Chapter 2: God Of Deduction..?
Just like what I expected, I saw Ranpo-san relaxing outside the President's room.
He's wearing a brown cape over his shoulders and a brown hat that matches the color of his pants. Under that, he wears a dark grey blazer and a white button-up with a light and dark blue striped tie. He has messy black hair and a yellow lollipop inside his mouth. I hand him the papers like what I was instructed. He raised his head to look at me and to the papers. Without asking any questions, he seemed to have already guessed that we had a new case to solve so he stood up and grabbed the papers from my hand without saying a word.
Kunikida-san got a message from the police asking for help from the agency to solve a recent case that happened less than 30 minutes ago. Kunikida-san asked me to arrange the papers and after that, he instructed me to give it to Ranpo-san and guide him to the location of the crime scene as he can't commute on his own. In a span of a mere 3 seconds, I know Ranpo-san immediately guessed it all correctly.
"An old man in his forties got stabbed on his stomach three times, and he also got stabbed on his chest. The old man was believed to be the attorney of the Fukuma family which is the second richest family residing in Yokohama.
Fukuma Akiro, a successful businessman who died because of a heart failure, left his last will and testament and it was supposed to be discussed to the Fukuma family today, but the attorney who's carrying the last will and testament was murdered by a thief before he could even reach Fukuma's residence. All of his money and the things inside his suitcase got stolen. The police are searching for the thief by now, but they don't have any leads as the thief has already destroyed all of the evidence. It was believed that he was murdered less than an hour ago so the corpse was still fresh."
Ranpo-san and I got off the train after we reached our destination and we're now walking to where the crime happened.
After walking for 5 minutes, we finally arrived at our specific destination and the two police men greeted us as soon as they saw us approaching.
"You are the Armed Detective Agency, right? We've been waiting for you to arrive. We called the three sons of Fukuma Akiro to come here as the last will and testament of their father also got stolen by the thief. They arrived here 10 minutes earlier before the two of you arrived. Do you want to talk to them?"
Standing near the corpse, we saw three men in a black suit arguing with each other. They seem to be bothered and stressed that the last will and testament of their father got stolen. Without answering the police officers, Ranpo-san was already walking near the three and asked for their names. I immediately followed him with brisk steps and listened quietly to their conversation.
"My name is Jurochi Fukuma, I'm the eldest son of Fukuma Akiro."
"I'm Nakijo Fukuma, I was adopted by Fukuma Akiro when I was eight."
"I'm Jiro Fukuma, I was also adopted by Fukuma Akiro."
The two police men who are already standing beside me told Ranpo-san that he can ask another question again if he wants to, but Ranpo-san only smiles and shakes his head gently.
"I don't need to ask them another question, I already know what happened to the last will and testament and I also found out who murdered the victim."
Everyone who heard what he said got shocked except me and Ranpo-san—who's the one who said it himself. I knew already that a case like this is easy for him. In fact, there's no word "hard" in Ranpo-san's vocabulary. Especially when it comes to solving riddles, unfolding mysteries, and deducting a case. It was all a piece of cake to him.
"H-How did you know? You didn't even check the wounds of the corpse!" Jiro asked in disbelief.
"I already saw it from the paper Atsushi-kun gave me. Also, of course I would know it.." he get the glasses that can "activate his ability" which is not true because he doesn't have any ability to activate in the first place. He wears it on his eyes and whenever Ranpo-san does that, it's already game over for the culprit. No, it's already game over the moment Ranpo-san took his first step at the crime scene.
"... I'm the greatest detective in the world after all." he added while smiling. One of his eyes was closed.
I saw the police men and the three men in suit gape in both surprise and amazement.
"Then who is the culprit?" asked the police officer who just got back from shock.
"It's this guy." Ranpo-san answered, lazily pointing at the eldest son of Fukuma Akiro. "Jurochi Fukuma."
The said man got bewildered and he also got pale. We all looked at him simultaneously and he got furious as he threw a glare at Ranpo-san.
"What do you mean that I killed him? I didn't steal anything from him!" Ranpo-san could barely listen. He looked at Jurochi with his tired eyes before he continued to speak.
"Right, you didn't steal his money so you are not the thief that stabbed him 3 times on his stomach, but you are the one who stole the last will and testament and stabbed him in the chest, right?"
"What?"
The man got more furious. Even the police officers are too shocked to speak and join the conversation.
"I didn't steal it! Even if you look and search on all of my belongings, you won't see it!"
"Of course we won't see the last will and testament on your belongings because you already burnt it before you came here."
"What is your evidence that I burnt it?"
