by looking at it from the outside. You can never see that corner from the second floor."

Accompanied by his voice, Inohara's figure faltered.

"So, how did you who 'stayed on the second floor' find out that the flower pot was blown down?" The detective looked at Inohara, and made the final sentence lightly, "The answer is, you have been in this period. I went to the study on the third floor during the time, and saw lily of the valley in the rain there.”

"You killed Horikita Zen."

There was no sound in the room for a moment.

"...The culprit is really Inohara-kun?!" Kyouko Suzuki said in disbelief after a while, "Why?! Why did you kill Horikita-sensei?"

Mrs. Horikita pointed at Inohara tremblingly: "Inohara, why did you do this?"

"..."

The crime was finally exposed.

Inohara stared blankly at the people in front of him who looked either fearful or angry, and finally smiled self-deprecatingly: "I don't want to either. Horikita-sensei used to be my most admired boss."

He said: "Last month, I accidentally discovered that Mr. Horikita had private contacts with people from the port mafia."

Before he finished speaking, Suzuki Kyoko retorted: "Impossible! How could such an upright person like Mr. Horikita get mixed up with the port mafia?"

Inohara glanced at her and shook his head: "But the fact is like this. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it. After learning about this, I was very scared and anxious to find someone to discuss what to do, but I Everyone around me is Horikita-sensei's supporters, I dare not trust anyone. Then, a few days ago, Horikita-sensei seemed to have doubts about me... He must have discovered that I knew his secret...

"When we came to the villa yesterday, when we met, he asked me to go to the study after ten o'clock, saying that he had something important to talk to me about. He also said that I 'probably got some news that I shouldn't know'... Horikita-sensei They must be trying to kill me...I'm scared and I don't know what to do."

Kyoko Suzuki originally wanted to ask "Why didn't you tell us".

But instead, he thought of his reaction just now, and swallowed the words back.

Even if Inohara told her about this at that time, she probably wouldn't believe it.

"At that time, I was very scared, but I didn't want to die, so I had to act first. Horikita-sensei didn't have the habit of wearing a watch-everyone who knew him knew this very well, so just adjusting the wall clock in the study room could fool him. To him. As for the process, it is the same as Mr. Ranpo said." After Inohara finished speaking, he let out a long sigh of relief.

Atsushi Nakajima murmured to himself in astonishment: "...It turned out to be like this."

The military and police officer was involved with the port mafia, and the subordinate who discovered the secret of the officer killed him in order to save his life.

The amount of information in this is too large, which is difficult for people to digest for a while.

Watanabe Rongxiu looked at Inohara, and seemed to want to say something to him, but considering the large number of people here, he stopped.

In the end, he just looked at Inohara with a complicated expression and sighed.

In the silence, Edogawa Ranpo standing outside the crowd suddenly looked at Atsushi Nakajima: "Atsushi, back off."

The latter was stunned for a moment, and then ran to Edogawa Ranpo, not knowing why he said: "What's the matter, Mr. Ranpo?"

Edogawa held his umbrella in disorder and didn't respond. He just looked at Ayatsuji pedestrian who was standing with Tsujimura Fukatsuki.

Under the reflection of the lens, Atsushi Nakajima couldn't see his expression clearly.

In the silence, Atsushi Nakajima's extra keen hearing because of the "moonbeast" suddenly caught an extremely small, thin line cracking sound.

Behind him, the crystal chandelier hanging on the dome of the hall shook slightly for some unknown reason, and then suddenly fell to the ground without warning.

The people around the center of the hall were startled by this accident, screaming and in chaos.

After the piercing and sharp sound fell silent, everyone saw a hellish scene.

The dropped chandelier was destroyed beyond recognition when it hit the ground.

The principle of the well that was originally under it fell to the ground and lost its vitality.

The sharp bracket with the broken back passed through his chest behind him, and the cold metal shone with a chill.

Around, broken crystal pendants stained with dark red blood were scattered all over the place.