On Friday, January 28th, in the afternoon, on the way out of school at Didan High School.

After Yamazaki, Midaiko, Sonoko, and Ran met Conan, they ran into Officer Takagi's car, so they stepped forward to watch.

Seeing Officer Takagi get out of the car, Conan immediately ran up, "Officer Takagi, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, there's an incident that needs the help of the owner of this Western restaurant. ”

"Conan. Lan rushed over and grabbed Conan, "I'm sorry, Officer Takagi. ”

Watching Officer Takagi take away a middle-aged man with a plaster on his foot, everyone continued to go home. ……

Saturday, January 29, morning, Maori Detective Agency.

Officer Takagi came to Mori, "Mr. Mori, can you help me sort out an incident?"

"Absolutely. Maori said, and went to ask Lan to call Yamazaki.

"Is it yesterday's incident?" Conan was excited, there was another tricky event.

"Yes. Officer Takagi replied. ……

The day before yesterday, at around six o'clock in the evening on Thursday, the president of a small workshop named Katsugoro Kitamura was killed in his office.

"It was already off work at that time, so President Kitamura's body was found the next day, yesterday morning. "According to our investigation of the employees at the factory, President Kitamura stayed at the factory that night to meet with a Western restaurant owner named Yuichi Minamida. ”

Lan asked, "Is that the owner of the Western restaurant you took away yesterday?"

"Yes. Officer Takagi said, "It has been confirmed from President Kitamura's employees that the owner of Nanda owes President Kitamura 3 million yen, and President Kitamura wants a piece of land from President Nanda, which is next to President Kitamura's factory, so that President Kitamura can expand the area of the land, and the light processing industry engaged in by President Kitamura's factory is basically free of land pollution, and when the time comes, you can find a way to convert the entire land from industrial land to commercial land, or mixed land, and you can turn the factory into a shopping mall, which is a big deal." ”

"This calculation is really loud. "But I lost my life because of this." ”

"Yes, the suspect is clear about this murder, and the suspect's motive for killing the victim is also clear," Officer Takagi said with a wry smile, "but the modus operandi of this crime is a bit troublesome." ”

"What kind of method?" asked Conan.

"Take advantage of the height difference. Officer Takagi said, "Let's go to the scene and talk about it." ”

"Okay, let's go. Maori said. ……

The scene, Katsugoro Kitamura's president's office.

The white line representing the body indicates that someone has died here, and the large pool of blood on the chest has turned black, and the smell of blood is still a little pungent, as if the soul of the wronged person is staying.

"The owner of Yuichi Minamida is a man with a criminal record," Officer Takagi said, "and about 10 years ago, he was implicated in a murder and was considered a key suspect until the police caught the killer." ”

Maori asked, "What does that incident have to do with it?"

"At that time, the prosecutor had already indicted the shopkeeper Nantian, but the defense lawyer took out a piece of evidence, the angle of the wound on the victim's body, which proved that with the figure of the shopkeeper Nantian, it was impossible to kill from that angle, and the murderer we arrested finally proved this. Officer Takagi said, "And this murder also took advantage of the height gap." ”

"What's that height difference?" asked Conan.

"That's right, Mr. Yamazaki, please do me a favor. ”

Officer Takagi brought two dolls from the outside with Yamazaki, "These two dolls represent President Kitamura and the owner of Nanda, who is 166 centimeters tall and the owner of Nanda who is 186 centimeters tall. ”

"Twenty centimeters apart. Lan said.

"However, the angle of the knife was so low that only a person about 110 centimeters tall could stab him from that angle," said Officer Takagi. ”

"110 centimeters tall?" Lan said confusedly, "that's just a child." ”

"It's easy," said Maori, "just a swing of the wrist, not a stab, but a stab." ”

"President Kitamura was stabbed in the head, and he himself is a judo master, and the owner of Nanda doesn't know much martial arts, and he injured his foot a week ago, and now he is still in a plaster, which we have confirmed. Officer Takagi said, "So it is impossible for the owner of Nanda to attack President Kitamura from the front." ”

"Oh, that's interesting. Maori pondered.

Yamazaki said, "Let's restore the scene." ”

"Is it this triangular ladder in the corner?" said Conan, "President Kitamura stood on it, and Mr. Nanda sat on the ground. ”

"Yes, that's it. Officer Takagi laughed, "Conan, you're really smart." ”

Looking at Maori's unkind eyes, Conan smiled dryly: "This is all taught well by Uncle Maori." ”

Officer Takagi placed a doll representing President Katsugoro Kitamura on a triangular ladder and asked the doll representing the owner of Yuichi Minamita to sit on the ground in a seated position.

