Stay away from Conan.

At midnight, as the clock struck midnight and the date officially marked the Qixi Festival, on the observation deck of the East Capital Iron Tower, though it was already closed, a figure walked bewildered in the moonlight. He approached the window, gazing at the night outside, utterly lost and confused.

"Mr. Kosuke Mizutani, right? We've been waiting for you for a long time!"

Just then, while the bewildered figure was still in a daze, a sudden sound startled him.

Turning around, illuminated by the moonlight, the man called "Kosuke Mizutani" saw a young man walking slowly towards him with his hands in his pockets.

On this Tokyo Tower, which is clearly closed, I inexplicably appeared here, and now this man is calling out my name...

For a moment, Kosuke Mizutani had no idea what was going on and was completely bewildered.

After all, Kosuke Mizutani had no idea what had happened.

Originally, because Nanako's brother, Kazuki Honjo, came to him and told him about the fire, and because he himself had never recovered from the fire, perhaps the best choice would be for him to go with Nanako on Tanabata this year.

Therefore, before that, the last thing I wanted to do was to travel to all the places I had been with Nanako before, to say goodbye to this world.

But, without knowing when, after inexplicably falling asleep, when I woke up again, I found myself in...

Is this the East Capital Iron Tower?

Nanako's brother wanted me to go with Nanako in the end, and he chose the best place for me.
Thus, recalling his limited memories, Kosuke Mizutani was completely bewildered by his current situation. He didn't understand why he had suddenly arrived here, nor did he understand who the man who had suddenly called out his name was, why he was here, or what he was saying...

Have you been waiting for a long time?
To this, Kosuke Mizutani could only look bewildered and ask in confusion:

"Excuse me, who are you...?"

"Shinichi Kudo is a detective."

As they approached, it was none other than Shinichi Kudo himself.

After he introduced himself, and seeing Kosuke Mizutani's reaction, Shinichi Kudo, who had initially hoped to meet Kosuke, sighed indifferently.

"Detective? Shinichi Kudo? You are...you are that..."

Clearly, after hearing Shinichi Kudo introduce himself, Kosuke Mizutani was familiar with the name and knew who Shinichi was. However, he was still puzzled as to why Shinichi had approached him.

But at this moment, Shinichi Kudo's reaction left Kosuke Mizutani even more puzzled:

"Ah, Mr. Mizutani, I thought that after meeting you, all the mysteries would be solved, but now..."

Seeing Mizutani Kosuke's genuinely bewildered expression, Kudo Shinichi already had a guess in his mind:

"It seems you don't know much either, but at least your reaction makes it clear to me that you are not the murderer in this series of killings, right?"

"Huh? Serial killers...Me? Huh?"

Even more bewildered, Kosuke Mizutani couldn't connect what Shinichi Kudo had said with anything he knew, and could only feel increasingly confused.

In response, Shinichi Kudo slowly explained:
"That fire... most of the others who survived it perished, and the person capable of committing such a crime wasn't you..." As he spoke, Shinichi Kudo seemed to recall some details he had observed during his investigation—

"That's right, I should have noticed it sooner. The murderer's choice of the location to dump the body was almost perfect, practically a perfect correspondence with the position of the Big Dipper. Someone like you, Mr. Mizutani, who is so casual about even the arrangement of your home furnishings and writing, would never be able to do that..."

"Based on this, the murderer can only be—"

"Mr. Honjou, it must be you!"

Suddenly, just as Shinichi Kudo was halfway through his sentence, his tone turned serious as he turned to look at another figure approaching from behind him—

On the tree...

……

"What? Are you sure, Brother Mingzhi? It's at the East Capital Iron Tower?"

At Shiba Park in Minato Ward, Matsumoto Kiyonaga dispatched police officers to stake out and investigate, and even he himself was on the front lines, all to ensure he could take control of the situation immediately should the target appear. Matsumoto Kiyonaga waited for quite some time, from evening until nearly midnight.

Once the clock strikes midnight, it will be Qixi Festival, and then everything will truly be in the countdown. It's impossible to say when or how the murderer will appear. It's even possible that the matter will be over once midnight has passed.

Therefore, although Matsumoto Kiyonaga knew that the murderer would most likely make his final move in this place, he was ultimately not confident, after all, he still had too few clues...

Furthermore, after Shinichi Kudo returned to Tokyo, his whereabouts didn't seem to disappear...

As a result, just as Matsumoto Kiyonaga was considering whether to make other plans, Inspector Megure received another call from Takato.

From Gao Yuan, we learned the location the murderer ultimately chose, leading to a more precise deduction—

It is indeed located near Shiba Park in Minato Ward, but it is within this area, on top of the Toto Tower!

—"The murderer chose the position of the Big Dipper as the location to dump the body, and considering that both Mizutani Kosuke and Honjo Nanako liked stars, there is only one most suitable location for the final resting place!"
"Eastern Capital Iron Tower!"
"That's the place closest to the stars!"

Thus, almost urging them on, Takato told Inspector Megure and the others over the phone.

Upon learning of this news, Matsumoto Kiyonaga immediately made arrangements—

All the core officers of the joint investigation team present at the scene accompanied him to the East Tower, while the remaining officers guarded the perimeter to ensure safety.

As a result, the police began their operation, rushing towards the East Tower just before midnight.

Soon after locating the security guard at the East Tower and discovering that he had been attacked and his keys stolen, the joint investigation team of police realized that something had indeed happened at the East Tower. They rushed into the tower, only to be met with an attack from behind.

Completely unprepared, Inspector Megure, Kansuke Yamato, Misao Yamamura, and Ayami Ogino were attacked by "Kiyonaga Matsumoto" and immediately fell unconscious...

At this point, looking at the police officers he had dealt with, a sinister glint appeared on Matsumoto Kiyonaga's face—

Finally, after so many days of disguise, it's almost time to put an end to it all... (End of Chapter)