Yuji Kudo, the manga artist behind Detective Conan.

"This is boring. I thought I'd hear some gossip about the boss. By the way, is your old man getting along with him a little too well?"

Watching Ms. Junka's departing figure, Officer Fujiwara shrugged and said, "I thought it was already absurd that the Prime Minister's secretary would sneak into my house wearing a mask to help my dad grind tofu. Who would have thought that the Prime Minister himself would disguise himself and grind coffee for someone and get hit on?"

The fact that these people in high positions, each with their own peculiar quirks, act in such an abstract way fills the two young policemen with anxiety about the future of the South.

"Now, please welcome Ms. Totani."

The two repeated what Ms. Junka had just said in order to verify with Ms. Togaya and to understand the situation, but she gave a vague answer instead.

"Actually, I was drunk that day, so I don't remember doing that." Togaya laughed awkwardly. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone over and chatted with the boss. He was quite surprised at the time."

"So, what did you use to distribute the Ding?"

"There are disposable spoons on the restaurant tables. I remember you were here to eat too, you must have seen them." Ms. Togaya crossed her arms, her face showing no sign of sadness over the recent death of an acquaintance, clearly not considering the deceased Atsumi a true friend.

"That person is clearly very concerned about the fact that he is a little fat, but he is also very greedy. It's so contradictory and makes people speechless."

"Finally, I have a question I'd like to ask." Inspector Hagiwara rested his chin on his hands: "Do you often dine at this restaurant?"

"No, Taiko... it's Aishima. She's always been against us having a gathering here, probably because it's awkward at her workplace. This time, she suggested we have it here because we haven't seen each other much lately."

Outside the room, the old Kudo, who had already snore twice, was fast asleep, while the other three adults, who were his juniors and all knew him, sat beside him taking care of him.

"It seems like there's not much progress. These police officers are going in and out, they've practically checked that table and all the chairs." Date Ten'i looked at Haneda Yuko: "Yuko-nee, who do you think is the murderer?"

"It's hard to say; all three of them had the opportunity to poison him."

"Why do you make that judgment?" Conan suddenly appeared beside her and asked abruptly. Unlike him, Yuko Haneda hadn't heard the complete conversation between the people inside, so how did she guess it?
“These people have been inside for quite a while, which means those two couldn’t assess the situation.” Yuko Haneda then turned to the police officer holding the report and said, “Besides, look at the officer who brought the report, he looks so grim. Either they didn’t detect any poison in the dining area, or…”

“They’re everywhere, aren’t they?”

Higashino also stepped out from the corner, glancing at Conan discreetly: "I tend to think the latter. The police are looking for the original diners in the restaurant to prevent anyone from accidentally touching anything."

With a bang, the door to the makeshift interrogation room opened, and Fujiwara and Hagiwara, their faces equally grim, emerged together, holding the report the police had just brought in. They looked at the three people waiting in a booth to the side. "Has the situation been settled?"

Aishima Yasuko said sadly, "I'm really not in a good mood today, and I want to go back."

"Don't be too sad. Although Atsumi and you are best friends, nobody wants something like this to happen." Ms. Junka and Ms. Togaya also said to the two police officers, "You too, solving these kinds of cases takes time. If you have any further questions, you can ask later..."

"Please don't misunderstand." Officer Fujiwara coughed. "We just can't understand why this murderer would be so heartless as to completely disregard the lives of others."

"Oh."

Conan adjusted his glasses, realizing that the two police officers had already deduced who the real culprit was, and his gaze fell on the report in Officer Hagiwara's hand.

That was the real, decisive clue.

Unfortunately, he didn't continue listening and hung up the wiretap after Ms. Togaya finished, otherwise he would definitely have been able to deduce it.

"This is quite unexpected. I didn't expect it to take you two so long to figure out who the real murderer is..."

A very familiar voice sounded from behind. Conan turned around in confusion and saw that old Kudo was still fast asleep, a question mark appearing above his head.

"You're not planning to reveal your reasoning before us again, are you, Uncle Kudo?" Officer Hagiwara rolled his eyes.

【What's the meaning? 】

"Kudo?! You're kidding, could he be..." Among the three at the gathering, Ms. Aijima's face was the most unpleasant, while Ms. Totani was the most agitated.

"That legendary... infatuated Kudo!"

(End of this chapter)