Put a knife in the hand of the puppet representing Yuichi Minamida, representing the murder weapon, an ordinary kitchen knife.

"That's how it should have been. Officer Takagi said.

"Now that it's all clear," Maori asked, "what's the problem?"

"That's the proof, Mr. Maori. Officer Takagi smiled wryly, "This scene is just a guess, and we have no evidence to prove this scene at all." ”

Maori asked, "This triangular ladder ......"

"This is a substitute, the real thing is in the Metropolitan Police Department, it was in the corner of the wall at the time, there was no blood stains on it, and there were no fingerprints, so I can't be sure that President Kitamura was killed standing on it. Officer Takagi smiled bitterly, "There are no fingerprints of the owner of Nantian on the murder knife, so we can only prove that the owner of Nanda has been here, but we have no way to prove that the owner of Nanda murdered and killed President Kitamura here." ”

"I see. Maori smiled, "Then take out all the photos of the scene and see what else you find." ”

Officer Takagi took out a photo of the scene, "President Katsugoro Kitamura was wearing a pair of glasses on his face, which were reading glasses, and he didn't have shoes on his feet, so we thought that he was climbing on the top of the triangular ladder and wanted to see something, so we speculated that the scene was restored." ”

"And what is he going to do standing on a ladder?" Ran looked at the ceiling.

"There were only lights on it, but we didn't find fingerprints. Officer Takagi said.

"That is, the murderer then brushed it off. Maori said.

"The murderer must have gone up the triangular ladder as well," Conan said, "so the triangular ladder was also grazed." ”

Yamazaki said: "There was an element of coincidence in this incident. ”

"What do you mean by that?" asked Officer Takagi.

"I don't know if it was the luck of Mr. Yuichi Minamida or the misfortune of Mr. Katsugoro Kitamura, after Mr. Kitamura stood on the triangular ladder and was stabbed, not a drop of blood splashed on the ladder, nor did a drop fall to the ground, forming a blood stain dripping from the sky. "This makes this incident missing an important link, that is, there is no way to prove that Mr. Kitamura was attacked on a ladder, and there is no way to prove that Mr. Nanda was sitting on the ground." ”

"It seems like that's the case. Lan said.

"That's right," Officer Takagi said with a wry smile, "that's why I wanted to ask Mr. Mori for help." ”

Yamazaki shook his head and slipped away under the pretext that it was not too early and he was going home for dinner.

The detective's job is to sort out the messy clues, not a god out of nothing, now there is nothing on the key evidence, no matter how many clues are found, it is not enough to prove anything, so you can only start from the side of the criminal.

Now we are looking for a psychologist, if this can not break through the prisoner's mental defense, then there is no play, even if there is a prosecutor who tries to prosecute the prisoner for the sake of justice, it is useless, because any lawyer can use the lack of evidence as a breakthrough to make the prosecutor speechless. ……

At noon, the Miyamoto family.

In the breakfast of Midaiko, and in the lunch of the others, Yamazaki talked about the incident of Katsugoro Kitamura and Yuichi Minamida.

"Sounds weird. Mei Daiko smiled.

Mimiko Miyamoto thought for a while and asked, "What do you think is the reason why the knife entered the chest but no blood spilled out, and it could cause this consequence?"

Mei Daiko said, "There is no blood groove on the knife. ”

Yamazaki said, "The amount of bleeding in that instant, the blood that oozed and splashed, was exactly absorbed by the close-fitting underwear and loose coat worn by Mr. Kitamura Katsugoro, and at the same time, Mr. Kitamura Katsugoro fell backwards, so not a drop of blood dripped onto the triangular ladder. ”

"It's two. Miyamoto Miko said, "There is one more." ”

Seeing that Yamazaki and Mei Daiko didn't come up with it for a while, Miyamoto Ichiro said, "Keep your hands steady." ”

"That's right, it's hand steady. "This way the knife doesn't move, and there won't be more room for bleeding." ”

"Remember when the newspapers published a murder in the hallway a few days ago?" said Miyamoto, "and the blood of the deceased was spilled, and the prisoner prepared two raincoats for it." ”

