From the way he's acting, it seems like this police officer and Mouri Kogoro are old acquaintances.
She vaguely recalled that girl named Ran once mentioned how much she resembled Mouri's wife…
Could it be that she looks so similar that he mistook her for Mouri-san's wife?
The thought crossed Hattori Shizuka's mind, but she quickly dismissed it.
She glanced down at the pristine kimono she was wearing.
Would someone really wear a kimono every day?
Then again, she reconsidered—it's not impossible.
After all, she was wearing one right now…
Could it be that Mouri-san's wife also loves wearing kimonos when she goes out?
Hmm, I definitely need to meet this Mouri夫人 someday.
Hattori Shizuka felt like she'd found a kindred spirit.
"I'm right, aren't I, Mouri-san?"
Yokomizo Sango stood there, dumbfounded, clearly oblivious to the odd looks everyone was giving him.
He asked the question like he was fishing for praise or trying to take credit.
"Well… does it really look that similar?"
Mouri Kogoro put on a goofy, smitten expression.
Fujino: "…"
All of a sudden, Fujino recalled a certain lovesick girl with a big forehead.
Wait a sec—shouldn't Mouri-ojisan and Sonoko be the real father and daughter?
Their lovesick expressions are so in sync.
Could it be… a mix-up at the hospital back then?
Fujino couldn't help but roast them in his head.
"Of course!"
Yokomizo Sango nodded earnestly, saying, "You can tell at a glance—they've got that married-couple vibe!"
"Ahem! That's not it…"
At this point, Hattori Shizuka couldn't take it anymore. She raised her head, cleared her throat lightly, and cut into their conversation.
Being mistaken for someone else's wife was incredibly awkward.
As a proper married woman, she had no intention of letting this misunderstanding drag on.
Hattori Shizuka mentally organized her words and politely introduced herself to Yokomizo Sango:
"My name is Ikenami. Nice to meet you, and I hope for your guidance."
"Actually, I'm not Mouri-san's wife… The reason I'm here is because I hired Mouri-san and Detective Fujino to help me find Shibata Shiro-san, who lives here, to retrieve an old photo from thirty years ago."
"…?"
Yokomizo Sango blinked in surprise.
This woman exuded the refined aura of a high-class lady, which was why he'd instinctively assumed she was the wife of the esteemed "Sleeping Mouri Kogoro."
But now that she'd denied it, he felt a mix of embarrassment and an odd sense of disappointment.
Snapping out of it, he quickly changed the subject: "So, you're just Mouri-san's client, not Mouri夫人, and you came here to get an old photo from Shibata Shiro, right?"
"Exactly."
Hattori Shizuka's gaze shifted to the bloodied body of her old classmate lying on the floor, her eyes narrowing slightly: "I just didn't expect this to happen."
She was in her forties now, her emotions much calmer than in her youth, no longer as sentimental as a young girl.
Still, seeing someone she'd spoken to on the phone just yesterday now lying dead as a corpse left her with a bittersweet pang in her heart.
"Look! Shibata-san, who's already dead, is clutching a photo in his hand. That's probably the one Ikenami-neesan was talking about, right?"
Conan had been quietly eavesdropping on their conversation. When he heard the keyword "photo," he pointed at Shibata Shiro's body.
"Conan!"
Ran turned around at the sound of his voice, rushing over to scoop him up, her tone a mix of frustration and worry: "Why are you at the crime scene again?"
"Because I'm curious… And who knows, maybe that photo belongs to Ikenami-neesan!"
Conan flashed a childlike grin.
Truthfully, he wasn't sure if this "Ikenami lady," who seemed full of lies, really had a photo on Shibata Shiro's body.
But whether it was true or not, he figured he'd poke around and see what he could uncover.
"No way that's true…"
Mouri Kogoro clearly didn't buy it.
Fujino stepped forward and took a look.
Shibata Shiro's body was sprawled in a "火" shape, arms raised above his head. His left hand was covered in blood, with bandages on his fingers—oddly, though, there was no blood on the bandages themselves.
And that photo? It was tightly clutched in his right hand.
The photo was crumpled from how hard he'd been gripping it.
Wearing gloves, Fujino carefully pried the photo out.
