Kazawa's second time assisting in a murder investigation — he existed as a piece of physical evidence.
Due to the severe destruction he caused to the scene, the police who rushed over had to first put Kazawa back in position and take photos for evidence, including the bloodstains splattered on him.
"All done?" Kazawa asked, hands raised while waiting for the officers to finish taking pictures. "Can I clean myself up now?"
"We've finished collecting evidence from your side. Go ahead and wipe your face." Inspector Megure handed Kazawa a clean handkerchief, glancing silently at the broken door beside him. "Next time you use public facilities, try to be gentle with them... Though, I admit, you were rather unlucky."
Detectives with the "incident-prone" trait — Inspector Megure had seen plenty. But someone like Kazawa, who just went to the bathroom, reached out, accidentally pulled down the entire door, and ended up splattered with blood — that was a first.
Kazawa thanked him and silently wiped the dried blood off his chin.
"Kazawa-kun?" A confused voice came from the doorway — it was Ran Mouri. "And Conan? What are you two doing here?"
Conan, who had been quietly observing the body and weapon at Kazawa's feet, was snapped back to reality by her voice. He was just about to laugh awkwardly when Kazawa quickly covered his mouth.
"I came out for some coffee, and Conan-kun happened to come downstairs looking for me to help him with his reading, so I brought him along for a bit. You're in this café too, Mouri-san? I didn't even notice when I came in." Kazawa's acting was far smoother than Conan's — he wove the story effortlessly.
"Ah, wasn't Ran-neechan here to meet Shinichi-oniichan?" Conan finally remembered why they were here, now that his attention was no longer absorbed by the murder. He feigned ignorance and asked, "Where's Shinichi-oniichan? If he were here, the case would be solved in no time!"
"Uh…" Ran froze, unsure whether she should be honest.
"What's everyone standing around here for?" A mature, intellectual woman's voice came from behind. Ran turned to see a sharply dressed and stunningly beautiful woman walking toward them.
Ran visibly relaxed and broke into a happy smile. "Mom, you're here."
"It's been a while, Ran." Eri Kisaki embraced her daughter, then turned to look into the bathroom. "A murder?"
Kazawa lowered his head to glance at Conan and observed his reaction.
What? Ran came to see Auntie Eri today? So the "important person" she mentioned was Auntie Eri?
Conan completely froze. He unconsciously shrank back behind Kazawa — the traumatic memories of being scolded bloody by Eri Kisaki during childhood surged back. He suddenly had no idea what to do with his hands and feet. His usual bold detective energy completely wilted.
Meanwhile, Eri, after briefly catching up with Inspector Megure, had already started asking for case details.
"First of all, I'm definitely not the killer," Kazawa began with an innocent disclaimer before describing the possible state of the scene when the murder occurred. "The victim was probably pressed tightly against the door, which is why I couldn't push it open even though it wasn't locked."
"The victim, Yayoi Hime no, 24 years old," Inspector Megure shared the investigation results, clearly not treating Kazawa as a real suspect. "One stab straight to the heart. The killer was very decisive."
"There's a strangulation mark on her neck," Conan, after sneaking around for a while, pointed it out while squatting near a police officer. "The killer may have strangled her unconscious with a rope first, then stabbed her."
"Such a vicious method…" one of the officers murmured in shock.
"The victim's wallet was empty. If this was a robbery, the killer probably didn't want their face seen," Inspector Megure pointed to the window behind the toilet in the stall. "My guess is the killer climbed in from there, lay in wait in the stall, then attacked the victim when she came in, robbed her, and escaped."
"No way." Kazawa shook his head before Conan could speak. "I only pulled open the door, and my pants were soaked in blood. If the killer had done it that way, they'd definitely be covered in blood too. If they escaped through the window, there's no way it'd be spotless."
Eri nodded in agreement. "The killer was careless enough to leave the murder weapon behind. There's no way they'd have had the time to clean the window thoroughly."
"But that doesn't make sense either," Inspector Megure pointed to the door — now lying on the side after suffering Kazawa's wrath. "The door was tightly shut at the time, with the victim's body blocking it. If the killer didn't leave through the window, how did they get out of the stall?"
"The answer's simple — from above," Eri said, pointing to the open space above the stall.
"That gap?" Inspector Megure looked up and rubbed his chin. "It's pretty narrow. Can an adult even fit through there?"
"Let's test it and see," Eri suggested, just as Kazawa walked over to the next stall and hooked his hands on the top, trying to climb up.
"You better not. Let go, let go." Inspector Megure grabbed Kazawa by the collar, spooked. "Don't break this one too."
"I already told you I didn't break it on purpose…" Kazawa muttered helplessly and obediently stepped aside to let the police call in someone else to try.
"It is passable, but probably only for someone with a slimmer build," said the officer who tested it. Inspector Megure rubbed his belly with a sigh — there was no way he'd fit.
Kazawa reminded him, "That means the killer isn't some outside robber. It must've been someone already inside."
"You're right," Inspector Megure agreed quickly, letting his smooth brain coast comfortably.
"…Inspector Megure," Kazawa tilted his head.
"Then we'd better lock down the café and figure out who came in before and after," Eri added.
Inspector Megure finally caught on, quickly giving orders. "Yes, keep all the customers and staff here. Does the store have surveillance cameras? Let's check who came in and out."
——
"So the suspects are everyone who entered the bathroom after the victim did." Using the café's surveillance footage, the list of potential suspects was quickly narrowed down. "Mr. Yuichi Sumeragi, Mr. Juuzou Tonoyama, and lastly, the one who discovered the body — Mr. Kazawa Akira. Let's go in order. Please explain why you came to the café and what you did while here."
Kazawa glanced at the men standing beside him, then straightened up and prepared himself.
Here it comes. The long-awaited "three choices."
Even though Kazawa felt like a token suspect added in to round things out, he still strangely felt a sense of participation.
Soon, he was going to strike hard at the real culprit — and demand an answer for why they left a corpse in a stall with a door ready to fall apart.
Being a suspect was a minor issue. What really annoyed Kazawa was being splattered in blood and getting his new clothes ruined.