Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"So what am I supposed to do now that I'm all alone?"

Sitting cross-legged on the floor in the blind spot of the guest room door, Conan rested his hands on his knees, holding Akimura's gun, which looked like it had been half-made by hand, while his tracking glasses displayed Higashino's real-time location.

Looking through the lens, you can see that Higashino's position basically starts from this room and moves left and right. After adding the corner, it is clear that all the rooms in this row are connected together.

After about thirteen turns, Higashino had moved to the very end of the row, and Conan's attention became focused.

Will they move to the opposite row? If so, then the cause of Segawa Shoichi's death should be clear.

When Higashino's signal completely changed from heading east to heading south, Conan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't some kind of monster organization planning to destroy the world or rule the globe, that was fine. As for the spiderweb-like rope hanging Segawa Shoichi from the observation deck, it was probably just a coincidence.

"Hey Conan, did you put a listening sticker on me?! Every room's exhaust vent is blowing air in our direction. If everyone isn't using the toilet at the same time, then the exhaust vent at the end of the exhaust is the ultimate mixture of everyone's stench, right?!"

Higashino's voice suddenly came from the temple of the glasses. Conan was silent for a moment, then heard a sarcastic remark: "Tch, didn't you put it on?"

[It's risky, I almost agreed. This guy is surprisingly cunning. I thought he was just clever but brainless before...]

"Huh?! Why are there... the four signatures from the first edition here?"

[Hmph, do you think I'd agree? By the way, I already have that book, so even if it's true, I don't care!]

"Sister Little Leaf? I didn't expect to meet you here, what a coincidence."

[I take back what I said earlier; this guy is an idiot.]

While it's a bit clever of him to suspect that the other person had put up a listening sticker, the rhetoric he used was so idiotic that Conan still concluded he was just a idiot.

"Can't you talk to me?" Higashino seemed certain that Conan would stick stickers on him, which puzzled the elementary school student sitting in the room.

"Moshi moshi, I'm talking to the sticker, Conan-kun, you should be able to see where I am now."

When did you see the sticker?

Hearing Higashino say that, Conan sighed and glanced at the location with some curiosity, discovering that Higashino had probably already climbed above the room next to Segawa Shoichi's.

"What a coincidence."

While crawling forward, Higashino used his watch flashlight to point at the right leg that had made the sound, tore off the sticker, stuck it on the back of his hand, and then slapped it hard.

"Now!" "...Are you incredibly persistent, or are you just out of your mind...?"

"I hope you call me a reasoning expert, not a mental patient. Although it's embarrassing for an old man to be catching cheaters all day long, I believe that one day I will be able to make a living by reasoning."

"I have the same idea as you..."

Conan paused halfway through his sentence because he realized that the "uncle" Higashino was referring to wasn't Kogoro Mouri as he remembered him, but rather himself.

Wow! I've seen something incredible!

"You're pulling this trick again?" Conan stood up impatiently, checked that Akimura was still awake, and then said into the built-in earpiece on his glasses with relief, "Hurry up and get to Segawa Shoichi's room. There's a good chance we can find some bloodstains in the ventilation duct above his room."

"I'm serious, I can't get through now, the pipes are blocked."

Higashino's words startled Conan. The diameter of the ventilation duct was definitely large enough to accommodate the two children, but it was blocked, which meant it was quite large.

"What was it? The murder weapon, or a cloak used to cover the blood?"

"Neither, it was a middle-aged man who was fast asleep."

Higashino shone his flashlight on the drunken old Kudo, shoved him twice, and patted his rosy cheeks.

"Uncle, why are you sleeping here? Didn't you go downstairs with Segawa Shoichi's secretary?"

"Hmm...Three lifetimes? Where is this?"

Shinichi Kudo, looking completely drunk, suddenly sat up, only to be hit on the head by a metal pipe, or rather, he banged his head against the pipe.

"It hurts... I... I remember after Conan went after Segawa Taikei, I came to find Segawa Shoichi, but... I don't remember much about what happened after that."

"What?! How could this happen?!"

Higashino hurriedly shouted at the sticker, not caring whether he would expose himself in front of old Kudo.

"Hey, Conan, Sayoko is in danger! That fake old man is definitely with her. You need to get there right now!"

"You don't need to tell me!" (End of Chapter)