Detective Conan: Developing a younger version of Ran Eri, and the stunning Yukiko.

042 Black woman?

Chapter 42

“I brought her here,” a handsome young man stepped out from behind the girl named Katsuragi Sachiko and affectionately put his arm around her shoulder. “Although my father was reluctant to see Sachiko, I still managed to get him to agree to let her see him.”

The young man speaking was none other than the diplomat's son, Tsujimura Takayoshi.

At this moment, Sachiko Katsuragi turned her gaze to the guests and politely asked, "Excuse me, are these your friends, Mom?"

Kimie Tsujimura's face instantly darkened: "Whether it's your business or not is none of your concern."

"Huh?" Katsuragi Sachiko was startled by Tsujimura Kimie's stern words.

"Also, I don't think you have the right to call me 'Mom' right now." Kimie Tsujimura's eyes were full of hostility.

"I'm sorry." Sachiko Katsuragi looked somber and lowered her head, not daring to say anything more.

"Gentlemen, please follow me." Tsujimura Kimie ignored his son and future daughter-in-law and led the guests upstairs.

As the group approached the study on the second floor, melodious music drifted out.

Boom boom boom!

Kimie Tsujimura gently knocked on the door and called out, "Honey, Mr. Mori is here. Honey?"

She called out several times, but there was no answer. "Strange, is he not in there?" she muttered to herself, then took out her keys from her bag and opened the door. There she found her husband, clearly in the study, but silent.

"Honey, why aren't you answering the door in the study? Honestly, the stereo's on and you're still asleep." Looking at her husband sleeping soundly with his eyes closed, she went over to wake him.

The others standing at the door were also full of doubt. How could this diplomat fall asleep with the music so loud?

Even more strangely, when Kimie Tsujimura approached and called out to her, she couldn't wake her husband.

Hattori Heiji sensed something was wrong, took a few steps forward, reached out to check the breath of diplomat Tsujimura Isao, and said with a grave expression, "He is dead."

"what!"

Upon hearing this, Kogoro Mouri immediately stepped forward to check on the diplomat's condition.

Conan, meanwhile, searched around for clues, trying to find any trace of the crime scene.

Shiraishi gently placed his hand on Ran's shoulder, who was stunned: "Ran, let's call the police!"

"Okay." Xiaolan quickly took out her phone to call the police.

……

A while later, the police arrived at the scene.

It was still Inspector Megure, who worked tirelessly year-round.

Inspector Megure held a small notebook, his face serious.

"The deceased was named Tsujimura Isao, 54 years old, and worked as a diplomat..."

As he spoke, Inspector Megure turned to look at Kogoro Mouri.

"Brother Mori, what do you think?"

"Uh...this..."

Kogoro Mouri's mind went blank; he couldn't determine whether the deceased was murdered, committed suicide, or died in an accident. Fortunately, Conan came to the rescue in time.

"Look closely at that corpse!" Conan pointed to the red dot behind the corpse's ear. "This is definitely..."

"Poisoning." Hattori Heiji took over Conan's words in a deep voice.

"The diplomat was poisoned to death. The evidence is that, apart from a small red dot near his ear, a needle, which appears to be the murder weapon, was found next to his body. This man appears to be resting his cheek on his hand, but in my opinion, he was probably deliberately placed in this position after being stabbed to death by a poisoned needle."

"Huh? Really?" Kogoro Mouri looked bewildered.

"Of course it's true, Detective Mouri. You don't know anything." Hattori Heiji said with disdain, unable to understand how someone like Mouri Kogoro could be a famous detective. "Considering that the body was still warm and there was no rigor mortis or lividity, the time of death should be within 30 minutes of being discovered."

Inspector Megure looked at the rambling Hattori Heiji with suspicion: "Who are you?"

"I am Heiji Hattori, a high school detective from Kansai."

"Hattori Heiji?" Inspector Megure muttered to himself, then suddenly realized, "Oh, it's you! The son of Hattori Heizo, the Osaka Prefectural Police Chief."

