After detaining the two people in separate rooms, Fang Zheng did not immediately start the interrogation. Instead, he first sought out the old lady to ask about the two individuals’ situation and accommodation records. Only then did he bring Ran to the room’s front.
“Alright, Mira, you wait for me outside that room.”
“Understood.”
Mira nodded, grinning as she ran to the other prisoner’s room door. Ran watched her leave and suddenly realized.
“Mr. Fang Zheng, you’re planning to use that trick!”
“Which trick?”
“The one that makes two prisoners suspect each other, each thinking the other confessed... “
“You mean the prisoner’s dilemma.”
Fang Zheng thought for a moment and nodded.
“Indeed, the prisoner’s dilemma is quite useful in some situations, but not applicable here.”
“Really?”
Hearing Fang Zheng’s response, Ran was somewhat surprised.
“That’s right, we know both of them are acting strangely, indicating they surely have some connection to the victim. But they certainly didn’t commit murder. Because of this, they don’t need to worry if the other might confess something. On the contrary, if you go in posing that trap, any fool would realize you’re playing them.”
“Is that so...”
“Come with me, let me show you how the police interrogate prisoners.”
Fang Zheng gestured to Ran, then pushed the door and walked into the room.
Inside this room was the shorter stout man among the two, who was cuffed to a chair, evidently uncomfortable. Seeing Fang Zheng and Ran walk in, the stout man revealed a displeased expression.
“I say, why are you cuffing me here, careful or I’ll file a complaint against you!”
“It’s only natural for an offender to be cuffed. Now, please wait a moment.”
Fang Zheng moved a table in front of him, took two chairs, placing one in front of Ran and sitting on the other himself. He then took out the camera and blank tapes obtained from the deceased, placed them on the table, and began setting them up. Witnessing this, the stout man couldn’t help but appear tense.
“What are you doing?”
“Interrogation.”
Fang Zheng pointed to the table, signaling Ran to sit, then smiled at the stout man.
“You’ve probably never experienced an interrogation before, so let me tell you, this is a formal process. This lady here will be responsible for documenting the conversation between us, and the camera will record the entire interrogation. This way, when it goes to court, there will be enough evidence to support the prosecution’s case... Do you understand?”
“Don’t threaten me! What court? I’m not buying it!”
Although the stout man shouted, his expression turned noticeably more tense looking at the camera, while Fang Zheng shrugged, not intending to argue with him. He fiddled with the camera and then pressed the start button.
“Alright, then... let’s begin. First, your name, gender, occupation, age.”
The stout man was evidently unwilling to respond, but Fang Zheng’s authorization made him somewhat nervous. After hesitating repeatedly, he muttered his answer to Fang Zheng’s question, which Ran diligently recorded.
“Next, my question is, why did you break into someone else’s room without permission and commit theft?”
“I already told you, we were just searching for evidence of that woman’s crime!”
“How intriguing.”
Despite the stout man’s blunt response, Fang Zheng’s expression remained smiling.
“You’re not police officers and lack the qualifications, yet you broke into someone else’s room, rummaging through it... Honestly, I believe your reasoning won’t be accepted in court. If you ask me, you were not finding evidence but destroying it, weren’t you?”
“What are you talking about!!”
Hearing this, the stout man burst out angrily.
“Why would we do that? Do you suspect we killed that person?”
“It’s not out of the realm of possibility, is it?”
Fang Zheng continued smiling, seemingly unaffected by the other’s reaction.
“You’ve seen the photos, from the last image showing dripping blood, the victim’s death should have occurred during the snowless day time...”
“Yes, that’s when I just arrived at the inn!”
“Do you have an alibi?”
“...Eh?”
“According to the innkeeper’s testimony...”
Fang Zheng flipped through the notebook beside him.
“She said that after you arrived at the inn, you rested for a moment and then went to the forest to hunt. And it was after that Mr. Futakaku left to photograph the Snow Woman, so it’s very likely that you and your friend conspired to kill Mr. Futakaku...”
“Nonsense!!!”
At this moment, the short fat man finally couldn’t sit still and began shouting.
“I was hunting at that time, I didn’t kill anyone. Besides, the chocolate—right, what about the chocolate placed next to the corpse? When you were making chocolate, I was in the forest and never returned! Since that chocolate is placed next to the dead body, it must have been placed there by the killer, how could we have done it?”
