The establishment of the Time Travelers Alliance began in the first year of Conan

Chapter 234 Kogoro Mouri's Deduction Show!

"Detective reasoning" is the most important element in detective novels.

Whether it's the classic school that emphasizes logical reasoning and intricate narratives, the social school that focuses on motives and social critique, the unconventional school filled with bizarre murder methods and twisted psychology, or others...

A detective is indispensable in this process; through meticulous investigation of the case, he will reveal the "truth" to the readers.

Even "Conan-style" reasoning is like this—

Although in many cases, Conan's reasoning is accomplished through various coincidences, intuition, or even by temporarily following clues at the crime scene.

Although in many cases, the motives and methods of criminals are often far-fetched and completely defy common sense.

They are prone to killing their victims on impulse, yet they can also quickly devise a meticulous post-incident plan to cover it up.

But without a doubt, it was still a "case" and a "reasoning" of "ordinary people".

However, such "Conan-style" reasoning is now a thing of the past and will remain a distant dream.

Now, the "case" has taken the initiative to knock on [Conan Edogawa's] heart. What it needs to do is not to give a reason, but to offer a drama and give a result that satisfies and pleases it.

Just like the current cargo transport port in Beika Town, the scene beneath the sea is like a nightmare.

There wasn't a single fish in the surrounding dark, murky water.

The visibility of the seawater dropped to a new level; the midday sun pierced the surface of the sea meaninglessly, and then its light was swallowed by the darkness.

The wreckage of the submarine, the fuel oil that spread in the sea during the explosion, and the debris and garbage that fell into the water when cargo was unloaded in the harbor—these seemingly inanimate objects came alive.

The "fuel" clouded the minds of the few creatures in this area, and the plastic pieces and bags swarmed towards every single one of them.

This immediately created even greater trouble for the salvage operation.

But unlike divers who can surface quickly and climb onto search boats, they are able to use a variety of tools to clear away the debris sent over by this hostile sea area—

All other creatures died.

Those intertidal organisms, the grayish-white barnacles attached to the pier foundations and the surface of the reefs, the oysters that piled up in the gaps of the breakwater and almost became a reef, and even the mussels attached to the bottom of the requisitioned fishing boats.

Their surfaces turned grayish-black.

The hard, calcareous outer shell, like dusted, catalyzed plastic, scattered downwards like ocean snow, while the sharper fragments became even sharper, capable of leaving white marks on the hull.

These fragments then precisely follow the flow of the seawater, easily passing through the scales, gelatinous outer skin, and even the diving suits of non-GSSRA personnel.

Even the seabirds in the sky, once they fell into the sea, never resurfaced.

However, those yellow beaks with red spots and white beaks with black spots are still "alive".

Black-tailed gulls, white-bellied harriers, herring gulls, and even some larger cormorants...

The broken spines, along with the wet feathers, drifted with the seawater, while the living beaks, with their heads now a burden, crashed into the fish.

The scales and feathers fought on the seabed, spreading out evenly across the area. As soon as the new divers went down, they chased after them like moths drawn to a light.

Fortunately, their purpose is now very simple: to create an atmosphere of a very murky seabed.

Therefore, the visibility of this seawater is extremely low simply because of the rapidly decaying and blackening biomass and the rapidly growing algae.

Therefore, the fishermen were able to return to the rescue boat, cursing and swearing, after retrieving the garbage.

All of this is because Kento Oi just convinced Conan Edogawa that the seabed is invisible.

……

"I didn't fire the gun at all!"

When confronted with the pistol that had suddenly appeared in his net bag, Kento Oi insisted that he had no idea how the pistol had ended up in his hand.

“The underwater water was so murky, I couldn’t see anything but blurry black shadows. How could I possibly fire at Mr. Iwata from five meters away!”

In that makeshift clinic, Kento Oi spoke with great conviction.

As a veteran fisherman, he has a lot to say about this: "This port is an old cargo port! The water quality is very poor, and there is garbage everywhere on the seabed."

Inspector Megure, who was standing to the side, nodded.

(He appeared here with a group of police officers at some point, I don't know when)
“Kento Ooi is right. There was indeed a chemical spill here last week, which caused eutrophication of the seawater and triggered a red tide. As a result, the port was closed for about a week.”

