The police are about to arrest Kikuyo, as they’ve found out she had bought a very expensive flat recently and may have killed her fiancé and future husband Motoo to get the latter’s life insurance premium. Before finding Motoo’s corpse with the others, she had previousky hidden it in the closet and pretended to go and fetch the first-aid kit to make people believe she couldn’t kill and hide Motoo in less than a minute. Mino confirms he saw Kikuyo trying to strangle Motoo, even though she claims it was a joke. Conan tranquilises Sonoko and discloses the truth : the only person who could have murdered Motoo was the one who last saw him and told Kikuyo to go and wait for him in the workshop, as it seems Motoo was pulling up his sleeves and preparing to go and help for ceramics as he was murdered.
The culprit is therefore Muneyuki Mino. His alibi with the piece of apron cloth, allegedly being Motoo’s, and not being visible when he, Ran and Kikuyo went into the room is unvalid as it is a very cunning trick : he had cut a piece of apron and taped it inside the closet, on the right door, and then carefully closed the door back. Therefore, when someone whould open the door and close it back, the piece of cloth would come out from under the door. Mino broke a loud ceramic on purpose to attract the others’ attention and have them witness that the apron cloth was absent. Then he deliberately cut his finger to send Kikuyo to the closet and have her unknowingly do his trick, in order to have her accused when everyone would notice the cloth afterwards when finding Motoo’s corpse, to have them believe she was the killer. As Kikuyo was in a hurry to treat Mino’s injury, she cant’ be the killer as she didn’t notice it neither do it.
As for the body falling trick, Mino had tied it to a kind of string ; he then put the body in a diagonal forward-heading position, and hid it behind the aprons of the closet ; he then ran the « string » behind the horizontal crossbar for hangers, along the partition, up to the left door, into which crack he wedged the string, doing a knot at its end, and then closing both doors. Then, if someone opens the right door only, as Kikuyo did, nothing happens, and the body is hidden anyway, but if both or only the left door is opened, the string is released, and the body falls from the closet on the floor. The « string » used is actually Motoo’s tie, wrapped around his neck like a rope, and whose lower part was wedged in the door, the knot being the tie’s pin, explaining why the pin was much lower on the tie than it should be, and why the body pressure and the wedging had created a big gap between the pin and its frame. And not to see the tie poking out of the closet, you just needed to fold it back inside the crack a little.
When he opened the closet, Mino actually just cracked open both doors, first to have Motto’s body fall on the floor without suspicion (his tie would just be thought to be the weapon of the crime or his own tie, not anyhting else), then to avoid opening wide the right door, which would have revealed the cloth trick. When Motto’s body fell, Mino immediately rushed on his left side, which is just in front of the right door, to pretend helping him but actually used his body as a screen to prevent anyone from seeing him opening wide the right door, and retrieving the piece of cloth with the tape. Mino probably hid it into the bathroom afterwards while the police was investigating the corpse. Conan saw him taking scissors in the storeroom, probably to cut the cloth into pieces and then flush it into the toilet.
As Mino says this is not evidence, given anyone just could have done exactly the same thing, and since he often uses tape or aprons as a laborer, Sonoko says there is a piece of evidence only a ceramicist could have left, on Motoo’s tie : nail traces with clay on it, along with Mino’s DNA probably. As a ceramicist, he can’t fully remove clay from under his nails, and when he pulled the tie out to wedge it in the door’s crack, he left those traces. He didn’t use gloves as it would have been difficult to pull out the tie, and even with his bare hands he needed to be very careful not to leave the slightest fingerprint on the pin, completely forgetting the clay under his nails. Mino could have used a string or a rope instead of a tie, besides.
Though, the ceramicist wanted neither one nor the other : the tie was a love-labored Christmas present from his daughter to Motoo, and there’s no way using gloves that are normally used for « dirty » items. Moreover, the tie is a perfect rememberance of what Motoo has done to his daughter. Mino pretended this was a present from Kikuyo to Motoo by leaving a card inside. Mino wanted to have her accused of the murder as he also holds her responsible for her daughter’s death. Mino’s daughter had actually committed suicide by throwing herself under the wheels of a truck two years ago. Mino thought this was an accident at first, but had doubts then when finding out his daughter had discarded the present box with the tie still inside in her bedroom’s bin, implying she had killed herself due to her complicated love affairs with Motoo. Mino thought Motto should have the tie all the same and rushed to the airport, as Motoo was about to leave due to a job transfer, and once there he saw him in high spirits, enjoying a close and happy relationship with Kikuyo, not mourning at all, which means Mino’s daughter had found out she was being cheated on by her fiancé. Mino knew this was a present for Motoo as he had been shopping with his daughter who confessed to him that she wanted to offer her fiancé a tie whose beige color would bring out the clay – and so her ceramicist dad.
Makoto believed Sonoko’s cup was a flower pot, while Ran actually didn’t send hers to Shinichi, as she thought it spoiled. Conan finds the cup is being used by Ran instead as a pen box where « Eggheaded but boneheaded after all » is written on it, but « I’m waiting for you <3 » is written under it, reminding Conan of his promise to come back after Ran waits for him (Vol. 26), which makes him feel over the moon.
An imposter impersonates Kogoro Mouri at a hotel where he is invited to investigate a case where a man is said to have committed suicide 4-5 years ago. Kogoro decides to play along and not reveal his identity. Later that night, the impostor is found hanged in his room.
File 309 - Truth of the Impostor
Conan reveals that it is a murder and that it relates to the incident 5 years ago.
