"You are the culprit, Hatamoto Hokuro!"
The sweating Hokuro, who looked somewhat like the Turtle Prime Minister from the famous Chinese novel Journey to the West, was so startled that he nearly stuffed the handkerchief he was using to wipe his sweat into his mouth.
His jaw dropped, and for a moment, he even forgot to defend himself.
"Dad, you actually...?!" Ichiro stared in shock.
He knew his father very well. In fact, his own timid personality was probably inherited from Hokuro, which was precisely why he couldn't believe his father would attack Grandpa.
His father didn't have the courage to kill anyone!
The man was too scared to even kill a fish!
"Honey, was it really you?" Mariko was equally stunned.
If her husband was the culprit, then he wouldn't be inheriting the estate anymore.
What was she supposed to do now?
She still had a mountain of gambling debts waiting to be repaid and had been counting on the inheritance to settle them.
"No! It wasn't me! I swear it wasn't me!" Hokuro flailed his arms desperately.
"I don't even dare talk back to people most of the time! How could I possibly do something like this?!"
Yet he quickly realized no one believed him. Even his own wife and son were looking at him suspiciously.
He truly couldn't clear his name.
Even jumping into Tokyo Bay wouldn't wash away the accusation.
Shinichi blinked twice in surprise at the culprit Ritsu had named.
After examining the knife wound on Gozo, he had already concluded that the attacker's height was roughly similar to the victim's.
Gozo was around 180 centimeters tall. Hokuro, on the other hand, was only about 170 centimeters.
He clearly couldn't be the culprit.
'Had Sensei somehow overlooked the angle of the wound?'
Shinichi immediately rejected that possibility. Ritsu had personally stitched the wound. There was no way he hadn't noticed.
That left only one possibility.
'Sensei had deliberately named the wrong culprit.'
His goal was to pressure the real culprit into retrieving the most crucial piece of evidence.
The missing murder weapon.
Ritsu suddenly felt someone poke his waist. Turning around in confusion, he found Shinichi wiggling his eyebrows at him.
His face practically screamed, "I know what you're planning. I'll help you put on the show."
The corner of Ritsu's mouth twitched.
He gave a small nod, silently agreeing to share half of the script with the highly theatrical Shinichi.
"If he's not the culprit, then how do you explain the stab wound on the victim?"
The moment Shinichi spoke, everyone's attention shifted to him. Picking up a comb from the table, he began making things up on the spot.
"Judging from the angle of the wound, the culprit is approximately 170 centimeters tall. Among everyone here, only Hokuro-san, Akie-san, and the butler, Suzuki-san, fit that description."
"I see!"
Somehow, Kogoro had managed to tune into their frequency. Following along as though the deduction actually made sense, he declared,
"Since Suzuki-san has been with us the entire time, he can be ruled out immediately. As for Akie-san, she only left once to use the restroom, and she was gone for less than two minutes. She also walked in the opposite direction, so she's not a suspect either.
"That means the only possible culprit is you, Hokuro!!"
"Dad, you're amazing!"
As expected of the world's greatest hype woman and her father's devoted little daughter, Ran clasped her hands together excitedly.
"Hehehe! It's nothing, really! Hahahaha!"
Ritsu stared wide-eyed at Kogoro's exaggerated expression.
How was he managing to stick his tongue out that far while laughing?
"It's not me! It really isn't me! I didn't attack anyone!!!"
Hokuro was practically hopping in panic. He hadn't done anything, so why were they making it sound as though everything had already been proven?
Seeing that the "culprit" still refused to give up, Kogoro waved his hand grandly.
"Until this cruise ship reaches Tokyo Port, you're going to stay quietly in the storage room! Come with me!"
"I really didn't do it! Why won't any of you believe me?! I'm innocent!"
As he watched his father being led away, Ichiro hurried over to Ritsu. "Onizawa-san, is my father really the one who attacked Grandpa?"
Sensing a gaze fixed upon him, Ritsu put on a grave expression and nodded.
"Yes. He's the culprit. You should consider your grandfather fortunate, Ichiro. That folding fan saved his life. Otherwise, your father would have a very hard time in prison."
Ichiro slowly crouched down and buried his head in his hands.
He didn't want to accept this reality. He had only just managed to escape the extreme one-sided love that had consumed him.
Why did his father have to hurt Grandpa?
What was he supposed to do now? How could he ever apologize to Grandpa?
"Sigh. Since everything's settled, I'll go heat up dinner for everyone." Shoji sighed as he stepped forward and patted Ichiro's shoulder.
"Ichiro, go eat something. You've barely eaten all day."
"...I'm not hungry. I'll stay here and wait for Grandpa to wake up."
Shoji frowned.
"Did you forget you have hypoglycemia? If you don't eat, you'll pass out. Father's condition is stable now. You wouldn't want him to wake up only to find his grandson collapsed, would you?"
Ichiro pressed his lips together before reluctantly nodding.
"...Okay."
He stood up and walked out of the room.
Shoji then looked toward the sniffling Mariko. "Nee-san, you should eat something too. Leave things here to Onizawa-san."
Natsue sighed and turned away. She never imagined her wedding would end like this.
Her husband had approached her for revenge. Her grandfather had been attacked by her uncle-in-law. The entire situation felt like a ridiculous farce.
Noticing the tears in Natsue's eyes, Takeshi wanted to comfort her but couldn't find the words. Because in the beginning, he really had approached her for revenge.
He just hadn't expected to fall deeply in love with her during the process.
But now...
No matter what explanation he offered, Natsue probably wouldn't want to hear it. A self-mocking smile appeared on his face.
In the end, he had still hurt her.
"Aren't you going after her?"
"?"
Takeshi looked up in surprise at the suddenly stopped Ichiro. Then he noticed the emotions hidden in Ichiro's eyes.
'Could it be... Ichiro had feelings for Natsue?'
No wonder he had always avoided answering whenever Takeshi teased him about it.
"What are you standing around for?"
Unlike his usual timid self, Ichiro did something completely out of character. He lifted his foot and kicked Takeshi in the rear.
Frowning, he said, "Hurry up and go after her..." Then, after a brief pause, he added,
"Brother-in-law."
Even Ritsu was surprised by that. It seemed the boy had finally come to terms with everything.
And that was a good thing.
Coming back to his senses, Takeshi clutched his backside and ran toward the ship's stern deck. He had to explain everything. And more importantly, he had to properly convey his feelings for Natsue.
Ichiro watched his departing figure disappear into the distance. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly as he exchanged a glance with Ritsu.
Without saying a word, he silently expressed his gratitude.
Then he headed toward the dining hall to finally enjoy the dinner that was long overdue. Most of the people inside and outside the room gradually dispersed.
Only Ritsu, Shinichi, Ran, and of course the still-snoring Gozo remained behind.
Noticing the real culprit's departure, Ritsu shot Shinichi a look. Understanding immediately, Shinichi walked over to the doorway and stuck half his head outside to observe.
A moment later, he turned around and flashed an "OK" gesture.
"Mouri-san, could I trouble you to keep an eye on Gozo-san? Kudo and I are going to arrest the real culprit."
Ritsu wasn't comfortable leaving Gozo alone.
After all, there weren't many good people in the Hatamoto family. Practically everyone wanted the old man's life.
"The real culprit? Onizawa-san, you mean..."
"That's right. Hokuro-san isn't the culprit. No time to explain. If the real culprit manages to dispose of the murder weapon, things will become very troublesome."
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