Chapter 987: Suspecting Senior Kazumi?

"That's right. We were together in elementary and middle school, but we didn't see much of each other after entering high school because I was in a car accident right after enrollment and stayed in the hospital for nearly half a year. I only found out about Hosaka after I was discharged and returned to school."

Seko Kunishige pauses and asks curiously, "Is the art student you mentioned Monobe Masao, who paints alone in the art room?"

"It seems so. We don't know his name either. Do you know him?" Tsukamoto Kazumi asks.

"Yes, because he and Hosaka were both in the art club."

"Is that so?" Akaso Kaze continues, "In that case, could I trouble you to go to the art room in a while? I have some things I want to ask you all."

"Ah? Okay."

Seko Kunishige nods blankly, only then noticing Akaso Kaze.

"You, you are Lord Akaso?"

Akaso Kaze nods.

He turns and leaves the infirmary, walks through the corridor, and looks at the muddy ground in the courtyard again.

"That art student is indeed suspicious," Mao Li Lan says, following behind.

"But Seko from earlier is also suspicious. The sports warehouse where the desk and chair were placed is very close to the infirmary, and this corridor leads directly to the courtyard."

"By the way, Kazumi," Akaso Kaze asks Tsukamoto Kazumi, "why did you go to the sports warehouse earlier?"

"This..." Tsukamoto Kazumi is stunned for a moment. "I was looking for Seko, and then I saw you guys at the warehouse."

"Conan, you don't suspect Senior Kazumi, do you?"

"I already know who the person creating the ghost incident is," Akaso Kaze stands at the exit of the corridor to check for a while, then turns to look at the two. "Let's gather at the art room now."

"Y-you already know?" Tsukamoto Kazumi and Mao Li Lan look at each other.

In the art room, Seko Kunishige enters, pushing the door with an umbrella in his arm.

"Excuse me."

"Seko?" the art student Monobe Masao says in surprise, "How come you came over?"

"They said that coming here would reveal the truth about the ghost disturbance."

Seko Kunishige puts his umbrella aside, sits down, and looks at Tsukamoto Kazumi and Mao Li Lan, who are also in the art room. He notices Akaso Kaze is not present. "Where is Lord Akaso? Didn't he come?"

"Lord Akaso said he would come over in a while," Tsukamoto Kazumi looks at Seko Kunishige, who is carrying an umbrella and a handbag, and asks, "Seko, are you already prepared to go back?"

"Yes, it might take a lot of time, so I plan to go straight back after things here are finished."

"Is everyone here?" Akaso Kaze walks into the art room, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

"First of all, it's certain that the Sighing Sports Warehouse, the Library of Hatred, the Cursed Stairs, and the desk and chair that appeared in the courtyard just now are all man-made."

"Eh? But how do you explain the desk and chair in the courtyard? There were no footprints left on the muddy ground at all."

"Because the footprints were washed away by the heavy rain."

Akaso Kaze looks at everyone and smiles: "The culprit didn't move the desk and chair to the center of the courtyard after the rain stopped, but when it started raining. Although there were only showers today, the rain was quite heavy in the middle, which was enough to wash away the footprints left at the beginning."

Mao Li Lan asks suspiciously: "But wouldn't the desk get wet like that?"

"Didn't Kazumi say she saw the principal standing in the courtyard?"

Akaso Kaze turns to Tsukamoto Kazumi beside him. "How could you be sure it was the principal from upstairs? You should have just seen an umbrella, so you thought it was the principal, right?"

Tsukamoto Kazumi, who is holding her arms, is stunned: "That's right."

"The culprit also considered the possibility of being seen, so he used the same umbrella as the principal to shield himself from the rain. Because the principal often stands in the courtyard, no one would find it strange even if they saw someone."

Akaso Kaze looks at the umbrella with water stains beside Seko Kunishige.

"Of course, a rope was also attached to the umbrella to facilitate recovery after the rain stopped, so that the illusion of a ghost moving the desk and chair could be created."

"The evidence is the path from the muddy ground to the corridor outside the infirmary; there are faint traces left on the muddy ground, and there is also shaken-off rainwater on the corridor floor. However, no matter how hard you shake it, it's impossible to dry the umbrella completely, and rainwater will still seep out after a while."

Seko Kunishige's face changes, and he looks at his umbrella in silence.

"My umbrella was just a bit dirty, so I washed it."

"From the moment you said those things in the infirmary, I felt it was you, Seko-kun,"

Akaso Kaze says calmly.

"You asked for leave and stayed in the infirmary all afternoon on the grounds of feeling unwell just to wait for an opportunity. Because the weather forecast only said there would be showers from the afternoon to the evening, you weren't sure exactly when, and then you occasionally pretended to go to the restroom to check if there was anyone in the courtyard."

"Today, when you saw it start to rain, you pretended to meet us outside the restroom. After confirming that no one would see you, you went to the sports warehouse, moved the desk and chair to the courtyard, and returned to the infirmary nearby to prepare to recover the umbrella after the rain stopped." ===== CHAPTER 989 =====