"The Osaka Prefectural Police Chief?" Kogoro Mouri looked astonished. He had seen the Osaka Prefectural Police Chief on TV, but he couldn't imagine that his son would be so dark-skinned. Did he marry an African woman?

No. .

043 My heart skipped a beat.

Chapter 43

"Achoo!" Suddenly, Conan sneezed loudly.

"Conan, are you alright?" Ran Mouri asked with concern.

"I'm fine, Ran-neechan." Conan quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead, but felt increasingly unwell, dizzy, and weak all over.

Inspector Megure stroked his chin and said, "It seems that all the windows in the study are locked from the inside, making it impossible to get out of the room. This door is the only entrance and exit, and whoever has the key to the room is definitely involved."

As he spoke, Inspector Megure turned to Tsujimura Kimie and asked, "Madam, there must be several keys to this study, right?"

“No, no.” Kimie Tsujimura shook her head. “There are only two keys to the study.”

"Only two?" Inspector Megure was taken aback.

“Yes.” Kimie Tsujimura took out a key with a key ring from her bag. “One is in my hand, and the other is on my husband.”

"On your husband?" Inspector Megure asked in surprise.

“Yes,” said Kimie Tsujimura, “my husband usually keeps it in his trouser pocket.”

"Oh, I see. I'll go check it out."

Inspector Megure turned and walked to Mr. Tsujimura's body, knelt down on one knee, reached into the body's pocket and groped around. An oval-shaped object appeared, and with his movement, it fell to the ground with a "clatter".

It was a key exactly the same as the one in Tsujimura Kimie's hand!

"How...how is this possible?" Inspector Megure exclaimed in shock.

"What's wrong?" Kogoro Mouri asked, looking bewildered.

Shiraishi glanced at Kogoro Mouri, thinking to himself that this guy could easily be a wealthy landlord in Tokyo, but he insisted on becoming a detective. It's really frustrating...

“The key is on the diplomat, which means this is a locked-room murder,” Shiraishi explained to Kogoro Mouri.

"A locked-room murder! I see." Kogoro Mouri suddenly realized. "Only I, Kogoro Mouri, can solve a locked-room murder." Kogoro Mouri was full of confidence, though it was unclear where this confidence came from.

Although Conan was very interested in locked-room murder cases, his face was getting increasingly pale, and he even experienced tinnitus.

"Ugh, I feel terrible. I need to finish this case quickly so I can go back and get some sleep."

Next, at Heiji Hattori's prompting, Inspector Megure began questioning everyone about their alibis.

"So, Mr. Koike, the butler, you were chatting with the neighbors at the front gate between three and four o'clock in the afternoon, right?"

“Yes!” Fumio Koike nodded slightly, a little uneasy.

While taking notes, Inspector Megure continued to ask, "So, Mr. Takayoshi and Ms. Sachiko, you also arrived shortly before Mrs. Tsujimura returned home, is that right?"

“That’s right, that’s exactly it.” Fumio Koike continued to nod.

Inspector Megure turned to Takayoshi Tsujimura and Sachiko Katsuragi and asked, "So, where were you when Mr. Koike went to the entrance to greet Mrs. Tsujimura?"

Takayoshi Tsujimura said, "We went to my dad's study, but the door was locked and he didn't respond when we called him, so we quickly went downstairs."

Sachiko Katsuragi continued, "After going downstairs, I immediately met my mother in the entryway."

Inspector Megure nodded, then looked at the elderly man, Toshimitsu Tsujimura, beside him and asked, "So, Mr. Toshimitsu, you also arrived here after 2 o'clock, right?"

“That’s right.” The old man nodded. “I finally got here, but A-Dong locked himself in his study, and Gong Jiang went out. So I had no choice but to watch TV in the living room next to the study.”

After taking notes, Inspector Megure asked, "So, Mrs. Tsujimura, when did you leave home?"

“I left home an hour ago,” Kimie Tsujimura replied.

Heiji Hattori listened from the side and had already formed a preliminary judgment in his mind. So, at the time of the incident, the people who were closest to the victim, besides Mr. Koike and Mrs. Tsujimura, were those three.

