"I heard you're a good shooter, Mr. Matsuo?" Inspector Megure picked up his notebook and looked at Takashi Matsuo, who had just been brought back by the police.
"You're doubting me too?" Matsuo Takashi still hadn't wiped the tears from his face. His eyes were red as he looked at Inspector Megure. "I was in the studio the whole time during today's program. During the commercial break, I was discussing the next episode with Ms. Nagai. I never left the set!"
"Yeah!" Conan, holding a coffee cup, chimed in cheerfully, "The show was great! Everyone was watching it closely!"
"This kid's right." Matsuo Takashi smiled. "Thank you."
"Especially that mystery video!" Conan continued enthusiastically. "Sister Ran and I guessed the culprit correctly and even won a prize!"
"Oh, that's right," Nagai Ayako suddenly remembered, "Mr. Matsuo wasn't there at the time."
"But that short video was only four minutes long!" Matsuo Takashi quickly argued. "Just going from the studio on the 9th floor to this room on the 4th and back takes at least six minutes!"
"Sounds like you've prepared this line in advance, Mr. Matsuo?" Kazawa, who had been silent for a while, suddenly spoke. "Why would you measure that specifically? Were you preparing for your murder plan?"
Here comes that troublesome boy again…
Matsuo Takashi calmed down, then turned to him. "Mr. Akechi, don't throw baseless accusations at me. I recall you left everyone's line of sight during the same time. You and I were in the exact same situation, weren't we? And you left just to make a phone call... If we're throwing around wild guesses, your situation is even more suspicious than mine, isn't it?"
The victim's bloodstained phone had already been recovered by police. Everyone now knew the victim had been making a call when he was killed, and they were investigating who he'd been talking to.
"Hey, Akechi was just here for the show. Why would he kill your producer for no reason?" Kogoro Mouri quickly stepped in to defend him.
"Then I have even less reason to kill Suwa! We've been close friends and worked together for years!" Matsuo Takashi raised his voice further.
Kazawa smiled faintly, narrowing his eyes without answering.
You know, if he really is "Kumair," then he does have some motive.
It was producer Michihiko Suwa who changed the script of the show and decided not to inform the guests in advance.
And why he did that... was likely because of Kazawa—the mastermind behind the scenes.
Just like how he had entered the Palace to brainwash Shigehiko Tsuchikawa and distort his memory of Teru Hoshikawa—Kazawa, who harbored no fondness for those melodramatic producers, hadn't intended to save anyone this time.
Especially when he'd discovered that both of them had "shadows" that could form Palaces in the Shibuya subway.
After listening to them rant about the dark side of media professionals for a few minutes on the subway, Kazawa rolled his eyes, dealt with their Shadows, added the KA03 news item to the show's script, and left.
If garbage like that dies, so be it. Fewer of them means a cleaner entertainment industry.
Seeing Kazawa (Goro Akechi) remain silent, Matsuo Takashi snorted and turned to the police. "Anyway, the round trip between the 9th and 4th floors takes at least six minutes. If you don't believe me, go test it yourselves!"
"That so?" Inspector Megure looked toward Goro Akechi and Kogoro Mouri. "Well then, how about you two—"
"No need." Kazawa waved his hand, cutting him off. "Do you have the floor plans for these floors? According to fire safety regulations, high-rise buildings are required to post evacuation routes. Bring me the fire safety maps for these floors."
It was getting late. No one had eaten dinner yet. If he didn't leave, Akemi couldn't leave either, so she was still waiting for him in the building.
Conan's eyes lit up and he stepped forward to look at the floor plan with him.
"It's like a maze..." Everyone gathered around the table to examine it. Seeing the complex stair layout, Ran couldn't help but say, "Wouldn't this be really inconvenient for the staff?"
"It is a bit inconvenient," Nagai Ayako laughed. "But radio and TV stations are high-priority locations. In the event of unrest, people may target TV stations to control the flow of information... It's not just us. TV stations around the world are like this, with deliberately complicated layouts."
"Hmm... judging by this route, it would be hard to go back and forth in four minutes without being caught on camera." Inspector Megure rubbed his chin, muttering to himself.
"Well..." Kazawa smiled and pointed to the current room where the murder had occurred. Then, his finger began tracing upward, causing Matsuo Takashi to tense up.
Conan's eyes sparkled. He followed Kazawa's finger, then looked at the bloodstains on the window—and suddenly clapped.
"Looks like the smart one figured it out." Kazawa met Conan's eyes and smiled. "You know what to look for, little detective?"
Nagai Ayako blinked. She glanced at the composed Goro Akechi and the gleaming eyes of Conan, then at the expression on Matsuo Takashi's face. Quietly, she pulled out her phone and began typing.
"Hello?" She stepped back from the crowd examining the floor plans and whispered, "Ms. Mizunashi, can you hear me?"
—
"Are you sure it's okay to use the equipment like this?"
"It's fine. We're just lending it to the police and detectives. It's still using our internal feed," said a few broadcast engineers in the editing room as they munched on bento. "It won't leak out. The director won't say anything, right?"
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" a stern voice barked behind them.
"Ah—Minister!"
"Sorry! We'll cut the feed right away—"
"Idiots! Who told you to stop?" the Minister shouted. "I'll take responsibility! Link the feed to the evening news and broadcast it immediately!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Nice work, Nagai!" The Minister patted Ayako's shoulder as she followed him into the room. "That was quick thinking!"
The male announcer smiled as he took the script handed to him, glanced at the headline, froze for a second, then quickly adjusted his expression and said in a steady broadcasting voice: "Apologies—we interrupt your program for breaking news. We now bring you live coverage of the major murder case that occurred at our station this evening. Over to our reporter on the scene, Ms. Rena Mizunashi..."
Miyano Akemi, bored in the building's first-floor lobby, looked up at the large TV screen, where Nichimi TV's live broadcast was airing.
Xingchuan Hui put down his homework and took off his glasses. On the 60-inch screen in his living room, the announcer's composed face filled the frame.
Toru Amuro placed menus on a nearby table and looked up at the TV.
"A murder case?" Enomoto Azusa also emerged from behind the bar. She placed a dish on a customer's table, then walked over. "Was someone murdered at Nichimi TV? That means... Akechi-kun?"
Rena Mizunashi's bright cat-like eyes filled the screen. Wearing a polished smile, she briefly summarized the murder at the TV station.
"...Coincidentally, with two famous detectives participating in tonight's episode of Perspective Japanese Detective Agency, the case has already seen a major breakthrough!" As she said this, she turned her microphone. The camera followed—cutting to Goro Akechi.
"Yes. I believe the murderer is you, Mr. Takashi Matsuo." Goro Akechi glanced toward her. The entire seventh floor had already been surrounded by curious staff. He turned back indifferently and looked directly at the camera in front of him.
"But if he's the killer, how did he manage to go from the crime scene to the studio and back in just four minutes?"
Inside the control room, the directors quickly switched feeds, and Inspector Megure's face appeared on-screen.
"It's quite simple." Goro Akechi tilted his head with a faint smile. Then, without hesitation, he pushed himself up and stepped onto the windowsill of the 7th-floor warehouse. One leg was on the ledge; the other hung loosely outside the window.
If someone had shoved him from behind or if he lost his balance even slightly—he would've fallen from the 7th floor and been smashed to pieces.