Chapter 82: Uncle Mouri, Conan Says You Let Him In!
Moon Shadow Island sits in the eastern waters off Tokyo—a region dotted with numerous inhabited islands where residents have earned their living through fishing for generations.
With rapid economic development and improved living standards, Moon Shadow Island has expanded beyond fishing into tourism, gradually raising the fishermen's quality of life.
While not exactly impoverished, the island isn't particularly wealthy either. The current tourist volume isn't enough to support a truly comfortable lifestyle for most residents.
That's why, when Kogoro Mouri heard that Village Chief Kuroiwa Tatsuji owned a massive villa, he immediately became suspicious.
This village chief must be involved in something shady.
How else could a mere village chief on Moon Shadow Island afford such an enormous estate? He'd heard that including the garden, it occupied nearly an acre—and on an island no less, where construction materials would be even more expensive than on the mainland.
Moreover, judging from the foreman's tone earlier, the villagers clearly harbored their own suspicions. But due to the village chief's authority, they could only hint vaguely or treat it as a joke when speaking to outsiders.
Natsukawa and Asai Narumi arrived at the village office restroom.
Before even entering, Natsukawa's nose twitched as he detected something unusual.
The restroom was divided into men's and women's sections. Just as he reached the entrance, Natsukawa caught a faint metallic scent of blood mixed with other odors. Unless someone was extremely sensitive to blood, they'd never notice it.
"What's wrong?" Asai Narumi stopped at the entrance. Being someone who presented as female, she instinctively stood at the doorway, indicating she couldn't enter the men's restroom.
"Nothing," Natsukawa gave her a strange look but said nothing more, refusing to reveal what he knew about her true gender.
I wonder if Moon Shadow Island has a public bathhouse. If it does, this person probably...
Suddenly, just as Natsukawa was about to step inside, Conan darted past him.
The small figure in the blue suit jacket was incredibly fast. If Natsukawa hadn't already noticed him following, the kid would've made it inside.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing, Conan!"
Natsukawa grabbed Conan's collar firmly and easily lifted him up. Conan struggled like a caught fish but couldn't break free no matter how hard he tried.
I really can't stand kids sometimes.
Conan sighed internally, changed his expression, and widened his innocent eyes like saucers, attempting to melt Natsukawa's resolve with pure childhood cuteness.
"Uncle Natsukawa, can I go in and take a look? Uncle Mouri sent me!"
"Conan, don't lie. Uncle Mouri clearly didn't send you. You snuck away when he wasn't looking."
Anya stared at Conan with deadpan eyes, her expression completely flat.
Hehe, finally found my chance.
"Children shouldn't lie. If Conan misbehaves, I'll tell Uncle Mouri later."
Anya deliberately didn't mention Ran, because Ran would never actually scold Conan. Only Uncle Mouri would really get angry.
Natsukawa thought for a moment and set Conan down. "Fine, you can go in. But don't cause trouble. There might be Chief Kuroiwa's body inside."
Please, like I'd be scared.
After landing, Conan shot Anya a glare, not caring whether he'd get punched later. Investigating the case was the most important thing right now. He was deeply concerned about Chief Kuroiwa's situation.
His detective intuition told him that Chief Kuroiwa might have known Keiji Aso.
Combined with the letter sent to the agency, it was clear that a shadow would disappear during the next full moon on Moon Shadow Island.
This disappearance most likely referred to a murder.
However, the full moon wasn't until tomorrow night. Even if Chief Kuroiwa was the killer's target, the death should occur tomorrow, not today.
It was still too early.
Hmph, a disappearing shadow? Let me, the great detective Shinichi Kudo, stop it!
Conan's mind raced as he stepped into the men's restroom. The moment he entered, his sense of smell detected something wrong.
There was a smell of blood.
He hadn't noticed it at the entrance, but the scent intensified once inside.
However, a quick visual scan of the entire restroom revealed nothing unusual.
Strange.
Conan turned his attention to the three closed stalls.
"Find anything?"
Natsukawa approached, his brow furrowed deeply as he surveyed the surroundings.
The smell of blood was strong, but there were no visible bodies.
And this isn't what was supposed to happen!
The script wasn't like this.
He remembered this case clearly—Chief Kuroiwa wasn't supposed to be the first victim. The first to die should have been the village assembly candidate, Kawashima Hideo.
This is getting complicated.
What went wrong? Did someone make a move before Asai Narumi? And what was the reason? Could it be related to Kuroiwa Tatsuji's secret business dealings?
