Difference between revisions of "Volume 26"

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== Cave Murder Case ==
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== Chapters ==
{{ref anime|190-191|The Desperate Revival|l1=The Desperate Revival ~ The Third Choice ~|The Desperate Revival|l2=The Desperate Revival ~ The Black Knight ~}}
+
=== Dangerous Cave Case ===
 +
{{ref anime|188-190|The Desperate Revival|l1=The Desperate Revival ~ The Cavern of the Detective Boys ~|The Desperate Revival|l2=The Desperate Revival ~ The Wounded Great Detective ~|The Desperate Revival|l3=The Desperate Revival ~ The Third Choice ~}}
  
=== File 254 - An Infatuated Heart ===
+
==== File 254 - An Infatuated Heart ====
 
Conan is eventually saved thanks to Ran's blood donation. He wonders how Ran discovered the truth and what he should do. Heiji and Kazuha come to visit Conan at the hospital, and Heiji suggests Shinichi should tell Ran the whole truth, as she's waiting only for it. During the night, Haibara sneaks into Conan's room and takes aim at him with a gun.
 
Conan is eventually saved thanks to Ran's blood donation. He wonders how Ran discovered the truth and what he should do. Heiji and Kazuha come to visit Conan at the hospital, and Heiji suggests Shinichi should tell Ran the whole truth, as she's waiting only for it. During the night, Haibara sneaks into Conan's room and takes aim at him with a gun.
  
== School Play Murder Case ==
+
==== ''Major events'' ====
 +
* The Detective Boys must learn how to survive this experience.
 +
* It is confirmed that Ran once again knows that Conan is really Shinichi. Heiji creates a plan to help out Kudo.
 +
 
 +
=== School Play Murder Case ===
 
{{ref anime|190-191|The Desperate Revival|l1=The Desperate Revival ~ The Third Choice ~|The Desperate Revival|l2=The Desperate Revival ~ The Black Knight ~}}
 
{{ref anime|190-191|The Desperate Revival|l1=The Desperate Revival ~ The Third Choice ~|The Desperate Revival|l2=The Desperate Revival ~ The Black Knight ~}}
  
=== Gadgets introduced ===
+
==== Gadgets introduced ====
 
{{NewGadget|name = [[Voice-Changing Face Mask]]||image = Voice-Changing_Face_Mask.jpg|description =  
 
{{NewGadget|name = [[Voice-Changing Face Mask]]||image = Voice-Changing_Face_Mask.jpg|description =  
 
* Used by [[Ai Haibara|Haibara]] to disguise her voice as Conan's}}
 
* Used by [[Ai Haibara|Haibara]] to disguise her voice as Conan's}}
 
{{clearleft}}
 
{{clearleft}}
  
=== File 255 - The Intruder's Sudden Arrival ===
+
==== File 255 - The Intruder's Sudden Arrival ====
Haibara tells Conan she was actually spotted by the Organisation after the hotel case with Pisco, and she made a deal with them : her life spared in exchange for Shinichi's and all his relatives' death. Eventually, Haibara shoots...a bunch of flowers at Conan, mocking him but telling him the possibility that there could have been another Black Organisation member at the party that night. She talks about Ran's discovery but doesn't really recommend that Shinichi should tell Ran the truth. She suggests either that solution, or to remain silent, or... The day after, Conan seems back up and about, though with a little cold, and insists to attend Ran's school play in which she will headline. A strange man strongly resembling Shinichi sits in the audience, smirking, being attentively watched by Conan. Kogoro and Kazuha came as well, and a group of friends, all of them working at Beika Hospital, are having a drink, waiting for the play to begin. During the play, as Ran is on stage, dressed as a princess, Sonoko tells Dr. Araide, who is supposed to play the knight charming, to prepare to enter the stage, but is flabbergasted as the knight isn't Araide. As the unknown knight and Ran are about to kiss each other, one of the hospital employees screams out in pain and drops dead.
+
Haibara tells Conan she was actually spotted by the Organization after the hotel case with Pisco, and she made a deal with them : her life spared in exchange for Shinichi's and all his relatives' death. Eventually, Haibara shoots...a bunch of flowers at Conan, mocking him but telling him the possibility that there could have been another Black Organization member at the party that night. She talks about Ran's discovery but doesn't really recommend that Shinichi should tell Ran the truth. She suggests either that solution, or to remain silent, or... The day after, Conan seems back up and about, though with a little cold, and insists to attend Ran's school play in which she will headline. A strange man strongly resembling Shinichi sits in the audience, smirking, being attentively watched by Conan. Kogoro and Kazuha came as well, and a group of friends, all of them working at Beika Hospital, are having a drink, waiting for the play to begin. During the play, as Ran is on stage, dressed as a princess, Sonoko tells Dr. Araide, who is supposed to play the knight charming, to prepare to enter the stage, but is flabbergasted as the knight isn't Araide. As the unknown knight and Ran are about to kiss each other, one of the hospital employees screams out in pain and drops dead.
  
