Chapter Summaries

On Valentine’s Day, Fujino collected chocolates from students and friends while Vermouth, disguised as Tomoaki Araide, and Jodie continued their wary interaction. After Akemi invited Ooka Momiji to stay overnight, Fujino ended the day with a growing chocolate stockpile and wondered how much weight he might gain.

• Fujino offered Tomoaki Araide a sack for his chocolates, then left Vermouth and Jodie to their conversation.
• Fujino drove Ran and Sonoko home, accepted Sonoko’s chocolate, and learned that Ran had made chocolate for him as well.
• Fujino picked up Ai Haibara and Conan, then found Ooka Momiji visiting Akemi Miyano and accepted Momiji’s Valentine’s gift.
• Akemi invited Momiji to stay for dinner, and Momiji agreed to spend the night, prompting Ai Haibara to suspect they had planned it to set her up.
• Fujino stored the sack of chocolates in his Pocket Dimension, examined the gifts from Sonoko, Ai, and Momiji, and worried about gaining weight.

Ran shared chibi-style chocolates she had made for everyone at Snow King Ice City, and Professor Agasa gave Fujino invitations to the upcoming Cocoon game press conference. Fujino then accepted Hōda Hideno’s request to find his late wife’s missing watch, though he wondered why Hōda had hired a detective for something he believed was lost in his own house.

• Ran showed the children the chibi-style chocolates she had made, while Ai Haibara teased Conan about the chocolates’ sad-looking smiles.
• Professor Agasa told Fujino that the Cocoon game was finished and gave him invitations to its press conference.
• Ooka Momiji came downstairs, and the children welcomed her and offered to show her around Tokyo.
• Hōda Hideno asked Fujino to find the wind-up watch he had given his late wife, saying he thought it was somewhere in his house.
• Fujino accepted Hōda’s request but found it strange that he had hired a detective to search his own home.

Fujino quoted Hōda Hideno one hundred thousand yen to find his late wife's watch, but Hōda declined the fee and the Junior Detective League volunteered to help. Fujino and Ooka Momiji joined the children at Hōda's home, where they saw flowers his wife had arranged shortly before her death.

• Conan questioned Hōda Hideno about why he needed a detective to find a watch he claimed was at home, and Fujino interrupted to discuss his fee.
• Hōda Hideno refused Fujino's one-hundred-thousand-yen price and prepared to seek help elsewhere.
• Conan and the Junior Detective League offered to find the watch for free, and Fujino agreed to accompany them.
• Ooka Momiji asked to join the investigation to see Fujino's everyday life as a detective.
• At Hōda Hideno's apartment, Ayumi admired a bouquet, and Hōda said his wife had arranged it three weeks before she died.

Ooka Momiji and the others visited Hōda Hideno, whose expensive movie collection made Fujino and Conan question his claims of poverty. At the house, they discovered that Hōda owed Tsukino a large debt, and Fujino suspected the meeting could turn into a murder case.

• Ooka Momiji advised Hōda Hideno on how to keep his carnations fresh, and Ai Haibara explained their meaning.
• Genta and Mitsuhiko explored Hōda's well-equipped viewing room, where Mitsuhiko spotted an American Gomera videotape.
• Fujino and Conan noticed that Hōda's costly equipment and trip to America did not fit his inability to pay a detective's fee.
• Tsukino arrived and collected five million yen from Hōda, who still owed her fifteen million, then took a videotape to watch.
• After Tsukino shut herself in the viewing room, Hōda glared at the door with killing intent, and Fujino suspected a murder case was brewing.

Fujino and the Detective Boys searched Hōda Hideno’s house for his late wife’s watch, then grew suspicious of the sandwiches and Hōda’s behavior. After Hōda left to check on Conan and Ayumi, Fujino suspected the search had been arranged to draw them into a murder case.

• Fujino discussed the Cherry Blossom Blizzard sword technique with Hōda Hideno, Ooka Momiji, and the others while they searched for the missing watch.
• Hōda said the watch should still be in the house and offered to make sandwiches for the children.
• Conan and Ayumi took sandwiches to Mrs. Izuki in the screening room, while Fujino wondered whether the food had been poisoned.
• Fujino noticed the sandwich seemed freshly made, and Hōda left the living room to check on Conan and Ayumi.
• Fujino concluded that the strange events had likely been arranged to bring the group to Beika for a murder case.

