Chapter 25: This Damn Place Is Basically Gotham
Before long, Inspector Megure arrived at the scene with several officers in tow.
He wore his usual brown trench coat and round-brimmed hat.
No matter the season, no matter the hour, it was always the same outfit.
For a heavyset man, he never seemed to mind the heat one bit!
"Mouri... Kogoro?"
"Why is it you again?"
Inspector Megure sighed, exasperated.
He'd pulled a night shift yesterday, and now here he was, pulling another one today.
At this rate, his wife was going to start wondering if he was out having an affair.
"That's right, it's me, Mouri Kogoro!"
"Inspector Megure, I really do miss the old days of working cases together!"
Kogoro snapped off a textbook-perfect police salute.
As excited as running into a college roommate you hadn't seen in years at an internet cafe and staying up all night playing Dota together.
"Well, I don't miss it one bit!"
"Though man, it's hot in here. You always crank the AC this high?"
Inspector Megure wiped away a bead of sweat, without the slightest intention of taking off his coat.
Just as a Minotaur never removes his mask, he never took off that trench coat or that hat.
"It wasn't on!"
"And when I left, the AC was definitely switched off."
Yoko said.
"The AC temperature isn't the only strange thing here—there's also this puddle of water."
"As for the high temperature, was someone trying to throw off the estimate of time of death?"
"And the position of this chair is very strange too!"
Conan crouched on the floor, examining the traces with an air of real professionalism.
Beside him, Ayumi stared intently at this strange little boy.
"Who's this?"
Inspector Megure looked over at Kogoro.
"Ha ha ha... just a kid someone dropped off at my place to look after."
"Behave yourself, don't go wandering off!"
Kogoro laughed awkwardly and, at the same time, gave Conan a good knock on the head to teach him a lesson.
"Inspector Megure, is this how you people usually protect a crime scene?"
Makoto sighed.
He looked over the officers on scene with something close to pity, then turned an even more sympathetic gaze on the victim.
What kind of people were these, anyway?
"Oh, Higashino-kun!"
"Didn't expect you to be here—this is great news!"
"Hurry up and figure out who the culprit is!"
Inspector Megure lit up with delight, instantly breathing a sigh of relief.
With this high school detective around, he could just sit back and wait for the case to wrap itself up.
"Let's clear out everyone who has nothing to do with this first."
"At the very least, get these elementary schoolers out of here."
"This is a crime scene—a murder scene, no less!"
"You're letting four elementary schoolers run wild all over the place, and nobody's stepping in?"
Makoto rubbed his forehead, ready to cough up blood.
These Japanese police officers were just standing by while a bunch of kids wandered the murder scene freely, looking at whatever, touching whatever, with not a single person stepping in, not the slightest concern that they might contaminate the scene or destroy evidence.
No wonder they needed all these high school detectives running around!
Left to these officers alone, Tokyo would turn into Gotham in no time flat.
Wait a second!
Wasn't present-day Tokyo already pretty much Gotham?
Every single day it was either a murder, a kidnapping, or a bombing.
Wherever you went, that place became a crime scene.
This was basically Gotham, no question!
"Th-that actually makes sense!"
"Takagi, get these kids out of here!"
"And also—"
"String up some police tape at the entrance."
Inspector Megure thought it over and added.
"Police tape?"
"B-but we didn't bring any of that today!"
Takagi said, embarrassed.
"Then would Officer Takagi mind just shutting the door and standing guard outside?"
Makoto said, resigned.
He'd stopped holding out any hope whatsoever for this bunch of oddball cops.
"Got it!"
Takagi saluted and started herding the kids toward the door.
"Come on, I want to see too! I'm a detective too, I can do deduction too!"
Conan threw a childish tantrum, insisting on staying at the scene no matter what.
From the traces he'd just found, he felt like he was on the verge of understanding something, but he was still missing a few crucial pieces of evidence.
Still, Conan was confident that, given just a little more time, he'd definitely uncover the truth.
But of all times, right at that exact moment—
That guy!
Conan glared at Makoto's back, gritting his teeth.
"Conan!"
"It's one thing to be clueless normally, but do you have to be clueless now too?"
"This is a murder scene, this is grown-up business! You're just a kid—even if you want to play detective make-believe, at least pick the right time and place!"
Ran planted her hands on her hips, glaring at him coldly.
"B-but..."
"Get out of here!"
Conan still wanted to argue his case, but Ran hoisted him up with one hand and carried him straight out of the room.
Looking over a crime scene now free of the Detective Boys, and casting a glance around at the bumbling officers plus one bumbling detective—
Makoto knew his solo stage had been set to perfection!
"A locked room, a high indoor temperature, a puddle on the floor, a stab wound in the back, a tall chair!"
"This case is already solved!"
He glanced over the scene, confirming a few key pieces of evidence.
"Solved?"
Kogoro's eyes went wide.
That was way too fast!
"Higashino-kun, really?"
"Then hurry up and tell us—who's the culprit?"
Inspector Megure asked eagerly.
That excited look in his eyes made it seem like he could already picture himself, half an hour from now, soaking comfortably in a hot bath back home.
"The culprit is..."
Makoto's finger swept across everyone present.
"Is… who?"
Everyone's eyes followed his finger, throats tight with anticipation.
"It's him!"
Makoto pointed downward, at the body on the floor.
"Him?"
"Huh?"
"What are you talking about?"
"What?"
…
Everyone was dumbfounded.
The culprit was the victim himself?
Did that mean he'd murdered himself?
What kind of sense did that make?
Wasn't that basically...
Suicide?
…
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Edogawa Conan — Shinichi's alternate identity. Series: Detective Conan.
Higashino Makoto — Protagonist. Transmigrated.
Megure Juzo — Police Inspector. Series: Detective Conan.
Mouri Kogoro — Ran's father. Series: Detective Conan.
Mouri Ran — Shinichi's childhood sweetheart. Series: Detective Conan.
Takagi Wataru — Police officer. Series: Detective Conan.
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Translated by CheapBiscuit.
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