=== File 256 - Concealed Truth ===
+
==== File 256 - Concealed Truth ====
 
The victim, Kohei Kamata, died after swallowing cyanide, probably put in his drink. His comrades from the hospital are suspected one after the other, along with Ayako, a girl from Ran's high school who was serving drinks at the refreshment. She is the hospital's president's daughter and had recently broke off her engagement with Kohei. She served him coke instead of iced coffee, hoping he would come to see her while changing drinks. Mai, Kohei's friend, had proposed to fetch drinks before the beginning of the play, and she gave all of them to her other comrades Yota and Yumemi, sitting next to Kohei.
 
The victim, Kohei Kamata, died after swallowing cyanide, probably put in his drink. His comrades from the hospital are suspected one after the other, along with Ayako, a girl from Ran's high school who was serving drinks at the refreshment. She is the hospital's president's daughter and had recently broke off her engagement with Kohei. She served him coke instead of iced coffee, hoping he would come to see her while changing drinks. Mai, Kohei's friend, had proposed to fetch drinks before the beginning of the play, and she gave all of them to her other comrades Yota and Yumemi, sitting next to Kohei.
 
<spoiler>
 
<spoiler>
Line 67: Line 72:
 
</spoiler>
 
</spoiler>
  
=== File 257 - Revival Under the Threat of Death ===
+
==== File 257 - Revival Under the Threat of Death ====
 
Shinichi astounds everyone, Ran in first, and sheds light on the case.
 
Shinichi astounds everyone, Ran in first, and sheds light on the case.
 
<spoiler>
 
<spoiler>
 
The culprit is actually '''Mai Kogami''', she had prepared two ice cubes with some cyanide inside each, and she discreetly put one in Kohei's iced coffee, and one in her own iced coffee, as she didn't know which one would go to Kohei, while fetching the drinks. Then she drank her iced cofee very rapidly, before the ice cubes could melt, whereas Kohei took his time but ate the cubes after finishing, as he would do in general, eating therefore the cyanide. Mai went to the bathroom before the play to discard the airtight wallet in which she had put the ice cubes along with dry ice to keep them cool. She fetched the drinks just before the lights went off to prevent Kohei from going and changing his drink once the play would begin, in the dark, when he'll realise it is coke and not coffee. After she drank her coffee, Mai took her poisoned ice cube who hadn't completely melted, and put it in her jacket's hood, explaining why she didn't put her hood on in the rain, not to get poison on her head. Heiji confirms it by showing the cleaned rust of a 10-yen coin after it has been in contact with the poison in Mai's hood. Mai confesses to killing Kohei, she wanted to avenge the death of an old cancerous man Kohei was treating but that he had killed on purpose by changing his treatment, thus speeding up the progression of the disease, in order to add quick results to his PhD medical thesis. When Kohei said, drunk, that he couldn't get it how a 18-year old could have dumped him while he as a doctor could decide the life and death of anyone, Mai stole cyanide at the hospital and planned her murder.
 
The culprit is actually '''Mai Kogami''', she had prepared two ice cubes with some cyanide inside each, and she discreetly put one in Kohei's iced coffee, and one in her own iced coffee, as she didn't know which one would go to Kohei, while fetching the drinks. Then she drank her iced cofee very rapidly, before the ice cubes could melt, whereas Kohei took his time but ate the cubes after finishing, as he would do in general, eating therefore the cyanide. Mai went to the bathroom before the play to discard the airtight wallet in which she had put the ice cubes along with dry ice to keep them cool. She fetched the drinks just before the lights went off to prevent Kohei from going and changing his drink once the play would begin, in the dark, when he'll realise it is coke and not coffee. After she drank her coffee, Mai took her poisoned ice cube who hadn't completely melted, and put it in her jacket's hood, explaining why she didn't put her hood on in the rain, not to get poison on her head. Heiji confirms it by showing the cleaned rust of a 10-yen coin after it has been in contact with the poison in Mai's hood. Mai confesses to killing Kohei, she wanted to avenge the death of an old cancerous man Kohei was treating but that he had killed on purpose by changing his treatment, thus speeding up the progression of the disease, in order to add quick results to his PhD medical thesis. When Kohei said, drunk, that he couldn't get it how a 18-year old could have dumped him while he as a doctor could decide the life and death of anyone, Mai stole cyanide at the hospital and planned her murder.
  
Shinichi asks Megure and everyone in the high school not to say any word about his presence here, hoping the Organisation will never hear about it. When Shinichi tells Heiji he'll never understand why human beings kill each other, he feels the usual intense pain preceding his shrinking, and tries to escape but passes out in front of everybody.
+
Shinichi asks Megure and everyone in the high school not to say any word about his presence here, hoping the Organization will never hear about it. When Shinichi tells Heiji he'll never understand why human beings kill each other, he feels the usual intense pain preceding his shrinking, and tries to escape but passes out in front of everybody.
 
