Valentine Gala: Sweet's are ain't good. Part 6
The moment he triggered the release—
♤♤♤Fooosh…♤♤♤
An invisible, microscopic dart propelled silently from the watch, striking Kogoro precisely in the cervical region.
Kogoro possessed no window for reaction. His frame went instantaneously flaccid, collapsing into the mahogany-brown sofa as he succumbed to a profound, artificial sleep.
Conan scurried behind the upholstery. He seized his crimson, ribbon-like cravat—another marvel of Professor Agasa's ingenuity. By manipulating the circular dial, he activated the voice-mimicry function.
"…If memory serves… his vocal frequency was programmed to number 59…" Conan murmured to himself.
Meanwhile, Inspector Megure was already ushering Naomichi toward the threshold when suddenly—
"Halt for a duration… Inspector Megure…"
Megure froze and pivoted. Seated in the chair was Kogoro—projecting an image of stoic composure.
"Hmm?" Megure grunted in response.
Kogoro spoke again, his cadence firm and unyielding.
"He is not the murderer."
"What is the meaning of this nonsense?!" Megure retorted. "He provided a full confession, did he not?"
"Indeed, he harbored the intent to eliminate the victim… but his stratagem ended in failure."
Kogoro then indicated the cigarette evidence with a steady hand.
"Pray, scrutinize the tobacco remains. Every other cigarette within this domicile was unfiltered."
Megure hoisted the pouch, staring at the evidence as the logic began to coalesce.
Kogoro persisted with his exposition.
"After accepting the cigarette from Naomichi, the victim detached the filter before partaking in the smoke. In other words… he did not inhale from the section impregnated with the toxin."
Ran, hanging on every word, queried, "Then… who is responsible… otōsan?"
A heavy, suffocating silence saturated the room. The true assassin was about to be unmasked. Kogoro paused deliberately, allowing the suspense to ferment. Every eye in the chamber migrated toward him—toward the slumbering form that spoke with a borrowed, authoritative phonation.
"…It was you."
"…Katsuhiko-kun's mother."
Mrs. Minagawa went rigid, her features petrified in a mask of shock.
"What is the meaning of this slander?!" she shrieked. "How could I possibly have orchestrated such a deed?!"
"By contaminating the sustenance," Kogoro countered placidly.
"But the entire assembly partook of the same feast!" she protested.
"Correct… yet only Katsuhiko-kun succumbed."
He paused momentarily before articulating the final blow.
"And he perished precisely because he abstained from eating it."
Ran's brow furrowed. "What do you imply… he did not eat it?"
Kogoro did not provide an immediate retort. Instead, he posed a chilling question.
"Mrs. Minagawa… you were simmering with indignation when Susumu-kun partook of the chocolate… and yet, you permitted him to consume the cake. Why was that?"
The inquiry hung suspended in the stagnant air. Mrs. Minagawa's pupils dilated in horror, the color hemorrhaging from her visage as she realized exactly where this trajectory of logic was terminating…
Kogoro—under Conan's meticulous guidance—continued the deduction without a shred of hesitation.
"…It was because you infused the coffee with toxin… and the antidote within the cake."
"…And when you witnessed Susumu imbibing the poisoned coffee, you lunged immediately to feed him the confection that contained the neutralizing agent."
"You were cognizant of the fact that Katsuhiko-kun harbored a distaste for sweets… and that he would inevitably bypass the cake. Thus, you architected this plot."
"You exploited Yoshimi-san's devotion to your advantage… because you knew, with absolute certainty, that he would partake of her chocolate."
"Being the inaugural person to arrive at the scene… you sequestered the chocolate he had already partially consumed… and substituted it with the poisoned variety."
"And all the while… you diverted the trajectory of suspicion toward Yoshimi as the primary culprit."
Mrs. Minagawa could no longer withstand the relentless, crushing pressure of the deduction.
"Cease your absurdities!" she bellowed, her voice vibrating with terror. "You speak as though you bore witness to everything—when you possess no empirical evidence whatsoever!"
"But evidence exists," Kogoro replied with chilling serenity.
"Regarding the coffee vessels—before the constabulary arrived—you were already purging them, attempting to obliterate any vestige of forensic proof. But regardless of how meticulously you scoured them, a rigorous chemical analysis would still unveil the toxic residue clinging to the porcelain."
Mrs. Minagawa's eyes bulged in shock.
"But even if the cups have been scoured clean…" Kogoro continued, "there will inevitably remain traces of the toxin within the drainage conduits."
A ponderous silence descended upon the chamber as the assembly listened with bated breath to the unraveling of the crime.
"…Mrs. Minagawa…"
"It appears the process of liquefaction has commenced…"
"…Yoshimi-san's original chocolate bar—the one you secreted within the folds of your kimono."
As he concluded, Mrs. Minagawa's posture stiffened with a primal fear. She cast her gaze down at her garment—and there it was. A dark, umber stain was sluggishly migrating across the violet silk on her chest.
In a state of frantic agitation, she scrambled to obscure it with both hands.
"Nonsense…!" she denied with desperate fervor. "In the first place, how could I have predicted he would eat Yoshimi's chocolate? And for what reason would I ever extinguish the life of my own son?!"
Her voice was a jagged shard of fear and desperation.
Kaori, having absorbed the words, suddenly interjected.
"NO… Katsuhiko's biological parents perished in a catastrophe seven years ago… you were merely his father's sister—you adopted him!"
Kaori clenched her fists until her knuckles were skeletal, her eyes clamped shut as she spoke with raw emotion.
"A-and Katsuhiko was drawn to Yoshimi… because she bore a striking resemblance to his biological mother…"
She opened her eyes and pivoted toward the still-weeping Yoshimi Watanabe.
"Precisely… you are the image of Katsuhiko's true mother…"
Yoshimi stared back at Kaori in stunned silence, wiping her tears as the epiphany struck her like a physical blow.
Kogoro's voice descended into a lower register, steady and inexorable.
"That is the reason… you were certain he would definitely partake of Yoshimi's chocolate."
Mrs. Minagawa remained paralyzed, staring vacantly at the sobbing Yoshimi. Gradually, her fortitude evaporated. Her wall of resistance collapsed, and she could no longer muster an argument.
At that moment, her son Susumu scurried to her flank.
"Mama… are you alright? Does your tooth ache as well?" he queried with an innocent, heartbreaking concern.
Mrs. Minagawa looked down at her child—and finally, her spirit fractured. Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she pulled him into a crushing embrace.
"…Susumu… my child…" she whispered, her voice a fragile reed.
"…It appears… Mommy will be absent for a very long duration…"
She constricted her hold on him, her vocalization tremulous as she concluded.
"…Recall what I imparted to you… understood…? Sweet things are…"
"No good!" Susumu finished the sentiment, his diminutive voice echoing her tragic refrain.
AM N. NOT.(っ－＿－)っ♤♤DRAFT♤♤