It was the iron fist of a father.
Indeed, the massive hand that had emerged from the shadows to send Hattori flying with a brutal punch belonged to none other than his father, Heizo Hattori.
Tsuneo watched as Hattori tumbled several meters across the ground, sliding until he came to a stop right at Tsuneo's feet.
Heavens, Tsuneo thought, he really didn't hold back. Even I usually avoid hitting people in the face.
As expected, one should never provoke a character who keeps their eyes perpetually closed.
"Director" Conan was utterly stunned. His small hands hovered mid-air, trembling with uncertainty as he stared at the scene, unsure of how to react. Heiji had always been impulsive, but this was a level of escalation no one had anticipated.
"Heiji, even if you lose your head, you must choose the right place for it," Heizo Hattori said, one eye cracking open slightly as he stood with a hand casually tucked in his pocket. He looked down at his son with a gaze of chilling authority. "If you destroy a crime scene, do you have any idea how much trouble you cause the police?"
"Superintendent, please, don't be too angry. Heiji was just trying to solve the case as quickly as possible in his own way..." Kogoro Mouri began to interject, attempting to play the peacemaker. However, the moment he caught sight of Heizo's face, his expression stiffened, and the rest of his defense died in his throat.
That stern, terrifying countenance... it was enough to rival Superintendent Matsumoto.
"Mr. Mouri, if it were you, I might accept that explanation," Heizo said, turning his gaze toward the detective. "However, this boy isn't investigating a case—he's playing games."
Heizo gestured dismissively toward his son. "People call him a 'High School Detective,' and it's gone straight to his head. This reckless method of gathering evidence, playing outside the rules, does nothing but hinder the investigation. Aside from trampling over the scene, it serves no purpose in advancing the case."
His voice grew colder. "He watched someone die right before his eyes and still couldn't prevent it. That is proof of his arrogance; he assumed that because the police were nearby, nothing else would happen."
Heizo's verbal assault was relentless, leaving Heiji unable to even lift his head from the pavement.
"However, the police have indeed been negligent in some areas," Ginshiro Toyama added, stepping in to moderate the atmosphere.
"In any case, we have no need for an amateur here. Get out of my sight. Immediately," Heizo commanded. Even with his old friend speaking up, he refused to grant his son an ounce of dignity.
"Superintendent, those words are a bit too harsh," Inspector Otaki tried to protest. Heiji might be impulsive, but he had been an invaluable asset to them. To call him an "amateur" was patently unfair.
"Otaki, what's gotten into you? Didn't I tell you to send men to tail the suspects?" Toyama reached out, physically restraining Otaki from speaking further.
To turn a sapling into a sturdy tree, certain painful steps could not be skipped.
"Eh...?" Otaki blinked, completely bewildered. You definitely never said that, he thought, but he kept it to himself.
"Otaki, are both deaths confirmed homicides?" Heizo asked, walking over to the bodies. He knelt down, pulling the white cloth back over the deceased with practiced efficiency.
"It's hard to say for sure yet. Regarding Mr. Katō falling from the Tenshu-kaku while engulfed in flames, we are still analyzing the traces at the scene. However, the lighter found there did belong to him," Otaki reported truthfully. "As for Miss Katagiri, she ignited herself and fell off the bridge. Kazuha and Ran both witnessed it with their own eyes."
At the moment of both deaths, no one else had been near them. The probability of suicide was, statistically speaking, quite high.
"In that case, leaving two or three officers here to handle the paperwork is sufficient," Heizo said, standing up. "Toyama, we're leaving. The police force doesn't have the luxury of wasting manpower on such a minor case."
"Su—Superintendent?"
Otaki felt as if his brain's CPU had just fried. There was a mountain of messy clues and unexplained leads; even if it were a suicide, they needed to understand the why. What was wrong with the Superintendent today?
Toyama's expression also flickered with a momentary look of shock, but it quickly hardened into a grave seriousness. He cast a sideways glance toward Heiji.
This matter was far from over.
"Heiji, don't take it to heart. I'm sure the Superintendent is only this angry because two people died right next to Headquarters," Otaki whispered, lingering behind to offer the boy some comfort.
"Still, there was no need to hit him that hard," Kogoro Mouri muttered, looking on with an expression of utter disbelief. He couldn't wrap his head around Heizo's behavior.
"Do you still stand by your previous theory?" Ikumi Kyosuke asked, looking toward Tsuneo.
According to the "handyman," the murderer of Mr. Katō had to be among those four people. But now?
"The scope has successfully narrowed. The culprit is among the remaining three," Tsuneo nodded.
Well... he thought privately, maybe in a little while, two more will be gone, and we can just arrest whoever's left.
"That's the first time I've seen a 'process of elimination' work like that," Ikumi said with a dry smile. Regardless of the logic, she hoped there wouldn't be any more bodies.
"Speaking of which, do you think this has something to do with that criminal from years ago?" Kazuha asked, glancing at Heiji. Based on what she had overheard in the car, after the two men discussed the charred corpse from thirteen years ago, there had been a string of robberies and murders.
"Robbery and murder?"
"Yes," Otaki confirmed with a nod. "Back then, there were five consecutive robberies resulting in seven deaths. The culprit was never caught."
"So," Ran asked tentatively, "does Heiji's father believe the culprit this time might be that same robber?"
Were the arsons and the robberies committed by the same hand?
"I see! To keep his son from danger, he'd rather swallow his own tears and drive you away with a cold face, just to keep you out of the line of fire. Truly moving," Kogoro said, his face twisting into a mask of sentimental "understanding."
"Yeah, I'm so moved I'm about to cry. I never expected my old man to be such a calculating schemer," Heiji said, pushing himself up from the ground. A sharp, confident smile began to spread across his face.
"Heiji?" Kazuha blinked. Had he been punched into a state of delirium? Why was he laughing?
"I'm not like Minamoto no Yoshitsune—I'm not that reasonable. The more you tell me not to do something, the more I want to do it. I'm going to drag that killer out right in front of his face!"
As Heiji spoke, his smile widened until he let out an exaggerated, boisterous laugh.
Conan watched him with a look of pure exhaustion. This guy's brain is definitely broken, he thought.
"The more you're forbidden, the more you want to do it?" Tsuneo repeated the words under his breath.
"Is something wrong with that?" Kogoro asked, turning toward him. "I'd say he's finally showing some fighting spirit."
"I don't know, but this guy has definitely stepped right into a trap," Tsuneo said, rubbing his stomach as he looked up at the darkening sky.
Who was Heizo Hattori? If Yusaku Kudo was the "ceiling" of deductive reasoning, Heiji's father was not far behind. There was no way a man like that would dismiss the police while so many threads were still tangled—unless it was intentional. Furthermore, it was impossible for Heizo not to predict exactly how his son would react to being provoked.
Yes, this was undoubtedly a very strange snare.
Note to self, Tsuneo thought, next time I go out with this cursed group of people, I need to pack more snacks. I keep getting caught up in these things on an empty stomach.
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