It showed a girl with a brown ponytail.
She was holding a medal—a gold one, by the looks of it.
But Fujino knew how these things went… It was probably bronze.
The scene in the photo was strikingly similar to one from a summer festival they'd seen before.
Only this time, the girl's eyes were faintly brimming with tears, giving her a delicate, almost fragile look.
"Could this be…"
Mouri Kogoro and Yokomizo Sango froze.
"Yes, that's right!"
Hattori Shizuka leaned in, her voice soft: "That's the photo I was looking for."
"But why was this photo in the victim's hand?!"
"Mouri-san… Do you think it's possible that this was a clue Shibata-san left behind before he died?"
Yokomizo Sango's face darkened, a hint of fear in his eyes as he exchanged a glance with Mouri Kogoro.
Mouri Kogoro swallowed hard, turning to look at the calm Hattori Shizuka: "No way, right? Such a beautiful lady couldn't possibly be the killer… Maybe it just happened to fall on the floor when he collapsed?"
"Arere!"
At that moment, Conan wriggled free from Ran's grasp, turning into the "wandering chicken" once again. He scampered over and pointed curiously at something under the body: "There's something under the corpse!"
"Is this… a novel?"
Yokomizo Sango gently shifted the body, revealing a book titled The Gate of Raijin.
This was the very book Hattori Shizuka had lent to Shibata Shiro thirty years ago.
Though Yoshikawa was on the verge of being arrested, he insisted he hadn't killed anyone and cooperated with the police, mentioning that Shibata had received a strange phone call a couple of days ago.
Meanwhile, Shibata's wife led everyone to the spot where the book had been kept, but the bookshelf there was now a chaotic mess.
At the same time, the forensics team found bloodstains at the entrance, along with a bloodied bokken—a wooden sword that belonged to the Shibata household, usually kept on the shoe cabinet by the door.
"This bokken… is it the murder weapon?"
Conan stood beside the bloodstained wooden sword, squinting at it with a mix of disbelief and amusement.
So, a bokken can actually bash someone to death.
Conan glanced at Fujino.
Yup, probably capable of smashing someone's skull to bits.
Very Conan-esque logic.
"You got into an argument at the entrance over the photo, then used the bokken to kill Shibata-san. Maybe there's some secret hidden in that photo, so you went through all this trouble to hire Fujino and Mouri-tantei to come to the crime scene."
Yokomizo Sango stared at Hattori Shizuka, hands in his pockets as he laid out his theory, then said sternly: "Ikenami-san, would you mind coming with us to the police station?"
"I'll have to decline."
Hattori Shizuka's tone was calm, but her eyes sharpened, an icy aura seeming to radiate from her: "If you want to question me, go get an arrest warrant first. But with the evidence you have now, the court won't issue one… So you have no right to demand my cooperation."
She paused, then turned to Shibata's wife with a faint smile: "However, if Shibata-san's wife wants to sue us for trespassing, that's another story."
Conan, who'd been wandering around like a curious chicken, came back just in time to see Hattori Shizuka's composed demeanor. He froze.
Who is this woman?
If it were anyone else, they'd probably be panicking by now.
But here she was, cool as a cucumber, even tossing in a bit of self-deprecating humor and a joke.
"But in a situation like this, even trespassing wouldn't hold up, right?"
Fujino, standing nearby, glanced at Hattori Shizuka and chimed in smoothly: "After all, someone died in this house. Given the circumstances, our actions could easily be considered justified entry. We discovered the crime scene… Or, put another way, we noticed something unusual in the house, went in to help, and found the person already dead…"
"If you frame it like that, even trespassing wouldn't stick as a charge."
Hattori Shizuka looked at Fujino, then squinted thoughtfully: "Looks like Detective Fujino's got a knack for being a defense attorney."
Conan: "…"
Why do I get the vibe that both of you are kinda dangerous? Like some lawless duo, Zhang San and Li Si, up to no good.
"No, no, defense attorney's not for me."
Fujino waved it off modestly. "That line of work's not my thing. I'm happy sticking to being a detective."
"True that."
Mouri-ojisan nodded sagely from the side: "Defense attorneys are the worst to deal with."