</spoiler>
 
</spoiler>
  
===People===
+
==== People ====
 
{{BeginBox}}
 
{{BeginBox}}
 
{{People|[[Yota Mitani]]|Yota Mitani manga.jpg|
 
{{People|[[Yota Mitani]]|Yota Mitani manga.jpg|
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{{EndBox}}
 
{{EndBox}}
  
== Elevator Murder Case ==
+
==== ''Major events'' ====
 +
* Heiji does his best to pretend to be Shinichi, before Kazuha discovers the obvious make-up.
 +
* If something doesn't stop it, Ran may kiss Araide in a play! Sonoko however, has her own plans.
 +
* Shinichi returns! He has somehow found another way to return to his adult form. Haibara dresses as Conan, to ease Ran's suspicions. It's is also the first time that Kazuha sees Shinichi in person (as up until now she thought he might be a girl).
 +
* When Sonoko saw Shinichi, her plan all along then became to put Shinichi in the Black Knight costume, so that Ran and Shinichi could finally share their first kiss. However, the murder occurs before that can happen.
 +
 
 +
=== Elevator Murder Case ===
 
{{ref anime|192-193|The Desperate Revival|l1=The Desperate Revival ~ Shinichi's Return ~|The Desperate Revival|l2=The Desperate Revival ~ The Promised Place ~}}
 
{{ref anime|192-193|The Desperate Revival|l1=The Desperate Revival ~ Shinichi's Return ~|The Desperate Revival|l2=The Desperate Revival ~ The Promised Place ~}}
  
=== File 258 - Momentary Rest ===
+
==== File 258 - Momentary Rest ====
To his great surprise, Shinichi didn't shrink, and was merely taken to the sickroom. It is revealed that Conan was actually Haibara in disguise, wearing a voice-changing mask to speak with Conan's voice. She tells Shinichi that though she doesn't understand why the prototypical antidote she made out of some baikal and gave him at the hospital lasted longer than usual, Shinichi should be very careful and tell Ran the truth before something bad could happen. Shinichi says he want to enjoy some time with Ran first, and invites the latter to a dinner in a five-star restaurant. Shinichi tries to tell something very important to Ran but remains shy and hesitant. When he eventually takes the plunge, people start screaming and saying someone was murdered in an elevator.
+
 
==== Translation changes ====
+
The students of Teitan High School are asked to clean up the school the day following the fair; therefore, that morning, Ran heads to Shinichi’s house (with Haibara, who is disguised as Conan so as to not raise suspicion) so that they can go to school together. When she arrives, Shinichi is still changing, and so it takes a while for him to get to the front gate. Ran keeps ringing the bell during this time, so Shinichi pretends to be annoyed when he finally shows up, although he is actually very happy to have regained his body. Haibara somehow sneaks into the house when Shinichi is still in there to remind him that if she had not impersonated Conan during the fair and Hattori had not told everyone there to keep quiet about the murder and Shinichi’s involvement in it (for “it will damage the reputation of the school”), he would have gotten into a lot of trouble. She then again advises him to keep a low profile, but Shinichi interrupts her and asks (in a very sincere and curious manner) why she is doing so much for him. Haibara is astonished by this question (but since her back is facing Shinichi, he does not notice this), but quickly regains her composure and says that if Conan’s identity were exposed (and leaked to the Black Organization), her days would be numbered as well, and that, for the sake of safety, she wants to see the effect of her drug on others before trying it herself. Shinichi seems to accept this explanation.
 +
 
 +
Soon the three protagonists head out together, with the two highschoolers chatting avidly and Haibara appearing completely uninterested. They meet the rest of the Detective Boys on their way, and Haibara silently joins them; Shinichi greets them, but this is met with surprise and confusion, which makes him realize that he is no longer one of them. Ran, noticing that they are running out of time, tells Shinichi to hurry up, but as Shinichi is still not fully accustomed to this new reality, he says “wait, Ran-nēchan”, which makes her wonder if he has a problem (and Haibara is watching this from afar). So Shinichi has no choice but to fake a smile and say that he is just joking.
 +
 
 +
Once at school, Ran and Shinichi are subject to incessant mocking from their classmates; they also tell Shinichi that after he was gone, they got a new English teacher (i.e. Jodie Saintemillion), who they describe as a “voluptuous foreign chick”. Shinichi is tempted by their words and wants to know more, which forces Ran to interrupt somewhat resignedly and remind Shinichi that he still has not told her about “the important thing”. Shinichi tries to answer, but since all their classmates approach to eavesdrop, he is forced to stop mid-sentence in order to disperse the crowd. He later tells Ran (after ensuring that nobody is listening in this time) that he would like to dine with her at 8 p.m. in a very classy restaurant. Ran agrees, although she is unsure of where Shinichi is going with this dinner.
 +
 
 +
Dinner time quickly arrives; Ran and Shinichi meet at the restaurant (which is located in a tall, panoramic building in Beika) and sit down at a table beside the window. Ran admits that she has thought for a long time that Conan is Shinichi, and that Shinichi asked Agasa to invent a drug to shrink him into a child after running into trouble. Shinichi, surprised by the accuracy of Ran’s conjecture (which she now deems rather silly), has no choice but to laugh awkwardly.
 +
 
