After receiving Yoshino Koharu's emergency call, Inspector Megure quickly rushed to the scene. On the way there, he also received a more detailed explanation from Jiang Hang over the phone regarding the incident.
There was really nothing complicated about the situation.
The murderer, Director Ochiai, surrendered immediately at the scene. He confessed without hesitation and clearly explained both his motive and the method he used to commit the crime.
During the confession, Jiang Hang barely spoke.
When Inspector Megure asked why he had been at the crime scene, Jiang Hang simply explained that he had heard the rumor about the walking armor and came to investigate, only to accidentally witness the murder.
Aside from that, he did not express any personal opinions. Once the police arrived, he left the remaining investigative work entirely to them.
Sneaking into the sealed exhibition hall wasn't exactly illegal.
Although Jiang Hang deliberately left out the detail about picking the lock with a wire, the police wouldn't pursue the matter seriously anyway, considering it happened during a murder investigation. At most, it might result in a verbal warning.
Still, Jiang Hang preferred not to create unnecessary trouble for himself.
Ironically, just as Inspector Megure ordered his subordinates to escort Director Ochiai back to the police station, Kogoro Mouri and his group finally arrived.
"Inspector Megure?" Kogoro Mouri said in surprise, clearly not expecting to encounter him here.
"Oh, it's you," Megure replied, also somewhat surprised.
Kogoro Mouri had once been his colleague.
Back when Mouri was still a police officer, he had already been rather unreliable. After resigning to become a private detective, Megure hardly heard anything about him for a long time.
Only recently had Mouri helped solve a few cases, which improved Megure's impression of him somewhat.
Still, remembering Mouri's old habits always gave the inspector a slight headache.
Since they were former colleagues—and since Mouri had been helpful recently—Megure briefly explained that a murder had occurred in the museum.
The moment he heard the words murder case, Conan Edogawa immediately tried to sneak into the crime scene to search for clues.
It was an old habit.
Ever since he had been shrunk into a child, his small body made it easier to slip around unnoticed.
Unfortunately, he had barely stepped into the hall before someone grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.
"Conan," a voice said calmly.
"The killer has already confessed. The case is over. The police are just documenting the scene now."
"You should head back to Ran Mouri."
The person speaking was Jiang Hang.
In the anime, Jiang Hang had seen countless scenes where Ran or Kogoro lifted Conan like this. He had always wanted to try it himself.
Now that he finally had the chance, it felt surprisingly satisfying.
Conan was initially startled when he heard Jiang Hang's words.
Then confusion quickly followed.
Why would he say that?
Right now, Conan looked like nothing more than an ordinary elementary school student.
Normally, an adult would say something like:
"It's dangerous inside. Kids shouldn't go in there."
But Jiang Hang said something completely different.
The case is already solved.
The crime scene.
Those weren't words people usually said to children.
Did this mean Jiang Hang had noticed something unusual about him?
Come to think of it, Conan had only been shrunk for half a month.
Perhaps he had indeed grown a little careless lately.
If this continued, more people might begin to notice something strange.
At that thought, Conan's body stiffened slightly.
Of course, Jiang Hang had done it on purpose.
Conan had the personality of someone who would risk his life just to solve a case.
The only reason the Black Organization hadn't caught him yet was probably because there were too many traitors inside that organization.
Jiang Hang knew he could only scare Conan temporarily.
The next time a case appeared, Conan would probably forget everything and rush straight in again.
After all, even more unbelievable behavior would happen later.
For example, Conan repeatedly turning back into Shinichi Kudo just to meet Ran, as if he wasn't afraid of attracting the Black Organization's attention.
And his reason for hiding his identity from Ran slowly shifted from:
"I don't want Ran to get hurt."
To something far more ridiculous:
"I'm afraid Ran might beat me to death if she finds out."
But then again, Gosho Aoyama originally intended Detective Conan to be a short-to-medium-length manga.
Because it became extremely popular, it eventually turned into a massive long-running series.
The originally tight main plot gradually filled with endless filler content.
The real tragedy was the Black Organization.
Over the past twenty years, it had transformed from a terrifying criminal empire into a rather embarrassing group.
Aside from Gin and his loyal subordinate who were still seriously acting like villains, most of the other characters turned out to be undercover agents or traitors.
It was honestly quite ridiculous.
After silently complaining about the manga again, Jiang Hang casually stuffed Conan back into Ran Mouri's arms.
