Chapter Summaries

After a lawyer was found murdered in a locked hotel room, Jiang Xia was treated as a suspect and taken to the police station, while Kisaki Eri arranged for Shirai to assist him. Jiang Xia then identified Lawyer Saku as the likely killer.

• Vodka watched the lawyers leave the crime scene and made coffee while waiting for them to return.
• Conan suspected that the mysterious client had arranged the attack to manipulate Jiang Xia and vowed to stop them.
• Yokomizo arrived at the hotel and learned that Jiang Xia had been in the locked room with the victim, Ms. Usui.
• Kisaki Eri objected to Jiang Xia being called the killer and decided to have Shirai assist him as a lawyer.
• The waitress told the police that Jiang Xia had been taken away by Ms. Usui, and Jiang Xia named Lawyer Saku as her killer.

Jiang Xia explained how Lawyer Saku used a thread and a broken Door Chain to fake a locked room after killing Ms. Usui. He found the cutters hidden in a Fire Department cabinet, and the police sent them for testing to confirm Saku’s guilt.

• Jiang Xia described how the murderer used thin thread to reconnect the Door Chain from outside the room and make it appear locked.
• Jiang Xia identified Lawyer Saku as suspicious because he had rammed the door, though he said more evidence was needed.
• Jiang Xia reasoned that the murderer had used Bolt Cutters or hydraulic cutters and likely had little time to hide them.
• Jiang Xia led the officers to the Fifth Floor and retrieved cloth-wrapped cutters from a Fire Department cabinet.
• Inspector Yokomizo ordered the cutters tested against the marks on the broken Iron Ring.

Jiang Xia and Officer Yokomizo devised a plan to make Lawyer Saku believe his attempt to frame Jiang Xia had succeeded. The police prepared a fake arrest and arranged for Lawyer Shirai to be brought in, while Eri stayed behind to expose the real murderer.

• Jiang Xia explained that the murderer had probably bought the pliers in Izu, where store footage could help prove when and where he acquired them.
• Jiang Xia urged Officer Yokomizo to search stores while secretly pressuring the murderer to confess by letting him think the framing had worked.
• Jiang Xia planned to keep the solved locked room and recovered murder weapon secret and leave Eri to investigate the lawyers at the hotel.
• Officer Yokomizo rejected taking Jiang Xia to the Police Station because reporters would report his arrest, so Jiang Xia suggested sending a disguised substitute in the police car.
• Jiang Xia asked Officer Yokomizo to invite Lawyer Shirai and have her believe she was defending him, while the police arranged to bring her back from the lobby.

While the police investigated a case possibly connected to Jiang Xia, Curacao tried to decide whether to alert the Organization or avoid playing into Uzo’s plans. A suspiciously Uzo-like man delivered her an Invitation and left her unsettled.

• Inspector Yokomizo had a junior officer disguise himself as a suspect while Jiang Xia rested in the lounge.
• Curacao overheard waitresses say the police had found Jiang Xia and were investigating a woman who had taken him to a room.
• Curacao deduced that the police were handling a serious case and suspected Jiang Xia was an important witness or suspect.
• Curacao hesitated to alert the Organization because she feared Uzo had engineered the situation to lure agents into danger.
• A curly-haired man in a black suit and sunglasses approached Curacao, left an Invitation on the sofa, and departed before she could speak.

Curacao chose to leave with the police rather than seek out Uzo, hoping to escape his influence by taking on a legal assignment. The police instead brought her back to the hotel, where Jiang Xia was waiting, and she realized that the blank invitation had never offered a real choice.

• Curacao opened the blank invitation and decided it was a trap that gave her a choice between visiting Uzo and defending someone at the police station.
• Inspector Yokomizo asked Curacao to defend an important witness in a murder case, and she agreed to leave with the officers.
• Curacao considered abandoning the assignment and hiring another lawyer, believing Usui Ritsuko was already dead.
• The police car returned to the hotel, where Curacao found Jiang Xia waiting in a lounge.
• Curacao realized that the invitation had merely announced an outcome already arranged by Uzo and wondered whether she should transfer overseas.

Curacao proposed returning to the crime scene to help clear Jiang Xia while quietly following his plan, and Officer Yokomizo agreed to accompany her. Before they left, Jiang Xia asked Curacao to go ahead so he could speak privately with the officer, leaving her waiting in the corridor.

