Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"Did I need to kill Sasaki Kiyori in this way?"

The two brothers walked out of the hall against the flow of the crowd. In the courtyard of the Sasaki Manor, seeing that there was no one else around, Kudo Yuji looked at Conan with a disdainful expression.

"Why don't I just find a few police officers to arrest him, then tell the Southern government that he's selling weapons to the North, and have him executed directly? Why bother with all this roundabout methods?"

Even in Kansai, a region where it's obvious to anyone with eyes to see that it doesn't get along with the Tokyo government, no one dares to openly refuse Tokyo's control. Ultimately, Yuji Kudo just didn't want to make things too ugly, and besides, there was no need for it.

"I think so too. If you killed Sasaki Kiyoyori, you wouldn't have done it so carelessly."

Conan breathed a sigh of relief, knowing full well that his younger brother in front of him probably had blood on his hands long ago, but at least in person he didn't want to equate Yuuji with a mad politician.

"The current focus is not on the death of Kiyoyori Sasaki, but on the fact that the Osaka police are under pressure from the major families behind the Sasaki family and cannot handle the case openly. That is why I stayed here instead of going back."

Yuji Kudo pinched his chin, looking at Conan with a half-smile.

He arranged for Maki to pretend to be his biological daughter so that he could accept the Sasaki family's invitation to stay at the manor that night, while the three kids who sneaked in were to obediently go home with the school detectives after the memorial service.

When are you planning to ask me for help...?

"You guy..."

Just as Conan, who had figured out Yuuji's thoughts, was about to retort, a scream from the second floor of the hall jolted everyone out of the relaxed atmosphere of the memorial service.

Those students who were originally chatting or discussing which cases the police had handled poorly all suddenly changed their expressions and looked towards the stairs.

"There's a scream! Could it be...?"

The student detectives all wore expressions of disbelief, but their expressions changed within seconds, revealing a hint of excitement. The girls rubbed their fingers together, while the boys took their first steps, letting out howls like demonic monkeys, and scrambled up to the second floor while Sasaki and her daughter, along with the members of the various families, stood there dumbfounded.

"I was the first discoverer!"

The boy at the front was clearly skilled at climbing stairs. As he pushed off with his feet, he also gripped the openwork railing pillars on both sides with his hands, proving himself to be a true young detective.

"Osaka is truly... a land of outstanding people and resources. Kyoto is far inferior..."

Ookahara Mi was still defiant, but she had already hidden behind Nohara Maki, looking at Hattori Mamoru and Iori Ritsu with a wary gaze. Suddenly remembering that the person next to her was from Tokyo, she kept a little distance and also carefully stared at Nohara Maki.

"Ms. Kudo, are student detectives in Tokyo like this too? Then we in Kyoto are really outdated."

"What a coincidence." Nohara Maki looked at the Japanese high school students who were jumping, climbing walls, and some even walking sideways on the stair pillars in order to become Superman.

"We don't usually call monkeys detectives."

Similarly, the second-floor passage was blocked by chefs and waiters. Even when Sasaki and her daughter scolded and rammed at those who had occupied the second-floor passage and stairs of their mansion from the first floor, they were only pushed down by the butts of a few boys in the last row.

Fortunately, although these Osaka students were abstract, they at least had basic detective skills. No one barged into the room from which the screams were coming from. In fact, several of the girls who were still on the first floor took out their phones and made calls.

"Are they really so sure it's a murder case?" Maki Nohara looked at Mamoru Hattori. "What if it's a false alarm and the police have made a wasted trip?" "It's alright. The Osaka Police Headquarters has a special group of officers for these kinds of field missions. Their job is to arrive at the location of the report, confirm that a case has occurred, and then call for more officers from the police headquarters."

Mamoru Hattori stated that all schools in Osaka are telling children that it is not shameful to bother the police, and that it is much better to find a police officer if you have any problems than to lose your life.

“So even though many people dislike Hattori Mamoru’s handling of the domestic situation, not many people actually march to force him to step down.” Iori glanced at Hattori Mamoru.

Who could resist such a caring older man? There's no guarantee the next one will be better than Hattori...

"Dead, he really is dead! I wasn't wrong! Where are the police?!"

The deafening cheers echoed down from the second floor through the crowd. Perhaps realizing that this was impolite, the cheers abruptly stopped after only two seconds, and the detectives gritted their teeth and berated the murderer.

"It's a locked-room murder! Our time to be tested has come!"

Having finally squeezed through the crowd to the second floor, Sasaki and her daughter heard this and walked speechlessly to the door of the secret room. They saw that the door had been smashed open from the outside, and the broken lock clearly showed that it had been locked from the inside. The windows were also sealed off.

"That's enough! This is our home. Get out of here, you bunch of weirdos, before the police arrive!"

Sasaki Chiyo pounded on the door frame and roared loudly, trying to drive the people she had paid to hire downstairs.

"Well, in fact, madam, according to the law of free detectives, when a murder has occurred, the suspect cannot use home ground as a reason to expel a detective."

A student standing at the stairwell pushed up his glasses, reminding the somewhat erratic Sasaki Chiyo.

"You're calling me a suspect? That's nonsense! Which school do you go to?!"

"Kaifang Academy." The boy's companion coughed. "Madam, intimidating and threatening the detective will only increase your suspicion. Calm down. The deceased seems to be your husband's mistress who was exposed online before his death. There's nothing wrong with you being the prime suspect."

To prevent so many people and the Sasaki mother and daughter from potentially ruining the scene, the heads of the detective clubs from each school called all their members back to the first floor, while several heads, the student who had just broken down the door, and the Sasaki mother and daughter remained on the second floor.

"Can you see it?"

Led by the head of the Kaifang Academy, she used her phone to pull all the students from these schools into a video chat room, and then she clipped the hanging camera to her chest.

"They said they saw it very clearly, Minister Okita." The student who slammed the door pointed his phone at Okita.

"There's a guy downstairs with a police ID, but he says he's a policeman from Tokyo. Should we let him come up?"

In principle, there is no law enforcement authority over this cross-regional situation, but Okita just rolled his eyes at him.

"Tokyo? Of course! If he doesn't come up, how are we supposed to get in and find evidence? Hurry up and bring that officer up."

The ministers exchanged glances, pondering how to get the Tokyo police officer to take the blame and the reason for his sudden appearance in Osaka. After a moment's thought, another minister from a different school shook off his chef's uniform and hurriedly called out to the students downstairs into Okita's phone.

"Wait, let's invite Hattori-senpai along too. If we solve the case before the Kansai police arrive and Tokyo publicizes it, Osaka will lose face big time." (End of Chapter)