Fujino and the others discovered Izuki Reiko’s body in Hōda Hideno’s screening room, and Megure began investigating her murder. The chapter left Megure suspecting Hōda after learning the kitchen doors gave the culprit a chance to reach the crime scene unseen.

• Fujino heard a flowerpot smash and found Izuki Reiko dead in the screening room, then called for help.
• Megure arrived and learned that Izuki had visited Hōda to collect a debt and watch a videotape.
• Takagi identified the flowerpot as the murder weapon, while the group discussed the videotape Izuki had been watching.
• Fujino introduced Ooka Momiji to Megure, and Momiji thanked him for looking after Fujino.
• Megure learned Hōda had been making sandwiches near the time of the murder and found that the kitchen connected to the scene through a hallway blind spot.
• Megure told Hōda that the kitchen layout had given him an opportunity to commit the murder.

Fujino and Inspector Megure investigated whether Hōda Hideno could have killed Ms. Tsukino, while new witness details complicated the theory and police learned that case files on Fujino and Mouri had been secretly examined. The chapter left Conan realizing the investigation of the detectives might have been aimed at him.

• Inspector Megure proposed that Hōda could have killed Ms. Tsukino while making sandwiches and used recordings to fake the sounds of the crime.
• Fujino and Conan established that Ms. Tsukino was still alive when Hōda was with them, undermining the proposed timeline, while Ooka Momiji recalled that the footsteps and door sounded muffled.
• Chiba reported that many residents owed money to Ms. Tsukino, so Inspector Megure ordered officers to investigate the borrowers.
• Takagi told Conan that files belonging to Fujino and Mouri had disappeared and later reappeared, and that they went missing around the day the bus was hijacked.
• Conan realized that whoever had investigated Fujino and Mouri might have been targeting him.

Fujino solved Izuki Reiko’s murder and identified Hōda Hideno as the culprit, explaining how he used linked VCRs and a recorded alibi. Conan also realized that the suspicious man in a knit cap had appeared at several important incidents, while Fujino’s accusation left Hōda exposed.

• Takagi warned Conan to keep the information about a suspicious knit-cap man secret, and Conan recalled the man’s presence at the bus hijacking and a kidnapping.
• Fujino examined Izuki Reiko’s crime scene and discovered a timed VCR hidden behind a curtain above the television.
• Conan and Haibara arrived as Fujino announced that he knew the murderer was Hōda Hideno.
• Fujino explained that Hōda had arranged a false alibi by preparing sandwiches and hiring detectives to search for a watch.
• Fujino demonstrated how Hōda linked two VCRs so Izuki’s remote would eject a tape and drop a vase onto her, while prerecorded sounds disguised the murder.

Fujino exposed Hōda’s murder plan, and Hōda confessed that he had killed the stock broker he blamed for his wife’s suicide. After the case ended, Fujino and the others discussed how repeated tragedies could make them grow accustomed to such cases, then realized Conan was missing.

• Fujino showed how Hōda’s elaborate murder plan had left flaws, and Hōda confessed to killing the stock broker.
• Conan and the children revealed that Hōda had made the apparent vase from bowls and baked the carnations to disguise them as old.
• Hōda explained that the broker had tricked his wife into buying stocks, leaving the family in debt before she took her own life.
• Fujino comforted Hōda, and Takagi took him to the police station.
• Fujino received his system rewards as he walked home with the children and spoke with them about encountering tragic cases.
• Fujino and the children noticed that Conan had gone missing.

Conan hurried back to look for Ran while Shuichi Akai surveilled the detective agency and encountered Iori Muga. After dinner, Fujino told Iori that Akai was no threat and asked him to keep the surveillance secret from Momiji.

• Haibara told Fujino that Conan had left in a hurry, and Fujino suspected Takagi had told him about the stolen files.
• Conan returned to the detective agency and asked Akemi whether she had seen Ran, while Akai watched them from a nearby alley.
• Iori arrived to pick up Momiji, noticed Akai watching the area, and let him leave without confronting him.
• Momiji, Fujino, and the others returned, and Akemi invited them to stay for curry before Fujino drove them home.
• Iori told Fujino about the suspicious man in the alley, and Fujino said he already knew Akai and asked Iori not to tell Momiji.

