Chapter 57: The Katase Family

"The person who discovered the body is Mrs. Kimikazu, the wife of Mr. Kimikazu... When you unlocked the door and entered the study, Mr. Kimikazu was already dead in his chair, correct?" Inspector Megure asked, looking at Kimikazu Kimie.
"Yes..." Kimikazu Kimie replied.
"And..." Megure cast a half-moon gaze at Kogoro, "the detective who happened to be at the scene in response to a request..."
"That would be me, Kogoro Mouri, Inspector Megure!" Kogoro Mouri grinned foolishly.
"Then this is a homicide case as well, great detective..."
"There are no obvious external injuries; it must be a natural death." Kogoro continued to grin stupidly.
"That's wrong, Uncle! Take another careful look at the corpse—he was poisoned!" Conan acted cute while tugging at Kogoro's sleeve.
Before Kogoro Mouri could respond, Heiji Hattori spoke up first.
"This old gentleman was murdered. If you don't examine him carefully, you'll miss the small red dot behind his ear, and there's also a needle that looks like the murder weapon dropped nearby."
Facing Kogoro Mouri's rebuttal, Heiji Hattori listed a series of the victim's physical conditions as evidence to refute him, concluding that the victim was murdered within the thirty minutes prior to their entry into the study.
Through Mouri's introduction, Megure also recognized this young man as the son of Heizo Hattori, the Chief of the Osaka Prefectural Police.
"Leave my dad out of this. This could be the work of an outsider, so let's first check for signs of a break-in."
"Right, what you said is correct..." Megure had already automatically slipped into the mode of taking orders from his "younger brother," agreeing immediately.
"I have a feeling... Hattori looks..." Ran stared blankly at Heiji Hattori's performance, "He looks just like Shinichi..."
"Geez, the police from the Metropolitan Police Department aren't all that impressive after all..." Heiji Hattori muttered with some disappointment as he watched Megure walk away, "I thought I'd get to see the amazing cop my dad talked about, but it turns out he's no different from Daotaki..."
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At the Katase residence.
"I'm sorry. My father's health hasn't been very well, and coupled with what happened last night, he only managed to fall asleep after dawn and hasn't gotten up yet." Keita Katase received Kiichi and Shiratori in the living room with a somewhat apologetic expression. "Did the police find any useful information?"

"According to Ms. Rika Yajima, who lives downstairs from Ms. Sayo, she seems to have an unusual relationship with your father," Kiichi stated bluntly.
Keita Katase pressed his lips together, looking somewhat embarrassed. "My mother passed away a long time ago. My father is getting older and needs companionship. Because I'm too busy with company matters, I rarely have time to keep him company, while Sayo's situation..."
He paused, seemingly out of respect for the deceased's reputation, leaving the rest unsaid. "Anyway, Ms. Yajima has done a great job filling that void."
"I heard Ms. Yajima mention this as well. However, what I find curious is that, unlike most people facing similar circumstances, you don't seem to oppose this at all. It seems you would have reason to be upset, both emotionally and financially."
"No, actually I have nothing to be upset about," Keita Katase replied calmly. "Father knows very well what he is doing, and moreover, he has already drawn up his will. Ms. Yajima will not receive a single thing, so I have no reason to object."
"Even if Ms. Yajima doesn't walk away with anything, Sayo will, won't she?"
"What are you implying?" Keita Katase's expression instantly darkened. "Are you suggesting that I killed Sayo?"
Kiichi looked at him unflinchingly and did not reply.
Keita Katase forced a laugh. "First of all, I think the Inspector should understand one thing: my name is not on the list of apartment visitors, so it is utterly impossible for me to have sneaked into that apartment to commit murder."
"We have concrete evidence proving that the apartment's security system has loopholes, making it possible for an outsider to enter and commit the crime," Kiichi replied.
"What did you say?" Keita Katase was very surprised. "That's impossible! The security system of that apartment was inspected and approved by the Katase Group's security team; absolutely no one could sneak in undetected! In fact, it was precisely to strictly restrict Sayo's interactions with her good-for-nothing friends that Father arranged for her to live there!"
"That is the reality, Mr. Katase."
Keita Katase seemed somewhat flustered. He unconsciously touched his lips and began pacing back and forth in place, before seeming to make up his mind a moment later.
"The Inspector thinks my motive is related to the inheritance, right?" he asked.
"Yes." Kiichi had nothing to hide.
"Very well." With that, he picked up his phone and made a call. "Excuse me, would you mind coming over to my house right now? There are some matters here that need to be dealt with."
Kiichi quietly waited for him to finish the call.
"The call was to my father's lawyer," Keita Katase said. "I would prefer it if you do not mention what is about to happen to my father."

*Interesting,* Kiichi thought to himself. As expected, high-society cases always unearth all sorts of strange and intriguing secrets.
"Until I know for certain what is happening, I cannot make any guarantees to you, Mr. Katase," Kiichi replied with the most formulaic answer possible.
"Fine." Katase pressed his lips together and nodded. "Actually, shortly after Sayo and my father had a huge argument, Father modified his will."
"Oh? He modified his will?"
"Yes. In the new will, Father left Sayo only a very small trust fund and strictly restricted her spending."
"You mean that under this new will, you will inherit everything?" Kiichi asked with keen interest.
"Yes." Keita Katase lowered his voice. "But I am not supposed to know the contents of the new will, do you understand? Father has always been a suspicious man who cannot tolerate any underhanded actions, so..."
"So you do not want the old gentleman to know that you privately reached some agreement with his lawyer and thereby learned the contents of the will in advance, is that it?"
"Yes," Katase nodded. "But I swear, I merely had the lawyer disclose the contents of the will to me ahead of time; I certainly did not tamper with the will in any way. I just wanted to be prepared for whatever might happen in the future. Once Father wakes up, you can confirm the contents of the will with him and the lawyer at any time. I only ask that you do not mention what I have done."
Kiichi looked at the middle-aged man in front of him and gave a slight nod.
Keita Katase let out a sigh of relief and slumped into a chair, breathing out heavily.
Before he could fully relax, however, he heard Kiichi speak again: "I can help you keep this secret. After all, I have no interest in the internal inheritance wars of the Katase family. However, I think in return, perhaps you could answer one more question for me."
"What is it?" Keita Katase grew tense once more.
"Don't be nervous. It's about Ms. Yajima," Kiichi said slowly. "Weren't you wondering just now why we police are certain there are loopholes in the apartment's security system? Now I can tell you the reason. Because the evidence we hold clearly shows that last night, inside her apartment, Ms. Yajima had a very intimate encounter with a man whose name never appeared in the visitor log."