"Are you saying he's putting on a One-Man Show?" Mori Kogoro pressed.
"The purpose of him doing this," Chi Feichei reminded.
Why would a normal person pretend to argue with someone for no reason?
"It's to create my Alibi," Hiroshi Nakamoto said, appearing to confess truthfully. "This way, I could sneak into our Teacher Professor Demura's Home and kill the Professor..."
This person...
Chi Feichei observed Hiroshi Nakamoto's Eyes, turned around, walked to the Sofa next to Mori Kogoro, sat down, picked up a Teacup, and continued to observe.
Mori Kogoro didn't notice Chi Feichei's actions at all, and was startled by Hiroshi Nakamoto's Words. "What did you Say?!"
"Professor Demura actually sold our Research Results, accumulated over the years, to the Research organizations of Businesses in secret!" Hiroshi Nakamoto clenched his Fist, his Expression turning sorrowful and indignant. "After exposing his Behavior, because the Professor's Connections and power were too great, we actually ended up with the fate of being expelled from Student Status! So... so, we wanted to take advantage of the Professor's Family being Offline, create the Pretense of Robbery Homicide, sneak into the Professor's Home and kill him..."
Mori Kogoro stared at Hiroshi Nakamoto, frowning slightly.
Hiroshi Nakamoto looked helpless, explaining to Mori Kogoro, "But in fact, it didn't go as smoothly as we planned. After I sneaked into Professor Demura's Home, I found that the Professor wasn't Home at all. I waited for an Hour, but he still hadn't returned. In the end, I gave up on this Plan. I arrived at the Professor's Home at 10 PM, and when I left, it was exactly 11 PM..."
Mori Kogoro glanced at Hiroshi Nakamoto with Half-Moon Eyes. These two Fellows were really planning murder. "If everything you're Saying is true, then you definitely couldn't have killed Takeyuki Irie."
"However, unexpectedly, the Professor said that he stayed in the Study organizing Things all Night yesterday, and didn't step out of his Home Door all Night," Hiroshi Nakamoto lowered his Head, reached out with both Hands, and hugged his Head in pain. "I don't understand why the Professor would Lie to the Police..."
"That's indeed a bit Weird," Mori Kogoro Said.
Hiroshi Nakamoto raised his Head, supported his forehead with his right Hand, and Said in a dejected Voice, "After all this trouble, the Police will treat me as the Culprit..."
"But By the Way," Mori Kogoro asked in confusion, "How could the Police easily release you, an important Person of interest?"
"At the Police Station, I heard them Say that Famous Detective Mr. Mouri also happened to pass by the Crime Scene last Night," Hiroshi Nakamoto raised his Head, looking at Mori Kogoro with earnest Gaze. "I feel like Heavens hasn't given up on me yet, so I came to find you, please save me!"
Chi Feichei was Speechless, lowered his Eyes and took a sip of Tea.
Heavens hasn't given up on you, but you've given up on yourself, Young Man...
Mori Kogoro touched his chin hesitantly, "This Case does have a little to do with me, but..."
Hiroshi Nakamoto sighed softly, and lowered his Head again, "It seems Mr. Mouri doesn't believe the Words I Just Now Said either..."
Saying that, he closed his Eyes again, Seemingly troubled, "If we could find that Tape, Matters would be easy."
"Mr. Nakamoto, have you ever participated in the Drama Club at School?" Chi Feichei suddenly asked.
Performance?
Conan pondered slightly, and the Gaze he secretly cast at Hiroshi Nakamoto became serious.
Hiroshi Nakamoto panicked inwardly, his Face showing confusion. "No, why do you ask?"
"I'm a Graduate of Todai University. When I went to Beika University to participate in Social Gathering activities before, I Seemingly saw a person who looked very much like you in a Stage Play Performance." Chi Feichei casually made up an excuse, one part truth, nine parts false.