Fujino decided to keep Ooka Momiji away from the Alcohol Company’s affairs while reflecting on his growing attachment to the people he had brought into his life. The next day, Ran remained puzzled by Jodie’s lesson about the symbol X as she walked home with Fujino and the others.

• Fujino chose not to let Ooka Momiji get involved with the Alcohol Company because he did not want her to be endangered.
• Fujino reviewed the risks involving the Animal Organization, Ai Haibara, Vermouth, and the FBI, then resolved to protect Akemi Miyano and the others he considered family.
• Jodie taught Ran and her classmates that X could carry a suggestive meaning, but Ran failed to understand the explanation.
• After school, Ran walked with Fujino, Sonoko, Conan, and Ai Haibara and asked why Fujino had not driven.
• Fujino explained that his car had run out of gas and broken down, while Ran continued wondering what X meant.

Fujino and the others met Jodie at a café, where she asked about men harassing female students. Ran and Fujino recalled seeing a suspicious man in a knit cap, and Fujino vowed to confront him if he appeared again.

• Ran asked Conan what X meant, but Ai Haibara teased that children could not know its meaning.
• Fujino spotted Jodie following the group and called her over.
• Jodie joined Fujino, Ran, Sonoko, and Conan at a café and asked whether they had encountered perverts.
• Ran said she had seen a suspicious man in a knit cap near her home, and Fujino admitted he had seen him too.
• Fujino declared that they should smash the man’s head in if he appeared again.

Jodie resolved to keep Shuichi Akai away from Fujino, while Conan grew suspicious of Jodie and Ai Haibara feared the man in the knitted cap might be connected to the Organization. After a restaurant blackout, a man was found dead on an escalator, and the group began investigating the apparent dying message.

• Jodie decided that Shuichi Akai should stop watching Fujino, while Conan questioned the coincidences surrounding Jodie and the stalker.
• Ai Haibara connected the knitted-cap-wearing man to the Organization and wondered whether Jodie seemed trustworthy.
• A suited middle-aged man pleaded over the phone about documents and a suspicious person before the restaurant lights went out.
• After the lights returned, a girl screamed, and Conan rushed outside with the others to find a dead man at the top of an escalator.
• Ran called the police, Conan pointed out markings on the dead man's file bag, and Jodie identified them as a possible dying message.
• Conan asked Ai Haibara whether Jodie gave off the same impression as the man in the knitted cap, and Ai Haibara reminded him that he had dismissed her suspicions before.

Conan and Ai Haibara discussed her ability to sense members of the organization and whether Jodie was connected to them. At a murder scene, Conan proposed a way to uncover the victim’s full dying message while Fujino watched him test Jodie with conspicuous behavior.

• Ai Haibara told Conan that Jodie lacked the organization’s aura, though she could not rule out his suspicions about her.
• Ai Haibara said Doctor Shinide had an aura that made her skin crawl, while Conan questioned why she had not recognized Pisco.
• Juzo Megure arrived at the murder scene, and Fujino identified the victim as detective Katsunori Nakajo and described his fatal wound and dying message.
• Conan noticed a bloodstain on Nakajo’s document bag and suggested that more of the message might remain on the escalator steps.
• Conan suggested using Luminol to reveal the blood on the escalator, while Sonoko teased him for acting like a precocious adult.
• Fujino realized Conan was drawing attention to himself to test Jodie’s reaction and considered the tactic reckless.

Fujino and Conan helped Inspector Megure investigate the murder of a detective who had blackmailed his client, Norihisa Ikisho. A cryptic code and a list of 58 possible embezzlers pointed toward the killer, but the code remained undeciphered.

• Conan questioned Jodie’s suspicious behavior while Fujino recognized that Vermouth was behind her actions.
• An officer found a recent call in the victim’s phone records, and calling the number led the police to Norihisa Ikisho, who had hired the detective to investigate embezzlement.
• Ikisho explained that the detective had found the embezzler, then threatened him for four times the agreed fee; Fujino noted that the detective had supplied a list of 58 suspects a week earlier.
• Takagi reported that investigators found a code mark on the escalator and an eyewitness who saw the killer take documents from the victim’s file during a blackout.
• Megure sent Chiba to check the company employees’ alibis and tried to decipher the code, while Fujino said he could not help.