“Oh, that...”
“Yeah, how do you explain it?”
Upon hearing this, Ran curiously raised her head to look at Fang Zheng, as she was also puzzled by this question. However, Fang Zheng’s answer was even more shocking.
“I don’t need to explain.”
“...Huh?”
“There’s no direct evidence that the chocolate appearing next to the corpse is related to the killer.”
Fang Zheng smiled, spreading his hands.
“Mr. Futakaku didn’t die from poison; he died from a blow to the head. Unless you think that chocolate is hard enough to kill someone by hitting them, that’s another matter.”
“......”
Is that even possible?
Ran and the short fat man stared at Fang Zheng, not knowing what to say for a moment.
“But, but that chocolate was indeed made by you at that time! Since it’s placed next to the corpse, it means someone found the body, right? If that person discovered the body, why didn’t they tell you? Doesn’t that indicate the person is the killer?!”
The short fat man was also speaking incoherently at this point, while Fang Zheng shrugged.
“Indeed, what you’re saying makes sense.”
“Then...”
“But there’s no evidence proving your theory, sir. You must know, in a courtroom, we look at evidence, not just reasoning. Otherwise, the Metropolitan Police Department would be unnecessary, and everyone could change careers to become detectives. Indeed, it’s strange that the chocolate appeared next to the body, but currently, there’s no evidence indicating it has a direct relationship with the death of the deceased... So, finding the answer to this question can wait. For now, let’s return to the main topic.”
Fang Zheng crossed his fingers and leaned back in his chair.
“Alright, let’s return to the main topic. Please answer my question: Since you weren’t aiming to steal, why did you rummage through Mr. Futakaku’s and his girlfriend’s luggage? What were you looking for?”
“......”
The short fat man was sweating profusely, his eyes fixed on the floor.
“We, we really just passed by and took a look inside; we weren’t looking for anything...”
“Since you refuse to say, then I can only make a reasonable conjecture, which is that Mr. Futakaku possessed some evidence unfavorable to you, and you wanted to retrieve it. But Mr. Futakaku didn’t give it to you. Perhaps you did not reach an agreement, or for some reason, you then killed him and searched for the item you were concerned about.”
“That’s nonsense, we didn’t kill anyone!”
The short fat man shouted again, while Fang Zheng laughed softly.
“That’s why I’m asking you, why did you rummage through Mr. Futakaku’s and his girlfriend’s luggage? If you can’t give me a reasonable answer, then you’ll have to explain to the judge in court. At least, from your actions, my speculation has a degree of credibility, and unless you can provide a perfect reason for your inexplicable behavior, I think you two are likely involved in Mr. Futakaku’s death.”
Saying this, Fang Zheng stood up.
“We have to go record statements with another person; you can think about it during this time. Alright, Ran, let’s go.”
“Ah, okay...”
Ran seemed to be a bit in a daze, but she nodded obediently and then packed up the notes, following Fang Zheng out of the room.
“Mr. Fang Zheng, is that permissible?”
When entering the hallway, Ran also asked in confusion, and Fang Zheng nodded.
“Of course, interrogation is an art. You’ve been following Kogoro Mouri and Shinichi Kudou for too long; in fact, the methods of those detectives are not formal. They’re just detectives and don’t have enforcement rights. Unless the police request their assistance, they don’t have the authority to interrogate criminals. But the truth is, confronting the criminals directly often yields as much information as detectives searching around—you haven’t noticed? Earlier when that short fat man answered my question, he only said he didn’t murder, which implicitly acknowledges that he was indeed looking for something.”
“I see...”
Hearing this, Ran suddenly understood. Indeed, when she usually followed Shinichi Kudou to solve cases, she often encountered situations where the culprit refused to speak, and Shinichi would use evidence to make them talk. Looking at it now, it’s because without evidence, Shinichi wouldn’t have the authority to make the criminal speak...
Strictly speaking, even with evidence, it’s of no use since detectives don’t have enforcement powers. The evidence they gather, if not recognized by the police, would be useless in court.
“Alright, now we have half of the clues; the next step is to find the other half.”
“Half?”
“That’s right, now we know they were looking for something in Mr. Futakaku’s room, but we don’t know what it is; that’s the other half...”
Saying this, Fang Zheng walked forward.
“And we’re about to get the answer from another person.”

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