Chapter Nineteen: The Classic Went Awry

When the officers from the First Investigation Division arrived at the exhibition hall, the scene had already been cleared after the perimeter tape was set up. Several police officers were circling the body, gesturing and discussing how to take down the deceased who was stabbed into the wall.

Tang Ze looked up at the victim, remaining silent.

“Are you alright, Tang Ze?” Ran Mouri gently patted his back, realizing that since he was from out of town and inexperienced with homicide scenes, she worried that the gruesome state of the body might traumatize him.

“Hm?” Tang Ze snapped back to attention. “Oh, I’m fine. It’s just… it seems the murderer was quite strong.”

“Ah?” Ran was momentarily taken aback.

“That’s probably an art display sword, right?” Tang Ze pointed to the greatsword stabbed into the wall through the victim’s hands. “It’s not all that sharp, and it’s a heavy iron sword. The killer had to have lifted up such a hefty man by the hilt and nailed him to the wall. That’s a tremendous amount of strength…”

Conan’s mouth twitched slightly at the comment, but considering his current identity, he refrained from making any sarcastic remarks.

Is that really the key point?

Tang Ze glanced at Conan. What else could it be?

He discreetly looked toward the museum staff being questioned by the officers. The director, an elderly man with long eyebrows and a beard, was calmly answering questions.

It wouldn’t make sense to suddenly point fingers and say, “The killer is him,”—that would be like revealing the solution on the very first page of a mystery novel, ruining the suspense.

Besides, Tang Ze truly admired the killer’s strength. He had thought that way back when he read manga; seeing it in reality only deepened his respect. The old man with the beard must be incredibly strong to wield an iron sword. To wear armor, single-handedly lift a living man, and then impale him on the wall…

Criminals in Conan’s world really do possess extraordinary talents.

“Detectives who found the body, right?” A stout detective holding a notebook approached and froze when he recognized the group. “Isn’t this Mouri’s daughter…”

And also Kudo’s classmate, it seemed—a high school girl who seemed all too familiar with homicide scenes.

Ran forced a bitter smile. “Inspector Megure, we meet again.”

She didn’t want to be here either; who would want to encounter a murder case while casually visiting an exhibition?

She skillfully reported how they found the body. Tang Ze, having sized up the famous inspector, then turned back to watch as the officers set up two ladders and carefully took down the photographed victim.

Noticing Tang Ze’s gaze shift elsewhere, Conan leaned in quietly and asked, “What are you looking at?”

A kid speaking without addressing or honorifics—really no pretense at all. With Conan’s level of acting, could his undercover identity really last a round against two experienced operatives?

Tang Ze muttered to himself for a moment and, preparing to speed things along for the detective, he was about to speak when he crouched down after roughly estimating the distance. “Look at the wall where the body is hung. There are several exhibit labels posted there, but no paintings. And in the victim’s right hand, isn’t he holding something?”

“Oh yeah, that’s strange. It’s like someone prepared a spot for the body…” Sonoko Suzuki, closely following behind Tang Ze, nodded in agreement.

Conan narrowed his eyes, entering deep thought. Behind him, Inspector Megure had noticed the surveillance camera facing the body and was already instructing someone to review the footage.

Tang Ze pondered for a moment, feeling he had provided all the clues he could for now. Next, they just had to wait for the surveillance video to be retrieved before feeding more hints to Conan.

Come on, little detective.

By the way, this case was rare in that it belonged to a category usually solved by the still-alert Kogoro Mouri, but today, there were four high school students present instead, increasing the chances that a tranquilizer dart might come into play.

If ranked by the order of being tranquilized, with Kogoro Mouri absent, the next likely target would be Sonoko Suzuki.

Tang Ze glanced at Sonoko following closely at his side.

He felt he could perhaps manipulate the situation a bit…

Half an hour later.

“Chief, we found this in Uwada’s locker!” A police officer entered the exhibition hall, unwrapping a cloth-wrapped object to reveal a blood-stained helmet—the blood matching the victim’s, as seen splattered on the surveillance footage.

Inspector Megure frowned, staring intently at the anxious museum staff. “The note in the victim’s hand has your name on it, and the murder weapon was found with you. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Uwada looked helplessly around as the officers subtly closed in on him. “I didn’t kill anyone. I’m innocent!”

“You were caught selling exhibit items on the side, which the victim discovered. There are emails on his phone demanding hefty compensation from you. Your motive is quite clear,” Inspector Megure said, motioning his subordinates to step forward and detain the man. “If you have any objections, take them to the station.”

“I…” Uwada was speechless, cold sweat breaking out as he looked around helplessly.

He truly wasn’t the murderer. Conan furrowed his brows. No, he couldn’t wait any longer; if he didn’t point out the problem now, Uwada would become the scapegoat.

He flipped his wrist, opening the watch face.

Tang Ze, arms crossed, watching the scene: …

What is this world’s criminal investigation process? Why does it seem like once you’re at the station, you’re already convicted? If you’re innocent, why panic? You can always defend yourself at the police station.

Of course, Conan couldn’t hear Tang Ze’s silent complaints. He was weighing who should carry out the deduction next.

Bored, Ran wandered off to the other side of the exhibition to look at the paintings. The only suitable acquaintances nearby were Sonoko and Tang Ze.

Actually, Tang Ze had been observing keenly throughout and had provided many clues, making him the better choice… But since this new classmate had only been known for a few days, Conan wasn’t familiar enough with his personality or tone, making imitation prone to mistakes.

With that in mind, Conan set his sights on Sonoko Suzuki, who was waiting patiently for the culprit’s capture.

He pressed the button, and the tranquilizer dart shot out.

Unexpectedly, Tang Ze shook his head as if to stop the police from making the arrest.

Conan’s eyes widened. Oh no, they were standing too close!

Sure enough, as Tang Ze stepped forward, the dart meant for Sonoko Suzuki’s neck pierced Tang Ze’s arm instead.

Tang Ze froze, lost his balance, took two steps back, and sat down heavily on a ladder the officers had brought for moving the body, lowering his head and remaining still.

The wrong person was hit!

Clenching his teeth, Conan had no choice but to play along. He hid behind the ladder, took out his voice-changing bow tie, and adjusted the dial to match Tang Ze’s voice.

“Tang Ze?” Sonoko turned toward the suddenly fallen figure beside her. “Are you okay? Do you feel unwell?”

“I’m fine, Sonoko. I just wanted to sit down and think carefully about the inconsistencies.” Tang Ze’s voice rang out clearly, halting Sonoko’s steps as she was about to check on him. “It’s still too early to pinpoint the culprit, Inspector Megure.”

“Oh?” The puzzled Inspector Megure turned to look at the inexplicably seated Tang Ze. Several faces of high school detectives flickered through his mind, and his eyes brightened. “Do you have any insights, young man?”

Several high school detectives flashed through his mind, lifting his spirits.

Could it be that Tokyo was about to gain another outstanding young detective? When he had examined the scene earlier, he had already felt this was a promising candidate!

Having grown accustomed to all sorts of external brains commenting on crime scenes, Inspector Megure skillfully abandoned further skepticism.