After the victim left a string of symbols during a blackout, Fujino, Ai Haibara, and the others tried to work out what the cipher meant while police searched for the stolen document. The cipher remained unsolved, and more than thirty employees without alibis were still suspects.

• Conan doubted Fujino’s claim that he could not solve the cipher, while Fujino silently looked to Ai Haibara for help.
• Jodie recognized the symbols as resembling video game controller buttons, and Sonoko and Fujino considered mathematical interpretations.
• Chiba Kazunobu reported that the stolen document was still missing and that thirty-one employees lacked alibis.
• Sonoko, Ran, Jodie, and Chiba proposed guesses linking the symbols to characters and suspects’ names, prompting Juzo Megure to send Chiba and Takagi to search for the document.
• Jodie explained American terms tied to distinctive objects and institutions, but the group still had no solution to the cipher.

Fujino and Ai Haibara worked out that the symbols at the crime scene were the lower halves of the victim’s hastily written name. Fujino identified Bunta Kuniyoshi as the killer, and Megure took him in for questioning while Conan quietly spoke to Takagi.

• Fujino teased Jodie by discussing the FBI, and Megure interrupted them to lead the group to the crime scene.
• Jodie wondered how Fujino had guessed her secret while Fujino privately enjoyed her confusion.
• Fujino examined the evidence envelope and compared it with the symbols found on the escalator.
• Ai Haibara suggested that the symbols were incomplete characters from a name, helping Fujino understand the message.
• Fujino identified Bunta Kuniyoshi as the killer, and Megure brought Kuniyoshi in for questioning.
• Conan studied Kuniyoshi’s workstation and quietly whispered something to Takagi.

Fujino bluffed Bunta Kuniyoshi into confessing to murder by claiming the police had evidence and urging him to surrender for his family’s sake. Takagi then produced the real evidence, and Kuniyoshi went with the police grateful to Fujino, leaving Megure and Conan baffled.

• Megure interrogated Bunta Kuniyoshi over his lack of an alibi and the coded mark that spelled his name, while Kuniyoshi argued that he might have been framed.
• Fujino claimed the police could prove Kuniyoshi had embezzled funds and would find surveillance footage, then urged him to confess and consider his family.
• When Takagi and Conan entered, Fujino implied they had found evidence, and Kuniyoshi panicked and confessed to the murder.
• Takagi revealed that he had recovered the bloodstained document from Kuniyoshi’s shredder and found Kuniyoshi’s name on it.
• Kuniyoshi agreed to go to the station and thanked Fujino for thinking of him, while Megure and Conan wondered why the murderer seemed grateful.

Fujino and his companions prepared to attend a virtual-reality game launch banquet at Beika City Hall, while Conan continued suspecting several people of belonging to the organization. The group entered the venue, but Mori Kogoro set off the security scanners and was taken aside for a search.

• Fujino explained to Ran that X could symbolize a kiss or a girl teasing a boy, while Sonoko teased Ran about flirting with someone.
• Two days later, Ai Haibara helped Fujino straighten his tie as they got ready to attend a game launch banquet with the others.
• Conan recalled investigating Jodie’s house with Hattori Heiji and listed Shuichi Akai, Jodie, and Tomoaki Araide as suspects, while refusing to involve Fujino.
• Fujino, Haibara, Akemi, Mori, Conan, and the Junior Detective League traveled to Beika City Hall for the banquet.
• Mori Kogoro triggered the security scanners, and staff led him away to check him with a metal detector.

Fujino, Mori Kogoro, Conan, and the children attended a Cocoon game launch event, where the children saw that wealthy and politically connected families had been selected to play. Fujino and Ai Haibara criticized Japan’s hereditary privilege, while Haibara covered her serious remarks by pretending she had heard them on the news.

• Fujino challenged a security guard who detected something on Mori Kogoro, showed his police identification, and got them admitted to the venue.
• Conan and the children admired the Cocoon pods and discussed how the game let players experience historical events.
• At the banquet, Mori Kogoro drank despite Ran reminding him he would need to drive, and Genta eagerly ate the food.
• Ayumi noticed the selected players were children of influential people, and Mori Kogoro identified several of their powerful relatives.
• Ai Haibara and Fujino condemned Japan’s hereditary social system and the inequality it perpetuated.
• Conan questioned Haibara’s unchildlike comments, and Haibara claimed she had heard the ideas on the news.