At Ai's location.
It wasn't the danger Kurosawa Hoshino had imagined.
The reason her call had suddenly cut off was because a hand had reached over and hung it up.
"What are you doing?" Ai glared at Conan, confused.
"I—I—" Conan also regretted his action, but since he'd already done it, he lowered his voice and said, "I want to solve the case. Leave this case to me. I'll solve it before Kurosawa gets here."
"You want to destroy the crime scene? Will the others agree?" Ai sneered. "Don't forget you're a child now. No one will let you near the body."
"It's fine. I'll just observe from the surroundings."
After saying that, Conan glanced at the strange crowd in the basement and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
This was a Kamen Rider gathering.
Everyone around was wearing costumes, cosplaying characters from Kamen Rider—there were monster suits, and even Kamen Riders themselves.
"Heh. The time it takes him to get here by car from the Mouri Detective Agency is probably about the same as the police," Ai said, then ignored him and quietly waited for the police and Kurosawa Hoshino to arrive.
Seeing that the two weren't arguing, Dr. Agasa breathed a sigh of relief. He also called Ayumi and the other two children over to his side, telling them not to run around the scene.
Time passed.
Twenty minutes later.
Just as Ai had expected, Kurosawa Hoshino ran into Inspector Megure, who was leading the team. Together they entered the basement of the villa and saw the strangely dressed group.
"Brother Hoshino, wait a moment. Let me finish asking about the situation before I fill you in."
Inspector Megure was completely relaxed, and the police officers around him were also very at ease. After all, with the famous Kurosawa Hoshino here, as long as they finished gathering the details, the case would surely be solved before long.
The police began securing the scene while questioning the people around them about what had happened.
"Hoshino, thank you." Seeing everyone was busy, Officer Sato finally sidled up to Kurosawa Hoshino and whispered.
Kurosawa Hoshino smiled. "Officer Sato, are you thanking me on behalf of Officer Yumi?"
"Yes." Sato nodded. "She told me about this morning, and I also believe in your intuition. Hoshino, thank you so much."
"Maybe my intuition was off, and nothing would have happened."
"No way. After all, you've never been wrong."
Sato smiled and nudged his arm with her elbow, teasing, "I'll treat you to a meal sometime as thanks, how about that?"
"Sure. Contact me when you have time."
"Mm. I'm going to investigate now."
Sato stopped chatting. She wasn't one to slack off, and quickly got into work mode.
As soon as she left, Dr. Agasa came over with the group of children—Ai and the others.
At this point, Conan's forehead was covered in cold sweat. He had investigated for twenty minutes but had only found a tiny clue. The reason there was so little was exactly as Ai had said: because he was a child, the adults at the scene simply wouldn't let him near the body.
"Ai, why did the call hang up so quickly?" Kurosawa Hoshino asked directly.
His words made Conan's expression change. He looked at Ai with pleading eyes, hoping she wouldn't tell.
Ai glanced at Conan and said flatly, "Edogawa hung up on me. I don't know why."
"Oh, is that so?" Kurosawa Hoshino looked at Conan with a smile, whose expression was about to crack. "Conan, why did you hang up on Ai?"
Conan lowered his head and thought of an excuse. He said weakly, "Because I wanted to call Brother Shinichi and ask him to solve the case."
"Did you call him?"
"No. I figured since Haibara already called you, Brother Hoshino, there was no need to call Brother Shinichi."
"Heh."
Kurosawa Hoshino smiled and reached out to pat his head, saying nothing more.
Looking at the group of people in costumes, he had a vague feeling that this episode was probably from the original plot.
He remembered that after Kazuha appeared in the anime and they returned from Osaka, the first case Conan encountered was with a group of costumed actors, related to Kamen Rider. Although Kurosawa Hoshino couldn't recall the specific details, he still had a lot of impressions. Combined with the "Scene Replay" superpower, he could solve it quickly. This time, the Source Points should be as good as secured.
"Ai, tell me, why did you all come to this party?"
"Brother Hoshino, it's like this. In the afternoon, Ayumi and the others didn't want to stay at the professor's house anymore and wanted to go out and play. The professor just brought us out together. On the way, we ran into people wearing Kamen Rider costumes. Ayumi and the others really liked them, so they went up to chat. In the end, seeing how much Ayumi and the others liked Kamen Rider, they invited us to join this Kamen Rider character gathering."
At that point, Genta couldn't help but interject, "And the big brother playing the police assault trooper was so mean. I just touched his fake gun, and he yelled at me."
Seeing Inspector Megure still questioning people, Kurosawa Hoshino went up to the body and took a look, then directly activated the "Scene Replay" superpower.
So, at double speed, he followed the victim's trail from before death, quickly leaving the basement and going outside. In no time, he understood what had happened and confirmed who the murderer was. The whole process took less than three minutes.
When he returned to the basement, Inspector Megure had also finished a simple round of questioning and came over quickly with two men and a woman.
"Brother Hoshino, you're just in time. I—"
Before he could finish, the woman among the three interrupted him.
"Hello, are you Kurosawa-kun? My name is Saotome Madoka. I play Kamen Rider's girlfriend, Natsume Rei. I recognized you as soon as you came in, but because the police were here, I didn't dare approach."
Saotome Madoka's tone carried a hint of excitement. She stepped forward and stared intently at Kurosawa Hoshino, as if she wanted to pounce and kiss him.
"Ahem, Miss Saotome, please be mindful of the scene." Inspector Megure said, discreetly pointing at the body not far away.
Saotome Madoka looked over, and her expression immediately stiffened. She quickly lowered her head and retreated back to the group.
"Brother Hoshino, let me introduce the other two." Inspector Megure said, "Mr. Teikangzhi, who plays Kamen Rider, and Mr. Honda Osamu, who plays the police assault trooper. Mr. Honda Osamu was also shot at by the victim, Mishima Katsuji. Thanks to his bulletproof vest, he luckily escaped. Mishima Katsuji thought Mr. Honda was dead and simply shot himself."
Kurosawa Hoshino nodded to show he was listening.
Inspector Megure smiled. "Brother Hoshino, this doesn't look like murder no matter how you slice it. After all, Mr. Mishima Katsuji shot himself in front of everyone, clear as day, without any cover-up."
"This isn't suicide. There are no burn marks on Mr. Mishima Katsuji's temple. No matter how you look at it, it's not suicide." Conan roared inwardly. This was the only clue he had.
Fortunately, Kurosawa Hoshino's next words also made Conan breathe a sigh of relief. He thought, As expected of the opponent I want to surpass—his observation skills are truly meticulous.
"Inspector Megure, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this case, in my eyes, is not suicide."