Darya Dmitrieva

A Genius In The World Of Conan

Added 2025-01-29 18:02:00 +0000 UTC

Chapter 18: Took the Bait

‘He took the bait.’

Conan was delighted and immediately asked,

"By the way, Akikawa-nii, did you notice any distinctive features on the culprit’s hands? Like tattoos, manicures, scars, or anything unusual?"

Before entering the hospital room, Conan had privately asked Detective Takagi for a favor.

If he heard Conan lightly tapping his microphone, he was to enter and report the fingerprint discovery.

Furthermore, the report had to begin with a piece of real information.

The purpose was to increase the credibility of what would follow.

‘Since no fingerprints were found on the dagger and Kousuke Akikawa wasn’t wearing gloves…’

‘If he was the culprit, the only way he could have wiped off the fingerprints from the dagger would be by using the absorbent cotton fabric of the victim’s clothing. The remaining traces would then have been covered by blood, erasing any oil or skin residue.’

‘Unlike Sera-san’s trap involving confidential ‘police-only information,’ this was ‘culprit-exclusive information’—something only the perpetrator and the police would know.’

‘Only the culprit who wiped the fingerprints would assume that the police couldn’t retrieve any prints from the dagger.’

Cyanoacrylate fuming, also known as the "super glue fuming method," is a modern forensic technique that heats and vaporizes glue to form a white polymer, revealing latent fingerprints.

Although this method doesn’t guarantee a 100% chance of developing prints that have been wiped with blood, the mere possibility was enough.

‘As long as Kousuke Akikawa doesn’t know the exact forensic results, he can’t be certain that his fingerprints were completely erased.’

Conan’s question about the culprit’s hand characteristics was just a front.

What he truly wanted to know was whether the perpetrator had directly touched the dagger with bare hands.

‘If Kousuke Akikawa heard Officer Takagi say that another person’s fingerprints were found on the dagger, and if he were the culprit, he would assume that his fingerprint removal was incomplete.’

‘In that case, he wouldn’t be able to use the excuse that ‘a third party wearing gloves committed the crime’ to mislead the police.’

‘Because in the face of ‘concrete’ evidence, denying it would only make him more suspicious.’

‘From the ‘culprit’ Kousuke Akikawa’s perspective, the police had already determined that someone had touched the dagger’s handle with bare hands.’

‘Therefore, his only choice was to fabricate a description of the culprit’s hands that was completely different from his own.’

‘But no matter what answer he gives, he must be the murderer!’

‘Because given yesterday’s circumstances, he was the only one who could have touched the dagger with bare hands!’

The police investigation had already confirmed that Kousuke Akikawa was the only person with a motive for this case and the only one who stood to gain from Akikawa Ryoko’s death.

If Conan assumed Kousuke Akikawa was the culprit and then analyzed the crime scene evidence accordingly, he could deduce the exact method used to commit the murder.

This was Conan’s absolute confidence in his own reasoning ability.

As long as Kousuke Akikawa did not deny that the culprit had touched the dagger with bare hands, it would be equivalent to admitting that he was the murderer.

And thanks to Takagi Wataru’s carefully timed intervention, Kousuke Akikawa couldn’t deny it.

With the imbalance of information, Conan’s side had the clear advantage.

Kousuke Akikawa’s heart pounded as he stared at Conan’s confident expression.

Indeed.

When he heard the detective say that the police had found another person’s fingerprints using the cyanoacrylate fuming method, he couldn’t help but doubt his own cleaning efforts.

But then, when Conan asked him about the culprit’s hand characteristics, Kousuke Akikawa suddenly realized something.

That was—

‘As expected, Nakajima didn’t hand over the recording from this morning in the hospital room!’

If Conan knew that he was already aware of the forensic results, there was no way he would have asked that question.

That could only mean that Nakajima Takuto had not informed them of this.

Based on his interactions with Nakajima Takuto that morning,

Kousuke Akikawa was certain that while Nakajima had a sense of justice and responsibility as a detective.

But in the end, he was still someone who would always prioritize his own interests above all else.

For someone like that—

As long as his personal interests were genuinely threatened, the balance between his sense of duty and self-interest would inevitably tilt toward the latter.

To achieve this goal, two things needed to be done.

First, accumulate his anger and lower his patience.

Eventually, this would push Nakajima Takuto to lose his composure and force a confession, exposing himself.

Second, deal another psychological blow to weaken his mental resilience.

By damaging his own body through excessive eating, he could amplify Nakajima Takuto’s mistakes.

Under these circumstances, the recording containing his major blunder would become an unstable time bomb threatening his career as a detective.

With no way of knowing when the bomb would explode and drag him down, the safest course of action was to dismantle it entirely.

Sure enough, Nakajima Takuto didn’t dare to hand over that recording.

At least, no one present knew that Kousuke Akikawa had already learned the forensic analysis results.

Conan’s lips curled into a confident smile as he sharply observed Kousuke Akikawa’s shocked expression, watching as he opened his mouth.

"No… how is this possible…?"

Conan heard Kousuke Akikawa murmur, his words reflecting his inner turmoil.

‘Could it be that he can’t even fabricate a random description of the culprit’s hands? Is he already so panicked just from learning his fingerprints were exposed?’

Conan thought to himself.

Then, he heard Kousuke Akikawa continue,

"I clearly… I clearly saw the person who stabbed my mother… wearing gloves."

Kousuke Akikawa’s statement made Conan’s eyes widen abruptly, his pupils contracting in an instant.

The confident smile on his face froze.

He had sealed off all of Kousuke Akikawa’s escape routes, leaving only one path—a trap that would inevitably lead to his downfall no matter how he walked it.

But never did he expect that Kousuke Akikawa would still walk straight into the dead end he had already blocked off.

Conan had been carefully observing Kousuke Akikawa’s reactions.

First, his eyes widened in shock.

Next, his brows furrowed tightly, expressing confusion.

Before speaking, his gaze flicked upward—a sign of recalling memories.

Finally, he gave a firm and resolute answer.

Every single reaction was too natural.

It truly seemed like the reaction of someone hearing something that contradicted their own memory for the first time.

Indeed—

Regarding the culprit’s hand characteristics, no matter what Kousuke Akikawa answered, he would be the murderer.

But if Kousuke Akikawa outright stated that the culprit was wearing gloves, then the situation became entirely different.

‘Could it be… he really isn’t the murderer?!’