Inspector Megure turned his head and saw the CDs on the bookshelf next to him, exclaiming, "Wow, there are so many CDs here!"

“Yes,” said Fumio Koike, “because our master has always loved listening to classical music.”

Classical music? But when the body was discovered, it was clearly opera playing!

Conan vaguely heard the word and pondered it to himself. Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat.

No. .

044 Reasoning

Chapter 44

"Sister Xiaolan, I don't feel well and I'd like to go downstairs to rest."

"Conan, I'll go with you..."

Kind-hearted Ran Mouri was very worried when she saw Conan looking upset.

"No need." With that, Conan turned and ran away.

Faced with Conan's strange behavior, Ran Mouri was at a loss and hurriedly asked Shiraishi, "Shiraishi-kun, is Conan... alright?"

"Don't worry, Ran, Conan will be fine," Shiraishihara reassured Ran Mouri.

After Conan disappeared for a while, Heiji Hattori had already begun his deductive performance.

"The murderer is you!" Hattori Heiji turned around, his finger pointing directly at the old man—Tsujimura Toshimitsu!

"What?" Everyone was shocked.

Inspector Megure quickly asked, "Heiji Hattori, what's the basis for your reasoning?"

“Of course.” Hattori Heiji held a needle in his hand, a confident smile on his face. “Inspector Megure, could you please play the role of the deceased?”

"Oh..." Inspector Megure nodded with a blank expression.

“At the time of the incident, all the windows in the study were locked from the inside, and the only door that allowed entry and exit was also locked with a key.”

With a confident smile, Hattori explained his reasoning to everyone.

"In this way, the study becomes an airtight room. But this seemingly absolutely sealed room actually has a gap!"

"What gap?" Kogoro Mouri was taken aback, his face full of confusion.

"It's the gap under that door!" Hattori pointed to the gap under the door.

"You're not suggesting that the murderer slipped the study key into the victim's pocket through the crack in the door, are you?" Kogoro Mouri asked, glancing sideways with a dismissive expression.

“You’re right, that’s exactly it!” Hattori’s words were like a thunderbolt. “All you need is tape, and what I just found…” As he spoke, he pulled a roll of fishing line from his pocket. “That’ll be enough for tying iron hooks.”

"What use is a fishing line?" Kogoro Mori was increasingly confused.

“Next, I will demonstrate the murderer’s modus operandi…” Hattori Heiji, holding an iron needle, walked to Inspector Megure, who was playing the role of the victim.

"The murderer first stabbed the victim in the neck with a poisoned needle, killed him, and then took the victim's key."

Next, pull out the fishing line with the iron needle attached, then secure the other end of the fishing line with the iron needle attached with tape, stuff the end with the iron needle attached into the victim's pocket, and let the fishing line pass through the middle.

Finally, have the victim sit in a chair... in the position where the body was found, with the hand supporting the cheek.

As Hattori spoke, he helped Inspector Megure sit down in a chair, then slowly walked to the door, pulled on the fishing line, closed the door, and began to pull the line...

To everyone's astonishment, the key actually slid slowly from outside the door into Inspector Megure's pocket!

"And so, a perfect secret room is formed!" Hattori Heiji pushed open the door and smiled confidently.

"Wow...that's amazing!" Everyone stared blankly at Hattori Heiji's reasoning demonstration, stunned for a moment.

Inspector Megure immediately identified the culprit as Toshimitsu Tsujimura: "Mr. Tsujimura, so it seems you are the culprit?"

Just as Tsujimura Toshimitsu was about to admit it, Shinichi Kudo's voice of denial came from outside the door.

"No...you're wrong...the murderer isn't Mr. Tsujimura!"

Everyone turned to look at the sound and saw Shinichi Kudo leaning against the door, wearing an ill-fitting suit of trousers and a white shirt, looking haggard.

Ran quickly stepped forward and asked, "Shinichi, what are you doing here?"

Shinichi Kudo said coolly, "Because the case is calling me."