Chapter 7

In the room, the questioning continued.

After Abe Yutaka explained the reason for the two of them taking out large insurance policies on each other, Inspector Megure and Kogoro Mouri's suspicions about Abe Yutaka deepened.

"So, Mr. Abe Yutaka, why did you ask Detective Kogoro to follow the deceased?" Inspector Megure asked again.

"That's because he recently came to talk to me, saying, 'Someone wants to assassinate me, I might be killed soon.'"

"Killed!?"

"Yes..."

Abe Yutaka sighed, "At first, I thought he was just joking, but his appearance was really not like it... Just to be safe, I asked Detective Kogoro to follow him for three days."

"Hmm..." Kogoro Mouri clenched his fists, his expression showing extreme anger.

Clearly, the anger of knowing who the suspect was but being used by the criminal, along with the other party's arrogant attitude, made Kogoro Mouri extremely angry.

"Sorry, I have a lot of things to do, so I'll leave first. Don't look at me like this, I'm actually the president of a small company, with a lot of work every day, very busy..."

Abe Yutaka opened the door of the meeting room, turned back, and smiled, "I hope you can find the murderer soon."

"Hmph, rest assured, if I find him, I'll notify you first!" Kogoro Mouri said with a hostile tone.

"Ha..." Abe Yutaka sneered at Kogoro Mouri's words, then turned around and smiled politely, "I look forward to it... Detective..."

"Damn it, besides him, I can't think of anyone else who could be the culprit, but he has an alibi elsewhere..." Inspector Megure looked at the departing Abe Yutaka with a hostile expression.

"And it's a very perfect alibi..." Tazawa shrugged and looked at Inspector Megure, "Inspector Megure, can I and Detective Kogoro investigate this case together?"

"Hmm... That's fine, I'll leave this case to you and Detective Kogoro. Learn from Detective Kogoro's experience."

Inspector Megure thought for a moment and realized there was nothing much going on recently, so he decided to hand the case over to Tazawa.

Although the case occurred in Gunma Prefecture, both the deceased and the suspect were in Tokyo, and the witness was Kogoro Mouri, an acquaintance, so it was fine to have Tazawa help.

"Too suspicious, really too suspicious, the murderer must be him!" Even as they left the police station, Kogoro Mouri was still grumbling with dissatisfaction.

"Ah! Dad, you're out! And Inspector Tazawa?" Ran Mouri looked at Tazawa, who was following Kogoro Mouri, in surprise.

"Hello, Mr. Mouri." Tazawa greeted politely.

"Hello, Inspector Tazawa." Ran Mouri bowed slightly and smiled, "Are you investigating this case with my father?"

"Yes, I'll be troubling you both." Tazawa nodded.

Earlier, when Tazawa was being questioned by Kogoro Mouri and the other person, he had carefully searched his mind but found no relevant impressions, which made him feel a bit disappointed.

After all, if it were a case that left a strong impression, he could quickly find clues and catch the culprit.

"What do you think, Inspector Tazawa!" Kogoro Mouri looked at the thoughtful Tazawa, his tone filled with anger, "At the time, I was thinking, just following that guy for three days, and earning 500,000 yen!

Even for a rich guy, that's an awfully high fee for just following someone!"

As he said this, thinking of Abe Yutaka's confident demeanor, Kogoro Mouri became even more irritated.

"Why don't you just arrest him directly?" Ran asked, puzzled.

"Although we have identified the suspect, we currently have no evidence. On the contrary, the suspect has a solid alibi." Tazawa explained to the two, "And the alibi was provided by Detective Kogoro."

Tazawa then looked at Kogoro Mouri, "Detective Kogoro, could you tell us the specific details of your surveillance? Let's organize the information we have so far."

Kogoro Mouri recalled, "The deceased was found at the Akakijin Village Fire Festival in Gunma Prefecture. I was following him until Wednesday night, which means the murder must have happened between Wednesday night and Thursday evening."

"So, Dad, the person you suspect must have acted during that time?" Ran asked, making an intuitive judgment.

"Impossible..." Kogoro Mouri clenched his teeth again, "That guy was on a trip from Wednesday morning to Friday night, and he was with his company's employees the whole time!"

"Oh..." Ran asked, puzzled, "Then why do you insist he's the culprit?"

"Heh... That's because... I have a detective's unique sixth sense!!" Kogoro Mouri boasted shamelessly.

"Ah... Is that so?..." Ran had a puzzled look, unsure how to comment on her father's confidence.

"Actually, it's also because the suspect had a strong motive." Tazawa smiled and explained to Ran, "They both took out a 500 million yen insurance policy on each other, which gives him a strong motive to kill."

"I see." Ran nodded in understanding.

Tazawa also organized the information provided by Kogoro Mouri in his notebook.

From the current situation, Kogoro Mouri was following the suspect from Monday to Wednesday, and the deceased was killed on Thursday.

As for Abe Yutaka, he was on a trip from Wednesday to Friday, meaning that on Wednesday, the deceased was still alive, and by Thursday, Abe Yutaka was already on his trip, leaving no time to commit the murder.

"So, is that it? Dad, you really don't need to be so evasive." Ran said with a hint of annoyance.

"No, he really relies on his intuition..." ×2

The two young men, one tall and one short, simultaneously thought in unison.

After returning to the Kogoro Detective Agency, Tazawa took out the itinerary of Abe Yutaka's Kyushu trip and his souvenir photos, and began to screen them with Kogoro Mouri.

"However, Dad." Ran looked at the two of them organizing the photos, "If someone really wanted to kill, they could achieve their goal in a short time as long as they were in the country."

Hearing Ran's words, Tazawa nodded.

After all, the total area of Japan is only about 370,000 square kilometers, roughly equivalent to a province in a larger country.

In such a situation, it was entirely possible for Abe Yutaka to travel to another place to commit the murder and return to Kyushu within a short time!