The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

"Braille?"

After repeating the detective's words, Soma Ryusuke looked at the chessboard on the ground with a dull expression.

Not only did Taku Itakura borrow the three types of chess pieces he needed to make from the hotel, but he also placed each chessboard very formally to facilitate his calculations - or perhaps he just wanted to create a sense of atmosphere as a backdrop.

Go is a game with a strong sense of atmosphere. At first glance, you can imagine that both players are kneeling to play against each other, so naturally I found a mat and put it on the ground.

It naturally became the casting site for Beika Town's essential skill - Deathrattle, and information was left by Itakura Taku.

His heart was aching, his chest was tight and he was short of breath. He was almost dead. He was also a half-blind man with severe myopia, whose vision was worse than that of a cat. With so many restrictions, Itakura Taku finally managed to hold on for a breath and finish arranging such complicated information with his feet. It must be said that he was a man of great perseverance.

The only flaw is that if he had put more perseverance into completing the manuscript earlier, maybe people wouldn't have resorted to risking their lives to get him to finish it.

Of course, this may also cause him to miss the opportunity to demonstrate his willpower, which is like not being able to have your cake and eat it too.

By the way, it wasn't Tang Ze who did it. Even when he kicked Itakura Taku, he deliberately avoided this area so as not to affect the original sense of death information.

"You wouldn't have thought that Mr. Itakura, who was already unable to move, could leave such a message, right?" Conan asked, hiding himself deeper in the angle formed by the chair and the corner of the bed. "He must have guessed that you would definitely bring the other two collaborators with you, and it would be impossible for him to be the first discoverer, so he chose to use Go to complete this message."

Soma Ryusuke turned his head and looked at the other two project leaders who were so shocked by the sudden change that they were speechless and had completely entered the mode of spectators.

Subecker was stunned for a moment, thinking about the detective's description, and replied hesitantly, "Well, indeed, the chessboard is actually arranged quite strangely, and it doesn't conform to the rules of Go at all. I just noticed it, but I didn't want to bother the police with such a trivial matter..."

Naito Sadahei, who was a bit slow to react, heard Subeko's words and realized what Soma Ryusuke was looking at. He nodded as well, "Yes, Mr. Itakura knows that my myopia has worsened rapidly and my degree is too deep, so I have also learned and started using Braille..."

"Then you will answer Mr. Soma Ryusuke's question for me. What did Itakura Taku write on the chessboard?..."

Conan spoke in a drawn-out voice like Kogoro Mouri as he followed the shadows and slipped towards the computer.

When the case is closed here, this laptop will undoubtedly be taken away by the police as evidence, waiting for Itakura Taku to wake up and claim it himself. If he cannot wake up, it will be stored in another evidence library. In short, it will not be left here.

He had to race against time to put the copied text into a new document and take it away...

Sunekulu nodded, pushed up his glasses, moved a little closer to the chessboard, and read out the kana indicated by the Braille one by one.

"It was Souma who killed someone."

Now, everyone's eyes were fixed on Soma Ryusuke.

Although this chessboard did not receive the attention it deserved, as one of the components of the crime scene, the police officers passing by had already taken photos and collected evidence. No one else touched the chessboard during the process. It is obviously difficult to establish that this was a frame-up.

Soma Ryusuke's expression froze for a moment, his face tense. "Your reasoning is brilliant, Detective Mori, but to arrest someone, the police need evidence."

No matter how reasonable the reasoning is, without substantial evidence, it will indeed take some effort if the suspect himself resists.

"I'm willing to believe that Mr. Itakura, with such strong willpower, can pull through. He will definitely be able to identify you personally. However, even if your plan works, you can't escape punishment." Conan's answer was very calm, and the movement of removing his hands from the computer was even more steady. "You said before that Mr. Itakura is a person who is very picky about watches. Not only himself, but also for you collaborators, he will carefully study the watches you wear..."

The corner of Soma Ryusuke's eye twitched, but he remained silent.

