Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

Seeing this, he grinned, touching his watch on his wrist as he walked back to the restaurant.

Just as Conan opened the watch case, preparing to use the tranquilizer dart to 'solve the problem' as usual, Amuro Tooru suddenly stuck his head over.

He examined the watch case closely and asked in confusion, "Hmm? Conan, what are you doing?"

"The watch cover seems to be broken! Haha~"

In a moment of panic, Conan made up a few things and then walked out of the restaurant with a forced laugh.

As Conan turned around, a hint of surprise flashed in Amuro Tooru's eyes.

If he wasn't mistaken, the cover of Conan's watch... was a scope?!

Amuro Tooru's brain started working at lightning speed.

The suspicious watch cover, the sleeping Kogoro Mouri, and Conan's seemingly frequent conversations with Tatsuno Takeda...

There's definitely something wrong with this child!

Meanwhile, Conan walked back to Tatsuno's side, wiping the cold sweat from his brow with his sleeve. "Takeda, that Amuro Tooru seems to have seen me use this thing! Come to think of it, that guy seems a bit suspicious..."

Ryūno glanced helplessly at Conan, then at the 'figure' at the kitchen door, unsure of what to say.

You knew he was suspicious, yet you brazenly made your move on Uncle Mori right in front of him. Plus…

Just then, Amuro Tooru suddenly walked up behind Conan.

He glanced at Conan and Ryuno, and chuckled, "Conan, why do you call your brother Ryuno 'Takeda' directly? Isn't that a bit rude?"

Conan: "!!!"

Upon hearing this, Conan's hair stood on end.

He stiffly turned to look at Amuro Tooru behind him, meeting Tooru's meaningful gaze. "I... um..."

Just as Conan was about to give a proper explanation, Ryūno chuckled and said, "Alright, Mr. Amuro, you should already know the culprit's method, right? Why don't we solve this case first?"

Amuro Tooru glanced at Tatsuno, shrugged, and turned to walk back to the restaurant.

Conan remained silent, staring at Amuro Tooru's retreating figure until he disappeared from sight.

"It seems Mr. Amuro has noticed something... don't you think so, Conan-kun?"

Conan: "..."

After saying that, Ryūno walked back to the restaurant, leaving Conan standing there blankly.

……

In the restaurant

After being reminded by Sonoko and Inspector Yokomizo, Kogoro Mori seemed to understand the criminal's methods.

The water in the vase... was supposed to be ice!

Simply pile a large amount of ice inside one side of the vase, and then place the vase in a corner of the bookshelf where it's almost about to fall.

Once the ice melts, the vase will lose its balance and fall off the bookshelf.

The reason why the tennis net under the victim was bent was also due to the ice.

By placing ice blocks under the racket, the perpetrator can easily slide the racket and move the victim's body to the doorway.

While regular ice would leave wet marks on the floor, dry ice from the ice cream cake the victim was eating before their death would suffice.

Since dry ice is composed of carbon dioxide, it leaves no trace after it disappears.

After understanding the perpetrator's method, Kogoro Mouri rested his head on his hand and began to think.

Not long after, Kogoro Mouri chuckled and closed his eyes, saying, "I see, I know who the culprit is!"

Chapter 394 Gross Profit Exclusion Method

Conan, who had just stepped into the kitchen, heard Kogoro Mouri's words clearly.

Conan, who was originally lost in thought, stared blankly at Kogoro Mouri after hearing this, and shook his head helplessly.

What? You know who the culprit is now?

Who are you going to point out this time? Me or that Amuro Tooru?

Thinking of this, Conan turned to look at Amuro Tooru and gritted his teeth.

With this guy around, I can't just use anesthetic needles whenever I want!

The problem is, this guy has already realized his own 'strangeness,' and if he also discovers that Uncle Mori's reasoning ability is poor, who knows what he might guess...

For a moment, Conan was caught in a dilemma, unsure of what to do.

Just as Conan was racking his brains for a solution, Kogoro Mouri began to explain his reasoning:

"First of all, the fact that dry ice was confirmed means that Ms. Machi Umejima can be directly excluded from the list of suspects."

"And since Mr. Noboru Takanashi already knew that Conan was sleeping in the victim's room, that can also be ruled out."

"After all, if someone knew there were children sleeping in the room, they wouldn't kill someone right there."

"In that case, the only person left who got up first to go to the victim's room and had enough time for the ice and dry ice to melt is you—Ms. Momozono Kotone!!"

At this point, Kogoro Mouri opened his eyes and looked at Kotone Momozono, his gaze bright and alert.

Momozono Kotone dared not meet Kogoro Mouri's gaze, filled with panic.

Ryūno glanced at Kogoro Mouri and blinked.

While Uncle Mori did not mistake the culprit, his method of identification...

