Disclaimer: Detective Conan is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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"So, what did you want to tell me, Sasajima-kun?"
Ritsu found it a little difficult to say out loud, so he pulled Inspector Megure to a corner. Leaning slightly forward, he quietly reported what had happened in the restroom.
Megure had worked as a detective for many years, but this was the first time he had heard of something like that. For someone of his generation, it was certainly… shocking.
Blinking his round eyes, he coughed lightly.
"You're sure you're not exaggerating?"
"No. That's why I suggest conducting a body search. This poisoning was very likely a crime of passion."
Megure nodded. He beckoned a nearby officer and whispered a few instructions before turning back to Ritsu.
"Thank you for providing this witness testimony, Sasajima-kun. It's quite useful for the investigation. At the very least, we can now narrow the suspects down to those three people."
"We can let the other diners leave."
"Alright. You're welcome."
Ritsu returned to Morofushi and the others.
Jinpei immediately asked, "So what exactly did you tell that fat police officer?"
Morofushi sighed helplessly.
"Matsuda-kun, Inspector Megure could very well become our future superior. You should speak a little more politely."
Jinpei didn't think he had said anything wrong. He only gave people nicknames because they were easier to say, there was no ill intent. Just like when he had previously called Rei "Blondie."
"Alright, forget about the naming issue," Jinpei said. "Sasajima, hurry up and tell us what you talked about."
Ritsu pressed his lips together awkwardly.
After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "Are you sure you want to hear it?"
"What, could something embarrassing really have happened in the restroom?" Jinpei grinned. "That makes me want to hear it even more! If you spark my curiosity and refuse to tell me, lightning will strike you, you know?!"
Rubbing his temples, Ritsu lowered his voice and repeated what he had told Inspector Megure.
As he spoke, the expressions on the four faces in front of him grew increasingly strange.
The issue wasn't what those two men had done.
The issue was that both of them had girlfriends.
Morofushi stroked his smooth chin thoughtfully.
"So the possibility of a crime of passion is very high. If the victim's girlfriend or Matsui-san discovered their secret relationship, they could easily have developed murderous intent."
"If I were the girlfriend, I'd definitely be furious too," Date said with his arms crossed. "Who would expect their romantic rival to turn out to be a man?"
Jinpei shrugged.
"I don't think either of the girls did it. If your partner cheats, you just dump them, right? That's cutting your losses in time."
"Killing a scumbag like that and ending up in prison yourself is way too big a loss."
"Personally, I think the other guy is more suspicious."
Rei nodded in agreement.
"I also think Namiki is the most suspicious right now. But there's still no evidence pointing to anyone as the culprit, so we can't jump to conclusions yet."
Meanwhile, the police quickly began their investigation.
The forensics team collected evidence from the crime scene and sent it to the Metropolitan Police forensic lab for testing, hoping to determine which items had been contaminated with potassium cyanide.
While waiting for the results, Inspector Megure and the others continued working.
They began clearing out unrelated diners while maintaining control of the scene and conducting body searches on the three suspects.
Ritsu walked over to a young officer who was collecting evidence.
"Excuse me. Is there anything I can help with?"
"Hm? Oh… you're a police academy student, right? Then please check the belongings of Matsui and Asamoto."
"Understood."
Ritsu was still wearing his white gloves.
He took the two women's handbags.
Just from the brands alone, it was obvious there was a huge difference in wealth between the two.
One was a calfskin handbag released by Hermès early last year, easily worth 300,000 yen.
The other was a cheap, obscure brand, probably costing less than one-tenth of that, maybe even less.
He opened Ayaka Matsui's bag first.
The contents were simple: a makeup pouch, a bottle of perfume that was about half used, her phone, and a wallet.
None of them showed signs of poison.
"Officer, Matsui's belongings have been checked. Nothing suspicious."
"Understood."
Next, he opened Nanako Asamoto's handbag.
Its contents were much messier.
Touch-up cosmetics were tossed inside carelessly. There were even crumpled tissues with lipstick stains and an empty cookie wrapper covered in crumbs.
It seemed Asamoto wasn't particularly concerned about cleanliness.
However, among the clutter, one item caught Ritsu's attention.
It was a Tom Ford lipstick.
It had clearly been opened before but someone had carefully repackaged it.
Ritsu didn't open the lipstick immediately.
Instead, he brought it close to his nose and sniffed lightly.
A faint bitter almond smell came from the packaging.
His expression darkened.
Walking over to the young officer, he said quietly,
"Officer, this lipstick smells like potassium cyanide."
"What?!"
Standing nearby waiting to retrieve her bag, Asamoto looked shocked.
"That can't be! Are you sure you're not mistaken?!"
"When potassium cyanide is concentrated enough, it produces a bitter almond smell," Ritsu explained calmly.
"And in humid air, it releases hydrogen cyanide gas, which has the same odor."
"So there's no mistake. This lipstick in your bag is contaminated with potassium cyanide."
Asamoto noticed the police looking at her differently now.
She tried to explain, but panic made her start stuttering again. She struggled to form a complete sentence.
Seeing her friend being suspected, Matsui spoke up quickly.
"It can't be Nanako! Jun bought that lipstick for her earlier during dinner. He even helped her apply it!"
He applied the lipstick?
Ritsu took out the crumpled tissue with the lipstick stain.
"Did you wipe it off with this after trying it on?"
Asamoto had calmed down slightly.
"Yes. I don't like eating while wearing lipstick, so after trying the color, I asked Jun to put it in my bag."
"The packaging too, did he do that?"
"Yes. I asked him to wrap it back up for me."
So the poison wasn't on the lipstick itself.
It was on the outside of the lipstick, or perhaps on the inner packaging.
But the lipstick had been bought by the victim Hanazaki and given to his girlfriend.
That didn't make sense at all.
Inspector Megure had clearly noticed the same issue.
He frowned and lowered his head in thought.
It was now almost certain that the victim had come into contact with potassium cyanide through the lipstick.
But the lipstick had been handled by the victim himself.
If the victim had survived and Asamoto had died instead, it would make sense.
But the one who died was Hanazaki himself.
Surely he couldn't have been so foolish as to forget where he placed the poison—then grab the lipstick, contaminate his own hands, and eat sushi, essentially sending himself to the afterlife?
That would be far too stupid.
Rei quietly stepped up beside Ritsu.
"Ritsu, I think we're still missing something… but this lipstick does clear Asamoto of suspicion."
"Yeah," Ritsu replied.
"The culprit should be that person, but we still don't have the evidence."
"I'll ask the inspector for permission to—"
Before he could finish, he noticed Matsui looking at her boyfriend.
"Takuya, what are you spacing out for? Your phone's ringing, aren't you going to answer it?"
"Huh? Oh… it's just a spam call," Namiki said with a smile as he quickly hung up.
But just before the phone screen went dark, Ritsu noticed something.
The call had a caller ID.
Manager Tokushige.
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