Suspicion Falls on the Man in Black
Xia Yu stared in open-mouthed disbelief as Kaeya — a man who should not even have been part of this picture — somehow became a suspect in the whole incident. She very nearly rolled her eyes on the spot.
Really, the man simply had to poke his nose into every bit of drama he came across. And now look at him — a suspect. Served him right.
"Now then, let's go over your relationships with the victim," Inspector Megure said, oblivious to the odd looks several people were casting around the room, and carried on questioning the suspects by the book.
Of the four men, only Kaeya and Akai Shuichi had met Mr. Takano for the first time today. The other two had known Takano Hideki for years.
"Officer, the only reason I'm even here is that I heard this Mr. Takano was planning to confess to a friend of mine, so I came to watch the show," Kaeya explained, holding Klee's hand with one of his own and wearing the resigned smile of a man ambushed by circumstance.
Xia Yu: "......"
Admitting right in front of me that you came to gawk, are you? Kaeya, just you wait......
Akai Shuichi glanced sideways at him. A confession to a friend of his... which meant Kaeya's friend was that remarkable young woman, then.
Was his reason for showing up here really that simple? Nothing to do with the Organization?
And that little girl called Klee — Akai hadn't expected it. The Kaeya who had been so forceful, so cunning back at the hotel, was this gentle with his own little sister.
Akai had noticed Kaeya the moment he walked into the building. He'd assumed the man's appearance had something to do with Cointreau, but one look at the child whose hand he was holding had told him otherwise.
Today's target was Cointreau, and after that warning Kaeya had delivered — even though it had been someone else who made the move — Akai's gut told him the man himself was not to be trifled with either. So as long as Kaeya didn't interfere with their operation, Akai intended to simply ignore him.
What he hadn't counted on was disaster striking before the FBI could even get into position, followed by this flood of police. Any move now would be far too conspicuous.
Left with no choice, Akai sent a message to his superior, James, instructing him to initiate Plan B.
"Besides, I've only just arrived in this country. I wouldn't have had time to set anything up. And I've been with Klee the whole time — I could hardly have done something like that right in front of a child, could I?" As he mentioned her, Kaeya lifted the hand holding Klee's, as if to say, see? I've got a kid in tow.
"Hmm... you do have a point there," Megure conceded with a nod. Going by everyone else's testimony, Kaeya genuinely lacked the opportunity to commit the crime. He could essentially be ruled out.
Conan had no objections either — he had never once believed Kaeya was behind it.
That left only three suspects, and somehow, that felt far more normal to Inspector Megure.
"Officer, by that same logic, I don't have the means either, do I? I was only following orders — hauling this tree here was my job. And like I said, I met Mr. Takano just today," Akai Shuichi added his own explanation right on Kaeya's heels.
"That's not necessarily true." Kaeya swept a meaningful look over Akai, then turned to Megure with a helpful smile. "Word is, Mr. Takano gave this Mr. Akai a good dressing-down not long ago. Threatened to dock his pay, even."
Then, twisting the knife: "And honestly, Inspector — this Akai fellow has such a menacing face. One look and you can tell he's no good. Who's to say he didn't lose his temper in the heat of the moment and do something reckless?"
"Don't go smearing other people while we're going over the facts." Matsuda Jinpei cut in with a frown, stopping Kaeya's mud-slinging before it could go any further.
The corner of Matsuda's mouth twitched. Could this Mr. Kaeya maybe take a look in a mirror before talking about who looks like a bad guy? Standing next to Akai, he was the one who looked less trustworthy by a mile.
Still, for all his grumbling, Matsuda privately agreed that something about Akai's bearing didn't match an ordinary mover. Whether he was actually a good man or not would depend on the investigation.
"Dock his pay? What's this about?" Inspector Megure seized on the point, looking up at Akai Shuichi with new scrutiny.
Megure suspected Kaeya's words had already gotten under his skin — the man's suspicion had somehow grown larger in his mind in the space of a single remark.
Watching Megure and Officer Matsuda turn doubtful eyes toward Akai, Conan grew anxious. Kaeya wasn't actually trying to frame the man, was he?
Catching the steady, calm down look Akai sent his way, Conan took a deep breath, steadied himself, and resolved to focus on hunting for clues instead.
"Takano took one look at this guy and decided he might steal the spotlight from him, so he made up an excuse to teach him a lesson. The tree was supposed to be carried by two people in the first place — Takano deliberately made things difficult and stuck him with it alone." The moment he saw suspicion shifting toward Akai, Nakamura Masato jumped in first, embellishing the earlier events for all he was worth — anything to shrink his own share of the blame.
"So of course he must have held a grudge against Takano over it, and that's why he wanted to hurt him." And just like that, Nakamura dumped the whole thing squarely on Akai Shuichi's shoulders.
At that point Takano Hideki, who had been standing to one side listening, finally digested what he'd just heard. He thrust a finger at Akai and accused him in a fury. "Ha! I knew it was you! You looked like a bad guy from the start — Nakamura's right, you must have been holding a grudge against me!"
Takano simply refused to believe that his own friends and underlings had anything to do with today's incident. They got along well, had no real grievances, and hurting him would gain them nothing.
Which left exactly one suspicious man — this guy he'd taken an instant dislike to.
Yes. That had to be it. It was him!
Takano Hideki believed his own deduction without a shred of doubt.
"Officer, come quick, arrest him! The culprit is definitely him!" Takano spun around and bellowed at Inspector Megure — then couldn't resist muttering under his breath, "Honestly, this is all his fault. He ruined my confession scene. If it weren't for him, my angel would have said yes by now."
Sonoko, standing beside him, caught every word of that grumble and rolled her eyes. The man was as hopeless at reading a room as ever. Did Xia Yu's expression look like that of a girl about to accept a confession?
Still, she had no intention of correcting him. Takano wasn't a bad sort at heart — a few more slammed doors from Xia Yu, a few more hard lessons, might actually do him some good.
Conan, meanwhile, could only gape as the suspects and the victim alike joined forces to very nearly convict Mr. Akai on the spot.
It took all of Inspector Megure's patience and coaxing to get Takano Hideki to grudgingly accept that Akai Shuichi was merely a suspect — nothing had been proven yet.
But judging from the expression on Takano's face, he clearly still stood by his own verdict, and was only holding his tongue out of respect for the police.
Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, Inspector Megure wondered how a case where not a single person had even been hurt could possibly be more of a headache than an actual murder scene.