"Is that so? Then you probably saw wrong," Hiroshi Nakamoto breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, and Said with a look of emotion, "But you've already Graduated? Although I'm studying as a Postgraduate Student, if I hadn't continued studying, I would have Graduated about two Years ago, but you look much younger than me."
"This Kid is an Early Graduation," Mori Kogoro glanced at Chi Feichei with Half-Moon Eyes. "He's the kind of person who's smart, has a good Family Background, and even has a Face that's popular with Girls, making people so jealous they wish they could kill him..."
Chi Feichei calmly looked back.
Mori Kogoro was coldly stared at, and fell into Silence.
He actually blurted out his true feelings, okay, it's his fault... Fault my ass!
Isn't it okay for a Teacher to complain about his Disciple?
Can you please stop staring at him like that...
"Is that so..." Hiroshi Nakamoto's Expression was a bit awkward. What's the Relationship between these two people? Why does their way of getting along feel so Weird?
"Teacher is also a winner in life," Chi Feichei retracted his Line of Sight, and Said calmly, "If anyone should be Jealous, it should be me."
"Ha, Also Correct..." Mori Kogoro scratched his Head, and looked at Hiroshi Nakamoto again, "By the Way, let's continue talking about serious Matters. Is there really that Tape you Said?"
Conan chuckled in his Heart. Looking at the Uncle's stiff Reaction of changing the subject, he only saw a big 'cowardice'...
Hiroshi Nakamoto frowned, clenched his Fists, raised his Eyes to look at Mori Kogoro, "The Weird thing is, after the Police conducted a Search Command in Irie's Room, they couldn't find this Tape anywhere! In my opinion, the Culprit must have taken it away!"
Soon, he reached out and touched his Chin, his Fingers faintly covering his Mouth, and became troubled again, "If we can't find that Tape for a Day, I won't be able to clear my Wrongful Accusation for a Day. What should I do? What if the Culprit has already discarded it..."
Mouri Ran couldn't bear to see people being wrongly accused, turned her Head and advised, "Father, I think we should go look for that Tape..."
"Huh?" Mori Kogoro turned his Head to look at Mouri Ran.
Conan also actively advised, "If you can successfully solve the Case, you can regain your Reputation, Uncle!"
"Regain Reputation..." Mori Kogoro clenched his right Fist, and Said with Fighting Spirit, "Alright, then I'll go try it out!"
A group of people set off immediately.
Four Adults, one Kid, Chi Feichei's Car could fit them all, and they drove all the way to the Apartment next to where they passed by last Night.
"The Entrance of this Apartment Building is only here, so, the Criminal's Escape Route is only this Road directly leading to the Station..." Mori Kogoro analyzed, and took the lead to walk in the Direction of the Station.
Conan reached out his Hand, this time he didn't pull on the hem of the clothes, but pulled on the Pants.
Chi Feichei squatted down, reached out his Hand and moved it from the top of Conan's Head to the side, looked at the height of his Palm from the ground, "Conan, have you gotten shorter?"
Conan stared at Chi Feichei with Half-Moon Eyes. He's still in the stage of growing his Body, if he's going to change, he should get taller, okay? "Don't Joke around..."
Chi Feichei was silent. Conan was obviously twenty centimeters shorter than when he was at the Detective Agency. Why is he the only one who noticed?
Just like the Weird Time, this World Seemingly intends to Exclude him again.
But the good thing is, Probably only Conan's Height will have a Problem...
Seeing that Chi Feichei didn't Say anything, Conan became serious, and asked in a low Voice, "Let's talk about serious Matters. Is there a Problem with Mr. Nakamoto? Asking him if he has participated in the Drama Club, do you Suspect he's Lying?"
Chi Feichei stood up, "A Liar with clumsy Acting Skill."
It's not Suspicion, but certainty.
Some people think that Liars will be guilty and dare not look directly at others, but on the contrary, because humans think that looking directly at the other person is a sign of sincerity, most Liars will look directly at the other person, show 'sincerity', and try to confirm through their own Observation whether the other person has been deceived by their Lies, and consider how to respond next.
