The Testimonies of Suspect Number One and Number Two
Meanwhile, Mouri Ran and Suzuki Sonoko, standing off to the side, couldn't help turning to glance at Xia Yu. They both felt that she had gone unusually quiet lately — and ever since Barbara had mentioned the Holy Lyre der Himmel, something about her mood seemed just slightly off. Worry crept quietly into their eyes.
Compared to Xia Yu's faint unease, the children of the Detective Boys were a different story entirely. The moment they heard about a harp called the "Holy Lyre" — a harp with such a beautiful name — their interest was instantly piqued. The kids swarmed around Barbara, firing off questions about it from every direction.
"Barbara, is that Holy Lyre really, really pretty?" Genta asked, wide-eyed with curiosity.
"What color is it?" Ayumi pressed breathlessly. "Is it as pretty as the sky?"
Mitsuhiko, ever the scholar, cared more about the music itself. "What kind of sound does it make? Is there anything special about it?"
Barbara smiled and answered each question in turn, clearly charmed by the children's innocence.
Conan, meanwhile, stood quietly to one side, watching Barbara and the Detective Boys interact with a thoughtful look in his eyes. He had keenly caught the shift in Xia Yu's mood when the lyre came up. Was there something special about that instrument?
But he said nothing, tucking the question away in the back of his mind.
"Hey, hey! This is still an active investigation, you know. Nobody got hurt, sure, but Miss Barbara, no matter how you look at it, you're still a suspect. Chit-chatting like this doesn't exactly look great..."
Hattori Heiji, whose mind never strayed far from the case, watched the suspect happily holding court at the very scene of the incident and spoke up in irritation, dragging the proceedings back onto track.
"So — right now, one at a time, tell me why you each entered this practice room." Heiji addressed the three suspects with a stern face, then shot a dissatisfied glance at Conan.
What's with Kudou today? he grumbled inwardly. Normally when a case turns up, he's all over it. And now he's spacing out?
With that thought, he shot Conan another glare — focus, the case comes first — then turned back to question the three suspects.
Suspect number one, Mizuno Ai, had been practicing in the same room as Nilou. Nilou had left first at eleven o'clock, leaving Mizuno alone in the practice room — and the security footage showed that she hadn't left until fifteen minutes later.
Under the weight of everyone's questioning stares, Mizuno Ai furrowed her brow and defended herself loudly, with every air of being in the right. "What, am I not allowed a little extra practice time?! Fine — yeah, I'll admit I'm a bit jealous that Nilou dances better than me. But I just wanted a few more run-throughs to close the gap a little. As for hurting Nilou — come on, I'm not that venomous!"
By this point Conan had collected himself, his attention firmly back on the case at hand. After all, what he knew about Teyvat was still far too little — it was much too early to be speculating about any of that.
Listening to Mizuno Ai's outburst, Conan studied her face — not the slightest flicker of guilt on it — and felt a flicker of doubt himself.
This girl didn't seem suspicious at all. Could it really not be her?
The others jotted down her statement without further comment, then turned to suspect number two.
Suspect number two, Murata Youko, was a member of the stage crew for the preliminary rounds. Five minutes after Mizuno Ai left the practice room, she had walked in, stayed about five minutes, and left.
Being treated as a suspect had left Murata Youko visibly anxious, and the moment all eyes turned to her, she began stammering out an explanation. "I-I came here to talk with Miss Nilou about the stage setup for her performance. When we discussed it yesterday there was some... some disagreement. Miss Nilou's demands were too high — I-I just couldn't manage them."
She lowered her head, looking faintly wronged, then after a pause went on. "So today I came to see Miss Nilou, to beg her to please not be so strict — to lower her standards just a little. But it just so happened that when I got there, the practice room was empty, so I left."
At Murata Youko's pointed-sounding words, Xia Yu's gaze snapped to her, and her mood soured instantly.
Xia Yu gave a silent nod of agreement.