Hearing the words "murder" from Kudo himself, Mouri Ran's eyes widened in shock.
"They really killed Uchida?!"
Kudo signaled for her not to get worked up, then whispered softly into her ear:
"For now, it's only a suspicion. I can't be completely sure yet."
"Don't act rashly, and don't get into a conflict with those two."
"Let me investigate further first."
"Only after finding more clues can I confirm this suspicion."
As he spoke, Kudo put on a conciliatory act and quickly pulled Mouri Ran away from the two bullies.
Mouri Ran cast a reluctant glance at Ishikawa, who still showed no trace of remorse, then turned to Kudo.
"How are you going to investigate, Shinichi?"
"Can I help?"
Even if she could not use her fists, she instinctively wanted to do her part for this case.
"Don't worry." Kudo Shinichi spoke confidently. "Leave the rest to me."
As he spoke, without the slightest hesitation—
He turned around and slowly approached the old iron fire escape welded to the outer wall of the Department Store in the alley.
"Hey, you! What are you going over there for?"
The moment Kudo Shinichi approached the fire escape, Ishikawa's expression changed slightly.
With a dark look on his face, he blustered:
"Th-this is the crime scene. Don't go running around and touching things."
"Oh?"
Kudo Shinichi did not slow down at all.
"Who would have thought?"
"A delinquent with the awareness to guard a scene for the police?"
"But wasn't Uchida's death a suicide?"
Perhaps Miyano Shiho had taught him something earlier; even this great detective had learned how to be sarcastic.
"At a suicide scene with no suspense at all, it shouldn't matter if I take a casual look around, right?"
"Ishikawa was thoroughly choked up.
His face stiffened as he tried to say something, but in the end, he merely stood there, stopping himself.
Kudo, meanwhile, stepped onto the fire escape without looking back and began climbing upward.
The iron staircase had rusted to a terrible state.
Every step he took made the staircase tremble with a nerve-racking metallic creak.
The rust-covered railings were even more unusable. The slightest pressure made them sway as though they might fall apart at any moment.
"Shinichi!"
Mouri Ran called out anxiously.
Come to think of it, when she and Shinichi had traveled to New York, they had once saved someone on just such a dilapidated fire escape after its railing came loose and nearly sent him to his death.
Having gone through such a dangerous experience, she naturally could not help worrying about Kudo climbing that staircase so rashly.
But Kudo Shinichi continued upward with determination, his eyes filled only with focus.
At last, he reached the top of the fire escape.
The Department Store had six floors in total, but the fire escape only reached the fourth floor.
After reaching the fourth floor, Kudo Shinichi tried the iron door set into the building's outer wall.
"Just as I thought, this door has rusted shut completely."
"There's no way into the building from here."
Thoughtfully stroking his chin, he lowered his head and carefully searched the small platform at the top of the fire escape.
But Kudo found nothing there.
He only got a close look at the gap in the railing.
After comparing its length and shape, he became even more certain that the section of railing beside the body had broken off from here.
"There still aren't enough clues."
"Looks like I'll have to search elsewhere."
With that thought, Kudo Shinichi quickly descended the stairs and returned to the alley floor.
His investigation drew even more attention from Ishikawa.
"Hey, hey, brat, can't you quit while you're ahead?"
"Quit running all over a death scene. Who do you think you are, some detective?"
Ishikawa snarled viciously at Kudo Shinichi.
But Kudo merely chuckled.
"Your instincts are pretty sharp."
"I really am a detective."
"Kudo Shinichi from Teitan High School. Ever heard of me?"
"K-Kudo Shinichi?"
At the sound of that name, Ishikawa's face turned a little green.
Aoki, who had been standing nearby with his head lowered in silence, suddenly looked up, his face deathly pale.
"You're that famous high school detective?"
"Yes, that's right."
Kudo Shinichi nodded seriously, smiling quite amiably.
Ishikawa and Aoki: "..."
Their lips twitched, but neither could say a word. Their expressions were spectacular.
Kudo Shinichi ignored them and turned directly toward Lin Xinyi.
Lin Xinyi was still crouched beside the deceased, carefully examining the various wounds on the surface of the body.