Too shocked by what we're hearing right now, we decided to keep silent and continue to listen.
"Simple. It's because you reek the smell of cigarettes. You are carrying a lighter earlier and you used it to burn the last will and testament of your father. But of course, you want to be careful so you still throw the lighter somewhere that no one can find. You didn't get a chance to change your clothes because you immediately came here after receiving a call from the police. You may have succeeded in erasing the evidence, but the smell of your wrong doings remained in your system."
"Detective, can you elaborate it to us? Mr. Fukuma might indeed smell a reek of cigarette, but it isn't enough reason to accuse him of burning the last will and testament of their father. There's no CCTV footage in the area that can prove that."
"First of all, I am not accusing him because it's the truth that a fool like you can't understand immediately. I'm going to tell you what really happened, so please listen carefully."
Ranpo-san walks in the middle and clears his throat before starting to explain what really happened to the victim.
"An hour ago, while on the way to the Fukuma's residence. The attorney had a tragic encounter with a thief. The thief indeed stabbed him 3 times on the stomach and stole all of his money, including the expensive watch he was wearing. You might not have noticed it but his wrist has a mark from a watch that was usually there. The thief stole all of the valuable things he had inside his suitcase, but do you think that the thief would also steal the last will and testament? It was just a sheet of paper after all..."
"He won't get any value from stealing that so he left it in the suitcase. But this man, the eldest son of Akiro Fukuma, saw the victim on the ground and I am sure that the victim was still alive at that time. The attorney asked for help from him to bring him to the hospital, but what he did first was to check the last will and testament of their father. After reading what's written there, he got furious so he didn't hesitate to stab the attorney on his chest and burn the last will and testament using his own lighter. Of course, I know you want to know what he read on the paper that made him so mad, so I'll tell it to you as well..."
"On their father's last will and testament, his biological father wants to divide all of his money to his three sons equally. Nakijo and Jiro were just adopted so he found it unfair that they would get an equal portion from his father's money. He thought that if he burnt the last will and testament of their father and the witness—which is the victim, died, then he would get the highest portion more than the portion that his two brothers would get as he is the real son of Fukuma Akiro."
Hearing Ranpo-san's explanation made it clear to us now. It now made sense.
"What a funny and impressive deduction, small detective. But let's say that you are right that I burnt the last will and testament of our father using my own lighter... Can you also prove that I'm the one who stabbed him on his chest?" the eldest son asked. He looks so assured that the detective will never prove it because he already erased the evidence that will point him as the victim's murderer.
"If you ask for it, then why not?" Ranpo-san stood up straight and smirked. He walks to the corpse and removes the white blanket that is covering the attorney's dead body.
He pointed at the victim's chest without touching it and started explaining.
"If you look closely at the wound on his chest, it was bigger than the 3 wounds that he received after getting stabbed by the thief on his stomach. The thief used a knife to stab him in the stomach but the other culprit, Jurochi Fukuma, used a thick sharp-edge stick to stab the victim on the chest. I don't understand why the police officers can't see the difference between that. If I didn't come here today, the other culprit might have escaped from his crime because he'll probably do everything to stop the forensic pathology to examine the victim's corpse."
A god of deduction. If that god exists, then it would probably be Edogawa Ranpo. Of all the cases that he had solved, he never failed to amaze me. He can see through everything and deduce every cases right. The way he did it is like it's the easiest job in the world. He is truly a genius.
There's a moment of silence before the eldest son admitted his crime. He's been cornered by Ranpo-san's amazing deduction skill and I can see the genuine admiration from his eyes even though the detective has skinned him alive.
The police arrested him while his two brothers still can't believe that the one they treated as a family betrayed them. They said thank you to us before following the police officers. The police officers also thanked us and said that they will be the one to catch the thief. They also said that they would contact the agency again if they needed help. Someone came to clean the corpse and the area so Ranpo-san and I decided to walk back to the agency. We don't have anything else to do in that place anyway.
While we're on the way, Ranpo-san is just quiet. He has another lollipop stuck inside his mouth while the back of his head is resting on both of his arms. We're walking side by side and none of us is speaking, not until I broke the silence between us and speak.
"Ranpo-san.. are you the god of deduction?" It was an innocent question.
I didn't actually believe that a god of deduction exists, but if Ranpo-san would say that he is a god of deduction, I would probably not think twice believing it.
"I'm not.." he answered. He stopped walking and looked at me before answering my question with a smile. "I'm the greatest detective in the world."
A few seconds later, I noticed myself smiling back at him. A god of deduction doesn't exist, but the greatest detective in the world does.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone