Outlaw in the World of Conan, Tokisaki Kurumi

"The restroom, someone's been murdered in the restroom!"

Conan's voice wasn't loud, but in the quiet lobby, his childish tone still drew the attention of many.

"What? Someone's dead?"

"No way!"

Upon hearing the news, the customers who had been minding their own business couldn't sit still.

"Hold on, kid, you can't just say things like that."

Seeing the shop instantly become noisy, the server frowned unhappily.

"It's true! In the last stall in the restroom, there was so much blood!"

Seeing that Conan's expression didn't seem like he was lying, the employee, determined to see for himself, said to his colleague, "I'll go check the restroom. You guys keep the customers calm." 74 Why are you in the women's restroom?

Soon, after confirming that a murder had indeed occurred in the restroom as Conan had said, the employee didn't hesitate to call the police.

Even though he had just brazenly walked into the women's restroom.

In the lobby, the customers who had been leisurely enjoying their free time couldn't sit still when they saw the male employee run to the counter in a panic and whisper to the manager. They knew a murder had really happened here.

And when they tried to leave this place of trouble, the middle-aged manager, whose face had suddenly changed, immediately said loudly, "I apologize, everyone, but no one can leave until the police arrive!"

Faced with the manager's stern attitude and the employees blocking the exit, some bystanders who were not involved immediately shouted that they were not the murderer and tried to force their way out.

Watching the composed and collected middle-aged man, dressed impeccably and meticulously, Tokisaki Kurumi, who was watching the scene unfold, felt that this manager must have a story.

Ignoring the panicked customers, Kurumi's beautiful eyes rolled, and her leisurely expression instantly turned flustered. She then pretended to coincidentally approach Mouri Ran and Sonoko.

"Mouri-san, I didn't expect to run into you here."

Hearing someone call her, Mouri Ran turned around and was surprised to see Kurumi, whom she had met once at the art museum, was also here. Although she wanted to greet her warmly, a murder had just occurred, and the death of a life made Mouri Ran feel a bit sad.

"Ran, who is that?"

Suzuki Sonoko, who didn't know Kurumi, asked Mouri Ran in a low voice as she watched the beautiful girl approach, her face full of curiosity.

"It's... someone I know."

Sonoko's question made Mouri Ran pause.

Their relationship was merely that they had experienced a murder together, making them barely acquaintances.

"She's very pretty," Sonoko said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully and sighing with genuine admiration.

To maintain her persona as a delicate young girl, Kurumi, who had walked over to them, offered a strained smile. "It's quite a coincidence meeting you here, but now doesn't seem like the time for pleasantries..."

"Yes, Tokisaki-san," Mouri Ran said helplessly.

However, unlike the thoughtful Mouri Ran, Sonoko, who was naturally outgoing, took the initiative to speak to Kurumi in a low voice. "Hello, I'm Suzuki Sonoko, Ran's good friend!"

"Ah! I'm Tokisaki Kurumi." Because the atmosphere here was very serious, Kurumi deliberately lowered her voice.

"By the way, where's Conan?" Mouri Ran suddenly realized that Conan had gone to the restroom and hadn't returned.

Meanwhile, after seeing the employee call the police, Conan, acting on his Great Detective instincts, was meticulously examining the surroundings inside the women's restroom, trying to find anything suspicious.

Since the stall door was blocked by the body lying inside, Conan, who had initially wanted to open it, found that neither he nor the employee could push it open. He decisively opened the door to the adjacent stall and climbed onto the partition by stepping on the toilet.

"A robbery gone wrong?"

Noticing scattered personal belongings like an open handbag and wallet in the small space, along with a blood-stained dagger, Conan's first thought was this.

Just as Conan was deep in thought, the restroom door was opened.

"Conan! What are you doing wandering around in here?" Mouri Ran, who had been wondering where Conan was, stormed in after Kurumi mentioned that Conan might be in the women's restroom.

Noticing Conan darting around the crime scene, Mouri Ran, who had learned a thing or two from Mouri Kogoro, said sternly, "Honestly, this is a crime scene. If you contaminate the scene, it'll be a disaster!"