Conan was immediately subjected to Ran's famous face-smothering hug.
You should thank me properly, Jiang Hang thought to himself.
You don't get this kind of benefit every day.
When he looked again, Conan's face had turned bright red, and he looked like he might start bleeding from the nose at any moment.
"Conan! Were you running around again?" Ran scolded gently.
She hadn't noticed Conan's blissful expression. Instead, she hurriedly apologized to Jiang Hang.
"I'm really sorry. He always causes trouble."
"It's fine, it's fine," Jiang Hang replied with a casual wave.
"Kids are energetic. That's normal."
Ran then noticed that Jiang Hang had come from the direction of the crime scene.
Curiosity filled her eyes.
"I heard from Inspector Megure that the culprit has already confessed."
"Did you solve the case, Mr. Jiang Hang?"
Conan, who had finally calmed down, immediately perked up his ears.
He wanted to hear the entire story and understand how Jiang Hang had discovered the culprit.
After the Maple Coin Case, Conan already held Jiang Hang in relatively high regard.
Although Jiang Hang was still not as good as him, Conan considered him a detective who shouldn't be underestimated.
"Oh, it's nothing," Jiang Hang said lightly.
"I didn't really solve anything."
"I just happened to enter the crime scene and found the killer still there."
No matter who heard it, the result sounded like pure coincidence rather than brilliant deduction.
Jiang Hang glanced at Conan.
He knew the boy's curiosity would never be satisfied unless he heard the full story.
Since Jiang Hang wasn't the type who liked leaving people hanging, he briefly explained the case.
However, he deliberately left out one detail.
He didn't mention that Director Ochiai had killed the victim right in front of him.
Instead, he said that the victim was already dead when he entered the scene.
After hearing the explanation, Ran only felt that Jiang Hang had been terribly unlucky.
She even worried about what might have happened if the murderer had attacked Jiang Hang as well.
Conan, however, felt deeply disappointed.
That's it?
Seriously?
That was his immediate reaction.
When he heard that the killer had disguised himself as a suit of armor, Conan had already imagined several clever murder methods and possible deduction paths.
Yet the entire case ended simply because Jiang Hang happened to witness the killer… and the killer surrendered immediately?
At the very least, there should have been some kind of confrontation scene!
Ending the case like this felt far too anticlimactic.
If this were a movie, no audience would buy it.
This had absolutely nothing to do with deduction.
After years of solving cases where criminals carefully disguised themselves and left behind intricate clues, Conan was almost overwhelmed with the urge to complain.
At that moment, Yoshino Koharu finally emerged from the restroom nearby.
She clearly looked unwell.
After the police arrived earlier, she had gathered the courage to step into the crime scene.
Unfortunately, the moment she saw the body, she rushed straight to the bathroom.
After nearly twenty minutes inside, she finally began to feel a little better.
"Jiang Hang… you scared me to death earlier."
"You suddenly picked the lock with a wire, then told me to call the police before running inside to confront the killer…"
"Do you have any idea how terrified I was—"
She was about to continue complaining.
Then she suddenly noticed Ran Mouri standing beside Jiang Hang and immediately shut her mouth.
After all, it wasn't exactly appropriate for people to hear about them picking locks.
But while Yoshino Koharu fell silent, Conan's eyes narrowed.
Picked the lock?
Suddenly, he remembered something.
Jiang Hang had mentioned earlier that he came to the museum to investigate the rumor about the walking armor.
Conan's group had also passed by the exhibition hall earlier.
However, they had simply seen the Closed sign and walked away.
But Jiang Hang…
He had actually gone so far as to break in to investigate the rumor?
Wait.
If what Yoshino Koharu said was accurate, Jiang Hang noticed something suspicious before he opened the door.
Conan's mind immediately constructed a theory.
Normal people wouldn't break into a locked exhibition hall just because of a rumor.
And Jiang Hang didn't seem like the type to act impulsively.
Especially considering the keen observational ability he displayed during the Maple Coin Case.
Which meant there was another possibility.
Perhaps Jiang Hang heard the rumor about the walking armor…
Then discovered some additional clue elsewhere…
And deduced that something dangerous might happen in the museum.
That was why he came to investigate—and even broke the lock to enter the sealed hall.
Unfortunately, he arrived just a little too late to prevent the murder.
If Conan's deduction was correct…
Conan looked at Jiang Hang again.
This man might be a detective whose methods were completely different from any detective Conan had ever encountered before.