Yuji Kudo, the manga artist behind Detective Conan.

"Edogawa... Conan?"

Sitting in the back seat of Yusaku Kudo's old red Toyota Crown, Sayoko Kudo stared intently at Conan beside her, trying to discern the boy's true identity.

It was really strange. She felt that the boy had a familiar aura about him, but she was also very clear that she had never seen anyone named Edogawa Conan before.

Is it a relative? Maybe I should call my mom...

"Sayonoko, what are you thinking about?" Old Kudo saw his daughter's face through the rearview mirror and knew that Conan, who was introducing himself, was being suspected. So he reminded her, "If Inspector Takagi mentions Conan later, just say his name is Fujimine Maru."

"Why? Conan is a cool name." Sayoko, still confused, pressed for more information, only to be lectured by her father.

"Didn't I tell you never to be so curious? It'll only cause you a lot of trouble."

Old Kudo slammed on the brakes and stopped the car in the parking lot below their destination. He turned around, raised his index finger to remind his daughter, and urged the two of them to get out of the car quickly. He then spotted middle-aged Takagi waiting at the entrance on the first floor.

"Detective Kudo, you've finally arrived. We've already called Ms. Kanao's boyfriend, Mr. Sakon, and the body and he are now under the surveillance of other police officers."

"Has Inspector Takagi checked the nearby security cameras? They should be able to find out who entered Ms. Kanao's house in the last two days."

"Unfortunately, the cameras inside the building are currently being replaced. The small cameras that were originally sent by the Metropolitan Police Department's intelligence unit for temporary installation were installed late due to negligence by the officers installing them, resulting in a missing day of video footage."

"This is no joke, that police officer who installed it..."

Conan noticed Kudo's hesitation and, wanting to avoid drawing too much attention from Takagi, tugged at Sayoko's skirt and asked curiously, "Evening camera? What's wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh, you're from the countryside?" Sayoko pointed to the security cameras installed on the utility pole not far from them, pointing at the four intersections. "According to the police regulations jointly added by the Prime Minister and the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, there are special provisions that if information is lost due to failure to promptly address camera issues, the installation and maintenance personnel will be severely punished. Almost every year, there are maintenance personnel who lose their jobs because of murder cases, are detained for a month in the Metropolitan Police Department's temporary detention center, and even make the news."

"Is it to prevent maintenance personnel from becoming murderers and exploiting loopholes? Intelligence gathering work..." Conan stopped talking when he heard Takagi explaining the situation.

“The maintenance worker has been taken to the Metropolitan Police Department by the Public Security Police. The problem now is that I suspect Ms. Kanami committed suicide and I would like to confirm this with you.”

Takagi pulled old Kudo upstairs, pushed open the door of Kanao's house, and pointed to the innermost dining room, telling old Kudo to look. There was a human figure with the upper body drawn on the dining table, while the lower body was drawn on the bench and the floor, proving that Kanao died sitting face down on the dining table.

“We detected a large amount of cyanide in the teacup in front of her, and combined with her work, we determined that Ganamin, who worked in the pharmaceutical industry, obtained the poison there.”

Takagi Wataru took a document from a police officer's arms and slapped a photo on Old Kudo's chest.

"These photos were taken from the cabinet behind Kanao Minoru, which has the logo of the Kudo Detective Agency on the back."

Old Kudo nodded, looking at Takagi as if it were the most natural thing in the world: "Of course, since I took all these photos. They were commissioned by Ms. Kanao, showing her boyfriend in intimate poses with other women."

"Her best friend said that she was actually shopping with Ghanamin the day before he died, but Ghanamin seemed a little depressed when they said goodbye."

Takagi looked at old Kudo with a hint of seeking approval.

"She did commit suicide, didn't she?"

(End of this chapter)