Chapter 219 Suspicious Akai Shuu 1
After getting the floppy disk, Conan relaxed and was no longer as nervous as before.
He continued to play the role of "Sleeping Kogoro" and reasoned.
"Inspector Megure, when you were using the computer just now, did you notice anything special on it?"
Inspector Megure was stunned: "No."
He knew that Brother Maori would not ask this for no reason, so he walked to the computer and observed it, and found that each keycap had a sticker with small raised dots on it.
"Isn't this Braille? It's for the blind." Inspector Megure said, "But why does Mr. Itakura use this?"
Naito heard this and quickly said, "I know this. Mr. Itakura has the same severe vision loss as me, so he is learning to use Braille recently."
"I see." Inspector Megure suddenly realized.
Takagi Wataru suddenly shouted, "Mr. Maori just said that the terminology of some things can only be understood by those who know it. Could it be that this chess game is hinting at Braille?"
The chess pieces on the board were arranged one by one, and at first glance they thought it was a chess game like this. After being reminded by Kogoro, the spirit behind Maori Conan, they realized that this arrangement might have a profound meaning.
Inspector Megure couldn't help but look at Naito.
Naito adjusted his glasses, squinted at the chessboard, and slowly analyzed: "This shape is not Braille... No, if you only look at the black pieces, you can translate it into words."
"What does it mean?" Inspector Megure asked hurriedly.
Naito read out the words one by one, and finally formed a complete sentence: "The criminal is Soma, and the evidence is the watch."
"What?" Everyone looked at Soma in shock.
Soma's face turned pale, and he argued in a panic: "Hey, hey, the murderer left this on purpose to frame me, right?"
Inspector Megure looked at Maori Kogoro: "Brother Maori?"
"Then let me tell you the origin of this death message. Mr. Itakura knew that the criminal would definitely return to the room after his death, so he used Go and Braille to leave a secret code.
He knew that Mr. Soma did not know Go or Braille, so even if he saw Go, and there were also chess and shogi in the room, he would just think that they were used as references when he was designing the Go software.
After his body was found, the three of you, as persons of interest, would have certainly been called in for questioning, and the photos of the room would have been shown to you.
Mr. Sugai, who knows Go, will definitely find out where the white pieces violated the rules when he sees the Go board, and Mr. Naito, who knows Braille like Mr. Itakura, will be able to see the secret code left by him from the chessboard and know who the murderer is. "
Soma's face suddenly became extremely ugly.
Inspector Megure nodded and asked, "Then how do you explain the fact that the evidence is a watch?"
"I would like to ask Mr. Soma first, when did you buy your watch?"
Soma replied blankly: "Five days ago..."
"Then it's clear. Mr. Itakura is very particular about watches, and the three of them all bought brand-name watches. If I'm guessing correctly, when you came over a few days ago, Mr. Itakura must have taken your watch to appreciate it, right? He must have left fingerprints at that time, otherwise he wouldn't have left evidence of a watch."
Soma's face suddenly turned pale.
Inspector Megure suddenly realized, "I see. If the watch was bought five days ago, then no matter how you look at it, it can't explain why Mr. Itakura, who has lived here alone for a week, would have his fingerprints on your watch, right?"
He walked towards Soma and said in a deep voice: "Then Mr. Soma, please cooperate with us to check your watch."
Soma sighed deeply and raised his wrist to reveal his watch. "Feel free to investigate. I'm sure his fingerprints are all over it."
"I took advantage of the fact that he was concentrating on his watch, put sleeping pills in the water, and then tied him up with a towel and tape."
Soma revealed his motive for murder.
Twenty years ago, Itakura Taku was just an unknown game engineer and a small employee in a video game company.
The two met in a shogi club, and when they were chatting together, they mentioned that they must be able to design shogi software that can defeat "shogi masters" in the future. To this end, Soma spent a full 20 years collecting famous shogi games and borrowing money to invest in this dream. However, Itakura Taku's response to his efforts was always "wait until the time is right...", "wait a little longer..."
