Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

It should be noted that this Shiota Heihachiro was an extremely wise elder, a man of great wisdom who appeared foolish.

In his youth, this elder was known as the Sherlock Holmes of Japan!

How could such a person be a true "muddled detective"?

Thinking of this, Longye smiled and turned to walk back to Xiaolan's side.

He believed that even without Conan's intervention, Uncle Mori would be able to solve the case smoothly!

Chapter 63: Class Reunion: Bringing Up Past Glory (The End)

The group remained in the hotel lobby.

Kogoro Mouri paced back and forth, pondering the criminal's methods.

What he needs to unravel, besides the perpetrator's method of committing the crime, is even more importantly, the perpetrator's alibi.

Judging from the stiffness of Yumi's body, she was probably murdered around 3 p.m.

The yukata Yumi was wearing was clearly several sizes too big; it must have been put on her by the prisoner.

But what was the prisoner's reason for doing this?

Why did he specifically change the deceased into a bathrobe?

Moreover, everyone was in the billiards room at that time, and everyone had an alibi.

Alibi... Alibi...

As he was deep in thought, a wooden statue of a figure on the hotel table caught his attention.

He whispered, "Benkei's statue?"

"After fighting the enemy, he seemed to die standing up, covered in blood."

"Wait! Die standing up? I remember learning that in police academy. After strenuous exercise, the proteins in the muscles..."

Yumi's hand holding the gun wasn't on the trigger; the gesture looked a lot like holding a ping-pong paddle horizontally!

Could it be that? !

It seems their previous assessment of the time of death was wrong!

That was just a trick the murderer used to mislead the public.

But if that's the case, the criminal's alibi would be overturned...

Thinking of this, Kogoro Mouri's aura became sharp, and he strode towards the crowd in the hall.

Amidst the astonished looks of the crowd, he stretched out his hand and pointed directly at Nakamichi Kazushi.

"I already know! You're the culprit, aren't you?"

When pointed at, Nakamichi Shiga quickly waved his hand: "Mouri, don't joke like that! We were deducing Yumi's time of death, and I was clearly playing ping-pong with everyone."

"Besides, we examined the body together. You checked it carefully, didn't you?"

"The autopsy results show that Yumi was murdered around 3 PM. Don't you know that too, Mori?"

Upon hearing Nakamichi Shigoro's explanation, Kogoro Mouri frowned and said seriously, "That's right, you do have a perfect alibi."

"But that's on the condition that—Yumi really did die around 3 PM!"

“Indeed, Yumi’s toes were starting to stiffen. That’s why I think she must have been dead for more than seven hours… But there are exceptions!”

"If the deceased had engaged in strenuous exercise shortly before death, the proteins in their muscles would coagulate rapidly. Rigor mortis would also occur faster than in normal individuals!"

"That's right! Just like the hero displayed in this hotel—Musashibo Benkei!"

After listening to Kogoro Mouri's reasoning, everyone looked thoughtful.

Ran asked curiously, "Dad, why did Benkei die standing up...?"

“That’s right, because he fought fiercely before he died. So it’s possible that he died standing up, which has been proven in medicine.” Kogoro Mouri nodded to Ran, confirming.

Nakamichi Shigo shrugged, a wry smile on his face, and said, "Mori, Yumi died in her own room. What kind of exercise could she have done there?"

His words were echoed by Kogoro Mouri's other classmates, who all spoke up for Shigoro Nakamichi: "Yeah, Mouri, he's almost always with us. He probably doesn't have time to mess with Yumi, right?"

Kogoro Mouri closed his eyes and said confidently, "Really? Has any of you seen him while watching fireworks?"

"While we were all getting ready to watch the fireworks, he used the excuse of tidying up the billiard room, and somehow managed to call Yumi to the billiard room."

"After playing ping-pong with Yumi, he shot and killed her in her room. And that moment must have been 6:30, the time when the fireworks went off!"

"You deliberately timed your attack to coincide with the fireworks explosion in order to conceal the gunshots, right?!"

