Nanahara Takeshi remained silent in the car because he couldn't figure out anything. Facing the genuine artwork, he still couldn't find any suspicious places. He was directly pulled by Nakano Eri to the Yang Maru House for the final corroborative investigation.

After Nakano Eri presented her identification, Yang Maru House immediately provided the records of takeout orders. On it, they found a long list of names from the Uchii family. It seemed that the Uchii family was a regular customer of Yang Maru House. Before the incident, on the day of the incident, and even after the incident, they often ordered takeout from this place. It had a suspicious feeling of never getting tired of it, but this couldn't be considered as evidence.

Even though Kiyomi Ruri and Nakano Eri had suspicions about the forged alibi, asking the store clerk if they saw Hiratate Kazuhiro at that time was useless. It was normal for the store clerk not to have seen Hiratate Kazuhiro. After all, why would they invite the delivery person inside to sit and eat together?

As for finding clues from the izakaya, hot spring room, and taxi that Uchii and Hiratate visited that night, just thinking about it made their scalps tingle. It had already been three weeks, who could remember the exact time when the two ordinary customers left?

The prosecutor didn't dare to use this kind of evidence. The defense attorney could easily accuse the police of leading the witness through suggestive memory. Whether this evidence would be presented in court was still uncertain.

The case seemed to have reached a deadlock. Nakano Eri didn't know what else they could do. She looked at the clock and realized it was already past five. She then looked at Nanahara Takeshi, who had been silent the whole time, thinking that he might have been affected. Her voice softened and she said, "It's almost dinner time. Do you want to eat here?"

"Miss Nakano, are you treating?" Nanahara Takeshi immediately looked up and sniffed the smell of Yang Maru House. Then he turned his head to look at the hygiene conditions and asked the female clerk with great concern, "Is the lamb fresh today?"

"We are a century-old shop. We slaughter the lamb at regular intervals every day, so the lamb meat is absolutely fresh. Customers can rest assured." The female clerk immediately assured him warmly.

After hearing this, Nanahara Takeshi hesitated instead. He said with difficulty, "It doesn't sound reliable. Hirayano Kenichi was established in 1981, and you claim to be a century-old shop?"

The female clerk said seriously, "Our ancestors have passed down the business for four generations. We have been selling lamb soup since Hirayano was still a small town. We are truly a century-old shop."

Nanahara Takeshi was still very interested in the century-old shop and immediately decided to give it a try.

The female clerk immediately warmly invited them to sit down, took their orders, and served them hot towels and barley tea. She also brought three bowls of milky white soup and said attentively, "This is the pre-meal soup passed down by our ancestors. It has a slightly sour taste and is appetizing. Please enjoy it, and the main course will be served shortly."

Nanahara Takeshi was always cautious when eating out, and he didn't dare to look into the kitchen. He pursued the principle of "out of sight, out of mind." But now, he was very interested in the soup. He carefully picked it up and tasted it, savoring the flavor. Then he took out a pen and paper and started writing. After writing two characters, the pen tip got stuck. He was about to ask for an automatic pen lubricator when an expressionless automatic pen lubricator was already handed to him. Kiyomi Ruri had already known that this kind of unlucky situation would happen again, so she had consciously brought a pen with her.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Nanahara Takeshi glanced disdainfully at the ordinary pen, but he didn't bother her anymore. He wrote two lines and tasted the lamb soup twice before finishing. He folded the paper and handed it to the female clerk with a smile, saying, "Please give this to your chef and tell him that I don't like the lamb ribs to be too old. I prefer young lamb and my taste is on the lighter side. As for the seasoning..."

He rambled on, giving instructions endlessly. Kiyomi Ruri felt embarrassed and whispered to Nakano Eri, "He's like this, very picky and has a bad temper. Miss Nakano, please don't mind."

Nakano Eri adjusted her glasses, and a disdainful light flashed on her lenses. In fact, the person she was serving was even worse. He was an anomaly among the Japanese, as if he had a grudge against water. Unless he was meeting an important person, he would never touch water. Several times she had caught him secretly picking his feet in the office, but she never mentioned it to anyone. Gotō Yasushi had the blood of a detective, but he was almost retired. He was a senior in the police station, and even the chief couldn't scold him face-to-face, let alone others.

Compared to that, Nanahara Takeshi was just picky and had a slightly bad temper. That was already good enough. At least he was clean and didn't have any strange smells. He was a hundred times better than Gotō Yasu, the divorced and sloppy old man.

Nakano Eri didn't say anything, but she felt that Kiyomi Ruri was too young. Another flash of disdainful light appeared on her glasses.

......