 +
After a while, the topic of the conversation returns to “the important thing”. Shinichi remains hesitant and is unable to summon the courage to get to the point, and at this instant someone screams loudly on the other side of the restaurant. Then, very soon, people around Ran and Shinichi start talking about things such as someone dying in the elevator and some company executive being shot in the head. Shinichi tries to ignore those conversations, but fails miserably. Ran, knowing that the murder case attracts him irresistably, tells Shinichi (in delight) that he can go investigate, and jokes that unlike him, she will not suddenly disappear and go into hiding. Shinichi is grateful for her understanding, and, after a short apology, springs up and runs towards the exit of the restaurant, promising Ran that he will come back soon.
 +
 
 +
===== Translation changes =====
 
* In File 258, Shinichi is shown to still retain some of his habits as Conan.  One such example is him referring to Ran as Ran-nēchan.  As the Viz Media versions of the manga tends to omit the usage of Japanese Honorifics, (save for the manga version of "[[Solitary Island of the Princess and the Dragon King's Palace]]" in [[Volume 36]] and "[[A Friendship That Can't Be Bought]]" in [[Volume 39]]), Shinichi instead is asking for Ran to hold his hand when they cross the street on the way to school.
 
* In File 258, Shinichi is shown to still retain some of his habits as Conan.  One such example is him referring to Ran as Ran-nēchan.  As the Viz Media versions of the manga tends to omit the usage of Japanese Honorifics, (save for the manga version of "[[Solitary Island of the Princess and the Dragon King's Palace]]" in [[Volume 36]] and "[[A Friendship That Can't Be Bought]]" in [[Volume 39]]), Shinichi instead is asking for Ran to hold his hand when they cross the street on the way to school.
  
=== File 259 - A Tranquil Time ===
+
==== File 259 - A Tranquil Time ====
Ran allows Shinichi to rush to the elevator as she observes he's having great trouble keeping his concentration and forgetting the hustle and bustle around them. Shinichi promises to come back as quickly as possible. The victim, Taiji Tatsumi, a famous game company president, was shot in the head while in the elevator, after he had left his employees to go home. Shinichi doesn't believe in the mugging theory and starts suspecting Satoru Ooba, probably the next heir to the president's company after his wedding with Sakurako, the president's daughter. Shinichi tries to confound Satoru while Ran is told by a waitress that some twenty years ago, a high school couple was sitting at the same table Ran and Shinichi currently are, and that the man proposed to the woman in front of everyone. But Ran doesn't believe Shinichi could do such a thing. Meanwhile, Shinichi feels increasingly feverish and his heart bangs against his chest, meaning that he'll soon become Conan again.
+
 
 +
Megure and Takagi are already at the crime scene when Shinichi arrives. The deceased is Taiji Tatsumi, the CEO of a game development company, who was shot in the forehead in the elevator. Takagi reports that the company occupies from the 24th to the 36th floor of the building (the restaurant is on the 38th floor), and that the elevator in question can only be used by company employees. In addition, the company is celebrating its 20th anniversary in the restaurant that day, but Taiji said at the last minute that he was feeling unwell, and that instead of hosting the party, he would go home. Since the Taiji’s suit is slightly messed up, Takagi deduces that he met an armed robber. However, Shinichi, who now is examining Taiji’s body, begs to differ. He points out that since others could enter the elevator, no robber would rob there and risk being caught in the act; also, Taiji’s suit is messed up partially because his sleeves are unbuttoned, but no robber would bother unfastening the victim’s buttons. Megure, who is surprised to see Shinichi come out of nowhere after months missing, yells “Kudo”, and Shinichi tells him to shush and to introduce him to others as a junior police agent. Megure agrees, although he does not understand why Shinichi suddenly wants to associate himself with the police (before, he always liked pointing out that he was not affiliated with them).
 +
 
 +
At this moment, the three company employees who saw Taiji briefly before his death, along with Taiji’s daughter Sakurako (who met the three employees right after Taiji had entered the elevator), are brought to Megure. He asks whether any of them knew the time when they saw Taiji, and Sakurako said while crying that it was 8:30 sharp, as indicated by the wristwatch of her boyfriend Satoru Ooba (he is one of the three employees mentioned above, and he stayed with Sakurako in front of the elevator while the other two headed to the party) and by the bang of the confetti cannon that signaled the commencement of the party (which was supposed to start at 8:30 sharp). Sakurako further explains that she was able to see Ooba’s wristwatch because he was touching her earrings and telling her that his present for her - a pink necklace - would combine very well with her pink earrings. Shinichi finds it suspicious that Sakurako could see the dial of the wristwatch in the dark (for Taiji ordered his subordinates to keep the lights in that part of the building off until the start of the party) and when the dial was facing outwards instead of inwards (i.e. towards the face and eyes of Sakurako). Ooba explains that his wristwatch would light up automatically in the dark, and that Shinichi has wrongfully assumed that he was touching Sakurako’s left earring with his left hand: in fact, he was touching her right earring with his left hand; in this way, the dial faces inwards and the time can be read easily. Shinichi accepts this explanation, but points out that in order to touch the right earring, it is more natural to use the right hand, unless it is occupied at that moment. This insinuation renders Ooba speechless, stunned and slightly frightened.
 +
 
