Chi Feichi didn't speak too absolutely. "It's possible."
"Not only was the relationship bad," Conan walked to the window, "Judging from the posture in which he fell, Mr. Kaneda stood up from the left side of the room to greet the killer, was stabbed head-on, and finally collapsed on the dining table. It is indeed possible that it was a crime committed by an acquaintance. If the killer entered from the waterway outside the window, there should be traces of water in the room, but there are none here..."
Chi Feichi looked at the deceased's right hand. "There's something black on the deceased's right thumb. Not blood, but fugu caviar."
"Eh?" Conan immediately leaned close to the deceased's right hand and sniffed. "Mr. Kaneda and the others did order fugu caviar..."
"The body has been moved," Chi Feichi pointed at the suit jacket on the deceased's shoulder. "One side has inconspicuous wrinkles, while the other side is taut. The killer moved the body to face the door."
"In other words, the killer wanted to create the illusion that he entered from the door. It's really possible that he entered from the waterway without leaving a trace. When Mr. Kaneda left the room, the food hadn't been served yet. The black substance on his finger might not be from him accidentally touching it, but the killer..." Conan was analyzing in a low voice when he was bonked on the head by Mouri Kogoro, who had entered at some point.
Conan: "..."
Hit him on the head again!
Mouri Kogoro punched Conan, then picked him up directly and threw him to Chi Feichi. "Really, children shouldn't cause trouble!"
Chi Feichi caught Conan and naturally turned to leave the room, whispering, "Around the time the deceased was attacked, were Mr. Arai and Professor Iwama absent? Looking at the tidiness of the room, this isn't the room where they ate."
Conan remembered he hadn't mentioned this. "Professor Iwama made the reservation for Room 3. But when they arrived, the waitress, Miss Anzai, asked Mr. Kaneda if he was the guest who reserved Room 8, the room where Mr. Kaneda was killed. However, Mr. Kaneda said he didn't make a reservation."
"It could be the deceased himself, or the killer used his name to book Room 8, arranging to meet here for a private talk..." Chi Feichi went out the door, put Conan down, and fell silent.
Wait, why was he following along to find clues and deduce?
Have I been infected by a detective?
Seeing Chi Feichi suddenly stop talking, Conan asked proactively, "Did you remember something?"
"No, I was thinking," Chi Feichi said. "I am a veterinarian. Why am I doing things a detective does?"
Conan chuckled dryly in his heart. This guy still remembers he's a veterinarian...
If Chi Feichi didn't mention it, he would have forgotten Chi Feichi's profession. Every time there was a case, Chi Feichi was one of the candidates for detectives to exchange ideas with.
"Veterinarians can also moonlight as detectives. Didn't you take Uncle Mouri as your master?"
"True." Chi Feichi didn't dwell on it further.
He was probably poisoned by detective work. For other cases, he might remember a bit of the plot, so solving them wasn't very interesting. But he didn't remember this case, so he was a bit curious about the truth.
The police arrived, led by Megure Juzo. Seeing the three familiar faces of Mouri Kogoro, Conan, and Chi Feichi, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily, and he ordered the investigation to begin.
The deceased was stabbed in the heart with a dagger and died on the spot. The time of death was 7:50 PM. The staff in the store all had alibis.
The first discoverer of the body was the waitress, Kyoko Anzai. Because guests entered the room but delayed ordering, she went to check the situation and found the body.
As for why the deceased, Keizo Kaneda, went to Room 8 which he denied reserving, Kyoko Anzai had asked curiously. Keizo Kaneda's answer was that he had arranged to meet someone in Room 8.
Kyoko Anzai had been at the counter the whole time. Besides Keizo Kaneda, she didn't see anyone else enter Room 8.
"Then how did the culprit enter Room 8?" Megure Juzo was puzzled.
"Inspector Megure, of course by the waterway!" Mouri Kogoro said confidently. "The waterway here circles around the guest rooms. Using the waterway, the killer can enter Room 8!"
"I see. So, the killer is someone within the restaurant?" Hearing this, Megure Juzo felt it made sense and immediately asked Takagi Wataru to investigate the guests in other rooms to see if any witnesses saw suspicious people moving along the waterway.
Chi Feichi listened from the side. Mouri Kogoro wasn't wrong this time; the killer could only take the waterway, but definitely not by conventional means. "Conan, the deceased's time of death was around 7:50 PM. You were next door to Room 3 where they were eating. Did you hear any movement around the time of death?"
Conan recalled and said, "At that time, there was no movement from your Room 1; it was very quiet. Initially, there wasn't much movement from Room 3 on the other side either. But Professor Iwama seemed to have dropped his contact lens, and we heard his voice. When I peeked out to look, I saw the window being closed."
"What about Mr. Arai?" Chi Feichi asked.
"He probably wasn't there at the time..." Conan glanced at Ryuichi Arai and ran over to ask, "Mr. Arai, what were you doing around 7:50 PM?"
"Huh?" Ryuichi Arai looked at Conan hesitantly. Why would a child ask him such a question?
Conan immediately pointed at Chi Feichi. "That big brother is the chief disciple of the famous detective Mouri Kogoro, and he has also helped the police solve cases. He is helping the police investigate now!"
Chi Feichi: "..."
The blame that could originally only be thrown to Mouri Kogoro now has another target in him, right?
"Uh, is that so? At that time, Professor Iwama asked me to go buy him a pack of cigarettes," Ryuichi Arai took out an unopened pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "So I went to the convenience store to buy them for him. I didn't know where to buy them, so I asked Miss Anzai at the counter. She told me. Because their store was sold out of this brand, it took me about ten minutes to walk there... By the way, I still have the receipt from the convenience store!"
Chi Feichi took it, squatting down to let Conan see it as well.
The time printed on the receipt was 7:52 PM. Adding the time to buy cigarettes, Ryuichi Arai should have just arrived at the convenience store when the deceased died.
Investigating at the convenience store would clarify this matter; it was impossible for anyone to lie about such a thing.
Conan whispered, "The killer should have used the food delivery boat to move on the waterway. Around 8 o'clock, I saw a food delivery boat passing by the window. Although it only carried alcohol, the draft line was very deep. Should we go confirm?"
Chi Feichi nodded. While going with Conan to find Kyoko Anzai to show them the boat, he asked, "Did Professor Iwama specify a large boat for the order?"
Now the two had locked onto the murderer in their minds—Professor Iwama!
First, Conan and the others saw Professor Iwama himself and heard his voice, but he could have also created an alibi using other methods.
Second, Ryuichi Arai was essentially sent away by Professor Iwama; it wasn't Ryuichi Arai who proposed buying cigarettes himself. This could be confirmed by confronting the two. Also, since Ryuichi Arai wasn't in the store at the time, he couldn't have used the food delivery boat to commit the crime.
Furthermore, if moving via the food delivery boat, even a large boat, Ryuichi Arai's build wouldn't allow him to fit under the deck. Even if he squeezed in, the wooden deck wouldn't close. Only someone with a thin build like Professor Iwama could fit inside.
However, they still needed to verify. Also, Professor Iwama's alibi needed to be cracked. After all, Conan not only heard Professor Iwama's voice but also saw the window being closed.
"Yes," Conan understood Chi Feichi shared his thoughts, and a smile appeared on his face. "Not only did he specify a large boat for this order, but I also heard Miss Anzai say he always ordered a lot of food when he came before, just so the store would use a large boat for delivery. I think he probably tried it many times to confirm he could hide inside the large boat..."