Not much, to be honest. The evidence was destroyed well – certainly not the work of an amateur. Even the body didn’t give much, especially since there wasn’t any identification at the time. We carried out the investigation before the officials got there and left afterwards, as Hattori-kun had something he had to attend to.
But the body hadn’t been found until that day, so it presumably was in that dumpster since the day of the murder. Decomposing hurt the evidence and it became difficult to determine even the cause of death… And Hattori-kun admittedly became little help because of the odor and the infestation of bugs.
As said, the cafe was literally nothing but ashes… Nothing was recognizable… Except… except for a cell phone, which Hattori-kun identified as his. It wasn’t functioning – perhaps just a dead battery – but it was among the ash and didn’t appear to have been caught in the fire due to its condition…
The odor gave Hattori problems? Hakuba hadn’t been aware of this tidbit of information. Not that it was terribly uncommon; all decomposing bodies gave off a rather pungent odor once it reached a certain stage… that was just part of the chemical process. Still, he noted that for later, and nodded once again to Kyouko.
“There’s much here that suggests quite a few things to Hattori’s – as you put it so aptly – unreliable testimony. Am I correct in assuming that your current theory is that Hattori-san had something to do with the death of that man that you found, as well as the fire? Perhaps being the cause…”
Hakuba finished his tea and set it on the table, reaching for the kettle to make another cup.
“Also, your tea is getting cold, Kirigiri-san…"