When Hayato Masaki arrived at the base of Okino Yoko's apartment building, he spotted several police cars parked below.
Without pausing, he took the elevator to the twenty-fifth floor.
Stepping out, he saw a crowd gathered in the hallway—the body was in Yoko's living room, and the police were inside collecting evidence, so everyone had been ushered out.
"Nice to meet you, Mouri-san."
"You are?"
"I'm Hayato Masaki, Aunt Eri's cousin's nephew."
"Oh! Eri's nephew, huh…!"
Mouri Kogoro's puzzled expression brightened visibly. He stepped forward, clapping Hayato's shoulder. "No wonder you're such a sharp-looking guy."
"You're too kind."
Hayato just smiled.
Mouri Ran stood gracefully to the side, greeting softly, "Good evening, Masaki… nii-san."
"Good evening."
Hayato's smile warmed. Noticing Ran's slight discomfort, he added, "No need to be so formal. You can just call me Hayato-nii."
"Huh?"
Combining half his surname with his name threw Ran off.
But realizing it rolled off the tongue, she went along with it.
"And these kids?"
Hayato noticed a few elementary schoolers.
"Just some brats who snuck in to gawk," Mouri Kogoro said, plopping a hand on Conan's head, earning an eye-roll. "Oh, and this is Conan, staying with us for a bit."
Kojima Genta and Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko bristled at being called brats, muttering:
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"We just wanted to see what an idol's place looks like."
"Right, Ayumi?"
"…"
Yoshida Ayumi, stared at by her friends, gazed at Hayato. "What a cool big brother…"
"…"
Ignoring the kids for now, Hayato approached Okino Yoko and her agent, Yamagishi Eiichi.
"Masaki-sensei…"
"So, what's the situation?"
"I don't know." Yoko shook her head. "I got home, saw someone lying in a pool of blood, and then we called the police as Mouri-san instructed…"
"Alright. Does the victim have any connection to you, Yoko-san?"
"He's got nothing to do with Yoko."
Hayato had asked Yoko, but Yamagishi jumped in, quickly turning to her. "Right, Yoko?"
He looked worried she'd slip up.
Yoko, though, seemed genuinely clueless about the body. After thinking hard, she frowned and shook her head. "I don't think I know him."
"You sure?"
Megure Juzo stepped out from the apartment.
Despite his stocky frame, his stern voice carried a commanding police presence. He fixed Yoko with a serious look. "You said the apartment was locked when you arrived, right? No key, no entry. That means a locked-room murder—making the homeowner the prime suspect!"
"No way… I'd never kill anyone, officer!" Yoko gasped, startled.
"Hold on, Megure-keibu!"
Hearing Megure suspect Yoko, Mouri Kogoro leapt to her defense. "How could someone as lovely as Okino Yoko-san be the killer?!"
"…"
Megure's forehead twitched with irritation.
"It's too soon to call it a locked room. It's just a door that opens with a key."
Hayato's clear voice cut through, giving Yoko a sudden anchor.
"Oh! Masaki-kun!"
Megure's eyes lit up, clearly remembering Hayato fondly.
"Does Yoko-san's apartment have a spare key?"
"Yes, I keep one with Yamagishi-san."
"Aha! Then Yamagishi's the culprit!"
Mouri Kogoro pointed eagerly at a stunned Yamagishi, who waved his hands frantically. Mouri grabbed his collar. "You punk! Mad you're just her agent, huh? Confessed, got rejected, and framed her out of spite, didn't you?!"
"Don't make stuff up! I had the spare key, sure, but I lost it days ago—in the TV station's break room!"
"Proof? Your word alone—"
"It's true, Mouri-san. Yamagishi-san's not lying."
Unwilling to let her agent take the fall, Yoko spoke up. Seeing her earnest, adorable expression, Mouri coughed and softened his tone.
"Fine, if Yoko-san says so…"
(Don't just take her word for it, old man.)
Witnessing Mouri's double standards, Conan's lip twitched.
He glanced at Hayato, who watched the farce with a calm smile, seemingly unbothered.
Alright, let's see who's better!
A fierce competitive spark flared in Conan's chest.
He hadn't caught the Beika TV broadcast, but he'd read the hyped-up news about Hayato's case-solving. Cracking a case just by circling the scene wasn't impossible—sometimes it took one flash of insight to tie everything together.
Maybe that's what Hayato had done.
Still, pulling it off marked him as a top-tier detective.
A rare rival worth challenging—Conan was itching to compete.
"How's the police evidence collection going?"
"Almost done. Want to take a look, Masaki-kun?"
"Sure."
Hayato hadn't expected Megure to invite him in.
It seemed this world's police were quite used to leaning on detectives.
"Ahem, I'll pitch in too, Megure-keibu."
Mouri Kogoro stepped up, eager to stay relevant.
Megure waved him inside.
***
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