Thinking this, Hattori Heiji straightened his bow tie and walked up to Inspector Otaki like an adult, asking steadily, "How is it? Any results?"
Inspector Otaki sighed. "We haven't found a gun yet, and we haven't found gunpowder smoke on anyone."
Hattori Heiji looked at the three Sports Stars. "What about those three?"
Inspector Otaki shook his head. "Nothing. They were the first ones we checked."
"Is that so?" Hattori Heiji frowned. "That's strange. Actually, compared with the other guests, I think those three are the most suspicious—the dead reporter had been active in the United States for years. Compared to everyone else at the Evening Banquet, these three Sports Stars from the United States would have been the most likely to clash with him."
He looked at the boxer. "And I looked into it just now. When that dead reporter went onstage to cause trouble at the Evening Banquet, all three Stars acted as if they didn't know him... but he had actually reported scandals involving each of them.
"The Boxing Star retired undefeated, so after his retirement, that reporter wrote extensively about how he had secretly manipulated matches and cheated to achieve such an unbelievable record.
"Not to mention the Soccer Star Conan admires. He was expelled from professional soccer and forced into early retirement because he was suspected of drug use.
"As for the baseball star, I remember reports saying he had an affair and got divorced—there were rumors that all those scandals had been fabricated. If so, then the three of them would have even stronger motives for murder."
"Not necessarily."
A voice cut in from nearby.
When Hattori Heiji and Inspector Otaki looked down, they saw that Conan had somehow slipped over.
The Fake Elementary School Student, who had apparently overheard their conversation, objected, "Those