Coroner Ke Xue

At this moment, the window sill where Hongshang Wuyi placed the drinks has been listed as a key investigation area by the police.

Although there is little hope of finding traces of the real murderer here, and there are so many people coming and going at the scene, even if any traces are found on this window sill, it will be difficult to prove that it is the murderer's.

But the police have to do these tedious tasks, and it is difficult to be as cool as the famous detectives on TV.

Eyewitness interviews, on-site investigation, and suspect interviews. In order to find a clue from the huge number of clues, none of these tasks can be left behind.

When Mao Lilan and Kudo Shinichi thought of coming here for investigation, the police officers from the forensics department had already set up a blockade and carefully sealed off the area near the window sill for protection.

No one is allowed to get close.

But Kudo Shinichi’s identity after disguise is that of Manager Lin’s “girlfriend”.

And Mao Lilan is even more of a member of the forensics class.

She greeted her colleagues in the forensics class naturally, then took Kudo Shinichi closer to the blockade and carefully observed the location of the window sill:

"No. We shouldn't just investigate inside the house."

"Get outside the window and investigate the flower garden outside the window."

Inside this window is a venue full of spectators, but outside the window, there is a green field.

Because when the windows are opened, there is a row of campus green belts laid along the exterior walls of the venue.

There is a circle of shrubs planted on the outer layer of the green belt.

There is a row of small pine trees planted on the inner floor near the wall.

And outside this window, there happens to be a small pine tree with lush branches.

Its fluffy branches stretched out, looking like a burning green fire.

This "fire" tightly covered a small half of the window.

Mao Lilan pointed to the pine tree at this moment and said to his colleagues in the forensics class:

"If the murderer had been standing outside the window, his body should have been in easy contact with the branches of this small pine tree."

"The murderer might have left something there."

"Or take something away."

"This" the police officers were a little confused: "Miss Maori, what do you mean?"

"The murderer was standing outside the window and poisoning the drink inside the window?"

Suppose there is such a real murderer, who wants to take advantage of Hongshang Wuyi's absence to poison the drink on the window sill.

Compared to poisoning indoors, it is indeed safer to poison outdoors while standing outside the window.

After all, no matter how remote the window sill is, there are still so many spectators in the venue.

If you are unlucky, there is a real possibility that someone will see the murderer and remember his appearance when he poisons the drink.

And if you stand outside the window:

Firstly, there are not so many people outside, and secondly, with the help of pine branches and leaves, the crime can be committed more covertly and safely.

But the problem is

"The window was locked at the time."

"If the murderer had been standing outside, there was no way he could have poisoned the drink on the inside window sill."

"And we have checked it. There is dust on the lock of this window. It doesn't look like it was opened and put back in recently."

"There are no mechanisms on the windows, and there are no signs of tampering."

"So, if the murderer poisoned, he could only stand on the inside of the window, not on the outside."

The police officers raised their doubts.

But Mao Lilan shook his head:

"The murderer may have been standing outside the window at the time, and the window was always locked. These two things are not contradictory in themselves."

"Because what he was doing was not poisoning at all."

After a while.

After cooperating with the police from the forensics department to complete the on-site investigation of the green belt outside the window.

Kudo Shinichi and Mao Lilan each stood in front of Kogami Mai again with a confident smile.

But they did not directly ask Hongshang Wuyi himself.

Instead, she asked two of her colleagues first, and the questions seemed to have nothing to do with the case:

"Mr. Mitani, Miss Noda."

"Were you always together before Hongshang Mai went to buy drinks for everyone alone?"

"Yes." The two replied truthfully: "We have always been together."

"The four of us set off from Rice Flower Hospital together and drove here. We walked around the school for a while and then entered the venue near the start of the performance."

"We were together throughout the entire process, not separated."

"That's good."

The corners of Kudo Shinichi's lips raised slightly, and then he asked again without thinking:

"Then when you visited the campus, did you ever run into the green belt and have a 'close contact' with the pine trees?"

"Huh?? Who would run into the green belt?"

"No, the four of us have been together, and no one has touched the pine tree."

Noda and Mitani both looked puzzled.

But upon hearing the word "pine tree", Hongshang Wuyi's expression suddenly became strange.

She seemed to suddenly think of something.

Hongshang Wuyi subconsciously wanted to cover it up, but suddenly reacted:

It's too late to do anything now.

There was a loophole that she hadn't even noticed, but it had been noticed by the two beautiful ladies in front of her.

"Miss Hongshang, can I check your clothes?"

Mao Lilan stepped forward with a serious expression.

Her eyes were fixed on the coat worn by Hongshang Wuyi.

Especially the hood on the back of the coat.

If you don't pay attention to this kind of hood, it's easy for something to fall into it.

"really."

Under Hongshang Wuyi's uncertain expression.

Mao Lilan found a few small, inconspicuous pine needles from her hood.

