Chapter 141: But I Have an Alibi

Chapter 141: But I Have an Alibi

Conan turned his head to stare at Chi Feichei for a moment, chuckled mischievously, and teased, "If you hadn't been with us the whole time, I would have suspected you were the killer."

Chi Feichei waited nonchalantly to the side.

Fortunately, when Mouri Ran asked earlier if he wanted a cola, he suddenly remembered details like 'S', 'airport', and 'ice skates', so he didn't go buy one.

Otherwise, during the time the murderer committed the crime, he would have been separated from the others.

Although with Conan around, even if he were listed as a suspect, his name would eventually be cleared, but it would still be troublesome.

A moment later, Inspector Megure, leading a group of officers, pushed through the crowd. He immediately spotted Chi Feichei standing by the restroom door and was momentarily speechless. Leaning closer, he said, "Chi, my boy, I heard you took Mouri as your teacher? Maybe you should visit a shrine or temple sometime."

"It wouldn't be enough to suppress it," Chi Feichei replied impassively.

You think a temple or shrine could suppress the Elementary School Shinigami?

Naive! The temple and shrine would end up having incidents too.

Inspector Megure hadn't expected such a response from Chi Feichei. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly; he had only been joking. "Ahem, so, what's the current situation..."

"Someone's dead," Chi Feichei stated.

Inspector Megure: "..."

No kidding, of course, he knew that!

Chi Feichei looked at Inspector Megure, paused, and said, "Shouldn't the police be examining the scene now?"

Isn't this the situation now?

As police officers, it's better to rely on yourselves, not always listen to others.

Dark lines formed on Inspector Megure's forehead. He gave up trying to discuss the case details with Chi Feichei and arranged for people to examine the scene and question the relevant individuals.

"Inspector Megure, it seems the murder weapon is this shotgun lying next to the body," Takagi Wataru said, picking up the gun on the floor with gloved hands.

"Looks like it," Inspector Megure said. "Alright, first let's find out who the owner is from the gun's registration number!"

"Officer, that gun is mine," the red-haired girl, Sano Izumi, stepped forward voluntarily. "It's the shotgun I use for clay pigeon shooting. But all our guns were supposed to be locked together in the iron cabinet with the electronic lock."

"Everyone's guns?" Inspector Megure was surprised. Just how many guns did this group bring?

"Yes," Sano Izumi pointed to the other three behind her. "These three are my clay pigeon shooting companions."

Inspector Megure pressed, "So, the person who set the electronic lock on the cabinet today was..."

"I locked it," Komatsu Yoriko said tearfully. "But we all know the password. When we came here earlier, we set the password to 9017, which sounds like 'clay pigeon shooting companions' in Japanese."

"Alright, as long as we thoroughly investigate the four of you, we'll get results soon," Inspector Megure stared at the four. "Whoever tests positive for gunpowder residue is the killer!"

"Then all four of us will test positive," Misawa Koji said. "Because we all came here today after clay pigeon shooting. Besides, maybe that electronically locked cabinet wasn't locked properly at all. If that's the case, someone else could have taken the gun out without permission."

"No, that's impossible," Oda Kuniyou said with a serious expression. "Have you forgotten? The gun case we usually use is the type where outsiders can't tell what's inside. Sano Izumi's gun case is an ordinary leather suitcase, and the gun is stored disassembled. An ordinary person wouldn't know how to assemble it."

"I see," Inspector Megure mused. "So, even if someone knew there was a shotgun in the case, they wouldn't necessarily know how to assemble it? In that case, the four of you are indeed the most likely culprits!"

"Um..." Komatsu Yoriko hesitated for a moment, then continued, "What about the champion of the Tokyo clay pigeon shooting competition from three years ago?"

"The champion? The champion from three years ago... I heard he was a rather cold guy. He left immediately after shooting and didn't even collect the prize himself; someone from his school club accepted it on his behalf..." Oda Kuniyou paused, looking towards Chi Feichei.

Komatsu Yoriko nodded. "I went to watch the shooting competition three years ago. Although I was a bit far from the competition area, I remember his eyes because they were purple, very distinctive..."

"Speaking of which, I also watched the competition three years ago," Sano Izumi said. "I wasn't quite sure before if it was him."

Inspector Megure turned to look at Chi Feichei. "Chi, my boy, were you the champion of the clay pigeon shooting competition three years ago?"

Chi Feichei, not surprised at all, nodded.

"That's amazing!" Takagi Wataru couldn't help but exclaim.

Inspector Megure shot Takagi Wataru a glare. Was this the time for that? He continued asking Chi Feichei, "So, you can also assemble this type of shotgun?"

Chi Feichei nodded; there was nothing to hide about that.

"And it seems he knew Chihiro," Misawa Koji hesitated. "She mentioned earlier she had something to tell you. Maybe they arranged to meet here."

Inspector Megure continued asking Chi Feichei, "What they said..."

Chi Feichei had already nodded.

Inspector Megure: "..."

