Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Sano pursed his lips, somewhat speechless.

But considering that Takagi Wataru wasn't the type to keep things mysterious, this situation gave Sano a bad feeling... like this guy was doomed?

Chapter 396, Sano: I am someone you can trust!

To be honest, Sano wasn't really confident about Takagi Wataru's abilities...

Sano simply had a tiny bit of confidence in Takagi Wataru's character.

He's an honest person.

They shouldn't be lying, or making up an unfounded conjecture.

Especially with this situation added on.

Sano will assume that Takagi Wataru knows the truth.

Now that the root of the problem has been uncovered, it is imperative to communicate with each other as soon as possible.

It's better to avoid things getting complicated.

So Sano began urging Sato Miwako to contact the other party as soon as possible.

However, they still gained nothing.

Without hesitation, Sano snatched the phone from Sato Miwako's hand and said coldly into Takagi Wataru's voice, "You better be dead, or even if you don't, I guarantee you will."

"...I'm here, I'm here!"

Hearing Sano's voice on the other end of the phone, which sounded like he wanted to tear him apart and devour him alive, Takagi Wataru finally gave a hasty response, afraid that if he was a step too slow, he would be resented... There was no way around it, there was Inspector Megure's example from before.

That time, I was just a tool, and my skin was almost torn off.

If this becomes the actual owner... then you'd better go buy a coffin sooner rather than later.

"I'm sorry, I just..."

Just as Takagi Wataru was about to explain why he had suddenly "disappeared," Sano impatiently interrupted him.

"Let's get down to business!"

"Ah...ah, good!"

Takagi Wataru was about to reveal his "reasoning" when... after saying half of it, just as he was about to say the name, he screamed and fell silent.

Sano: "..."

The onlookers: "..."

"Fuck you!"

After taking a deep breath, Sano slammed his phone to the ground and cursed angrily.

Sato Miwako, standing nearby, stared wide-eyed at the phone lying dead on the ground, then at Sano. Her lips moved, but she ultimately didn't dare to utter a sound.

Just because Miwako Sato remained silent did not mean that Sano would ignore her.

After turning his head, Sano looked at Sato Miwako with a very indescribable expression.

If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be two.

Dislike it.

...Damn it, what does this have to do with me? It's not like I, Sato Miwako, am dragging my feet!

Sato Miwako pouted innocently.

However, Takagi Wataru was ultimately a member of the police force, and he and Sato Miwako were teammates.

Therefore, it's not surprising that they were implicated as a result.

Only Ai Haibara reminded him somewhat helplessly, "Um, Officer Takagi seems to have gotten into trouble, shouldn't we check on his safety first?"

"Oh right."

Sato Miwako finally realized this wasn't the time to fool around, and hurriedly reached for her phone to call her teammates, only to discover that her phone was nowhere to be found...

His gaze shifted to Sano.

Sano took out his phone but did not hand it to Sato Miwako.

Instead, he called Inspector Megure himself.

...Is this guy afraid that I'll retaliate?

Sato Miwako twitched her lips speechlessly, as if she were just as childish as the other person.

Soon, Sano contacted Inspector Megure, who then connected with Shiratori Ninzaburo via microphone, and they finally concluded that Takagi Wataru had left alone.

They appear to be in danger.

Inspector Megure immediately deployed a team to search the location where Wataru Takagi had previously been.

After Sano hung up the phone, Conan started racking his brains and said, "Just now, Officer Takagi seemed to say that the murderer from back then was someone your father knew, Officer Sato, right? Did the high school baseball team members you met before mention going somewhere for drinks?"

Upon hearing this, Miwako Sato frowned: "You suspect them?"

Conan remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Miwako Sato glanced hesitantly at Sano, who remained silent on the other side.

I still revealed the answer.

"...I never imagined that the person who killed Officer Sato's father was someone he knew."

Mitsuhiko remarked with emotion.

Sano glanced at the child and casually said, "Otherwise, why do you think Sato Masayoshi, who was still breathing when the ambulance arrived, didn't reveal the killer's identity directly?"

"Hey……"

The children were all taken aback, and then they realized that there was such a loophole in Sato Miwako's description at the time.

Mitsuhiko mustered his courage and asked Sano, "But Officer Sato's father knows so many people, why is it definitely one of those four?"

"Not necessarily."

Sano lit a cigarette: "This is just speculation... After all, apart from those four, there are no other suspects in our knowledge."

"Oh, I see."

Mitsuhiko nodded thoughtfully: "Let's make a bold assumption first, and then verify it..."

While Sano was rambling on with the three kids, Conan had already finished communicating with Sato Miwako. The four "suspects" had gone to a bar near Shinagawa Station, and Takagi Wataru was the one who had been arrested near Shinagawa Station. So, if he really had discovered the truth of the case and was overheard on the phone...

"Let's go check out that tavern first!"

So the group went to that tavern again.

Unfortunately, we arrived too late; the four guys had already gone home.

However, this does not mean that Sano and the others came for no reason. Sato Miwako asked the tavern owner about the situation of the four people, and the owner told her everything he had heard the four people talking about.

Sano heard the gist of it, but when he turned around, he realized he had forgotten it all.

I didn't remember a single fart... Oh, I did remember one fart.

It was that man whose name I forgot, but who had the face of an old lady.

It's said that this guy spent three years abroad before.

As for why Sano remembered this incident, firstly, Conan had mentioned that the statute of limitations for the Sato Masayoshi case had just ended three years ago; secondly, the word "overseas" always inexplicably reminded him of certain people who would run away with the money.

The suspicion is growing stronger.

Sano rubbed his fingers together, regretting that although he had suspected these four people before, he hadn't considered them because they were clones and only came out to throw away some trash.

He didn't have a hammer with him.

Otherwise, we could test the waters at the very beginning.

In addition, during the investigation, Sano learned about another thing.

That was Sato Miwako's father; he didn't actually die in a traffic accident.

Instead, they were killed.

Eyewitnesses said they saw Sato Masayoshi being pushed in front of an oncoming truck.

This led to his death in a "car accident".

Just when the case seemed to have reached a stalemate again, Ai Haibara, who was waiting in the car, suddenly ran in with a map and gave a brief explanation.

Ai Haibara deduced the fifth, and final, location of the arson she believed to be committed by the perpetrator—her reasoning was based on the fact that the suspect attempted to draw the character for "fire" on a map.

Is this thing reliable?

Sano looked at Ai Haibara with some suspicion. It wasn't Conan's reasoning that was a bit unexpected, but also a bit hard to believe.

[Please ensure no one dies at the mission objective location within the mission time limit. Completion will earn you 100 enhancement points. Mission time remaining: 00:59:59]

The sudden task startled Sano... Damn it, he's been led astray by Conan. Why is he staring at that useless truth and pondering it?

slip away.

Sano left the tavern quietly.

When Conan and the others discovered that Sano was missing, they went outside to check and found that even the three real children who had been waiting in the car were gone.

They've also disappeared without a trace.

He was completely dumbfounded.

...What the hell is going on?

The group disappeared?

How can this "appearing and disappearing without a trace" setting be contagious?

Just then, Shiratori Ninzaburo arrived. After a brief exchange, Conan suddenly realized how Takagi Wataru had figured out the truth of the case from back then.

However, before Conan could even speak, his detective badge started ringing again.

Near a warehouse in Shinagawa.

The trio of real kids were huddled in a corner, reporting the situation and location to Conan through their detective badges... Apparently, the three of them had just seen the arsonist pass by while waiting in the car, so they followed him.