Bloody Rose

Accusation

NOTE* Battle of Minds will have 10 parts! Two more to go, what do you this is going to happen?! I can't wait to see! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Thirty:

Battle of Minds Pt 8.

CONAN POV

Conan stepped back into the room just as Kaito and Hakuba walked back in. Hakuba handed him his notes and smirked when Conan nodded in appreciation.

"Nice job Hakuba-kun", he replied.

"What happened to your face?" asked Hattori seeing the red mark on Kaito's cheek.

"Ah, I was slapped", he muttered, his face going red.

"Slapped?" asked Conan.

"Yeah, seems the wife was a bit emotional. She slapped me when Hakuba pushed her a bit."

"Hmm, interesting", the teen turned child muttered.

"Do you have an idea on who did it, Conan-kun?" asked Rinji.

"Yeah actually I do. I think I am ready. Do you guys trust me?"

"Like you need to ask, Tantei-Kun", replied Kaito with a grin.

"Go get them Kudo", smirked Hattori.

"You got this", retorted Rinji, a small swat to his shoulder.

"Thanks guys", Conan replied with a relaxed smile and stepped forward.

"You have ten minutes to give your deduction and then you will accuse your suspects. We shall do this one group at a time. We will begin with..."

Conan wasn't nervous at all, but as he listened to the other groups, he had to admit, a few things hadn't dawned on him. Of course he was sure his deduction he had written down was sound, but it didn't change the fact he could see where some of the groups got their ideas from.

"Megumi-chan, you have given your deduction. Who do you accuse?" asked the Host.

"I accuse two people! Chief of Security and the secretary! The secretary was the first on the scene, so she could have easily fixed things up in here before screaming, alerting others to the problem. Not to mention in order to get into the room, you would have had to walk pat her. She would have seen who killed him. The chief of security had a camera, yet he didn't see the murder take place either and he was the second to enter the room, going straight to the victim! I believe it is logically sound that these two are the murderers!"

"Very well. Next group, Hattori. Who is your speaker?"

"I am", replied Conan.

"Please, state your deduction."

"It is very simple", replied Conan, "Kaito-Nii found when he solved the riddle five key suspects. I can understand that some would suspect the cook or perhaps some of the maids who have access to the room at all times, but I agree with the five he listed: The secretary, the Chief of Security, The Wife, The Brother, and The Manager."

"Hattori-Nii found the next evidence. When he looked around the room, he made sure to comment about the pen next to the body, the air vent near the body and unusual positon of the body beneath the desk. He also went outside and located a chain hidden behind the air conditioning unit as well as an earring located at the bottom of the office window half buried in dirt. He also took note of the tree to the right of the window. Unless specifically looking outside from an angle, you cannot see the tree from the office, but you can see in from the tree."

"Rinji-Kun solved the next riddle, giving us more information about the victim seeing his killer before he died and about falling onto his own sword, which we deduced was actually his pen. The riddle also told us he had been in his chair at the time of the murder in front of the window. We also were told in our findings that he was strangled and then stabbed in the heart by the pen."