Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

The train at Minami-Beihu Station, and it was even the red kind.

Convinced by Conan and his fake child duo's reasoning, Shiratori Ninzaburo and the others immediately contacted Inspector Megure and launched a large-scale search operation on all the red trains at Minamibeika Station.

Unfortunately, even after working until midnight, they still couldn't find a bomb.

They found quite a few prank fireworks.

Clearly, the suspect knew from the beginning that the "police" would solve the puzzle in this way.

They even have the mood to play along.

"What should we do now..."

While Inspector Megure and his team were worrying, Conan was also frowning and deep in thought.

Only Sano's mind had already wandered elsewhere.

The reason Sano chose to participate in the investigation of this case is similar to that of yesterday.

However, all the tasks yesterday were purely physical labor.

It's hard to say whether it will be like this today.

In conclusion, there will most likely be further developments, but judging from the current pace, we'll probably have to wait until the two clearly defined time points in the threatening letter—

Tomorrow at noon and at 3 pm.

...That was what Sano originally thought.

Unexpectedly, Sano received a new mission shortly afterward, and it wasn't about defusing bombs or rescuing people.

[Please participate in tomorrow's national mock exam and complete the exam. Completion will earn you 100 enhancement points. Time remaining for the task: 17:59:59.]

take an exam?

Sano paused for a moment, then smacked his lips and frowned slightly.

If Sano remembers correctly, Ran Mouri's text message mentioned something like that.

What time does the national mock exam officially start?

Anyway, it's afternoon. Could it be that there's a bomb at Teitan High School?

Sano stroked his chin; this seemed a bit difficult to explain.

There have been instances where tasks conflicted in terms of timing.

Let's wait and see.

"By the way, Mr. Kurosawa, may I ask you... two rather abrupt questions? Of course, you can ignore them if you mind."

Sano snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Shiratori Renzaburo, who had also snapped out of his thoughts, raising an eyebrow and saying, "Since you already know that it's presumptuous and abrupt, why did you ask?"

Shiratori Ninzaburo: "..."

"Because I'm really curious, and I just have to get it off my chest."

Seeing Shiratori Ninzaburo's awkward smile, Sano waved his hand and said, "Then go ahead and throw up."

...What does "vomiting" mean?

After Shiratori Ninzaburo dialed another row of dots, he asked, "Actually, in the last bomb case that was very similar to this one, we caught the criminal gang. But according to them, in order to confuse the public, they also planted two time bombs in other places."

"But when we got there, we couldn't find the so-called bomb, not to mention that no explosion occurred at the scheduled time. Because we were worried that someone might have accidentally taken the bomb, we tried to check the surveillance footage around the two locations."

"Then it was discovered that a figure wearing a baseball cap had appeared at both locations before the scheduled explosion time. This person was very similar to another person who had appeared in another high-profile, super bombing case."

Shiratori Ninzaburo first laid the groundwork, then asked the key question.

"I want to know, was that person you, Mr. Kurosawa?"

Conan, standing nearby, had long since stopped thinking about those trivial matters and was now eavesdropping with his ears perked up.

However, Sano remained indifferent in the face of Shiratori Ninzaburo's serious expression.

"next."

"Next, the next one?"

Shiratori Ninzaburo was initially confused, but after realizing what he meant, his lips twitched: "The next one is that during the final arrest of the perpetrators in the previous bombing case, a mysterious person suddenly opened fire, wounding three suspects."

"Based on the shell casings left at the scene and the test results of the bullets on the suspect, we can almost certainly confirm that this person is the same mysterious person who appeared in an earlier case where Detective Kogoro Mouri was attacked by a hired assassin, or at least that he used the same gun."

"I'd like to ask, Mr. Kurosawa, what are your thoughts?"

Sano pondered for two seconds, then asked with some curiosity, "From what you've said, I don't sense any connection between these two so-called mysterious people and me. Why do you want to ask me?"

"Hey?"

