Chapter 2866 2870 [A Chill on the Back]

Seeing the family members' faces slightly changed, as if they were frightened, Inspector Otaki continued: "Speaking of malicious intent - please think carefully, have the bride and groom made enemies recently?"

"In addition..."

He suddenly looked at the bride's brother who was sitting alone in the corner: "Mr. Ito, according to our investigation, you seem to have borrowed a total of several million from multiple financial institutions?"

The bride's brother was startled: "This..."

Inspector Otaki: "Is this true?"

"That's true." The bride's brother gritted his teeth and said, "But I didn't kill anyone! My sister is my last relative in this world. How could I kill her for just a few million!"

Inspector Otaki looked at him suspiciously and nodded: "Don't worry, we will investigate seriously and will not wrongly accuse any good person."

...

The family members failed to provide too many useful clues, so the police had to continue to investigate.

Fortunately, this family has a good sense of prevention, and there are many surveillance cameras installed in the manor. Soon the police called up the corresponding location and checked it carefully.

Jiang Xia also walked over to take a look: "Is this the surveillance camera at the door?"

Inspector Otaki responded: "It's the surveillance camera installed on the inside of the gate. It faces outside the door and can capture the flowerbed where the pistol fell. Theoretically, it should also be able to capture the person who dropped the gun."

Hattori Heiji noticed something was wrong: "Theoretically? What about in reality?"

"In reality, there was not a single person!" The bald police officer sighed heavily:

"Although it was night and dark, if someone really approached, I would definitely be able to distinguish such a big shadow. But...

"Well, it seems that the gun must have fallen from the upstairs, and the gunman himself did not enter the surveillance area."

Jiang Xia nodded, thought for a while and said: "With so many surveillance cameras, he was able to avoid them all. The murderer must be very familiar with the distribution of the cameras."

Hattori Heiji had thought of this a long time ago: "So the murderer must be an insider... But do you need to tell me that? All the people detained by Uncle Otaki are insiders. "

However, Jiang Xia had not finished speaking: "And they are insiders who are very familiar with this manor - the family members of the groom do not come here often, and they live a life of luxury. Every time they come to this manor, they only need to eat and rest. They are not much more familiar with the cameras here than outsiders."

"You mean..." Inspector Otaki touched his chin, "The murderer may not be a relative of the groom, but an employee here?"

...The more he thought about it, the more it made sense!

He made a prompt decision, waved his hand, and ordered his subordinates: "Check the alibis of all staff members, and bring in everyone who acted alone during that period."

"Yes!" The subordinates turned around and ran out the door.

"In addition..." Jiang Xia added, "There are some strange pieces of wood near the scene of the groom's death. Its material looks a bit familiar. Don't miss this when you investigate."

"Okay! "The policemen saluted and rushed out in an orderly manner, ready to start a new round of investigation.

…

While the police were busy.

Jiang Xia pushed the door open and continued to wander around the scene.

Hattori Heiji followed behind, and thinking of what Jiang Xia had just said, he asked suspiciously: "Have you already guessed who the murderer is, and are you just looking for evidence now?"

Jiang Xia said seriously: "Of course I will find evidence first and then find the murderer."

Hattori Heiji was skeptical, and at this moment, Jiang Xia paused and stopped in front of a street lamp.

"?" Hattori Heiji and Conan were startled, and instinctively followed his line of sight.

The next moment, they suddenly found that there were four palm-sized rectangular indentations on the lawn in front of the street lamp. They were on the four sides, like the four corners of a larger rectangle.

"Is this... a maintenance ladder? "

The two detectives had a flash of inspiration, and lightning flashed through their minds. Soon, they looked at each other and ran towards the maintenance department at the same time.

…

The lights were on in the maintenance department, and there was only one middle-aged uncle on duty at this time.

Suddenly, he saw three more people at the door. He put down the thermos cup and asked in confusion: "Are you... today's guests? What's wrong? What's broken?"

Hatsuori Heiji glanced around and saw a folded ladder in the corner. While sighing at Jiang Xia's sharpness just now, he asked the middle-aged uncle: "Did you repair a street lamp just now?"

"Yes." The middle-aged uncle nodded and smiled embarrassedly, "In fact, someone had already reported it last night, but today is not the wedding, everyone is busy, and there are few guests in the villa area, so we postponed it and just repaired it not long ago. "

"That street lamp is not far from the crime scene of the bride." Jiang Xia asked, "Did you see anything wrong at that time?"

"Crime scene? "The middle-aged uncle realized it later and stood up suddenly, "Someone is dead?! I was wondering why it was so lively outside!"

Hattori Heiji: "..." Uncle Otaki and his team's intelligence collection work was still too rough, and they didn't even notice that there was a person here.

But now he is not the kind of person who cares about these trivial matters, he asked: "That's right, so all the experiences you encountered at that time may become evidence in the future - think carefully, don't let go of any abnormalities!"

After he said this, the middle-aged uncle's face became solemn. He thought seriously for a long time and said cautiously:

"If I have to say something unusual, it's that when I just got to the street light, I suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps in the distance - I thought someone was being chased by a monkey, but when I looked over there, I didn't see any monkeys, I only saw someone running out of a villa in the distance and hurried to the other side of the river."

"Monkey?" Hattori Heiji was puzzled, "Does anyone of you have a nickname called 'Monkey'?"

"Haha, of course not, I'm talking about real monkeys." The middle-aged uncle explained, "This piece of land is close to the suburbs, and monkeys and wild boars used to appear frequently. Although it has been changed into a manor now, some animals still come in every now and then to cause trouble. ——A large part of the things we need to repair were damaged by them."

"So that's how it is." Jiang Xia was satisfied with getting a new clue, and then he asked, "Do you remember which villa it was and the exact time when the man ran out of the villa?"

"Of course I remember, that's where Miss Ito, the bride, usually lives. As for the time, let me see..." The middle-aged uncle dragged the registration book on the table and turned to the latest page, "It was more than 9:40 at night when I went out. When I arrived with the tools, it should be around 9:45."

"9:45?" Conan was stunned by the time.