Hearing the serious tone of his childhood friend, Conan immediately turned around with a fawning smile. "Ran-neechan."

"Come on, let's go!" Not wanting to hear Conan's explanation, Mouri Ran grabbed Conan's hand and forcefully pulled him out of the restroom.

As he was being pulled back to the lobby, Conan noticed Kurumi whispering something to Sonoko.

What does this woman want? Realizing that the dangerous Kurumi was actively approaching them, Conan immediately sensed the seriousness of the situation.

Especially since Conan knew Kurumi liked women, she was even more reluctant to let her get close to Ran.

As for Sonoko...

That didn't matter.

A few minutes later, the capable officers of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrived at the scene in a flurry.

Among the group of officers, the leader was still one of the workhorses of the Conan world – Inspector Megure.

After instructing his officers to begin their work according to the murder investigation protocol, Inspector Megure decided to get a grasp of the situation.

Learning from an employee that a child had discovered the body and called the police, Inspector Megure surveyed the area and found the four people sitting together.

After greeting Kurumi and the others, Inspector Megure looked towards the 'first' person to discover the body.

"Conan, you were the first one to find the body in the women's restroom, right?"

Not sensing the gravity of the situation, Conan honestly nodded.

"Wait a minute, Conan, why were you in the women's restroom?" Sonoko asked, unconcerned, hitting the crucial point.

"Uh... well..." Noticing everyone's gaze on him, Conan instinctively wanted to say Kurumi found it, but after seeing her secretly give him the middle finger, he felt threatened and had no choice but to swallow his pride.

With an adult's mind still intact, Conan knew that if he didn't have this child's exterior, he would have been socially annihilated this time.

"I accidentally went into the wrong one. I was planning to leave, but I noticed a lot of blood flowing out of the last stall, so I wanted to take a look."

A flash of inspiration struck Conan as he clearly explained his reasoning.

Kurumi, seeing that Conan hadn't gotten into trouble and had instead escaped unscathed, clicked her tongue in secret.

"Is that so? Then, Conan, why don't you come with us for a moment?" Inspector Megure said to Conan, deciding to let the first witness see the crime scene.

Hearing that he could finally openly participate in this case, Conan immediately became excited and voluntarily followed Megure towards the restroom.

Upon arriving at the restroom, Conan saw that the police forensics team had already moved the body outside and covered it with a sheet.

And where the body had originally fallen, a white line had already been drawn to mark the victim's position at the time of death.

75 Petty

Bad luck! What terrible luck!

Kurumi never expected that after just taking Miyano Akemi out for a cup of coffee to chat and deepen their bond, she would encounter such a thing.

'This is the Shinigami's halo!'

Smiling on the outside but seething with resentment on the inside, Kurumi just wanted to beat Conan, that jinx, to a pulp.

Based on the preliminary results the police had gathered from the victim's body, they had already concluded that the killer had definitely been to the restroom within the last half hour.

Furthermore, because the restroom of this cafe required passing through a corridor, and at the end of the passage there were two curtain doors, followed by separate men's and women's restrooms on the left and right, the police, out of thoroughness and the lack of precise witnesses, decided to gather everyone who had gone to the restroom during that time, regardless of gender, and question them.

Facing the imposing presence of Megure and the other police officers, the cafe's customers began to recall and identify themselves.

Besides Kurumi, who stepped forward voluntarily, two men also nervously admitted their presence.

Judging by the displeased expressions on their faces, they seemed to regret not being able to hold it any longer, which now made them suspects.

"So, only you three went to the restroom within the last half hour?" Inspector Megure asked, suddenly noticing that the only young lady among the three looked very familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

"I went to the restroom, but I didn't kill anyone!" said a man with eyes so small they were almost slits, a scruffy beard, and an unkempt appearance.

Megure, long accustomed to such reactions, shook his head. "Regarding that, we'll have to wait for the case to be concluded. Besides, this lady and gentleman have no objections, so please cooperate a little."

