"Hey hey! Shibata-nii-san, did Secretary Niikura say it right?"
Ignoring the increasingly gloomy expression on Secretary Niikura's face, Conan maintained his innocent appearance.
He ran over to Shibata and curiously asked, "Shibata-nii-san, is it true that the remote control was found in the president's office, just like Secretary Niikura said?"
"Yes, it was indeed found in the president's office." Shibata glanced at the displeased Niikura with a mocking tone. "But special abilities... truly amazing!"
The words of praise had a clear sarcastic meaning, which anyone could discern.
After all, everyone knew that special abilities were impossible. The only possibility was that Secretary Niikura had accidentally revealed that he had planted the remote control himself!
"So impressive!"
But there was someone here who actually took it seriously. Conan, with an innocent expression, looked at Niikura and said, "Secretary Niikura, can you teach me special abilities too?"
These seemingly innocent words were like the most malicious ones, continuously trampling on Niikura's pride and mocking his foolishness.
Conan's skillful backstabbing technique, learned without a teacher, was truly exquisite. It pushed Niikura's state of mind to the brink of explosion, making him wish to strangle the little devil right then and there.
"I didn't expect to be deceived so easily."
Looking at the enraged Niikura, Shibata smiled and said, "Detective-san, I did what you asked. How was my acting?"
"Excellent, everything went smoothly and surprised everyone. Your acting skills played a significant role."
Senichi smiled and completely ignored Niikura beside him, "I also didn't expect him to expose himself so easily."
Then Senichi suddenly turned around, looked at the infuriated Niikura, and shouted, "Are you still pretending? The mastermind behind all this is you, Niikura!"
"Based on my investigation, it seems that you are highly regarded in the political world and even considered as the successor to Senator Takada."
Senichi looked at the frightened Secretary Niikura, said in a teasing tone , "However, as long as Senator Takada doesn't retire, you are just a name without substance, merely a secretary being manipulated by Senator Takada."
"So impatient, you tricked Shiro Hiraoka and planned the murder of Senator Takada!"
"And afterward, you silenced Hiraoka to cover up your crime. Creating an illusion that after a failed attempt to extort president Ishimoto, his retaliation resulted in the accidental killing of Senator Takada, shifting all blame onto the deceased Hiraoka."
Speaking this far, Senichi smiled at Secretary Niikura. "Unfortunately, plans don't always go as expected. Your plan went wrong at the stage with Hiraoka."
"You lured Hiraoka into the lighting placement room to frame him, but he took the motor fixed on the lamp and hid it, using it as a means to threaten you."
"Later, when the two of you met, you chose to silence Hiraoka, but you couldn't find the hidden motor."
"Fearing the discovery of this evidence, you devised a plan to frame President Ishimoto.
First, you visited President Ishimoto and used the excuse of 'not letting Senator Takada sacrifice in vain' to pressure him psychologically.
You made him feel guilty, leading him to confess to being extorted by Hiraoka to the police and at the same time planted the remote control in his office.
If the motor hidden by Hiraoka was found, Ishimoto would become the perpetrator of this entire scheme, and the remote control would be the best evidence of the double murder!"
It not only served as crucial evidence for the murder of Senator Takada but also became the motive for killing Hiraoka, completely framing him.
"That's enough!"
Impatiently, Niikura looked at Senichi and said, "In the end, all of this is just speculation!"
He sneered, Calming down from his anxious state, he adjusted his tie slightly, took a deep breath, and coldly hummed at Senichi, "If you claim that I'm the mastermind behind all this, then prove that I'm the owner of that remote control!"
"If you can't prove it, then everything you say is just nonsense!"
Upon hearing this, Senichi looked at Niikura and said, "I have to admit, you are a very scheming person, and your plans are well thought out.
Even if there are mistakes, you can cleverly use the situation to shift the blame onto others and clear yourself.
I even suspect that you anticipated this and had prepared corresponding countermeasures in advance, so even when there was a mistake in the incident involving Hiraoka, you didn't show any flaws.
I suppose you also took great care not to leave any fingerprints when you placed the remote control in President Ishimoto's office."
"Hmph, is that all you have?" Niikura sneered at Senichi. "Well, if I were the culprit, I would have definitely wiped off any fingerprints beforehand.
After all, nobody is that foolish, hahaha..."
"On the surface, that's true!" Senichi interrupted Niikura's laughter directly, looking at him with a mocking smile. "Indeed, on the surface, it seems that way."
Those words seemed like a spell, causing Niikura to break out in a cold sweat. He vaguely realized something, and his pupils involuntarily trembled intensively.
"Speaking of which, I have to thank Conan-kun. At last night's banquet, we played a game."
Senichi smiled slyly at Niikura, resembling a fox that had caught its prey. "The game was about guessing people's professions, and coincidentally... one of the people was you.
At that time, you were having a conversation with a company executive. When you took his business card and reached into your pocket to take out your wallet as a gesture of reciprocation, you accidentally dropped the remote control."
"...?"
Watching Niikura's silence and the grim expression on his face, Senichi's sharp gaze locked onto him. "You must have remembered what happened next, right?
The remote control had its batteries fall out. At that moment, you had the batteries in your empty hands and put them back into the remote control. They were most likely covered in your fingerprints."
"What...?" Niikura trembled all over, looking at his hands. "How can it be like this..."
"A chink in the armor, right?"
Senichi poured oil on the fire, looking at the trembling Niikura. "And I must thank you for helping me deliver the remote control to President Ishimoto.
I was still struggling to figure out how to obtain that crucial evidence, but you willingly came to deliver it to me.
Afterward, I ran into Mr. Shibata in the president's office and had him cooperate with me in the act. It was so easy for you to fall into the trap and expose yourself."
"Ah... Ahh..."
In the next moment, Niikura's eyes became lifeless, as if he had lost all strength in an instant. He collapsed to the ground in a traditional Dogeza pose.
"How could this happen... How could this happen..." Niikura muttered as he knelt on the ground, repeatedly uttering those words.
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