"Mr. Lin."
Kudo Shinichi addressed Lin Xinyi, who had just examined the body.
"How is the body surface temperature? Is there any warmth left?"
"Oh?" Lin Xinyi raised an eyebrow.
He knew that although they might have discovered the problem by different means, this great detective had certainly noticed something wrong as well.
Asking about body surface temperature was essentially asking about the time of death.
If the deceased had just jumped to her death as they had seen, the body would still be fresh, and there would definitely be residual warmth on its surface.
But if she had been thrown down from above after dying, and had already been dead for some time, the body heat would quickly dissipate into the surroundings, leaving no warmth to the touch.
Still, that was only most people's basic impression of body temperature.
The actual situation was often different.
"The body is still warm, and there is residual warmth on the surface."
"But it's summer now, and the sun hasn't set yet. The ambient temperature is relatively high."
Unlike the dawn when he had first met Kudo, Tokyo was still rather hot now.
"The higher the ambient temperature, the more slowly body temperature drops."
"And when body temperature falls to equal the ambient temperature, it will barely drop any further."
"The current ambient temperature isn't much lower than human body temperature. So if we only go by the residual warmth felt on the body surface, we can't accurately determine the time of death."
Kudo Shinichi quickly caught the implication in his words.
"So that means the deceased might not have died just now?"
"You could understand it that way."
Lin Xinyi nodded. As he spoke, he was about to explain his own discovery as well.
"Actually, I already—"
Before he could finish, Kudo Shinichi interrupted him directly.
"I understand!"
Who knew what exactly he had understood.
He turned away at once, confidence written all over his face.
"Mr. Lin, I'll leave the scene in your care."
"I'll check out the Department Store next door first."
"Uh..." Lin Xinyi wore a complicated expression, as though he wanted to say something.
But Kudo Shinichi seemed to be racing against someone. He had already hurried off.
"Wait!" Ishikawa's eyes flickered as he closely followed after him. "I-I'll go with you."
"You want to come along?"
Kudo Shinichi's tone was highly suggestive.
"That's right." Ishikawa forced himself to say it. "I-I'm interested in famous detectives too. I want to see how you handle a case."
"Sure. I don't mind if you follow along."
Kudo Shinichi shrugged, showing that he had no objection at all.
He continued forward, while Ishikawa followed behind him with a stiff expression.
"Shinichi, I'm coming too!"
Seeing Ishikawa's sturdy, imposing build, Mouri Ran hurried after them as well.
She could not rest easy letting a bully who might be a murderer stay beside Shinichi.
And so, led by Kudo Shinichi, the three of them left the quiet alley together.
But before they had completely exited the alley—
Kudo Shinichi suddenly stopped at its entrance and looked back at Lin Xinyi with shining eyes.
"Mr. Lin Xinyi."
"Though it may not be appropriate to say so, this might be another chance for us to compete."
Lin Xinyi: "..."
He had no desire to compete with anyone over something like this.
But Kudo Shinichi had already quietly immersed himself in the thrill of facing a challenge.
"Let's use this opportunity to settle who's better."
"I'll use my methods, and you'll use yours. Let's see who finds the truth of this case first."
"Um..." Lin Xinyi hesitated.
But the great detective Kudo had already vanished around the end of the alley without looking back.
"See you later. I'm going to investigate first."
Ishikawa and Mouri Ran left after him. Only Lin Xinyi, Miyano Shiho, who was quietly watching the show, and Aoki, who was trembling with nerves, remained in the alley.
"Hmm."
"Forget it. It's fine if he investigates some more."
Watching Kudo's spirited retreating figure, Lin Xinyi's expression was a little strange.
"But really, what is there to compete over?"
"Wouldn't looking at the body solve a simple case like this?"
He muttered to himself helplessly.
Then Lin Xinyi rose from beside the body and spoke calmly.
"Aoki."
"Huh?" Suddenly being called out, Aoki jolted in fright.
He raised his head to see Lin Xinyi staring at him with a gaze as sharp as a blade.
"You're still trying to keep up this act in that state?"
"Stop pretending and confess to me."
Before you continue