Upon hearing Senichi's words, Shiratori Ninzaburo wanted to argue again. However, before he could speak, Senichi spoke up again, throwing out a bombshell statement: "I don't know if you've noticed, but the two burned mansions were Professor Moriya Teiji's early works from his thirties. And I examined the forensic reports of the burned mansions and found that the serial arsonist used homemade ignition devices. So, don't you think he shares common characteristics with the person who stole the explosives?"
"What?!"
This statement caused a commotion in the room. This speculation was even more exaggerated than suspecting that Moriya Teiji himself burned down his own works. They never expected Senichi to connect the two cases. However, after carefully examining the information, they had to admit that it was entirely possible.
It was entirely possible that the handmade ignition devices used by the arsonist were stolen explosives. After Senichi's deductions, the arson cases became even more perplexing in the eyes of Inspector Megure and the others.
First, the arson case had two possibilities: Moriya Teiji was the culprit, or it was someone who held a grudge against him. Of course, this speculation was based on the fact that the culprit only targeted Moriya Teiji's works.
If the culprit targeted Moriya Teiji's works again in future incidents, it would confirm that the culprit had a specific motive.
Regarding the explosive theft case, under Senichi's analysis, two possibilities emerged: it could be an independent case where the culprit stole explosives for a different purpose, or it could be the same person as the arsonist, stealing the explosives to destroy Moriya Teiji's works.
From the theft of the explosives to the arson cases, they appeared in sequence. Moreover, the handmade ignition devices found at the fire scenes indeed matched the criteria. At least, one could not say that there was no connection.
However, Senichi saw these possibilities as nothing more than reasonable speculations to mask the true answer. After all, he couldn't directly reveal the correct answer; otherwise, it would be foreseeing the future rather than deducing. Presenting multiple possibilities and subtly guiding the correct answer made the situation more logical.
At most, it showed that Senichi had an excellent overall perspective and was not bound by conventional thinking. He wouldn't make things too abrupt.
While everyone was contemplating, Senichi spoke up again, suggesting, "Inspector Megure, ultimately, these are all my speculations. Why don't you leave the Moriya Teiji thread to me? Additionally, I suggest assigning some people to guard the mansions of the Kurokawa and Akutsu families, both of which are early designs by Professor Motomiya. Regardless of whether our other speculations are correct, there is still a high possibility that the arsonist intends to burn down Professor Moriya Teiji's works."
"Well, that makes sense," Inspector Megure nodded. "Shiratori-kun, Takagi-kun, each of you take a team and guard the two mansions!"
"Understood!"
"And Sato-san, cooperate with Senichi-kun in investigating along the Moriya Teiji thread."
"I got it," Sato Miwako nodded in understanding.
"The situation is urgent, and we cannot overlook any possibilities," Inspector Megure said solemnly. "Stay alert!"
"Yes, sir!"
...
After receiving the assigned tasks from Inspector Megure, Shiratori and Takagi reluctantly led their teams to stand guard at the mansions.After investigating for a while, Senichi and Sato Miwako discovered that Moriya Teiji had a banquet scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Therefore, they decided to prepare and visit him tomorrow afternoon.
Once all the plans were in place, they bid farewell to each other and went back to rest. As for the unfortunate Shiratori and Takagi, they went to guard their respective posts.
The arrangement made sense. Sato Miwako was a woman, so it was understandable to have someone take care of her since manpower was not lacking. And Senichi had stayed up all night yesterday, so it was natural not to assign him the task of standing guard again.
Early the next morning, Senichi was called out of bed.
Upon meeting with Officer Megure, he received both good and bad news—Akutsu's mansion had been set on fire.
Well, it was both good and bad news. The fact that the mansion had been burned down was naturally terrible. However, the good news was that Senichi's reasoning was correct. The culprit had indeed targeted Moriya Teiji's early works once again.
Around three o'clock in the morning last night, a massive fire broke out at Akutsu's mansion. Despite the efforts of Takagi and his team, they were overwhelmed and had no choice but to prioritize rescuing the people.
There was no other option. After all, the mansion was so vast, and the perpetrator had not chosen the location where Takagi was stationed. By the time they noticed the fire, the culprit had already fled. In that urgent situation, their first priority was to save lives.
Fortunately, due to their prompt arrival, the fire had not spread to the point where it couldn't be extinguished, and everyone inside the mansion had awakened. There were no casualties.
Senichi's "speculation" had now become a correct "inference," and Officer Megure immediately reported it to the Investigation Headquarters.
After receiving this information, the Investigation Headquarters confirmed the accuracy of the report and immediately dispatched a large number of personnel to monitor the Hakukawa residence at all times.
Meanwhile, Senichi and Sato Miwako went together to Moriya Teiji's mansion.
As an architectural masterpiece from the Seventeenth Century, it was undoubtedly magnificent.
There was a vast courtyard, luxurious fountains, towering buildings, and even two security guards stationed at the entrance.
"What should we do? Should we announce our identities to enter?" Sato Miwako furrowed her brow as she looked at the guards in front of the courtyard. "But wouldn't that alert the suspect if we reveal our identities?"
"No worries. Yesterday, I called Detective Mouri and casually mentioned Moriya Teiji while inquiring about the case at the Hakukawa residence."
Senichi smiled and continued, "I didn't expect Detective Mouri to have a connection with Moriya Teiji as well. He managed to obtain an invitation letter for us. After explaining the situation, Detective Mouri and I agreed to meet at the entrance. We'll enter together later."
"Really? That's quite a coincidence," Sato said with a smile. "You're really lucky."
Senichi just smiled and remained silent. Since he knew that Kogoro Mouri and the others had an invitation letter, he deliberately made the call. As long as he mentioned investigating Moriya Teiji, Kogoro Mouri would naturally be willing to help.
The plan was in motion!
They didn't have to wait long. Soon, a taxi stopped at the entrance of Moriya's mansion, and Conan was the first to get out of the car.
Senichi and Sato parked their car as well and joined Kogoro Mouri and the others.
After presenting the invitation letter, the group entered smoothly and arrived at the backyard.
As expected of a renowned architect, there were prominent figures everywhere—members of parliament, businessmen, and even many celebrities frequently seen on television.
However, Senichi was not here to socialize with these important individuals. He was here to pin the blame on Moriya Teiji.