But now, Lin Yi had taken away the pen that couldn't write, leaving Shinichi Kudo without a way to force Director Ochiai to confess through it.
The pen's disappearance didn't mean Director Ochiai was off the hook; the flaws he revealed went far beyond that.
Lin Yi taking the pen only greatly increased the difficulty for Shinichi Kudo to solve the case, leading him down many wrong paths.
Because Shinichi Kudo's attention was now focused on the pens, one that couldn't write and another that fell at the scene, a pen with a retractable tip.
His reasoning for solving the case revolved around these two pens.
Now, with one pen missing, it undoubtedly disrupted Shinichi's train of thought; he would realize this problem halfway through his deductions.
If he stubbornly searched for the pen that couldn't write, he would inevitably enter a dead end.
He would have to find a new line of reasoning to successfully solve this murder case.
And there were many new lines of reasoning, such as starting with the armor; Director Ochiai wore it to kill, so unless he had taken a bath, he would inevitably have some fine, invisible iron particles on him.
Or he could start with the paper on which the death message was left; the words "Kubota" were definitely not written by President Manaka; a simple handwriting comparison would easily pinpoint the killer.
If Director Ochiai used the surveillance cameras to mislead the police with the paper containing the "death message."
Then Lin Yi's removal of Director Ochiai's pen would completely block the path Shinichi was currently taking with cement!
It was unknown when the Holmes of the Heisei era would understand and turn away from this path to find another exit.
Lin Yi had watched "Detective Conan" for over twenty years and acknowledged Shinichi's intelligence.
He didn't think this small murder case could stump him; solving it was inevitable.
It was just a matter of how much time it would take him to get back on track.
Lin Yi estimated it would take at least two hours.
Speaking of the art museum murder case, Lin Yi still couldn't understand how Director Ochiai, such a frail old man, could lift President Manaka with one hand while wearing a full suit of armor weighing over twenty kilograms, then pin him to the wall with a sword.
Given President Manaka's portly physique, he must have weighed at least eighty or ninety kilograms.
This was very unreasonable!
As soon as the thought reached this point, Lin Yi immediately cut it off.
Why think about these irrelevant things? He wasn't a detective, and solving the case wouldn't benefit him in any way.
There were two delicate, beautiful girls sitting in front of him, and he could still be distracted… he really wasn't a man!
After severely scolding himself, Lin Yi decisively threw the murder case to the back of his mind.
He suggested, "How about we play cards while we wait for Kudo to come back?"
"Okay! Let's play Old Maid!"
Neither of the girls refused; after all, waiting for someone who might not return for a while was too torturous.
To make playing Old Maid easier, the three of them specially moved to a triangular table.
After the waiter brought the playing cards, Lin Yi picked them up, shuffled them, and said, "It's not much fun just playing Old Maid… how about we add some conditions?"
"I agree!" Sonoko, always eager to stir up trouble, said, "Whoever gets the Old Maid at the end has to answer a question from the winner!"
Chapter 26
Sonoko's suggestion was unanimously approved!
"Then let's start! How about drawing Old Maid?"
Sonoko looked at Lin Yi.
"Yeah, okay."
Lin Yi nodded, indicating no problem.
The so-called drawing Old Maid was similar to the Old Maid game Lin Yi used to play.
Sonoko spread out the playing cards, found the colored joker, and discarded it, leaving the black joker as the Old Maid.
"Whoever loses later has to honestly answer other people's questions."
Sonoko finished shuffling the cards with a smile and handed them to Lin Yi; it was his turn to shuffle.
Lin Yi picked up his coffee, took the cards with his left hand, and then he started showing off!
One-handed cuts!!
He used his thumb to lift half of the deck, his index finger to push the lower cards up, pushing them to the highest point so the lower cards would naturally cover the cards being lifted by the thumb.
He used simple flourishes, repeating them several times to warm up, then Lin Yi performed an even more dazzling set of cuts.
He used his thumb to lift about half the deck, turned his ring and little fingers, and simultaneously turned his thumb to the right, using his thumb to push out a part of the upper cards to separate the two parts of the upper cards.
The rotation of both parts of the cards was basically around the index finger as an axis, placing the part of the cards between the thumb and index finger down, using the index finger as a block.
Then he withdrew his index finger, then rotated around the index finger as an axis again, and finally withdrew his index finger, letting the cards fall into his palm.
Lin Yi's finger movements were very fast; Ran and Sonoko couldn't see how he did it at all!
They only saw Lin Yi's fingers dancing, and the playing cards were quickly divided into three parts, constantly changing positions, cutting back and forth, flashy, and finally reunited.
"Done."
Lin Yi placed the cards and the coffee on the table at the same time, ending his ostentatious display as if nothing had happened.
This action did indeed achieve a very great effect!
"Sugoi!!!"
Ran and Sonoko stared at Lin Yi with wide eyes.
Sonoko couldn't help but shout, "How… how is your card cutting so cool!!!?"
"You can even cut cards…" Ran looked at Lin Yi in amazement; she found that Lin Yi was like a treasure boy, giving them huge surprises every moment!
Lin Yi smiled embarrassedly, "I used to work in a casino… so I still know some simple shuffling techniques."
Lin Yi suddenly realized that the "dexterous hands" skill was useful.
Not only could Lin Yi use his hands to make girls cry, but he could also pickpocket and even use it to show off.
Its practical value was close to "mastery of combat"!