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For example, a flower that was originally embroidered on her lower back was strangely moved to her side after Xue Ding was about to go on stage.
There is also a pattern on the left chest that was inexplicably moved to the right chest.
Although it is a kimono of the same design, the positions of the patterns on the kimono have changed.
"What exactly is going on?"
Kogoro Maori looked at Yukitota, whose face had already turned pale, and then turned to look at the male figure beside him.
"The reason is very simple." The male figure explained with a smile: "After killing Mr. Toudou, the pattern on Miss Xue Dingyao's kimono was torn by her resistance before her death.
Because she was about to go on stage, Miss Xue Dingyao did not have enough time to go to the dressing room to change into her kimono.
But fortunately, the kimono she was wearing had a very rare design, which was that it could be worn on both sides. "
"what?"
Stunned after hearing this, everyone on the stage looked at Xue Dingyao again, but found that she did not refute this time. She just lowered her head, bit her lips and said nothing.
“That said, due to printing production, although the patterns on both sides of the kimono are the same, the positions of the patterns are different.
This is also the reason why the position of the patterns on Ms. Yuki's kimono is completely different in the two stages before and after she goes on stage, as you can see in the photos. "
After saying that, the male figure looked at Xue Dingyao and told him about the final blow.
"Miss Xue Dingyao, if you still don't want to plead guilty, I think I may need to ask you to take off your kimono and prove my reasoning to everyone present."
"No need..."
Without any unnecessary nonsense, Xue Ding relaxed his shoulders, lowered his head, shook his head and smiled helplessly.
"I still have some sense of shame... Mr. Detective's reasoning is correct. I was indeed the one who killed Mr. Toudou. The scenes on the screen were recorded in advance by Mr. Toudou this morning under the pretext of rehearsal. The mistakes I made on stage were also deliberately guided by me to make him say them in order to increase credibility.
And the kimono I'm wearing can be worn both ways. I didn't expect that person to resist so fiercely. If I had known earlier, I should have prepared an extra kimono. Maybe I could have had a chance to hide it...
As for the motive, that person got some intimate photos of me and my boyfriend from somewhere, and used them as a threat to sexually harass me in private. He also said that if I called the police, he would spread those photos... I couldn't stand it anymore, so I came up with this plan to put an end to it all."
"Then he is a man who deserves it."
"Eh?"
Xue Dingyao seemed a little surprised when he heard the male figure's words.
She thought that the other party would stand on the moral high ground, ignore her difficulties and helplessness, and criticize her in various ways, but she didn't expect that the detective who suddenly appeared seemed to approve of her behavior in his words?
"Mr. Dongtang was killed because of his crime, so in my opinion, Miss Xue Ding, your murder was a reasonable revenge outside the law.
But at the same time, I also hope that Miss Xue Ding can take the responsibility for your actions... After the matter is over, take the initiative to confess to the police. In this case, the police will reduce the sentence as appropriate."
The male figure sighed softly. After hearing what he said, Xue Dingtao's eyes suddenly became moist for some reason.
thank you."
She bowed deeply to the male figure, then looked at him again, and finally couldn't help asking:
"Mr. Detective, could you tell me your name?"
"Name?"
The male figure was silent for a while, then raised his hand to press down the brim of his hat, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.
"Shirakawa Qing."
Chapter 471 Start taking action
"My name... is Shirakawa Kiyoshi."
As the male figure who suddenly appeared in the guesthouse said this special name, Carly, who was wearing monitoring headphones on the second floor of a store near the guesthouse, stood up suddenly with an expression of extreme astonishment on her face.
"Sister Mary! In that hall, Shirakawa, he, he..."
"I heard."
In the communicator, Mary's voice was calm and steady, her tone was neither too excited nor panicked.
【White River...】
In order to make the operation as foolproof as possible, they not only hid a lot of eavesdropping devices and trackers on the child named Haibara Ai, but also sent a lot of people to disguise themselves as invited guests to infiltrate.
Therefore, although Mary and Carly did not personally wait in the lobby of the guesthouse, they actually knew exactly what was happening in the lobby.
When the mysterious male figure first appeared, Mary already heard the familiarity in his voice.
That was Bai Heqing's voice, exactly the same as the one she remembered.
Yes, exactly the same.
Still as young as she remembered...
This puzzled Mary, because if Baihe Qingzhen was still alive and had lived to this day, then his age must be close to sixty years old. After all, Baihe was a few years older than her.