The cuisine was quickly served, and Kiyomi Ruri felt that something was off. She was quite sensitive and felt that several female clerks were secretly observing them from different angles. The head chef in the kitchen also seemed to be on high alert, occasionally peeking out with a cautious and watchful expression. But the food was indeed excellent. She felt that the quality of this restaurant was very high. All the lamb dishes were tender and delicious, with almost no gamey taste. She even wanted to come back with her mother.

Nanahara Takeshi's meal was decent, with a good texture. The century-old restaurant specialized in lamb cuisine and took advantage of the developed livestock industry in Pingliang. Although there wasn't much, it was still passable.

If he didn't feel like cooking one day, he could order from here... Hmm, he could have his assistant come and pick it up, saving on delivery fees.

They ate together for a while, and Kiyomi Ruri's mouth was oily from eating. They started chatting, and she asked Nanahara Takeshi, "Did you find any flaws in the genuine artwork you looked at earlier?"

Nakano Eri immediately looked concerned and looked over. Nanahara Takeshi, who was slowly gnawing on lamb ribs, casually replied, "No."

"What do we do now?"

"We'll think of a solution slowly and see if there's another way to break the deadlock." Nanahara Takeshi had to produce results after receiving the money. If he couldn't tell it was a fake, he was already considering using unorthodox methods and planned to set a trap for Uchii Tatsuo to make him confess. He wasn't in a hurry—it took him several months to a year to trap the real scumbag Fatty Yang. It was only the second day, and he wasn't in a rush. Besides, he had gained something today. He had seen the painting up close and confirmed a guess that would be useful later.

However, Kiyomi Ruri was anxious. After all, if the case dragged on for too long, it would make her novel too slow-paced when she wrote about it. The reading experience would likely decrease significantly. She couldn't help but provide more inspiration and ponder, "When Matsuchi Yūto was killed, he pointed to the sky. There was nothing noteworthy in the daytime sky, but I always felt suspicious about the night sky in the painting. Did you really look carefully? Maybe we should find an interactive star chart and compare it month by month..."

Nanahara Takeshi sucked his finger and gestured for Kiyomi Ruri to pour him tea while clearing the table of trash. He casually said, "No need. There are only three types of star charts now. One is the interactive star chart for beginners like you, the other is the professional all-day star chart, and the last one is the humanoid self-propelled star chart like mine. I have identified every star in the painting. Unless the brightness is too low, it doesn't matter whether it's painted or not. Otherwise, it is basically the same as the current sky and has no flaws. Matsuchi Yūto pointed to the sky before he died, and I naturally took a closer look at all the skies in the painting. I confirmed yesterday that there were no problems."

Look at how arrogant you are, as if you're the only smart person in the world...

While Kiyomi Ruri tidied up the table and replaced the tea, she silently complained in her mind. But she didn't give up and continued to think, saying, "I remember a detective novel that had a similar case. It was about a painting with an extra small star, and the clever detective identified it as a fake. Could the current situation be similar? Is there really no extra star in the painting?"

Nanahara Takeshi lowered his head and continued eating. "I've already told you, there absolutely cannot be any extra stars. You're talking about the 30 million counterfeit painting case. In 1858, the Van Buren supernova appeared in a 17th-century painting, but that was just a novel, a fabrication. It's impossible for something like that to happen in reality."

Kiyomi Ruri was puzzled. "Why is it impossible? Art comes from life. Maybe it's based on a true story!"

Nanahara Takeshi looked at her speechlessly. "There are many types of supernovae, and their positions don't necessarily have to be close to Earth. They can easily be obscured by celestial bodies and cosmic dust. Supernovae that can be observed with the naked eye are extremely rare in human history. I don't remember Van Buren's name being among them. If the plot in the novel really happened, then explain how the person who forged the painting managed to include a supernova that can only be observed with a telescope? Did he eat too much and carry a professional-grade astronomical telescope around while painting?"

"Well..."

Kiyomi Ruri listened dumbfoundedly, unable to come up with a reason to argue. Nanahara Takeshi, who thought she talked too much, didn't let her off and casually delivered a blow, "Even the name Van Buren supernova is probably made up by the author. In 1858, not to mention the naked eye, no supernova was observed with a telescope. It's highly likely that the author found information about the star Eta Carinae, which reached its highest brightness after 1841 and was mistakenly thought to be a supernova."

Kiyomi Ruri continued to stare blankly, and Nanahara Takeshi swung the half-eaten lamb rib in his hand, mercilessly delivering a series of critical hits. "The dialogue in that novel also has some problems. Although it may be due to the underdeveloped astronomy at the time, the line 'If you know some common knowledge about the solar system, you can easily identify that the painting is fake' is a bit far-fetched. I don't even know what to say. Supernovae explode in the solar system, and the author would have long turned to ashes. They can't come up with such an absurd story. So, you can spare me. That detective novel has no reference value at all. If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have bothered to think about it."Kiyomi Ruri was at a loss for words, having taken a series of blows that left her internally injured. She felt a sweetness in her throat and muttered in frustration, "I was just trying to give you some inspiration. I never said that deductions in novels are always correct, just that there's a possibility..."