"This..." The man looked at the tall man and the beautiful young lady beside him. Seeing their calm demeanor, he could only nod in agreement.

"Very well, in that case, please accompany us to the crime scene first."

While Inspector Megure was questioning them, Kurumi noticed Conan, standing beside Megure, give her a gloating expression.

That look of winking and clearly relishing her misfortune instantly made Kurumi furious.

'You little brat, just you wait!'

As she walked down the corridor with Inspector Megure, Kurumi summoned King Crimson and unhesitatingly stuck out her leg to trip Conan.

"Oof!"

Caught completely off guard, Conan fell flat on his face onto the tiles. The sound clearly indicated a solid impact.

Seeing Conan struggle to get up from the ground in pain, Kurumi deliberately asked with feigned concern, "Oh dear, Conan, you're so clumsy~ Did that hurt?"

"Be careful, the floor is quite slippery," Inspector Megure also reminded him.

Hearing Kurumi's vengeful tone and her barely concealed delight, Conan was enraged!

The pain was real, and the anger was even more so.

But what could he do?

Swallowing his pride, Conan shot Kurumi a disgruntled glance, deciding that as a man, he didn't need to bicker with a girl over something like this.

Upon arriving at the restroom, Inspector Megure asked Kurumi and the other two, who had now become suspects, to explain why they were at the cafe.

First was Kurumi.

"Miss Tokisaki, I'm truly sorry you've encountered such a situation again," Inspector Megure said, having remembered where he had seen Kurumi before. "However, from my professional standpoint, I still need you to cooperate with the investigation."

Megure's polite tone made Kurumi feel quite comfortable.

She nodded and said, "I came today to discuss some matters with a friend, but she had to leave early. Since I thought the coffee here was quite good, I decided to have another cup."

"Is that so?" Hearing this, Inspector Megure turned to the scruffy-bearded man.

"And you?"

"My name is Kō Yūichi. I came here to work on my thesis, but it looks like I won't be able to finish it now." The man's tone and expression were dejected, as if he felt his day had been ruined.

After Kō Yūichi introduced himself, it was the turn of the last man, tall and dark-skinned.

"My name is Denyama Jūzō. I know the owner of this place, so I often come here to chat with him when I have nothing else to do."

Once all three had introduced themselves, Inspector Megure began to explain the murder method as described by Conan.

"Based on our investigation, the perpetrator who killed the victim clearly committed the crime inside the stall, then locked the door from the inside and climbed over the door panel through the gap between the bathroom stall and the stall itself. So, I want you three to try and see if you can do it," Inspector Megure said, looking seriously at the three of them.

Hearing the method the killer used, Kurumi glanced at the bathroom stall door.

Climbing over from the outside at a height of nearly two meters would be very difficult for someone without training, but it was different from the inside.

The killer could completely step on the toilet inside the stall and then flip over from the inside.

The prerequisite being that their build couldn't be too large.

With this in mind, Kurumi glanced at the man who called himself Denyama.

With his nearly 1.9-meter height and robust build, it was impossible for him to climb over the stall.

"Inspector Megure, regarding this, I probably don't need to try, right?" Kurumi looked down at the dress she was wearing. The hem only reached her knees. If she were to flip over as he described, Kurumi admitted she could do it easily, but doing so would surely risk her skirt getting caught and exposing herself to these men.

Noticing Kurumi's gaze, Inspector Megure let out an understanding "Oh~".

"That's right, Miss Tokisaki, you don't need to try."

Hearing Inspector Megure being so considerate of this girl, the other two men were unhappy.

"Why not?"

"..." Looking at the man with narrowed eyes, Inspector Megure replied irritably, "Don't you know Miss Tokisaki is wearing a skirt? If there were no one else here, fine, but with us men around, how could the young lady feel comfortable!"

Finally, Megure added, "Besides, Miss Tokisaki has already admitted she can do it."

"In that case, can I also not try?" the tall Denyama asked, pointing to himself.

"Ah..." Looking at Denyama's build and then at the gap above the stall, Megure pondered for a moment before nodding, "Looking at you, you probably can't flip over either."