 +
Back in the restaurant, Ran keeps wondering what Shinichi wants to tell her, but all that appears in her head are absurd candidates. A waitress interrupts her guesses and brings desserts, but Ran tells her to come later, as she wants to have it with Shinichi. Upon learning that “her detective friend” is tackling the case now, the waitress giggles and tells Ran that 20 years ago, another murder case took place in the restaurant, and a young man, who had come with his girlfriend (who was of Ran’s age) and had sat at Shinichi and Ran’s table, rushed to the crime scene, solved the murder case quickly, came back and proposed to her. The waitress tells Ran joyfully that it might happen again, and for a moment a blushing Ran believes so as well, but soon reason tells her that she should abandon this line of thought.
 +
 
 +
We now return to the case. Ooba finally fires back at Shinichi, and Sakurako defends her boyfriend by saying that he was with other employees before seeing Taiji and was with her (in the party venue) after their encounter. Shinichi presses her and asks whether they went anywhere else, and Sakurako concedes that they did go to the bathroom (so that she could hang Ooba’s present on the neck and put the lipstick back on) before heading to the party. However, she argues that since she was in there for only a few minutes and that he was talking to her from outside the bathroom, Ooba could not have done anything. Shinichi disputes her narrative, contending that since the police have found a pistol (with silencer) and an empty bullet shell in the garbage pipe near the bathroom, Ooba could have taken advantage of those minutes to dispose of the weapon.
 +
 
 +
Ooba, seeing that Shinichi is suspecting him and only him (he still thinks that Shinichi is a police officer), says that the police are free to perform a gunshot residue test on him to see whether he really murdered Taiji. He is thus led away by some police officers (while confidently saying that the police will find no residue whatsoever), leaving Sakurako with the police and Shinichi. Once he is out of sight, Shinichi asks Sakurako quietly whether she and Ooba were kissing after the other two employees had gone away. She starts blushing immediately and asks, in embarrassment, whether he saw them do so. Shinichi, who does not seem to notice that he is asking very intimate questions to a stranger, explains that Yukiko once told him that only after kissing or eating would women go to the bathroom to put the lipstick back on. He proceeds to enquire how the two kissed, and learns that Sakurako’s back was facing the elevator, that Ooba’s left arm was positioned on her right shoulder and went around her neck such that his hand could reach her left ear, and that before meeting in secret at 8:30 (for they the relationship is secret) they had not seen each other that day. Shinichi finally asks whether the earrings were a present from Ooba as well, and Sakurako replies in negative, and details that she has bought them on a whim earlier during the day.
 +
 
 +
After obtaining this piece of information, Shinichi becomes certain that Ooba was the murderer, but he remains stuck on why Taiji would remain on the same level without going down, and on how Ooba managed to keep all gunshot residue off him. The people that help him resolve these two mysteries turn out to be a few company employees, who are chatting beside him. They mention that Ooba oversaw the planning of the party, that the party featured the appearance of the new company mascot, that unexpectedly Ooba was inside the mascot costume, and that he was all the while blinking to the employees (perhaps he wanted to be friendly). Upon hearing this, Shinichi asks whether he can see the costume, and after that being shown to him, now everything seems clear.
 +
 
 +
Despite the progress that he has made on solving the case, Shinichi is extremely worried (and frustrated with himself); he has just been hit by sudden acute pain in the chest, a clear signal that he will soon shrink back to Conan. If this happens, he will be unable to tell Ran “the important thing” and risk having Conan’s identity exposed.
 +
 
 +
==== File 260 - The Memorable Place ====
  
=== File 260 - The Memorable Place ===
 
Shinichi tries to put up with the intense pain while disclosing the truth.
 
 
<spoiler>
 
<spoiler>
 
[[File:The Kudos yusakus confession.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Yusaku's confession to Yukiko.]]
 
