"Conan, I just noticed—how'd you get a shoe print on your clothes?"
Following Conan quietly as he wandered around, Sonoko Natsume pointed with concern at a faint footprint mark on the front of his shirt.
"It was from an uncle kicking me earlier. But honestly, I was partly at fault too."
Conan put on an innocent expression, clearly not wanting to dwell on the small incident, and casually brushed the dust off his clothes.
"Oh, was it that man in the restroom who got blown up by the bomb?" Sonoko guessed.
"Heh, how'd you guess so accurately?" Conan's eyelids drooped slightly, feeling a little speechless inside.
Seeing his reaction, Sonoko immediately understood.
No wonder that guy ended up so badly off—he'd kicked Conan.
Not far from the restroom where the incident happened, she watched the little kid Conan dart inside in a flash.
But Natsume hesitated. To be honest, she was a bit too scared to go in.
From what the police said, the scene inside was gruesome—enough to ruin your appetite. All they'd found was a key and a bent "Mantendo" emblem, warped from the inside.
Only a kid like Conan would charge in without a second thought.
"I'd better not go in. Speaking of which, I haven't seen Uncle Mori today."
She remembered watching Conan before—every time she'd be glued to the screen guessing who the culprit was, Mori Kogorō would show up and eliminate one wrong suspect.
Squeezing out of the crowd of onlookers, she returned to the main hall. Under police orders, the game launch event had been suspended. But with everyone's belongings in the cloakroom, the exit process had slowed to a crawl.
People were gradually collecting their checked items, waiting where they were for further police instructions.
Around the corner, Sonoko spotted Mori Kogorō slumped on the floor, his face ashen and his spirits clearly low.
Huh? Just a while ago Uncle Mori had been full of energy—had the aftereffects of the alcohol kicked in now?
With his hands in his pockets, his bangs partly covering the frames of his glasses, Conan emerged from the restroom looking unusually serious. He stood off in a corner, observing the crowd.
"I'm Inspector Megure from Division 1. Listen up, everyone. We have reason to believe there may still be explosive devices on the premises, so for now, we're asking everyone to return home. However, if anyone spots a person suspected of being the bomber, please contact the police immediately."
Inspector Megure stood at the front, directing the evacuation.
'No! I can't let everyone leave—if they go now, we'll never find the culprit.'
Conan gritted his teeth, staring resentfully at the dispersing crowd. His gaze shifted silently to Mori Kogorō, who was still out of sorts from drinking.
'Darn it. I've already got a lead on the criminal, but now I've got to borrow Uncle's body again.'
Having made up his mind, Conan didn't hesitate. The targeting reticle of his wristwatch tranquilizer dart gun appeared.
"Inspector Megure, you can't send everyone home just yet."
A deep, confident, and stern male voice echoed through the hall—the voice of a true master detective.
"What? According to our investigation, the suspect may be an indiscriminate bomber. There could still be unexploded bombs somewhere in this venue." Inspector Megure sounded resistant, clearly opposed to Mori's reasoning.
"Is that really the case? I believe there were no bombs initially planted in this hotel. The culprit had a specific target and placed the bomb inside that person's suitcase. Therefore, under no circumstances should the guests be allowed to leave. The criminal is definitely among them."
Hidden in a secluded spot, Conan held a small bow tie—which on closer inspection was actually a sophisticated voice-changing device.
Tucked away in her own corner, Natsume moved quietly. The moment she heard Uncle Mori's deductive voice, goosebumps rose all over her arms.
So it's appeared—the legendary Sleeping Mori Kogorō.
Uncle Mori seemed to radiate a kind of magnetism, drawing everyone's attention, yet no one noticed Conan hiding just a meter or two behind him.
"Don't tell me you already know who the culprit is, Mori?"
"I have a strong lead. But before that, if we verify the contents of a certain item, the suspect will confess on their own."
As she listened to the deduction, Natsume kept scanning for Conan's position. Strangely, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't spot him.
But with a slight use of her ability, probing for thermal anomalies around her, a rough heat distribution map formed in her mind.
There, just a few meters from everyone, was the hidden figure of that little kid Conan.
'Could it be that Conan has an ability too? Something like Juufuku's visual interference?'
If that were the case, Natsume felt Conan's peculiarities ran even deeper. In some ways, bringing death wherever he went was a pretty eerie ability in itself.
She just didn't know whether this "walking harbinger of death" ability would work on espers like her.
Natsume had no intention of interrupting Conan's deduction. After all, hadn't that guy who'd kicked Conan just ended up mysteriously blown to pieces?
When dealing with the Grim Reaper, the best strategy was to preserve evidence.
She pulled out her phone, found an angle where Conan wouldn't easily notice, and quietly started the video recording function.
"Now then, Mr. Nakajima, would you please open the suitcase you've been clutching tightly ever since retrieving it, and show everyone what's inside?"
The moment the suitcase was opened, Takeshita, a Mantendo employee, threw his hands over his head in terror and dropped to the floor—but all that tumbled out of the case was a large stack of money.
"And now the truth is clear. You, Mr. Takeshita, are the suspect."
"Mori, what's going on here?"
"Because he knew the bomb was in that suitcase. Judging from the Mantendo emblem found bent from inside at the scene, the bomb was never planted in the hotel—it was placed inside the case."
"..."
"The target was always Mr. Nakajima. By swapping the claim tags at the baggage counter, he could deliver the bomb-laden suitcase to Mr. Nakajima without anyone knowing."
"The reason someone else became the victim was that Mr. Nakajima also swapped suitcases with another person. The case now in Mr. Takeshita's possession is what Mr. Nakajima originally intended to trade. And the key found at the scene—I suspect it matches this very suitcase."
"I see."
Listening along, Natsume also had a moment of clarity—that did make sense. But then Conan's next line of questioning took a strange turn.
"And now, Mr. Nakajima, who only escaped death by sheer luck, we're approaching the heart of the matter."
"That tall man in black you were dealing with earlier—just who is he? With the trade disrupted, that organization will surely come after you. Your best option is to seek police protection."
The commanding voice turned severe, leaving no room for Nakajima to argue.
"I really don't know anything! The only place I ever met them was the same spot every time—the top floor of the Mihato Daikoku Building, a bar called 'Cocktail'."
As soon as Nakajima finished, trembling, Conan—still hidden in the corner—didn't hesitate any longer. He dashed off in the direction of the Daikoku Building.
"What happened to me? My head hurts…"
At that moment, Mori Kogorō, clutching his head, slowly woke up, baffled by all the eyes fixed on him.
--+--
Top floor of the Daikoku Building, a bar called Cocktail.
Less than five minutes after the incident at the Baker Hotel, the bar received urgent orders to destroy all evidence.
The bar owner and several waiters brought out all the strong whiskey from the cellar, dousing the tables and chairs before immediately setting everything ablaze—ensuring no fingerprints of anyone involved would remain.
With wings extended, Sonoko Natsume peered inside through the glass windows outside. The light around her refracted into the clouds above, so there was no fear of being spotted.
She'd followed Conan out of curiosity, but then, impatient with his slow pace, flew to the top floor on her own—just in time to see the bar staff preparing to evacuate.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.