BWDC:SDDK Chapter 43 Honda Osamu: Asking the Palace in Heaven, Who Knows When We Shall Meet Again...
Mouri Kogoro was holding court at the crime scene.
His bravado caused Inspector Megure, who had previously lost most of his suspicion toward Honda Osamu, to become alert once again.
Standing on the periphery, Mouri Ran watched her father show off his prowess with an admiring gaze. She completely failed to notice that the Reaper Student next to her had quietly vanished at some point.
"Inspector Megure, Bat—Mr. Ren Ichimonji, the forensics results are out!"
Takagi Wataru hurried down the stairs, clutching an identification report with excitement.
The speed of this identification made Ren Ichimonji look at the police in a new light. He had previously thought the Forensics Department of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was just a bunch of free-loaders.
He hadn't expected them to actually be capable of rapid fingerprint analysis! Not bad—compared to the background officers in similar anime, their skill level was at least ten percent higher!
"Even if the report is out, that doesn't mean—"
Mouri Kogoro was about to continue his incessant babbling under the disapproving glares of both Inspector Megure and Ren Ichimonji when he suddenly felt his body go limp.
Ren Ichimonji: "?"
How many drinks did you have to get this wasted?
Ren didn't even need to think to know that Conan had made his move. He watched Mouri Kogoro stumble unsteadily before collapsing into a nearby chair, head slumped forward as if he had dropped dead on the spot. Ren clicked his tongue inwardly.
If he hadn't known Conan had hit him with a tranquilizer needle, he would have thought Mouri Kogoro had suffered a sudden stroke. The logic of these people—thinking at first glance that Mouri Kogoro had simply fallen fast asleep—was truly bizarre.
Oh, right, where was Conan?
Ren's gaze swept the room, and then his eyelid twitched.
He saw Conan crouching directly behind the chair where Mouri Kogoro sat, clutching his voice changer, looking like he was ready to start his performance.
Hold on, buddy—stop right there for a second.
From that position, are you sure no one can see you? Do you really think everyone else is blind?
Ren looked over at Inspector Megure. However, Inspector Megure acted as if the half of Conan's body sticking out was completely invisible.
He said excitedly, "Fantastic! Mouri-kun has finally fallen asleep! We're saved!"
In his excitement, Megure discreetly changed the way he addressed Mouri Kogoro. When he was awake, he called him "Mr. Mouri," and Mouri didn't find fault with it. But now that he was "asleep," it would be unreasonable not to call him "Old Friend Mouri"!
Ren Ichimonji: "?"
Are you kidding me? You can't see him from that angle? How did you pass the marksmanship test at the police academy? Isn't this being a bit too willfully blind?
"Officer Takagi," Conan said in a low voice, quickly adjusting the dial on his voice changer. "It should be written in your report, shouldn't it?"
"On Honda Osamu's pistol, there is only one person's fingerprint—Mr. Ren Ichimonji's."
"But on Mifune Katsuji's pistol, you were able to find the fingerprints of two people, correct?"
Takagi Wataru, holding the report, froze. He looked down to confirm and then looked up to answer, "Yes, that's right."
Hearing this, Honda Osamu couldn't help but be stunned.
He had used gloves when he handled the pistol; how could there be two sets of fingerprints on it? Could it be that the other fingerprint belonged to Ren Ichimonji?
No, that wasn't right. While he was lying on the ground faking death, he had been peeking at the corpse. Ren Ichimonji clearly hadn't touched that pistol at all.
Then whose fingerprints were those? Had the Tokyo MPD framed him?
The moment the thought occurred to him, Honda Osamu felt his world collapsing. It was as if he could hear a song from a mysterious Eastern nation ringing in his ears, singing:
I ask the palace in the heavens, who knows when we shall meet again...
"Officer Takagi, you can check if the fingerprint matches the one on the object in Conan's hand," Mouri Kogoro's voice suddenly rose. "Conan, give the item to Officer Takagi!"
Conan immediately answered his own question: "Coming!"