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Nakamichi Shigo spread his hands and smiled: "Mouri, where's the evidence? As a former police officer, you should know. If you don't produce evidence, then your guesses are simply unfounded."

"Hmph! Evidence? Why was Yumi's hand holding the gun like that? Back then, you didn't notice that the muscles in her hand were already stiff because you were changing her into a yukata first, did you?" Kogoro Mouri replied with his eyes closed.

"This is strong evidence that she was holding a ping-pong paddle before she died!"

"Besides, once the police arrive, they will definitely investigate the relationship and conflict between the deceased and the suspect. Since you chose to target her, there must be some reason, right?"

Do you think the police would let you, a suspect, go?

At this point, Kogoro Mouri's classmates had fully understood what had happened.

Although neither of them wanted to believe that their longtime friend could do such a thing, the facts were undeniable…

Atsushi Omura and Yukio Ayashiro rushed up to Kazushi Nakamichi, grabbing his collar and demanding to know why he did it.

But before the words were even out of their mouths, the two of them were easily thrown to the ground by Nakamichi and Shi.

Upon seeing this, Xiaolan took a step forward.

Before she could step forward, Ryuno grabbed her arm and gestured for her to look at Kogoro Mouri.

To Ran's astonishment, her father, Kogoro Mouri, had already reached Nakamichi Kazushi and easily knocked him down with an over-the-shoulder throw.

Upon seeing this, Xiaolan covered her mouth in surprise.

She never imagined that her ordinary father could defeat the seemingly strong Nakamichi Kazushi so easily.

Ryūno looked at the tears that Uncle Mori was trying so hard to hide in his eyes, and was filled with mixed emotions.

Uncle Mori is quite charming when he gets serious.

No wonder he and Eri Kisaki were able to have such an outstanding daughter as Ran!

……

Shortly after, Nakamichi Kazushi was taken away by the police officers who arrived at the scene.

After that, Kogoro Mouri casually greeted his classmates and quietly went back to his room to rest.

The next day, on the bullet train back home, Kogoro Mori drank glass after glass of the sake that Tatsuno had given him.

This time, Xiaolan didn't say much.

She rested her head on Longye's shoulder, quietly watching her father in front of her, letting him drink to his heart's content.

Ryūno gently patted Ran's head, then turned to look at Uncle Mori, who was immersed in a sad atmosphere.

……

same moment

Inside Mihana Station

A teenager wearing a baseball cap stepped off the subway and squeezed the brim of his cap tightly.

He stared straight ahead, then suddenly grinned.

His already white teeth appeared even whiter against his dark skin.

"Hmph, Shinichi Kudo... the savior of the Japanese police?"

"I don't admit it!"

"Let's have a contest and see who's the best high school detective!"

After saying that, he slung a sports bag over one shoulder and walked out of the station.

Chapter 64 The Untold Story of Kuroki and Kudo (Part 1)

in the afternoon

A dark-skinned man slowly walked to the door of Shinichi Kudo's house.

After leaving the station in the morning, he ran around asking questions.

After exhausting all means, he finally found out where Shinichi Kudo lived.

Looking at the tightly closed door, a glint flashed in his eyes, and he pressed the doorbell.

"Hello, I've come to visit Shinichi Kudo. Is he home?"

"..."

"Hello, is Shinichi Kudo home?"

"..."

"Kudo Shinichi?"

"..."

"hateful!!!"

"..."

After ringing the doorbell for the fifth time, he finally accepted the reality that no one was home at the Kudo residence.

He twirled his baseball cap around in his hand, then lowered his head to think.

"Kudo has not appeared in the sight of the police and the public recently."

"Based on his previous interviews, it can be inferred that he is a guy who is passionate about solving cases and loves to show off."

"It's unbelievable that someone with this kind of personality hasn't appeared in the public eye for so long..."

"If he didn't go on a long trip, then he must have been injured or gotten into trouble."

“I remember he seems to attend Teitan High School… Hmm, I’ll go there tomorrow to check.”

Thinking of this, he twisted his hat back with his hand and left the spot.