Nanahara Takeshi swung the lamb rib again, delivering another brutal blow that seemed to cause massive damage. He said indifferently, "Stop dreaming about being the heroine. If I were the protagonist, you couldn't possibly be the heroine. The situation you're imagining is completely..."

He paused, his brain tingling as if a current had passed through it. In an instant, Matsuchi Yūto's pointing to the sky before his death, an inconspicuous book on the bookshelf, Ichinose Hajime's life, the notes left by Ichinose Hajime's friends, the Japanese era name chart, and the details in "The Four Scrolls of Chūjima" lined up in a straight line, directly connecting together.

He had been looking for flaws in the forgery techniques and comparing documents, looking for inaccuracies in the paintings that contradicted historical facts. He had only glanced at the night sky at first, confirming there was no problem and not paying much attention to it afterwards. He hadn't expected that the lack of a glaring error was the real glaring error. The forger hadn't added anything extra or made any mistakes, but had failed in natural science and left something out!

With this non-glaring glaring error, everything made sense. No wonder only Matsuchi Yūto had discovered it. He must have just read that book.

Nanahara Takeshi's brain was electrified for a moment, but his expression remained unchanged. He continued, "Hmm, it's completely impossible. Don't think too much about it. That's all I'll teach you for now. Let's eat quietly."

"Hold on!" Kiyomi Ruri stared at him suspiciously and said, "Something's not right. Did you just think of something?"

"No," Nanahara Takeshi continued to gnaw on the bone, savoring the tender lamb.

"No, you definitely thought of something!" Kiyomi Ruri became more suspicious the more she looked at him. She said confidently, "Normally when you lecture me, you speak very fast, as if you want to say two hundred words in a second. You've never stuttered before, but just now you did. You must have thought of the key to solving the case, right? Was it my reminder that sparked your realization of the truth? Is that it?"

Nanahara Takeshi chuckled helplessly, glanced at her, and laughed, "That's impossible."

"No, you did think of something. It was my inspiration!" Kiyomi Ruri had never been as certain as she was at this moment. She was the heroine, and she had given Nanahara Takeshi the inspiration!

Nanahara Takeshi looked at her again and shook his head repeatedly, "Impossible, impossible, completely impossible. You can't give me any inspiration."

Kiyomi Ruri's nostrils flared with hot air, her eyes turning red as she stared at Nanahara Takeshi's face. "Why won't you admit it? It was clearly me who helped you think of it!"

Nanahara Takeshi turned to her and sincerely said, "You're really overthinking it. You didn't give me any inspiration, and you definitely can't be the heroine. Novels are all made up, so don't think too much about it. Let's eat quickly. Lamb isn't as good when it's cold. Here... try this lamb rib. The texture should be quite good for you."

Kiyomi Ruri looked at him, then at the lamb rib, and then at Nakano Eri, who had been watching the drama unfold. She decided to ignore him. After all, she couldn't open his skull to see what was inside and prove that he was lying. She silently recited the "Lady's Heart Sutra" to prevent herself from strangling this bastard to death right there.

The dining table fell silent for a moment. After she finished reciting the "Lady's Heart Sutra", she lost her appetite and decided to work overtime that night to kill off this bastard Nanahara Takeshi in her writing. She would kill him off with a dump truck. As she was gritting her teeth and secretly cursing him, she suddenly heard Nakano Eri ask in surprise, "Nanahara, what's wrong with you?"

She looked over in surprise to see Nanahara Takeshi staring at the lamb rib in his hand, muttering, "Lamb rib, lamb rib bone, rib bone, rib, rib pattern..." He mixed languages and mumbled for a while, then his eyes lit up. He stood up and said seriously, "Miss Nakano, let's call Officers Ono and Hidaka right now. I've had a flash of inspiration from this lamb rib, seen through the fog, and we can go arrest the criminal!"

Nakano Eri was stunned and stood up speechlessly. She felt like she had wasted her time in college. If she had met someone like Nanahara Takeshi back then, her college life would have been much more interesting. Kiyomi Ruri's face turned completely dark, her small fists clenched tightly. She stared at Nanahara Takeshi's neck, her left foot itching to kick and break his neck.

You bastard, what are you trying to pull? What does this lamb rib have to do with the case?

It was clearly me who reminded you, it was clearly me who gave you the inspiration. You heartless thing, you're actually trying to steal my credit. Is it really that hard to admit that I'm the heroine?!