At first, it looked useless. But with that strange little "dance," Mouri Kogoro seemed like a completely different person, suddenly able to deduce the entire case with precision.
That was how the police described the Sleeping Mouri Kogoro.
The "weird dance" was really just the moment he was tranquilized. Yet Mouri somehow always managed to find a seat and sit down perfectly. People couldn't help but wonder how he did it.
"What I said just now was only to make the culprit relax. Now I'll begin explaining the case."
The police were used to it by now. Mouri always overturned his own earlier guesses and then carefully unraveled the truth bit by bit. With Conan's voice guiding the reasoning, the whole case was reconstructed.
The killer's trick was revealed. "Yes, the culprit is you—Fujita, the victim's current boyfriend."
"What?!"
Everyone turned to the killer in shock. "Why? Hidemi loved you so much!"
The suspect still tried to deny it. "What evidence do you have?"
"The evidence is on your hand. That ring isn't yours—it belonged to the victim. You coated the ring with poison. After she took it off, you slipped it onto your own hand. Forensics will find traces of poison on that ring." The conclusion was undeniable.
The killer had no more words. Everything Mouri said was true.
"Why? Why did you kill Hidemi?" the other two men demanded angrily.
The killer's face twisted. "Don't act so innocent. Didn't you both want to kill her too? She was just using us as ATMs. I only did what you wanted to do but didn't dare."
That shut them up. It was true they'd been deceived, but not everyone could take the step to murder.
"Hidemi kept lying to me. She said if I bought her a diamond ring, she'd marry me. I worked so hard, wasting my youth on jobs to save money. But then I found out she had other men besides us. That woman—damn that woman—she never wanted to marry me. That's why I…"
The criminal collapsed to his knees, crying. But tears didn't change anything. He had killed someone, and now he was bound for prison.
Blind love. When you've seen someone's true face, why not leave? Because the deeper the love, the deeper the hate. That was what pushed him into ruin.
"Arrest him," Inspector Megure sighed. A promising college student, his whole life ruined. And for what? A woman like that wasn't worth it.
The moment the deduction ended, Mouri woke up. People couldn't help wondering if he was deliberately cooperating with Conan. How else could it always be timed so perfectly?
"Doesn't anyone ever question this?" Ada asked, puzzled. The police treated the great detective Mouri with such reverence. "He solves cases with his eyes closed, without even opening his mouth. And no one suspects anything? Are these people stupid, or are they mocking my intelligence?"
"You'll get used to it," Liu A'dou said. He'd reacted the same way at first. But after a while, you could only adapt. Over time, when everyone else thought it was normal and only you thought it was strange, it was easier to accept you were the odd one out.
Ada decided it wasn't worth caring about. Better not to look at it at all.
An engagement ring, a symbol of love, used as a murder weapon—it shouldn't be like that. It was supposed to witness love, not kill. Ran was shaken.
Mouri and Eri glanced at the rings on their own hands. Just one look, then silence, as if nothing had happened.
"After this, I don't think we can keep eating. I'll head back. See you in court," Eri said.
"Alright, see you."
"Dad, go walk Mom out!" Ran urged, pushing Mouri forward.
Mouri looked unwilling, but he still walked Eri out the door. Only then did he return to pick up Ran and Conan and head home, leaving Liu A'dou and Ada exchanging a glance. A'dou grinned. "So then, beautiful teacher, still willing to take a walk with me… maybe even open a room?"
"Do you think I'm scared of you?" Ada shot back, accepting the challenge.
Wherever Conan was, there was always a case. Once again it proved Conan and crime could never be separated.
When the court date came, the evidence was clear. The criminal had osteoporosis, so Ada's punch had been stronger than she realized. But in that situation, anyone would have used force.
Killing someone outright was a bit extreme, but with so many witnesses all saying the same thing—that Ada only punched once—it was ruled as excessive defense, not intentional murder.
Finally, the court declared: Ada not guilty.
"Awesome!" Sonoko and Ran had come to support their teacher.
"Thank you both." Ada was touched seeing them. The two girls were just too kind-hearted.
"To celebrate Ada-sensei's acquittal, let's go to the all-you-can-eat cake buffet and eat until we drop!" Sonoko suggested.
"If you want cake, why not come to my place? Today A'dou already made lots of delicious food. I'll just call him and tell him to bake cakes too," Ada said. A'dou had already started preparing, so there was no need to go out.
"Liu A'dou?" Sonoko raised an eyebrow. "Ada-sensei, are you really dating that annoying guy?" She still thought A'dou wasn't good enough for Ada.
"A'dou isn't as bad as you all think." Ada laughed. "Come on, let's go home."
Ran said goodbye to her mother. She had wanted to invite Eri and Mouri to another family meal, but Eri declined—she was busy and had cases to handle. Still, she promised to consider it when she had time, which left Ran satisfied enough.
"Daddy, daddy!" Nono was making a mess in the kitchen while A'dou cooked.
Haibara was still deeply curious about the A'dou household. Liu A'dou and Ada were like two living riddles, and together their family was an even greater mystery. They seemed detached from the world, as if they were just playing their own game, unconcerned with the outside, untouched by others' gazes. It wasn't loneliness, more like the whole world revolved around them. Haibara envied that carefree way of living, because she herself could never be that free.
The group gathered lively around the table, enjoying A'dou's cooking. Recently, he had been studying the recipe collection of "Cooking Master Boy," aiming to create dishes so exquisite they could shine.
The collection included recipes from all the famous chefs in Cooking Master Boy, even from the Dark Cooking Society. Broad and profound, spanning ancient and modern, East and West, it covered everything. Learning from it had been incredibly rewarding.
At least A'dou's confidence in cooking had grown. Before, his meals had been just enough for a single guy—filling but far from delicious. Now, while his dishes still didn't literally glow, they surpassed most professional chefs. Ada's stomach had already been captured; every day A'dou cooked her favorite delicacies.
His cake was dazzling, no worse than any cake shop's. Sonoko and Ran's appetites flared. "Let's dig in!" they cheered. Neither of them noticed that A'dou and Ada had quietly slipped their wedding rings back onto their fingers.
After that restaurant case with the murder-by-ring, the couple understood more than ever how precious it was to love someone. Without even discussing it, both of them had put their rings back on.