After arriving at the snow-covered ski resort.
Everyone changed into their ski gear. Rin and Ellen were skiing for the first time, and their equipment was rented directly from nearby.
Finding a relatively gentle slope, Rin stepped on her skis and tried to slide a bit. Although her movements were a little stiff, her balance was quite good, and she was soon able to glide smoothly.
"Wow, Rin-san, you're learning so fast!"
Ran, wearing a professional ski suit, glided easily to Rin's side and praised her sincerely,
"You don't seem like a beginner skiing for the first time."
Rin smiled shyly and scratched her cheek with her thick-gloved hand. "Maybe it's because my athletic ability is pretty decent."
After all, skiing was relatively much easier compared to operating the Eous.
On the other side, Ellen's performance was even more eye-catching.
She seemed to adapt to the slender boards under her feet extremely quickly, almost without any fumbling, she was able to perform smooth turns and simple trick movements. Her shark tail wagged slightly behind her, as if it could help her perceive balance better.
She held a lollipop, her eyes lazy, but her body control was incredibly precise.
"Ellen-san is even more amazing," Ran looked at Ellen with surprise in her eyes, "Her sense of balance is like a professional athlete."
Ellen gave a faint 'hmm', took a puff of her lollipop, and her gaze swept over the steeper advanced slopes in the distance. She skied directly over, doing two consecutive flips, which stunned everyone around her.
They thought a professional athlete had come to practice for a competition.
Meanwhile, on a flat patch of snow not far away, a different scene unfolded.
"Come on, Shin... no, Conan, Ai, come help me build the biggest snowman!"
Dr. Agasa was excited like an old child, diligently rolling a huge snowball for the snowman's body, his face beaming with a happy smile.
Conan stood beside him, hands in his down jacket pockets, looking helpless, his mouth twitching as he muttered.
"Really, Doctor, he's treating us like little kids..."
Although he said that, he still squatted down and helped pat the snowball to make it firmer.
While building the snowman, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at Haibara Ai, who was silently holding a small snowball nearby, seemingly distracted.
"Haibara," Conan lowered his voice and leaned closer, asking, "On the bus earlier, who did you find more suspicious? Or rather, whose aura made you more afraid? Could you tell who was from the Organization?"
Haibara Ai's body trembled slightly, then she shook her head and whispered:
"I don't know... I didn't dare to look up, but I think I heard someone say 'A secret makes a woman, woman'. This is a phrase that Vermouth, that woman in the Black Organization, often says. I think the Organization member who appeared on the bus must have been her."
Her gaze was lowered, always fixed on the white snow beneath her feet, as if it could give her some sense of security.
"A secret makes a woman, woman."
Conan frowned and repeated Haibara Ai's words.
He vaguely remembered that this was what Jodie had said when she got off the bus. It seemed this person was also a suspect.
Just then.
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!! Move away, ahhh!!!"
A panicked shout, accompanied by the sound of rapid friction, came from behind and to the side.
Conan turned his head sharply, only to see a young woman with dark green hair, hurtling down the slope in a completely out-of-control manner.
Her skis, like a runaway horse, were heading straight for where they were building the snowman.
"Danger!"
Conan's expression changed, and he instinctively pushed Haibara Ai and Dr. Agasa away, while he himself scrambled to dive to the side.
Thud!
Conan plunged headfirst into a soft snowdrift nearby, getting a mouthful of snow.
And the out-of-control woman with dark green hair, with a dull thud and splashing snow, crashed squarely into their half-built snowman.
The huge impact completely shattered the upper body of the snowman, but it also successfully brought her to a stop.
She lay in the snowdrift, still shaken, her skis askew, her dark green hair covered in snow, looking a bit dishevelled.
Before Conan could climb out of the snowdrift to question her, two other figures, with much more skilled skiing techniques, agilely stopped nearby.
"Hey, Caesar! Are you even capable? How can you turn even this beginner's slope into a human bomb?"
A somewhat lazy, slightly mocking female voice rang out.
Conan wiped the snow from his face and saw the newcomers, two foreign women with blonde hair.
One was a petite girl with long blonde hair, who was now standing with her hands on her hips, looking at the dark-haired woman named Caesar.
As for the other, looking at her asymmetrical single side ponytail, Conan paused, then recognized her.
Isn't this Lucy, the foreign young lady who had previously commissioned Uncle Mori to investigate something and was very generous with her money?
Why was she here?
Did Rin call her over?
The dark-haired woman named Caesar struggled to get out of the snowdrift, brushing snow from her body as she retorted irritably to the short blonde girl.
"Shut up, Piper! My skis just slipped a bit!"
"Slipped?"
Lucy interrupted, hands on her hips.
"How can you even say such an excuse! With a brain as simple as a salad, you might as well give up the position of leader of the Sons of Calydon to me sooner, lest you demolish the ski resort next time!"
After speaking, Lucy sighed helplessly and stepped forward to help Caesar up.
Sons of Calydon? Leader?
Conan, still lying in the snowdrift, keenly caught these keywords.
Is Sons of Calydon some kind of organization?
And from Lucy's tone, they all seemed to be members of this organization.
Conan glanced at Piper.
But he thought, it shouldn't be a dangerous organization, after all, they even take in little girls of this age.
He was truly overthinking it, but this blame had to be placed on the Black Organization.
If it weren't for them, he wouldn't be so suspicious when he heard the word 'organization'.
Lucy looked at the slightly dishevelled Conan and shook her head helplessly.
She turned to Caesar, who was still brushing snow from her body, and advised. "Caesar, you almost hit someone. Aren't you going to apologize to these two children and this old gentleman?"
Caesar pouted, seemingly a bit unconvinced, thinking it was no big deal.
But after looking at the snowman she had destroyed, and then at the serious-faced Lucy, she finally relented. "Um... sorry, I couldn't control it."
Her apology wasn't very sincere, but at least the attitude was there.
Only then did Lucy nod with slight satisfaction, her gaze turning to Conan, and she said in surprise.
"Oh? Wait... Aren't you... that little boy from the Mouri Detective Agency?
We should have met once before at the Beika City Hotel, right? You were with Rin then."