Arriving before the police was Mrs. Marui Nao-ko, the wife of Marui Denjiro.
“Ah—This… how… how could my husband… could it be you?” Nao-ko looked at Mouri Kogoro and the others with a flustered expression.
“What are you talking about?” Mouri Kogoro rolled his eyes in disbelief. “I’m a detective, you know!”
“De… detective?” Nao-ko’s face immediately turned pale, and a flicker of guilt flashed in her eyes.
“Yes, I wanted to ask, where was Mrs. Nao-ko earlier?” Thinking about the information he had gathered, Mouri Kogoro looked at Nao-ko with suspicion.
“I went out shopping!” Nao-ko declared confidently. “You wouldn’t be suspecting me of killing my husband, would you?”
“Heh.” Mouri Kogoro gave a meaningful smile.
“Mrs. Nao-ko, can I ask if this dragon-shaped ornament is yours?” Yuquan turned to Nao-ko.
Nao-ko finally noticed Yuquan’s presence and her tone became somewhat excited. “You… are you Mr. Yuquan?”
Since the appearance of the Rift Woman in Mita-cho, Yuquan’s name had become more prominent among certain circles.
“It’s me.” Yuquan nodded slightly.
“My husband mentioned inviting you to have a look today, I didn’t expect…” Nao-ko unconsciously glanced at Marui Denjiro’s body, but there wasn’t a trace of regret in her eyes.
“Accidents can happen at any time.” Yuquan’s expression remained unchanged.
“Yes.” Nao-ko showed no regret whatsoever. “If it’s convenient, the feng shui of this house… I’d like to ask Mr. Yuquan to take care of it later.”
“And the matter of sending my husband to Buddhahood.”
Instead of worrying about her house becoming a haunted place that couldn’t be lived in, Nao-ko seemed to be… somewhat happy about her dead husband.
If she could get Yuquan to arrange a good feng shui formation, she could happily continue living with her lover.
“That shouldn’t be a problem.” Yuquan nodded.
Just the down payment alone, Marui Denjiro had already given five million, and later… Nao-ko would naturally pay a considerable amount as well.
“Right, about that dragon-shaped ornament…” Recalling Yuquan’s previous question, Nao-ko hesitated slightly.
“Actually, it was a deposit item left by an artist named Akitsu Sei with my husband. I don’t know much about the specifics.”
“However, my husband kept records, so we can look for them.”
…
Just then, Detective Mouri arrived with his team.
“So…” Mouri glanced at Yuquan and the others, “the people who made appointments with Marui Denjiro this afternoon, in order, were this Mouri Kogoro who brings death wherever he goes…”
“Detective Mouri, you’re making a joke again.” Mouri Kogoro glared.
“Heh.” Mouri gave a dry laugh, then looked at the others. “Then there’s Hadano Isoya who comes every week to check on the deceased, Akitsu Sei who borrowed money from the deceased, and Suwa Yuji.”
“No problem, right?”
“Mr. Yuquan was also invited by my husband.” Nao-ko subconsciously added.
“But Yuquan-san arrived after Marui Denjiro had passed away.” Conan suddenly looked up.
“So, you discovered the body then.” Mouri nodded thoughtfully and began asking for alibis from the others.
Yuquan shrugged slightly, his eyes sweeping across the others. It had to be said, Marui Denjiro was miserable, but not deserving of pity.
The tragic part was that Nao-ko was indeed having an affair, and her lover was precisely Hadano Isoya, the one who came to check on the deceased every week!
Now that Marui Denjiro was dead, he hadn’t had time to leave a will…
This meant Marui Denjiro’s inheritance would go to Nao-ko.
If Marui Denjiro’s soul wasn’t newly born and lacked energy, Yuquan believed it would have turned dark for sure!
However, Marui Denjiro’s death wasn’t entirely pitiable.
As a collector, Marui Denjiro had made a fortune by scamming people.
Marui Denjiro would lend money to those who possessed good collections and ask them to use those items as collateral, similar to a pawnshop.
But—
Marui Denjiro’s evilness lay in the fact that he would often sell the collateral items before the due date…
Suwa Yuji was one of those who had been wronged by Marui Denjiro, and he had killed Marui Denjiro for selling his heirloom sword, which was used as collateral!
The motive for this case was quite normal, and the killer’s mind was also rather normal.
He had directly disguised the scene of a fight between swordsmen, who were skilled in swordsmanship, to look like someone unskilled in swordsmanship had made the cuts…
It not only fooled the police but even Conan was almost tricked.
“I know! The killer is Akitsu Sei!” Mouri Kogoro suddenly pointed at Akitsu Sei.
“What are you talking about? How could I be the killer!” Akitsu Sei glared, immediately denying it.
“After all, almost everything in the living room has been damaged, but this… this ornament you used as collateral is still intact.” Mouri Kogoro pointed at the only thing that remained undamaged, the dragon-shaped ornament.