T/N: This is today 5th chapter. I don't know why but i just got excited when Translating this fic for you all to read. At first i planned to update 1 chapter daily, because the Raw have 200+ chapter and still ongoing.
However, the author's update schedule has become a mess—going from 2 chapters per day to one chapter every 3–4 days, and sometimes even 1–2 weeks due to writer's block. It really sucks...
Well then lets just get to the Main Text.
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Officer, since the preliminary investigation is over, may I take away the dishes I made? Although the judges didn't rate them highly, wasting food is always bad, and I want to take them back to share with my friends."
She pointed to her plate of nine-turn intestines, which had barely been touched on the judges' table and emitted a unique aroma.
"No!!!"
Rin almost shrieked as she rushed out, grabbing Rina's arm. "Rina-nee, calm down. This thing is evidence now, you can't take it away."
"Actually, it's not that strict. Only Sakamoto Keisuke's plate of nine-turn intestines..." Takagi spoke without thinking it through, but before he could finish, Rin's terrifying gaze stopped him.
Rin glared fiercely at Officer Takagi, pointing at the plate of nine-turn intestines Ban Keisuke made, her words almost squeezed through her teeth.
"Officer Takagi, you can't say that. Although Rina-nee plate of nine-turn intestines didn't test positive for toxins, Sakamoto Keisuke's plate of nine-turn intestines...
wasn't only the small piece of intestines on the side closer to Ōgawa-san poisoned? Does that mean Sakamoto Keisuke can take the remaining non-poisoned parts back?"
Hearing Rin's words, Conan's mind buzzed with a sudden idea.
He asked Ran, who had watched many episodes of this food show:
"Ran-neechan, I remember you said before that Ōgawa-san is a very harsh food critic with many particular habits. Does he have a habit of only eating food on his side? Uncle Mori asked me to ask."
Ran, not suspecting anything, recalled as she spoke: "Ōgawa-san indeed has that particular habit. I remember one episode where Sakamoto Keisuke helped him pick up food and got scolded.
When he eats, he starts from the side closest to his body and never forks food from the middle or the opposite side of the plate. I've watched many episodes, and he's always like that."
With this clue, Conan jogged to the control room and, in Mouri Kogoro's name, requested a close-up video of Sakamoto Keisuke's plating.
Although the director didn't understand why, he still complied.
The high-definition footage was magnified on the monitor. Sakamoto Keisuke, wearing chef's gloves, steadily placed the plate in front of Ōgawa Satoru.
It looked completely normal.
But the sharp-eyed Conan still found a problem.
As Sakamoto Keisuke carried the plate, the tip of his right index finger was inserted into the intestines.
Conan immediately rushed back to the judges' table, ignoring the police officers' attempts to stop him, and picked up the chef's gloves Sakamoto Keisuke had discarded on the table.
He carefully examined the tip of the right index finger.
Under the light, he found a small hole there.
"So that's it! The method has been found!"
Conan's lips curved slightly.
He quickly adjusted his bow-tie voice changer, hid behind the judges' table, and aimed his anesthetic watch at Mouri Kogoro's neck.
"Whoosh—"
with a soft sound-
Mouri Kogoro, who was still passionately declaring, "This is definitely a suicide," suddenly stiffened.
His eyes unfocused, like someone drunk, he swayed back a few steps, then slumped into the judge's chair, his head drooping.
Immediately after, Conan spoke using Mouri Kogoro's voice:
"Wait, Inspector Megure! Ōgawa Satoru-san did not commit suicide! I was just joking with you. This is a meticulously planned murder, and the culprit is you—Sakamoto Keisuke-san!"
Everyone's attention was drawn to Sleeping Kogoro, their gazes uniformly focused on Mouri Kogoro, whose head was drooping.
"Brother Mouri?" Inspector Megure was both surprised and delighted. Wasn't this exactly what he wanted? As long as Brother Mouri entered this state, it was sure to be stable.
Sakamoto Keisuke, however, looked terrified, his body beginning to tremble uncontrollably.
