Detective Conan: The Ultimate Growth Space

Zhiyong said softly, "Hattori, have you noticed something?"

"What is it?" Hattori Heiji asked.

"Ah..." Fujisawa Toshiaki let out a long cry and collapsed to the ground.

"What happened?"

"Turn on the lights quickly."

Zhiyong shone the flashlight over.

Fujisawa Toshiaki fell to the ground, bleeding profusely, with a shard of ice embedded in his back.

At that moment, the lights came on.

Hattori Heiji approached and examined the body before speaking, "Mr. Fujisawa is dead."

"What?" Everyone was taken aback.

"The window is broken!" Kiyoko Nanako shouted.

“The murderer must have escaped through the window,” said Ikuo Kawazu.

“No, the murderer didn’t escape; he’s among us,” Zhiyong said definitively.

“That’s right, the culprit is among us,” Hattori Heiji said angrily.

Hattori Heiji is very unhappy right now.

The murderer dared to kill one person after another right in front of him; this was a blatant disregard for him.

After inspecting the scene and checking the kitchen to find out the cause of the power outage, both Hattori Heiji and Conan remained silent.

"The third case is a bit strange. The first and second cases were clearly planned, so they were done perfectly and left no evidence. But the murder of Mr. Fujisawa just now left obvious evidence," Conan analyzed.

His pensive look didn't resemble that of a child at all, and Hattori Heiji's gaze towards him became even more strange.

“The murderer is definitely among us. Moreover, I guess his original plan was to kill Mr. Kanaya first, and then Mr. Fujisawa. It was only because of Miss Ayako’s accident that this third, impromptu murder occurred,” Zhiyong analyzed.

……

Chapter 128 The Danger Brought by a Book

“That’s right. As you all probably already know, Miss Ayako went to the garage for the first edition of ‘A Study in Scarlet.’ She was originally planning to prepare for killing Mr. Fujisawa in the garage,” Hattori Heiji said.

"How did the murderer start the fire in the garage? And in the first murder case, the car was clearly accelerating before Mr. Kanaya's car plunged off the cliff," Maria Toda asked, puzzled.

“We know the method of the second murder, but we still can’t figure out the method of the first murder,” Hattori Heiji sighed.

"You already know how to set the garage on fire?" Maria Toda asked, somewhat surprised.

Hattori Heiji nodded and said, "Yes, the method of burning the garage is very simple. However, the method of the first case is a bit puzzling. There are still four suspicious points in the first case that we haven't figured out yet."

He paused for a moment, then continued, “First, why has Mr. Jingu not been seen all day? Second, why did the car suddenly accelerate? Third, the strange noises coming from inside the car and the towel on the control panel. Fourth, why is Mr. Jingu gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his body doesn’t move no matter how bumpy the ride is?”

"Was Mr. Jingu at the time when his body was stiff, which is why he didn't move no matter how bumpy the road was?" Conan guessed.

"When the body is stiff?" Maria Toda asked.

"After death, the body usually begins to stiffen within 30 minutes to 2 hours, and becomes completely rigid within 9 to 12 hours. For the next 30 hours, the body will remain in a state of rigor mortis. Then it will gradually soften, and after 70 hours, it will return to its original state," Hattori Heiji explained.

“At 3:30 a.m., Mr. Kanaya was already stiff in the car, so we can conclude that he was murdered sometime between 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. the previous day. In other words, Mr. Kanaya was killed before dinner. But why put Mr. Kanaya in the car so early?” Conan asked, somewhat puzzled.

"It was all to make it look like a suicide. The murderer must have killed Mr. Kanaya before dinner, put him in the car, made him hold onto the steering wheel to hold him still, and then started the car in the garage after he was stiff. In other words, the murderer was someone who had eaten dinner and left the restaurant," Kenji Toba analyzed.

"Why did the car speed up?" Maria Toda asked.

"I haven't figured that out yet," Hattori Heiji said, shaking his head.

"Just before the power went out, I wanted to say something. Did you guys notice something?" Zhiyong said.

"What is it?"

That was exactly what made Hattori Heiji and Conan overlook Fujisawa Toshiaki, which was intentional on Zhiyong's part.

I must say it now.

Otherwise, even if they haven't discovered anything yet.

But perhaps after the matter is over, the two will question his motives.

“Miss Ayako initially said she knew who the murderer was, then she went to the restroom, and then she told everyone that she had made a mistake. Then, she went for a walk and was burned to death in the garage. Haven’t you considered that something might be missing in the middle of all this?” Zhiyong smiled.

"What's missing?" Kiyoko Nanako asked curiously.

"Now everyone knows why she went to the garage—it was for the first edition of *A Study in Scarlet*. But how did she know that the first edition was under the car seat in the garage?" Zhiyong asked again.

“Of course someone told her, and at that time, the only person who could have had contact with her was you, Mr. Kento Toba.” Heiji Hattori quickly realized.

"You say I killed Ayako? How could I do that? Besides, I was with you guys when Ayako was in trouble. How could I have started the fire?" Kento Toba shouted angrily.

"If the murderer is Mr. Kento Toba, it's understandable that he killed the boss and Mr. Fujisawa, no matter what his motive was. But, wasn't Ms. Ayako his girlfriend? Why would he kill her?" Hitomi Iwai asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Because Miss Ayako knew his secret, he had no choice but to take action. Actually, setting fire to the garage is very simple; even if the murderer was inside the room, he could still set the garage on fire,” Hattori Heiji replied.

"What should we do?" Maria Toda asked.