The culprit is Masao Jinbo. Afterwards, Mouri picks up girls who are his fans and gives them a ride in the car. He and the brown haired man who he killed 5 years ago in the forest of suicide victims were involved in an embezzlement scam that acquired them 50 billion yen from a confectionery enterprise. They then decided to leave the money in a briefcase at an inn for safekeeping and to build its interest. The brown haired man had a feeling that his partner would kill him to keep all the money and so removed the bills to a hidden location leaving a threatening post death message in a jar. The brief-case now containing the money was under the possession of the owner. Jinbo decided the only way he could obtain the money now was to employ himself as a worker at said inn. He hired a Mouri Kogoro body double to retrieve the brief-case under the impression he would get paid. Discovering that there was only a sumo magazine (that actually contained hints to the treasure's location) the body double felt double crossed and threatened to tell the real Kogoro everything once he arrived. Jinbo killed his hired double to keep him silent, then managed to discover the treasure's location before getting caught.
Professor Agasa takes the Detective Boys and Conan to the beach during school break, and Conan wishes he were in his true self in order to fully enjoy the beach and sun just like the other teenagers. Though, he seems to enjoy checking out female swimmers. Genta does the same, and Conan comments on the fact he particularly enjoys the girl behind them's swimsuit, and Ai thinks he's making a transposition and imagining Ran everywhere. Actually, the girl in question happens to be Ran, who had come with Sonoko at that same beach to enjoy free time. Ran says it's fine they all have fun together and Ai stares at her, wondering. They start to play ball together and suddenly Ran and Conan leave towards the beach as Ai is not feeling well, and was lied on a lounger, with fresh wet towels on her. Conan says to Agasa Ai got severe sunstroke due to sitting motionless in full sunlight at the water's edge while watching them. Ran rushes to them with a bucket of ice and water she had went and fetched at the beach's restaurant to help Ai feel fresher, and she is delighted to hear she is getting better. She tells Ai to tell her next time, whenever she doesn't feel well. Ran then leaves the three while Conan and Agasa comment to each other how caring and protective she is.
Ai says she stood in direct sunlight watching them, instead of resting under the parasol, because she got nervous and wanted to flee the ocean, and more especially dolphins, the princes of the sea, to whom not even dark and cruel sharks would be able to do the slightest harm. As Conan doesn't understand a single thing and replies dolphins can't really do anything in front of sharks, a lifeguard all of sudden loudly scolds the Detective Boys for getting into a small boat, since they might hurt people, and it's forbidden moreover. Another lifeguard comes along and tells them to excuse him as he was dumped by his girlfriend not long ago. On the beach, a fisherman called Aramaki says ironically that these lifeguards were former fishermen who are so bad at it that they now end up picking garbage up on the sand. Both lifeguards get angry at him and remind him of their meeting tonight at the hotel's Chinese restaurant at 8 PM.
At night, Ran, Sonoko and the others eat dinner together at that restaurant, and Ran asks why Ai isn't here with them. Sonoko tells her friend she developed a kind of maternal instinct for the kid, and Ran answers that Ai is somehow very shy and secretive, and she'd love to make more deeper acquaintance with her. She sometimes believe Ai hates her as she always avoids looking at her whenever she meets her. Though, Ayumi says it's impossible as Ai always tells Conan that "with such a 34C, she must never get bored", to which Ran answers by scolding Conan for discussing such things, as Ai and him are just kids. Ayumi adds that Ai said Sonoko was a rather "easy lay". Suddenly, the lifeguard who had told off the kids, Shimojo, turns up and asks Sonoko what time it is. He sighs in boredom and annoyance afterwards, knowing he arrived at least 45 minutes too early, since his watch was broken. Shimojo says he doesn't want to argue with Aramaki, rather wants to settle things with him as far as respect of nature is concerned.
He then goes on explaining Aramaki is a crooked fisherman who constantly overfishes and scrapes the ocean floor with his nets with absolutely no concern for fishing limits and leaving some time to fish to breed anew. Yoshizawa, his friend, turns up and adds it's impossible to sue Aramaki as that portion of sea was declared decriminalised and thus Aramaki is completely within his rights, though immoral. Yoshizawa arrived just in time, but their other friend Nobutsugu is late, since he had been visiting his father's grave. Shimojo explains that today it will have been eight years that their three fathers, who went fishing together in the dead of a rather stormy night, died at sea. Sonoko wants to know more about it and has a few glasses with the lifeguards, till drunkenness.
Then comes Nobutsugu Nezu, who believes their fathers died due to Aramaki's "pirate ship" having had theirs sink into the ocean. None seems to believe that story, and Nezu, in anger, calls Aramaki and someone picks up at last, but nothing but the sound of waves can be heard. The lifeguards believe Aramaki went fishing before the appointment, and as the tide is high, they decide to wait and sleep it off before going to his house to meet him. Meanwhile, the corpse of Aramaki is found on a desert beach, pushed back by the waves, and trussed up inside a net.
Conan figures out the culprit and decides to use Professor Agasa's voice to reveal the trick but remembers he forgot his voice changing bow tie at the hotel. Haibara arrives bringing with her Conan's bow tie. Conan tells Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta to collect some things. After the three brought them, Conan, as Professor Agasa, reveals the trick the culprit, Noboru Shimojo used to kill the man. The victim, covered in fishnet, was placed in the shore where the culprit dug a hole fit for a man. He then placed a boat with sea water on top of the victim to serve as a weight so that when the victim wakes up he won't be able to escape when the tides rises up. The killer placed false evidence on the boat so that the police would think that the victim was placed inside the boat before letting him drown. Shimojo confesses that he killed the man who was responsible for his, Yuta's and Nobutsugu's father's death and that he only gathered all his courage to bestow divine punishment upon the man. Ran then tells Shimojo that courage is a word that gives you the strength to do what's right and not to take someone else's life. Afterwards, Haibara comes up to Ran and introduces herself, has learned from Ran's words.
