Chapter 42: The Truth of the Matter
"I am calling the police, Mr. Tokitsu!" Mona's voice rang out, sharp and dripping with theatrical indignation. She brandished her phone like a weapon. "Just because I refused to pay your exorbitant commission fee, you stoop so low as to retaliate against me like this? I will have the authorities come and uphold justice!"
Tokitsu Junya's lip curled into a sneer. The arrogant high school detective crossed his arms, his posture radiating disdain. "Hmph. Go ahead, call them. I refuse to confess to a crime I didn't commit." He leaned in slightly, his eyes narrowing. "In fact, I would wager you are the one framing me. Did you honestly think I couldn't unravel such a pathetic, simple-minded trick? Heh. Just wait. The moment the police arrive, I will dismantle this farce and prove my innocence in front of everyone. And then, you'll... heh!"
Standing near the doorway, Conan Edogawa adjusted his oversized glasses. He watched the heated exchange between the astrologist and the detective, his sharp mind already cataloging their micro-expressions. They clearly had prior history, but the exact nature of their dispute would have to wait for the authorities.
The wail of sirens soon pierced the quiet neighborhood. Since the incident involved property damage rather than a homicide, the heavy footsteps of Inspector Megure were absent. Instead, the mild-mannered and perpetually overworked Officer Wataru Takagi stepped through the front door.
Takagi blinked in mild surprise upon spotting Ran Mouri and the others lingering near the hallway. He offered a polite, somewhat weary smile in greeting before shifting into his professional demeanor to assess the chaotic scene.
"Officer, this is the culprit!" Mona declared, jabbing an accusatory finger toward Tokitsu. "He held a petty grudge against me, and I caught him red-handed vandalizing my precious books!"
Taking full advantage of his diminutive stature, Conan slipped through the legs of the adults, wedging himself into the front row to eavesdrop on Takagi's interrogation.
Through the questioning, the pieces of the narrative began to fall into place. The haughty young man in the study was Tokitsu Junya, a self-proclaimed High School Detective from the north. He had arrived at the residence this afternoon demanding his unpaid commission fee from Mona. According to his furious testimony, the household maid had instructed him to wait inside the study. Yet, the moment he stepped inside and shut the door, a sudden force struck the back of his head, knocking him out cold. When he finally regained consciousness, he found himself staring at a pile of violently slashed books on the desk, just seconds before Mona threw open the door to catch him.
Right on cue, a forensics technician trotted into the room, handing Takagi a preliminary report in a plastic evidence bag. The small utility knife recovered from the scene was a perfect match for the deep gashes in the book bindings. More damningly, the only fingerprints lifted from the handle belonged exclusively to Tokitsu Junya.
Tokitsu's face flushed with anger. He vehemently denied the accusation, pointing a finger back at Mona. "She set me up! She is completely broke and orchestrated this entire farce just to get out of paying my fee!"
Officer Takagi turned his notepad toward the silver-haired maid standing quietly nearby. Noelle offered a polite, measured bow before addressing the detective's claims.
"It is true that Mr. Tokitsu visited today to request his payment," Noelle stated, her voice calm and unwavering. "However, I absolutely did not instruct him to wait in the study. That room houses Miss Mona's most vital astrological texts. It is a highly restricted area, and strangers are strictly forbidden from entering. I would never permit a guest to wait inside."
When pressed about Mona's alleged financial ruin, Noelle shook her head firmly. "Miss Mona is not refusing payment out of poverty. It is true that she dines on mushroom and vegetable salads every day, but she has never once been late in paying my salary. She is a woman of principle who would never arbitrarily withhold money owed." Noelle paused, her emerald eyes fixing on Tokitsu. "She refused to pay because the deductive conclusion Mr. Tokitsu provided was fundamentally incorrect."
Noelle then provided her timeline of the afternoon. "When Mr. Tokitsu arrived, I invited him to sit in the living room while I went to the kitchen to fetch him a glass of water. By the time I returned, the living room was empty. The front door was left wide open, so I naturally assumed he had grown impatient and departed. I thought nothing more of it."