Soma waited for twenty years, but in the end what he got was a sentence from Itakura Taku: "How many times do you think a person should wait?" This was undoubtedly a perfunctory and mocking remark to Soma.
Soma finally couldn't stand it anymore and decided to kill.
···
After the case was solved, Kogoro Mouri followed Inspector Megure away, saying that he had something to discuss.
However, Mao Lilan suspected that they were going to have a drink.
Forget it, let's just pretend we don't know today. Mao Lilan secretly glanced at the back of her father's neck and turned her face away with a guilty look.
I'm such a bad kid, Mao Lilan thought.
Mao Lilan held Conan's hand and walked on the way back.
"Conan, is there anything in that diary? You seem to care about it very much." Ran Mouri asked in a low voice.
Conan nodded slightly and answered in a low voice: "Do you remember Mr. Soma mentioned that a big man went to find Mr. Itakura? That man was one of theirs, and he was killed by a bomb at the previous Mantiantang game launch conference."
"What?" Mao Lilan widened her eyes in surprise.
"Shh!" Conan made a gesture to keep quiet.
Mao Lilan quickly covered her mouth.
"Let's talk about this when we get back." Conan whispered.
Mao Lilan thought about the feeling of being watched recently and nodded repeatedly.
The two continued walking, and when they approached a telephone booth, Mao Lilan suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Conan looked up in confusion.
"That person..." Mao Lilan hesitated.
Conan looked forward.
A man wearing a knitted hat was walking out of a telephone booth with a cigarette in his mouth. He was walking towards them. When he saw Mouri Ran and Conan looking at him, he stopped.
The three of them stood face to face.
Conan frowned. This person looks so familiar? Where have I seen him before?
Oh, right! This guy was also present during the last bus hijacking incident, and was called over by the criminals to serve as a stand-in.
Conan became suspicious instinctively. How could he be here? What a coincidence?
Could it be that... Conan calmly took a half step forward and protected Mouri Ran behind him.
Ran Mouri noticed Conan's little action and felt warm in her heart.
Akai Shuichi looked at the two of them calmly, his eyes fell on Mao Li Ran, and he slowly spoke, his slightly cold voice reaching their ears: "You look much stronger than before."
"What?" Mao Lilan was a little surprised.
"Nothing." Akai Shuichi smiled and walked towards the two of them.
As they passed by, Akai Shuichi suddenly said, "I hope you are not just strong on the surface."
When I first met Mao Lilan, she was standing in the rain and crying alone; and recently, when I was secretly monitoring and protecting her, I would occasionally see her revealing a fragile and worried expression.
This girl doesn't seem as strong as she appears. Is she troubled by something?
Mao Lilan's eyes widened slightly and she stood there in shock.
"Lan, do you know this person?" Conan asked in a deep voice.
Mao Lilan came back to her senses and said, "I've seen him before. I met him when you and I went to New York."
"Huh?" Conan was stunned. How come he didn't know about this?
"I was waiting for you in front of an abandoned building when this man suddenly came over and asked me if I had seen a neon man with long silver hair and a full beard."
Conan was shocked. New York, silver-haired man, isn’t that the building where they encountered the road demon?
"Come to think of it, on the day we went to the blind date between Inspector Shiratori and Officer Sato, he was there too. He seemed to be looking for someone, but it seemed like he recognized the wrong person."
"What?" Conan's pupils suddenly shrank. Could it be that the person secretly monitoring Mouri Ran was Akai Shuichi?
"But I don't think he's one of theirs," Mao Lilan comforted Conan when she saw his ugly face, "Because the person who came with him at the time was wearing a jacket with the FBI logo printed on it, so I think he might be..."
Mao Lilan didn't finish her words, but Conan already understood what she meant. She thought Akai Shuichi should be a member of the FBI.
Is he really an FBI agent? Conan subconsciously doubted.
Because Conan had only encountered him once, during the bus hijacking incident, he didn't take him seriously. However, according to Ran Mouri, Shuichi Akai appeared around them one after another.
Leaving aside the New York date, was the blind date a coincidence? Or did he follow someone there?
He? Mao Lilan? Or... Niide Tomoaki?