When the top two officials of the Metropolitan Police Department arrived with their entourage of senior officers to examine the accident scene, Conan spotted a familiar face.
"Inspector Megure? Why is he here? Isn't this Traffic Bureau jurisdiction? What's a Criminal Division officer doing at an obvious traffic accident?"
Conan couldn't understand the connection between this crash and the Criminal Department's involvement.
When Conan noticed Megure, the inspector also spotted the young detective. At that moment, Megure's investigative instincts—honed through years of cases—told him this accident wasn't as straightforward as it appeared. Wherever Conan and Kogoro Mouri were present, ordinary accidents simply didn't exist.
While his superiors focused on the crash site, Megure quietly approached Conan and Gustave:
"Brother Gustave, what brings you and Conan here?"
"Oh, Inspector Megure! Conan and I were just out for a drive when we happened upon this accident, so we came over to see what was going on."
Megure couldn't help but roll his eyes at such a ridiculous explanation. Out for a midnight joy ride? Did Gustave really think he was that gullible?
"You two were street racing, weren't you?"
Megure studied Gustave with a scrutinizing look, then glanced at the luxury vehicles lining the roadside. Earlier that evening, Kogoro had called him about Gustave's new 180-million-yen car purchase, mentioning how desperately Gustave had wanted him to test drive it—an invitation Kogoro had righteously declined.
While Kogoro hadn't specified the exact model, any car commanding such a price had to possess serious performance capabilities. Combined with Gustave and Conan's presence here tonight, Megure was certain these two had been racing.
"Fine. Conan, if you don't tell me why you're really here, I'm calling Ran."
Since Gustave obviously wouldn't cooperate, Megure shifted his target to the more vulnerable party.
Conan froze at the mention of Ran's name. If she discovered he'd snuck out tonight, the consequences would be catastrophic. He quickly spilled everything:
"Inspector Megure, I confess! Brother Gustave insisted on bringing me here tonight. We were racing against other people. I'm sorry!"
Conan bowed deeply after his admission.
Gustave stared at Conan in disbelief. The kid had just thrown him completely under the bus, even twisting the facts to make himself look innocent!
"Very good, Conan. That's what being honest and responsible looks like."
Megure was satisfied—using Conan as leverage had been the right approach.
"Gustave, taking kids out street racing in the middle of the night isn't appropriate, but since this is your first offense, I'll let it slide this time."
Megure didn't even use his usual "brother" honorific. He patted Gustave's shoulder with fatherly disappointment before walking away.
The main reason for his leniency was that street racing fell outside his jurisdiction—that was Traffic Bureau business. Moreover, with such a major accident occurring tonight, Megure didn't want to create additional complications.
After Megure left, Gustave fixed Conan with a distinctly unfriendly stare.
"I need some water!" Conan announced, then bolted away.
"Oh, kid, you're going to pay for that eventually," Gustave muttered.
A gentleman's revenge could wait—there would be plenty of future opportunities to settle this score.
Actually, Conan's excuse wasn't entirely fabricated—he genuinely was thirsty. He hadn't had anything to drink since witnessing Takuya Fujiwara and Hajime Saionji's tragic accident.
When Conan reached Gustave's Aston Martin and opened the door, he remembered there was no water inside. Suddenly, he thought of Tomokazu Yamashita—when Gustave had infiltrated Takuya Fujiwara's circle earlier, the guy had fetched several bottles of water from his car.
Conan ran directly to Tomokazu Yamashita's R34. The door remained open since the driver hadn't bothered closing it after rushing to the crash site.
"Water! Perfect!"
Conan immediately spotted two cases of mineral water at the passenger's feet. With his short legs kicking for leverage, he climbed into the R34 and grabbed a bottle to drink.
While quenching his thirst, Conan caught sight of a half-empty water bottle in the cup holder. Someone appeared to have scratched the number "1" into the bottle cap with a key.
Despite the poor lighting and his glasses, Conan's vision was razor-sharp—the lenses were purely for disguise, with no prescription. His detective instincts immediately detected something significant about this particular bottle.
Relying on his investigative intuition, Conan carefully retrieved the bottle using his glasses cleaning cloth, examining it thoroughly.
After extensive observation—looking, opening, smelling—he found nothing unusual except that mysterious "1" scratched into the cap.
"This needs chemical analysis," he concluded.
To test the water's composition, he'd need Megure's help. But as a child, his word carried little weight—he'd have to ask Gustave for assistance. Unfortunately, he'd just betrayed Gustave to the inspector...
However, Conan's curiosity about the case ultimately overcame his fear of Gustave's wrath. He wrapped the bottle in his cloth and ran straight back.
"Gustave! Gustave!"
Hearing Conan's voice, Gustave looked down to see the boy clutching a cloth-wrapped water bottle.
"You've got nerve coming back to me."
"Gustave, forget about that for now! I found a clue. Tonight's accident isn't as simple as it looks!"
Conan's expression was deadly serious.
When Gustave heard this, his face showed an "I knew it" expression. As long as Conan was present, natural deaths were impossible!
"What did you find?"
"Here's what happened..."
Conan explained his entire discovery process.
"Understood. Now take that water back where you found it."
"Why?"
Conan looked genuinely confused.
"Idiot! You knew to wrap the bottle in cloth to preserve evidence—don't you think Inspector Megure knows proper procedure too? But now that you've moved it, who knows if it could be challenged as contaminated evidence? Only by leaving it in place and telling Megure we've made a discovery—letting him collect it officially—can we establish admissible evidence!"
Gustave scolded him harshly.
"But I always collect evidence directly in other cases..."
Conan remained somewhat defiant.
"You call yourself Detective! You're only free today because of pure luck! It's only because the criminals you caught were honest enough not to challenge their convictions!"
"Do you understand the exclusionary rule? Evidence collected by a kid like you carries the same weight as police evidence? Did you apply for special authorization before entering crime scenes? All you do is contaminate evidence!"
Gustave emphasized his point by flicking Conan's forehead.
Conan covered his head but didn't dare cry out this time. Gustave's words had terrified him into a cold sweat. Every case he'd previously solved contained some degree of illegally obtained evidence. Under strict legal scrutiny, all those criminals could legitimately appeal their convictions.
Conan rushed back to Tomokazu Yamashita's R34 with the water bottle. Fortunately, the poor lighting and his small stature worked in his favor—everyone's attention remained focused on the accident scene, preventing anyone from noticing his evidence tampering.