Conan stood by the wall, his mind spinning. 'Eating mushroom and vegetable salads every day... how does that not count as being completely broke?'he thought, a deadpan expression crossing his face.'And if she is struggling that badly, how on earth can she afford a full-time, professional maid?'
More, his detective pride was piqued. A High School Detective whose employer outright rejected his deduction for being flawed? That implied Tokitsu's skills were either severely lacking, or there was a deeper mystery at play.
Unable to contain his curiosity about the failed commission, Conan trotted over to Mona. He reached out and gave the hem of her starry skirt a gentle tug, hoping to extract some clues before Takagi officially questioned her.
Feeling the slight pull, Mona glanced down. Her eyes met Conan's wide, innocent gaze. 'Why is this little brat suddenly seeking me out?'she wondered, a flicker of amusement dancing behind her eyes.'Could he have actually found a flaw in today's setup?'
She dismissed the thought almost instantly. It was impossible. This entire scenario had been executed using her unique abilities. No ordinary human, especially not Conan Edogawa, a boy who stubbornly anchored his entire worldview in hard science and vehemently denied the existence of magic, could ever fathom the truth.
Because the truth was exactly as Tokitsu claimed: it was a setup. An elaborate trap orchestrated by Lisa to teach the arrogant detective a lesson.
The mechanics of the crime were laughably simple for someone of Mona's talents. After Tokitsu entered the study and closed the door, Mona had activated her Illusory Torrent. Transforming her physical body into a rushing stream of water, she slipped effortlessly beneath the narrow crack of the closed door. She materialized behind him, delivered a swift strike to knock him unconscious, and then took the utility knife to slash a few outdated, useless books she had spent hours digging out of storage specifically for this performance. After carefully pressing the unconscious detective's fingers against the knife handle, she melted back into her Illusory Torrent and flowed out of the room.
To the mundane world, the study was a perfect locked-room mystery. There were no ground-level windows. The singular skylight Mona used for stargazing was securely bolted shut from the inside. The only entrance was the main door, which had remained firmly closed since Tokitsu entered. This fact was indisputably corroborated by the high-end surveillance camera mounted in the hallway, pointed directly at the upper half of the doorway. Mona had spent a small fortune acquiring that specific camera just for today's scheme, a purchase that heavily contributed to her current financial crisis and her strict diet of leafy greens.
Confident in her flawless, magical locked-room trick, Mona crouched down to meet the boy at eye level, genuinely curious about what he wanted to ask.
As Mona squatted down, Conan opened his mouth, fully intending to ask about the nature of Tokitsu's botched investigation. He simply couldn't accept that a fellow detective would irresponsibly deliver a botched conclusion without a good reason.
But the words died in his throat.
Conan's breath hitched. His eyes widened slightly, locking onto a detail he hadn't noticed from above. He quickly forced his expression into a mask of childish innocence as Mona tilted her head inquiringly, but his heart hammered against his ribs.
There, resting against the back of Mona's neck, was a glass orb.
It was exactly like the ones he had seen on Lisa and Noelle!
His mind raced, connecting the dots at lightning speed. 'There has to be a connection between them!'The complex metallic casing of the orb was nearly identical in design to the others, but Mona's gem was a deep, captivating blue. In the brief second he stared at it, Conan swore the symbol glowing faintly within the glass looked like cascading, flowing water.'Flowing water... blue... could that pattern represent the element of Water?'
The thought triggered a sudden, sharp memory. Just moments ago, while standing near the study entrance, Conan had noticed something peculiar. The wooden floorboards, stretching from just outside the hallway and slipping beneath the study door, were faintly damp. It looked exactly as if a small stream of water had recently flowed across the surface.
In a house this immaculately kept, under the watchful eye of a maid as careful and responsible as Noelle, a random puddle of water left unattended was a glaring anomaly.
Conan's gaze shifted from the blue gem to the damp floor, his eyes narrowing with sharp suspicion. 'Could today's incident be related to that water? Is Noelle the one pulling the strings behind this? Or... is Mona the true mastermind?'
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