A photographic print of the crime scene was evidence in the trial of Ryunosuke Naruhodo for the murder of John Wilson. It showed a view of the entire table seating Wilson, taken by an investigator immediately after the incident. On the table was a bottle of carbonated water and exactly one steak plate and glass of carbonated water.
Turning the tables[]
- Main article: The Adventure of the Great Departure
During Naruhodo's trial, Iyesa Nosa and Kyurio Korekuta were called as witnesses. They testified that Wilson had been dining by himself at the time of the crime, making Naruhodo, who had approached Wilson shortly before the murder, the only possible culprit. Prosecutor Taketsuchi Auchi corroborated their testimony with the crime scene photograph. Naruhodo claimed that Wilson had actually been dining with a woman, and cursed the fact that there had been so few witnesses. This prompted Judge Seishiro Jigoku to ask why Wilson had visited the restaurant at 2 p.m., to which Auchi submitted a medical report found in Wilson's pocket, describing an appointment that had taken place at 1 in the afternoon. Looking more closely, however, it was revealed that the appointment had been for a tooth extraction, and Wilson had been forbidden from food and drink other than water for three hours afterward. This completely changed the meaning of the crime scene photograph, as it now proved that the steak plate was for someone else.
The third party was eventually discovered to be a research student by the name of Jezaille Brett, who was summoned to the court. Accusing Naruhodo of murdering Wilson, she made two claims: that the crime scene photograph showed the scene exactly as it had been at the time of the murder, and that she and Wilson had at one point said "cheers" over a glass of carbonated water. This led to asking why there was only one glass in the photograph, to which it was revealed that she had concealed it in her handbag. Naruhodo's hopes that this handbag could have concealed a weapon were immediately dashed, as Inspector Satoru Hosonaga produced a photographic print of the handbag; it was a meshwork handbag with no gun visible inside. Nonetheless, Naruhodo noticed on this new print a peculiarly shaped burn on Wilson's wrist, which he matched with an emblem on the steak plate, as seen on the crime scene photograph. He wondered how Wilson could have burned his wrist on the steak plate without drawing any attention by screaming in pain, and concluded that he had already died by the time the burn had been inflicted, and before he was shot.