[[File:The Kudos yusakus confession.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Yusaku's confession to Yukiko.]]
'''Satoru Ooba''' indeed murdered his boss in front of the elevator. His alibi is worthless as he and Sakurako were in the dark, closing their eyes and exchanging a passionate kiss, Satoru's arm around Sakurako's neck blocking her hearing, therefore she could neither see nor hear Satoru opening the elevator where Tatsumi was waiting, and shooting the president dead. What's more, the gun was a silencer wrapped in a plastic bag and closed around Satoru's wrist with rubber bands, protecting Satoru's clothes from powder, and from leaving his fingerprints, as he wore a plastic glove. Tatsumi was waiting in the elevator for Satoru, who had told him to hide and start removing his jacket, as Satoru had secretly proposed Tatsumi to disguise as the company's mascot Satoru would bring near the elevator. This was unknown from the company's other employees, who all thought Tatsumi was heading home, and never imagined he would play the mascot and amaze them right after by removing his mask and showing himself to everybody. Sakurako didn't see the elevator's light at all and even if she heard a faint noise close to her ears, Satoru had planned it to be right when the company's party would begin and confetti cannon banging would cover the noise of the shot and lure her. Afterwards Satoru offered Sakurako a necklace and while she was in the washroom to put it on, Satoru kept speaking with her all the while moving towards the garbage pipe and discarding his silencer. He therefore had a perfect alibi even at the party : not to be suspected of hiding evidence, he gave his jacket to an employee and declared as he had said to the employees that it was him to impersonate the mascot during the party, and he even put the plastic bag, glove and rubber bands in the mascot's eye and, remarking it was blinking, explained his colleagues that the items were probably part of the mascot's mechanism. But Satoru made a mistake : in the dark, he commented on Sakurako's beautiful pink earrings whereas he couldn't know their color, as she had bought them today, on a whim, and she met Satoru in the dark, which means that Satoru was able to see the color only thanks to the elevator's light, while he was shooting. Satoru confesses being the murderer to revenge his father, who committed suicide after he was told the merger of his company and Tatsumi's was actually a buyout planned by the latter, making redundant hundreds of Satoru's father's employees. Years later, Satoru avenged the death of his father by taking the president's life, company and daughter.
+
Takagi tells Megure (and Shinichi) that Ooba has passed the gunshot residue test;  Shinichi, who is fully expecting this situation, tells Megure that regardless of this, '''Satoru Ooba''' is still the murderer. After a protesting Ooba is dragged before him, Shinichi begins the deduction. He reveals that the murder happened during Sakurako and Ooba’s kiss in front of the elevator (during which Sakurako’s eyes were obviously closed): Ooba’s left hand covered Sakurako’s ears during the kiss, and he used his free right hand to reach the pistol in his pocket and press the “go down” button on the elevator. Taiji, who was waiting in the elevator, was shot as soon as the door opened, and then Ooba put the gun back into his pocket and ended the kiss. Megure remarks that although the silencer and the covering of Sakurako’s ears would have drastically reduced the amount of noise entering her ears, she would still have heard something; Shinichi replies (while panting heavily and sweating) that this is not a problem, as, by letting Sakurako know that it was 8:30 immediately after the kiss, she would naturally think that the noise had been the bang indicating the start of the party.
  
This reminds Inspector Megure of a case he dealt with about twenty years ago, during which a man was found dead, it was Satoru's father who had actually faked his suicide, in order to have Tatsumi accused of killing him, in an elevator, just as Satoru did with Tatsumi. This occurred exactly at the same place as now, and Megure was helped to deduce it by Yusaku Kudo, Shinichi's father, who was having dinner with Yukiko at a high-class restaurant at the time.
+
This time it is Ooba who poses a question. He argues that there is no reason for Taiji to stay in the elevator and do absolutely nothing, especially when he had expressed his wish to go home. But Shinichi says that there is a very good reason: Taiji was waiting in the elevator for Ooba to bring him the mascot costume so that he could put it on (Taiji wanted to change quickly in order to get to the party as soon as possible, which is why he unfastened the sleeve buttons and his suit seemed messed up in other ways). Shinichi goes on to surmise that Ooba once suggested to Taiji that he could pretend that to be going home, put the costume on in secret and head back to the party venue so as to give everyone a big surprise. Taiji agreed, and Ooba talked him into accepting his arrangement (which is actually a part of his murder plan). Shinichi adds that since the murder took place around the same time as the commencement of the party, every company employee would be in the party venue at that moment, and nobody would use the elevator that Taiji died in.
  
Shinichi doesn't listen to Megure and rushes to the washroom, refusing to get back to a child's state. Haibara, still disguised as Conan, tells him it's too late and gives him Conan's clothes. Later on, Conan tells Ran Shinichi had to leave due to an important case but Ran starts crying and refuses to listen to Conan anymore. The latter insists and tells Ran Shinichi will come back and stay with her, even dead, and he wants her to wait for him until then. Ran is solaced by these words and invites Conan to eat a dessert with her, while Kogoro is waiting angrily and in impatience on the hotel's car park.
+
Ooba, still defiant, challenges Shinichi to give a proper explanation of the absence of gunshot residue on his body. Shinichi replies that upon learning that Ooba blinked an abnormal number of times during the party, he realized that something was wrong with the eye of the mascot, and subsequently found in the eye a plastic bag containing a glove and four rubber bands. Shinichi explains (while still panting and sweating) that by putting on the glove before the murder and placing the pistol inside the plastic bag (which Ooba closed around his right wrist by using the rubber bands), not only would all the gunshot residue remain in the plastic bag, but also the empty bullet shell would not fall onto the ground (to make a second noise and possibly roll away). Furthermore, since it was dark at the time (and Sakurako was clearly focused on another thing), she would certainly not notice anything strange going on with Ooba’s hands. As for the purpose of giving her the necklace after the kiss, it was to ensure that she would head to the bathroom right away, which would give Ooba time to dispose of the most troublesome items that he had used - the pistol and the empty bullet shell. Shinichi concludes by saying that since Ooba had to touch Sakurako’s earrings barehanded, he must have put on the glove - which was in the plastic bag - afterwards, which logically implies that he must have left fingerprints on the plastic bag when trying to reach the glove.
  