Mouri Ran broke into a sweat, then smiled. "But Brother Hassashi has been with us the whole time! Um... Sonoko went to the restroom midway, otherwise, after entering the ice rink, Conan, Ai-chan, Brother Hassashi, Sonoko, and I were all together, right, Conan? Ai-chan?"

Conan and Haibara Ai nodded in unison. Conan added, "Even when coming over here, it was Sister Sonoko who found the body first and screamed. Brother Chi only arrived after I got here."

Chi Feichei remained calm. He might be a suspect, but he had an alibi.

Inspector Megure nodded. "In that case, Chi my boy didn't have time to commit the crime. It's more important to ask if anyone saw any suspicious individuals."

"Actually..." Suzuki Sonoko took a deep breath; testifying now was still risky. "I happened to see them!"

"What?" Inspector Megure and Takagi Wataru immediately turned to look at Suzuki Sonoko.

"I saw the killer coming out of the restroom," Suzuki Sonoko recalled. "At that time, there was a 'Cleaning in Progress' sign hanging on the restroom door. I knocked, but no one answered, so I waited right outside. Later, the fireworks started outside. I heard the noise and ran to the nearest window to watch them. That's when I saw someone dressed strangely in a hooded outfit walk out of the restroom!"

"And then?" Takagi Wataru pressed. "Did you get a clear look at their face?"

"No," Suzuki Sonoko said. "They were wearing a hood and muffled up with a scarf..."

"However, this killer shot during the fireworks display and prepared this kind of outfit beforehand to escape. It's clearly premeditated murder," Inspector Megure looked at the four people who came with Itami Chihiro. "In my opinion, we should ask the four of you to go to separate rooms for individual questioning now. That way, we can find out who initially suggested coming to this amusement park..."

"Wait a minute," Sano Izumi immediately interjected. "We all decided together to come here!"

Takagi Wataru waved his hand helplessly. "Miss, please say that during the questioning later!"

Chi Feichei quietly patted Conan's head. "Hint."

"Huh?" Conan, who was deep in thought, was taken aback. He looked up at Chi Feichei, and then...

He understood.

Although Chi Feichei had no time to commit the crime, until the real culprit was caught, he wasn't completely cleared of suspicion. It really wasn't appropriate for Chi Feichei to offer any hints now.

Turning his head, he looked at Inspector Megure. "Inspector Megure, something's strange here!"

"What?" Inspector Megure looked down at Conan quizzically.

"Look!" Conan pointed at the deceased Itami Chihiro's right hand, which was in her pocket. "This lady kept her hand in her pocket even after she died. I bet she must have been really sensitive to the cold!"

"Could it be..." Takagi Wataru had already caught on. He stepped forward and pulled Itami Chihiro's hand out.

Itami Chihiro was tightly gripping a cell phone in her hand.

Takagi Wataru picked up the phone and looked at it. "But there's nothing on the screen."

"She was probably killed before she could call the police," Inspector Megure guessed.

"Press the redial button, and we should be able to find out who the last call was made to," Conan continued hinting. He hadn't touched it earlier, waiting for the police, otherwise it would be tampering with the scene.

As for Chi Feichei... he probably wished he could be far away from the crime scene!

"Right..." Takagi Wataru pressed the redial button and found that the last number Itami Chihiro dialed was—

KIX

########

Conan frowned in thought. He felt like he had seen KIX somewhere before...

"But Sonoko knocked on the restroom door at the time, right?" Inspector Megure said. "If Miss Itami knew someone was outside, why didn't she shout loudly?"

"There's something sticky on the gun barrel..." Conan hinted again.

"On the gun barrel..." Takagi Wataru picked up the shotgun and looked closely. "It looks like... saliva! I get it! The killer put the gun barrel into Miss Itami's mouth, preventing her from shouting. Then, when the fireworks started, they shot her in the chest!"

"Then the three of us couldn't have committed the crime," Sano Izumi pointed to the other two, excluding Oda Kuniyou. "When the fireworks started, we were all inside the ice rink..."

Chi Feichei watched quietly. The clues were mostly gathered now. It would be best if Conan could hint enough for the police to solve the case...

His sleeve corner was tugged—a familiar sensation. Looking down, it was the familiar elementary school student wearing black-rimmed glasses.

"That KIX..." Conan whispered. "Have you seen it somewhere?"

"Airport," Chi Feichei said softly.

Conan froze, a flash of insight crossing his mind.

Haibara Ai looked up at Chi Feichei. "Do you know who the killer is?"

Ahead, Inspector Megure immediately turned his head, asking expectantly, "Oh? Really? Chi, my boy, you already know who the killer is?"

Chi Feichei: "..."

Such sharp ears?

It made him suspect Inspector Megure had just been waiting for the line, 'I already know who the killer is'...

Could he say he didn't know now...

Even Haibara Ai was momentarily stunned. She had just seen Chi Feichei giving Conan a hint and asked out of curiosity.

Facing the expectant gazes of Inspector Megure and the group of police officers, Chi Feichei simply nodded.

Fine, let him handle it then. Just solve it quickly and go back to eat cake...

End of Chapter