Little Detectives

ᑕᕼᗩᑭTᗴᖇ 22 : ᖇᗴՏᗴᑎTᗰᗴᑎT

"Bungei Jidai is Imatake's..." Kogoro trailed off

"Yes. He was writing Kenyu Densetsu" Sasai answered Kogoro's suspicion

"Are you Sasai sensei?" Yamada asks when he finally notices Sasai

"Yes. I remember that Imatake said that his story was due soon, but he hasn't written it yet" Sasai suddenly remembers

"That's right! Imatake sensei's story's deadline is tomorrow!" Yamada enthusiastically answers "This is terrible! Even if I asked somebody now, it won't be done in time and I won't be able to find somebody who can write like him" Yamada almost let out a sob

"Guess it can't be helped" Sasai begins to rummage through his bag "Here" he gives Yamada a bunch of paper

"Ah. This is?" Yamada takes the form and begins to inspect it

"It is a story I wrote before. Imatake has been bugging me to show it to him, so I brought it with me. I don't think it will be exactly like Imatake's writing but..."

"Ah..no..." Yamada stutters "Since you used to write together with Imatake sensei, I'm sure the editorial department will be fine with this"

"Are you sure that's ok? That's only the prologue of a novel"

"If you can write for Bungei Jidai from now on, it would be great" Yamada slightly pleads

"Hmm... I don't know. I have a job right now too..."

"Oh, please... somehow..."

"Sure. I understand. For the sake of the late Imatake" 

With what Sasai said, Kana and Conan's suspicion continues to rise.

"Thank you very much!" Yamada bows "Then, I'll be going now"

"Hey, cop. You heard it, didn't you?" Sasai asks with an overconfident face "Seems like I need to go home and start my work. Also for Imatake who a money-driven thief killed"

'There's no doubt about it. He is a criminal. But, he has an alibi' Kana finalizes her suspicion

"Why? Why was he able to take a picture like that?" Conan also finalizes his suspicion

"On top of that, he didn't do anything to the camera and made Ran take the picture. A picture taken past 8:50 pm will be a useless alibi" Kana analyzes everything

"Damn... There has to be a way to get through his alibi. Remember when you met him..." Conan says and they continue to rack their brains for more clues

"Sorry, but I'm going home," Sasai says

"Ah. Wait..." the inspector in charge tries to stop him

"That's right! He... Why didn't he take off the jacket?" Conan remembers that Sasai didn't take his jacket off even though he is already complaining because of the hotness

"...or maybe he couldn't take it off. Why?" Kana suddenly remembers that she saw something peculiar earlier when Sasai was giving Ran the camera

"Please wait, I still have to talk to you" the inspector keeps on delaying Sasai from leaving 

"How annoying! I'll press charges against you!"

While Yokomizo and Sasai are arguing in the background Kogoro, Kana, and Conan are comparing all the pictures that are taken as evidence.

"I get it now. I know what his trick is. He is the criminal after all. And this is a planned murder!" Conan says to the two

Kogoro and Kana keep looking at the pictures until they finally get their answer "I completely understand the trick behind that picture he used for an alibi" Kana grins widely after seeing it

"We must tell this to the detective immediately!" Kogoro declares and then randomly picks Kana up. He sits on the chair while Conan arranges the pictures

"How many times do I have to tell you? I have the pictures as my alibi. Please tell this incompetent cop how far he is from a great detective like you"

"That is true. I'm disappointed in you, Detective Yokomizo"

"Mouri-san..."

"I didn't say anything, thinking you can solve the case yourself. How can you not see through the trick surrounding the pictures?" After Kogoro said this, the smug smile from Sasai dropped, and in came his worried expression

"That's right. The person who shot Imatake Satoru in this room is the man standing next to you, Sasai Norikazu!"

Sasai's expression turns shocked and grim "Wait for a second here!" he pushes the detective aside to get closer to Kogoro "You said it yourself that it was a robbery!"

Kogoro chuckles "That's just something we said to let you think that you were going to get away. I knew from the second I saw the victim that it had to be somebody he knew"

Sasai smiles wickedly "Any evidence?"

"The toothpaste that was on the victim. There was a toothbrush on the ground near him. Therefore, the victim was brushing his teeth when he was shot" Kana explains

"So what? Everybody brushes their teeth"

"True. But there aren't that many people who will answer a stranger with toothpaste in their mouth" Conan says in his as-a-matter-of-fact tone "And another thing—the condition of his room. The criminal ran away right after the gun was fired. Do you think it is possible to mess up the room this badly in such a short period of time?"

"Most likely the criminal did it on purpose before killing the victim in order to make it look like a robbery" Kogoro finishes

Sasai laughs "I see. The condition of the murder scene is full of coincidental evidence. But I still have an alibi. How are you going to explain those pictures that prove my innocence?" he smugly points at the pictures

"These pictures are most likely taken in the past when you came for this festival. And with the camera, you have been saving you asked Ran, who you met by coincidence, to continue taking a picture with the same camera" Sasai's mouth hangs open after hearing this out of Kogoro's mouth

"It is a pretty easy trick, but you wore the same clothes so as to make the picture look as if it was taken today" -Kana

"Yes. You didn't take off your jacket because you didn't want to change the way you look from before. Am I wrong?" Conan asks

Sasai laughs "That's some good imagination you have, Detectives. But, do you have any proof that this picture was taken in the past?"

"There is proof"

"What?!"

"Hey. Take a look at the picture. The rest is up to you, Detective Yokomizo"

"OK. Wrist? What is this?" the detective is analyzing where Kogoro is pointing at. After comparing the pictures, he decided that he is going to look at the evidence himself. He grabs Sasai's wrist to reveal his arm that has a mark "How will you explain this? The picture that you used as your alibi has a tanned wrist! But, your wrist here is still white" He lets go of the arm "You took this picture one year ago! Am I wrong, Sasai-san?!"

"Fine, I lost. One year ago I was determined to kill Imatake in order to be the top writer in the world of literature. One year ago, my work was supposed to be published by Bungei Jidai, but the editorial department switched it to Imatake's work, which was brought in at the last moment. It was because Imatake's name was more well-known. To me, that serialized novel was something I put my whole writing life into and was my last chance, but that guy took it away as if he was trying to ridicule me!"

"So that's why you killed him"

"That's right. I killed him"