A Genius In The World Of Conan

Chapter 2: Covering Up the Evidence

After a brief observation, Kousuke Akikawa became increasingly aware of how unfavorable the current situation was for him.

‘The blood soaking her clothes is still bright red, indicating a high oxygen content…’

‘The area around the wounds shows clear signs of vitality.’

‘So, she definitely died from stab wounds.’

The bright red blood suggested that it hadn’t been exposed to air for very long, and the vitality around the wounds proved that the woman was still alive when the stabbing occurred.

Adding to that, the locked car and the tightly sealed windows only heightened the suspicion that the original host was the murderer.

‘If the blood had started to darken or the body showed signs of rigor mortis, there would still be room for maneuvering. But this woman clearly died not long ago. Reducing suspicion of myself is no longer possible.’

Darkened blood or visible rigor mortis would indicate that the victim had been dead for a significant amount of time. If Kousuke could extend the estimated time of death or delay the discovery of the body, he’d have more opportunities to manipulate the situation.

But now, with the sound of sirens drawing closer, it was inevitable that he’d be the primary suspect.

‘Since being suspected of being the killer is inevitable, what I need to do now isn’t to eliminate suspicion but to ensure that the evidence at the scene isn’t enough to directly convict me as the murderer.’

Kousuke’s gaze fell on the woman’s abdomen. Her clothes, though not entirely soaked in blood, bore distinct smudges from where he had pushed her earlier with his bloodstained hands.

He extended his right hand, rubbing his middle and index finger joints lightly against the fabric of her shirt.

‘Cotton fabric. That means I can use blood to cover my fingerprints.’

Fingerprint analysis relies on detecting oils and sweat left by the fingers, but blood can obscure those residues.

The effectiveness of this depends on the material of the fabric.

For absorbent materials like the cotton shirt the woman wore, any bloodstains would render the original fingerprints nearly undetectable.

With great care, Kousuke grabbed the section of her shirt stained with his fingerprints and pressed it against her wound.

Blood gushed from the wound, soaking the fabric until it turned a vivid red.

This way, the bloody handprint he left earlier, along with any trace of his fingerprints, was completely covered by the blood.

Kousuke repeated this process twice, ensuring all areas of the woman’s clothing where his fingerprints might be present were thoroughly soaked in blood. Then, he turned his attention to the knife embedded in her abdomen.

‘When I woke up, my hands were gripping this knife. It’s safe to assume this is the murder weapon. But under these circumstances, there’s no way to dispose of it.’

Regardless of whether the original host had killed the woman, the fact that Kousuke had touched the knife would inevitably worsen his situation once the police arrived.

And yet, there was no way to get rid of the weapon now.

‘If I can’t hide the weapon, I’ll have to hide the evidence that I touched it.’

Once more, Kousuke grabbed the blood-soaked portion of the woman’s shirt and carefully wiped the knife handle clean.

He avoided using an unstained part of the fabric because blood can never be completely removed in such crude conditions.

Many inexperienced criminals believe that simply wiping away bloodstains can hide their actions.

What they don’t realize is that even if all visible blood is removed with a cloth or tissue, it leaves behind telltale traces of “cleaning.”

Through techniques like luminol testing, law enforcement can easily uncover attempts to cover up bloodstains.

After thoroughly wiping the knife handle with the blood-soaked fabric, Kousuke once again ensured that any fabric he had touched was soaked in blood from the woman’s wound.

Of course, merely erasing his fingerprints from the knife handle wouldn’t be enough.

‘Any halfway competent detective would immediately suspect I tried to cover my tracks with blood if they saw the handle like this.’

‘I have to completely sever any link between myself and this knife.’

Kousuke carefully lifted the woman’s shirt, examining the wounds on her abdomen and chest.

As expected.

He discovered that most of the wounds were not perpendicular to the woman's body but angled toward the passenger seat where he was sitting.

‘Right-handed, huh.’

The driver’s seat of this car was on the right side. The wounds slanting toward his position matched the logic of a right-handed person attacking the woman from the front.

Even for experienced operatives or assassins, it would be nearly impossible to conceal their dominant hand in a moment of urgency, especially in a situation like this—where the victim was seated in a car seat.

Trying to stab directly downward into the woman’s body in this position was significantly more challenging than if she were lying flat on the ground.

<+>

Having deduced that the killer was right-handed, Kousuke Akikawa knew what needed to be done next.

He placed his right hand firmly on the glove compartment opposite his seat and, with determination, stomped down on it with his foot.

A sharp “crack” rang out as searing pain shot through his brain.

Kousuke bit back a scream, forcing himself to remain silent.

He couldn’t afford to attract attention—not until he had completed the final steps of his plan.

If anyone noticed that the car doors were locked, everything he’d done so far would be for nothing.

Ignoring his mangled right hand, which now bent at an unnatural angle, Kousuke forced himself to stretch across the seat and pressed the unlock button on the driver’s side console with his knuckle.

The sound of the car doors unlocking brought a wave of relief.

‘Sure, there are countless ways for the killer to have locked the car after fleeing the scene, but as the primary suspect, the police won’t even consider that possibility.’

‘If they conclude that this car has been a sealed ‘locked room’ from the start, I’ll have no way to argue otherwise.’

As he leaned back against the seat, exhaustion and dizziness overwhelmed him, washing over his body like a tide.

It wasn’t until then that Kousuke realized something strange.

Despite his extreme fatigue, his breathing and heart rate were still alarmingly fast, to the point where he found it unsettling.

The pounding of his heartbeat was deafening, each thump echoing loudly in his ears.

Amid the rhythm of his racing pulse, Kousuke picked up another sound—the faint hum of the car’s engine.

‘I thought this dizziness was just from blood loss. Turns out it's carbon monoxide poisoning.’

In his frantic effort to erase the traces of the original culprit’s actions, Kousuke had completely overlooked another common hazard at car crash sites—carbon monoxide poisoning caused by incomplete combustion in a damaged engine.

By the time he realized what was happening, he was already unable to move his body any further.

Surprisingly, this realization didn’t fill him with fear.

As darkness overtook his consciousness, Kousuke’s lips parted slightly, and in a voice as soft as a whisper, he muttered:

“Divine intervention.”