"In that case, where did Mrs. Shibata hide during this time?" After listening to a series of reasoning, Sango Yokomizo couldn't help but ask for more details.
"I suppose it's the corner of the hallway on the floor above, where even if you can't see, you can still hear the activity downstairs."
Senichi chuckled lightly and said, "Although the first responder wasn't Mr. Yoshikawa but us."
"Then, what's the deal with the photograph?" Yoshikawa Takezo pointed to Shizuka Ikenami standing on the side and questioned, "Mr. Shibata had a photograph of that person in his hand before he died, right?"
"That, well, it's simple."
Senichi glanced at the uneasy Shibata Kyoko and said meaningfully, "That was Mrs. Shibata's way of diverting attention and hiding evidence pointing to herself."
"Evidence?" Senichi's words puzzled Sango Yokomizo for a moment, and then his expression brightened, "Are you saying that Mr. Shibata left behind decisive evidence before he died?"
"Exactly, Officer Yokomizo, please take a close look at Mr. Shibata's left hand." Kogoro Mouri's words directed everyone's attention to the bandaged hand.
"This, this is..." After carefully examining it, Sango Yokomizo suddenly realized, "The bandage around his fingers, there's no bloodstain on it! Even though there's blood on the palm of his hand!"
"Next, please take a look at the palm of the right hand."
Sango Yokomizo picked up Mr. Shibata's right hand and looked at the palm, where there was a semi-circular ring-shaped mark with bloodstains. He couldn't help but exclaim, "This... could it be..."
"Yes, this is the 'true death message' that Mr. Shibata left behind! before Mrs. Shibata replaced it with photograph"
Senichi looked at the pale-faced Shibata Kyoko and said in a deep voice, "What Mr. Shibata was holding at that time was the wedding ring symbolizing their marriage!"
Inside the room, as their reasoning unraveled like peeling silk, each sentence seemed to pierce through Shibata Kyoko's defenses like a knife.
When Senichi mentioned the crucial evidence, the wedding ring, she broke out in a cold sweat. Her heart wanted to voice a retort, but her dry throat couldn't produce any sound.
But even if she could speak, she didn't know how to defend herself at this moment.
In Shibata Kyoko's view, these two detectives seemed to possess the ability to rewind time, completely exposing her actions.
She struggled to intervene, but was powerless to move. And could only listen as Kogoro Mouri described her actions at the time, as if reconstructing the crime:
"Returning indoors, Mrs. Shibata found that her husband hadn't died in the genkan (entryway), but had been moved again. Naturally, she would check if he had left any evidence pointing to her as the culprit.
Sure enough, upon inspection, she noticed that the wedding ring her husband used to wear on his left ring finger was nowhere to be found.
After a thorough search, she discovered the wedding ring held in her husband's right hand. So, she immediately took out the ring that pointed to her.
She intended to put the ring back on her husband's left ring finger, but by that time, the body had stiffened significantly, and she had no choice but to remove the ring.
However, this left the right hand, frozen in its gesture, looking quite unusual. It was easy for people to speculate whether it had once grasped some important evidence.
With a sudden inspiration, Mrs. Shibata remembered the photograph he had searched for during the phone call and placed it in his hand.
As for the ring mark on the ring finger, she used a bandage to conceal it, and she also wrapped a bandage around her index finger to make it less conspicuous."
"As for what was held in the hand, it's not really important. As long as the evidence doesn't point to her, it's enough."
Senichi spread his hands and said, "But the awkward part is that Ms. Ikenami happened to come over today, and that photograph happened to depict her when she was young. So, unintentionally, Mrs. Shibata set up a diversion trap."
Realizing the significance of this evidence, Sango Yokomizo immediately directed the crime scene personnel to remove the bandage from the deceased's hand and promptly collected evidence of the ring mark on the ring finger.
"Hey, start searching for the ring in the room immediately!" Sango Yokomizo immediately issued the command, "Search meticulously! Don't leave any inch unchecked!"
"Don't bother! I think the ring should be in Mrs. Shibata's possession." Kogoro Mouri's voice interrupted Sango Yokomizo's orders, and at the same time, Shibata Kyoko's face turned even paler.
"Even if the bloodstains were cleaned, they would still be detected by luminol reaction. This is common knowledge in detective TV shows.
Knowing that the investigators would arrive soon, she wasn't confident that she could hide the ring without being discovered.
Of course, the temporary hiding spot in the stairwell could also be subject to investigation by the police.
So, the safest option was to keep it on her person. After dealing with the investigators, she could easily find a way to dispose of the ring."
Senichi stepped forward to Shibata Kyoko, slowly extending his gloved right hand, "Mrs. Shibata, please give me the ring that Mr. Shibata was holding before he died."
Shibata Kyoko extended her right hand slowly and placed the ring in Senichi's hand.
It was truly an extremely ironic piece of evidence.
It is precisely because the ring had been always worn on his hand that Mr. Shibata had managed to grasp the ring just before his death, leaving behind a death message.
What was originally a symbol of love between two people had ultimately become the crucial evidence Mr. Shibata used to point to Mrs. Shibata.
"Heh, humans... indeed cannot do wicked things, huh..."
Shibata Kyoko laughed at herself, then turned to the bald man beside her and asked, "Why is it so unfair?
Why is it that Mr. Yoshikawa, you and my husband can engage in wrongdoing for so long without being exposed?"
"Huh?" Sango Yokomizo was momentarily surprised by Shibata Kyoko's words and exclaimed, "What are you talking about?"
"Gambling!" Shibata Kyoko looked at Yoshikawa Takezo with a hateful glare, "Did you really think their mahjong games were just harmless fun!!
They were addicted to mahjong and were gambling enormous amounts of money. It's not an exaggeration to call it high-stakes gambling!!
Because of this, everything in the house, from the LD player, speakers, cars, jewelry, computers, to even the cars... they were all pawned off!!"
After venting her frustration, Shibata Kyoko continued with a deep weariness, "My husband said that next time, he'll sell my golf clubs, and if that's not enough, he'll sell the wedding gift my father gave me."
After hearing her words, and looking at Shibata Kyoko who seemed like a lifeless shell, everyone fell into silence.
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