The Mysterious Shooting Message Case

Chronology
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Episode 14 (Int. Episode {{{int-episode}}})
Information
Title:	The Mysterious Shooting Message Case
Japanese title:	Nazo no Messēji Sogeki Jiken (謎のメッセージ狙撃事件)
Original airdate:	April 29, 1996
Season:	1
Manga source:	TV Original
English version
English title:	The Shooter
English airdate:	June 16, 2004
Case
Cast:	Conan Edogawa Detective Boys Inspector Megure
Case solved by:	Conan Edogawa Detective Boys
Next Conan's Hint:	Answering machine
Staff
Director:	Kenji Kodama
Screenplay:	Kazunari Kouchi
Storyboard:	Kuchiru Kazehara
Episode director:	Masato Sato
Animation director:	Akio Kawamura, Kumiko Shishido
Voice Cast: Minami Takayama as Conan Edogawa Wakana Yamazaki as Ran Mouri Akira Kamiya as Kogoro Mouri Chafurin as Inspector Megure Wataru Takagi as Genta Kojima Ikue Otani as Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya Yukiko Iwai as Ayumi Yoshida Joji Nakata as Koichi Yamabe Keiko Onodera as Eri Kiyomitsu Mizu'uchi as Helicopter Pilot Keiji Fujiwara as Man A Naoki Makishima as Man B Isshin Chiba as Man C
Music
Opening song:	Mune ga Doki Doki
Closing song:	Step by Step

Cast

Characters

Conan Edogawa

Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya

Ayumi Yoshida

Genta Kojima

Inspector Megure

Kogoro Mouri

Ran Mouri

Case

Situation

Missing Persons

Victim: Koichi Yamabe, Eri

While fishing, Conan, with the Detective Boys, spots a sniper shooting a balloon tied to a remote controlled boat by the river. This sniper is held at gunpoint by other men. The gang went to find these men but when they get there, the gunmen have left. Conan finds a calculator under a small boulder which he thought that the sniper left behind. They call the police and find out that the sniper, Koichi Yamabe, and his girlfriend, Eri, are recently reported missing.

People

Koichi Yamabe
	Victim (abducted) Police officer and former rifle marksman (Olympic team)

Eri
	Victim (abducted) Koichi's girlfriend

Man #1
	Suspect Hostage taker

Man #2
	Suspect Hostage taker

Man #3
	Suspect Hostage taker

Man #4
	Suspect The lookout

District Attorney
100px	Koichi's target (shown with his family)

Resolution

  Show spoilers »

• Evidence
  • Conan found the numbers 3135134162 on a calculator which the sniper left behind
  • The balloon was shot at about one o'clock in the afternoon
  • When Ran suggested that the numbers 162 might be a road, Kogoro indicated that the shape of the river might be similar to the flow of traffic on the road. This led Conan to deduce that it might be Saitama Route 162
  • When Conan accidentally saw the numbers upside down, the numbers could be read as "291 Heisei E"

• Resolution

The sniper that Conan saw was Koichi Yamabe, a police officer and former rifle marksman of Japan's Olympic team. He and his girlfriend, Eri, were abducted by the criminals while on vacation. The criminals held Eri hostage so that Koichi Yamabe would work for them.

When Conan and the group did not see the criminals and the victims in Saitama Route 162, they began decoding the numbers in the calculator again. As Mitsuhiko was punching the numbers in his calculator, Conan accidentally saw that when upside down, the numbers can actually be read as "291 Heisei E". The decoded message means the one o'clock train on February 9th of the Heisei Express train. True enough, the shape of the river was similar to the train tracks that Heisei Express would take. The criminals wanted Koichi to shoot someone inside the train and the balloon was just an accuracy test.

Conan sneaked in the helicopter where Inspector Megure was. And before Koichi could assassinate the target, Inspector Megure instructed the pilot to swoop down the criminals. Conan used his Power-Enhancing Kick Shoes to kick his helmet towards one criminal before he could shoot Koichi. Koichi was able to take down the remaining criminals and save Eri from harm.

• Motive

The criminals were former members of a gang whose leaders were caught in a sting operation last year. They wanted revenge on the district attorney who set up the operation, that is, their target who was on his way back from a vacation with his family.

See also

• Season 1