"This... this has to be changed from the original, right, Saiki-kun..."
Shiina Mahiru watched the absurd plot unfold and turned to Saiki. "How could a detective, without any evidence, just decide the culprit is guilty and start getting physical..."
But Saiki was full of excitement, eyes sparkling as he kept staring at the screen while answering Shiina Mahiru's question.
[This is actually really faithful to the original. It captured that detective's temper perfectly. They'll explain it later, don't worry. Just keep watching, Shiina-san.]
"Oh!"
Shiina Mahiru continued watching as well.
The story went on:
After the old man once again struggled to dodge the globe thrown by Kudo Shinichi, Megure-keibu finally spoke up. "Aren't you going to do any deduction today?"
The white-haired old man agreed. "Yeah, if you don't deduce anything, how are we supposed to confess?"
What answered him was yet another globe from Kudo Shinichi. After the old man skillfully dodged it again, Kudo Shinichi finally spoke to Megure-keibu beside him.
"That kind of thing is too much trouble."
Hearing Kudo Shinichi's reply, the white-haired old man, not knowing when to quit, said,
"Hmph, if you think it's troublesome, then what kind of great detective are you? Go home and drink your milk."
Hearing those words, Kudo Shinichi didn't respond. He shoved both hands in his pockets, lowered his head, and seemed to be deep in thought. But everyone could feel his aura surging. He was getting angry. The white-haired old man started to feel a little scared but didn't say anything. Then, the next second,
"Ha!!!!!"
Kudo Shinichi suddenly lifted his foot and kicked hard at the globe he had missed earlier. The globe flew straight toward the white-haired old man.
"Holy crap!"
The old man let out a startled cry. In a medical miracle, he lifted his bandaged leg, got out of the wheelchair, and ran. But he was still hit by the globe and fell to the ground.
Seeing this, Kudo Shinichi smiled. "See? That's your proof. This old man was hiding the truth. His leg was already healed. Megure-keibu, take him back and interrogate him properly."
"This..."
The white-haired old man clutched his head, struggled to stand up, and said, "This doesn't count as proof at all. I... I only stood up because I was too scared. It was instinct. My leg only healed today."
Hearing this, Kudo Shinichi seemed to have anticipated it and smiled. "Your leg recovered three months ago. I already went and asked your attending doctor. He confessed everything."
White-haired old man: "Then why the hell did you waste so much time talking earlier? You already knew."
"None of your business."
Megure-keibu pulled Kudo Shinichi aside. "Kudo-kun, if it's just this, it doesn't seem like solid evidence."
Kudo Shinichi snorted coldly. "Anyway, that old man was lying. Take him back first. We'll investigate properly."
"Alright, I guess..."
Megure-keibu had no choice but to do that for now. Ignoring the old man's curses, he dragged him away.
Afterward, the two began their investigation. They found that the white-haired old man did indeed have financial dealings with the victim. With Kudo Shinichi's careful consideration and deduction, plus the old man's confession, the case came to a close.
The reporters who arrived took photos of the two. Megure-keibu thanked him. "Thank you so much, Kudo-kun."
Kudo Shinichi gave a thumbs-up pointing at himself. "No problem. If anything comes up, just come find me, the great detective Kudo Shinichi."
That pose was also captured by the media, ready to appear in tomorrow's newspaper.
"Hahaha, then thank you very much."
Megure-keibu [If only you'd taken it seriously from the start, kid.]
...
The scene shifted. Kudo Shinichi was at the amusement park with his childhood friend Mouri Ran.
As they lined up for the roller coaster, Kudo Shinichi suddenly said to Mouri Ran, "Hey, do you believe that just by shaking someone's hand, I can tell what they do for a living?"
Mouri Ran glanced at him. "No way!"
Kudo Shinichi stepped forward, shook the hand of a woman in blue ahead of them, and asked, "Excuse me, what do you do?"
The woman in blue, surprised, answered without thinking. "Uh!! I'm a bear-hand maker."
"See? Told you."
Mouri Ran said calmly, "Why don't you ask me what I do?"
Kudo Shinichi: "Alright, what do you do?"
"I'm a hitter. If you don't let go of that hand right now, I'll break yours."
Mouri Ran's gaze was fixed on Kudo Shinichi while he was still holding the woman in blue's hand.
Kudo Shinichi gave an awkward laugh and shook off the hand. "Ow, let go of me already..."
...
The two sat on the roller coaster as it was about to start. Kudo Shinichi, seeing Mouri Ran looked scared, comforted her. "Don't worry. It's just a roller coaster. Nothing to be afraid of."
Then the roller coaster launched. Throughout the ride, Kudo Shinichi's voice could be heard nonstop.
"Aaaaahhhhhhh! Ah, I can't take it, ow, damn it, I can't play this game again."
When they passed through the tunnel.
"Ow, damn it, I can't see anything! I'm going blind! No, no, I'm gonna die..."
Ten minutes later, a crowd was cordoned off by police. At the roller coaster site earlier, someone's head had fallen off. Megure-keibu was there again, securing the scene.
Seeing this, Kudo Shinichi shoved one hand in his pocket, looked seriously at the scene in front of him. "Daring to commit murder right in front of me?
Hmph...
Ran, let's go home. We should stay out of this kind of thing."
Mouri Ran stepped forward to persuade him. "Shinichi, you can't act like a coward. You're a detective! You have to help the police solve the case!"
Megure-keibu also came over. "Kudo-kun, come help quick."
Kudo Shinichi had no choice but to step forward and assist. Megure-keibu took out paper and marked everyone's positions on the roller coaster earlier. "Kudo-kun, look, these were everyone's positions just now. Do you still remember any of it?"
Kudo Shinichi: "Ahaha, no idea, zero recollection."
Megure-keibu continued. "The victim had clear strangulation marks on the neck. The head was completely severed."
Kudo Shinichi: "This should be death by poisoning."
...
Megure-keibu: "Are you deliberately messing with me? Get serious."
In the end, once Kudo Shinichi got serious, the case was solved in three minutes.
...Episode 1 ends.
The above plot features a special guest appearance by the biology teacher.
Shiina Mahiru stretched lazily and spoke with some interest. "This was actually pretty fun. I didn't expect the detective to end up shrinking later."
Saiki nodded in response.
[Yeah, but the most interesting part was his deduction. You saw it, right?]
"Mm, yeah, the deduction... it was okay, pretty good..."
Saiki lay back with anticipation.
[Really looking forward to the next episode.]
...