Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Lin Xiuyi leaned closer to the photo, squinting as she carefully examined every detail.

Next to the display case in the photo stands another person, none other than the much younger curator, Shin-kawa.

He was wearing a dark blue work uniform, his hair hadn't completely turned white yet, and he was looking down, holding a white rag, carefully wiping the glass of the display case, his expression focused and serious.

"Who took this photo?" Lin Xiuyi pressed.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember that either." Keiko Yamazaki shook her head helplessly. "The museum hired an outside photography studio to take the promotional photos, but nobody remembers which photographer took the picture."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiuyi felt slightly disappointed, but she didn't say anything more. She just continued to stare at the photo, trying to find some other clues.

"It seems that Director Shinkawa really cherishes that lost katana."

Kogoro Mouri also came over, looking at the photo of Director Shinkawa intently wiping the glass. He touched his chin and said with a confident expression,

"I still think that Director Shinkawa is very suspicious. Maybe he's the one who colluded with someone inside to steal the knife!"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Keiko Yamazaki immediately frowned and retorted in a serious tone, "Director Shinkawa values ​​the museum's artifacts more than his own life."

"He worked at the museum his whole life, pouring all his heart and soul into it. He couldn't possibly have done something like stealing from someone he was in charge of!"

"After the samurai sword was lost, he felt guilty for a long time. He couldn't eat or sleep every day and almost quit his job. It was only after we all persuaded him for a long time that he stayed."

“But his reaction is really suspicious,” Kogoro Mouri said stubbornly, still unwilling to give up. “Even if he didn’t steal it, it’s possible that he knows something and that’s why he doesn’t want us to investigate.”

"That's a classic case of presuming guilt." Eri Kisaki couldn't stand it anymore and gave Kogoro Mouri a cold glance. "Don't make assumptions about others without evidence. It's disrespectful to others and irresponsible to the investigation."

Kogoro Mouri was rendered speechless by Eri Kisaki's retort and could only shut his mouth in embarrassment.

Everyone chimed in, expressing their opinions and engaging in a lively discussion.

Just then, Reiko and Midori Orikasa returned from the bathroom.

As soon as the little girl entered the exhibition area, she heard Kogoro Mouri's words. She immediately tugged at Shuichi Hayashi's sleeve, looked up at him, and said...

"Onii-chan, I don't think that old man is a bad person. Just now, when my sister Midori and I passed by his office, we saw him secretly looking at a picture of that knife in his office, and his eyes turned red."

Lin Xiu was taken aback for a moment, looked down at Lingzi, reached out and touched her head, and asked softly, "How did you know? Did you secretly peek through the door?"

Reiko stuck out her tongue and said somewhat embarrassedly, "I was just curious when I passed by and peeked inside."

"I saw the old man sitting at his desk, holding a photo that looked exactly like the one on the wall, secretly wiping away tears. He must have regretted losing the knife; he didn't mean to chase us away."

“Director Shinkawa has worked at the museum his whole life,” Keiko Yamazaki sighed. “For him, the museum is more than just a workplace; it’s like home.”

“Those cultural relics are like his family; how could he possibly steal things from his own home?”

"Over the years, he's lived with self-blame, feeling that he failed to protect the museum properly, causing such precious cultural relics to end up in a foreign land." Everyone fell silent upon hearing this. Kogoro Mouri also touched his nose, no longer suggesting that Director Shinkawa was a suspect.

Just then, the museum's loudspeaker suddenly came on, and Director Shinkawa's slightly tired and hoarse voice came through: "Dear visitors, the museum is about to close. Please gather your belongings as soon as possible and leave in an orderly manner. Thank you for your visit."

Everyone took out their watches to check the time. Before they knew it, more than two hours had passed, and the sun outside the window was about to set, with a faint orange tinge on the horizon.

Keiko Yamazaki smiled apologetically and said to everyone, "I'm sorry, everyone, the museum is closing time. If you would like to continue your investigation, you can come back tomorrow. I will do my best to cooperate with you."

Hattori Heizo nodded and bowed slightly to Yamazaki Keiko.

"Thank you for your help, Ms. Yamazaki. We may come back again later, hoping to find more clues about that theft case from back then."

"Actually, we do have a guess about the disappearance of the katana, but we don't know if it's right."

Seeing that Yamazaki Keiko seemed somewhat skeptical of their abilities, Kawada Hako felt a little unconvinced and couldn't help but voice the speculations that Hayashi Hideichi and Hattori Heizo had made the previous night.

"Hattori and Hayashi believe that the thief back then probably used a switcheroo. Before the crime was committed, he had already stolen the real samurai sword and then left a fake sword that was exactly the same in the museum."

"What was stolen on the night of the incident was actually just the fake knife."

Upon hearing this, Keiko Yamazaki paused for a moment, then couldn't help but shake her head with amusement.

"How is that possible? If that's the case, then the fake katana that was lost later should also have been found."

"After all, a samurai sword is not small. Even if a thief wanted to take it, it would be impossible to leave no trace."

"Moreover, the police have been searching for the whereabouts of that knife for years. If the fake knife had been discarded, it would have been discovered long ago."

"That fake knife was probably made of a highly malleable metal, such as tin or aluminum."

Kawada Haeko immediately retorted, her tone tinged with smugness.

“When no one is around, the prisoner can take the fake knife out of the display case, then use its softness to crumple it into a ball or break it into small pieces before throwing it into the trash can.”

"Back then, you were only focused on finding the samurai sword, so you certainly wouldn't have paid attention to this junk."

"Even if the garbage is taken away, it will just be treated as ordinary metal scrap. Who would have thought that it was a fake samurai sword?"

"This……"

Keiko Yamazaki frowned, carefully considering Kawada Haeko's words, and after a long while, she hesitantly spoke.

"That possibility cannot be ruled out, but do you have any evidence? There were no traces of fake knives left in the display case or at the scene back then. It would be too difficult to prove this conjecture."

“We came here today to look for evidence,” Kawada Yuko said, spreading her hands helplessly, her tone full of disappointment. “Unfortunately, we didn’t find anything. The only clue we had is something we can’t remember because so much time has passed.” (End of Chapter)