Shiratori Ninzaburo was bewildered again. He scratched his head and thought about it carefully.

...It seems there really isn't any connection.

Why did I subconsciously assume that the other person was at least one of the two?

Even both?

Shiratori Ninzaburo's attention was diverted.

Conan, meanwhile, thoughtfully stroked his chin.

So, it turns out that such things actually happened one after another in that case.

Conan remembered both of the "two people" mentioned by Shiratori Ninzaburo.

The man in the hat had secretly defused a bomb, while the man with the gun shot the assassin from a great distance, successfully saving Kogoro Mouri's dog... cough, its life.

These two individuals appeared in the same case this time.

Furthermore, it has emerged the possibility that the two individuals may actually be the same person.

...Speaking of that case back then...

The trio of real kids, it seems, were indeed mentioned; the "hat guy" pulled out a pistol.

It really is the same person.

Conan's brain was working at lightning speed. In addition, the "hat man" character was originally somewhat similar to a certain bomb maniac. This was an undeniably wrong path, but because of the kindergarten charity sale a few days ago.

However, this gave Conan a completely new and very similar line of thinking.

Could that person be Bourbon?

Or rather... could Kurosawa be Bourbon?

Conan, whose mind had been opened, looked at Sano, then at Ai Haibara.

The radar isn't responding... The same thing happened at the charity sale last time.

think carefully.

Black Mask has an unclear grudge against Gin, which means he is in an opposing relationship with the organization. Therefore, Kurosawa chooses to infiltrate the organization.

He obtained the code name Bourbon through his own abilities.

That is why Ai Haibara couldn't sense Bourbon's presence.

After all, this stuff isn't pure.

...This kind of development is totally reasonable!

Conan's eyes lit up. He actually knew very well why Shiratori Ninzaburo would subconsciously feel this way even though there was no apparent connection between them.

The two sides are in contact.

Because in the previous case, Kurosawa "disappeared".

After his unexpected and sudden appearance in the early stages to save the day, Kurosawa should have become the core focus, either crushing everything or turning the tide.

But in reality, that's not the case.

After leaving as if some progress had been made, Kurosawa never reappeared in the entire case.

No matter how you look at it, something just doesn't seem right.

Then two more suddenly appeared... or perhaps you could say they were new characters.

Subconsciously, I thought the two, or rather all three, were the same person.

There's nothing strange about it; it's a very subtle, deep connection.

Conan took a deep breath, feeling so excited that his respiratory tract trembled.

If my speculation is true.

That was an absolutely incredible and momentous discovery!

...Is there something wrong with this kid? Why is he shaking this thing?

Sano glanced at Conan, then at Shiratori Ninzaburo, who was still pondering why he thought that way and was almost shutting himself off.

Are there no normal people around me?

Sano thought this to himself, then said hello and found a room to sleep in.

...There's no way around it, judging by this pace, it'll be all night.

I have exams and assignments to do tomorrow, I can't go on without getting some sleep.

Of all things under heaven, eating is the most important, and sleeping is second only to eating.

And so, the night passed, and Inspector Megure and his team had wasted their time.

When Sano woke up.

I happened to run into this group of guys who looked listless, with bloodshot eyes, as if they had just finished doing *that* and would get a shoveling over their shoulder by ants if they went out, as they were going out to have breakfast.

"I said, is it really that bad? They don't even provide breakfast?"

Faced with Sano's question, Shiratori Ninzaburo and the others were completely bewildered. It took them a while to realize what Sano meant before they finally spoke.

"Oh, no, we went to see you before. You were sleeping soundly, so we didn't want to disturb you. We were planning to pack some food and bring it back for you."

Takagi Wataru said, "Now that you're awake, come with us."

"Let's agree on what we're going to eat first, I'm a picky eater."

Shiratori Ninzaburo sighed somewhat helplessly: "Fine, fine, eat whatever you want. I'll pay for it myself, okay?"