Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 401, page 395. Detective Ran Mouri (Waiting to Explode)

"No, Ran! Conan is right!" Although Sonoko Suzuki was acknowledging Conan's words, the murderous intent in her eyes was unmistakable.

Even though Conan revealed the truth, it didn't stop Sonoko Suzuki from wanting to strangle this annoying brat at that moment.

"Sonoko, what's going on?" Ran Mouri was completely confused. She couldn't understand why Sonoko Suzuki had suddenly become so self-destructive.

The original garden was still very confident, regardless of the outcome.

Even if Sonoko Suzuki had nothing, she still had confidence, right?
Now even her best friend has lost her confidence—can you imagine a humble and cautious Kogoro Mouri?
If our Uncle Mori didn't act recklessly, wasn't smug, and didn't frantically "spit his tongue," could he still be called Kogoro Mori?

The same applies to the garden.

Sometimes Kogoro Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki really do look more like father and daughter.

"I think I'll let Uncle Lin say it. I don't know how to say it." Sonoko Suzuki opened her mouth but ultimately decided to give up.

Once the embarrassment of having to openly tell your best friend your embarrassing stories gets over, it's not so bad.

But Sonoko Suzuki was clearly feeling ashamed at the moment, so she chose to ask Ryoma Hayashi to help "explain" a thing or two.

"It was while you were investigating the case, Ran, that a college student from Beika University struck up a conversation with Sonoko on the beach."

"Isn't this great?" Ran Mouri responded instinctively.

Come to think of it, this wasn't her first time coming to the beach with Sonoko Suzuki. Before, when she went to the beach with Sonoko, unless it was a private beach, most of the boys who approached her were there for Ran Mouri.

"If that college student was just trying to strike up a conversation, that's certainly a good thing, but..."

Lin Longma glanced at Suzuki Sonoko, too embarrassed to be too blunt. After all, she was still there; it would be embarrassing for her to be too direct.

Unfortunately, Ran Mouri and Conan could only vaguely understand what Lin Longma said. At this moment, their two pairs of big eyes were shining with a thirst for knowledge as they stared at Lin Longma.

"Sigh, what's going on here, Xiaolan? Didn't you go to investigate that serial murder case on Izu Beach?"

Any progress?

Ran Mouri hadn't expected Ryoma Hayashi to suddenly change the subject to the serial murder case, but she still answered when Ryoma asked her:
The investigation did not go very smoothly.

Ran Mouri was somewhat upset about the murder case, as both she and Conan had done what they could.

They told the Shizuoka Prefectural Detectives everything they found at the scene, including all the traces and clues.

Unfortunately, there were no suspects at the scene, and even Conan couldn't deduce the suspects out of thin air without them.

Secondly, over the past four years, the people who died on Izu Beach were all young girls with brown hair. The age and gender of these teenage girls inevitably made Ran Mouri feel a sense of shared hatred.

Not to mention Ran Mouri, even the female police officers at the Shizuoka Prefectural Police Headquarters all hated this murderer to the core.

Whether it's Kogoro Mouri or Shinichi Kudo, most of the time, at most crime scenes, these detectives serve as advisors to the police.

Their on-site reasoning process was essentially helping the police make decisions.

The final murderer, carefully selected from among the suspects, was the police's final decision.

As you've all noticed, the key to getting these detectives to "use their skills" is for the police to find the suspects in the case first.

Having several alternatives makes it easier for the detective to "choose".

If there are no suspects, then the detective's role is only like Ran Mouri's right now: to provide the police with some clues and let the police find the murderer.

Whether it's finding someone or arresting someone, it ultimately falls to the police. And that's what makes Conan so unpredictable.

How often do ordinary detectives encounter such a wonderful scene where a bunch of suspects gather together at a murder scene and celebrate together?
But Conan always seems to encounter these kinds of situations.

His case-solving rate is naturally high, and consequently, more and more murderers are being sent to prison.

Kogoro Mouri is a beneficiary of Conan's constitution, and now Ran Mouri has also become one of the beneficiaries.

Even Ryoma Hayashi sometimes wondered if the situation of Masahiko Michiwaki hitting on Sonoko Suzuki would still have occurred if Conan hadn't come to Izu Beach.

Maybe after killing people, Masahiko Michiwaki will leave Izu Beach.

Despite Lin Longma's many doubts, it didn't stop him from speaking up and letting Ran Mouri and Conan experience what it meant to be shocked out of nowhere.

"I suspect that Masahiko Michiwaki, who struck up a conversation with Sonoko, is the real culprit in this serial murder case."

"what?!"

"Huh? How is that possible!"

In cases involving murder, Conan clearly doesn't act as composed as Ran Mouri. This time, Conan's overreaction earned him a scolding from Ran.

"Conan~"

"I'm sorry, Sister Xiaolan, Uncle Lin."

It seems that Ran Mouri has been giving Conan a hard time lately; she can make him apologize with just a word.

This is a glorious achievement that even Kogoro Mouri, who used his fists to teach love for so long, never attained.

"Uncle Lin, why are you so sure that Mr. Michiwaki is the real culprit in the murder case?"

Ran Mouri felt it was a bit impolite to call Masahiko Michiwaki by his first name, so she started referring to him as "Mr. Michiwaki".

She did not know Masahiko Michiwaki, nor was it possible for her to speak on behalf of this complete stranger.

She simply felt that Sonoko had finally gotten someone to talk to her, only to find out that he was a murderer.

The purpose of striking up a conversation probably wasn't very good, which is really too cruel for her best friend.

That's when I instinctively wanted to refute it.

Ryoma Hayashi didn't find it strange; he simply told Ran Mouri about the odd things he had noticed after meeting Masahiko Michiwaki.

These strange places do seem odd at first glance, and they don't make much sense.

However, if we put Masahiko Michiwaki into the role of a serial killer, all of his actions become perfectly logical.

So now there's only one question left.

"Sonoko, was there anything unusual or unusual when you took the back path back to the hotel?

Seeing Ran looking at her so seriously, Sonoko Suzuki could only try to recall: "If you want to say something unusual, it seems like there really isn't anything?"
I only remember a tram passing by, nothing else.

"Wait, Sonoko-neechan, you meant the tram?!"

(End of this chapter)