A Genius In The World Of Conan

Chapter 21: What Kind of Person Do You Think Kousuke Akikawa Is?

After leaving Kousuke Akikawa’s hospital room, Detective Takagi Wataru, Conan, and Sera Masumi were severely scolded by Sato Miwako.

Both Conan and Sera Masumi truly experienced the terrifying side of Sato Miwako, the "Flower of the Metropolitan Police Department."

Later, when Sera Masumi and Conan suggested helping to track down the motorbike-riding murderer, they were immediately rejected by Sato Miwako.

"You two have already provided great help with analyzing the clues," she said.

"The rest of the work should be left to the police department."

With those tactful words, Sato Miwako effectively removed Sera Masumi and Conan from the case, leaving only Takagi Wataru and Chiba Kazunobu in the room.

Judging from Takagi’s grim expression, it was clear that an even harsher scolding awaited him.

"This time, we really messed up," Sera Masumi said with a sigh, folding her hands behind her head after they left the hospital.

"Yeah," Conan responded dully, feeling somewhat down.

"I just feel like something isn’t right about this case. Before questioning Akikawa, we couldn’t find a single clue pointing to another suspect. That motorbike-riding culprit seemed to appear out of nowhere."

"Think about it—if Akikawa had died from an overdose of sleeping pills, wouldn’t the culprit have committed the perfect crime?"

Sera Masumi couldn't help but continue analyzing the case. Cases she failed to solve were extremely rare.

"There’s no such thing as a perfect crime in this world," Conan said firmly, perking up slightly at the phrase.

"But if we hadn’t questioned Akikawa, we wouldn’t have known there was another culprit at all."

"And under normal circumstances, Akikawa should have died."

Sera Masumi insisted on her reasoning.

"No, perfect crimes don’t exist. That just means we missed some clues," Conan said, closing his eyes to think carefully.

What details had he overlooked?

What evidence could prove another person was involved?

"Can’t figure it out, huh? I can’t either," Sera Masumi admitted, watching Conan’s expression. She knew he was just as stumped as she was.

"That just means we weren’t observant enough and really missed something."

"Or…"

Conan’s voice suddenly trailed off.

Sera Masumi immediately understood what he was implying.

Either they had overlooked a crucial clue—

Or from beginning to end, the only culprit was Kousuke Akikawa himself.

"Is that possible?"

Sera Masumi's deep green eyes fixed on Conan with a serious expression.

"It’s highly unlikely," Conan admitted.

"If we assume he was the one who killed Ryoko-san, several conditions would have to be met."

"First, he had to cause the car accident."

"Second, Kousuke Akikawa’s actual personality is far stronger than he appears. He would have to be mentally tough enough to break his own hand to evade suspicion."

"Doctors can estimate the approximate time of a bone fracture, but since the car accident and Ryoko-san’s death happened within about an hour of each other, we have no way of knowing if he broke his hand after killing her."

"Third, he overdosed on sleeping pills but didn’t die. I can’t think of a method for this, so we can only assume it was luck."

"Fourth, he somehow knew the forensic department’s analysis results on the knife in advance and was incredibly observant."

"That’s why, when I asked him about the culprit’s hand characteristics, he could tell we were bluffing."

"Five, his mind is sharp enough to fabricate countless logical details on the spot and accurately repeat them even when Sera-san asked him to recite them in reverse."

"Six, his acting skills are so flawless that even you and I couldn't detect a single flaw."

After saying this, Conan lifted his head and looked at Sera Masumi.

"Sera-san, compared to the possibility that we overlooked something, which do you think is more likely?"

"Th-this is impossible, right? Even a professionally trained agent would struggle to have such abilities!"

"Besides, he's only twenty years old, and he spent more than half his life under his mother’s confinement. How could he possibly have such skills?"

Sera Masumi found the idea Conan described to be utterly ridiculous—completely inconsistent with the image of Kousuke Akikawa as a reclusive shut-in.

"That's why I said we must have made a mistake."

Conan spread his hands.

Sera Masumi noticed that beneath Conan’s indifferent tone, there was an unmistakable hint of disappointment.

"You look pretty upset, kid."

"Well, we falsely accused an innocent person and caused him secondary harm."

"Are you planning to go back and apologize?"

"I doubt an apology would mean much. We need to actually do something to make it up to Akikawa."

"Make it up to him? How? He's about to receive over 100 million yen in compensation—enough to ensure he’s set for life."

"But someone who has been locked away at home since elementary school and never interacted with society is likely to get scammed once he gets that kind of money, right?"

"Kid, you’ve got a point... That amount of money would probably make even a lawyer tempted..."

"Exactly, which is why he needs a reliable lawyer."

As Conan spoke, he pulled out another phone and dialed Ran Mouri.

"Shinichi!!"

A familiar voice rang from the other end of the call.

Just from Ran Mouri’s excited tone, Conan could imagine how happy she must be to receive his call.

Hearing his childhood friend and girlfriend’s voice, Conan’s previously gloomy mood improved significantly.

"Ah, Ran, I need a favor," Conan said, adjusting his bowtie voice changer to use his real voice as Shinichi Kudo.

<+>

Two days had passed since his last interrogation.

Aside from Detective Sato Miwako coming to the hospital again to ask him a few more questions, Kousuke Akikawa had not seen any other police officers or detectives.

And just half an hour ago, a nurse had informed him that he could be discharged that afternoon.

Someone would accompany him to the Metropolitan Police Department to retrieve his personal belongings and some of his mother’s remaining possessions.

On the television in front of him, various news reports played:

"Famed detective Kogoro Mouri wins 1 million yen on horse racing, drunkenly declares he’ll treat everyone at a bar, only to run out of money, causing the owner to call the police."

"National idol Yoko Okino was absent from filming for four consecutive days—insider reports suggest she may have a boyfriend."

"High school detective Sera Masumi solves the August serial murder case—turns out to be a case of mutual killings?! One perpetrator arrested, three still at large."

Ding!

Just as Kousuke Akikawa lay in bed, idly watching TV, a familiar mechanical voice echoed in his mind once again.

[Choice 4 completed]

[Reward granted: Skill Card x1]

[Description: You may select any character from the unlocked character archive to randomly obtain one of their permanent skills.]

[Currently unlocked characters: Shinichi Kudo, Sera Masumi]