I'm in Detective Conan, and the system has appointed Batman.

Ran Mouri then spoke earnestly.

"Because Conan just told me that Mr. Hattori will need to use a lifebuoy in his next deduction."

"So I asked the villagers to take down the lifebuoy near the river."

"The lifebuoy was just delivered to the door, so Conan and I just picked it up."

Kazuha Toyama: ?

When did Heiji Hattori tell Conan that he was going to get a lifebuoy?

Kazuha touched her chin, somewhat puzzled.

Then I remembered that when Heiji Hattori and Conan were on the phone together before, they did have a conversation.

Then I stopped worrying about it.

Heiji Hattori secretly gave Conan a thumbs up.

Then he continued.

"The murderer is obviously not Mr. Kadowaki."

"Mr. Kadowaki's profession is that of a fisherman."

"And fishing requires a lot of strength."

"In other words, if Mr. Kadowaki wanted to kill Ms. Ebihara, he wouldn't have needed to go through the trouble of using a lifebuoy; he could have simply thrown Ms. Ebihara into the river."

"Using a lifebuoy would only create more openings for us."

"After all, American Island is a small island with very little contact with the outside world. If it is missing a lifebuoy, the investigation may well find the specific source."

"I have never seen a criminal who wanted to commit the perfect crime leave himself with a flaw in the evidence."

Upon hearing this, Kadowaki Muzo nodded repeatedly.

Although this dark-skinned boy looks like a foreigner.

But he's really reliable when he talks.

He apologized for his previous prejudice against Hattori Heiji.

Kadowaki Muzo continued.

"Yes, yes, if I wanted to kill Ebihara, I wouldn't need to use this method at all, would I?"

"The missing Ms. Kadowaki is my daughter."

"And Ebi is my daughter's best friend."

"If I really wanted to kill him, I could just find a place and throw him into the sea, and that would be the end of it."

“I’m a professional fisherman, and no one knows the dangers of the sea better than me.”

"There was absolutely no need to kill someone in public like that."

"What good would it do me to disguise myself as a mermaid and kill someone because she lost her mermaid arrow?"

Everyone knows that there are no real mermaids in this world.

"Surely this kind of crime will be exposed sooner or later?"

The police officers in Fukui Prefecture hesitated.

But as he said...

Mermaids do not exist in this world.

Furthermore, if Kadowaki Muzou were to disguise himself as a mermaid and commit murder.

How could she possibly disguise herself as having such a light and graceful figure?

The footprints alone are insufficient to prove this point.

I've only ever heard of footprints being deliberately made bigger, never smaller.

The Fukui Prefectural Police Inspector then inquired.

"If that's the case, then who is the real murderer?"

"Detective Hattori, do you have any guesses about this?"

Upon hearing this, Hattori Heiji stroked his chin.

He still doesn't have an answer to this question.

He still doesn't understand why Toyama Kazuha was also chosen to draw the Mermaid Arrow.

If the mermaid's arrows are merely randomly distributed...

So why does the person who loses the Mermaid Arrow really die?

Could the killer be just a random murderer driven by interest?

How could such a character possibly appear in the worldview of Detective Conan?

"If you ask me, maybe the real culprit is some kind of mermaid."

Kogoro Mouri chimed in.

He muttered loudly.

"Weren't some kind of fish scales found near the scene of Ms. Ebihara's death?"

"Maybe it's a fish scale that fell off when the mermaid grew legs and started walking on the ground."

Kogoro Mouri's words caused everyone to fall silent.

Even Ran Mouri, who always agreed with Kogoro Mouri, was at a loss for words for a moment.

How could mermaids possibly exist in this world?

It's the end of the 20th century, shouldn't everyone be more scientific?

The police inspector of Fukui Prefecture sighed.

Knowing that neither the famous detective Kogoro Mouri nor this self-proclaimed detective Heiji Hattori likely knows who the culprit is, there's only one thing left to do.

He clapped his hands and then said.

"Let's first investigate the list of people who have received the Mermaid Arrow over the years."

"besides."

"Since we don't know the killer's motives or who the killer is, let's just take precautions based on the patterns we've observed so far."

"Based on the current situation, the killer's pattern of killing is likely the person who lost the Mermaid Arrow."

"Saori Kadowaki, who has already gone missing, and Tomi Ebihara, who has died, are among them."

"Then all we need to do is protect the last two people who wield the Mermaid Arrow to prevent that guy from committing another crime... By the way, I heard that the people who wield the Mermaid Arrow are two women. Are you two ladies?"

The Fukui Prefectural Police Inspector looked at Ran Mouri and Kazuha Toyama.

He noticed that Toyama Kazuha was holding a mermaid arrow.

Then he turned his head to look at Ran Mouri.

Ran Mouri simply waved her hand and quickly said...

"My name is Ran Mouri, not Naoko Kuroe."

"Miss Hei Jiang just went out and hasn't returned yet."

Upon hearing this, everyone was startled.

They just went out and haven't come back yet.

Could it be?!

Chapter 843 Where did the plane engine sound come from?

Just after Ran Mouri mentioned that Naoko Kuroe had been gone for some time.

Everyone inside the room immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.

The police inspector of Fukui Prefecture looked particularly grim.

He said this with some annoyance.

"That Naoko Kuroe, isn't she also a native of this island?"

"Even if she doesn't know what happened to those who disappeared or died because of the mermaid's arrow, she should know that there is a curse on this island related to the mermaid's arrow."

"How come one person is dead and another is missing, and she still dares to go out alone?"

"Is this guy out of his mind?"

The Fukui Prefectural Police officer next to him nudged the police inspector.

He gestured to the inspector not to say such things in public.

Otherwise, if he receives a complaint later, his salary assessment for this month will be in jeopardy.

However, the police inspectors in Fukui Prefecture don't care about any of that.

He pushed open the front door and led a large number of police officers out of the house.

They prepared to mobilize the islanders to find Naoko Kuroe, who had left.

He had only just stepped out of the house.

Screams rang out in the darkness.

Hattori Heiji and Conan's thoughts, which had been speculating about Kuroe Naoko's whereabouts, were interrupted.

They instinctively turned their heads to look towards the door.

Then they looked at each other.

The worst-case scenario has likely already quietly occurred.