The Split-Actress in Conan's World

"What a grand history..." Mao Lilan, who is more interested in Chinese and history, is more impressed by the "exaggeration" of this family history.

"It's just some rough weather." Fujiwara no Takakata shook his head and did not delve deeper into the topic. He returned to the main point of inviting these people.

"When we found the chieftain, he was sitting on a cushion in front of the sacred tree. When I realized something was wrong and went over to call him, I found that he was no longer breathing."

"These are photos of the situation at that time." He waved his hand and the old butler beside him took out a few photos and handed them to him.

"Photo..." Kogoro Mouri muttered as he took it and started looking at it.

Fujiwara no Takakata also knew what he was thinking, and said with a warning tone: "The head of the Fujiwara family died unexpectedly, so it is impossible to leave his body here, so there are only photos, and these photos cannot be leaked. They will be handled uniformly later."

"What's more, we haven't ruled out your suspicion of committing the crime. Now that I can let you all come here to observe the scene, it is already my own decision as the head of the family."

"I heard that Mr. Mao Li is a famous detective with a national reputation. I hope you can give me and yourselves a reasonable truth."

Uncle Maori was silent for a while, his eyes slightly fixed, and he nodded: "I understand."

"Then I wish Mr. Maori's reasoning will go smoothly," Fujiwara Takakata smiled very lightly and looked at him meaningfully for a while. "Also, please don't mind my impoliteness before the incident has a satisfactory result for everyone."

"Uncle Zexiong, please have someone turn on the signal jammer in the mansion, and also inform the Metropolitan Police Department. At least, don't let anyone come to disturb us until Mr. Maori has investigated thoroughly."

"I understand, master." The old butler bowed and turned to leave.

Kogoro Mori suddenly felt a lot more pressure.

Don't call the police...

If they can't find the results you want, they will be buried in the Yachuan River...

He didn't look back at the girls. If he showed any panic, the girls would only become more panicked.

Kogoro Mori took a deep breath and began to look at the photos in his hand.

In the photo, the white-haired old man looks gloomy and is sitting on a cushion with his head lowered.

There are no obvious injuries on his body, but we cannot rule out the possibility that there are hidden injuries under his clothes. However, there are no signs of bleeding, and you did not mention it specifically, so let's assume that there are no external injuries for now.

His complexion was not good looking, a little pale but not blue, his lips were bloodless and his nose was dry.

If he had taken toxins, his face would have turned red due to metabolic disorders, but this paleness was more like a symptom of excessive blood loss...

What if the toxin is injected?

Uncle Maori suddenly remembered a poisoning case he had encountered before, where a needle containing pufferfish toxin was inserted into the victim's body. An extremely small amount of toxin could cause a heart attack, and the symptoms displayed were very similar to those of the patriarch in the photo.

It takes effect in a short time, accompanied by pain. Sweating speeds up metabolism, and the body becomes unnaturally dehydrated, which makes the complexion extremely miserable.

But the problem is that pufferfish toxin can also cause nervous convulsions and pupil constriction, making it impossible for the animal to maintain such a "peaceful" posture after death.

Could it be that there was some other toxin that he was not aware of? Or did the murderer deliberately position the body after killing someone?

Kogoro Mori made some preliminary inferences, but did not arbitrarily confirm the conclusion. Instead, he switched to several other photos from other angles.

It is not to continue observing the bodies, but to determine whether there is any difference between the initial scene when the bodies were found and where they are now.

It looks like the layout hasn't changed much, so there shouldn't be any major damage.

Kogoro Maori had some idea in his mind, so he put the photo aside temporarily and walked around the ancestral temple, observing whether there were any details worth noting at the scene.

There was no hope for fingerprints and footprints. Anyone who dared to kill the head of the Fujiwara family in the ancestral temple would not be so careless as to leave fingerprints. Shoes could be taken off at the entrance of the ancestral temple, and even if some fiber residue was found on the floor, it would be impossible to confirm whether it belonged to the murderer or someone else. After all, the Fujiwara family's supplies were purchased in bulk, and there was really no difference between the socks worn by the host and the servants.

