Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 237 Ice Rink

It was almost 7 o'clock in the evening.

The ice rink is now packed with adults and children, almost too crowded to be suitable for skating anymore.

Sonoko sighed repeatedly in front of her best friend, Ran.

In such cold weather, why is she dressed up so beautifully, wearing only a fitted long fur coat and a mini skirt?
The anticipated intimate contact simply could not be achieved.

Not only can Kido skate, but that bespectacled kid Conan has been taking up the spot, so now we don't even have a chance to skate together. All that's left is the fireworks festival later.

The 13th operation failed.

"I should have come earlier. Why is everyone here at night?" Sonoko looked around.

"There's nothing we can do," Xiaolan said with a soft laugh. "This ice rink is the best place to watch the fireworks and the castle. Most people come here to watch the fireworks."

Looking out from the ice rink, you can see the lights shining in the sunset, making it look like an amusement park castle from a fairy tale world.

"Never mind," Sonoko said as she skated away, "I'm going to the restroom. Ran, don't wander off!"

Gao Mo breathed a sigh of relief; Yuanzi's liveliness was really overwhelming for him.

He had clearly hinted long ago that it was impossible for him to marry into the Suzuki family.

He is destined to never be able to embrace a normal family life in the future—this feeling became even more pronounced after advancing to the third rank.

The Grim Reaper, as a rule, cannot disappear. The solution lies in the Notebook, and it is likely that he will gradually become a substitute Grim Reaper.

Furthermore, the chaotic timeline in the Conan world isn't eternal, but he possesses eternal life...

He wouldn't consider matters of the heart until his battle with death was over.

"Speaking of which," Conan asked curiously, "where did that guy go?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he heard a chorus of "idiot! idiot!" Turning around, he saw none other than Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha.
This young couple might be flirting one moment and bickering the next. Even though they like each other, their words can easily change.

She was particularly stubborn, afraid that her true feelings would be discovered.

"Like a little kid." Conan scoffed.

Although he's not much better, he still completely outclasses this Osaka black chicken in terms of emotional intelligence.

"That's wonderful," Xiaolan said, noticing her aunt's smile as she watched the play. "You two have such a good relationship. You may argue, but you seem to rarely be apart."

"what?"

Hattori and his companion blushed instantly, only then realizing the snickers and stares of the surrounding tourists. They quickly waved their hands in denial, saying, "We're not dating..."

"call out--"

"Bang bang bang!"

At 7 o'clock sharp, fireworks were launched and exploded continuously in the night sky.

By this time, it was completely dark, and even the amusement park lights had dimmed considerably, with the castle only illuminated by the firelight.

Gao Mo was enjoying the rare moment of sightseeing.

After arriving in this world, he spent most of his time alone. As his abilities grew stronger, his sense of belonging became increasingly weaker.

I agreed to go out with Xiaolan and Yuanzi this time because I wanted to relax.

Unfortunately, Ai and the professor didn't come along.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" The long-haired beauty from before had somehow moved closer to Xiaolan. "Even though I've seen her many times, I still don't want to miss her."

Sano Izumi, a female office worker.

“Sano,” another woman with squinty eyes and a knitted hat called out breathlessly, “have you seen Chihiro?”

Komatsu Yoriko, 30 years old, housewife.

“No,” Sano Izumi asked doubtfully, “Weren’t you always together?”

"She said she was going to the restroom and then walked away." The remaining people gradually gathered around.

"The restrooms in the skating rink were being cleaned, so I changed my shoes and went outside... but I couldn't find Chihiro anywhere."

"That guy must have deliberately disappeared..."

Gao Mo followed the sound of their conversation and looked toward the group of long-haired women.

He ignored all these people, and as a result, cases kept piling up around him.

"Where are the restrooms at the ice rink?" Gao Mo interrupted and asked.

"It's over at the exit."

Pushing through the crowd, even before getting close, I saw a large group of tourists gathered outside the reception building, all talking amongst themselves.

It seems to be human nature to watch a spectacle, regardless of whether it's dangerous or not.

"Something's happened in the toilet! It looks like someone died inside!"

"I heard she's a pretty girl..."

"Give way!"

Women's restroom.

The onlookers did not enter the scene. The park owner, looking frightened, stopped everyone, trying to remain calm despite her fear, knowing that she should protect the scene first.

In order to win over Gao Mo, the detective knowledge he had crammed unexpectedly came in handy.

"Sonoko-neechan!" Conan rushed into the women's restroom first, "What happened?"

“Inside…inside,” Sonoko pointed to a toilet stall in a trembling voice, “the woman who bumped into you was shot dead…”

Gao Mo followed Hattori into the restroom.

In the small cubicle, blood splattered across the walls, and Chihiro Itami, staring wide-eyed, slid to the corner.

The fatal wound was a gunshot to the heart, which pierced through and caused blood to splatter, leaving a lot of bloodstains on the ground.

There were S-shaped bloodstains on the wall next to the body, resembling a death message. The left index finger was stained with blood and hung limply on the thigh stocking.

There was a hunting rifle in front of the body.

The scene itself wasn't complicated, but it contained a lot of information.

Gao Mo glanced at Yuanzi, whose face had turned pale.

“Because there was a ‘Cleaning in Progress’ sign outside, and no one answered when I knocked, I kept waiting,” Sonoko said, clearly frightened. “And then…”

"Did you see any suspicious people?" Hattori Heiji asked, getting into the zone.

"Yes, because the fireworks started, I went to look out of a nearby window and a strange person wearing a long hooded coat ran out at that moment. He covered his face with his hat and scarf, so I couldn't see who it was."

Sonoko retreated to Gao Mo's side, seemingly feeling safer that way.

"I wasn't the only one who saw it, but I didn't pay much attention to it at the time. Who knew that when I came in, I would see that this person had been killed."

“The killer probably used the sound of fireworks to cover up the gunshot,” Hattori said, analyzing the scene. “There was saliva on the muzzle, which means the victim’s mouth was blocked, and then the gun was moved to the chest when the fireworks were set off… It was a planned murder.”

Hattori frowned in confusion as he spoke: "But I don't quite understand why we would go to the trouble of moving the gun?"

"Maybe it's because of this S-shaped bloodstain?" Conan said, stroking his chin. "If it were a direct headshot, there wouldn't be any trace of death..."

Before he could finish speaking, Conan suddenly realized what was happening and met Hattori's gaze. His scalp tingled, and he quickly ran to Gao Mo's side and laughed awkwardly, "Kido-nii-san must think so."

"This kid..."

Hattori had suspected Conan was suspicious before, but he didn't think much of it when faced with a murder case.

"Let's wait for the police to arrive. If the murder weapon is this hunting rifle, we can find the owner through the gun's serial number..."

"This is my gun."

Long-haired beauty Sano Izumi followed the others into the scene.

"It's the shotgun I used when practicing target shooting. It should be kept in the locker with everyone else's guns. We practiced target shooting together during the day."

"So you all have gunpowder residue on your bodies?" Hattori's eye twitched.

"That's right..."

The beautiful woman in the knitted hat, squinting, couldn't bear to look at the corpse.

"But how could we have killed Chihiro?"

"Does this young man suspect us?" the taciturn, handsome firefighter said in a deep voice. "Judging from the situation, it doesn't seem like an outsider committed the crime. Only a few of us know the combination to the locker's electronic lock."

"Besides, the hunting rifles are all disassembled for storage, and it's difficult for the average person to reassemble them... It's also impossible for outsiders to have caught Chihiro in the bathroom at the right time to commit a premeditated crime, right?" "You seem to know quite a bit about this," Hattori didn't deny it. "Can you tell me where you were when the crime occurred? Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm Hattori Heiji, a detective from the Kido Detective Agency."

"I've heard of the Kido Detective Agency. Do they have a detective named Hattori Heiji?"

"Let's wait for the police to arrive."

"..."

Nobody paid any attention to Hattori, that greenhorn.

Gao Mo's gaze lingered on the long-haired beauty, Sano Izumi.

The woman appeared just as the fireworks started going off, and it would take at least 30 seconds to get from here to the ice rink. The others also appeared within 10 seconds of the fireworks starting...

The only one without an alibi was the taciturn firefighter.

However, he felt that the long-haired beauty was the murderer, not because of any mysticism or superpower, but because it was a basic detective's judgment.

For him, murder cases with fixed crime scenes and fixed suspects were not difficult.

It is far from a perfect crime.

Gao Mo's eyes flickered slightly as he took in the projected text from the people present.

Putting everything else aside, he was more curious about the motive behind this case.

Judging from the relationships between these people, it's unlikely that they would commit murder just because of a few words.

……

Maori Detective Agency.

The man with the mustache was enjoying some quality time alone, completely letting loose in front of the television.

There was no Ran nagging, no Conan getting in the way, only Yoko's singing.

"Now, a news brief..."

Breaking news: A murder has occurred at the ice rink of Tropical Amusement Park. Police are currently investigating. The victim is...

"Tropical Paradise...isn't that where Xiao Lan goes?" The mustachioed man, who was enjoying his beer, suddenly stood up.

How can a murder happen at an ice rink?
He didn't come along this time either.

"Never mind, with Kido here, there's definitely no problem."

The man with the mustache continued watching Yoko Okino's singing program.

"Go for it, Yoko!"

……

The scene of the murder at the tropical amusement park.

Because Inspector Megure had other missions, Takagi and Sato were on duty this time.

Unlike the quiet, unassuming guy he usually is, Takagi is unusually diligent.

