Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"We have roughly sorted out the whole case and now we would like to report to the police officers who participated in the operation, the social groups that are concerned about this case, and the general public."

The Osaka Police Headquarters conference room was packed with all sorts of people. Television staff broadcasting the news and various media workers crowded at the front of the stage, all pointing their cameras or video cameras at Hattori Heiji.

The camera lenses, like gun barrels, laid bare the horrific situation in Osaka, exposing it to the public eye and foreshadowing a far more terrifying escalation of the global war. Prior to this, this world-class conflict had not spread beyond the battlefield; at least within nominally sovereign states, civilians outwardly lived relatively peaceful lives.

"Chief, is the explosion in the West District really just a simple gas leak? Don't you think such an answer is an insult to the public's intelligence and a blatant display of police inaction?"

Before Hattori Heiji could even speak, a reporter with an Osaka accent confronted him. The reason was that, in order to appease the poor who had lost everything in the West Ward bombing and to prevent them from spreading the riots to other areas, the Osaka Police Headquarters issued a document about the gas explosion an hour after it occurred.

"Of course I must admit that the gas explosion was a hasty judgment by the Osaka police. Our police officers had a certain degree of panic and resistance towards the gas-filled West Ward, so they made an unreasonable judgment without sufficient observation." Heiji Hattori read out the names of several trainee police officers and stated that he would end their working relationship with the police headquarters.

"However, our regular police officers, in order to commemorate those who died in the explosion, rushed into the West District wearing simple gas masks and uncovered the truth of the incident."

Hattori Heiji waved his hand, signaling Otaki to bring the police officers who had been circling the West District to stand behind him amidst the noise of the malfunction.

At the meeting room door, the Kudo family, whose hands hadn't been down since the beginning, listened to the praise for the police. Some of the media outlets, who had indeed spent some time in the West District, affirmed that the West District hero Hattori Heiji had mentioned had appeared there.

All of this made Maki Nohara a little impatient. She turned to look at her father, wondering when this useless farce would end.

"Instead of putting on this show, why not spend more time on the people who are still alive?"

As expected, Hokuto is the one everyone hopes to save Japan by being with this bunch of insects.

Unfortunately, as Kudo Yuji's adopted daughter, she probably can never return to the North. Her identity is an objective fact, and no matter how hard she tried in the past, she will never be completely trusted by her companions again.

"Calm down. These kinds of briefings are for people who are still alive." Kudo Yuji ruffled Maki's hair and then pushed her into Rize's arms. "It's the older sister's responsibility to comfort her younger sister. Dad isn't good at this."

"Simply releasing information about the case won't get the whole country to focus on this bombing. Afterwards, Chief Hattori will probably apply for relief donations from Tokyo and the public."

"Besides, they promised Ms. Uchitake that they would pin the whole case on her. Holding this briefing is the only way to reassure that woman and get her to plead guilty in court." Conan put his hands in his pockets and glanced at Okita, who was sitting next to him with red eyes, his head buried in his hands, and Hattori Mamoru's arm around his shoulder. (End of Chapter)