"Detective Mouri, what are you talking about? Didn't we all agree that Ōgawa-san committed suicide?! I couldn't possibly poison the dishes. Even if I did, there's no telling which judge it would poison."
Sleeping Kogoro began his deduction:
"Sakamoto Keisuke-san, I know you're in a hurry, but please don't rush. This time, you used a special habit of Ōgawa Satoru-san to poison him.
Ōgawa Satoru-san is very particular about how he eats, only consuming food from the side closest to his body. As someone who has participated in this competition many times and been severely criticized by him, you wouldn't be unaware of this habit, would you?
Conan, bring Sakamoto Keisuke's gloves over."
As his words fell, Conan pretended to emerge, placed the gloves in Inspector Megure's hand, and then immediately ducked back.
"Is there a problem with these gloves?" Inspector Megure was very confused. "The forensics department has already investigated, and there's nothing wrong with these gloves."
"That's the cleverness of the culprit."
Sleeping Kogoro continued his deduction.
"Sakamoto Keisuke-san, you secretly hid cyanide powder in your fingernail gap beforehand. When serving the plate, you used your right index finger to 'naturally' lightly brush it across the intestines on the edge of the plate, on the side closer to Ōgawa Satoru-san.
The poison then passed through the hole in the glove, precisely applied to the part of the intestines the victim was sure to eat."
"The reason you chose cyanide, besides its extreme toxicity and rapid lethality, is because only a tiny amount is needed to be fatal, and it's not easily detected when applied to the surface of food.
And you wore chef's gloves not only for hygiene but also to conceal the act of hiding and applying the poison with your fingertip."
"The evidence is in your fingernail gap, the forensics department should be able to detect cyanide residue from it!"
Conan continued to state the motive for the crime.
"If I'm not mistaken, you harbored immense resentment because Ōgawa-san publicly humiliated you on the show for a long time, denying your culinary skills.
That's why you ultimately planned this revenge in broad daylight! Am I right, Sakamoto Keisuke-san?"
Under Conan's verbal assault, Sakamoto Keisuke's psychological defenses completely collapsed.
His legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground, covering his face and crying bitterly:
"It... it was me! I poisoned him! That bastard! How dare he?! How long did I prepare for today's competition! My nine-turn intestines were clearly so good!
Chef Watanabe and Detective Mouri both praised them endlessly! But him?! He didn't even look carefully, didn't even taste with his heart, just to get back at me for contradicting him before, he deliberately gave me a low score!
He ruined me again and again! He deserves to die! He deserves to die!"
He cried hysterically, venting his long-suppressed anger and grievances.
Suddenly, Sakamoto Keisuke caught sight of Rina standing nearby, and in his anger, he blamed her for providing clues to the police. Driven by malice, he grabbed a dining knife from a nearby table and viciously stabbed towards her.
"It's all your fault! It's all your fault! If it weren't for you, woman, blabbing about the properties of cyanide! I wouldn't have been discovered!"
"Danger!" Conan's shout escaped his lips.
But in a flash, the police couldn't react in time.
They could only watch as the gleaming dining knife lunged towards Rina.
The smile on Rina's face contrasted sharply with Sakamoto Keisuke's distorted face at that moment.
Without any visible jumping motion, to everyone's shock.
Rina floated up, performed a clean backflip, and her right foot, with a whooshing sound, kicked Sakamoto Keisuke's knife-wielding wrist.
Sakamoto Keisuke felt an intense pain in his wrist, as if struck by an iron bar. The dining knife instantly flew out of his hand and clattered onto the floor a few meters away.
Rina landed gracefully, her skirt gently swaying, her smile unchanged.
"Sakamoto Keisuke-san, violence doesn't solve problems. My apron almost got dirty."
"So cool!" Ran's eyes sparkled as she watched Rina. "I want to learn that move too."
Conan, meanwhile, scratched his head. He felt like the temperature had dropped just now. Was it his imagination?
The police finally reacted.
Inspector Megure waved his hand, and Takagi and Sato immediately stepped forward and handcuffed Sakamoto Keisuke.
"Take him away!" Inspector Megure's case count for the day increased by one.