Of course, relying solely on direct Gaze for Judgment is not accurate. The factors that determine whether to look directly when speaking also include Personality itself.
And when Hiroshi Nakamoto spoke Before, his Gaze and Body Direction were inconsistent. His Body was showing nervousness, anxiety, helplessness, and pain, but his Gaze was mostly fixed on Mori Kogoro, trying his best to express Emotion, hoping to gain Mori Kogoro's Trust.
In addition, a human's Pupil is an Expression of Emotional Response.
In the same Environment, when a human is nervous, the Pupil will constrict, and when relaxed, the Pupil will dilate.
A Liar's Heart has both the fear of being discovered and the relief of not being discovered after speaking, and the Pupil is constantly changing.
Hiroshi Nakamoto Just Now was like this, and many times, the Pupil's change was inconsistent with the Emotion he wanted to express.
When a person is expressing their sadness and distress, the Pupil expresses nervousness instead, which is very awkward.
Many Spies will conduct Behavior correction when Lying, such as Rena Mizunashi (Kir), Amuro Toru and others. In addition to correcting Body Language and Facial Expression, there is also training in Line of Sight, Pupil Reaction, etc. Under normal circumstances, it is difficult to see whether they are Lying. Even Chi Feichei, in his previous life, specially found someone to train him. Compared to them, this person is really... amateurish.
If Conan were to Lie, he might even perform better than this person...
Among Hiroshi Nakamoto's Performance Just Now, the only thing that can be considered commendable is Probably his Body Language expression. When speaking Words, he used some Actions to strengthen Emotion expression, but Hiroshi Nakamoto's Body Language expression also has some Problems.
Stiff and exaggerated, like a Script prepared in advance. Before, his topic was diverted. A Normal Person needs a little buffer Time to re-enter Emotion, but Hiroshi Nakamoto's subsequent Body Language expression of Emotion was too much, very unnatural.
Too many Actions, Emotion changes too quickly. Stage Play Performance requires a lot of Body Language coordination, but in Reality, a human's Body Language expression is often not that much. Even for people who like to gesticulate while speaking, under the same Emotion, Body Language can be classified into the same category and appear repeatedly.
And for people like Belmode who have specially studied Performance, they can distinguish the Difference between Reality, Stage Play, and different types of film and television dramas.
Among them, in Stage Play Performance, because the Audience is located in the Audience seating, in order to make it easier for the back row Audience to see clearly, the Action range of Body Language is the largest, and it is also the biggest Gap with Reality.
He asked Hiroshi Nakamoto if he was a Drama Club Member, and it wasn't really sarcasm, but a serious question.
Hiroshi Nakamoto himself gave a Feeling of 'showing off Acting Skill', and treated it as a School Stage Play Performance. The Action range was large, but it was very natural and composed. It can even be Said that he has developed a Body Language habit when performing externally, and should have participated in many Activities of this kind...
Conan followed behind a group of people, walking and thinking. He hadn't thought that Chi Feichei had discovered it from these aspects. His first Reaction was—
Words Flaw!
Did Mr. Nakamoto's Words have a Flaw? Where?
"What are you doing? Don't move!" Mori Kogoro shouted loudly, quickly put on Gloves, and rushed towards the Man cleaning the Trash Can on the Roadside.
Conan came back to his senses and looked at the Apartment Building behind him.
The Criminal had enough Time to escape. Even if he encountered some Accident, if he really intended to frame Hiroshi Nakamoto, it would be impossible to throw the Tape that could prove Hiroshi Nakamoto's innocence in such a close Place...
Over there, Mori Kogoro snatched the Trash Bag, turned it over while wearing Gloves, and really found the Tape.
"That's the Tape!" Hiroshi Nakamoto looked delighted, trying hard to act.
He didn't notice at all that the Gaze of a Kid next to him was obviously wrong, and there was also a Man with a calm Face, quietly appreciating his Performance with his peripheral Line of Sight...
(End of Chapter)