Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

The heavy safe door was slowly pulled open, and in the center, a samurai sword lay quietly, its scabbard simple and unadorned, standing out starkly from the surrounding array of exquisite antiques.

The police officers who had been waiting immediately stepped forward, took out gloves from their tool bag, carefully put them on, and steadily took the samurai sword out of the safe, gently placing it on a long table covered with white velvet that had been prepared in advance.

The entire process was carried out with utmost care, as if afraid of causing the slightest damage to the knife, which might be a stolen artifact.

"No way? We've made a mistake?"

Almost the instant the katana was put down, Kawada Hako's voice rang out in disbelief and astonishment.

She instinctively took half a step forward, her eyes fixed on the samurai sword on the table: "This...this isn't the samurai sword that was lost from the museum, is it?"

"It certainly doesn't look like it." Maeda Yōjin frowned, his gaze sweeping over the blade and scabbard repeatedly.

"It's nothing like the fancy knife in the photo. Look at the blade, it's all gray and dull, without any luster."

As he said, the samurai sword that the officers took from the safe looked unremarkable.

Not only was the blade dull and lifeless, but the deep blue gem the size of a pigeon egg, which was in the center of the scabbard, was also missing.

The two are worlds apart.

"No, look here."

Lin Xiuyi slowly walked to the long table, pointed to an inconspicuous dent in the middle of the scabbard, and...
"Something should have been inlaid here. There are still traces of glue on the edges. Perhaps it was that deep blue gemstone."

"Yup!"

Chibo Jinghua immediately leaned closer, bent down slightly, and fixed her gaze on the indentation Lin Xiuyi pointed to. After observing it carefully for a moment, she said...

"The size and shape of this dent do indeed look like it was left after a gemstone was inlaid. Could it be that Mito Shinzo pried the gemstone out?"

Everyone's eyes immediately focused on the indentation in the scabbard, and they all nodded in agreement.

Takeshi Ikenami then turned to look at the silent curator, Shinkawa, whose eyes were fixed on his katana.
"Director, whether this samurai sword is the one that was lost from the museum is for you to determine."

Director Shinkawa's body trembled slightly, and his breathing became somewhat rapid.

He took two steps forward, glanced at the samurai sword on the table, and his voice trembled with barely suppressed excitement: "There's no mistake, this is indeed the Tokugawa family samurai sword that was lost from the museum! There's no mistake!"

As the old man spoke, he eagerly reached out his hands, wanting to touch the samurai sword he had been searching for for ten years.

But just as his fingertips were about to touch the scabbard, he suddenly realized what was happening, quickly withdrew his hand, and pulled out a pair of white cotton gloves that he had prepared beforehand from his pocket, trembling as he put them on.

Only then did he step forward again and carefully pick up the samurai sword from the table.

The weighty feel of the bottle brought tears to Director Shinkawa's eyes.

He held the katana in his arms, his fingers gently stroking the blade, muttering to himself, "That's it! The feel, the design—it's definitely the sword of the Tokugawa family! There's no mistake!"

"But besides the gemstone, this knife looks a bit different from the one in the photos we saw before."

The Imperial Guard Commander was still somewhat puzzled. He scratched his head and pointed to the blade, saying...
"The blade has become much duller; it doesn't have that gleaming, cold light it had in the photos at all." Hattori Heizo walked over to Director Shinkawa, his gaze carefully examining the katana.

"Curator, are you sure you haven't made a mistake? After all, the appearance of this knife has changed so much, what if..."

“I absolutely cannot mistake it!” Director Shinkawa interrupted him, shaking his head with absolute certainty. “I personally put this knife into storage and registered it myself. I remember every single detail of it clearly.”

As he spoke, he held the samurai sword and carefully examined it from top to bottom. His fingers paused on the surface of the blade for a moment before he made a discovery.

"That bastard!"

Director Shinkawa suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with anger.

He gritted his teeth and said resentfully, "He must have been worried that the knife's appearance was too conspicuous and that someone would notice something was wrong, so he melted another layer of tin onto the blade to deliberately make it dull and lifeless!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old curator picked up his samurai sword and strode to a stone whetstone in the corner of the collection room, about to raise his hand to sharpen it on the whetstone.

"Director!" Upon seeing this, Takeshi Ikebab's expression changed instantly, and he quickly stepped forward to stop him. "Please wait a moment! We cannot yet confirm that this knife is the stolen item; we do not have a complete appraisal report yet."

“If it weren’t the one lost from the museum, we wouldn’t be in a position to handle it this way. If we were to damage it, and if Shinzo Mito pursued the matter, he could bankrupt the Osaka Police Headquarters!”

The people around him watched Director Shinkawa nervously, afraid that he might do something impulsive in a moment of excitement.

Lin Xiuyi stood still, watching everything calmly. He trusted Director Xin Chuan's judgment and understood the old man's excited feelings at this moment.

Fortunately, Takeshi Ikenami's worries didn't last long. Director Shinkawa simply rubbed the side of the blade lightly against the whetstone.

Soon, a small corner of the katana's blade was worn away, revealing its original metallic sheen.

Upon seeing this, the old curator immediately stopped sharpening his knife, pinched the edge of the broken tin layer with his fingers, and gently tore off a thin, silvery-white tin sheet completely.

As the tin layer was slowly peeled off, the original shape of the blade gradually became apparent.

It was a cold, silvery-white color, forged through countless trials. When sunlight shone on it, it reflected a chilling light. Fine forging patterns were faintly visible on the blade, which was exactly the same as the blade of the ornate samurai sword that everyone had seen in the photos!
"We're not mistaken! This is the knife!"

Kawada Haeko cheered, slapping Maeda Yoto's shoulder hard, her voice filled with excitement.
"Great! We finally found it!"

The other members of the Kyoto University Mystery Club also breathed a sigh of relief, their faces beaming with joy.

Their main purpose in coming to Osaka was to recover the precious samurai sword that was stolen from the Osaka Museum.

Now that the goal has been achieved, everyone is filled with joy.

"Found it, finally found it!"

Director Shinkawa held the samurai sword, his body trembling uncontrollably, tears of emotion streaming down his face and dripping onto the floor.

He had been waiting for this day for a full ten years.

For the past ten years, he had blamed himself countless times and suffered from insomnia countless times because of the theft of his katana. Now, his wish has finally come true, and the huge weight on his heart has finally been lifted. (End of Chapter)