"But--"

Imokawa wanted to clarify that it was just an excuse used by GSSRA to blockade the sea area, and Hattori Heiji, who was standing to the side, nodded slightly.

"In other words, Mr. Sun Yat-sen should not have been able to see the specific locations of other people at all."

With Hattori Heiji nodding and Conan secretly agreeing in his heart.

Imogen remembers now.

It seems... GSSRA really did bring in a ship carrying chemicals to capsize in order to ensure the authenticity of the covert operation?

"But Mr. Nakayama just said that he personally witnessed Kento Oi killing Tatsuya Iwata."

Kogoro Mouri's gaze sharpened, and he abruptly turned to look at Kazuta Akimoto, who was standing beside the morgue. His voice was stern and oppressive.

He felt he had grasped the key to the matter.

"In other words, the dark figure that Mr. Sun Yat-sen saw was actually someone else."

All eyes instantly focused on Akimoto Kazuta, whose face froze, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"I think the real culprit in the case is now quite obvious."

Kogoro Mouri lowered his head, adopting a posture that suggested he had the truth completely under control, and his magnetic voice immediately drew everyone's attention to him.

"It was you, Mr. Akimoto, who killed Iwata Tatsuya!"

Upon hearing this, Akimoto Kazuta's pupils dilated sharply, and he immediately became agitated, loudly defending himself.

"But I have absolutely no grudge against him!"

"I...I just saw that Iwata Tatsuya was about to sink, and I wanted to help him..."

"Oh? Is that really so?" Kogoro Mouri remained unyielding, his gaze piercing. "Mr. Akimoto, I'm afraid your real purpose is actually for the pistol that Mr. Iwata discovered!"

Kogoro Mouri looked at the pistol lying quietly in Kento Oi's net bag on the ground and then gave his reasoning.

He looked at Kento Oi: "Mr. Oi, you swam from the bow of the small boat to the stern after you heard Mr. Nakayama shout that someone had died, and then you met Mr. Akimoto along the way, right?"

"Yes, because it's impossible to get from the bow to the deck while wearing bulky diving suits; we have to be pulled up by the grappling hook at the stern. And since Mr. Zhongshan has already sounded the alarm at the stern, I think it should be safe there..."

Kento Oi's description made Kogoro Mouri nod repeatedly, as it was exactly what he had thought.

He suddenly clapped his hands: "And according to Mr. Akimoto's own testimony, when Mr. Nakayama was surfacing for help, you swam towards Mr. Oi because you wanted to remind him that he might not have enough oxygen."

Akimoto Kazuya was taken aback. "What does this prove?" Kogoro Mouri drew a triangle in the air, then pointed to the very center of it with his finger, and then gestured a general route.

"Mr. Akimoto, why did you still swim towards the bow of the ship after the gunshots were fired?"

"You mean, logically speaking, Mr. Akimoto should also swim to the stern."

Imogen felt he was following the detective's line of thought, "Since a shooting has occurred, everyone's first priority is to leave the potentially dangerous sea area."

Kogoro Mouri nodded. "Therefore, there was actually no need for him to remind Kento Oi, and Mr. Oi had no idea where the pistol in his net came from."

"There's only one possibility: you deliberately slipped a pistol into Mr. Oi's net bag to frame him while you were reminding him to leave!"

In Kogoro Mouri's description, the scene of the crime was vividly presented to everyone.

“You killed Mr. Iwata while you were fighting with the deceased for the expensive handgun that was offered as evidence at the bottom of the sea. In order to get away with it later, you let the deceased sink and even deliberately fired a shot.”

"After the gunshots rang out, you knew that someone would swim over because of the gunshots, find the dead body, and call the police. Therefore, you thought of Kento Oi, who was not far away, and decided to frame him."

"Therefore, there is only one possibility—you took advantage of the moment when you were reminding Mr. Oi to slip the pistol into his net bag, attempting to frame him!"

The proof is like a mountain!

Faced with Kogoro Mouri's words, Kazuta Akimoto was completely unable to refute them, so he turned his pleading gaze to his fellow countrymen and his childhood friends.

I never imagined you were this kind of person!

Akimoto Kazuta's face suddenly turned pale, his eyes filled with helplessness and fear. He wanted to refute, but for a moment he couldn't find the words.