Ren Ichimonji: "?"
He watched with his own eyes as Conan set down his bowtie, walked out into the open from behind the chair, handed a Detective Badge to Takagi Wataru, and then walked back.
Conan seemed completely unaware that there was anything wrong with his behavior. He hid back behind the chair and said solemnly in Mouri Kogoro's voice, "Officer Takagi, please make another trip."
A chorus of gasps erupted from the members of the Junior Detective League watching from outside the police line.
Genta looked at the Detective Badge in surprise and said, "Eh? Isn't that the Detective Badge Conan just borrowed from me?"
"Does that mean... I'm the second person whose fingerprint wasn't identified in the report?" Genta suddenly shrieked, "What?! The killer is me?!"
Mitsuhiko and Ayumi: "?"
We're the ones with the question marks, but it's not because we have a problem—it's because we think you have one.
Anyone with a brain would know that since he had been with them the whole time, he couldn't possibly be the killer. Wait... could it be that they were all accomplices serving as each other's alibis?
"Takagi, I'm counting on you."
Inspector Megure turned to Takagi Wataru, who nodded understandingly and headed back upstairs with the Detective Badge.
Ren Ichimonji snapped out of his trance and stopped pondering the logic of the situation. Conan's stealth ability was practically a supernatural phenomenon; there was no point in obsessing over it. What mattered now was getting those points.
"The pistol used by Mifune Katsuji was a modified model gun," Ren Ichimonji said in a deep voice. "Mr. Tsutsumi Yasuyuki, Ms. Saotome. You should know Mifune Katsuji well. Tell me, did he have any knowledge of firearms?"
"If Mifune Katsuji had no research in this area... then, Mr. Honda Osamu, do you have any knowledge of it?"
He looked up, putting the pressure on Honda Osamu.
Immediately, Honda Osamu's expression turned uneasy. The answers from Tsutsumi Yasuyuki and Saotome Madoka made him break into a cold sweat!
"We've never heard of Mifune researching firearms," Tsutsumi Yasuyuki shook his head and added, "Because Kamen Yaiba never uses guns."
"So, as a die-hard fan of Kamen Yaiba, Mifune didn't really like firearms either. On the contrary, Honda... Honda actually likes guns quite a bit... especially pistols..."
Tsutsumi's voice grew smaller as he spoke. The more he talked, the more he felt that Mifune Katsuji's gun might have been modified by Honda Osamu.
But the two of them had just had a massive argument and seemed to be mortal enemies; how could Honda Osamu have helped him modify a gun? And that gun was even used by Mifune Katsuji to try and kill Honda Osamu, and eventually for suicide?
Hearing the phrase Kamen Yaiba never uses guns, Honda Osamu's expression darkened.
Kamen Yaiba doesn't use guns?
No, he would. As long as it's convenient, as long as it works... he would use them.
Kamen Yaiba would use a gun.
He would use a gun.
Whether it was this gun, or that one...
"The results are in."
"The fingerprints are a match. The fingerprint on that Detective Badge is the same as the second fingerprint on Mifune Katsuji's gun."
Takagi Wataru's voice came from outside the basement.
At the same time, Mouri Kogoro's voice rang out, "Mr. Honda Osamu, you prepared the gun used by Mifune Katsuji, didn't you?"
"Do you remember? At the Beika Shrine, the owner of this Detective Badge once touched your gun."
Conan glanced sideways, his eyes falling on Honda Osamu.
"At the time, you even scolded him for messing around with it."
—It was that chubby, meddling brat?
Honda Osamu's eyes widened.
Damn it, a single oversight!
How did the problem crop up here? If he were given another chance, he would absolutely never pay attention to any children again!
These brats who loved tokusatsu heroes were truly... far too reckless.
Honda Osamu thought back to that incident in the past. His eyes cast downward.
...If those brats hadn't been so reckless, if they hadn't loved tokusatsu heroes so much, things wouldn't have turned out like this.
End of Chapter
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