𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬

file 048 | solving crimes and crashing planes

Kogoro shook his head at Suzume, showing that Juri had no pulse.

Everyone gasped in horror.

"How could it be?" Tenko asked.

Suzume wafted a hand towards her nose and grimaced. "Kogoro-san, there's an almond scent."

"Yeah, it's cyanide poisoning," Kogoro agreed as he got to his feet.

"It's the chocolate," Toru accused, jumping to conclusions. "There was poison in them!"

"The chocolates?" Kogoro echoed before panicking.

"I doubt it," Suzume said, standing up and crossing her arms. "Kogoro-san had one as well, and with how immediate Juri-san's reaction and death was, he would be dead, too, if every piece of chocolate was poisoned."

Kogoro immediately calmed down and Ran's shoulders slumped in relief.

They sat Juri back into her seat and Eri covered her body with a sheet. A flight attendant stepped out and looked at Kogoro.

"The captain asked me to tell you, in order not to alarm the other passengers, please keep it a secret until we arrive at the airport," she informed him sorrowfully.

Kogoro nodded. "Understood."

Eri put a hand to her chin in thought. "But how did the culprit manage to poison Juri-san?"

"It must have been in the chocolates," Toru continued to insist. "Because she collapsed right after eating it."

"I think the same way," Kogoro admitted and Suzume just wanted to scream in frustration.

"No way!" Masayo exclaimed in shock. "I didn't know about it. I bought this box of chocolates this afternoon from a store in Ginza where we always get them. I just opened it! Right, Natsuki-san?"

"Eh? Sorry, I wasn't watching clearly."

"Natsuki-san!" Masayo paled.

"But you ate one too and nothing happened, just like Suzume said," Eri pointed out. "That means only a portion of the chocolate was poisoned, right? If that's the case, then how did the murderer manage to make Juri-san choose the poisoned chocolates?"

"As for which chocolate Juri would choose first, I think it's natural her manager would know," Kogoro said.

"I didn't do it. Besides, she chooses chocolate randomly each time!"

"From what I saw, Juri-san did seem to hesitate on which one to choose," Suzume said thoughtfully.

Kogoro just sighed. "Anyway, I'll take possession of those chocolates."

"Okay."

Kogoro took it with a cloth-covered hand.

"As for the rest, we can only wait until we get to the airport and let the police deal with it," Eri said.

"In order to preserve the crime scene, please move to the seats at the back, everyone!" Kogoro ordered. "And the front lavatory is now off limits as well."

~ — — — ~

Apart from the chocolates, all the things Juri-san ate since she boarded were those vitamin pills. But it wasn't sure if Juri-san would need to take the pills.

"I got it!"

Suzume stumbled from where she had been pacing up and down the aisle, looking back at Kogoro with a blank face.

"I know who the culprit is!"

"Dad!"

"Who? Who is the culprit?"