Heiji kicked Ryoichi Takahashi's arm. The axe flew out and stuck into the wooden floor. Then, he punched him in the stomach, knocking him out instantly.
"Congratulations, host, for completing the C-class mission: decipher Ryoichi Takahashi's method. 10 evil points have been deducted."
Next, a character attribute panel appeared.
The next day, the police arrived and arrested Ryoichi Takahashi.
The isolated villa on the edge of the cliff was tinged with a note of sadness for the two lives lost. In the future, Sonoko Suzuki's father will probably never come here for the summer again.
On the way back, Heiji was still driving. However, the atmosphere was completely different.
The three girls were sitting in the back seat, holding hands tightly, silently looking forward. What had happened the night before had shocked them too much, and they still hadn't fully recovered.
Conan was sitting in the passenger seat, still pondering Heiji's reasoning. Until now, he still had unresolved doubts.
"Heiji-niichan, how did you know that the bandaged man wasn't a stranger?"
Finally, he couldn't help but ask.
"Conan, don't bother Heiji while he's driving," Ran told Conan.
"Don't worry, it seems this little guy won't give up until he knows."
Heiji looked straight ahead; he had already expected that Conan wouldn't be able to resist asking.
"What the eyes see is not necessarily the truth. Ryoichi Takahashi used preconceived notions as a form of inertia to make us believe that the bandaged man was someone from outside the villa. Therefore, when Masaru Ota was killed, we all overlooked a very important clue: there were no water droplets on the floor."
Conan's pupils contracted, revealing an expression of astonishment. With Heiji's explanation, he instantly understood the key point he hadn't been able to grasp.
If the bandaged man had run in from outside, he would have definitely left water droplets on the floor. That was the spark of inspiration that had escaped him.
"Heiji-niichan is amazing."
These words were sincere. When immersed in a situation, a detective must get rid of all preconceived ideas. That was what Yusaku Kudo had told him, but unfortunately, he still lacked practice.
However, this high school detective, of his same age, had achieved it.
[Could it be that I'm really not as good as Hattori? No, I won't give up.]
"And Heiji-niichan, wasn't Ryoichi Takahashi afraid that those two mechanisms would fail?"
This was another of the doubts Conan had had all along. Although that type of mechanism was practical, the failure rate was also high.
"I remember that when we arrived, Sonoko said that your sister Ayako's group of classmates meets every two years. I suppose Ryoichi Takahashi must have tried it many times before choosing this method."
"Yes, my older sister did say that. But Heiji, I didn't expect you to remember even that kind of conversation, you're amazing." Sonoko's beautiful eyes shone with admiration.
"Sonoko..."
Ran nudged Sonoko in the waist: This girl, Sonoko, really... Kazuha is still here.
[I remember Ayako said it, but this guy, Hattori, has even incorporated that phrase into the case...]
Conan thought, shocked. He realized that Heiji was always able to notice things that others didn't notice; no, things that even he hadn't noticed.
"But Heiji, wasn't Ryoichi Takahashi afraid we would discover him while he was building the mechanism?" Kazuha asked curiously.
"Silly, that's why he installed the mechanism so far away. I had to run for quite a while to find it. Weren't the police speechless this morning too? That steel cable was more than thirty meters long," Heiji said tenderly.
"Heiji is very tender with Kazuha. Kazuha, I envy you so much," Sonoko suddenly teased Kazuha.
"That's not true," Kazuha said, blushing, her heart filled with sweetness.
"But, wasn't Mr. Takahashi afraid we would find out? Or that someone might enter or leave through the back door in the meantime, wouldn't that have given him away?"
Ran, a detective's worthy daughter, at least her intelligence had returned to normal.
Heiji smiled confidently: "Have you forgotten the fear the bandaged man instilled in you? Besides, with the rain and thunder, who would be bored enough to go outside?"
In that situation, with the appearance of an extremely terrifying person of unknown intentions, no one would have been bored enough to run outside, much less with rain and thunder.
"So, Mr. Takahashi included all of us in his calculations. What a frightening ability," Ran said, still with some fear.
"Ryoichi Takahashi's feat isn't that big of a deal. This plan of his couldn't have worked without having tried it at least eight or ten times. In my opinion, he planned it for at least one or two years."
It's normal for a plan developed over one or two years to have this kind of result.
Conan nodded: Judging by Ryoichi Takahashi's skill, he must have practiced for a long time, but this guy, Hattori...
"So, Heiji is the most amazing, unmasking Ryoichi Takahashi's plan, which took so long to prepare, at a single glance," Sonoko said with admiration.
Ran looked at Sonoko with doubt: This girl, Sonoko, is too enthusiastic about Heiji.
Kazuha looked at Sonoko with doubt, a little worried in her heart: Could it be that Sonoko has started to like Heiji too?
[This ditz Sonoko.]
"We're finally back. Sonoko, don't leave today, stay over at my place,"
Arriving home, Ran felt relieved and relaxed.
"I can't, my dad just called for me to come back," Sonoko said with a pout, glancing sideways at Heiji. She would like to stay too.
Last night she had a fever, and although she was dazed, she was aware that her clothes had been taken off and she had been touched all over. However, at that moment, she didn't feel angry at all.
Although she had acted like a ditz before, she only ever said it as a joke and had never acted on it. Ran didn't even know that she had never held hands with any other boy.
"Kazuha, do you have a cell phone? Let's exchange our contact numbers," Sonoko said, with some idea in mind.
"Yes, yes! Kazuha, I don't think we've exchanged our numbers either," Ran said, suddenly remembering.
[As if they couldn't see each other again. These women are so annoying,] Conan thought impatiently.
"And now for some breaking news: the thief known as the Night Baron, who recently stole fifteen thousand maple leaf gold coins, has been captured by the police. However, the whereabouts of the fifteen thousand maple leaf gold coins remain unknown..."
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