"Anyone who knows watches can tell the price at a glance, of course. But Mr. Itakura's eyesight has been severely affected by overuse for several years. If he wants to see someone's watch clearly, he has to get very close, or...they have to take their watch off and give it to him."

Conan, who was well prepared, was not at all flustered. He glanced at the golden watch on Soma Ryusuke's wrist.

"I remember you showed off your watch this morning. You bought it five days ago, right?"

As he spoke, his mind automatically began to replay the possible process.

Soma Ryusuke knew Itakura Taku's habits very well, so he naturally knew how to lower his guard.

For example, he said he had bought a new watch, took it off, handed it to Itakura Taku, and while the other person was concentrating on staring at the watch, he slowly approached from behind...

Watches, especially expensive luxury items like these, are very troublesome to clean.

It is not difficult to simply clean it up, but it is not something a criminal novice like Ryusuke Soma can do to make sure that no trace of Taku Itakura can be found, not even a trace of DNA or fingerprint.

Ryusuke Soma's gaze froze for a moment, and he reflexively wanted to raise his hand to cover the watch on his left hand, but Takagi Wataru next to him grabbed his wrist.

"Since it's a new watch, and you've been searching for Mr. Itakura these past few days, we definitely can't detect anything on your watch, right, Mr. Soma?"

Soma Ryusuke turned his head and looked at Maori Kogoro, who kept his head down and never looked at him.

The hotel lights had a gentle warm yellow hue, and together with the spotlights and table lamps, they cast deep afterimages on Kogoro Mouri's face, layer upon layer, as if encompassing all the shadows of human nature.

"...He's indeed a formidable detective. Our money wasn't wasted."

With a self-deprecating smile, Soma Ryusuke gave up struggling and his voice became much calmer. He let Takagi Wataru seriously take off his watch and slowly sighed.

"While Itakura was concentrating on looking at the watch, I added some sleeping pills to his wine and chatted with him for a few words. Soon, he lost consciousness..."

"Then you trapped him in the chair, in a position where he couldn't get the medicine?" Megure Jusan picked up the pen again and wrote down the key points.

"Yeah, about the same." Too lazy to argue, Soma Ryusuke didn't shy away from the answer. Instead, he took the initiative to talk about his motive for committing the crime. "Twenty years ago, he was still an unknown engineer, and I was just a junior employee at a video game company..."

Ryusuke Soma looked into the distance, turned his head, and looked at the computer screen that had been lit up after being woken up again by someone at some unknown time.

The simple desktop fits the stereotype of programmers very well, with a few development tools and a simple to-do list. Everything is so simple, as if Itakura Taku has never had any weight in his life and doesn't care about anything.

"We met at a shogi club. After we got to know each other, we often went out for drinks together and chatted about our careers and lives. We often discussed shogi programming, and said that if we ever became famous and learned the skills, we would definitely design shogi software that could defeat famous players. I never doubted his ability, nor did I doubt my own. I felt that it was really just a matter of time..."

At this point, a self-deprecating smile appeared on Soma Ryusuke's face, as if he was mocking his current chaotic life.

Itakura Taku became a famous engineer, and although he had climbed up many positions in the company and was no longer the low-level employee he used to be, he was still a long way from becoming successful.

It may be a distance that you can never reach in your lifetime.

Inevitably, he turned his attention to the opportunity he had been pursuing, the opportunity that was most likely to make him a star and achieve his old dream...

"Three days ago, when I finally found his room, he actually said to me, 'Wait a moment.' It's hilarious! For the past twenty years, I've never forgotten this dream. No matter how busy I was at work, I would do my best to collect and organize chess records and hand them over to him. He always said that when the time was right, there would be a harvest. And yet, I borrowed money everywhere, invested so much energy and money in him, pushed the project as far as I could, and in the end, he said, 'Wait a moment!'"

Conan put away his voice changer, stood next to Ran Mouri, nodded at her, and also looked at Ryusuke Soma.

Anyone could tell that he, who had no intention of killing anyone, was aroused by the murderous intent at this moment.

