"Sharp-nosed Viper, also known as the hundred-pace snake or five-pace snake. It's a highly venomous snake distributed mostly in China and Northern Vietnam. It's dark brown, with patterns similar to Feichi's," Chi Feichi looked at Hattori Heiji. "Your guess is correct. This was a case of artificially injecting venom to simulate a snakebite. However, the culprit clearly didn't understand enough. Although it's called the five-pace snake because legend says you die within five steps, that's an exaggeration. The onset time isn't that fast. The culprit injected too large a dose. As for how to get the venom... I doubt anyone would specifically buy this kind of venom; it's much more troublesome than buying cyanide. The only acquisition channel I can think of is a biological research institute."
Mouri Kogoro: "..."
He can actually answer that...
The ambulance and police arrived quickly.
By the time Morizono Kikuhito and Shigematsu Akio were carried out on stretchers, a crowd of reporters had already gathered outside the gate.
"Mr. Morizono, is it true that your son and butler have had an accident?"
"May I ask if your son's wedding tomorrow will be cancelled?"
"There are rumors that your son's company is suspected of bribery. Do you have anything to say? Is it related to this incident?"
"Was this incident man-made or an accident? Is someone targeting the Morizono family?"
Flashbulbs popped in a blinding frenzy. Megure Juzo managed to squeeze through the door with his officers, closing it behind him with a sigh of relief.
"I am Megure from the Metropolitan Police Department. I've heard the general situation," Megure Juzo greeted Morizono Mikio, then looked at Mouri Kogoro with half-moon eyes. "From this plague god who causes incidents wherever he goes..."
"How can you call me a plague god? That sounds terrible," Mouri Kogoro laughed dryly. "You should say that incidents summon me, the great detective Mouri Kogoro!"
Standing at the entrance of the dining room, Chi Feichi heard this and instinctively turned his head to look at Conan, who was wandering around the scene.
Indeed, not a plague god. He should be called the God of Death. And it's not Mouri Kogoro, but a certain elementary school student.
The misunderstanding between Morizono Kikuhito and Shigematsu Akio had been resolved, and they had agreed to cancel the wedding. Nothing should have happened. He didn't expect an accident to occur anyway.
He had wanted to thank the Morizono family for their hospitality over the past two days, but ended up sending both the original culprit and the victim to the hospital, and got himself into a heap of trouble...
It was truly a complicated feeling...
After walking over, Megure Juzo also saw Chi Feichi standing at the dining room entrance. "Oh, Brother Chi, you're here too!"
"Inspector Megure." Chi Feichi nodded.
"You've been appearing at crime scenes a bit frequently lately, although you can't compare to a certain plague god," Megure Juzo glanced at Mouri Kogoro and whispered, "But be careful not to catch whatever he has..."
Thinking carefully, he had run into Chi Feichi at crime scenes several times recently. Although his attendance rate wasn't as high as Mouri Kogoro's, Mouri wasn't present during the last movie theater incident. And during the magician lover incident where they first met Chi Feichi, Mouri only dropped his daughter off, while Chi Feichi was there the whole time.
Every time he led a team out for an incident, seeing familiar faces always gave him mixed feelings.
First it was Kudo Shinichi, now it was Mouri Kogoro, and if Chi Feichi was added to the mix...
He wanted to try locking these guys up to see if it would lower Tokyo's crime rate.
"Inspector Megure..." Takagi Wataru whispered while sweating. They were public servants; how could they be superstitious?
"Ahem," Megure Juzo coughed dryly, ignoring the previous topic as he walked into the dining room. He asked Chi Feichi seriously, "So, what's the situation now?"
Takagi Wataru took out his notebook, ready to record.
He had privately asked Megure Juzo about Chi Feichi before. After the magician lover incident, the police had investigated Chi Feichi's background and confirmed his legal capacity.
The judgment from Aoyama Fourth Hospital was that, given Chi Feichi's current condition, he possessed limited criminal responsibility and capacity for conduct legally.
Due to delusions, he lacked the capacity to conduct litigation.
As for his capacity to testify, it depended on whether he was experiencing hallucinations or auditory hallucinations at the time. His capacity to serve a sentence would also depend on the situation.
If it were anyone else, they wouldn't need to consider so much; just asking them to rest aside would suffice. However, Chi Feichi had good reasoning and judgment skills. From their interactions, he seemed normal and reliable...
Chi Feichi: "For the situation, go ask Mr. Mouri and Hattori."
Takagi Wataru, pen poised: "..."
This laziness is really helpless...
Megure Juzo also turned to stare at Chi Feichi speechlessly. How can a young man lack so much motivation?
"I'm involved in this incident," Chi Feichi explained.
"Oh?" Megure Juzo was a bit surprised, but not knowing the details, he couldn't say much. He nodded and chose to ask Hattori Heiji instead.
"Inspector Megure, actually, you can ask me..." Mouri Kogoro mumbled as he followed them.
The police were busy investigating the scene and checking everyone's belongings, while Conan and Hattori Heiji were also looking around.
Chi Feichi's belongings consisted only of a phone, a set of keys, a geometric pattern keychain, and a Feichi...
After being checked, he sat aside with Feichi.
"Master, did I cause trouble?" Feichi watched the busy police officers and said dejectedly, "If I hadn't run around with Rebecca, maybe the culprit wouldn't have used snake venom, wouldn't have faked a snakebite, and wouldn't have caused you trouble. If I didn't cause you trouble, you wouldn't have to sit here watching..."