"There are pine leaves in Miss Hongshang's hat?"

"What does it mean?"

Everyone was a little puzzled.

Kudo Shinichi followed closely and walked to Mao Lilan, pointed to the pine needles in her hand, and explained unhurriedly:

"After investigation, we found traces of someone trampling on the green belt outside the window sill."

"The pine tree outside the window also shows signs of man-made branches breaking and needles falling off."

"It is not difficult to determine that the person had had relatively 'close' contact with the pine trees in order to hide himself with the help of pine branches and leaves."

"And this person is still wearing a jacket with a hood that is easy to pack."

"So, we guessed"

"In the hood of this man's jumpsuit, it should be easy to find the pine needles that fell in when his body came into contact with the pine tree."

Who is "this person" that Kudo Shinichi is talking about? The answer is self-evident.

And Kogami Mai did indeed have pine needles in her hat as he guessed.

"But... what does this mean?"

"There are pine needles in Miss Hongshang's hat. What does it have to do with this case?"

Two of Hongshang Wuyi's colleagues asked in confusion.

"Of course it does."

"First, by identifying and comparing the DNA of the plants, we can prove which pine tree these needles come from."

"In other words, we can prove that Ms. Hongshang once went to the green belt outside the window sill and hid under the pine tree for a while."

Kudo Shinichi learned and applied the results of Lin Shinichi's thesis in a confident tone:

"Secondly, Miss Noda and Mr. Mitani, you two can prove that Miss Kogami was with you all the time before going to buy a drink alone."

"And Ninagawa Ayako was present when she bought a drink, and she was also seen by Sonoko before going to the toilet."

"this means:"

"The only time Miss Hongshang can move freely and possibly come into contact with the pine tree."

"It's just what she calls, the so-called 'bathroom' time."

Kudo Shinichi paused for a moment, then looked sharply at Kogami Mai:

"Miss Hongshang."

"You said you went to the toilet at that time. After using the toilet, you went back to your seat with a drink."

"But in fact, you went outside the venue and hid under the pine tree, right?"

"I" Hongshang Wuyi was speechless for a moment.

And it doesn't matter whether she speaks or not.

The pine needles found in her hat, coupled with the testimony of everyone, can prove that she did go under the pine tree outside the window during that time.

This is inconsistent with her previous statement that she went to the toilet and returned to her seat directly after using the toilet.

This self-contradictory confession itself is an extremely unfavorable piece of evidence against her in court.

Not to mention, Hongshang Wuyi herself is the number one suspect who has the greatest chance of poisoning.

Extreme suspicion, coupled with this dubious confession

Excluding the possibility that she has the money to hire a top lawyer to defend herself, this is enough for the court to convict her.

"."

Hongshang Wuyi was speechless at all.

She was silent for a long time, and finally asked:

"How did you know?"

"How do you know that I wasn't going to the toilet at that time, but was outside the window sill?"

It sounded like he was admitting it, but he wasn't so sure.

And Mao Lilan stood up.

She opened her big eyes that could purify people's hearts and spoke in a slightly complicated tone:

"Because we believe it."

"Miss Hongshang, you are a good person."

"We trust what your two colleagues say about you."

"Otherwise, there is no need for you to take the initiative to help Ninagawa Ayako clear the suspicion."

If Hongshang Wuyi was the murderer, from her perspective, she would definitely hope that there would be one more suspect in this case.

This would distract police attention.

But she did the thankless thing and took the initiative to testify for Ayako Ninagawa, making herself the only suspect.

"Because you don't want the innocent Miss Ayako to be wrongly accused."

"So, even if it increases the risk of your own exposure, you still choose to carry the suspicion alone."

"And as such a 'good person', Miss Hongshang"

"You wouldn't dare put poisoned coke on the windowsill and then leave to use the bathroom by yourself."

"Otherwise, without you watching, what if someone unknowingly takes away the poisoned coke on the window sill? This will make your plan fail and may also harm unrelated people."

Mao Lilan expressed his guess.

He also described Hongshang Wuyi’s psychological activities at that time:

"Because we can guess that before you 'went to the bathroom,' the drink was spiked with poisonous ice."

"And you are worried that the poisoned coke will be taken away by others, and that the toxins in it will harm unrelated people!"

"So there's no way you could just put the drink on the window sill and go to the toilet without any worries, as you described in your testimony."

"You can only stay at the scene, find a hidden place to hide, so that no one notices that you are not in the bathroom, and at the same time, make sure that the poisonous drinks do not leave your sight."

"And this 'hidden location' is right outside the window!"

"The back door of the venue is not far from the window sill. You can put down the Coke and quickly go outside and hide."

"If someone had actually come to get a Coke in those few minutes, you would have given up on the murderous plan and intervened."

"So, we judge that you were under the pine tree outside the window!"