What Shinichi wanted to tell Ran was indeed a love and wedding declaration, just as his father who proposed to his mother when they were high school students, at the same place, a long time ago.
+
As soon as Shinichi finishes speaking, he is hit by another wave of acute pain, and now can barely stand up straight. Ooba is still not surrendering, and calmly says that both him and other employees touched the plastic bag. One of those employees explains that (during the party) they noticed that one eye of the mascot was not functioning properly, and thus opened it and found the plastic bag (that Ooba had stuffed into it). They took it out and examined it, and since Ooba (whose standing in the company is higher than the others) concluded that the bag must be an intrinsic part of the mascot, they put it back and left it alone. Ooba continues to say (in a vicious manner) that he believes that someone else committed the crime and tried to place the blame on him, and that he is ready to answer any further stupid question that Shinichi might have. Megure, thinking that the deduction is breaking down, begins panicking, but Shinichi, despite having a bit of trouble breathing and enduring extraordinary pain, manages to carry on. He asks why Ooba knew that Sakurako’s earrings were of the same color as his present, and Ooba, not realizing that this is a trap, jumps right in and says casually that he saw the color of the earrings. As he finishes uttering these words, Ooba becomes aware of the true intent of Shinichi’s question, but the mistake has already been made. Shinichi reminds everyone (with his right hand placed upon his burning chest) that Sakurako bought the earrings earlier during the day and that the encounter in front of the elevator was the first time that Sakurako and Ooba saw each other that day. Given these and the fact that they met in the dark, it was impossible for Ooba to know the color of the earrings unless his eyes were open during the kiss and the light from the elevator allowed him to see properly.
+
 
 +
Ooba is rendered speechless again, and finally (and probably to Shinichi’s relief, as he is near dying at this point) admits that he is guilty. He recounts that 20 years ago, Taiji took over his father's company under the disguise of a merger and moved aggressively to steal all his company’s ideas and fire his former employees (Ooba senior himself was made Taiji’s deputy; but this was a nominal position, and he had very little say in anything). This ultimately resulted in Ooba senior’s suicide (which he tried to disguise as a murder committed by Taiji), and Ooba junior swore that he would avenge his father one day.
 +
 
 +
Megure, who, throughout the investigation, has been sensing that this case bears some resemblance to a case that he dealt with early in his career, now finally recalls that 20 years ago, Ooba senior died in this building, and that while the police believed that it was a murder, Yusaku Kudo (a highschooler back then) gave a breathtaking deduction and concluded that it was a suicide. Megure then turns around to discuss this coincidence with Shinichi, but finds him gone. Shinichi is at present in a bathroom, still trying to defy the inevitable shrinking of his body (there are gaseous substances coming out of his body). He thinks about his sweet, lovely Ran, but it is Haibara (still impersonating Conan) who appears behind him. Shinichi is astonished by her arrival, but before he can ask why Haibara is there, he collapses and falls into unconsciousness. Haibara, on the other hand, smiles for the first time in three files and takes off her glasses, thinking to herself that Conan will be needing them in the near future.
 +
 
 +
Back in the restaurant, the same waitress goes back to Ran’s table and tells her that since the case has been solved, “her other half” will be back at any moment. Ran says that Shinichi is not her other half, and at this moment Conan appears before her. He hands her a credit card, telling her that he was sent by Kogoro to see how the dinner was going, and bumped into Shinichi on the way. Ran asks where he is, and Conan claims that after receiving a call from his previous client (who, according to Conan, told Shinichi that this deduction was problematic), Shinichi hurriedly left the building. Ran, with some sorrow and resignation emerging on her face, comments that she has been left behind again; and Conan, trying to remain cheerful, says that Shinichi has told him that… He is abruptly interrupted by Ran, who covers her ears with her hands, closes her eyes and screams in pain that she does not want to know what Shinichi has said, that she has heard enough excuses. Conan, knowing that the problem is deeper than he has envisioned, continues on: Shinichi wanted Ran to know that he would come back one day and that he would come back even if dying is what it takes; for this reason, Shinichi wanted Ran to wait for him no matter what.
 +
 
 +
This sincere message consoles Ran to some extent; she realizes that Conan has not done anything wrong, and thus starts smiling at him and asks whether he wants any dessert (while criticizing Shinichi harshly and calling him a “deduction maniac”). Conan agrees, and the two remain there for a long time, with Ran complaining continuously about Shinichi (while blushing) and eating one after another glass of sundae. She still does not seem to understand why Shinichi has taken her to such a restaurant, and Conan thinks to himself that the reason, which Ran must not know, is that this was where his parents decided that they would marry.
 