"It's not your fault," Chi Feichi said in a low voice.
Feichi continued to be depressed. "Master, you don't have to comfort me..."
"It should be because I stirred things up earlier, making the other party think an opportunity had arrived," Chi Feichi finished his speculation.
Feichi was skeptical. Did I just get dragged into this accidentally?
Chi Feichi continued, "Besides, if she only decided to harm people after seeing you fight with Rebecca, she wouldn't have had time to prepare the snake venom and the prop simulating snake fangs. So, regardless of whether you caused a ruckus, she was going to do it."
"That's true. But humans are really complicated. Snakes didn't do anything to her..." Feichi lowered his head aggrievedly, then quickly looked up. "She? Master, you know who the culprit is?"
Chi Feichi looked at the maid undergoing police questioning. "Eguchi Sachiko."
Feichi turned to look at the plump maid in her forties, somewhat incredulous. "Eh? Does she have a grudge against Morizono Kikuhito or Shigematsu Akio?"
"I don't know the motive," Chi Feichi shifted his gaze to the serving cart parked against the wall. "I only know the MO and the evidence."
"Oh, so Master only knows..." Feichi paused, looking at Chi Feichi speechlessly. "Then shouldn't you tell the police? If there's evidence, can't she be convicted?"
"Wait until I become a suspect," Chi Feichi whispered. "Feichi, you haven't met my father, but you can probably guess what kind of person he is. His career is very important to him..."
Feichi listened silently, already imagining a series of reasons.
It had heard its master on the phone with his father; the relationship was cold. But the master still cared about his family, right?
Is Master trying to become a suspect because he feels his father is always busy with work and ignoring him? Does he want to make his father worry?
It turns out Master has such a sentimental and childish side. Should I say something now?
Too bad I'm not good at comforting people...
Being a snake is so hard.
"If the heir to the Zhenchi Group becomes a criminal suspect, it will affect the group, and he will be angry," Chi Feichi continued. "He doesn't need to do anything illegal. As long as he ensures the real culprit gets a heavier sentence, with no reduced sentence or bail, then my goal will be achieved."
"G-Goal?" Feichi was confused.
This... seems a bit different from what I thought?
"I was very angry before," Chi Feichi said, his voice and expression remaining calm. "She shouldn't have targeted you. Perhaps in her eyes, you are just an animal, but in mine, it's different. I'm counting the crime of framing you against her. It's troublesome for me to pull strings personally, but for my father, he only needs to express an intention. So, I just need to ensure my father has that intention."
Feichi stared blankly at Chi Feichi. Although this reason touched the snake, it seemed to have worried for nothing earlier.
Master isn't looking for daddy's love at all; he's secretly plotting against his own dad...
"But I have to measure it carefully. In this country, the status of an heir is very high. Once word gets out, linking 'mental illness' and 'criminal suspect' together creates too much pressure from public opinion, which will greatly impact the Zhenchi Group. At that point, he might not just be angry at the real culprit, but also at me for causing him trouble," Chi Feichi analyzed to himself. "So, the best outcome is for me to be listed as a suspect but quickly cleared. That will make him angry, but not to the point of rage."
Feichi's mindset suddenly turned into that of a salted fish.
With a master like this, what is there to think about? What is there to worry about?
Just sit back and watch the show!
The police were uneasy and searched the surroundings for venomous snakes, but ultimately found nothing.
"Inspector Megure, looking for a venomous snake is a waste of time because the snake doesn't exist," Hattori Heiji reminded him. "There's a huge problem with the dosage of venom injected. It was obviously done by a human!"
"But, if you want to inject venom, you need something similar to snake fangs to pierce the human body and inject the toxin," Megure Juzo raised a question. "Mr. Morizono Kikuhito was sitting at the dining table. Miss Katagiri Kaede on his right and Ms. Eguchi Sachiko, the maid serving the dishes, could have done it while avoiding others' sight. But after Mr. Shigematsu entered the dining room, he stood alone in the back the whole time. The wound is on his calf. If someone walked up to him, squatted down, and stabbed him with something, he should have noticed something was wrong and said something. And you guys sitting across the table should have seen it too, right?"
"The culprit didn't necessarily have to walk over and squat to stab him," Hattori Heiji looked at the serving cart. "At the time, Mr. Shigematsu was standing to the rear left of Mr. Kikuhito, which is on Master Mikio's right side. While serving the dishes, the cart started from Master Mikio and was pushed along. If the tool for injecting venom was installed on the bottom corner of the cart, and it hit Mr. Shigematsu as it passed, he would only feel a slight pain and assume the cart bumped into him. Since Master Mikio was talking to others, it would have been impolite to interrupt suddenly or squat down to roll up his pants to check his calf, so he endured it. By the time he realized the pain was severe, it was too late. Ms. Eguchi Sachiko, who was responsible for serving dishes on that side, could have tampered with the cart."
"Also, while the cart was coming over, Miss Katagiri Kaede could have bent down pretending to pick something up, reached under the table from this side, and stabbed Butler Shigematsu, right?" Conan added.
Mouri Kogoro immediately looked at Katagiri Kaede, scrutinizing her suspiciously. "I remember that when the dishes were being served, Miss Kaede did bend down to look under the table, didn't she?"