"It couldn't possibly be me! I had no motive! I... I didn't do anything like that!"

His voice grew increasingly agitated, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white from the force, and the veins on his neck bulged.

"My sage! I know now, it was you who did it—!"

Then, Akimoto Kazuo roared and pounced on Ooi Kento, knocking him to the ground with a single punch.

An officer behind Inspector Megure immediately pulled out a stun gun and fired. As the two electrodes accurately hit Akimoto Kazuta, his body stiffened abruptly, and he fell to the ground, beginning to convulse.

On the side, Kento Ooi stood up angrily, spat to the side, and coldly watched as the police officers handcuffed Akimoto and Tai and took them away.

Kohei Nakayama watched as the case was about to end with Kogoro Mouri's deductive show.

Now, his heart is filled with resentment towards the murderer, gratitude towards Kogoro Mouri—and a touch of inexplicable sadness.

He felt as if he had forgotten something, and this feeling drove him to look at the figure lying on the morgue.

Tatsuya Iwata, his friend, lay there quietly, his face pale, as if he were simply asleep.

"Rest in peace, Iwata..."

Kohei Nakayama murmured softly, his eyes filled with even deeper sorrow, "Detective Mori has found the murderer who killed you."

The inexplicable sadness in his heart drove this tough man, who was born by the sea and had never shed a tear before, to shed a few tears.

He silently stood up and began to tidy up his friend's remains, carefully removing the strands of fishing net tangled around his feet.

Everyone's expression held a hint of sadness, except for Conan—whose gaze froze at Kohei Nakayama's action.

Before he could even grasp the lingering doubt in his mind, the slightly melancholic atmosphere was interrupted by a greedy voice.

"Then what about the evidence in this net bag? Since it's in my net bag..."

"This is it!"

This extraneous sound, ironically, became the key for Conan to uncover the truth.

He glanced at the suspect who was about to be taken away from the infirmary, then his gaze fell on Kento Oi, who was holding a pistol and demanding money from the police officers who came to collect the evidence. He gritted his teeth, and anger flared up in his heart towards this real "murderer".

"This guy! He killed innocent people for money, and now he's trying to frame his fellow villagers for his crimes! It's unforgivable!"

Conan immediately raised his wrist, then opened the scope and pressed the button.

With a soft "whoosh," he immediately and quietly retreated, hiding under the morgue "in front of" everyone.

No one noticed the child's unusual behavior, as if he had never been at the center of the case from the beginning.

For Kogoro Mouri, he felt a sudden dizziness in his brain, and an irresistible force rushed towards his consciousness.

"That feeling... is coming again!"

At that moment, Kogoro Mouri suddenly became alert, and he almost subconsciously realized that his previous reasoning was flawed.

Otherwise, one's "second personality" would not suddenly awaken at this moment.

Two voices of Kogoro Mouri rang out almost simultaneously:

"However, after thinking about it carefully, I realized that there were some problems with my reasoning just now."

In the last second before falling asleep, a glint of surprise flashed in Kogoro Mouri's eyes, "The direction of that sound is..."

Meanwhile, Conan, who was hiding under the bed, breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew, thankfully Uncle Mori's opening line is exactly the same as mine."

A thought flashed through his mind: "It seems that Uncle Mori's reasoning ability has really improved. If I hadn't noticed that detail just now, I would probably have thought that Uncle Mori's reasoning was correct."

Conan thought to himself with a touch of emotion, "It seems that the case collection that Heiji gave to the old man is still somewhat useful."

Now, Kogoro Mouri has secured a sliver of hope for his future "clear-headedness".

To everyone else, Kogoro Mouri began to stagger as if he were drunk.

"That is—!"

Imogen, Inspector Megure, and the surrounding police officers and soldiers all became serious at his inexplicable movement.

"It's the sleeping detective!"

Sure enough, everyone present saw that the "Sleeping Detective" was exactly as described in his past deeds—

He lowered his head, as if in meditation, his lips parted slightly, and his voice came from beneath his bowed head.

It was like a whisper, or perhaps a declaration.

"Inspector Megure, please have the officers release Akimoto Kazuta's handcuffs."

Kogoro Mouri's voice was deep and clear, carrying an undeniable sense of authority.

"Just now, I overlooked a very important detail: the real culprit is someone else!"

(End of this chapter)