Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 402, Section 396: Ran Mouri's Deduction
"Yes, is there something wrong with the tram?" Sonoko Suzuki didn't find it strange that a tram had passed by at the time.

The same applies to Lin Longma.

If a tram derailment could have made Lin Longma pay attention, then it would be more important to pay attention to it than just passing by.
This is probably the most fundamental reason why Ryoma Hayashi couldn't become a detective.

As an "ordinary person," Ryoma Lin truly lacks the spirit of a detective who questions and doubts everything.

I don't have that habit either.

So when they heard that a tram had passed by, Ryoma Hayashi and Sonoko Suzuki didn't find it strange at all.

Unlike Ryoma and Sonoko Suzuki, who are slow to react, Ran Mouri has become somewhat more adept at detective reasoning thanks to Conan's help and guidance over the past few days.

As the daughter of the famous detective Kogoro Mouri and the undefeated queen of the legal world, Eri Mouri, it's impossible for her to have no sense of reasoning at all.

Don't let Kogoro Mouri's usual lack of intelligence fool you; when it comes to his family, his reasoning is just as sharp.

Eri Kisaki is another story altogether.

Perhaps lawyers in other places don't deal with reasoning, but in that awful place called Beikacho in Tokyo, a great lawyer can seamlessly switch between the legal and detective professions.

Ran Mouri didn't demonstrate any reasoning ability before simply because she genuinely wasn't interested in reasoning.

But now, his reasoning ability, which has been nurtured by his family and influenced by his childhood sweetheart over the years, is taking root and sprouting.

This nascent ability made Ran Mori instinctively realize that the passing of the tram might be the main reason for Masahiko Michiwaki's involvement with Sonoko.

However, Ran Mouri's reasoning talent is still in its early stages, and her associative abilities are still somewhat weak.

Unlike Conan, who seemed to have been pierced by a silver needle, his face filled with the pleasant feeling of being enlightened.

"Sonoko-neechan, I remember you brought your camera, right? Did you bring it with you to the fireworks festival last night?"

Conan glanced at Ran with a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

For Conan, the simplest way to deduce is to administer a tranquilizer dart and then use his voice changer to deduce the truth.

It's simple, quick, and convenient; the only drawback is that the person being anesthetized may develop a slightly higher resistance to the anesthetic.

According to Dr. Agasa, this increased resistance to anesthetics is not harmful; at most, it will require a higher dosage than normal when the recipient needs anesthesia.

For example, if a normal person needs 4.5 mg/kg of anesthetic during surgery, a person who is occasionally hit by Conan's anesthetic needle would need 5.0 or 5.1 mg/kg.

Note that the key point of the above sentence is "occasionally".

Even a genius scientist like Professor Agasa probably never imagined that Conan would turn the occasionally used tranquilizer dart into a regular gadget.

The instructions for this thing say to use it every few days, but when Conan uses it, the units of three and five become hours.

How can they be the same?
Conan had something to say about this. As the savior of the Japanese police and the Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei era, he couldn't just sit by and watch the real culprit escape the law and let the truth be buried forever, could he?

There was no other way but to make things difficult for Uncle Mori and increase his tolerance to anesthetics "somewhat".

Conan is incredibly accurate when shooting Kogoro Mouri, but this tactic doesn't work on Ran Mouri.

Conan wasn't surprised by this, because he had known since childhood that his childhood friend's fighting ability was somewhat abnormal.

They're both karate practitioners, but while others might kick wooden boards or sandbags at most, Ran Mouri's connections are like telephone poles.

A single punch can shatter the surface of cement; is that normal? Therefore, Conan is not at all surprised that Ran Mouri could dodge the tranquilizer dart.

I'm just mentally exhausted.

Since his tranquilizer darts couldn't reach Ran Mouri, Conan had to try his best to subtly warn her in the least noticeable way.

Fortunately, Ran Mouri has been making progress little by little under Conan's watchful eye; otherwise, Conan might have really given up hope.

What's more frustrating for a teacher than teaching a student who's making slow progress? It's a student who just won't learn no matter how you teach them.

Such students can really make teachers question themselves – do I really have the talent to be a teacher?

Why can other students score 20 points, but my students can only score 6 points?
In this situation, teachers won't doubt the students' intelligence; they'll only wonder if they've chosen the wrong profession.

"A camera? Of course I have to bring a camera!" Sonoko Suzuki said matter-of-factly.

She brought her camera to document her trip, so of course she would bring it to the fireworks festival.

"Oh, right! Xiaolan mentioned I took a lot of interesting photos with the camera that I wanted to show you!"

I'll show you the nice stuff when we get back to the hotel~

As soon as Sonoko Suzuki finished speaking, a flash of silver-white lightning struck Ran Mouri's mind!
She understood; she realized why Masahiko Tsuyawaki was targeting Sonoko!
"I understand, Sonoko! I know why Mr. Michiwaki has been keeping an eye on you!"

Ran Mouri excitedly shared her reasoning with Sonoko Suzuki: "It was the electric sparks from the train and the camera flash!"

"Huh?" Sonoko Suzuki looked bewildered.

What does Xiaolan understand?

"When you passed by that road last night, Masahiko Michiwaki should have been committing the crime right there!"

Then, Sonoko, you walk by with your camera, and a tram happens to pass by behind you!
The electric sparks from the train made Masahiko Michiwaki think you were taking pictures; he believed you had evidence of his crime, which is why he approached you.

This reasoning was flawless and meticulous; Ran Mouri's reasoning was absolutely correct!

Ryoma Hayashi showed approval, and Conan was even more pleased. To be honest, although they couldn't use a tranquilizer dart on Ran Mouri.

But teaching Ran Mouri to reason is much easier than teaching Kogoro Mouri.

At least Ran can grasp the points he's hinting at, unlike Kogoro Mouri who struggles to understand something before starting to make baseless deductions.

That's absolutely outrageous!
After hearing Ran Mouri's reasoning, Sonoko Suzuki stared blankly at her best friend: "Should we call the police now?"

“Calling the police might not be a good idea, right?” Ran Mouri wanted to agree, but then looked troubled.

"This is all just my reasoning; we don't have any evidence right now!"

Although Ran Mouri is very confident in Conan's hints and her own reasoning, there's always a chance of something going wrong.

What if her reasoning is wrong? Not only would it make the police go to waste, but it might also delay the help of people who actually need it.

Ran Mouri, after all, comes from an "ordinary family" and is not used to recklessly wasting police resources.

(End of this chapter)