Thinking about the life and money he had wasted, thinking about how he had become a top-notch worker in the industry by doing some CG rendering instead of doing his job, and thinking about the twenty years that had passed in between, with all the ups and downs mixed in his heart, Soma Ryusuke could no longer suppress his murderous intent.

"I made an excuse to buy some wine and chat with him, hoping things would go well for him at work. Then I bought some sleeping pills and nylon rope along the way." Soma Ryusuke looked up at the bright light on the ceiling and shook his head slightly. "I know I wasn't hiding from anyone on the way here. I might have been caught on camera by a surveillance camera, but I didn't care at that point. Maybe twenty years is too long, for both me and him."

Friends who shared the same ideals twenty years ago may become strangers or even enemies twenty years later.

It is inevitable that people will drift apart, but he who stays in the past forever is like an alien abandoned by time and the times.

"After separation, people's hearts and dreams will change. If there really was a chance to 'just one more time,' I really want to go back to twenty years ago when we still had the same dream..."

----

"This heartfelt confession is quite touching. If possible, let's play it for Itakura Taku."

In response to the murderer's confession on the screen, Asai Makoto shrugged his shoulders with a slightly cold tone.

"It sounds like you don't quite agree with his idea." Zhu Fujingguang turned his head, glanced at Asai Narimi's handsome face, and raised his eyebrows.

Asai Narumi seems gentle and rarely has unconventional views, but Morofushi Kagemitsu, who knows his background, knows that many of the thoughts hidden deep in this guy's heart are not so bright and good.

He had struggled on the road of whether to commit a crime or not, and had tried to save himself. The letter of authorization he had sent to the detective was his last chance to turn back.

However, when the detective finally arrived, he had already made up his mind and still crossed the line. After coming into contact with Tang Ze, he was attracted by the attitude of the revenge supporter who almost took it for granted, and completely turned to a direction that was destined not to lead to absolute integrity and light.

"I think Itakura Taku would be quite touched," Asai Narimi shrugged. "But not only did Soma Ryusuke take action, he also chose such a cowardly method. Even as he was doing it, he was already thinking about how to shake off suspicion and deceive the detective. Rather than the reasons he gave, I believe what he couldn't face more was facing his friend who had embarked on a completely different path."

Compared with the successful and financially free Itakura Taku, the down-and-out Soma Ryusuke is like a joke full of dreams and empty talk for the sake of a past dream.

What he really didn't want to face was probably the almost alms-giving reflection in Itakura Taku's glasses.

"Being friends with someone who is too talented means you have to bear this kind of pressure. You have to accept that there will be a day when you can't catch up with the other person, you have to digest the jealousy and unwillingness that comes from it, and you have to admit that no one is perfect, not everyone is a genius... If you can't do it, it's reasonable to be left behind." Asai Narumi said calmly and coldly.

"Well, there's some truth to that." Zhu Fu Jingguang smiled. "Some people are born ahead of you. Their starting line is the finish line you can't even reach. You always have to face this situation."

"You sound very experienced." Thinking of Tang Ze's miraculous guardian, Asai nodded in understanding. "It seems you have digested the wave well."

"Even if you can't catch up, you must strive to catch up. Even if the gap cannot be made up, you can't stop. Only in this way can you become friends. Short-term mutual support is not a stable relationship. To become friends with a genius, you must have this kind of awareness." Zhu Fu Jingguang answered very frankly.

"The fact that you can express it so confidently just shows that you are a genius."

"I'm still far from it. The scary thing is, there are people who are more talented than you, but they work much harder than you..."

"Ha, if you're talking about that police officer, you can't deny that you're part of his efforts. To put it another way, you're part of his genius."

"If Zero hears you saying that, he'll beat you up, right?"

"This is the truth. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't have the chance to stand here."

"...I kind of want to beat you up now, too."

Xingchuan Hui, who was leaning against the wall behind them, listened to their conversation, adjusted his black-framed glasses, and moved closer to the shadow behind him.