Coroner Coroner

"It's right among us!"

Chapter 304 Evidence that cannot be hidden

The murderer is among us.

Once this horrific conclusion was announced...

Lin Xinyi, Haibara Ai, Conan, they all looked as usual and basically didn't respond.

Because they are used to it.

Especially Conan.

But Nakamura, Shimoda, and Sakai, the three elementary school teachers who had never experienced the storm, were extremely shocked by it:

"W-what..."

"No way... There is such a scary guy hiding among us?"

They were a little reluctant to believe Mao Lilan's conclusion.

But the facts are right in front of us:

"There is only one string of footprints, pointing to the front door of the villa."

"Unless the murderer can fly, he can only be in this villa now."

Mao Lilan repeated his findings.

"What about in the villa?"

"If the murderer made a half-circle on the snow before escaping into the villa through the front door."

"Then there should be some snow on the soles and uppers of his shoes."

"After entering the villa, the water-stained footprints left by him should still be left on the ground of the entrance."

Lin Xinyi raised questions in a timely manner:

If the murderer really escaped into the villa, there should not only be his footprints inside the villa.

"No."

Maurilan shook his head.

But what she gave was not a negative, but an affirmative answer:

"But there are no water stains and footprints indoors, not because the murderer didn't enter the villa."

"Because the murderer threw the slippers he was wearing into the snow outside the door before he entered the door."

"He was smart enough not to come in directly in these slippers."

"Instead of throwing away the snow-stained slippers at the door, I changed into a pair of clean slippers at the entrance before I dared to enter."

"This makes me even more suspicious that the murderer is among us."

"This..." Lin Xinyi's expression changed slightly.

He understood what Mao Lilan meant:

If the murderer came in directly wearing those slippers that had been stepped on in the snow, the soles of the slippers on his feet would definitely be wet.

In this way, others can see that something is wrong at a glance.

So the murderer deliberately threw the snow-soaked slippers outside the door, and changed into a pair of clean slippers at the door.

And that just goes to show…

The murderer was one of those present.

After all, if the murderer was someone other than them, some mysterious person hiding in the corner of the villa, then there was no need for him to change his slippers.

Only the few people who need to rush to the scene quickly after the incident, mix in the crowd and pretend to be innocent, and have to appear in front of everyone, have the need to change into slippers to pretend to be themselves.

"It seems that the murderer is indeed among us."

After reaching this conclusion, Lin Xinyi couldn't help but cast his gaze on Nakamura, Shimoda, and Sakai.

Although the investigation must suspect everything, it cannot be hidden from relatives.

Strictly speaking, everyone present could be a murderer.

But even leaving aside the motive of committing the crime...

He was with Hui Yuanai at the time of the crime and was not suspected of committing the crime.

With Conan's small body, he didn't have the conditions to cover the adult's mouth and nose from behind.

As for Mao Lilan and Belmode, if the two of them are murderers... there is no need for ether, attacking with bare hands can blow people's heads off.

Then temporarily rule out the two victims, Mr. Yonehara and Suzuki Sonoko.

The suspects were immediately narrowed down to Nakamura, Shimoda, and Sakai.

"Sakai is also unlikely..."

For the time being, Lin Xinyi ruled out the suspicion of Mr. Sakai.

It's not because Mr. Sakai is his fan, so he is deliberately partial.

It's because they came to this villa today because of the invitation offered by Mr. Sakai.

If he is the murderer...how could a murderer plan to attack an acquaintance and invite the police over?

So the possibility of Mr. Sakata is also very low.

"Then, Ms. Nakamura, Mr. Shimoda..."

"Where were you all and what were you doing when the incident happened?"

Lin Xin looked at the two of them with piercing eyes.

And they seem to realize that they have become the key suspects in this case.

"I was burning the fireplace with Sakai!"

Shimoda-sensei panicked and defended himself:

"The two of us were together at the time, if you don't believe me, ask Sakai."

"By the way, when the screams came from the beginning, Miss Maury should have seen the two of us in front of the fireplace when she heard the screams and ran to the scene and passed the living room."

"We just waited for a while before going over because we were afraid."

This is clearly an ironclad alibi.

After Mao Lilan nodded to give evidence, the suspicion of Shimoda and Sakai can be completely ruled out.

That leaves the current suspects...

"Ms. Nakamura."

Everyone turned their questioning eyes to Nakamura Misato.

The young primary school female teacher suddenly paled.

She struggled for a long time before she said in a flustered and incoherent manner:

"I, I was alone in the kitchen preparing dinner."

A person, that is, no one can give her an alibi.

Mr. Nakamura became even more suspicious.

At this time, Mao Lilan was still contemplating vocabulary with a tangled expression, and gave her a fatal blow:

"Actually... I also think that Mr. Nakamura is the most likely murderer."

"Because when I was tracking, I also paid attention to the footprint characteristics of the string of snow footprints."

"Although I didn't observe very carefully in order to rush back to report the situation, I still made some discoveries: "

"First of all, the soles of the slippers thrown by the murderer outside the door are consistent with the patterns of the snow footprints. It can be determined that the pair of slippers were worn by the murderer when he committed the crime."

"And this pair of slippers are smaller in size."

Generally, the shoe size of women is mostly under 24 and a half (38 yards), and the forefoot width is mostly under 8.5cm.

Men's shoe size and forefoot width are mostly above these two data.

The shoe size is small, suggesting that the footprint was likely owned by a woman.

"Not only the shoe size, because the murderer left clear footprints on the snow, so I also noticed..."

"On the footprints she left, there are obvious signs of 'inner bulldozing' and 'inner rolling'."

As mentioned above, due to the physiological characteristics of women, the heel tends to move slightly inward and forward along the ground when walking, so that the heel of the footprint forms a ridge-shaped pile of soil called "inner bulldozing".

When the bottom of the footprint is rolled by the heel to the forward palm, the force of the sole of the foot is exerted on the inside of the forefoot inward and forward, and pit-shaped indentations called "inner rolling" are often formed.

Inner dozing and inner rolling are both hallmarks of the female footprint.

"So, based on the footprint analysis, the murderer is likely to be an adult woman."

"As for the adult women in the villa today... I was with Ms. Chris when the incident happened, and Sonoko and Mr. Yonehara were the victims again."

"The only suspect left is..."

"Ms. Nakamura Minori."

Mao Lilan analyzed it from another angle, but she got the same result by different routes, and locked the suspicion on the Ms. Nakamura.

Nakamura Misato's face became paler:

"F-what are you kidding..."

"How could I be the murderer?!"

"I have no grievances with Mr. Yonehara, and it's the first time I've met that Miss Suzuki... How could I attack them?"

"That won't clear you of suspicion."

"Because you and Mr. Yonehara have been colleagues for many years, even if there is any secret enmity in private, it will be difficult for others to understand."