Thinking this through, Conan pushed open the door to the first stall.
Nothing!
It was spotless, without even a trace of recent use.
The second stall was pushed open—still empty.
"Let me do it." Natsukawa gently moved Conan aside and opened the third stall door himself.
The moment the door swung open, a rusty, metallic smell of blood hit them full force. A severed head was propped up in the toilet bowl, positioned grotesquely over the drain hole.
The bald head was covered in congealed blood. The victim's mouth hung open, eyes wide with the unmistakable expression of absolute terror in his final moments.
The entire toilet was soaked in blood, and the overwhelming smell emanated from this very spot.
According to the information Frank had provided, this face belonged to the current village chief of Moon Shadow Island—Kuroiwa Tatsuji.
"No body. Only a head."
Conan's expression turned grave. He tried to squeeze into the stall to examine the scene more closely, but Natsukawa closed the door at that exact moment, catching Conan's head between the door and frame.
Heh, I did that on purpose. Let's see if you dare pull anymore detective stunts in front of me.
"Ow ow ow! Uncle Natsukawa, open the door, open the door!"
"You little troublemaker, you're such a handful."
Natsukawa chuckled to himself as he opened the door again, allowing Conan to examine the scene. He then walked to the doorway and gave Asai Narumi several long, meaningful looks before speaking.
"Please call Mr. Mouri in for me. And while you're at it, find Kuroiwa Tatsuji's family to confirm the identity of the body."
"What happened?"
Asai Narumi tried to peek into the bathroom and was about to enter, but was immediately stopped by Conan, who emerged from the toilet stall.
"Narumi-neesan, there's been a murder here. From now on, no unauthorized personnel are allowed to enter the crime scene."
"Huh?"
Asai Narumi looked stunned.
Unauthorized personnel not allowed? What right does a little kid have to say that? Does he think he's actually in charge here?
Natsukawa watched her expression the entire time. Her face seemed to say, "How is this possible? The person died before I even did anything."
That was roughly the implication.
This is getting terrifying. Could the plot have taken an unpredictable turn because of my arrival?
Conan also suspected Asai Narumi, but her expression appeared perfectly natural—nothing like a murderer would show. Does she have the same acting skills as my mom?
However, this didn't rule her out as a suspect.
He suddenly remembered seeing her when he'd gone to the village office with Uncle Mouri and Ran earlier that day.
He'd also run into her again when they visited the village chief's house—it was too much of a coincidence.
Is she following Uncle Mouri?
It was extremely suspicious.
But he had no concrete evidence—everything was pure speculation at this point.
It seemed he needed to ask someone where Dr. Asai had been after noon, and whether she had a solid alibi.
Since she was a doctor, there should be nurses at the village clinic who might be able to provide useful information.
Meanwhile, Anya had at some point pulled out a lollipop and popped it into her mouth, watching the entire scene unfold like she was enjoying a particularly interesting show.
She wore a smug expression on her face, as if she were the only sober person in a world full of fools.
"Who gave you that lollipop?" Natsukawa frowned as he pulled the candy from Anya's mouth. "Eating something so sweet will give you cavities, Anya!"
The little girl's face immediately scrunched up in displeasure. She huffed indignantly and turned away.
Aunt Yor still has more. Guess I can't eat sweets in front of Papa next time.
Aunt Yor is so much better.
Not long after, Kogoro Mouri came running up, slightly out of breath.
Ran and Yor, who was carrying Anya, followed close behind. Asai Narumi didn't return with them—after asking, Natsukawa learned she'd gone to inform the village chief's secretary about the situation.
Conan continued investigating the crime scene methodically. Since the perpetrator had removed the body, there must be traces left behind somewhere.
Soon enough, he discovered some bloodstains on the bathroom window frame. He turned around to alert Kogoro Mouri, but was immediately greeted by a fist that left a sizable bump on his head.
WHACK!
"Kid, don't run off when I'm not looking! And don't mess around at a crime scene! If you destroy evidence, I'll have Inspector Megure throw you in a holding cell!"
Kogoro Mouri was absolutely furious the moment he entered and saw Conan poking around the crime scene like he was playing detective.
"Ran, keep an eye on him. Don't let him appear in front of me again."
"Uncle Mouri, Conan says you let him in! That's why Papa believed him and let him wander around inside for so long!"
Anya pointed at Conan with an extremely serious expression, shouting loudly as if afraid no one would hear her accusation.
Conan's face went pale. That little traitor!
(End of Chapter 82)
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