"I see. So, what did that man's eyes look like?"
In the First Investigation Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Officer Sato was meeting with the five members of the Detective Boys. Counting Tsuneo, their temporary guardian, they were a group of six.
"..." Tsuneo looked at the monster Officer Sato had drawn on the paper.
I feel like asking these questions doesn't make a difference. No one is going to understand what she draws anyway...
"Hmm... how do I put it? They looked a bit like a fox. The corners of both eyes need to slant upwards, like this!" Ayumi's performance was also quite abstract, as if she were making a funny face.
"So, single eyelids with upturned corners," Officer Sato continued to sketch and scribble in her notebook.
It was becoming increasingly abstract...
"Okay, mission accomplished. Did the man look roughly like this?" Sato turned the sketchbook around to show the children.
"It doesn't look like him at all." Ayumi couldn't tell for a moment if it was a human face or Godzilla...
"Your drawing really stinks," Genta threw a straight ball.
"It's practically no different from a child's doodle," Mitsuhiko nodded and added.
Let alone the three of them, even Conan revealed a speechless look. No wonder the repairman had only taken one glance before shaking his head relentlessly on the side.
With a sketch like this, if they used it to search for someone, even the culprit wouldn't recognize himself.
"Is there any other sketch artist here besides you???" Ai yawned, tilting her head as she asked.
Having stayed up late doing research and then being forcibly dragged out of bed by her sister early in the morning for this group activity, she was incredibly sleepy. And to top it off, this artist was completely unreliable.
"I can't help it. Mr. Tomokawa, who specializes in composite sketches, happened to catch a cold and took the day off today," Officer Sato said, blushing slightly as she addressed the picky children.
"Actually, just the fact that he was wearing a trench coat should be enough," Tsuneo really couldn't bear to look at it.
This person's drawing skills are on par with Conan's singing ability...
"That's right. In this heat, wearing a long trench coat with leather gloves on both hands—it would be hard for someone like that not to attract attention," Conan nodded.
Judging by the faint odor emanating from him, the man likely used kerosene as an accelerant.
"Is the drawing finished?" Officer Takagi walked over, took the sketchbook, glanced at it, and forced a smile.
"The eyes and mouth are drawn outside the face... It's, uh, quite a unique technique."
"As a piece of Surrealist art, it's actually not bad," Officer Shiratori commented as he passed by.
"Oh? If you two are willing to draw in my place, I couldn't ask for anything better!" Sato countered.
Don't just stand there watching the show. Don't think drawing is a simple task!
"Anyway, let's go to the scene to investigate first." Seeing the two men start to back away at the mention of drawing, Officer Sato smiled.
It was necessary to conduct a search of the alley where Ayumi had spotted the arsonist.
There might be clues left behind regarding the culprit.
Shiratori and Takagi volunteered to go to the scene as well.
"By the way, today is a special day, so we might have to take a slight detour," Officer Sato said as she put away the sketchbook, preparing to head out.
Tsuneo drove the Professor's car, carrying the Detective Boys and following behind the three police officers.
"What kind of special day is it?" Genta tilted his head back, thinking about what would be considered important for a detective.
"It must be the anniversary of the arrest of some major criminal!" Mitsuhiko guessed, though it wasn't quite accurate.
The three cars stopped at a certain intersection on the side of the road.
Officer Sato took a chrysanthemum and placed it at the base of a utility pole at the intersection. She pressed her palms together, squatted down, and prayed silently, lost in thought.
"Right, I remember now. Today is the anniversary of the death of Officer Sato's father, Masayoshi Sato."
"He was killed in the line of duty on this day," Officer Shiratori explained to the group as he watched Sato not far away.
Eighteen years ago today, Masayoshi Sato had died at this intersection while chasing a robber and murderer.
"Here?" Takagi looked around. The traffic flow at this intersection wasn't small; it was indeed quite dangerous.
"Yes. He chased the suspect to this spot but was knocked down by a truck. Unfortunately, it was raining heavily that day, and the ambulance arrived too late."
Officer Shiratori had likely read the file before and knew the details of the case very well.
"I remember that case was called..." Shiratori thought for a moment. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't quite recall it.
"Choushirou." Conan stood with his hands in his pockets. His impression of this case was also very deep.
The detective who had been hit by the truck kept repeating a mysterious name toward the fleeing suspect: "Choushirou." The police subsequently officially named the case the "Choushirou Incident."
A massive dragnet was deployed at the time to investigate, but because the detective who held the key elements of the case had died, the investigation hit a dead end.
The statute of limitations had expired three years ago.
"Choushirou. That case has indeed been mentioned several times on TV programs." Tsuneo also gradually recalled the case.
Perhaps because the mystery was so difficult to solve, it was frequently brought up.
The words repeatedly spoken by the detective before his death added a touch of mystery to the case.
"Yes. For such a meticulously planned crime, the only clue was a video of less than ten seconds captured by the security camera of the robbed bank."
"What method the martyred detective used back then to identify and track the suspect became an unsolvable riddle after his death."
Officer Takagi nodded, looking at Officer Sato who was paying her respects.
He hadn't expected that the martyred detective was actually Officer Sato's father.
"Even if that case from years ago and the name of the prime suspect remain in people's memories, very few people care about who the police officer was that died in the line of duty during that case."
Officer Sato stood up, looking at the surprised group with a smile.
"Did the truck driver who caused the accident see the culprit's face?" Genta asked curiously.
Officer Sato shook her head, leaning down to say, "Reportedly, the culprit was wearing a raincoat that covered their entire body, so the driver couldn't even tell if they were a man or a woman."
Tsuneo patted Genta's head with relief.
You're learning to think through problems. That's not easy!
In this case, the clues held by the police were simply too few. In that short ten-second robbery footage, the culprit had wrapped themselves up like a dumpling.
Masayoshi Sato, who had subsequently caught up to the culprit, had only recorded "KAN O" in Katakana in his notebook.
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