How can he have such a youthful voice at this age?
Even if we equate Shirakawa Kiyoshi with Reger, assuming that Shirakawa Kiyoshi has the skills to change his voice, he can definitely change into other voices, there is no need to use his own voice...
Mary couldn't figure out the doubts involved, and that was why she was unable to make a judgment.
She still had doubts in her heart, perhaps the male figure was just a young detective who happened to appear with a voice similar to Shirakawa's in her memory.
Until the male figure said the name "Shirakawa Kiyoshi"...
[There is no time to hesitate.]
"Carly."
Mary exhaled softly and said:
"start to act."
"Shirakawa Qing?"
At the same time, in the lobby of the guesthouse, Kogoro Mori was in a trance after hearing the name.
For him, a former criminal policeman, this name was undoubtedly very familiar, although he had never actually seen the owner of this name in person.
Kogoro Mori looked at the male figure in front of him who called himself Shirakawa Kiyoshi, and suddenly became dazed, as if the person in front of him overlapped with the image in his memory.
But soon, he woke up from this trance.
[How is this possible? It's just a coincidence that they have the same name. Officer Baihe has passed away a long time ago.]
Not only Maori Kogoro, but also a few older guests in the hall had some reaction to this name.
But they all thought, like Maori Kogoro, that it was just a coincidence that they had the same name...
"Well, the case is over, so I'll take my leave now, everyone."
The male figure who called himself Shirakawa Kiyoshi said this and bowed slightly to everyone.
He did not walk towards the main entrance of the guest house, but turned and walked to the back of the stage, as if he wanted to leave through the back door of the guest house.
"I never thought that the murderer would be Sister Xue Ding..."
At the dining table, the three little members of the Junior Detective Team who had been watching the whole thing sighed sadly.
"I always thought Sister Xue Ding was a good person..."
"Yeah, she bought me ice cream when we were out and about before..."
"But who was that detective just now? He seemed quite impressive, Shirakawa Kiyoshi... Ai, have you heard of this name?"
"No, I have no recollection of that."
Hearing the three little ones' questions, Huibara Ai shook her head.
She really had no impression of the name, and among the detectives she had seen or heard of, there was no one named Shirakawa Kiyoshi.
Maybe it's a pseudonym...
【Um? 】
Just as Haibara Ai was thinking this, she suddenly noticed that in the aisle against the wall of the hall next to her, there was a figure walking quickly towards the back of the stage.
[Strange, that person...]
Wasn't he sent by Mr. Akai and his team to protect her? What was he doing behind the stage?
Could it be because of the man who called himself Bai Heqing?
"Yoko?"
Not far from Haibara Ai, Hoshino Terumi, who was immersed in her reasoning, came to her senses and found that Okino Yoko, who was supposed to be standing next to her, had disappeared.
"Strange, where did it go again..."
"I'm chasing. Did the target leave through the back door?"
Behind the stage of the guest house, a male figure in a kimono hurried through the corridor, and his colleague's voice came through the headphones.
"No one entered or exited the back door, and the target did not leave the guesthouse."
There are several back doors for exiting the guesthouse. One of them is connected to the dressing room at the back of the guesthouse, which stores at least tens of thousands of kimonos of various types, and does not lead directly to the outside.
According to the orders given to them by their employer, their men had already guarded the back doors after the little girl entered the lobby of the guest house.
Since the detective on the stage did not leave through the back doors leading to the outside, he must have gone to the dressing room behind the guesthouse.
After figuring this out, the man in kimono quickly walked towards the locker room.
"what!"
As soon as he entered the locker room, the man in kimono bumped into a figure head-on. It was a blonde woman in a windbreaker who looked like a foreigner.
"Sorry! Miss, are you okay?" Steadying himself, the man in kimono quickly reached out and pulled up the woman who was sitting on the ground.
"I'm fine, sorry, I didn't notice when I opened the door..." Covering her forehead, the woman in the windbreaker bowed to him and said apologetically.
"Ah, no, I didn't notice that. I should be the one apologizing..." Perhaps influenced by the woman, the man in kimono also hurriedly bowed and apologized.
"Well, I'll leave first..."
After a brief exchange, the woman in the windbreaker walked around him and tried to leave.
"Miss! Wait a minute!"
At this time, the kimono man, who had not forgotten his mission, hurriedly stopped her and asked: