Conan: I've been linked to the tech tree system.

"Really."

Hearing him say the same thing made Hattori feel even heavier.

......

Sure enough, the police called not long after.

"Oh, I see. Thank you for calling."

Kogoro Mori slammed the landline phone shut, letting out a sigh with mixed feelings.

"What were the results of the test?"

Although he already had a plan in mind, Hattori still clung to a sliver of hope.

Similarly, Rokuro, standing in front of the main gate, looked at Kogoro Mouri with hopeful eyes.

Kogoro Mouri turned his head and said with some difficulty, "The police found that the shape of the teeth on the charred corpse and the dental treatment marks on Ms. Kimie's teeth were completely consistent."

"what?"

"That's Junhui..."

Although they haven't known each other for long, kind-hearted Ran and Kazuha have already treated Shimabukuro Kimie, who also has a very good personality, as a friend.

Upon hearing that she was the one who died in the fire, he immediately broke down in tears.

Crystalline tears welled up in her eyes, refusing to fall for a long time.

"boom"

Upon hearing this news, the person who reacted the most was Lu Lang, who was anxiously waiting at the door.

He knelt helplessly on the floor, pounding the ground as if he had lost something.

"I don't believe it, it can't be true..."

He shouted out loud, venting his pent-up emotions.

......

Because the old woman who was directly related to Shimabukuro Kimie also disappeared, the detectives had no way to investigate the case.

After some discussion, the group decided to try their luck at the fire scene.

Clearly, this is a waste of time. Tohno Toru had already dealt with all the clues that needed to be dealt with. Even if Conan had his third eye, he wouldn't be able to find any trace of them.

Even if you have doubts, you probably can't gather enough evidence.

Chapter 172 You're really brave!

Beside the charred stone pillar, Kogoro Mori searched for clues alone.

After just a few days of getting to know each other, the beauty and kindness of the shrine maiden Shimabukuro Kimie left a deep impression on them, causing even Kogoro Mouri, a detective who usually just treated detective work as a job, to spontaneously become serious.

"Uncle! Do you have any clues around here?"

Hattori, Conan, and Kazuha walked over.

Tohru Tono and Shiho Miyano, as usual, were at the very back of the line.

Xiaolan stayed in the room and did not come out.

"There's nothing."

Kogoro Mouri said in a regretful tone.

“This case is really strange.” He stood up with his hands in his pockets. “If we don’t find a possible suspect, we won’t know what the motive is. Besides, it’s also puzzling why Miss Junhui would dress up as Saori.”

Kogoro Mouri was completely baffled.

"Well," Hattori Heiji spoke up at this moment, "I think the murderer's purpose was to make people think that it was Saori who died, not Kimie-san, right?"

"So, the murderer is Saori?" Mori turned to look at him.

"We can't say for sure. It's also possible that this was a trap set by the murderer..." Hattori Heiji felt like he was trapped in a logical paradox.

"Is it possible that there are people we've overlooked among these incidents?" Toru Tono suddenly asked.

"Who?"

Conan and Heiji Hattori focused their attention on him.

Tohno Toru considered his words for a moment: "That Kadokawa Saori's father—Kadokawa Muzo, don't you guys find him strange?"

“Monokyo Muzo?” Hattori Heiji was taken aback. “I do feel that this person might have some problems... but the problem is, we don’t have any evidence related to the case at all.”

Tohru Tono shrugged.

"That's the problem. The perpetrator in this case was very cautious, and I couldn't find any clues or traces that might have been left behind, making it very difficult to deduce anything."

"That's true..." Hattori Heiji said absentmindedly, biting his nails, clearly under a lot of pressure. "I just didn't expect that even you couldn't solve it..."

"I'm not Sherlock Holmes, how could I possibly find the definitive answer to everything?" Toru Tono said helplessly.

Conan listened to their conversation, seemingly lost in thought.

"No matter who the murderer is, he's a killer who doesn't care about human life. We absolutely cannot let him get away with it." Heiji's eyes gradually sharpened.

"Ah."

The sound was so soft it was almost like the buzzing of a mosquito in summer, but Toru Tono still clearly caught that cold laugh.

Without turning around, it was obvious it was Shiho Miyano.

I just don't know if that laugh is mocking Hattori Heiji or himself.

But those are all irrelevant.

"father!"

Just as the group was lost in their own thoughts, Xiaolan's voice suddenly rang out.

She opened the wooden door to the room and rushed out.

Hearing his daughter's voice, Kogoro Mouri turned around in confusion: "What is it, Ran?"

"Someone just called Miss Junhui's house, and what they said was very strange!"

"Huh? What's so strange about it?" Kogoro asked, puzzled.

"He said he was very grateful to the shrine for parting with the Dugong Arrow, that the 100 million yen he donated was very worthwhile, and that his son's surgery went very smoothly."

"what?!"

"He paid a million to get that arrow?"

Heiji was shocked.

Although his family wasn't short of money, Hattori Heizo's parenting philosophy leaned towards the traditional, believing in raising boys frugally. Therefore, even if his family was wealthy, there was no income from being a high school detective, and he had never seen so much money in his life.

“Hmm…” Xiaolan nodded, “He said he was a man who worked at a shrine, and that the arrow was sold to him specifically.”

"So, the people who called must be the elderly couple who returned their number plates on the morning of the celebration?"

Kazuha suddenly remembered this.

"It seems so." Ran Mouri nodded.

"So, what's that person's name?" Hattori asked, getting to the crucial point.

"He said he didn't know his name, but he was a tall man around 50 years old with stubble on his face."

"What?!" Hattori Heiji imagined it for a moment, then the person being talked about was...

"It's Mr. Men Xie!"

Conan gave him the answer.

"The celebration hadn't even started yet, and that arrow was..." Kogoro Mori realized.

"Then it must be the arrow that Saori lost a while ago," Hattori replied affirmatively.

"Moreover, on the day of the celebration, Mr. Menxie was lucky enough to draw an arrow, and the list of people who bought the number plates disappeared."

“This is worth considering.” Hattori Heiji looked knowing. “On the night we kept vigil for Miss Sumi, the arrow of Miss Naoko, who was killed, was also stolen.”

As he said this, he straightened the hat he was wearing.

"It seems I need to go and check on the boat owner's family who held the vigil that day!"

"Tono, I'm leaving this place to you!"

Hattori shouted, and quickly disappeared from sight.

"This is really urgent," Toru Tono said helplessly.

"That's just his personality," Conan said, rolling his dead fish eyes.

"Then I'll go too!"

Heiji's figure receded into the distance, and Kazuha, as if suddenly remembering something, abruptly said something to Ran before chasing after the figure ahead, also disappearing from everyone's sight.

......

Regardless of the love-hate relationship between Hattori and Toyama Kazuha, the investigation team split into two groups. The Mori family and Tohru Tono and a few others decided to try their luck at Kadokawa Saori's house first.

"jingle"

"jingle"

"Ring ring ring ring~"

Kogoro Mori got angrier the more he pressed the button.

That drunkard in the ditch, he's never home!

Mori simply couldn't stand the alcoholic anymore.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

Perhaps disturbed by the increasingly urgent doorbell, Rokuro suddenly appeared at the door of Kazuya Saori's house.

It seems he lives next door.

"Ah, it's nothing." Kogoro Mori quickly put on an innocent look, scratching the back of his head, as if he wasn't the one who had irritably rang the doorbell just now. "We need to talk to Mr. Motokyo about something."