Is this the long-lost 'Mouri elimination method' in the detective world?

His reasons for excluding the other two can be said to be entirely based on subjective inference, without any trace of objective facts or evidence.

Would the prisoner really not reveal such an important clue as "dry ice" to confuse the issue and try to prove their innocence?

Does the perpetrator know there's a child sleeping in the room, so they definitely wouldn't choose to kill?

To put it bluntly, neither of these two reasons for excluding the criminal is entirely 'absolute'.

However... for Kogoro Mouri, this is already a huge step forward!

At least this time the prisoner he identified was indeed a 'real criminal,' that's for sure!

At this moment, Kogoro Mouri smiled confidently after seeing Kotone Momozono's obviously wavering and nervous appearance.

Judging from Taoyuan Qinyin's current reaction, he knew he was definitely right.

Just then, Inspector Yokomizo leaned close to Kogoro Mouri's ear and whispered, "Mr. Mouri, aren't you going to act like usual?"

"what?"

"It's that 'Sleeping Kogoro' pose!"

Kogoro Mouri was silent for a few seconds, then coughed lightly. "In short, Ms. Kotone. The order of your crimes is as follows: you stole the ice used to make Chinese cold noodles and put it in the pocket of your tennis skirt."

"Then you find a reason to enter Mr. Ishikuri's room and kill him with a vase near the bookshelf by the door. Afterwards, you put ice cubes into the murder weapon vase and place it on top of the bookshelf."

"After you leave the room, use the method of placing dry ice under the tennis racket to move Mr. Ishikuri's body to the door and block it."

"After you finish doing all this, go back to the kitchen, and you will have successfully completed the entire process of the locked-room murder."

As Kogoro Mouri spoke, Kotone Momozono's face grew even paler.

Upon discovering that Momozono Kotone had not questioned him, Kogoro Mouri crossed his arms and laughed arrogantly a few times.

At this moment, Sonoko frowned, "I feel like the way the old man fidgets while solving the mystery is really weird..."

“You’re right…” Xiaolan nodded.

Seeing that Momozono Kotone did not speak up to defend herself, Umejima Machi, who was standing to the side, could not stand it any longer.

She mustered her courage and said, "Mr. Mori, since you say Kotone is the culprit, can you tell me where the spare key is?!"

“Exactly! Wasn’t Ishikuri’s room locked?!” Takanashi Noboru also questioned.

Kogoro Mouri blinked, his tone becoming somewhat uncertain, "Well... I guess we'll find it somewhere later?"

At this moment, Amuro Tooru spoke up: "If I'm not mistaken, the key should be in the beverage bottle."

Officer Yokomizo frowned and said, "The beverage bottle? We also checked the frozen sports drinks in the refrigerator, but we didn't find the key."

"If you throw the key into a beverage bottle, the key will definitely sink to the bottom, and even if the beverage freezes, we should be able to see it."

Upon hearing this, Amuro Tooru chuckled and said, "The criminal used the 'cold water' method."

"That's a method that prevents water from freezing even when it has reached its freezing point and the temperature is below zero."

"If it is subjected to further stimulation such as cold water shock, it will quickly begin to freeze."

"..."

Next, Amuro Tooru explained how to make 'cooled water' and why Momozono Kotone put the key in the sports drink bottle.

By utilizing the principle of 'supercooling water', Ms. Kotone was able to freeze the key in the center of the sports drink bottle before it froze.

Furthermore, because sports drinks are naturally dark in color and have frozen into a gel, the key inside is not easily visible.

After listening to Amuro Tooru's explanation, Inspector Yokomizo pressed further, "So, if we just thaw that sports drink bottle..."

“That’s right, I think the key will be discovered soon. There should also be traces left on the key after Ms. Kotone killed Mr. Ishikuri.” Amuro Tooru nodded.

During Amuro Tooru's explanation, Momozono Kotone remained silent with her head down throughout.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Umejima Machi and Takanashi Noboru stepped in front of Momozono Kotone and said:

"Let's talk about this after we find the key!"

"If we hadn't found the key, you people..."

Before Takanashi Noboru could finish speaking, Momozono Kotone behind them gave a bitter laugh, "No, they'll definitely find out... They'll also find my fingerprints on that key."

"Moreover, I was extremely nervous when I did it, and the spare key even fell into Mr. Ishikuri's pool of blood..."

Kotone Momozono's 'self-destruction' not only shocked her two friends, but also Ran and Sonoko looked at Ryuno in astonishment.

So, the sports drinks that Ms. Kotone handed them back then...

Fortunately, Tatsuno stopped them, otherwise... they would have almost drunk the beverage filled with 'that kind of thing'!

Two seconds later, Umejima Machi, still shocked by her friend's revelation, turned to Momozono Kotone, "But... why did you give Ishikuri to..."