"Kujo Yuka was murdered five hours after dining, while Ichikawa Akiyuki was murdered two hours after dining. So, the actual time of death for Kujo Yuka was nine PM plus five hours, which is two AM; Ichikawa Akiyuki's actual time of death was six PM plus two hours, which is eight PM."

"The two did not die at the same time but were separated by six hours—in those six hours, Kujo Hikari had completely enough time to commit the crime!"

Kujo Hikari stumbled and collapsed onto the chair.

He only hoped Minamoto Tamako would shut up and stop talking. But he didn't even have the courage to vent his emotions, because Fushimi Roku was staring from the side, leaving him only to watch Tamako continue to unveil the truth in despair.

Minamoto Tamako sat at the main judge's seat, gradually shifting from sitting to squatting, with her feet on the edge of the chair, squatting on the chair, her left hand holding her knee, her right hand biting her thumbnail, not blinking an eye:

"I always found it strange, why did the murderer have to commit the crime outdoors? Why kill in an alleyway? Why were the locations of the two cases so similar? Logically, outdoor crimes have a higher chance of exposure, and one could easily encounter witnesses, which was indeed the case..."

"But now I understand, the killer did it on purpose, he deliberately let witnesses see it."

"Originally, there were many things I couldn't figure out, but Mr. Deer enlightened me. He said something to me earlier that made the whole deduction seamlessly tight—indeed, he is better at understanding human nature than I am."

Minamoto Tamako recited Fushimi Roku's original words verbatim:

"If a wife is long neglected by her husband, wouldn't she resent the lover? If the lover remains unnamed for long, wouldn't she resent the wife? Of course, the husband is the most detestable, but a man—well, he can shift conflicts by cheating, only enjoying being in the middle, never finding it difficult."

"If the wife gets angry, shift the blame to the lover; if the lover wants a title, claim that there's a tough wife at home, unable to help... In short, just keep them in the dark! To win the man's heart, they will only try harder to please him and harbor hostility toward each other."

Minamoto Tamako paused, her gaze sharp and intense: "If I'm not mistaken, they still love you, don't they?"

Kujo Hikari lowered his head, silent.

But Minamoto Tamako did not intend to stop there, determined to excavate all truths hidden in the dark, never resting until every secret was exposed under the sunlight, to appease the deceased!

She continued, "Kujo Yuka and Ichikawa Akiyuki were both deceived by you, you tricked them into disguising themselves to go to the restaurant, helping you create an alibi, pretending to have a change of heart, but in reality planning to kill both of them..."

The lawyer finally regained his composure, following Minamoto Tamako's logic, making his last effort to protect his client, he loudly said, "No, your deduction is flawed! If the two swapped identities, how could the contents of their stomachs correspond?"

Minamoto Tamako glanced at him from the corner of her eye and said, "Because they ate French and Japanese cuisine, with the same ingredients used."

"How is that possible..." The lawyer was stunned, his voice growing quieter.

Minamoto Tamako countered, "Why isn't it possible? Lorraine Quiche is a French appetizer, its ingredients include eggs, dough, bacon, cream, onions... Yes, it sounds like a dessert, but its taste is sweet and salty."

She continued to list: "The other person ate at a Japanese restaurant, with dishes such as mushroom omelet, marinated sea onion, red bean ice cream... The ingredients are eggs, raw dough, onions, cream, etc. The remaining ingredients can be supplemented with other dishes."

"They intentionally ate ingredients that wouldn't cause distinction to avoid being distinguished. Although Japanese and French cuisines share the same ingredients, the dishes are worlds apart, completely two different flavors... This is also the cognitive bias intentionally exploited by the murderer."

The lawyer could see that Kujo Hikari had given up, but he, as the client's lawyer, must and had to struggle: "Wait... Let me think..."

He was covered in sweat, grabbing his hair, thinking continuously: "Yes! Got it! According to this logic, not eating distinguishable ingredients is to prevent the coroner from differentiating them, which implies being cut open for an autopsy—they wouldn't love Mr. Kujo to the point of willingly dying, would they? If their love was truly that strong, why would Mr. Kujo need to personally murder them?"

Minamoto Tamako was momentarily stuck; this wasn't her area of expertise.

Fushimi Roku immediately stepped up to answer for her: "It's simple, just tell the deceased, 'The person you're impersonating doesn't like these items'; or say 'Eating these items will give you away,' and they will follow instructions to eat the fixed menus."

He was quite skilled at deception, naturally knowing the methods used by the perpetrator.

Minamoto Tamako's logic flowed smoothly again: "Exactly! A friend of Kujo Yuka mentioned that she still loved her husband deeply, if one day her husband had a change of heart, she might gladly accept... This means persuading Kujo Yuka to become an accomplice wasn't difficult!"

The lawyer slammed the table and questioned, "Then how do you explain the eleven o'clock witness testimonies? People on both sides witnessed Mr. Kujo..."

Minamoto Tamako immediately retorted, "Those weren't conclusive witness testimonies, rather 'a man wearing glasses and a mask,' 'a man resembling Kujo Hikari.'"

"Foreigners are on average taller than Japanese people, I reviewed the autopsy reports, Kujo Yuka was 1.73 meters tall, Ichikawa Akiyuki was 1.72 meters tall, while Mr. Kujo Hikari himself is also 1.73 meters tall."

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