The truth is often unbelievably complex.
As the cigarette burned down, Senichi slowly exhaled the last puff of smoke from his lungs and accepted this incredible fact.
From the current perspective, with everyone having alibis, the only option left was to narrow down the suspect list.
But deduction is called deduction because it is merely a deductive speculation based on reality, not an absolute truth.
The first thing Senichi needed to do was to find evidence and construct deductions one by one into irrefutable, ironclad facts!
Soon, the first piece of evidence to build the deduction fell into Senichi's hands.
According to forensic investigators, Saburo Hanyu's eyes were already injured before his death!
In other words, when he made the distress call, he couldn't see his surroundings.
But how did he determine his location?
The answer was clear: by the scent.
Although Saburo Hanyu couldn't see due to blindness, he smelled the fragrance and believed he was in the studio of the Lavender Villa due to its unique environment.
In that moment of blindness and danger, Saburo Hanyu's desperate plea for help played right into the hands of the culprit.
Unaware that the scent was deceptive, he fell for the trick designed to make him confess he was in the Lavender Villa.
With the successful resolution of the first trick, Senichi felt certain in his heart.
If his deductions and evidence aligned, it meant his deductions were moving in the right direction.
Afterward, Senichi walked slowly toward the elongated luxury car, slowly extending his right hand.
...
"What? You already know who the culprit is?"
"The culprit is among us? Are you kidding me?"
"Could it be that you found out who the person pretending to be Kaito Kid is?"
When Senichi returned to the Lavender Villa and announced this news, the crowd was in an uproar.
"Don't keep us in suspense; quickly point out the culprit!"
"Yeah! Who killed Uncle and Dr. Komori?!"
While everyone urged Senichi, Conan, on the side, fell into deep suspicion.
What's going on? I'm still stuck on everyone's alibis, and how the heck did you figure everything out?!
Facing this complex case, Conan once again felt the gap between them.
Damn it, Detective Senichi is only a few years older than me, why is the difference so huge?
Could it be, he's cheating!
Conan plunged into deep contemplation over the fact that the more he learned, the greater the gap seemed to be between them.
Senichi: Oh, caught red-handed? Sorry, I did cheat a bit this time...
But at this moment, Conan, looking at Senichi, couldn't help but want to hear his reasoning.
However, when he looked at the culprit pointed out by Senichi, Conan, who had not detected the truth, was inevitably shocked. But soon, Conan understood something, looking at the complex expression on Sakurako Hanyu's face.
Yes, the culprit this time was Sakurako Hanyu!
"The perpetrator behind these two murder cases is you, Miss Sakurako Hanyu!"
"What?!"
"How is that possible..."
"Why would Miss do such a thing..."
Facing Senichi's accusation of the culprit, the reactions of the crowd varied. Even Haruhiko Hanyu, who had always disliked her, found it hard to believe. "How is that possible, Sakurako, why would you kill Uncle Saburo? He's your father!!"
"I didn't, I didn't do it, you're making it up!!"
Faced with the uproar of the crowd and Senichi's identification of the murderer, Sakurako Hanyu, with a panicked expression, hastily denied, "He's my father; why would I kill him!?"
"Is that so?"
Although Senichi didn't yet know the specific reason why Sakurako Hanyu killed Saburo Hanyu, he thought there might be some deeply hidden grievances between the father and daughter, considering they had only recently recognized each other.
So, in the face of Sakurako Hanyu's denial, Senichi responded with a calm and indifferent look.
There are hundreds of battles going on every day.
This phrase originally comes from Han Feizi, describing the political tactics between the ruler and his subjects, suggesting that within a single day, there are hundreds of confrontations where each word exchanged is a mutual speculation and probing.
Now, using this phrase to describe the confrontation with the criminal is also quite fitting.
The confrontation between the detective and the criminal is similar; every sentence is a clash. The criminal must defend their psychological defenses, while the detective must present an aura of having everything under control, aiming to break down the criminal's mental defenses and make them surrender willingly.
At this moment, Senichi's demeanor, seemingly in complete control, made Sakurako Hanyu a bit flustered with just a simple two-word question.
"Since you say you're not the culprit, then I'll let the facts speak for themselves."
Though Senichi hadn't figured out the specific motive for the murders, seeing that his words had already exerted psychological pressure on the suspect, he considered his goal achieved. Now, it was time to steer the conversation back to the territory he controlled.
Moreover, this could add another layer of pressure on the suspect.
"In general, your methods are quite sophisticated. I believe your original plan was to frame Kaito Kid and implant the impression of 'stealing paintings while destroying the theme' in everyone's minds."
Senichi shrugged, saying, "But this plan has a major flaw, so much so that I was convinced from the beginning that this wasn't the work of Kaito Kid."
"Are you saying that you never believed that all these cases were the work of Kaito Kid from the beginning?" Ginzo Nakamori couldn't believe it. "Why are you so sure?"
"On this point, I think as someone who has clashed with Kaito Kid the most, Detective Nakamori, you also have an answer in your heart, don't you?"
Senichi smiled and asked, "Although Detective Nakamori, you have always angrily cursed Kaito Kid after the cases, deep down, you also had some doubts, right?
After all, this is completely against Kaito Kid's modus operandi. Although he's a thief, he's a gentleman. He wouldn't carry lethal weapons, let alone harm or kill someone."
"I did have such doubts, but couldn't be as sure as you are."
Ginzo Nakamori shook his head, saying, "But as you said, I've always understood Kaito Kid's modus operandi. Suddenly turning so ruthless is completely out of character."
"Since there's such a possibility, we naturally can't ignore it. After excluding the possibility of Kaito Kid committing the crime, I found that in this series of events, there was only one person whose alibi was the most ambiguous and couldn't withstand scrutiny."
Senichi looked at the sweating Sakurako Hanyu and said calmly, "Coupled with the decisive evidence you revealed in the second case, I've seen through all the tricks you used in this entire case!"
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