Friday, January 25
Holding a glass of orange juice, Conan sat on the sofa with an unmistakably bored expression.
To be more precise, he was utterly miserable.
Originally, his plan had been to go straight home after school and read the latest volume of his favorite detective novel series.
Who would've thought that the moment he walked out of the school gates to say goodbye to the Detective Boys, he'd run into Ran and Sonoko waiting outside?
The instant he saw them, a bad feeling washed over him.
Only then did he learn that the two of them were attending a gathering with their classmates, a mixer, essentially.
Since Kogoro had gone off to investigate an infidelity case, Conan had no choice but to tag along.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have anyone to make him dinner.
"Seriously," Sonoko grumbled, equally bored, "I only came because I heard it was a mixer."
She slumped over dejectedly.
"And it turns out there are only two guys here, and one of them already has a girlfriend. ...Man, I really miss Kid-sama."
Conan perked up at the mention of someone he actually found interesting.
"Sonoko, are you talking about that thief?"
Sonoko immediately put her hands on her hips.
"Hey, squirt! That's rude! Kid-sama is a phantom thief, not some tasteless ordinary thief!"
As Kaito Kid's biggest fan, she naturally couldn't let that slide.
'Yeah, right. 'Phantom thief' is just a nicer way of saying thief.'
It's still stealing.
Conan set his juice back down and hopped off the sofa. With both hands behind his head, he headed toward the restroom.
'Honestly... I still haven't figured out the identities of the Men in Black who shrank me... And here I am wasting time at some stupid mixer...'
Thinking of the former Organization member now living at Agasa's house made his mood worsen even further.
'Haibara won't tell me a single useful thing.Could it really be that, since she worked in the research division... she genuinely doesn't know anything else?
This is so frustrating...'
After washing his hands, Conan started walking back toward the living room.
But then, he heard movement near the front entrance.
Curious, he jogged over and found Wataru Hino, the class representative of Teitan High School Class 2-C, returning from buying snacks.
After changing into his slippers, Hino noticed Conan staring at him. Smiling warmly, he shook the plastic shopping bag in his hand.
"Conan-kun, can't wait to eat some snacks?"
"Ah... yeah! I really want some pudding!"
Conan silently lamented his fate.
'Pretending to be a little kid is exhausting...'
Hino took out an egg pudding and handed it to him.
"Here you go."
"Thank you, Mister!"
Standing there holding the pudding, Conan let out a heavy sigh as the living room door opened behind him.
'When am I ever going to become high school detective Kudo Shinichi again?'
Feeling hopeless about the future, Conan sat down on the floor and quietly ate his pudding.
His thoughts remained occupied by the Organization. So far, all he'd learned from Haibara was that the two Men in Black were codenamed Gin and Vodka.
Judging from those names, the Organization clearly used alcoholic beverages as codenames.
Just like Haibara's codename... Sherry.
'Sherry? Haibara Ai? ...Wait a second. She never even told me her real name!'
Conan rested his chin in his hand and gave another deadpan look.
"Heh... not like I care anyway..."
Before he could finish speaking, a scream echoed from the second floor.
"WAAAAAH!!"
Every detective instinct inside Conan sprang into action. He immediately dropped the empty pudding cup and dashed upstairs.
Even before reaching the bedroom doorway, he smelled it. The thick, unmistakable scent of blood.
'Damn it! Someone committed another murder right under my nose?!'
...
59, 4-Chome, Beika Town
An upscale residential neighborhood.
Ritsu gloomily retied his gray necktie, his expression clearly less than cheerful.
He had finally made it through an entire workday without receiving a single emergency call before clocking out.
In high spirits, he'd picked Akemi up after work, gone home, changed into comfortable clothes, and was just about to enjoy dinner.
Then, the very instant he picked up his chopsticks, his phone rang.
It was Takagi, who was on duty.
A murder had occurred.
As a result, Ritsu hadn't even managed to take a single bite before rushing back out, driving straight to the crime scene.
Investigating a murder on an empty stomach was miserable enough. Being forced into overtime made it even worse.
Following the responding officers into the residence, Ritsu made his way upstairs to the crime scene.
The first thing he saw was three faces he knew all too well.
"Inspector Onizawa?!"
That was Ran's surprised greeting.
"Wow! It's that super handsome detective from the Metropolitan Police!"
That was Sonoko's delighted reaction.
And then there was—
"Onizawa-Sen—nii?"
That came from a certain someone who had almost instinctively called him Sensei.
From "Onizawa-nii" to the bizarre evolution known as "Onizawa-Sen—nii?"
A masterpiece brought to you exclusively by the shrunken edition of Shinichi, otherwise known as Conan.
The corner of Ritsu's mouth twitched.
'Why do I keep running into these people at every single crime scene?'
He used to think he had a knack for stumbling across murder cases.
Now...
'Kudo's even worse than I am.'
Even police officers didn't have attendance records this perfect.
Maybe Kudo should just become a detective in the Metropolitan Police instead. Considering how much he loved solving mysteries, he probably wouldn't refuse.
Suppressing those thoughts, Ritsu put on an appropriately surprised expression.
"What are you all doing here?"
After Ran explained why they had come to the villa, Ritsu shot Conan a sympathetic look.
The boy had already become completely absorbed in the case.
Perhaps... this was the strange sense of mutual understanding that only existed between straight-laced men.
If someone dragged Ritsu to one of those painfully awkward mixers, he'd probably spend the entire evening wearing the same blank expression.
Takagi, who had arrived earlier, hurried over with his police notebook.
"Inspector, I've already questioned everyone in the villa."
"Good. I'll examine the crime scene first. You can brief me afterward."
"Understood."
Ritsu had always preferred inspecting the body before hearing witness statements.
Sometimes, the crime scene itself gave away the answer.
From the victim's physique and clothing, he could tell she was female. She lay flat on her back atop the bed. The once-pink bedsheets had been completely soaked crimson with blood.
Why could he identify her only by her body and clothing?
Because the short-haired woman's head had been bludgeoned until it was nothing more than a mangled mass of flesh. Her face was completely unrecognizable.
Whoever had killed her had hated her deeply.
"Hm?"
Something about the bloodstains caught Ritsu's attention. The heavy impact spatter covering the wall remained intact.
However, the pattern abruptly stopped near the bedside.
Which meant, the spot where he was currently standing... had likely been where the killer stood.
The killer's body had blocked the blood spatter, preventing it from reaching that section of the floor.
Ritsu turned to look at the neatly dressed people waiting outside. None of their clothes bore even a single trace of blood. That ruled out whatever they were currently wearing.
Which meant, the killer must have worn something removable.
'A raincoat.'
He turned back toward Takagi.
"Takagi. Give me the basic information on all four suspects."
"Yes, Inspector."