"Mr. Yuichi Minamida is the owner of a Western restaurant, so he naturally knows how to hold a knife, and he has made up his mind, so he is ruthless and does not hesitate at all," Yamazaki imagined, "When Mr. Kitamura Katsugoro climbed the triangular ladder, Mr. Nanda Yuichi, who was sitting on the ground, suddenly became troubled and stabbed Mr. Kitamura Katsugoro in the chest above, and the bleeding of this knife was sucked away by Mr. Kitamura Katsugoro's clothes, and at the same time, Mr. Kitamura Katsugoro fell, and finally not a drop of blood dropped. ”

"Wait," Mei Daiko swallowed the food in her mouth, "If the prisoner prepared two raincoats in the previous incident, then what did the prisoner prepare for this incident? As long as you find this, you should be able to solve the case." ”

"That's a good idea. Miyamoto Miko smiled, "However, in this incident, except for the murder knife, everything else has a coincidence." ”

"How so?" said Mei Daizi, "it should be the prisoner who has done something on the lamp that the victim will climb the ladder." ”

"If the lights are not on, do you have to fix them?" Miyamoto Miyako smiled, "I remember that the chandelier in your bedroom was broken, and it was often only a few days later that I remembered to call someone to fix it." ”

"That's different. "I have a table lamp and a wall lamp. ”

"I think it's the same. Miyamoto said, "Unlike the events published in the newspapers, in this case, only the time of the crime is scheduled. ”

"Indeed, everything is calculated to kill those who answer the door. "And there are a lot of accidents and coincidences in this incident. ”

"I don't understand. Mei Daiko said.

Miyamoto Miko asked, "Do you know why the prisoner set the time for committing the crime after work?"

"What's this?" thought to Mei Daiko, biting her chopsticks, "because it was just him and the victim at that time, because there was no one else after work." ”

"Good. Miyamoto asked, "And then?"

Mei Daiko thought for a moment, "I don't understand. ”

Then he had plenty of time to clean up the aftermath. Yamazaki said.

"yes, he's alone. Mei Daiko said.

"So, unlike killing people at the door, Mr. Yuichi Minamida doesn't need to prepare anything at all, just bring determination, bring a knife, and bring a brain, no matter what the situation is after killing Mr. Kitamura Katsugoro, he has one night to deal with the aftermath," Yamazaki said, "The only thing to note is that if you can't kill Mr. Kitamura Katsugoro with one knife, Mr. Nanda Yuichi will be in trouble, because he is already injured, so this knife, Mr. Nanda Yuichi must have thought about it many times, from various angles." ”

"Well, that's true. Midaiko said, then asked, "Wait, did his leg injury happen on purpose?"

"It shouldn't be, it should be just a coincidence. "Injuries can make people let their guard down, but injuries can also affect their movements." ”

"There are so many coincidences. Mei Daiko said.

"If you lose your horse, you don't know it's a disaster. Miyamoto said.

"The first coincidence of this event is time. Yamazaki said, "If the hands and feet on the lamp were made by Mr. Yuichi Minamida, it must have been the only time when Mr. Yuichi Minamida was in the office alone, that is, when Mr. Yuichi Minamida went to see Mr. Katsugoro Kitamura, Mr. Katsugoro Kitamura asked Mr. Yuichi Minamida to wait for him in the office, and he was ......."

"Check his workshop," Midaiko laughs, "just like when our restaurant closes." ”

"Mr. Yuichi Minamida happened to experience a murder incident related to the height difference, and he was killed on the spot, and he must have a deep memory of that incident and will never forget it. "So when he was alone in the office, he had an idea and worked on the lamps to try to create a favorable situation." ”

"I see, and then coincidentally, the victim really went to fix the lamp," said Midaiko, "oh, maybe he instigated it." ”

Then, Mr. Yuichi Minamida killed Mr. Katsugoro Kitamura with a knife, and coincidentally there was no blood dripping, which saved a lot of things. "And because of this, there is not enough evidence for the whole incident." ”

"Mm-hmm, I see. Mei Daiko said. ……

In the evening, Mei Dai Restaurant.

Mori came over for a drink, and by the way, brought new information about the incident, and Kitamura Katsugoro's employees said that he was very hands-on, and if the lamp broke, he usually repaired it himself.

Therefore, it must have been Yuichi Minamida who broke the lamp and lured Katsugoro Kitamura to climb up the triangular ladder and then gave him a knife.

Yamazaki was speechless, the important thing is not to prove whether Katsugoro Kitamura climbed up the triangular ladder to repair the lamp, but to prove whether Katsugoro Kitamura was assassinated on the triangular ladder.

And as long as there is no blood on the triangular ladder, it cannot be determined that Katsugoro Kitamura was assassinated on the triangular ladder. ……