Early the next morning.
"Honestly, I never thought a perfectly good evening banquet would turn out like this."
At a café near the hotel, Suzuki Sonoko stretched lazily and said in boredom, "And that Soccer Star—murder would've been bad enough, but how did he end up addicted to drugs too? He really went all out just to lure someone over."
Mouri Ran looked at the signed jersey. Thinking of that gentle, friendly star, she sighed helplessly. "Good thing Shinichi wasn't there. If an idol he'd liked for so many years fell from grace right in front of him, who knows how he'd feel."
"Cough, cough!" Hattori Heiji suddenly choked on his juice.
He grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth, then secretly glanced at the elementary school student beside him. ...What a pity. Kudo Shinichi wasn't just there—he was deeply involved from start to finish. His house had probably collapsed so thoroughly that not even rubble remained...
Sure enough, Conan, who had only just sorted out his feelings, immediately grew gloomy again when he heard the topic. He listlessly poked at the cake on his plate, reducing the innocent dessert to a pile of crumbs.
Mouri Ran happened to catch sight of this. Remembering belatedly that this little boy was also a fan of Ray Curtis, she quickly gave an awkward laugh and changed the subject.
"Come to think of it, isn't there a soccer exhibition match today? Even though Mr. Ray can't play, there are plenty of other stars. Since we've got nothing else to do, let's go watch."
"..." Conan had absolutely no desire to hear the words "soccer ball" right now. If Vodka hadn't been causing trouble nearby lately, he would have wanted to take off his Soccer Ball Belt and throw it away too.
Now that