The bathroom suicide scene in Miss Aoshima's house—Ran Mouri had seen something like it before. That was a year ago. Jiangxia Tongzhi had been soaking in the tub next to the body at the time.
Just now, she'd instinctively pushed Jiangxia away from the bathroom. She was worried that such a familiar scene might trigger some kind of mental landmine for him... But why did Conan react the same way she did?
Back then, only Shinichi, she, and the doctor had seen Jiangxia. And Conan should just be a regular elementary school kid who'd only recently shown up in Beika City...
Ran's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Jiangxia noticed the change in her expression and thought, There's definitely a murderous aura here somewhere, but couldn't quite pinpoint it.
Conan had just slipped up, but his IQ was still intact. He immediately realized his mistake.
A bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead. "Uh, actually…" He'd intended to blame "knowing too much" on his dear Brother Shinichi.
But mid-sentence, he had a moment of clarity and pivoted: "Actually, it was when the doctor got drunk, and I asked him some questions…"
After all, sharing private info about classmates without permission just screamed hammer-worthy offense in Ran's book. She couldn't beat the old man, so if he threw Shinichi under the bus, the next reunion might be less "touching hug" and more "iron fist of righteousness." Yeah… not worth it.
Ran thought it over and reluctantly accepted the excuse.
To her, it made sense. The doctor wasn't exactly a vault of secrets. And Conan was more observant than the average bear child. Jiangxia didn't seem to like any physical activity unless it involved chasing criminals or high-speed drama, but he wore wrist supports year-round. For a kid who avoided sports, that did seem odd. So Conan noticing and asking around checked out.
Crisis averted. Conan lived to sleuth another day.
He quickly changed the topic: "Sister Ran, better call the police. Oh, and when you do, don't mention suicide—I've got a weird feeling about this scene."
As Ran pulled out her phone, Jiangxia also glanced at his own and checked the time. He compared it to the start time of the concert and figured that if they moved fast enough, he could still make it.
Just as Conan began to bring up the "suicide or homicide" debate, Jiangxia casually cut in, "Yeah, this doesn't seem like a suicide. More like Miss Aoshima killed her sister and staged the scene to look like one."
He pointed at the headband: "The Roman letters on it are weird. The 'Yo' in 'Yoko' should have an accent on the o—it's correct on her keychain, but not on the headband. Yoko's merch is all from official vendors, so a printing error like this is unlikely. It's probably not a misprint—it was likely obscured by blood splatter.
"And actually, when I first walked in, I noticed a stain above the peephole on the front door. Didn't think much of it—just figured the homeowner had hygiene issues… but now, I think Miss Aoshima got blood on her hands from the headband and left that stain when she peeked out the peephole."
Jiangxia raised a hand and gestured the height. Then he called out casually through the wall to the bathroom: "Did someone ring the bell while you were mid-murder and you went to check?"
Masayo Aoshima: "…"
Kogoro Mouri, who was still busy debating whether it was suicide or homicide while gripping the victim's severed wrist: "…"
Conan, who'd been ready to take over the case when he thought Jiangxia was too spaced out to reason properly: "…"
The two people in the bathroom moved at the same time. Masayo Aoshima clutched her headband in a panic, clearly trying to remove the evidence—though she had zero clue what she'd do with it once it was off.
But Kogoro Mouri wasn't about to let her get that far. He grabbed her arm and stopped her. Then he leaned in and examined the headband carefully. "There really is something off."
Conan looked at Jiangxia, who had casually finished the deduction, then looked at Mouri, who had already caught the suspect. Finally, he looked down at his own useless self and silently touched the unopened earplug case in his pocket.
The noise-canceling earmuffs had actually arrived, but today's meeting with Jiangxia had been a total accident, so he hadn't brought them.
Conan quietly pulled out a notepad and added a new memo: Even if Jiangxia isn't invited next time, I must bring sound-isolating earmuffs.
Because with Jiangxia, you never knew when he might show up, deliver a murder case like a pizza, and then speedrun the entire solution like he was reciting a homework outline…
…
Tonight, the only thing comforting Conan was that Jiangxia had only cracked the core piece of evidence this time. There were still some smaller puzzle pieces left for him.
After the police were called and arrived on scene, Conan wandered around and filled in the missing details.
There were lots of cardboard boxes in the living room for moving. The coffee table had tape residue. And next to the bathroom door, a roll of tape had been stuck to the floor like some kind of ritual circle…
It all pointed to Masayo Aoshima asking her sister to pre-cut strips of tape and stick them to the table—leaving her fingerprints on them. Aoshima then used these to fake a sealed room scenario, making it seem like her sister had taped herself into the bathroom.
Also, the tape wasn't even strong enough to actually seal the door. Masayo Aoshima probably planned to pretend it was stuck, then secretly twist the doorknob while knocking to "prove" it had been sealed. It could've been a fun little mystery to puzzle out but…
Conan remembered how Jiangxia had simply tested the knob earlier and casually pushed the door open.
Thinking about it, he suddenly felt immense sympathy for the entire Aoshima bloodline.
He'd finally found someone even more cursed than himself. Conan's usually slouched posture straightened slightly in relief.
…
Inspector Megure arrived quickly this time.
Before he could even greet anyone, he found himself handed a suspect who looked completely dead inside.
The murderer seemed to have emotionally flatlined—confessing everything like someone who'd just quit thinking entirely.
Officer Sato wrapped up the interview and, remembering Jiangxia's... "previous methods," snuck a glance under Masayo Aoshima's clothes just to be sure—no bruises, no marks. She exhaled in relief and looked at Jiangxia like a proud older sister.
The case had been solved at lightning speed, but by the time they'd finished all the paperwork and Kogoro Mouri had flown down the streets toward the concert venue… it was already ending.
Both Conan and Kogoro were crushed.
Conan, because when they'd first headed out to Masayo Aoshima's place, he'd been fantasizing about riding back cuddled up next to Ran. But reality? The car was even emptier on the way back. Jiangxia had taken shotgun, and the whole back row was deserted. Not only did Conan fail to realize his dream—he was now further away from Ran than ever.
Kogoro's disappointment was simpler—he'd missed most of the concert and was too late to get the limited-edition merch. Again.
Jiangxia, however, was perfectly calm. He'd added one more shikigami to his collection, and once again confirmed that yes, Kogoro Mouri really did have the power of death.
Seeing the old man sadly eyeing other people's concert loot, Jiangxia leaned over and consoled him: "I'll get you a set in a few days…"
Which just so happened to give him a perfectly good excuse to visit the local gathering place of grim reapers.
Kogoro Mouri, clearly satisfied with this shady deal, lit up with excitement and immediately returned to full HP.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 14/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:1/10*
Glossary:
Power of death – A running joke referencing how certain characters (like Kogoro) constantly stumble into murder cases, as if they attract death.