Detective Conan: The Superpowered Beings of the Detective Conan World

Hoshino Hikaru quickly received a call from Conan. Without saying much, he quietly put on his Bluetooth headset, answered the call, and left the scene.

"Hoshino, everything's fine on my end. Haibara said it was just an accident and they'll probably turn back in about fifteen minutes. How about you? What's the situation on the ground? How's Hattori Heiji?"

Shinichi Kudo's somewhat weak voice came through the phone.

"You idiot, even in this state you still won't drop the case, I'm here..."

Hoshino Hikaru shook his head slightly, then quickly recounted what had happened. With his "Eyes of Light," Hoshino Hikaru's observational skills allowed him to imprint everything on the scene in his mind and perfectly recount it to Kudo Shinichi.

"I see, a secret room? From the outside, it seems that only the crack under the door could break the seal..."

Shinichi Kudo fell into deep thought for a moment, and his tone became much calmer.

"But no, that gap under the door isn't big enough to put the key deep into a pocket."

Hoshino Hikaru shook his head. The moment he used "Eye of Light," the entire layout of the room was constructed in his mind, and all the clues surfaced in his mind.

In terms of reasoning alone, Hoshino Hikaru is not as good as Hattori Heiji and Kudo Shinichi, but Hoshino Hikaru can obtain enough complete information with his "Eye of Light" to reconstruct everything at the scene in his mind and make inferences based on his understanding of the Conan plot.

Hoshino Hikaru constructed a scene model in his mind, putting a fishing line through the crack in the door and a key into the deceased's pocket to simulate the scene, but ultimately failed.

"That's right. In other words, the crack in the door can't break through this locked room. So it seems that this locked room is unbreakable. As Sherlock Holmes said, after eliminating the impossible, the remaining one, no matter how absurd, must be the truth!"

Shinichi Kudo spoke much faster, and his expression showed a hint of the swagger that once belonged to a high school detective.

"Since the locked room cannot be broken, the only possibility is that the time of the murder was not the time the locked room was established, but the instant we entered. The only person capable of this is Mrs. Tsujimura Kimie. She's truly remarkable, killing someone right in front of several detectives!"

Hikaru Hoshino echoed Shinichi Kudo's words, a sharp glint in his eyes.

"How's Heiji Hattori doing?"

After Shinichi Kudo figured out the method, he turned to ask about Heiji Hattori's situation.

"He went to find fishing line; he's obviously fallen into a trap."

Hikaru Hoshino looked into another room, where Heiji Hattori had come out with a fishing line and a confident smile on his face.

"Hoshino, I'm counting on you here. If you defeat Hattori Heiji, he should be willing to listen to what you have to say and tell him to stop investigating me."

Shinichi Kudo breathed a slight sigh of relief and spoke with a touch of melancholy.

Shinichi Kudo didn't want to involve unrelated people in his affairs. If Heiji Hattori continued to investigate Shinichi Kudo, no one could guarantee that he wouldn't find anything related to the organization, which would be very dangerous.

However, if he directly tells Hattori Heiji to stop looking for Kudo Shinichi, Hattori Heiji will most likely not agree. So, if Hoshino Hikaru, the detective, defeats Hattori Heiji head-on, he will probably listen to their advice seriously.

"Don't worry, I know what to do."

Hoshino Hikaru nodded, and then heard a suppressed voice and Ran's exclamation from the other end of the phone.

"I didn't expect it to be so fast."

Conan's voice came through the phone; clearly, Shinichi Kudo's time had come.

……

Meanwhile, on the other side, at the scene of the murder.

"I understand now, the method used in this locked room."

Heiji Hattori walked in, holding a fishing line, a confident smile on his face.

"What? You're saying you already know?"

Inspector Megure immediately showed a look of surprise.

"That's right, Inspector Megure. Please sit in the chair and play the victim. Next, I will demonstrate this technique to everyone."

As Hattori Heiji spoke, he pushed Inspector Megure to sit down in a chair, then connected one end of the fishing line to the keychain, threaded it through Inspector Megure's pocket, and pulled the other end outside.

"First, connect the fishing line to the key and thread it through the gap under the door."

"Second, pull the fishing line so that the key slips through the crack in the door and into your pocket."

"Third, pull the fishing line hard to retrieve it, and the secret room is complete."

Heiji Hattori reeled in his fishing line, pushed the door open again, and looked at the three suspects with a confident expression, much to the surprise of Inspector Megure and the others.

"It would take the murderer about twenty minutes to set up this situation. Only you, Mr. Toshimitsu Tsujimura, are capable of doing all of this."

Upon hearing Hattori Heiji's words, Tsujimura Toshimitsu opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to argue, but then, as if realizing something, he dejectedly lowered his head.

"Yes, I killed my son."

"It seems I've won this time, Hoshino Hikaru. You're no match for me. Next time, let Kudo Shinichi take your place."

