Chapter Thirty-Nine: Psychologist Tang Ze

"Hey, hey, you're one of the suspects, too. Why are you looking so listless?" Conan surreptitiously nudged Karasawa, who was leaning against the wall, with his elbow.

Karasawa let out a deep sigh. "Because this case is incredibly boring."

"You've already figured out who the killer is?" Conan frowned, scanning the faces of the several suspects. "Then why haven't you pointed it out?"

"I don't have any evidence," Karasawa shrugged, gesturing lazily toward Juzo Denyama. "Actually, once the police finish investigating the victim's interpersonal relationships, he’ll be discovered soon enough."

Conan was surprised. During the art museum case, Karasawa had demonstrated a meticulous ability to observe the crime scene, leading Conan to categorize him as a deductive-style detective much like himself—someone who prioritizes physical evidence and logic. Hearing Karasawa conclude who the killer was while simultaneously admitting he had "no evidence" was something he hadn't expected.

"How did you figure it out without evidence? Intuition? Experience?" he pressed.

"It is highly probable that this was a crime of passion," Karasawa stated, his words catching Conan off guard.

"What is the basis for your judgment?" Eri Kisaki, who had been observing Karasawa, finished her consultation with the police and walked over just in time to hear the latter half of their conversation.

Karasawa nodded politely to her before answering her question. "Have you perhaps heard of criminal psychology? It is a branch of psychology that focuses on the behavioral and psychological traits of criminals, analyzing the patterns and factors that may exist in criminal acts to assist the judiciary and criminal investigations."

"So, you reached your conclusion from the perspective of criminal psychology?" Eri looked at Karasawa with curiosity. This was a perspective she rarely encountered as a lawyer; after all, the trial and sentencing of criminal cases rely primarily on established chains of evidence, and it is rare to see auxiliary disciplines used for side-argumentation.

This was the new direction Karasawa had established for himself after learning the professions of his parents. Even if he accidentally slipped up and spoiled content he shouldn't know, he could always brush it off with psychological jargon.

Don't ask—if you do, the answer is psychology.

Besides, this is the world of Detective Conan. In this world, victims can leave elaborate death messages, killers can pull off bizarre tricks that defy classical physics, and detectives can have flashes of inspiration to break those tricks. Therefore, it is only logical that a psychologist in this world could see through the truth as if they were reading minds, right?

Strictly speaking, this wasn't even wrong. A Phantom Thief of Hearts is, after all, a professional who solves psychological problems with physical means. As long as he can solve the psychological problems, he is a psychologist. No issues there.

"Using a sharp object to 'stab,' just like the killer in this case," Karasawa gestured with a downward stabbing motion, "in criminal psychology, this is an act of violence with sexual undertones. Using this motion to kill a woman can, in some serial murder cases, even serve as profiling evidence for the killer's sexual dysfunction. It is highly likely that the killer had a romantic relationship with the victim. Furthermore—"

Karasawa pointed to the door that had been pulled off and stood forlornly against the wall. This time, Conan didn't need to climb up to observe; the blood droplets on the top were clearly visible.

"If the killer didn't have a direct personal relationship with the victim, there would be no need to stage the scene as a robbery-homicide. Identifying the killer isn't actually difficult."

Karasawa turned his head to look at Denyama, who was beginning to sweat.

There were four people who had entered the restroom. Excluding the long-haired man who had been scared into screaming by Karasawa, there were only three suspects left.

Karasawa, who was still a high school student, and the disheveled graduate student Yuichi Sumi, who seemed to be suffering immensely under the weight of his thesis, neither looked like they could have been involved in a romantic dispute with the victim.

"You need to take responsibility for what you say, kid," Denyama said gruffly. "I'm a regular at this shop, and I only came here to chat with the manager. I don't know this woman at all! Besides, with my build, there's no way I could have crawled in there. How could I have committed the crime?"

Compared to the thin Yuichi Sumi and Karasawa’s slender, paper-thin frame, Denyama was broad-shouldered and sturdy—the only one of the three who couldn't have squeezed in from above.

But Conan, having seen the small blood droplets pointed out by Karasawa, felt his brain racing. Ignoring Denyama’s defensive bluster, he shouted, "The one who crawled over the door wasn't the killer! It was the body!"

After shouting, he glanced at Eri and Ran, adding a remedial, "Right, Karasawa-niisan?"

With Conan’s lack of self-awareness, you couldn't blame Ran for starting to suspect his identity so quickly. Karasawa gave him a sidelong glance and nodded casually. "Exactly. So, Mr. Denyama, you have the same possibility of having committed the crime. Considering the killer had enough strength to toss an adult woman over the door, you are actually more likely to be the culprit than Mr. Sumi."

Eri picked up the evidence bag containing the murder weapon from a police officer, lifting it up and turning it over. "The state of the murder weapon is also strange. If the killer had been holding it during the attack, it's impossible for the hilt to be covered in blood like this."

"There is a strange blank space at the base of the blade. It seems it was covered by something earlier," Conan observed.

"So the killer stabbed the victim first, then stuffed her through the door into the stall..."

"...having used a string or something similar tied to the knife beforehand, then pulling it from the outside to make the victim's blood spray out inside the stall."

The two began to piece the method together in perfect harmony. Karasawa stopped interfering with their ongoing deduction and, having predicted the outcome, stationed himself near the restroom door.

When Conan, in an innocent tone, pointed at the bandages wrapped around Denyama's hand and asked why he had taken off his wedding ring but bandaged his middle finger, Denyama finally snapped. His expression turned ferocious as he pushed past Eri, attempting to flee.

I’ve been waiting for you!

Karasawa’s spirit surged. He braced himself, raised his hand, and threw a punch straight at Denyama’s face.

Behind Karasawa, seeing Denyama’s vicious look, Ran let out a sharp cry and delivered a high kick to Denyama’s abdomen.

Behind Denyama, Eri also delivered an elbow strike to his back, attempting to pin him down.

Conan, standing to the side, watched in horror as Denyama was caught in a pincer attack. With a painful shriek, his body seemed to fold in several places, and he collapsed, looking anything but peaceful.

*Hiss...* Conan couldn't help but reach out to press his own face and abdomen, feeling a phantom pain.

Taking a hit like that, caught in the middle of a crossfire—that’s probably what it feels like to be crushed between two forces...