• Officer Yokomizo explained that the police would seal off the crime-scene floor and asked Curacao to help make it seem that Jiang Xia had gone to the Police Station.
• Curacao suspected Jiang Xia was scrutinizing her and decided she wanted to leave his presence as soon as possible.
• Curacao argued that she should return to the crime scene to investigate and avoid making the killer suspicious by discussing Jiang Xia in the lawyers' group chat.
• Officer Yokomizo agreed to accompany Curacao upstairs so he could supervise her and direct the investigation.
• Jiang Xia told Curacao to go ahead because he had something to discuss with Officer Yokomizo, and Curacao waited outside the room with the junior officers.

Jiang Xia alerted Officer Yokomizo to a possible hidden camera in the murder room, while Kisaki Eri investigated the scene and reasoned that Jiang Xia had been framed. Kisaki Eri began examining a torn notepad for clues as the police secretly pursued the surveillance lead.

• Jiang Xia told Officer Yokomizo that a smoke alarm in the crime scene might contain a camera and asked him to have technicians check it.
• Officer Yokomizo called the technical department, then returned upstairs with Curacao and allowed Kisaki Eri to reenter the room.
• Kisaki Eri argued that Attorney Usui's murder was planned, that Jiang Xia's phone had been placed to draw people into the room, and that his clean hands showed he had not strangled her.
• Officer Yokomizo privately reflected that the scene felt like a stage play because the police downstairs already knew the murderer's identity.
• Kisaki Eri noticed a page had been roughly torn from a notepad on the desk.

Conan found a note in the trash while Kisaki Eri investigated Usui Ritsuko’s murder, and Eri recognized the handwriting. The note appeared to point to Lawyer Hayashi, whom Usui had sought as a partner in her environmental pollution case.

• Curacao realized Usui Ritsuko’s death had erased the secret weapon she had been searching for and suspected Rum had sent her as bait.
• Inspector Yokomizo reminded Curacao to maintain her cover while he blocked Kisaki Eri’s view.
• Vodka reviewed hotel surveillance footage and concluded the person escorted away was not Uzo.
• Conan retrieved a crumpled note from the trash, and Kisaki Eri confirmed it was written by Usui Ritsuko.
• Kisaki Eri interpreted the kana and number on the note as a reference to Lawyer Hayashi, whom she had recommended to Usui.

Kisaki Eri explained how Usui Ritsuko’s work on the Factory Sewage Case led her to seek a new attorney, while Inspector Yokomizo investigated the names on a note. A hotel waitress revealed that Attorney Hayashi had called Usui twice, and Yokomizo treated the unanswered second call as important evidence.

• Kisaki Eri told Inspector Yokomizo that Usui Ritsuko and Attorney Mikasa had taken the Factory Sewage Case after other attorneys declined it.
• Kisaki Eri explained that Usui had asked her to find a new partner after their first two trials went poorly, and that she had chosen Attorney Hayashi.
• Inspector Yokomizo wondered why Attorney Hayashi’s name appeared on Usui’s note before Kisaki Eri had told her whom she had selected.
• A hotel waitress reported that Attorney Hayashi had called Usui’s room the previous night, and Kisaki Eri said Shiozawa could explain how he learned her whereabouts.
• The waitress added that Hayashi had called a second time, but no one answered the phone in Usui’s room, and Inspector Yokomizo asked her what happened next.

The waiter’s account of a note on Ms. Usui’s door complicated the investigation into her locked-room murder and Jiang Xia’s apparent framing. Kisaki Eri argued the murderer had no reason to leave the note, and Officer Yokomizo proposed that Ms. Usui herself had written it before opening the door to her killer.

• The waiter told Officer Yokomizo that Attorney Hayashi had sent her twice to Ms. Usui’s room, where she found a note saying, “Sorry, please tell him I'll pay.”
• The waiter said Attorney Hayashi was puzzled by the note and had only wanted to change his planned meeting with Ms. Usui from two o’clock to four.
• Kisaki Eri explained that Jiang Xia was being framed, making it strange for the murderer to leave a note suggesting Ms. Usui was still alive.
• Officer Yokomizo reasoned that the murderer could have used a do-not-disturb sign instead, so the note might have been written by Ms. Usui herself.
• Officer Yokomizo suggested Ms. Usui had mistaken her killer for Attorney Hayashi and opened the door before being attacked.

Inspector Yokomizo revealed that Jiang Xia’s fingerprints had been found on the telephone line used to kill Ms. Usui, then concocted an elaborate theory to accuse him. Conan suspected the case was a deliberate attempt to frame Jiang Xia and wondered whether the Organization had infiltrated the police.