Not to mention, he currently did not have such sophisticated equipment to collect such fiber debris clues.

"Can I see the current condition of the body, or whether the body temperature has been measured?" Kogoro Mori asked Fujiwara Takakata.

"The body has been sent to the clan mausoleum, but here is a record of the body's condition." Fujiwara Takakata was obviously prepared. He did not agree to his request, but took out a report.

"The body was found at 7:42 a.m., and after the scene was cordoned off and I was notified, the body temperature was measured at 7:53 a.m. The oral temperature was 33.7 degrees Celsius, the axillary temperature was 27.4 degrees Celsius, and the rectal temperature was 35.2 degrees Celsius. There was no obvious livor mortis on the body."

"The body was taken away at 8:27 a.m., and the results of another measurement showed that the oral temperature was 28.3 degrees Celsius, the axillary temperature was 23.3 degrees Celsius, and the rectal temperature was 31.9 degrees Celsius. There was no obvious livor mortis on the body."

Kogoro Maori flipped through it and quickly scanned some important data. He finally had some idea in his mind and felt a lot more relaxed than before.

"May I ask where the chieftain spent the night last night?"

"It's his own room."

"So what is the current condition of the patriarch's room?" Maori Kogoro didn't even ask if he could go and see it in person, but asked Fujiwara Takakata directly.

"Everything was normal. The door was closed but not locked. The interior was arranged as before. The bed was made, as it usually was when he got up early."

"so......"

Kogoro Mori nodded, folded the photos, and returned them to Fujiwara Takakata along with the corpse report.

"I think I know what's going on."

"Oh?" Fujiwara Takakata looked at him curiously, "You are indeed a famous detective. It's only been less than three minutes, right?"

"Then please tell me your reasoning, Mr. Maori."

"My answer is very simple." Kogoro Mori smiled modestly, but there was an undisguised sharpness in his words, showing his absolute confidence in his own reasoning.

"Based on the temperature changes and the livor mortis of the corpse, the time of death was between 6:20 and 7:10 in the morning, with an error of no more than ten minutes. This is exactly the time when the servants in the mansion get up early to prepare breakfast. Based on my previous observations on the road, I'm afraid that the cleaning of the mansion is also done at this time, right?"

Fujiwara Takakata didn't expect that he actually noticed such a small detail. Surprised, he nodded to confirm his guess: "Yes, the servants in the mansion usually get up around 6:15 and then start working."

Maori Kogoro was not surprised and continued, "If someone sneaked into the ancestral temple during this time to commit a crime, they would definitely be seen by the servants on duty. However, even though the mansion is under martial law, no such news has been heard. This only proves that no one has seen any suspicious targets entering or leaving the ancestral temple."

"There are two possibilities. One is that the servant in charge of sweeping the house is an accomplice of the murderer and is deliberately shielding the murderer. But I noticed last night that the servants in the mansion do not have fixed jobs, but rotate within certain functions. And because the master has instructions from time to time, most of them stipulate the approximate working hours and tasks a day in advance, and leave enough room for adjustment. The person in charge of the staff transfer in the mansion should be the old butler you call 'Uncle Zexiong'"

"That is to say, if the duty sweeper is to be considered an accomplice, he must be in charge of the ancestral temple area today, and this cannot be avoided by the old butler. But if the old butler was also among the criminals, it would not be possible to impose martial law in the entire prefecture today... Regarding the status of the old butler, I think this is correct, right?"

As he spoke, Kogoro Mori asked Fujiwara Takakata again, and after he nodded, he confirmed that it was correct.

"After ruling out the possibility of an accomplice, there is only one possibility left - that is, there is no murderer, or the murderer is the deceased himself."

"This is not a murder, this is a suicide!"