Still, the People of Beika Had More Spirit

While the two were talking, Conan had already quietly and stealthily approached the corpse.

Their stealth and stealth are comparable to those of a professional assassin!

"Ah-le-le!"

Conan stood up, pointed at the corpse, and shouted in a childish voice, "This uncle is so strange! His left hand is holding his belt, and his right ring and index fingers are bent! Is there some special meaning behind it?"

"Belt?"

Upon hearing this, Goro Otaki leaned forward to take a look and murmured, "It really is..."

"Conan!"

At this moment, Ran realized what was happening and quickly went over to pick up Conan, saying in a reproachful tone, "How many times have I told you not to disturb the adults while they are investigating the case!"

"I'm just really curious!"

Conan chuckled, "This old man looks really strange, doesn't he? It's like he's playing some kind of rock-paper-scissors game!"

Fujino: "..."

Hattori Heiji: "..."

Here we go again, this kid's classic move.

To other people, this might not seem like a big deal; it's just that the child is a little naughty.

But for the two who knew that Conan was actually Kudo Shinichi, there was something strange about it.

That's a bit awkward!

It's not so much a little awkward, it's downright awkward.

"Judging from the gestures, it must have been done deliberately."

Hattori Heiji was already used to this. He stepped forward and examined the corpse. "This should be the death message left before death. I wonder if it was something done before death, or if it was done halfway through and then died..."

"From this perspective, the only clue we have now is these two death messages. Only by deciphering these two codes can we possibly identify the suspect."

Goro Otaki refocused his attention on the corpse and pondered, "The first mark is the little finger and ring finger of the right hand, and the second mark is the band held in the left hand... I have no clue."

"BAND?"

Mori Kogoro asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"That's another way of saying belt."

Goro Otaki asked in confusion, "Some people call belts 'BAND,' didn't you know that?"

"You'd be a fool to know that!"

Hattori Heiji said speechlessly, "Only old men and women would say something like that."

So why is it called BAND?

Fujino narrowed his eyes, somewhat speechless.

How come he's never heard of it?

Could it be some strange name from the Kansai region that he doesn't know?

"BAND...3... BAND...3"

Uncle Mori muttered to himself, then suddenly realized something and shouted, "I know! BAND3 must be Mr. Bando's idea! The murderer must be a man named Bando!"

Hattori Heiji: "..."

Hey, uncle!

Can we please stop using puns?

Mr. Bando- san, etc., that's so boring, isn't it?

"Hey, Heiji."

Goro Otaki couldn't help but whisper to Hattori Heiji, "Is this guy really the Sleeping Kogoro?"

"Forehead..."

Hattori Heiji.

He naturally knew that the sleeping mastermind was Conan; if he wasn't asleep, he was just a clueless detective.

But that's not entirely accurate.

He immediately explained, "He probably drank too much today and his mind isn't quite right. I reckon he'll be fine once he falls asleep. You can't listen to what this uncle says when he's sober."

"I have heard of that before..."

Goro Otaki suddenly realized, "So that's why he's called the Sleeping Kogoro?"

"Ahem."

Fujino couldn't help but cough lightly, suppressing a laugh.

I was even more impressed by the fact that Mouri-niisan's secret codes all relied on jokes.

BAND is a homophone for Bando, and 3 is a homophone for Mr., which is also the Japanese word for mulberry.

That's why Mori Kogoro believed the murderer was a man named Bando.

If BAND03 is Mr. Bando, then Lupin the Third would also fit the standard, wouldn't he?

The case is solved! It was Lupin the Third's gang!

Pulling himself back to reality, Fujino didn't reveal this outrageous deduction.

He then suggested to Hattori Heiji and Goro Otaki, "Since we can't see anything yet, why don't we check the gunpowder residue on the guests first? If it was a gunman, there should be gunpowder residue on his body."

Hattori Heiji nodded. "I think so too. At the very least, we should test them all. Maybe we can find the culprit directly."

Goro Otaki nodded helplessly. "Now we can only do as you two say..."

The restaurant and meeting room downstairs.

When the group came downstairs, the venue was in complete chaos.

The order at the scene was maintained entirely by uniformed police officers to prevent any extreme behavior from the upper-class people present.

This is so chaotic, it completely lacks the traditional Mikaku people's fine quality of just watching the show and enjoying the spectacle!

But this doesn't seem to be rice cake, so it's fine.

Fujino still missed the people of Beika; thinking about it carefully, the Beika people were really something else. They weren't flustered at all by the dead, quietly cooperating with the police investigation, and even daring to look around at the corpse—they were incredibly calm.

"Fujino- kun!"

"We heard there was a shooting upstairs..."

"What exactly happened?"

Although Yoko Okino and Yuko Ikezawa are not from Beika, they live in Tokyo and are therefore somewhat Beika people, upholding fine traditions.

Seeing Fujino come downstairs, the two couldn't help but lean forward and ask him curiously.

"Don't worry, Miss Yoko!"

Before Fujino could answer, Mori Kogoro was taken aback for a moment, then stepped forward and confidently patted his chest. "Leave this case to me Mori Kogoro, and I'll solve it in no time!"

"Oh oh!"

Yoko Okino, looking bewildered.

She thought to herself that she had only asked what had happened, not when the murderer would be caught.

She had met the Sleeping Kogoro at a concert, but they weren't very familiar with each other. She only knew that he seemed to have a good relationship with Fujino and that he was a fan of hers.

"..."

Yuko Ikezawa glanced warily at Mori Kogoro.

Isn't this uncle being a bit too enthusiastic?

It feels a bit sleazy.

Yuko Ikezawa silently stepped forward, shielding Yoko Okino behind her.

It looks just like a penguin protecting its young.

"..."

Fujino paused for a moment.

Although I had already witnessed how incredible Mouri-niisan could be when he met Yoko Okino, it was still a bit awkward when it actually happened to someone I knew.

In conclusion, it's because I'm not thick-skinned enough...

"This time it was a journalist who died, but don't worry, we've already made progress in this case."

Fujino paused for a moment, then continued, "The police will conduct a gun smoke reaction test in a bit, and after that there won't be any problems. If you two want to do it ahead of time, you should start making the arrangements now."

"Then I'll have to trouble you!"

Yuko Ikezawa nodded, then quickly left the scene with Yoko Okino: "Yoko and I are going to do our tests first, see you later!"

Fujino: "..."

Why does it seem like these two are getting closer and closer?

And it looks like something's going to happen?

Something's fishy!