Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Inspector Megure's smile grew even more sinister: "Hey, Sano, do you know that while we can reimburse some of the meal expenses for citizens who come to cooperate with our work, there's a limit to that reimbursement?"

"so what."

Sano remained calm.

"So at least half of the cost of your meal that day was paid for by me out of my own pocket!!"

Inspector Megure simply couldn't hold it in any longer.

It's one thing to have to pay for it myself.

But Sano still looked like he had almost forgotten about it.

Is this even fair to my wallet that almost died?!

This is absolutely outrageous! Isn't this just bullying honest people?!

Chapter 310, page 309: Heiji Hattori's Love for Conan

Takagi Wataru quickly grabbed Inspector Megure, who was on the verge of exploding from Sano's provocation: "Calm down, calm down, Inspector Megure, we're investigating a case right now!"

"..."

Watching the small brown ball struggling in Takagi Wataru's arms, Sano ignored Toyama Kazuha's strange gaze and casually lit a cigarette for himself.

It's as if the culprit who caused Inspector Megure's breakdown wasn't Sano at all.

...It wasn't until quite a while later that the scene calmed down.

However, because Inspector Megure was so disheartened that he squatted down and drew circles on the side, Takagi Wataru had to temporarily take over the command duties.

"Um, that..."

After chuckling awkwardly at the people at the scene, Takagi Wataru still felt that the cause of death should be determined first.

"...It should be potassium cyanide."

Hattori Heiji, who had been waiting impatiently, immediately jumped out as soon as the investigation finally began, chattering on and on about his analysis, which was basically saying that the cause of Urata Kohei's death was definitely potassium cyanide poisoning.

...On another note, it seems that quite a few of the cases triggered by Conan's jinx-like aura involved murder through poisoning.

What kind of poison did they use before?

...I seem to have forgotten.

Forget it, it's all trivial stuff. Anyway, as long as I encounter a case, there will almost always be a detective like Conan who isn't too outrageous by my side. These kinds of trivial matters can be handled by a helper.

Sano, determined not to learn these basics, stopped daydreaming and focused his attention on Hattori Heiji, who had removed his hat after his identity was questioned.

"...What are you talking about? It's only been a while since we last met, and you've already forgotten me?"

Hattori Heiji smiled and said, "It's me, Kudo Shinichi."

"..."

After a brief silence, the scene suddenly erupted in gasps of surprise.

...This kid, he's actually thinking of this?

Sano, who was also surprised, finally understood why Hattori Heiji's skin had become so white: he wanted to help Conan get rid of trouble.

But... with that guy's dark skin, how much putty must he have smeared on his face to make him so white? Doesn't he feel uncomfortable?

Are you really willing to suffer like this for Conan?

For a moment, it seemed as if music was playing in Sano's ears—if this isn't love, then what is...?

"...What are you doing, Heiji?"

Just as everyone was in shock, Kazuha Toyama suddenly stepped between Heiji Hattori and Ran Mouri, reaching out to wipe a bit of foundation off the other's face.

What did you put on your face?

"Wa, Kazuha!?"

Heiji Hattori never expected that his childhood friend would be there, and that she would expose him so easily. He wanted to make one last attempt to prove himself, but unfortunately, he was already completely exposed. Everyone else could see that he was not Shinichi Kudo. Helpless, he could only wipe the putty off his face and laugh, saying that he was just joking with everyone.

"But then again, after this guy whitened his face, he does look quite like Shinichi."

Sano glanced at Suzuki Sonoko, who had somehow moved closer to him: "Good-looking people are always similar, but ugly people are all unique."

Sonoko Suzuki blinked, then pointed at herself with a grin and said, "Don't I look a lot like Ran, senpai?"

"There are indeed some issues with the facial features."

Sano casually replied, which startled Sonoko Suzuki for a moment before she laughed even more foolishly.

To be fair, the resemblance between Hattori Heiji and Kudo Shinichi in terms of physique and facial features does seem a little too high.

While he's not quite as similar to Kaito Kuroba, who's practically Shinichi Kudo's twin brother, looking exactly alike, after turning white, it's really easy to mistake him for Shinichi Kudo at first glance.

It's only because of Kazuha Toyama, Hattori Heiji's childhood friend, that he could have been fooled, judging from Ran Mouri's reaction just now.