"He only needs to tell Miss Ayako that the first edition of 'A Study in Scarlet' is under the back seat of the car," Hattori Heiji said with a smile.

"The first edition of 'A Study in Scarlet'? Then how did he detonate the garage?" Nanako Kiyoko asked, puzzled.

“If Miss Ayako wants to find that book in the pitch-black garage, she’ll probably have to use the garage lights and her own lighter,” Hattori Heiji explained.

"Normally, Miss Ayako wouldn't use a lighter because of the strong smell of gasoline in the garage. But that's exactly what you've got into—Miss Ayako's eagerness to get her hands on 'A Study in Scarlet.' That's why Miss Ayako is only thinking about finding the book as quickly as possible and hasn't thought much about anything else."

“If that’s the case, the murderer only needs to lure Ms. Ayako to the garage, and she will set herself on fire,” Hitomi Iwai said.

Hattori Heiji nodded and said, "That's right. So his alibi is useless. The third case was only about killing Miss Ayako, so they thought of using a power outage to kill her with an ice pick."

He paused for a moment, then said, "I haven't figured out the method used in the first case yet. But, Mr. Toba, if you tell us yourself, we will tell the police that you turned yourself in."

"I didn't kill Ayako at all. If you have evidence, just say it," Toba Kento said, clearly annoyed.

Now that Kento Toba has killed three people in a row, even if he surrenders, it won't do him much good.

“Oh, right, I just remembered something. Before Mr. Jin Gu drove off the cliff, I broke the car window, and a blast of hot air came out of the car,” Zhi Yong replied, feigning deep thought.

"Hot air? I see."

Heiji Hattori and Conan's eyes lit up, and smiles appeared on their lips.

Judging from their expressions, Zhiyong knew that the two of them must already know the truth.

Judging from their arrogant attitude, it's as if they have "I understand" written all over their faces.

Conan looked at Heiji Hattori and asked, "What happens to rigor mortis if the temperature rises?"

Heiji Hattori glanced at Conan and said, "I'm too stupid, I don't know either."

Conan felt a little annoyed after hearing Heiji Hattori's words, and he looked at everyone present.

……

Chapter 129 You must be Shinichi Kudo.

Since Kogoro Mouri wasn't present, it was impossible for anyone else to be there, so Tomoyuki stood among the group.

Conan then looked at Heiji Hattori.

Since Hattori Heiji doesn't follow the usual pattern, we can't blame him.

"I need to use the restroom," Conan said, walking out the door.

Heiji Hattori is becoming increasingly suspicious of Conan, so when he sees Conan go out, he follows him out.

The people present were still discussing among themselves.

Of course, Kento Toba is excluded.

Heiji Hattori's cleverness backfired.

As soon as he stepped out the door, Conan shot him with a tranquilizer dart that he had prepared.

Before Hattori Heiji could understand what was happening, he had already fainted.

He slowly sat down by the door and said to the people in the room, "Alright, the third case and the second case are quite clear. Only the first case is still a bit unclear. However, I now understand the first case completely."

Zhiyong had just witnessed Heiji Hattori being hit by Conan's tranquilizer dart as he left the house.

Conan really treated the tranquilizer dart as a magic cure, genuinely believing that no one would know why he fainted.

Even Kogoro Mouri.

Zhi Yong suspected that he had known all along.

Kogoro Mouri might even already know Conan's true identity.

"What happened in the first case? Why did Mr. Kanaya's car suddenly accelerate?" Maria Toda asked.

"That was just the murderer taking advantage of the stiffening and softening process of a corpse after death to try to create the illusion that the victim committed suicide by driving himself," Conan said, changing his voice to that of Hattori Heiji.

“But how do we do that?” Maria Toda asked.

"His method was like this: the night before last, he killed Mr. Jin Gu, put the body in the car, fixed his foot to the brake, and after a short while, the body stiffened."

Conan paused for a moment, then continued, "Then, after dinner last night, he started the car again. Because the corpse's foot was on the brake, even though the gear was in drive, the car wouldn't move. It wasn't until the corpse softened and the foot on the brake was slowly released that the car started moving naturally..."

In order for Heiji Hattori to discover Conan's secret, he cannot be allowed to fall into a coma; the only option now is to wake him up.

With Kogoro Mouri not around, Zhiyong has no choice but to step in.

Zhiyong pretended not to understand and walked over to Hattori Heiji, then hit him hard on the head and said, "You idiot."

Zhiyong realized he had woken Hattori Heiji up, and then pretended to say, "The softening of a corpse only begins about forty hours after death, that's what you, Fengcai, said."

“That’s how it is normally, but what if the outside temperature is high? You just said you felt the hot air coming from inside the car. If the temperature around the body is around 35 degrees Celsius, the rigor mortis and softening process will accelerate. The body will start to soften in just 24 to 30 hours,” Conan continued, explaining in Hattori Heiji’s voice.

“Oh, I see. No one has seen Mr. Jin Gu since the day before yesterday. If that was the time, he would have been murdered. It’s been about 28 or 29 hours since then,” Zhi Yong said cooperatively.

“That’s right. The sound of wind coming from inside the car earlier wasn’t from the air conditioning, but from the heater. If it were air conditioning, there should have been water droplets dripping down near the front wheels, but I couldn’t find any at the time,” Hattori Heiji’s voice continued.

"So, the reason for letting Mr. Jin Gu and the car fall off the cliff and disposing of Mr. Jin Gu's body was to prevent the autopsy from revealing his methods," Zhi Yong nodded.

"So, why did the car suddenly accelerate? How can this be explained?"