The next step was to state the motive.
Mrs. Minagawa said, "I can't help it."
"I know I'm sorry for Katsuhiko, but my husband's money is in the red, and if he doesn't make it up soon, he'll go bankrupt, and if Katsuhiko dies, I'll be able to take over his estate."
As she spoke, Minagawa Sasumu pushed her way through the crowd and called out to her blankly, "Mom?"
At the sight of her child, Mrs. Minagawa's calm demeanor finally cracked, and she covered her face and sobbed in a low voice.
Most of the people couldn't help but gather a little closer, listening to the gossip and taking temporary notes.
Ichijō Mirai looked through the crowd and could only briefly mourn for this guy who could barely be considered a fellow traveler: Rest in peace.
It didn't help that Mrs. Minagawa was one of those fancy criminals who tried to kill in public and get away with it, and he didn't like that.
Although he tried to be tolerant and didn't reveal the real culprit right when he told Suzuki Sonoko to call the police, she was found out anyway.
That's the fate of the fancy criminals.
Almost every criminal's fate ends in execution, but there are different types of criminals, from the simple and brutal type to the fancy type.
The latter is like Mrs. Minagawa, who, given the autopsy rate in Japan and the rule that autopsies must have the consent of the family, chose to commit the crime in public, thinking that it would be the easiest and most brutal way to smother the victim with a bowl of medicine when she was alone, but she wanted to get out of it with a clean bill of health.
The more fancy and complicated the method, the more clues are left behind, and the more in public, the more eyes.
Ichijō Mirai withdrew his gaze, somewhat disinterested, "Can we leave now?"
Conan took his eyes off Mrs. Minagawa and forced himself to pull himself together, speaking in a lively tone, "Brother Ichijō doesn't seem very happy, is it because of the murder?"
"Or is it because the motive was money?"
Neither.
It's because of the idiot on the side of the road.
A fool who was rounded up to his peers, and was caught by a child.
Ichijō Mirai discriminated against all fools equally.
He put it another way, "The goal this time is to investigate the stalker, and I'm afraid there's too much noise for that."
What kind of stalker stays around when the police are making such a big deal out of it? It's not the police.
Conan reacted, his eyes widened, and he said, "It's Sonoko's fault for saying something misleading, otherwise there wouldn't be a stalker."
And he tentatively asked, "Then, will Brother Ichijō investigate again?"
Do you realize he's too smart to be a child?
"If Ms. Suzuki is still being stalked," Ichijō Mirai replies, without replying directly in the affirmative or in the negative, and then asks Conan in reverse, "What is your relationship to Mr. Mouri?"
"Sort of a relative," Conan alerted, raising the cheerfulness of his tone, "I'm staying at Sister Ran's house now, and I've often seen Uncle Mouri solving crimes... he's very handsome."
He rubbed his head in embarrassment, "Actually, I just imitated Uncle Mouri a little bit, that's why he punched me so angrily."
And naturally, he wondered, "Why did Brother Ichijō ask that?"
Ichijō Mirai caught the key information: living in Mouri Korogō's house.
He turns his head, looks seriously at Mouri Korogō for a few moments, then turns back, looks seriously at Conan, and muses, "Well..."
Bad news: Mouri Korogō is unreliable.
Unreliable in the sense that one day he'd worry that Conan would be disillusioned with the detective profession and immediately jump into the police force without stopping.
Good news: Megure Jūzō is also unreliable.
If Conan was disillusioned with the detective profession because of the unreliable Detective Mouri, he would probably be disillusioned with the police because of Megure Jūzō, and wouldn't spend his adult life as a police officer who was hot on the trail of criminals.
The two unreliable guys were listening to gossip in the center of the crowd, and seemed to be a perfect match, definitely disappointing together if they were going to be disappointed.
Ichijō Mirai was relieved, "OK."
For the first time, he didn't make a perfunctory slapdash gesture, but seriously stroked Conan's head, "You're a born detective."
"I'm looking forward to the day when you're a few years older and become the brightest young detective in Japan."
So don't jump ship to the police, and don't chase criminals across the country for decades.
Conan: "Huh?"
The promise is so unexpected, and so in line with Kudō Shinichi, that he's stunned for a few seconds before nodding his head in a somewhat tense, feigned bewilderment, "Yes, yes, Brother Ichijō."
Ichijō Mirai let go of his hand and waved it casually, "I'm going to find Ms. Suzuki and ask what I'm going to do after that."
Since she was an outsider, and had no personal grudges against anyone present, Suzuki Sonoko had very little to say, and pretty much only had to explain why she was here.
Now in the corner.
Hearing Ichijō Mirai's question, she subconsciously locked eyes with Mouri Ran, and hesitantly replied, "Ran and I didn't realize anyone was following us today, so I guess the previous ones were just illusions?"
It means that the stalker is no longer being investigated.
And, "From what I've seen last time, now that we've found the real murderer, the police will be gone in ten minutes at the most, right? We can leave then, too."
"The police will stay and cordon off the crime scene, but it's none of our business," Mouri Ran added, "My dad drove here, so we can just go."
Mouri Korogō is listening to gossip.
After the first group of police officers withdrew, along with most of the gossipers, he left the crowd.
He was happy to take his daughter home.
But he was somewhat reluctant to pick up a fellow traveler and go home.
Reluctantly, but with a serious look at Ichijō Mirai, then two, then three times, Mouri Korogō very reluctantly agreed, "All right."
"Is it the dessert shop near Beika-cho 5-chome? I'll sent you first."
"Just to be clear, I'll never recommend a client for you, even if the client asks me repeatedly about a new detective in the neighborhood!"
Ichijō Mirai: "..."
He doesn't want to know about it, thanks.
"Let's go, let's go," Mouri Korogō counted the time and perked up, "We can still make it home in time for the Valentine's Day special!"
"I'll come across a convenience store on the way and buy some cigarettes and alcohol, and order some food for dinner."
Convenience stores are everywhere.
A few minutes into the car's journey, before it had completely left the upscale residential area, and just near the busy street, there was a brightly lit convenience store.
Mouri Korogō wasn't the only one who wanted to buy something.
Suzuki Sonoko in the backseat blushed and said 'I suddenly thought of something to buy' and hurried into the convenience store with Mouri Ran and Conan in tow.
Ichijō Mirai, sitting in the passenger seat, only closed his eyes for a moment before he sensed someone approaching the car and opened his eyes sharply.
A short figure slowly walks up to the passenger side window, a small child who looks to be at least seven years old.
Holding a teddy bear in her arms, she knocked on the window in a pitiful manner, made a few gestures with her empty hand, and then stopped, even more pitifully.
It looked like a lost child.
"Hello," Ichijō Mirai rolled down the window, "Are you looking for the police?"
At the word 'police', the child's eyes lit up, she nodded vigorously, and made a few difficult gestures with one hand.
Halfway through, she simply clamped her legs around the teddy bear and flipped her hands around to make a few skillful signs.
Sign language.