Outside the villa, Inspector Megure wore an apologetic expression. "Hoshino-kun, I'm really sorry to trouble you again."
Liar. Conan knew Inspector Megure too well. After working with him for so long, he could tell—this guy now hoped to run into Kurosawa Hoshino every time a case came up.
"Inspector, spare me the formalities." Kurosawa Hoshino yawned and waved a hand. "Just have someone take us home. It's late—I'm getting sleepy."
"Of course. I'll arrange it immediately."
"Thanks. I'll wait in the car."
Without another word, Kurosawa Hoshino walked toward a nearby patrol car.
"Inspector, don't mind him." Kogorō shrugged. "That brat's always like that."
Megure's face turned stern. "Detective Mōri, solving cases takes a lot out of you. And it's late—of course he's tired. We shouldn't disturb his rest."
"..." Kogorō's lips twitched. He stared at Megure.
This guy's such a suck-up.
"Ahem." Megure's face reddened slightly. "Don't look at me like that. I'm just stating facts."
"Dad, let's go." Ran grabbed her father's arm and dragged him toward the patrol car. Conan followed silently.
Watching them get in, Megure turned to the officer beside him. "Drive carefully. Don't jostle Hoshino-kun."
"Yes, sir!" The officer saluted and sprinted toward the car.
Truth was, he didn't need the reminder. Everyone on the force was just as eager to please Kurosawa Hoshino—they just couldn't say it as openly as Megure.
The patrol car pulled away.
Inside the quiet vehicle, Ran turned to Kurosawa Hoshino. "Hoshino, do you think President Kojima would still be alive if she'd just agreed to Mr. Izumi's request?"
"Hard to say." Kurosawa Hoshino's voice was thoughtful. "Maybe Izumi wouldn't have acted. But someone else might have."
Izumi Takeo had killed because Kojima Ikuko pressured him into an investment that lost everything. When he couldn't pay, she threatened to sue. Izumi planned to pay slowly from his salary—she refused. Then she found out his parents owned land and demanded they sell it to cover his debt.
Izumi refused again. He didn't want to drag his parents into it. But Kojima had already contacted them, and they'd agreed to sell.
When Izumi found out, he snapped. Strangled her right there.
"Exactly why you should be nice to your employees." Kogorō chimed in. "Otherwise, one of them might just kill you."
After years as a cop and a decade as a detective, he knew the stats. Being a company president in this country was practically a death sentence.
"Couldn't agree more." Kurosawa Hoshino chuckled. He remembered plenty of Conan episodes—company presidents dropping like flies. Bosses, superiors, all of them. Quite a few cases like that.
"Well..." Conan started to speak, but a sudden fit of sneezes cut him off.
Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!
Ran glanced over. "Conan, are you catching a cold?"
Conan brightened at her attention. "It's nothing, Ran-neechan. Just mild. Probably gone by tomorrow."
Inside, he was cursing his unreliable parents. Yesterday's snow, that freezing room, no blankets—of course he'd catch a cold. Only his generally good health had delayed it until now.
"Take care of yourself," Ran said, then turned back to Kurosawa Hoshino.
Kurosawa Hoshino leaned his head on Ran's shoulder and closed his eyes. "School tomorrow?"
Ran giggled. "Hoshino, you're hopeless. You always forget the schedule."
"I'm bad with dates. You know that." His voice was sleepy. "I always get them wrong."
With the timeline so jumbled, how was he supposed to know? Asking Ran—who actually lived in this timeline—was the only way.
Huh. Conan's eyes lit up.
He'd noticed it before. Multiple times, actually. Kurosawa Hoshino genuinely didn't know what day it was. Ran and Sonoko often teased him about being half-asleep.
Haha! This is great!
Conan's shattered confidence began to rebuild.
Weaknesses. Flaws. Everyone has them. Kurosawa's still human after all. I still have hope. Next time... maybe next time I'll win.
The rest of the ride passed quietly.
Back home, Conan lay in bed with a faint smile. The occasional sneeze annoyed him, but he couldn't sleep. Seeing a glimmer of hope had his mind racing.
He thought of Professor Agasa—always up late doing experiments. He dialed the number.
Under the cover of night.
In Beika Town's 2-Chome, a small figure in a white lab coat ran down the street.
Shiho Miyano had survived swallowing APTX4869. But instead of dying, she'd shrunk—become a child. She'd escaped through the garbage chute of her locked room.
With nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, she thought of Shinichi Kudo. His death was still unconfirmed after taking the same pill. Maybe he'd survived too. Maybe his house was empty.
During an experiment, Shiho had noticed a shrunken lab mouse. That's when she suspected Shinichi might have shrunk instead of dying. She'd even brought Organization members to his house to investigate. His childhood clothes were missing—just like the lab mouse's cage was too big.
That's how she knew his house was empty. Perfect for hiding.
The escape went smoothly. She ran until her legs gave out, finally reaching Shinichi Kudo's house.
Before she could open the gate—
CRASH!
A figure spun through the air from the house next door and hit the ground with a cry of pain.
Professor Agasa peeled a smoking aircraft prototype off himself. "No... failed again. Too complicated."
His phone rang. He checked the number. "Shinichi? Can't sleep? I'm busy. No time to chat. Bye."
He hung up.
Then he heard a small voice beside him.
"Kudo Shinichi?"
"Huh?"
Professor Agasa turned. A little girl stood in front of Shinichi's house, wearing an ill-fitting white outfit. Short brown hair. A dirty face. Large eyes staring straight at him.
"Child, why are you out so late?"
"The person you just spoke to on the phone—was that Kudo Shinichi? The one who disappeared?"
"Ahem. No. Just a relative's kid. Same name, coincidence."
"What a coincidence." The girl's voice was flat. "The Kudo Shinichi I'm talking about should also be a child now. A high school student who turned into one."
"What?"
Professor Agasa's eyes widened. He looked at her ill-fitting white coat. He remembered Shinichi showing up at his door after shrinking—same situation. Same tone of voice. Not childlike at all.
Could she... like Shinichi... have shrunk because of that poison?