Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

The pace of their hard work accelerated once again.

In the blink of an eye, Ran Mouri accidentally knocked over her teacup, wetting the fat man's pants.

The waiter quickly brought a towel to wipe him down.

Then the two switched places, and the fat man continued his recruitment plan.

Then the fat man started yelling again, apparently because someone had ordered eggs that he was allergic to, but he quickly calmed down after yelling.

Continue hiring.

During this time, Conan stepped between the two, shouting that he wanted to eat curry rice and wanted to leave the restaurant.

The purpose, well, is naturally to prevent Ran Mouri from participating in intimate scenes in the future.

While eating, Sano kept an eye on everyone.

After all, there is a high possibility that a case will occur later.

Paying attention to a few details is always a good idea.

Then, Ran Mouri, as if coaxing a child, picked up the food for Conan.

Conan tried to spin the turntable on the table to get the seasonings, but every time it turned around, it was turned back, which made Sano laugh.

Then, the topic turned to Ran Mouri's favorite celebrity.

Ran Mouri suggested two people, one of whom seemed to be Conan's mother.

However, in this discussion, the only one of the other three men who hadn't said a word before sadly remarked, "If that girl hadn't died, she might have become a legendary figure by now."

...Considering the previous "reminder," is this the beginning of laying the groundwork for motivation?

Sano raised an eyebrow, and just as Ran was about to ask the man what he meant, the fat man leaned against the BJ roast duck that had just been delivered and changed the subject.

Watching the fat man tear off a piece of roast duck and put it in his mouth.

Sano also reached out and pulled off a duck leg, handing it to the little girl.

The little girl's mouth was bulging, and her eyes already showed a hint of pain as she looked at the duck leg.

So even extreme happiness can cause pain...?

After accepting the duck leg with a death-defying spirit, the little girl stuffed it into her mouth with all her might, and with a strong pull, all that was left in her hand was a bare bone.

"what--!!"

But at that moment, the fat man suddenly stood up, grabbed his own throat with a ferocious expression, and let out a scream, which startled everyone present.

……poison?

Sano paused for a moment, then swiftly picked up the little girl and shook her violently, forcing her to spit out everything in her mouth.

At the same moment, the fat man collapsed to the ground, dying with his eyes wide open.

Sano then put down the little girl who was feeling dizzy, nauseous, and vomiting.

"Call the police."

Ran Mouri was brought back to her senses by Sano's call, and after calming down a bit, she skillfully took out her phone.

...A moment later, the police arrived, but this time it wasn't Inspector Megure.

Instead, it was a team led by a guy Sano had never seen before.

After listening in for a while, Sano understood the situation.

The fat man's name is Shiro Kawabata, he is forty-six years old and works as a film producer.

The cause of death was asphyxiation caused by potassium cyanide.

Furthermore, tests revealed traces of potassium cyanide on the deceased's hands and towel, but none were detected on the dishes on the table, including the Beijing roast duck.

"What's going on lately? All sorts of poisonous creatures have started appearing?"

The buzz-cut policeman leading the team began to have doubts.

Sano then turned his gaze to the little girl sitting next to him, who looked somewhat dejected. He reached out and patted her head: "What's wrong? Is it your first time seeing a corpse? Are you scared? Didn't you say you wanted to be a famous detective?"

The little girl blinked; to be honest, she wasn't scared by the corpse.

It was simply because he ate too much, plus Sano's violent shaking.

I just feel very uncomfortable in my stomach.

But it's not good to say that.

Therefore, the little girl chose to remain silent.

"In that case, the murderer must have poisoned the towel. That means only you few who were sitting at the same table as the deceased are suspects."

The short-haired policeman looked at Sano and said, "Then please explain your relationship with the deceased and the circumstances of the incident."

Both sides gave their explanations.

The three men who came with the deceased were a group from the same film crew.

Sano's group consisted of three adults and two children.

When they learned that the deceased was acting strangely, Kogoro Mouri and Conan were sitting next to him.

The short-haired policeman immediately cast a suspicious look at Kogoro Mouri.

"Why do I feel like you look familiar?"

"Ah, ha, so I've been recognized. Yes, that's me..."

Before Kogoro Mouri could even introduce himself, the short-haired policeman clapped his hands and said, "Could you be some fugitive on the run? Have you seen him on the wanted poster?"

Mouri Kogoro: "..."

"What wanted criminal? I'm the famous detective Kogoro Mouri, okay?!"

"Oh...it's that, the unconscious Kogoro Mouri."

"It's sleeping, the sleeping Kogoro Mouri!!"

...Are these two guys putting on a stand-up comedy routine?

Sano clicked his tongue and told the little girl to sit still and not make any rash moves. Then he began to investigate the scene on his own. The case-solving mission... to be precise, the truth-revealing mission, had already been triggered before the police arrived.

This is already a familiar task; let's go through the process first.

This wasn't the first time Sano had encountered a case of murder by poisoning. For example... what other poisoning cases had he encountered before?

Tsk, Conan, that plague god, has harmed so many people, I've almost lost count.

Sano scratched his head and finally remembered two or three cases.

Matsumoto Sayuri's wedding, Osaka Kuro's first visit to Tokyo, and another one.

Teitan High School School Festival.

The key questions are simply where and how the murderer poisoned the drug.

Since poison was detected on the deceased's hands, it certainly couldn't be the same case as the one in the middle, and it's highly unlikely that the poison was ingested directly.

The towel contained poison, which was likely added by the murderer. The victim then touched the towel, got the poison on their hands, and then touched the roast duck, resulting in death.

...This is the thought process a normal person would have in this situation.

Chapter 407, 406: Little Girl: Those two people's smiles are so fake.

The short-haired policeman thought the same thing, which is why Kogoro Mouri, who was sitting next to the deceased, became his primary suspect.

As for Conan...

Even if it's a fake child, it's still a child.

Naturally, they would be immediately ruled out as suspects.

However, when a junior police officer retrieved what appeared to be a small bottle used by the murderer to contain poison from the bathroom trash can, Kogoro Mouri was cleared of suspicion once again.

Since arriving at the restaurant, Sano and the others had not yet used the restroom.

Seeing this buzz-cut policeman, all he could do was helplessly shrug.

Sano looked away and put his arm around the young policeman's neck: "Hey, when you're testing for toxic reactions, did you test the whole table?"

"what?"

The young policeman tilted his head awkwardly: "Of course."

"Under the turntable."

Sano continued to ask.

The young policeman was immediately taken aback: "Under the roundabout?"

Judging from this reaction, it seems there's no more.

Sano nudged the young policeman with his butt: "Go check under the turntable too."

"……Oh."

To be honest, the junior police officer shouldn't have taken orders from Sano.

However, considering that this is a supplementary step in the investigation, it can be considered a well-intentioned reminder.

It is not an arrogant or haughty behavior.

The young policeman naturally had to do as instructed.

The idea that the poison was put on the towel is a normal person's line of thinking.

But Sano isn't exactly... cough, he's an experienced high school detective.

Even if it's just a facade, he's still a famous detective.

Regardless of whether this information is intended to mislead or not, the unusual points that Sano noticed during the dinner party tonight are clear enough.

The fact that the deceased was allergic to eggs, and the several spins of the turntable on the table when Conan tried to cause trouble but was treated like a child by Ran Mouri.

They were all explaining the method of murder to Sano.

Of course, it's also possible that this is a misleading statement.