Chapter 155: Conan's Wild Ideas
2 AM, Tokyo
The weather had taken a sudden turn.
The full moon that had hung high in the sky had vanished, and the temperature plummeted dramatically.
Soon, fine snowflakes began to fall, the snowfall increasing steadily, marking an abrupt end to the rainy season.
Shinichi Kudo, drenched in sweat, looked completely out of place beside the others who were clutching their coats and practically wanting to wrap themselves in blankets.
"Shinichi, are you alright?"
Inspector Megure looked at him with concern. He'd been like this ever since they got off the helicopter, and Megure didn't know what was wrong. Had his brain short-circuited?
"I'm fine. Maybe the temperature dropped too quickly and I caught a bit of a cold," Shinichi said, trying to appear calm. "How much longer until we get home?"
"Almost there. Make sure you get some rest when you arrive."
"I know."
A few minutes later, the car stopped and Inspector Megure let Shinichi out before driving away.
He'd have to work through the night again—still had to write up a report about requisitioning that helicopter.
Thankfully, Shinichi hadn't fired the gun, otherwise the paperwork would have been several times longer.
Once the taillights disappeared from view, Shinichi, supporting himself against the wall, reached Professor Agasa's door and rang the doorbell.
Hearing the ring, Professor Agasa quickly rushed out. "What's wrong with you? Are you going to turn back?"
A hint of excitement suddenly appeared in his worried eyes. He hadn't managed to film the transformation when Shinichi grew larger, but this time he was prepared and determined to record the entire shrinking process.
"Sit down first. I'll go get the camera—I'll record you shrinking this time."
Helping Shinichi to a seat in the living room, Professor Agasa made no attempt to hide his intentions and told him the truth directly.
Shinichi felt a bit embarrassed, but he clearly understood the importance of this and nodded vigorously.
After Professor Agasa left, waves of pain began washing over Shinichi.
Although it was cold outside, the chill seemed to have some effect suppressing the pain. Now, in the warm indoors, the agony of shrinking was extremely pronounced.
"Ahhh—!"
Shinichi screamed in pain, the sensation seeming several times more intense than before.
Professor Agasa frantically searched for the camera. "Strange, I could've sworn the camera was right here..."
A few minutes later, he finally found it and rushed back.
"Shinichi, hang in there a little longer! I'm turning it on now!"
Shinichi's ears were ringing and he couldn't hear anything Professor Agasa said—the pain had almost made him pass out.
"Alright!" Professor Agasa quickly turned on the camera, pointed it at Shinichi, and prepared to record, but found that the groaning had suddenly stopped. Shinichi was no longer visible on the camera screen. Instead, there was an elementary school student being swallowed up by an oversized high school uniform.
"Conan?!"
Professor Agasa nearly cried out in frustration. That was too fast! It took almost ten seconds to grow larger, so why did it only take less than a second to shrink? This isn't scientific!
"P-Professor Agasa..." Conan was surrounded by white smoke. He opened his mouth with difficulty and exhaled a breath of white mist, looking somewhat like a steampunk character.
"Water! You need water!"
"I know..." Professor Agasa nodded and went to pour some, his heart filled with determination. After today, I'm installing cameras in every corner of this house to capture these precious moments!
A while later, Conan sat wrapped in a bath towel, drinking hot water. His forehead was burning and he kept blowing his nose.
His cold seemed to be getting worse.
"Professor Agasa, do you have any effective cold medicine?"
"Of course not, but I can try researching it. Though you won't need it this time."
"You have hangover cures, but no effective cold medicine?"
"Of course!" Professor Agasa looked at Conan with an expression of utter disbelief. "A cold and drunkenness are two completely different concepts. Alcohol can be broken down and metabolized by medication, while a cold is caused by a virus invading the immune system. The two can't be compared."
Conan smacked his lips. Colds really are the worst.
Speaking of which, Uncle Natsukawa's folk remedy is pretty effective.
However, the price was a bit steep—it involved passing out and experiencing diarrhea. Having already gone through it once this evening, Conan felt it wasn't unbearable.
As the saying goes, once you've done something once, doing it again becomes easier. Having experienced two rounds of diarrhea, Conan's tolerance had thickened considerably. Only Professor Agasa knew about it anyway, and given their friendship, the professor wouldn't tell anyone.
Besides, maybe if I took Natsukawa's folk remedy followed by Professor Agasa's hangover cure, I could shorten the diarrhea duration to just two minutes.
Maybe I should try Natsukawa's method...
Back at Franky's Place
"So you want me to attend that magician's gathering?"
Franky nodded to correct him. "It's a magic enthusiasts' gathering, actually.
A while ago, you asked me to keep an eye on Kuroba Kaito, and I noticed he joined a magic enthusiasts' chat room. Out of curiosity, I joined that group chat too.
After hanging out there for a while, I found the people pleasant, the conversations interesting, and they occasionally shared magic knowledge. I gradually grew to really like this chat room. We're scheduled to hold a gathering tomorrow, but my girlfriend suddenly asked me to go on a date.
You know me—I can't refuse my girlfriend's requests. But I also promised to attend the magic gathering, and I don't want to break my word. So you'll have to go in my place."
Natsukawa nodded. It didn't matter to him, but speaking of which, this should be related to a case, right?
Kaito had gone to this gathering in the original timeline too.
He hadn't expected to see him again so soon after parting ways. What a coincidence!
"By the way, I didn't reveal my identity in the chat room, so you can just use your real face. Also, Kaitou Kid's username in the chat room is 'Doi Takuki.'
My username in the group is 'Big Spender.'"
Natsukawa nodded to show he understood.
"Did you find anything suspicious while chatting in the group?"
Natsukawa remembered that the culprit was a woman, but there should be more than one woman at this party, so he wanted to ask if Franky had noticed anything unusual.
Franky paused, then asked with confusion, "Found what? It's just a normal chat room. Aside from Kaitou Kid, who's worth keeping an eye on, I don't know much about the others.
If I had to say something's off, there's someone in there who seems seriously disturbed."
"Who?"
"A guy who calls himself 'Shadow Mage'—pretty edgy. Well, not exactly edgy, more like... possessed or something. He's always posting weird things in the group. Like 'I'm going to fly away' or 'I might disappear at any moment.'
But it probably has nothing to do with Kid, so I haven't paid much attention."
Natsukawa nodded. "Then you can go on your date without worry. I'll attend the gathering in your place tomorrow."
"By the way, how many women are in the chat room?"
Franky thought for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure—maybe three? One of them goes by 'Red Herring'—I think she's a woman, even though she's trying to act like a guy. But based on my years of experience, she's definitely female.
Then there's someone called 'Elizabeth,' and another one who calls herself 'Magician's Apprentice.' That makes three.
Why are you asking? Could it be...?"
Franky raised an eyebrow and rubbed his hands together suggestively, his meaning crystal clear.
"Please. I was just asking. Don't be so suspicious."
Natsukawa was speechless at Franky's gossipy nature and sensitivity—he could interpret everything through a romantic lens. How dirty-minded.
However, based on the names Franky provided, Natsukawa seemed to have already identified the killer.
The Magician's Apprentice should be Sonoko. Natsukawa didn't recognize Elizabeth, but he vaguely remembered this Red Herring character.
Three women—eliminate Sonoko, then eliminate the unfamiliar Elizabeth, and the answer became obvious.
Red Herring!
(End of Chapter)
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