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Ran searched everywhere and finally found Conan in the forest."You're still sick, why are you running around like this?"
Conan quickly nodded and apologized, then ran over to Sonoko with a phony smile."Sonoko-neechan, you were totally right!"
Sonoko blinked. "Huh? What did I say?"
Of course, she hadn't said anything. Conan just needed a scapegoat. Usually, Kogoro would be the fall guy for this kind of thing, but since he wasn't around, Sonoko had to fill in.
Conan motioned for Sonoko to lean in. She didn't think much of it—after all, it was just this little kid—so she obediently tilted her neck toward him.
"It's that thing you said…" Conan said, and at the same time, he aimed his wristwatch tranquilizer at her neck with a mischievous grin on his face.
Click! Sonoko collapsed instantly.
Conan, now using Sonoko's voice, started the deduction. First, he asked Ran to take a crossbow up to the third-floor balcony of Mr. Hamino's room, then told her to tie a rope to the end of the arrow and shoot it toward a tree dozens of meters away.
Ran wasn't confident in her archery skills, so Doi Takuki offered to take over.
He fired the first shot—and nailed it.
Hana Fumei, watching from a distance, was impressed. This guy's good with a bow… but what's his real motive for disguising himself and sneaking in with this group? She made a mental note to talk with him if she got the chance.
Following Sonoko's (aka Conan's) instructions, Doi Takuki fired a second arrow. This one carried a long rope and hit another tree.
Using the rope, he easily slid a rolled-up blanket down into the snow-covered field, without leaving a single footprint. Perfect.
Then, another arrow was shot into the air, dragging all the ropes with it like a soaring eagle, disappearing into the forest without leaving any trace—except for the two arrows still stuck in the tree trunks.
"These two arrows had to be retrieved manually," said Sonoko (Conan) calmly. "That's why the killer destroyed the rope bridge—to isolate us from the mountain path. They needed time to get the arrows back before the police arrived. Isn't that right... Miss Tanaka?"
Turns out Miss Tanaka was the killer. Her grandfather was a famous magician named Harui Kazuden.
He had been goaded in an online chat group to come out of retirement and perform again. But because of his age, his body couldn't handle it, and he collapsed and died on stage.
When they heard the motive came from a chat group, everyone was stunned.
"No one knew Harui Kazuden was in that group," someone said. "That's why Nishiyama and Hama made those comments about how the old man had run out of tricks…"
"No one knew?" Miss Tanaka gave a mocking laugh. "Well, Doi Takuki knew. The day before my grandfather's final performance, he even sent him a letter of encouragement."
"What? How would he know?"
"Probably because he's into magic too," Conan muttered as he walked down the staircase in the villa, speaking softly into his voice-changing bow tie. "Haven't you figured it out yet? Rearrange the letters in Doi Takuki, and it becomes... Kaitou Kid."
Everyone looked up. Sure enough, the third-floor balcony was now empty—Doi Takuki was gone. In his place stood a white figure, cloak fluttering in the wind, a mysterious smile on his face.
Conan stood in the room, staring coldly. "Where's Ran?"
Kid turned back. "She's asleep in the next room. It's all over now, so I should get going too." With that, smoke erupted—and in the next second, Kaitou Kid had opened his glider and was soaring off into the night sky.
Conan watched him vanish into the starry sky, speechless."That guy… still loves making a dramatic exit."
Just as Conan turned to head into the next room, something on the ground caught his eye—a card. On it, a message:
"Five kilometers northwest, in a cabin in the woods, you'll find the bodies of ten murdered girls.The killer is Kiyohiro Sugama.— A-Fei"
"....."