• Conan noticed Inspector Yokomizo seemed strangely certain that Lawyer Hayashi was not the murderer, while Curacao watched Conan warily.
• A young officer reported that forensics had found Jiang Xia’s fingerprints on the telephone line used to kill Ms. Usui.
• Kisaki Eri argued that the fingerprints did not prove Jiang Xia’s guilt and challenged Inspector Yokomizo’s insistence that he was the murderer.
• Inspector Yokomizo invented a motive in which Jiang Xia’s exposure to murder cases had gradually turned him toward crime, prompting disbelief from Kisaki Eri and Conan.
• Conan suspected an Organization-linked plot had lured Jiang Xia to Izu to frame him, while Curacao wondered how Inspector Yokomizo had become involved.

Conan and Kisaki Eri pieced together the staged locked-room murder while Inspector Yokomizo secretly played along with Uzo’s plan. Kisaki Eri then went to explain the result to the attorneys, who still believed Jiang Xia had killed Ritsuko.

• Conan searched for the knotted thread, but Kisaki Eri revealed that Forensics had secured it and the iron ring.
• Inspector Yokomizo privately praised Jiang Xia’s deductions while pretending to be an uninformed background officer.
• Vodka reviewed camera footage, realized Uzo had orchestrated the case, and worried that Inspector Yokomizo might willingly serve as his puppet.
• Kisaki Eri accidentally pressed the Walkman’s record button, prompting Conan to notice the menu beside the telephone and giving her a clue.
• Kisaki Eri spoke quietly with Inspector Yokomizo, then entered the attorneys’ room as they discussed the case and Jiang Xia’s apparent guilt.

Kisaki Eri and Conan confronted Lawyer Saku over the evidence that exposed his locked-room trick. They revealed how he had manipulated the door chain and iron ring, leaving him cornered as the murderer.

• Squinting Eyes and Kisaki Eri discussed how the evidence made Jiang Xia appear guilty of murder, and Kisaki Eri redirected the conversation before Mouri Ran could question her.
• Kisaki Eri told Lawyer Saku that the police had withdrawn and raised the problem of finding someone to handle Ms. Usui's Factory Sewage Case; he offered to take it over.
• Kisaki Eri sent Lawyer Saku to Ms. Usui's room, where he found Conan waiting and asked why he had come there.
• Conan confronted Lawyer Saku with the Knotted Thin Thread and Iron Ring, explaining how they could be used to lock the door from outside.
• Kisaki Eri returned and explained that the murderer had used the forced door-breaking impact to complete the locked-room trick.

Kisaki Eri exposed Attorney Saku’s plan to murder Ms. Usui and frame Jiang Xia, using his actions and knowledge of the beef sauce fried rice to corner him. As Attorney Saku froze, Officer Yokomizo reported to Jiang Xia that Kisaki Eri’s questioning was close to breaking the murderer’s resolve.

• Kisaki Eri explained how Attorney Saku used the Telephone Line and tampered Door Chain to create a locked-room setup and frame Jiang Xia.
• Conan pointed out that Attorney Saku had feigned concern by suggesting they call Jiang Xia after his phone was already switched off.
• Attorney Saku warned Kisaki Eri that her deductions were not evidence and urged her to stay off the case.
• Kisaki Eri revealed that Attorney Saku had exposed himself by knowing the room belonged to the victim because he had seen the beef sauce fried rice left outside.
• Kisaki Eri reconstructed how Attorney Saku killed Ms. Usui, dealt with the waiter’s delivery, and used a forged note to keep the food from waking Jiang Xia.
• Officer Yokomizo messaged Jiang Xia that Kisaki Eri was pressing Attorney Saku and his psychological defenses were nearly collapsing.

Kisaki Eri exposed Attorney Saku as the person who entered Usui Ritsuko’s room and killed her, but Saku still denied the accusation. Inspector Yokomizo then emerged, revealing that someone else had helped set the trap, though he kept the person’s identity secret from Conan.

• Attorney Saku claimed he had recognized Usui Ritsuko’s room because he had seen a waiter with beef sauce fried rice outside it earlier.
• Kisaki Eri explained that Usui’s note referred to an appointment with Attorney Hayashi, not a food order, showing that Saku knew details from the note.
• Kisaki Eri revealed the intact Door Chain and explained that the room was a police setup, proving Saku had entered it because he was Usui’s killer.
• Attorney Saku denied the accusation again and challenged Kisaki Eri to prove it in court.
• Kisaki Eri called Inspector Yokomizo, who emerged from the room and said the plan had worked as predicted, while keeping his informant’s identity from Conan.