Lightening the mood a bit, Fujino got back to business: "But from where I'm standing, I don't think Ikenami-san is the killer in this case."
"Huh?"
Yokomizo Sango blinked, curious. "Fujino-kun, how do you know she's not the killer?"
Hattori Shizuka, too, looked at Fujino with interest.
"Because of the timing."
Fujino kept it short, pulling out his phone: "Shibata-san's time of death was 8 a.m. this morning, right?"
"That's correct."
Yokomizo Sango frowned. "But what does that have to do with this case?"
Fujino: "…"
Fujino gave Yokomizo Sango a deadpan look.
Is this guy genuinely clueless, pretending to be clueless, or are Neon's local cops just this dense?
Fujino sighed helplessly: "Officer Yokomizo, how long does it take to drive from Shizuoka to Tokyo?"
"Tokyo to Shizuoka…"
Yokomizo thought for a moment. "About four and a half hours, maybe five. Could be faster if the roads are clear."
"Exactly. Nearly five hours."
Fujino picked up the thread. "It takes at least four hours to drive from Tokyo to Shizuoka. We set out in the afternoon, and with all the stops and traffic, we didn't get here until 7 p.m."
He pulled up the clock on his phone and showed it to everyone: "When Ikenami-san came to me, it was around 11 or 12 noon, maybe a bit earlier. If it takes over four hours, there's no way she could've killed someone and made it to my place in time—especially factoring in city traffic."
"Yep, just like Detective Fujino said, I did hit traffic on the way to the detective agency."
Hattori Shizuka nodded, her voice calm as she confirmed his point.
Inside, though, she was feeling a bit down.
Her friend's death, plus being inexplicably labeled a murder suspect, wasn't exactly easy to shrug off.
She didn't take it too personally, but it still nagged at her…
If she really wanted to clear her name, it'd be simple—just call her son over to vouch for her. After all, she'd spent the day with her son, Hattori Heiji, and his childhood friend, Toyama Kazuha.
With those two as witnesses, the whole thing would fall apart… But alas, she couldn't reveal her hand just yet.
What she hadn't expected was for Fujino, this young detective, to clear her name with a single sentence…
She kinda wanted to see how this play would unfold—what other surprises were in store.
Hattori Shizuka watched Fujino, her eyes narrowing like a sly fox's.
"That makes sense…"
Mouri Kogoro rubbed his chin. "If she was killing someone at the time, there's no way she could've made it in time. And with the road conditions, she couldn't have been speeding the whole way. So Ikenami-san's off the hook… I knew she wasn't the killer."
Conan, listening in, mulled it over and thought Fujino's reasoning was solid.
It was simple and effective, though not perfect.
By now, Conan had already pieced together the truth of the case. If he were to lay out his deduction, it'd definitely outshine Fujino's.
But he was missing that final push—and being a kid, he couldn't exactly kick down the door.
Use Mouri-ojisan's help? With Fujino at the scene, Conan didn't dare recklessly shoot a tranquilizer dart into the back of Mouri's neck…
"Guess I've gotta rely on dropping hints to Fujino myself?"
Conan sighed, pouting.
It was rare for him to see through the truth and not get to deduce it himself, having to hand it over to Fujino.
He felt a bit cheated.
But with things as they were, he had no choice but to let Fujino take this case.
Sure, "Sleeping Mouri Kogoro" wasn't Kudo Shinichi.
But after all this time, seeing "Sleeping Mouri Kogoro" in action still gave him a tiny thrill of curiosity…
Fujino's voice snapped Conan out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Fujino's gaze shift, locking onto Shibata Kyoko. In a low voice, he said, "Shibata Kyoko-san, you're the killer, aren't you?"
"Huh?!"
Shibata Kyoko froze.
Yokomizo Sango, puzzled, chimed in: "But Fujino-kun, Shibata-san didn't have the opportunity to commit the crime. She left the house before 5 a.m. this morning."
Conan hadn't expected Fujino to zero in on Shibata's wife as the killer, too.
Then again, it made sense. This was a guy even he couldn't underestimate. Figuring out the truth alongside him wasn't exactly surprising.
Still, he was curious. Fujino hadn't been poking around the crime scene like he had—how had he found the evidence…?