Chapter 54: Time of Death

Ten minutes ago, in the laundry room of the Empire Theatre.

Megure Juzo, Chiba Kazunobu, Mouri Kogoro, and several other police officers present listened to Sera Masumi's reasoning and learned about the weapon the killer used to strangle the deceased.

"So, the last thing left is to determine the time of death and narrow down the time frame in which we need to confirm the suspect's alibi."

Just as Megure Juzo said this, they heard Conan's young voice coming from the laundry room:

"Hey! There are light red stains on this guy's back!"

Everyone in the room looked in the direction of the sound. They saw Conan with his red bowtie, lifting the deceased's shirt and staring intently at his back, a surprised expression on his face.

"Hey—! Kid, what are you doing again?!"

Mouri Kogoro rushed forward, grabbed Conan by the back of the neck, and tossed him aside.

"This is a dead body! Besides, disturbing it might destroy important evidence!"

Mouri Kogoro looked at Conan with some annoyance.

"No, thanks to little Conan here, we should be able to precisely determine the deceased's time of death."

As Detective Chiba Kazunobu spoke, he stepped forward, lifted the deceased's body from the side, and removed his shirt. They discovered it was exactly as Conan had said—there were several light red and lavender stains on the deceased's back.

"These are body stains that usually appear between half an hour and two hours after death, depending on the ambient temperature."

Sera Masumi approached the body, squatting down. After observing the stains on the deceased's back, she explained loudly.

"Lividity is a phenomenon where blood settles in the lower parts of the body after it stops circulating.

"When we found the deceased, he was lying on his back, so naturally, the blood would have settled on his back.

"If I'm correct, there should also be stains on the deceased's buttocks and lower legs."

Upon hearing this, Chiba and Shin lifted the deceased's pants and nodded.

"That's right."

"In other words, the deceased stayed lying on his back after dying," Mouri Kogoro said.

"Yes," Sera Masumi nodded.

"If the body is moved after death, the original stains may partially or completely disappear and reform in the new position. These changes can help infer if the body was moved."

Masumi Sera extended her hand toward the deceased's back, stretched out her fingers, and pressed down on the stains with her gloved hand. They discovered that the light red stains quickly faded when pressed.

"The stains on the deceased's back still have the characteristic of fading after being pressed, indicating that the body is still in the early stage of livor mortis.

"Also, although the deceased had livor mortis, there was no rigor mortis present.

"We can conclude the deceased died within two hours."

"Many criminals know rigor mortis appears about two hours after death, but few know that livor mortis appears half an hour after death. They assume the police can't determine the time of death based on livor mortis."

Megure Juzo nodded and added,

"Since this body only has livor mortis and no rigor mortis, does that mean the deceased died around half an hour ago?"

Mouri Kogoro stroked his chin with his hand, analyzing.

"No!"

Conan again rejected Mouri Kogoro's conclusion.

"Sera-san just said that the appearance of livor mortis also changes with the ambient temperature. Uncle, don't you think the temperature in this room is much cooler than in other rooms?"

"Indeed."

"That does seem to be the case."

Several officers nodded upon hearing Conan's words.

Masumi Sera continued explaining,

"The air conditioning is off in this laundry room. The temperature here is definitely lower than the normal ambient temperature of 20 degrees Celsius, making it a 'low-temperature environment.'

"In this temperature, the appearance of livor mortis is significantly delayed.

"In this case, the deceased's time of death should be around one to two hours ago."

"In other words, it was between before the second act of the play started and just after the second act began."

"Moreover, Akikawa said he was told to come to the laundry room at the beginning of the second act, and only left after seeing the performance of the second act.

"If this is true, then he would not have had the conditions to commit the crime, as the deceased was still in his dressing room when he was killed.

"Since Akikawa arrived in the laundry room much later than the killer expected, the killer fled the room in a hurry. In this case, there was absolutely no way to properly dispose of the murder weapon."

As Sera Masumi spoke, she clapped her hands together.

"Now the entire picture of this case is clear, and it's time to identify the real culprit!"

---

"Excuse me, what was Mr. Nishihara doing at the start of the second act?"

Sera Masumi looked at Koichi Nishihara, who was visibly shaken, and repeated her question.

"I was in my lounge," Koichi Nishihara replied.

"Can anyone verify this for Mr. Nishihara?"

"No."

At that moment, another officer in charge of the interrogation returned and reported to Megure Juzo:

"I just confirmed what Ms. Yoko said with Director Nakamura. He confirmed that Mr. Nishihara and Mr. Akikawa auditioned for the same role and that Mr. Nishihara failed.

"Additionally, Director Nakamura mentioned another point."

"That, with Mr. Nishihara's status in the Japanese film and television industry, it's a bit unusual for him to audition for a minor supporting role."

After hearing what the officer said, the surrounding artists began murmuring.

"Indeed, I was a bit surprised at first. It's strange for Mr. Nishihara to take a minor role on stage."

"Yes, yes, and Mr. Nishihara has no prior experience in stage plays."

As soon as Koichi Nishihara heard the remarks of those around him, his already chaotic mind began to panic even more.

Conan observed Nishihara's reaction and raised the corner of his mouth slightly. Then he approached Okino Yoko, looked up, and displayed an innocent, curious expression.

"Ms. Yoko, didn't you warn Mr. Nishihara to avoid contact with Mr. Akikawa?"

"I think Ms. Yoko gave that warning not just because Mr. Nishihara once auditioned with Mr. Akikawa and failed, right?"

Okino Yoko looked at Conan with a concerned expression.

After a moment, she whispered,

"Conan-kun is right.

"Mr. Nishihara, you were involved in two violent incidents with injuries during junior high and high school.

"I was concerned that Mr. Akikawa might be harmed, so I warned Mr. Nishihara."

(End of Chapter)