...provided that this guy doesn't open his mouth.

After a brief hiatus, the case is back on track.

The general situation and outline gradually emerged.

There were three people who came to see the play with Kohei Urata:

There were two short-haired women, one named Noda with brown curly hair and dressed quite elegantly, and the other named Mai with black hair and dressed rather simply. Then there was a fat man named Mitani.

These three individuals were classmates with the deceased at Teitan High School and were also members of the drama club.

So going to see a play together every year has become a tradition for the four of them.

The place identified as the site of poisoning was the beverage next to the victim's body... specifically, iced coffee.

Therefore, the suspects for the poisoning are these three people.

The situation at the time was that the four people were sitting in the same row, from the outside in: Mai, Mitani, Noda, and Urata Kohei.

Mai bought the drinks for the four people, gave them to Mitani, and then went to the restroom. Mitani then gave the iced coffee to Noda, who then passed it on to the deceased.

Another point Mai mentioned was that when she went to buy drinks, the deceased came to her, seemingly worried that she couldn't carry them all by herself and wanted to help.

For some reason, the deceased suddenly turned pale and walked away.

"...He walked away with a pale face. Did he see something?"

Just as Kogoro Mouri raised his question, another voice chimed in: "I think he must have seen me."

The group looked in the direction of the sound and found a girl wearing a Teitan High School uniform.

"Ayako?"

The surprised sound from the dancer indicated that the other person was not just an ordinary passerby.

...It turns out that Ayako is the daughter of the director of the Beika General Hospital where the group of four worked, and she was the one who was responsible for serving drinks to the four of them.

"So, you're one of the people who can poison drinks, right?"

Kogoro Mouri frowned and began to make his own deductions, questioning the people who might have poisoned him, but unfortunately, they were all dismissed with their own excuses.

With this addition, the case has reached a new suspect and is currently at a standstill.

It wasn't until a while later, when Takagi Wataru pulled out unopened creamer and syrup from the victim's pocket, that the case began to slowly move forward again.

"...Mr. Urata, do you usually prefer black coffee?"

Inspector Megure, who had finally been revived, asked the question.

"No, I remember he usually puts creamer and syrup in his coffee."

Noda replied.

"That's a bit strange..."

Before Inspector Megure could think further, Ayako interjected, "Well, it's probably because he noticed I replaced his coffee with cola, so he didn't put these in."

"what?"

With Ayako's explanation, the case unfolded in a new direction.

In fact, Ayako and the deceased were originally engaged, but because of her unease, she called the deceased to say that she wanted to cancel the engagement.

From then on, every time the deceased went to the hospital, he would deliberately avoid Ayako.

So Ayako deliberately replaced the deceased's coffee with cola, hoping to anger him and make him come looking for her.

Upon hearing this, Wu Yi immediately pulled out syrup and creamer from her pocket: "Oh, I see. I was wondering why the coffee turned into cola."

"...So, the deceased discovered that the drink in his cup was actually cola, which is why he didn't put the creamer and syrup in?"

Inspector Megure stroked his chin and asked Wataru Takagi, "Have the results of the analysis of those four drinks come back yet?"

"It should be soon."

After nodding, Inspector Megure fell silent, waiting quietly for the next development.

A moment later, the forensic results finally came out.

"Didn't you detect anything wrong in the glasses of the four drinks, as well as in the creamer and syrup?"

Chapter 311, 310: In the end, it was all for naught.

Inspector Megure glanced at Sano and tentatively asked, "In that case, there's a high probability that this case is a suicide, right?"

Sano glanced at Inspector Megure and said, "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm just a freeloader. Does Inspector Megure need my opinion when handling cases?"

Inspector Megure: "..."

This guy is so damn stingy!

I was just venting a few complaints; I didn't really hold anything against the other party.

Is it really necessary to be so sarcastic?

Fortunately, at this moment, the three people in dance costumes offered a new clue: the deceased had acted strangely on the way he drove them here earlier that day, as if he was looking for something.

Upon hearing this, Inspector Megure couldn't care less about anything else and immediately ordered Takagi Wataru to take the three of them away from the gymnasium to the deceased's vehicle for further investigation.

"Hey, Kudo, you've probably figured it out by now, right? The problem is we don't have any evidence yet to show how the culprit poisoned us..."