Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"You mean, the murderer is the owner of this company?"

Kenzo Masuyama leaned against the window, unable to understand how this young lady could so directly deduce that the old man was the owner of the shrine.

“The shrine gate was open. Could it be that someone from outside ran in to steal money and was discovered by that man, so he suddenly had a murderous intent and killed the person?” Yata glanced at Kenzo Masuyama: “What do you think, Kenzo?”

“I’m sorry, young master, but this time I’m actually on this young lady’s side.” Masuyama Kenzo shook his head: “On the contrary, this is definitely a case that’s aimed at murder.”

It's just the countryside; stealing a few things is nothing, why would it warrant murder? From the perspective of a Kyoto resident, Kuromaru sees it as a place where only old money dares to steal from them; going to jail would be a luxury.

“Either his companions killed him.” Kudo Yuji pointed to the corner of the room, and while the four of them didn’t know who he was talking to, he turned his head and said, “Or the shrine owner killed him.”

"A choice between two options?" Kenzo Masuyama stroked his chin, looked outside, his eyes fixed on the face of the person he was with, trying hard to recall the identities of the employees of the stores under his management.

The deceased's companion, leaning against a pillar in the main hall of the shrine, covered his mouth as he looked at his fallen companion beside the offering box. The shrine owner, who had been huddled in a small shop, only opened the side door and emerged, putting on his coat as he did so, after his companion called out.

"What's wrong? Why are you shouting like that all morning?"

"Hey, my friend died right in front of your shrine!" The person in his companion glared at the old man and urged, "Where's your phone? I'm going to call the police."

“Telephone? We don’t have one of those.” The old man waved his hand. “Our shrine is so dilapidated that we can’t even afford to repair the door, where would we get the money to install a telephone?”

“Hiding here isn’t a solution. We can’t leave until we resolve this.” Shintaro nudged Yata, urging him to make a decision quickly. “Then let’s call the police first.”

At Heiwan's prompting, the group pushed open the door and walked out under the watchful eyes of the old man and his companion.

"Were you all listening the whole time? Why didn't you come out? Are you feeling guilty?" The person in the group initially saw the man in his twenties walking ahead and was very agitated, but then noticed that the four children in school age had stopped.

"That's why we didn't come out, precisely because we were worried about you thinking that way," Masuyama Kenzo said. "The car at the gate is ours. We can drive to a place with a phone to call the police first, and then bring the police back with us."

As proof that they wouldn't run away, Kenzo Masuyama said that he could leave Jintaro and Yuuji at the shrine.

"There's nothing we can do about it." The person in the group reluctantly agreed, then walked over and sat down under the eaves on their side, staring intently at the old man at the shrine.

“It seems this person also thinks he is the murderer.” Yuuji nudged Jintaro.

It's so strange. Judging from his clothes, he should be one of Kenzo Masuyama's employees, but the two of them acted as if they didn't recognize him.

"Sir, you're also from Kyoto, aren't you?"

Shintaro pointed to the uniform worn by his companion: "I saw that uniform of yours at the motorcycle shop next to the uniform shop at Izumi High School. Your motorcycles are very nice." (End of Chapter)