Chapter 88: Doubts

In Ryo Sogabe's personal lounge, Conan observed the body carefully.

"Ryo Sogabe was shot twice—once in the arm and once in the forehead."

"The forehead wound is located lower in the middle of the forehead, near the brow line."

"Since there's no injury on the back of the head, the bullet didn't exit, lodging itself in the skull."

"Preliminary conclusion: the bullet pierced the frontal lobe, damaging the middle cerebral artery. Whether or not the brainstem was also affected, the damage to the artery likely caused massive intracranial bleeding and rapidly increased pressure in the brain."

"In either case, Sogabe would have died quickly. There's no doubt that the cause of death was the gunshot wound to the forehead."

Conan quickly assessed the cause of death based on Ryo Sogabe's injuries.

"Moreover, the arm wound shows signs of being inflicted while alive, meaning he was shot in the arm first and then in the forehead," Masumi Sera concluded as she examined Sogabe's body.

She also found a bullet embedded in the ground and the spent casing nearby.

Picking up the casing with her gloved hand, Sera studied it.

"It's a 9mm FMJ bullet—this confirms the weapon is a handgun."

Her frown deepened as the gravity of the situation sank in.

She hadn't anticipated that someone would bring a firearm to the film festival's exhibit area.

"While it's clear Sogabe was first shot in the arm and then in the forehead, certain details suggest the arm wound wasn't accidental," Sera remarked, inspecting the angle of the embedded bullet in the ground.

"If it had been a stray shot, the bullet wouldn't have lodged at this angle but would have flown further back."

As Sera analyzed the arm wound and bullet trajectory, Conan completed his examination of Sogabe's body.

"How's the situation, kid?" Sera asked gravely.

"Aside from the two gunshot wounds, there are no other injuries on his body," Conan replied, lifting Sogabe's right arm to display his palm.

"His hands are completely unscathed. Clearly, he didn't defend himself or resist at all."

"This indicates that the shooter was someone Sogabe trusted enough to let his guard down."

Conan added, "Also, there's something else worth noting. Sogabe dined with Tsunekazu Kosaka, who died yesterday, at the same table."

"This suggests there's likely a connection between the two cases."

Sera nodded, agreeing with Conan's analysis.

Pressing her fist lightly to her lips, she began to think aloud:

"There are four key questions in this case:

First, since Sogabe and Kosaka knew each other, the killer must have had a common motive for both murders. But why were they killed in completely different ways?

Second, what was the motive behind killing our team member, Kosaka?

Third, if the killer was close enough to Sogabe to lower his defenses, why bother shooting him in the arm first? Wouldn't it have been more efficient to shoot him directly in the forehead?

Fourth, how did the killer manage to avoid drawing attention when firing the gun?"

Sera felt that uncovering the cause of Kosaka's death would likely unravel the mystery of these connected cases.

However, there was a problem.

Even if they expedited the forensic autopsy, it would take nearly a week for the results to be ready.

"We don't have the luxury of waiting for the Metropolitan Police to issue the autopsy results. If we don't catch the culprit quickly, more people could die!" Sera said urgently.

"The fourth point is easier to explain," Conan interjected.

"The noise level of a standard 9mm pistol when fired typically ranges between 160 and 170 decibels."

"But with a silencer attached, the sound drops to about 130-140 decibels."

"If subsonic ammunition is also used, the noise is further reduced."

"The killer must have closed the door while committing the crime. Considering that the lounge is far from the exhibit hall and next to the projection room with its occasional loud sound effects..."

"In this scenario, using a silencer with subsonic ammunition could muffle the gunshots enough to blend with the projection room's sounds. Tourists in the exhibit hall wouldn't notice."

"The killer must have planned all this meticulously. This was a calculated murder!"

"The culprit is someone Sogabe trusted and who's covering something up by killing people."

"The solution lies in addressing the first three doubts you mentioned, Ms. Sera," Conan concluded.

As Conan spoke, a bead of sweat dripped from his chin onto the floor.

He wiped the sweat from his neck and forehead, glancing up at the room's air conditioning unit.

"Under normal circumstances, the exhibit and projection rooms are maintained at a temperature of 20-25°C, but someone deliberately set the lounge's air conditioner to 32°C."

"Usually, a killer would do this to accelerate decomposition, speed up blood clotting, and enhance blood oxidation reactions, thereby obscuring the actual time of death."

"However, for such measures to make sense, there would need to be a significant gap between the time of death and the discovery of the body."

"It's clear Sogabe hasn't been dead for long, so tampering with the air conditioning just creates a loophole."

"Considering the 32°C room temperature, the dark red color of the blood, and the fact that Sogabe was alive before the last film screening started, I estimate his time of death was between 9:30 and 11:10."

"We just need to identify who entered and exited this lounge during that period," Conan said, checking his watch mid-sentence.

He was interrupted by a hesitant voice behind him.

"But the problem is, there aren't any cameras inside the exhibit halls or private lounges. How can we determine who came and went?"

Startled, Conan turned to see Sonoko Suzuki clutching her knees, leaning forward with curiosity.

"Sonoko-sister?! Ran-sister?!" Conan exclaimed, startled.

He hadn't noticed when Sonoko and Mouri Ran had arrived or how much of his reasoning they overheard.

Sera quickly interjected to distract Sonoko before her curiosity turned into suspicions.

"Why aren't there any cameras in such a large exhibit hall?" Sera asked.

"Well, during last year's film exhibit, someone on the monitoring team secretly leaked unreleased film information online," Sonoko explained.

"So starting this year, cameras aren't allowed inside the exhibit halls."

"That means there might still be cameras outside the hall, right?" Sera probed further.

"I'm not sure if there are any near the entrance to this exhibit, but there should be cameras at key intersections," Sonoko replied thoughtfully.

Sera reflected on this information:

'In that case, anyone who had the opportunity to enter Sogabe's personal lounge during this timeframe, lacked an alibi, and was familiar with Sogabe becomes a suspect.'

(End of Chapter)