Chapter 58 Wake Up Your Ideas

"What did you say!" Katase Keita's eyes widened as he abruptly stood up.

"Mr. Katase, my meaning is quite clear. Aside from your father, Ms. Yajima evidently had other partners."

Recovering his composure, Katase Keita offered an awkward laugh to ease the atmosphere. "Pardon me, I lost my composure there for a moment. I simply never imagined that woman could be so audacious..."

"Thank you for your cooperation." Kiichi said nothing more. "There is one final matter to confirm: where were you last night at the time of the crime?"

Katase Keita stared at Kiichi for a long moment.

"Last night, I was working overtime at the office alone, so I do not have an alibi."

"Very well, I understand. Thank you for your cooperation," Kiichi replied politely.

Just then, a servant entered to report that the master had awakened and asked the two men to wait for him in the small second-floor sitting room.

"Did you notice anything?"

Seated on the sofa, Kiichi inspected the delicate porcelain teacup in his hand.

"If what Katase Keita said about the will is true, then we can rule out his suspicion because he has no motive," Shiratori reasoned after a brief moment of thought.

"And what else?"

"What else?" Shiratori froze, completely baffled.

Wasn't that the most valuable piece of information from the interrogation just now?

Get your head in the game, Shiratori. If you keep this up, you really are going to fall behind Takagi.

Besides, shouldn't this kind of high-society family drama be right in your wheelhouse? Does this kind of performance do justice to your background?

"You just said that Katase Keita has no motive. That is correct, but only partially. The only motive he lacks is one related to inheritance."

"Only a motive related to inheritance?" Shiratori didn't understand. Aside from that, what other reasons could there be?

"Did you not realize that Ms. Yajima Rika is a truly extraordinary woman?" Kiichi said with a smile.

"Yajima Rika? Extraordinary?" Shiratori was first puzzled, then suddenly jolted awake. "Could the Inspector mean..."

"Clearly, when a normal person learns that their father has entangled himself with a woman younger than himself, even if they don't openly oppose it, they would naturally feel a sense of contempt. And if he knew that his father was being deceived by this woman, and discovered her infidelity, shouldn't he feel a sense of schadenfreude? At the very least, a complete breakdown in angry rage shouldn't be the reaction.

"Evidently, this Ms. Yajima Rika did not have just one or two partners."

Shiratori: "..."

"To be able to wind the two successive heads of the Katase family around her finger—how can one say that isn't an extraordinary skill?" Kiichi took a polite sip of tea with a smile.

"Then the motive you mentioned..." Shiratori thought for a moment and asked again.

"If Katase Keita could find out that his father had altered his will, then Sayo might have found out as well. And for Katase Shingo, his son sleeping with his woman is obviously far more serious than throwing a loud temper tantrum at home over some worthless punk," Kiichi stated. "As it happens, Yajima Rika lived right downstairs from Sayo. Perhaps the rather undisciplined young lady happened to stumble upon some incredible secret?"

***

Shiratori frowned in deep thought.

"Detectives, has there been any progress in the investigation?" Katase Shingo walked in, looking thoroughly exhausted. "Forgive me, but as one grows old, my energy is simply not what it used to be."

He sat down in an armchair. "Is there anything the two of you wish to know?"

"We would like to confirm a matter regarding your will," Kiichi said straight to the point. "We spoke with Yajima Rika, and she made no attempt to conceal the inheritance disputes within the Katase family."

Katase Shingo fell silent for a moment. "Since that is the case, you must have already questioned Keita?"

"Yes."

"What did he have to say?"

"He merely denied any involvement. He stated that you recently modified your will, though he was unaware of the new contents, and that he had merely helped contact your lawyer for you."

"I see..." Katase Shingo nodded. "I did indeed modify the will. Keita will inherit everything."

He paused for a brief moment. "That does not mean, however, that I am indifferent to Sayo's death. I will not let anyone who dares to lay a hand on a member of the Katase family off easily!"

The old man shifted his weight, settling into a more comfortable position against the back of the chair. "Is there anything else the two of you wish to ask?"

"Would you mind disclosing your whereabouts last night?"

"Inspector, just what are you implying?"

"As a matter of procedure, we must inquire about the alibis of everyone connected to the case. Your understanding is appreciated."

"I was right here at home! Every single servant can vouch for it!" the old man snapped viciously. "Now, get out of my house. I do not wish to look at the two of you. As for the will, my lawyer will bring the documents to the Metropolitan Police Department."

"Understood." Kiichi politely rose to take his leave.

***

Outside the apartment building.

"Right here. This is the person I saw last night," Akiba Reiko said, leading Sato toward a clump of bushes.

Sato walked over to the spot Akiba Reiko pointed out and found, sure enough, that it offered a direct line of sight to the apartment's main entrance.

She crouched down and began inspecting the ground alongside the forensics team, quickly spotting several cigarette butts of the exact same brand.

"Thank you very much for providing this clue," Sato said, expressing her gratitude to Akiba Reiko.

"Hmph," Akiba Reiko acknowledged with a brief sound.

"What a difficult person to deal with..." Sato thought to herself, though perhaps this was simply the haughtiness characteristic of a celebrity...

"I've heard that the inspector named Toyano is a brilliant detective?"

Huh? Sato didn't even process it at first. She turned her head to look at Akiba Reiko. Was she actually initiating a conversation with her?

Akiba Reiko said nothing more, merely gazing at her.

She really was talking to me...

"Yes, Kiichi-kun is an exceptionally skilled and brilliant police officer," Sato nodded. He was the one known as the ace, after all; of course he was brilliant.

Yet once she answered, the conversation flatlined into awkward silence once more.

Sato was completely baffled.

***

Ran led Conan, who was running a fever from a cold, into another room to rest.

"I've already figured out the trick to the locked room and identified the killer!"

Hattori Heiji had Megure lay down to play the victim, using a piece of fishing line to pull the key back into his trouser pocket.

"This is the method the killer used to construct the locked room!"

He looked immensely proud of himself.

"Kudo, this is my deduction. If you refuse to accept defeat, you'd better come out right now..."

"Then who is the killer!" Kogoro and Megure anxiously pressed him.

Hattori Heiji remained convinced that all of Mouri Kogoro's deductions originated from behind-the-scenes guidance by Kudo Shinichi; he still wanted to wait for Kudo Shinichi to appear so he could win the competition fair and square.

Yet no one appeared.

"Giving up on the match? Oh well..." Hattori Heiji thought to himself.

Ran pulled a doctor toward the room where Conan was resting, only to find that he had vanished. She hurriedly began searching everywhere.

Hattori Heiji proceeded with his deduction.

"The killer is none other than Grandpa Ikemura! The fishing line found in this trash can is the ironclad proof!"

"Truly, the net of justice is wide, yet nothing escapes it. The one who killed Ah-Xun was me..." The old man appeared to have confessed.

"Wrong! That guy got it completely wrong!"

"Shin... Shinichi?!"

Having just returned to the study to check on things, Ran stared in utter shock at the person standing in the doorway.