Chapter 49: The Third Blade

It was 4:30 in the afternoon.

Gao Mo observed his surroundings under the watchful eyes of several maids in the front courtyard.

"No one is allowed to enter until the police arrive!" the mustached man warned loudly.

The bloody atmosphere gradually faded, and the sound of water striking the bamboo tube in the back courtyard returned to normal.

Before long, however, the serene atmosphere was shattered by the wail of sirens echoing around the residence.

A gust of wind swept in through the grand entrance.

Inspector Megure pressed down on his hat and, guided by the mustached man, headed toward the detached guest room on the side.

Police officers were already securing the scene inside the room. Flashbulbs went off as they snapped a flurry of photographs.

Due to the high frequency of recent cases, the accompanying forensic team was noticeably smaller than before.

The evidence collection felt more like a formality.

The official forensic department had long been overwhelmed; unless a case carried immense social impact, everything else faced an unknown waiting period.

"It's you guys again."

Megure cast a resentful glance at the mustached man, his attention quickly drawn to the chaotic, slash-marked interior of the guest room.

The bearded homeowner had a sword driven straight through his chest, pinning him to a pillar. Covered in blood, he remained standing in a posture that suggested he had fought a fierce battle, holding a katana in his own hand.

At that moment, Gao Mo was standing at the threshold observing the scene. His unfamiliar yet familiar figure made Megure pause in surprise.

"And this is?"

"He's my partner, Kindaichi, Inspector Megure," the mustached man hurriedly explained. "I originally brought him along for work today..."

"Kindaichi?"

Megure was dumbfounded.

He was one of the few who knew Gao Mo's true identity.

"What are you two up to this time?"

"Inspector," a responding officer hurried over to report, "the victim is Maru Denjiro, fifty-one years old... The cause of death is a katana thrust straight through the chest, killing him instantly. The estimated time of death is between 3:00 and 4:00 PM..."

"The first to discover the body were Mr. Mouri and this Mr. Kindaichi, followed by the household's servants and the victim's wife."

"It is said the victim dismissed all the servants beforehand..."

"Hmm!"

Megure grunted in thought, looking over the chaotic, heavily scarred room, then following the officer's introduction to eye the anxious family members and the two female maids.

The lady of the house was a kimono-clad woman with her hair tied up in a bun. She seemed meticulously groomed; even close up, a strong wave of perfume hung in the air, failing to mask the lingering scent of blood. Her expression carried a panic that was easy to misunderstand.

"Ma'am, I heard you haven't been home since this morning?"

"I... I went out to clear my head." The woman nervously averted her gaze, beads of sweat faintly forming on her forehead.

"What about between 3:00 and 4:00 PM?"

"What do you mean? Inspector, are you suspecting I killed my husband? Waa, how could a woman like me go around hacking and slashing..."

"I'm merely conducting a routine questioning."

Megure felt his head ache from the woman's tears, forcing him to shift his gaze back to Gao Mo and the mustached man.

"What about you guys? Such a fierce fight happened here, and you didn't hear a thing?"

"We were all in the back courtyard, and we really didn't hear anything," the mustached man apologized with a smile, leaning on his good relationship with his former superior to offer his own analysis. "Around 3:00, a visitor arrived. Maru Denjiro said he would escort the person to the guest room and return immediately, telling me to wait for him in the back courtyard."

"As it turned out, an hour passed without a sound. I finally couldn't help myself and came to check... I think the culprit is most likely that visitor."

"A visitor?"

Megure took a notebook recovered from the victim's body out of the officer's hand.

"It's filled with schedules. He was indeed scheduled to meet four visitors today... Aside from you, there's Suwa Yuji, Hatano Kiyo, and Akutsu Makoto."

"Aha, that makes it easy!" the mustached man said confidently. "To fight like this in a guest room, the culprit must be a kendo expert. We just need to find out which of those three is skilled in kendo, and the case is solved!"

"Hah, spoken as if you have no suspicion attached to you..."

"You know me, Inspector, where would I know anything about kendo?"

"I don't know kendo either," Gao Mo said quickly, sensing Megure's gaze, and pointed to a photograph displayed on a nearby cabinet. "Besides, Mr. Maru himself seemed to be an expert swordsman."

The photo showed the bearded man practicing with a sword, exuding immense presence, much like a murderous masterless samurai from ancient Japan.

"My husband was indeed formidable," the mistress added, chiming in. "He had already attained the third dan in kendo. Of these two katanas, one is for display, and the other is the blade he usually practiced with."

"Third dan in kendo?"

Megure was greatly astonished.

"That means the killer is exceptionally skilled as well."

Only after the forensics personnel finished collecting evidence did Gao Mo step into the guest room, scanning the chaotic scene with his back to the others. He consciously activated Eagle Vision, taking in every corner with a soft, glowing light.

"Whoosh!"

He had sensed something amiss when he first discovered the place, but now, under the influence of his extraordinary abilities, everything became crystal clear. All clues converged and were rapidly sorted into categories using the principle of "information integration."

At that moment, Gao Mo felt as though he had been transported back to the supermarket rush, his mind clearer than ever before.

First were the chaotic sword slashes covering the room, even reaching the ceiling. While they initially appeared to be the traces of a fierce struggle, through the sorting of Eagle Vision, it was distinctly evident that the marks had been deliberately carved by a single blade.

There had been no fight at all.

Or rather, the bearded man had not had the ability to fight back—not only was the sword in his hand free of his opponent's blood, but it didn't even bear the minor nicks and notches typical of parrying blades.

Furthermore, the bearded man's sword-gripping posture did not match the one in the photograph.

Finally, there was the lattice cabinet, which was also covered in slash marks.

Among all the items destroyed in the room, a dragon-shaped carving resting on the cabinet remained completely undamaged.

Stranger still was the cabinet itself.

Row upon row of drawers appeared to have been swapped and shifted; many of the slash marks failed to align and lacked any natural continuity.

"Inspector!"

A loud shout suddenly came from outside.

"A male corpse has been found in the bushes!"

"What?"

Next to the guest room.

Several police officers carefully carried out a heavily wrapped body.

It was a middle-aged man in a suit wearing glasses, with a parted hairstyle and a large nose.

Accompanying the body was a historically styled katana.

A third sword...

"Dr. Hatano?!" The mistress gasped, covering her mouth, shock filling her face with a hint of rising tears, as if she had never anticipated this scene.

"You know him?" Megure asked sharply.

"He was my husband's attending physician, who came here every week for routine diabetes checkups." The mistress wiped away a tear and turned her head away.

"Hatano... is this the Hatano Kiyo from the notebook?"

Megure was bewildered.

How could another person be dead?

Was it a serial murder or...

"What on earth is going on here?"

The squinting, sword-bearded man Gao Mo had seen at the training hall entered the residence, accompanied by the police alongside a disheveled man with his hair tied back.

He remained as imposing as ever; neither suit nor tie could conceal his sharp, murderous aura.

"You are all the people Mr. Maru had appointments to meet today, correct?" Megure asked in a deep voice, holding the notebook. "Could you tell me your names and the purpose of your visits?"

"I am Suwa Yuji."

Upon seeing the doctor's corpse and the katana beside it, the squinting man's expression shifted slightly, revealing an unmasked astonishment.

"I came today to return the five million yen I borrowed from Mr. Maru..."