Inspector Yokomizo’s trap exposed Attorney Saku as the killer of Ms. Usui, though Conan still suspected the case had unresolved questions. Saku confessed that he had meant to stage a suicide but changed his plan after discovering Jiang Xia asleep in Usui’s room.

• Inspector Yokomizo and the officers revealed that they had recorded Attorney Saku’s actions, while Curacao reconsidered how dangerous Conan and Kisaki Eri were.
• Conan celebrated that Jiang Xia would not be framed, but wondered why Yokomizo had cooperated so readily and whom he had called.
• Inspector Yokomizo asked Attorney Saku why he had killed Ms. Usui, and Saku said he was concerned that the Factory Sewage Case could harm his hometown.
• Attorney Saku confessed that he had planned to stage Usui’s death as a suicide, but found Jiang Xia asleep in her room and strangled her with a Telephone Line instead to frame him.

Attorney Saku confessed to killing Attorney Usui to protect the villagers’ sewage case and explained how he planned to frame Jiang Xia before surrendering. Inspector Yokomizo revealed that the police had already found the murder weapon shortly after Jiang Xia left as a suspect, leaving Saku stunned by how quickly Jiang Xia had exposed his plan.

• Attorney Saku admitted that he killed Attorney Usui to keep the murder from harming the villagers’ case and said he had planned to frame Jiang Xia before surrendering.
• Attorney Saku explained that distinctive wear on the pliers he used to cut the door chain would prove he had created the locked room, and he told Inspector Yokomizo where he bought them.
• Kisaki Eri confronted Saku about killing Usui, and Saku said Usui had pursued the case to surpass her and had carelessly inflicted suffering on the villagers.
• Kisaki Eri realized Jiang Xia had been caught in the incident because of Usui’s scheme against her and worried about the damage to his detective career.
• Inspector Yokomizo showed Saku a photograph of the murder weapon hidden in a fire hose cabinet and said it had been taken one minute after Jiang Xia left with the police as a major suspect.
• Attorney Saku was stunned because Jiang Xia had supposedly been asleep until after the body was discovered.

Jiang Xia’s evidence exposed Lawyer Saku as the murderer, while Conan reflected on solving the case without Jiang Xia’s help. The police also traced the hidden camera’s signal to a commercial district, and Curacao became wary when Jiang Xia asked Inspector Yokomizo about another matter.

• Inspector Yokomizo explained that a drug in Jiang Xia’s dinner cup matched the drug found in the victim’s bag, and Lawyer Saku admitted he had underestimated Jiang Xia.
• Jiang Xia emerged from the elevator and told Conan he had let Lawyer Saku lower his guard so the case could be solved faster.
• Jiang Xia asked Inspector Yokomizo how the hidden-camera investigation was going, making Curacao suspect that the case had further complications.
• Vodka watched surveillance footage but missed the key deduction, then complained about the hidden cameras’ limited coverage.
• The Technical Division traced the hidden camera’s signal to a commercial district about two kilometers away.

Vodka realized the police were closing in on his surveillance hideout and escaped through a staff passage and neighboring rooftops. He concluded that Uzo had used a hidden camera at the crime scene to lead the police to him, though he still did not understand how they had tracked him so precisely.

• Vodka examined surveillance footage of the crime scene when Curacao emailed him an offer to sell vital intelligence about his life for 10 Uzo Coins.
• Vodka spotted police arriving outside and hurriedly erased the computer’s data, packed his belongings, and escaped through a passage hidden behind a wardrobe.
• Vodka crossed rooftops and a Fire Department passage before blending into the crowded commercial district.
• Vodka reasoned that Uzo had alerted police to the hidden camera at the crime scene, which led them to his hideout.
• Vodka regretted watching the footage, realizing the camera had likely been a prop Uzo had planted at the scene.

Vodka escaped the police and sent Curacao three Uzo Coins for warning him, then wondered how she had known he was being pursued. Meanwhile, Curacao avoided Jiang Xia’s coat, learned the suspects had fled, and received Vodka’s question about how she identified him.

• Vodka destroyed the motion sensors, sent Curacao three Uzo Coins, and drove away, then realized he did not know how she had learned the police were after him.
• Jiang Xia offered Curacao his coat, but she politely refused while Conan suspected she had become Jiang Xia’s temporary ally.
• Curacao avoided Jiang Xia’s coat and fell behind the group as Yokomizo learned the suspects had fled without leaving their luggage.
• Curacao saw the three coins Vodka had sent and guessed he had escaped safely without leaving a trace.
• Curacao opened Vodka’s email and read his question about how she knew the police were after him.