Chapter 1046: She was here all along

"Steal the 'Masakage Notebook'?"

"Yes. Judging by the short-circuit and power outage, it's possible the person set it up beforehand. Because if someone happened to come by, pressing the switch would cause a short-circuit and power outage. At that time, one would have to go to the first-floor kitchen to pull the circuit breaker, and the culprit could take advantage of that time to sneak out through the window of Master Masakage's room."

"But the culprit's plan didn't work. Usually, only the lady is home, but today there were 9 guests. And Miss Tenko entered this room without touching the switch and saw the culprit's face, which is why she was silenced."

"Isn't that very strange?" Conan rolled his eyes, "How do you explain Miss Tenko's corpse?"

Kogoro Mouri said: "The culprit might have originally still been looking for things in the archives, but we came up at that time. The culprit must have taken advantage of the power outage to move Miss Tenko's corpse to the end of the corridor and then escape through Master Masakage's room. This was done to stall for time."

"That's impossible," Conan interrupted.

"Master Masakage's door was right beside us at the time. If the culprit had come over, we would have known, right? And who would dare to steal things in such a place knowing there are many guests? After killing someone, they stayed here for half an hour to keep looking?"

"I wasn't finished yet, was I?" Kogoro Mouri hummed, "Generally speaking, one can only consider it this way. However, if Mr. Togo, who went to turn on the switch and caused the power outage, is the culprit, the situation is different."

"Ah?" Togo was stunned.

"That's right. When the power went out, you stayed here. You could have easily dragged Tenko's corpse, which was hidden in the archives, to the corridor in the dark and returned to Akaso-san and the others before the lights came back on."

"Uncle Mouri," Conan shook his head and interrupted, "I was right beside him at the time, so I'm very certain Mr. Togo didn't leave. Moreover, dragging a corpse out of the archives in the dark would have made quite a bit of noise, and since there was moonlight by the window, it's impossible we wouldn't have noticed."

"That's right," Kazuha followed, "When the power went out, Ran and I were right behind, so I'm very certain he didn't leave!"

Kogoro Mouri's expression turned even sourer, as if someone owed him money.

"Let's not talk about this for now," Conan asked about Mrs. Masakage's situation at the time of the crime and turned to Riki Handan, "Mr. Riki Handan, where were you when the power went out?"

"I was sleeping in the room downstairs from this archive, and then the lady came to call me for dinner," Riki Handan said.

"Right downstairs from the archives?" Kogoro Mouri looked at Riki Handan with quite a bit of suspicion, "Could it be that you killed Miss Tenko and escaped through the window to downstairs?"

"Didn't I just say?" Riki Handan said somewhat indignantly, "When the power went out, the lady happened to come to call me. I was just lying on the sofa and waited for about a minute before the power came back on. And the archive window is so small, it's impossible to enter or exit!"

The police arrived at the Masakage house not long after. Inspector Megure arrived at the scene and breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Kaze Akaso.

"So," Megure asked Mrs. Masakage, "Is there anyone who envies or resents Master Masakage? Knowing the lady lives alone and being familiar with the internal environment of this house, the possibility of such a person committing the crime is very high."

"The notebook of Mr. Masakage, who went missing, would be worth a fortune if used in a magic performance. Think carefully, has anyone like that come by?"

"My husband wasn't the type to be resented by people, but..." Mrs. Masakage hesitated.

"A few strange guests did come by one after another a few days ago, and they seemed to know about my husband's notebook..."

"A few strange guests?" Megure's eyes lit up, "Do you remember them? What did they look like?"

"They aren't guests," Kaze Akaso concluded directly, "The murderer is among us."

"Ah?"

Mrs. Masakage and Riki Handan and the others focused their gazes on Kaze Akaso at the same time.

"Wh... what do you mean?"

"Lord Akaso," Megure blinked and said blankly, "We have already found broken branches in the bushes below, as well as traces of footprints being wiped away, right under the window of Master Masakage's room."

"Those are just simple disguises," Kaze Akaso smiled lightly, "In reality, the true culprit has remained here all along. What we saw is just what the culprit wanted us to see, just like a magic performance. Right, Mr. Togo?"

"Akaso-san?" Kazuha widened her eyes and said, "But Mr. Togo has been standing in front of us."

"It is true he was with us when the power went out, but hasn't Miss Tenko been dead for over half an hour? That's enough time to set up the scene, including forging the trick of the culprit escaping through the window."

"Then what on earth is going on with Miss Tenko's corpse? It couldn't have moved by itself, could it?"

"The corpse has been here all along."

Kaze Akaso walked past the sour-faced Kogoro Mouri. ===== CHAPTER 1048 =====