Episode 689: Messages From the Client
Scenario: 3 months ago, 24-year-old Kaoru Sasamori, who hired Kogoro to investigate her boyfriend, fell down the stairs and died. At her funeral, Kaoru's brother accused her boyfriend Tsuge of pushing her down the stairs. In present day, Kogoro is summoned by Tsuge with the message, "Come and I'll tell you about her murderer". Kaoru's brother, her best friend Kazumi, and Tsuge's manager all show up at the same time. They find Tsuge bludgeoned to death in his workshop. Sleeping Kogoro explains that Tsuge was about to reveal Kazumi as the murderer through his shadow art. Kazumi, in love with Tsuge, killed Kaoru in hopes of being with him. She believed he was going to announce their relationship when she was summoned, but he instead told her to turn herself in. Blinded by rage, she kills him, but can't bring herself to destroy the incriminating sculpture as it was the only proof that Tsuge spent the last 3 months thinking about her.
On a rainy night, Kogoro, Ran, and Conan are riding in their rental car talking about the person who requested Kogoro to investigate if her boyfriend who was cheating passed away. The person's name is Kaoru Sasamori and she fell down a flight of stone stairways. It happened three months ago when four people were at the funeral of Kaoru Sasamori. The four people were Takashi Sasamori (Kaoru's older brother), Hikari Tsuge (Kaoru's ex-lover), Mariko Noguchi (Tsuge's manager), and Kazumi Ishikura (Kaoru's friend). It started when Takashi angrily accused Tsuge to be the murderer who pushed Kaoru down the stairs, claiming that he saw him do it. Tsuge denied every word what Takashi said, he claiming that he did not kill Kaoru. Noguchi tried to stop the argument, saying that he police already investigated and determined that it was a misunderstanding. Back in the present, Kogoro is going to Tsuge's house because this morning, Tsuge contacted to Kogoro saying that he would reveal who really killed Kaoru.
On the next stop, when Kogoro talks to the officer, the officer said there was a landslide ahead and the right road is inaccessible. They were going to Tsuge's house so they took the left road. Tsuge had also invited the three other people that made a commotion at the funeral. When Kogoro arrives at Tsuge's house, Takashi and Noguchi also were there with their own umbrellas so they won't get wet. The door's unlocked, and Tsuge isn't there to greet them, so Noguchi enters the house to look for Tsuge. Ran notices Kazumi coming from her car without an umbrella. Kazumi says she forgot to bring one, so Ran helps her under own umbrella. While Conan is checking Kazumi's car, he hears a scream. When the group goes inside the house, they find Tsuge dead in a pool of blood.
Tsuge lies in his workshop, dead in a large pool of blood. Kogoro checks his wrist and confirms that he's dead so he tells Ran to call the police. He also orders the rest of the people to leave the crime scene. Before they're about to leave, Noguchi requests Kogoro to make sure no one touches Tsuge's art piece. Kogoro understands it so he will inform the police about it. While Conan is investigating, he notices three pieces of tape on the floor. There's no dust on the tape, meaning something on it recently. He also notices the screen and the art piece on the table. The art piece has a label with the word, "Demurrer."
While the police investigates the crime scene, Takagi confirms that the victim is Hikari Tsuge. His real name is "Ritsu Hikage" and he's 33 years old. His profession was a sculptor and Hikari Tsuge is an anagram from Ritsu Hikage. The cause of death was intracranial injury from a blow to the back of the head. What may seem to be the murder weapon, the hammer, was on the ground nearby, but the fingerprints have been wiped clean.
Megure begins the conversation with the three people. Everyone was invited to Tsuge's house by the victim so he can tell them who the culprit is from three months ago. When they all arrived, Tsuge wasn't breathing anymore and the culprit had already left. According to the officer from the checkpoint, nobody else came dow the atelier's path. To begin with, excluding U-turns, only four cars drove up the slope: the four cars belonging to Kogoro, Takashi, Noguchi, and Kazumi. Which means the culprit could be among them.
Going to Tsuge's house, there's only one path and ahead there's a checkpoint. In the rain, going down the dark slopes is risky. This would be truly called a closed circle. The ones who got to Tsuge's first house were Ran, Conan and Kogoro. Everyone else came afterwards. Takashi was leading, behind Takashi was Kazumi, and lastly Noguchi. They all went inside together and found the corpse.
Back at the checkpoint, when Kogoro, Ran, and Conan were heading toward the atelier, what the officer said, "You guys, too?" meaning there was someone was ahead of them and went to the atelier. They could ask the officer about the type of car or driver. About that, he remembers they were four cars, but not the type of car or the driver.
In other words, if they can organize the story, this is how it went down: From the beginning, there was only one car at the atelier: Tsuge's car. Then, Kogoro's group arrived, next were the other three cars, ,aking the total four cars. However, according to the policeman, there was a car in front of Kogoro. This likely means that the culprit's car arrived first, murdered Tsuge, left the atelier and hid elsewhere. He waited until everyone else came, then appeared as if nothing had happened.
Kogoro deduces that the culprit's motive is to silence him. From Tsuge, three months ago, the culprit heard that he will reveal who the murderer is, so the culprit came to Tsuge's house as soon as possible and murdered Tsuge. In other words, this case's murderer may be the same one who murdered Kaoru Sasamori. The three suspects are Takashi, Noguchi, and Kazumi.
Takashi claims that he's not the culprit. That day, he made a promise to his sister to have a meal, but the photo shoot he was holding got prolonged and he was a bit late. When he went to the meeting place, he saw Kaoru falling down the stairs and went to her side.
Kaoru had fallen down the stairs. When Takashi rushed to her aid, Kaoru says that someone one was behind her. Takeshi realizes that she must have been pushed.
He was certain that he saw Tsuge who was on top of the stone stairs, so he was convinced that Tsuge was the culprit. Kazumi mentions that Kaoru told her about Takashi and Kaoru not getting along because they were disputing over their parent's inheritance money.
Kazumi suspects Takashi is the one who pushed Kaoru down the stairs. Noguchi explains Tsuge had another woman other than Kaoru he was seeing, and Kaoru hired Kogoro to find out who. The other woman was who is none other than Kazumi Ishikura. Kazumi claims that she didn't know that Tsuge was going out with Kaoru. She found out when received a message on her phone from Kaoru: "I was proposed to by Tsuge! What should I do?" Kazumi confronted Tsuge about it, getting into a big argument with him about breaking up with Kaoru. Takashi then reveals that Kaoru told him that Noguchi was trying to pay her to break up with Tsuge, but she had refused the payment. Fed up that Tsuge wasn't working, Noguchi's clients began to look for different artists. If that happens, she'll have to pay a huge penalty for breach of contract.
Conan asks Takagi if he could take him to see if there are any possible hiding spots for a car between the atelier and the checkpoint. Conan gets out by a cabin on the pass, and finds something that the culprit took away from the crime scene.