"So only Mr. Oda doesn't have an alibi?" Takagi noted in his police handbook.

“I don’t like watching fireworks or joining in the fun,” firefighter Kuniyu Oda said in a deep voice, “so I’m smoking alone on a chair next to the skating rink.”

"police officer!"

An investigator found an old-fashioned keypad phone clutched tightly in the victim's hand in his coat pocket.

"It seems the deceased left behind other messages."

"cell phone?"

【KIX########】

"Could it be that he wanted to call the police but dialed the wrong number? After all, he might have been holding the assailant to his head at the time, and in his panic..."

"Officer Sato."

Gao Mo didn't want to waste time, so he took the initiative to speak after the crowd was dispersed.

"There's no need for separate interrogation anymore. I think the murderer who shot Ms. Itami Chihiro is Ms. Sano Izumi."

"what?"

The long-haired beauty who was comforting her companion was suddenly startled, and turned around to stare at Gao Mo with a stiff face.

Are you sick?
Even while the police were still investigating, they immediately declared her the murderer.

"Please, don't just say things like that!" Sano Izumi said angrily. "How could I be the murderer?"

"Kido-kun, Ms. Sano has an alibi."

Hattori Heiji's forehead was slightly sweaty, and he repeatedly winked at Takamori.

The boss shouldn't cause trouble now; he just felt he had found a crucial clue.

“First of all, there’s the state of the toilet,” Gao Mo said calmly. “No one would normally need to close the lid. Judging from the creases in the body’s clothes and the marks on the thighs, the victim was probably waiting for someone and sat on the toilet seat for a long time.”

"So what?" Sano Izumi said angrily. "Are you trying to say that I made Chihiro wait here?"

"Next is the blood-red letter 'S' on the partition. Sano, among you, only your name matches the blood-red message..."

“Kido-kun,” Hattori interrupted awkwardly, “this message must have been left by the murderer. The victim was shot in the heart and died on the spot, so it was impossible for him to have written something in blood afterward.”

“Yeah, right,” Sano Izumi crossed his arms and sneered, “Do you even know anything about investigation? You can’t even see through such a simple frame-up. Don’t bother the police…”

"Didn't the murderer know that?" Gao Mo laughed. "He deliberately moved the gun barrel so that the victim wouldn't die immediately, yet he still shot him in the heart... Don't you find that strange?"

Hattori fell into deep thought.

“It is indeed very strange,” Sato continued, “The gun was aimed precisely, a sure kill, yet they deliberately left bloody words to frame Ms. Sano…”

"Of course, it was to make the scene look like a setup. Even the murder weapon was Ms. Sano's gun, which was left at the scene."

Gao Mo continued to remind Sano Izumi under her watchful gaze.

"The murderer's target was not Ms. Sano, but Mr. Oda, the only one of the four who did not have an alibi."

"I see. The murderer deliberately left behind a trap that was easy to detect."

Hattori Heiji looked serious and began to suspect Sano Izumi as well.

"It seemed like a frame-up, but after the police investigation, the only person they could suspect was Mr. Oda. The real culprit was thus cleared of suspicion because he was framed..."

"Enough!" Sano Izumi said angrily. "What makes you think I'm the murderer? No matter what, I was indeed framed!"

“It just means you’re highly suspicious,” Hattori Heiji said clearly. “If it’s true that Ms. Itami Chihiro had an appointment to meet someone here, then we can be certain the murderer is a woman.”

If Ms. Komatsu, who had been searching for Chihiro Itami, were the murderer, she wouldn't have needed to draw so much attention; her alibi was quite sufficient.

“I also have an alibi!” Sano Izumi’s face darkened. “I was right next to you when the first firework went off! There’s absolutely no evidence…”

"Isn't this evidence enough?"

Gao Mo took the keypad phone, which was placed in the evidence bag, from Sato's hand.

"KIX actually refers to the airport. Except for Mr. Oda, your names all refer to the location of the airport. KIX is Kansai International Airport, located in Izumisano City, Osaka."

"what!"

Hattori Heiji shouted out loud.

He hadn't even thought of that, even though he often went to Izumisano City.

“If you still don’t admit it, take a look at the soles of your skates,” Gao Mo glanced at Sano Izumi, whose expression was slightly frightened. “When you used Itami Chihiro’s finger to write blood on the wall, the tip of your skates accidentally stepped on the blood, and you still haven’t had a chance to change your skates.”

"you……"

Sano Izumi's expression completely changed.

However, Hattori Heiji and Conan reacted even more strongly.

Should the case be solved so quickly?

Conan looked completely bewildered.

Is this still the low-key Kido?

“Actually, there’s nothing surprising about it,” Gao Mo said, bringing Conan up in front of him. “This kid has learned a lot from Detective Mouri, and he spotted the bloodstains on the ground right away.”

(End of this chapter)