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

"It would be perfect if it were about the same size as the snowman next to me; this size would be more than enough."

A white light flashed across Conan's glasses; he understood perfectly when he heard that.

Toru Tohno's case-solving speed is still so fast; it seems the evidence for the Fishman Island case really is insufficient...

Conan felt a little better.

"What? Didn't I just say that a snowman this big will fall apart halfway through rolling, and its contents will spill out before it even reaches the pond?"

"If it's just snow, of course not."

Tohno smiled and squatted down.

Bring your index finger and thumb together and gently pick up a pinch of snow from the ground.

"But what if de-icing agent is added?"

"Snow melting agent?" Kiyama Toji was stunned.

"That's right. Sprinkling salt on the snow lowers its freezing point, causing it to melt. This is a common snow-melting method that the government may use after every snowfall."

"However, if the amount of salt sprinkled is too small, it will not be able to cover the surrounding snow at all. In this case, the melting of the snow covered with salt will absorb heat, causing the surrounding snow to freeze even harder."

"Many ski resort tracks or snow dances actually use this principle, but most of them use the more effective ammonium sulfate."

Tohru Tohru explained the principle to the group in a simple way, but apart from Conan, Shiho Miyano, and Professor Agasa, everyone else was completely dumbfounded.

However, there's nothing that can be done about it; after all, you can't expect a foolish college student who studies art to remember the physics and chemistry knowledge they learned in middle school.

The remaining primary school students probably haven't even had chemistry classes yet, right?

"Hey, who cares about your stuff?" Kiyama Kaji didn't quite understand, but felt looked down upon. "Tell me, where did that snowball that hardened with salt come from? Did you see it with your own eyes?"

"Ah, I didn't see it with my own eyes." Toru Tohno shrugged, seemingly getting impatient. "But isn't it right here?"

"Huh?" Kiyama Kaji really didn't understand this time.

"Since the salting operation was originally carried out in this location, some of it inevitably ended up on the snow." Toru Tono threw down a snowflake that had already solidified into crystals and had a salty smell. "The snowball that wrapped the prisoner was originally placed here."

"What do you mean by 'originally here'? And what about the one behind you now?" Kiyama Kaji pointed to the hastily written "Snowman".

"This was done hastily, of course, after the criminal committed the crime, just so you wouldn't find out."

"The evidence is also very simple and direct."

Tohru Tono stood up and ripped off the head of "Yuki-onna".

"what?"

The others were startled.

"Look, the head of this snowman is completely different in hardness from its body, isn't it?"

"As long as the body isn't too weak, and you put the head on, you can completely fool everyone, right, Mr. Banqiao who's been making snowmen outside all this time?"

Tohno Toru and everyone else's gazes were all drawn to Itabashi Kazuya, whose pupils were dilated.

"While anyone can put their head on it, I really can't imagine how you, who have been building snowmen here all this time, could give the murderer room to switch them out."

"And only someone as skilled as you could connect the snowmen so seamlessly in such a short time, right?"

"The specific method of the crime was to take advantage of the blizzard to call Ms. Sakuko Ogura here, with the purpose of getting her to put on her ski suit."

"Then they would use excuses like the snowstorm to lure her into the room, and then force her head into a sink filled with pond water that had been prepared beforehand, and drown her alive."

"Then, after she died, they secretly put boots on her body, carried it out, put it inside the snowman's body that had been prepared beforehand, and pushed it to the edge of a cliff..."

As Toru Tono spoke, his gaze never left Itabashi Kazuya, whose expression remained largely unchanged.

“But according to you, an hour is definitely not enough time for him to push the snowball with Sakuko on it and then make a new one, right?” Kiyama Kaji was still defending his friend. “Besides, when Itabashi found us to meet up, he didn’t seem very tired.”

“Well, if it’s such a big snowball, starting from scratch is indeed a very difficult thing.” Tohru Tohno nodded in agreement. “However, if you start from a half-finished product, it will take much less time and effort.”

"Semi-finished product?"

Upon hearing this, Itabashi Ichiya finally gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"You probably don't know this, do you? These kids actually did something to scare you by tampering with their snowballs."

"Huh?" Genta Ayumi Mitsuhiko showed a surprised expression, "Wow, how did you know?"

"Well, we want to make a sound to scare you next time we meet you, big brother," Mitsuhiko said, scratching his head sheepishly.

"We added a little trick to the snowman's head, like that detective badge." Genta showed no embarrassment whatsoever, displaying remarkable composure.

He pulled his detective badge out of his pocket and pressed the button: "Like this."

“Drip, drip, drip.”

The detective badge made by Professor Agasa beeps, but the sound doesn't come from inside the snowman's broken body that the Junior Detective League has built, as one would expect.

It was inside the belly of that "snowman" snowman.