Heiji Hattori pulled his hat down a little, a victorious smile playing on his lips.

"No, Hattori, you're wrong!"

Hoshino Hikaru appeared at the doorway just in time, interrupting Hattori Heiji's declaration of victory.

"What did you say?"

Hattori Heiji's expression changed slightly. He took a step forward, somewhat incredulous, and raised his voice considerably:

"Then tell me, where did my reasoning go wrong?"

"Hattori, take a closer look. Is the key really in the deep pocket?"

Hoshino Hikaru pointed in the direction of Inspector Megure and spoke calmly.

"Of course, I threaded the fishing line through a deep pocket... What? How is that possible?"

As Hattori Heiji spoke, he moved closer to Inspector Megure, reached into his pants pocket to retrieve the key, only to find it was in a shallow pocket and hadn't been put in at all.

"Because of their body types, when Inspector Megure and the deceased sit down, their pants will crease, making it impossible for the key to fit into a deep pocket. Moreover, when we found the deceased, the key was folded up in his pocket."

Hikaru Hoshino stepped forward and patted Heiji Hattori on the shoulder.

Hattori Heiji's face turned pale, and for a moment he seemed dazed as he spoke in a low voice:

"So, how exactly did the killer create the locked room?"

"Perhaps there was no locked room in the first place. The murderer didn't kill us in a locked room at all, but rather in front of us with the room open."

As Hoshino Hikaru spoke, he looked at Mrs. Tsujimura Kimie.

"What? You mean, this is actually a psychological escape room!"

Hattori Heiji was startled, and instantly realized something, looking at Tsujimura Kimie as well.

"That's right, the murderer is you, Mrs. Tsujimura Kimie! You entered the room and, using the books on the table and the opera playing in the room, killed someone right in front of us!"

Hoshino Hikaru spoke calmly, pointing a single finger at Tsujimura Kimie.

"What? Madam, she killed someone right in front of us? That means the victim was still alive when we arrived!"

Kogoro Mouri's expression instantly turned somewhat ugly, and his gaze towards Kimie Tsujimura changed considerably.

"The evidence is in the lady's key ring. The poison needle was probably placed in the groove of the key ring. A simple test will reveal the poison."

Before Tsujimura Kimie could speak, Hoshino Hikaru directly provided evidence.

"Madam, if you don't mind, let us check your key ring."

Inspector Megure stepped forward and stood in front of Kimie Tsujimura, speaking to her.

The key ring has a groove for holding a poison needle.

"No need. Yes, I killed him!"

Kimie Tsujimura lowered his head and spoke calmly.

"What? You, why did you...?"

Tsujimura Takayoshi instantly flew into a rage and pointed directly at Tsujimura Kimie, questioning him.

"Because I only recently learned that twenty years ago, he framed my ex-husband Kenji Yamashiro, leading to his imprisonment and death fifteen years ago."

A cold glint flashed in Tsujimura Kimie's eyes.

"Also, he was involved in the plan that killed Kenji, which is why I framed him!"

Kimie Tsujimura pointed at Toshimitsu Tsujimura, his expression filled with hatred.

"I'm sorry, Gongjiang. I only meant to teach Shancheng a lesson for Xun. I never expected it would lead to his imprisonment or even death."

Tsujimura Toshimitsu lowered his head, his tone tinged with weariness and remorse.

"I brought this upon myself. I was planning to find a detective to help me with my alibi, and I specifically looked for Kogoro Mouri, whose reasoning skills are average but who used to be a detective. I never expected to run into you."

Kimie Tsujimura gave Hikaru Hoshino a deep look before accepting the outcome.

Kimie Tsujimura originally planned to hire a detective to prepare an alibi for herself, but she couldn't choose a detective who was too good. If it were someone like Shinichi Kudo, perhaps they could crack her methods.

Therefore, the best choice was Kogoro Mouri, a detective who had once let a criminal police officer go, had a certain reputation, was good at tracking and investigating people, but was not good at reasoning and solving cases. On the surface, it was reasonable to ask him for help, but unexpectedly, this was the result.

Kogoro Mouri opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't say anything more.

Kimie Tsujimura calmly extended her hands, allowing the police to lead her away. However, before leaving, she took a deep look at Sachiko Katsuragi, as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately suppressed it.

"I didn't expect it to turn out like this. I lost this time. You're really amazing. As for Shinichi Kudo, he must be quite something to become your friend and be recognized by you."

Hattori Heiji showed a calm expression and walked to Hoshino Hikaru's side.

"If it were Shinichi Kudo, I think he would answer you like this: 'Idiot, there's no such thing as winning or losing in deduction; there's only ever one truth!'"

Hikaru Hoshino looked directly into Heiji Hattori's eyes and spoke calmly.

Is there only one truth?

Hattori Heiji was slightly taken aback. In a daze, he seemed to see Kudo Shinichi's figure merged with Hoshino Hikaru's, and a strange light flashed in his eyes.