"Huh? It seems to be coming from inside 'Snowman's' stomach?!" Genta exclaimed in shock.

"So, our snowman's head wasn't blown off by the wind!" Mitsuhiko was also surprised. He had been disappointed for a long time when he first heard the news that the snowman's head had been blown off by the wind and snow.

"Itaru-san threw away the fruit and used the head as material for the newly made 'Snowman' body!" Ayumi finally understood.

“You got it right.” Tohru snapped his fingers, looking at the half-finished “snowman” body. “Use the original snowman’s head as a base, then roll it around a few times, stick on enough snow, and then replicate the ‘snowman’s’ appearance in the same way as before.”

"The only person who could complete this task so quickly and accurately is Mr. Itabashi, who has done it many times before, right?"

"Ah...this...but this still doesn't prove that Itabashi is the murderer at all."

Even though Itabashi himself didn't say anything, Kiyama Kaji still spoke up to refute.

Chapter 184 Red and White Pills

"Once the method of solving the case is cracked, the evidence will be everywhere... The simplest thing is to find a forensic doctor to test the drain in Mr. Banqiao's room to see if there are water residues with the same composition as the pond below."

"If you're lucky, you might even find a few strands of hair."

"I think that, in order to prevent the forensic doctor from noticing anything unusual, Mr. Itabashi deliberately filled several large buckets with water from the pond beforehand to drown Miss Ogura, right?"

"...But, Itabashi had absolutely no reason to kill Sakuko, did he?" Kiyama Kaji was being a bit unreasonable.

The motive for a crime is at most an element to be considered in the process of detective reasoning; in reality, a complete chain of motives is not necessary.

After all, no one can truly fathom the human heart.

Just as Tohno Toru was stuck and about to curse at this nitpicker, a long sigh suddenly came from ahead.

"Sigh~" Itabashi Ichihachi exhaled a breath of stale air.

"Actually, I never thought I would do such a thing, but I lose my mind when it comes to Ma Hua."

He glanced tenderly at Maka Onoe beside him, which was tantamount to admitting his guilt.

"Huh?" Onoue Maka asked, puzzled.

"What do you mean by that?" Kiyama Kaji also turned to look at him.

......

Tohno could guess what happened next, so he didn't listen much and went to give a statement with Yamamura Misao.

It's basically a love triangle story where Sakuko likes Kiyama Kaji, Kiyama likes Maka, and there's also the addition of Itabashi who likes Maka.

Out of jealousy, Sakuko sabotaged the process, deliberately preventing Onoue Maya from skiing again.

After Sakuko got drunk one day, Itabashi Kazuya learned the truth about the incident. In order to prevent the impulsive Kiyama Kazuji from getting involved, he decided to take matters into his own hands...

It's hard to say whether he liked Onoue Maya or Kiyama Kaji.

Good brothers, for life.

-----------------

Having resolved the extremely regrettable love quadrangle, the group returned home before the heavy snow blocked the mountain pass.

Low-chassis vehicles struggle too much on mountain roads, so Toru Tono drove his Wuling Sunshine minivan over.

The horsepower was far from ideal; navigating through the thick snow, it could barely keep up with Professor Agasa's Beetle.

As a result, before the two cars even reached Beika Town, they stalled, possibly due to water getting into the exhaust pipes or something similar.

There was no other way but to take the car to a repair shop halfway through the journey.

"This is really a headache," Professor Agasa sighed, "going out for fun only to have to pay for car repairs."

At this rate, when will I ever become a millionaire?

"Well, after all, we forced our way down the mountain after a blizzard, so there's nothing we can do about it—we're lucky we weren't stuck there for days."

Toru Tono didn't seem to mind, since the Wuling Sunshine was no longer his daily car.

This is what it means to be fickle and easily bored.

"But this place isn't far from Beika Town, is it?"

Conan ran to the sidewalk and looked at the bus route map on the street. "Shall we take the bus back?" he suggested.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"the bus!"

The juvenile detectives, who found everything new and exciting and were full of energy, suddenly became excited.

Toru Tono sometimes envies elementary school students. They haven't seen anything, but at least they are full of enthusiasm for the world.

Growing up means becoming a boring adult who doesn't care about anything.

No one had any objections, after all, the island nation's public transportation is quite developed. At least, it is said that even someone like Shiho Miyano, who studied in the United States for a long time, occasionally chooses to take the bus when there is a traffic jam.

After all, there are dedicated lanes, and if there's a major traffic jam, even dogs won't ride in private cars.

Getting off a bicycle or even walking is faster than driving.

"Ah sneeze!!!"

As soon as he got into the car, Professor Agasa took out a handkerchief from his pocket and started sneezing uncontrollably.

"Does the doctor have a cold?" Toru Tohno was taken aback.

"Ah, it's probably because the wind got into my collar when I went out in the snow earlier."