</spoiler>
 
</spoiler>
  
=== People ===
+
==== People ====
 
{{BeginBox}}
 
{{BeginBox}}
 
{{People|Taiji Tatsumi|Taiji Tatsumi manga.jpg|
 
{{People|Taiji Tatsumi|Taiji Tatsumi manga.jpg|
Line 138: Line 179:
 
{{EndBox}}
 
{{EndBox}}
  
== Music Box Case ==
+
==== ''Major events'' ====
 +
* Shinichi takes Ran out on a dinner date, at the same place where his Father proposed to his Mother, promising to Ran that he has something important to tell her.
 +
* Unfortunately for Shinichi, time has run out, and before he can tell Ran the truth, he turns back into Conan. As Conan, he tells a heartbroken Ran, that Shinichi had told him to tell her "Wait for me." Although completely heartbroken, Ran understands, and promises in her head that she will wait for him.
 +
 
 +
=== Music Box Case ===
 
{{ref anime|194-195|The Significant Music Box}}
 
{{ref anime|194-195|The Significant Music Box}}
  
=== File 261 - Touching the Music Strings!? ===
+
==== File 261 - Touching the Music Strings!? ====
 
Some time after the "comeback of Shinichi", Conan asks Haibara for some more antidotes, as he would like to meet Ran again in his adult form to tell her the whole truth. Haibara refuses and says it's too late, and it could be dangerous for Conan to swallow another prototype that could kill him. Haibara and the Detective Boys seem delighted to see Conan again, though the Boys are completely ignorant of who Conan really is. Conan looks with dejection at Mouri's agency and complains about how he'll still have to play that game with Ran and Kogoro for the moment.
 
Some time after the "comeback of Shinichi", Conan asks Haibara for some more antidotes, as he would like to meet Ran again in his adult form to tell her the whole truth. Haibara refuses and says it's too late, and it could be dangerous for Conan to swallow another prototype that could kill him. Haibara and the Detective Boys seem delighted to see Conan again, though the Boys are completely ignorant of who Conan really is. Conan looks with dejection at Mouri's agency and complains about how he'll still have to play that game with Ran and Kogoro for the moment.
  
Line 148: Line 193:
 
Haruna and co turn up at the Ogata's and Haruna is cheerfully welcomed by Shiro, the younger son, but quite reticently by the others, Minoru first, the older son, who believes Haruna came to steal the family's treasure : four old hand-made stamps worth 200 million yens. Haruna and co are invited to stay for dinner and the night, and they learn that Shugo Ogata is actually the family's late grandfather, who was ill and felt really lonely, and accepted to chat with Haruna, whose name and character were the same as his late wife, the family's grandmother. Yet, Shugo passed away recently. Haruna still wonders who is sending her abusing mails. During the night, Ran sees a spooky shady figure looking like a bent old man with a stick, moving stealthily in front of her room, and she screams. When everybody rush over to ask what happened and check the rooms to see if an intruder really sneaked into the house, a huge noise of something heavy falling catches their attention and they hurry to the grandparents' room where it came from, to find Minoru severely injured by a koto, probably beaten in the dark by the stranger Ran saw. Haruna is terrified as she receives on her messager a mail from Shugo saying he was waiting for her.
 
Haruna and co turn up at the Ogata's and Haruna is cheerfully welcomed by Shiro, the younger son, but quite reticently by the others, Minoru first, the older son, who believes Haruna came to steal the family's treasure : four old hand-made stamps worth 200 million yens. Haruna and co are invited to stay for dinner and the night, and they learn that Shugo Ogata is actually the family's late grandfather, who was ill and felt really lonely, and accepted to chat with Haruna, whose name and character were the same as his late wife, the family's grandmother. Yet, Shugo passed away recently. Haruna still wonders who is sending her abusing mails. During the night, Ran sees a spooky shady figure looking like a bent old man with a stick, moving stealthily in front of her room, and she screams. When everybody rush over to ask what happened and check the rooms to see if an intruder really sneaked into the house, a huge noise of something heavy falling catches their attention and they hurry to the grandparents' room where it came from, to find Minoru severely injured by a koto, probably beaten in the dark by the stranger Ran saw. Haruna is terrified as she receives on her messager a mail from Shugo saying he was waiting for her.
  
=== File 262 - The Vanishing Sound ===
+
==== File 262 - The Vanishing Sound ====
 
Minoru is actually alive and the Ogata call the police who search for the intruder but finds none. Ran believes it was Shugo but nobody seems to believe her ghost stories, Conan in first, who thinks it has to do with one of the family members, especially as it happened in the grandfather's room where the family's treasure supposedly is. After a deep investigation, Conan eventually finds out what happened.
 
Minoru is actually alive and the Ogata call the police who search for the intruder but finds none. Ran believes it was Shugo but nobody seems to believe her ghost stories, Conan in first, who thinks it has to do with one of the family members, especially as it happened in the grandfather's room where the family's treasure supposedly is. After a deep investigation, Conan eventually finds out what happened.
  
=== File 263 - Spring Has Come? ===
+
==== File 263 - Spring Has Come? ====
 
<spoiler>
 
<spoiler>
 
Conan tranquilises Kogoro and reveals that Shugo was already dead when Haruna found the bag with the box that day, the misunderstanding was deliberately maintained by '''Shiro''', for Haruna not to discover the truth. Conan remarked Shiro was very eager to meet Haruna and knew many things she or even his family didn't know about her and about Shugo. Shiro was actually Shugo's closest confident and Shiro decided to keep on chatting with Haruna after his grandfather's death in remembrance of his grandfather and not to pain Haruna. But he decided some day to stop it and brought Haruna the bag with Shugo's messager and the music box Shugo had given Shiro (and that he expected Shiro would give to Haruna some day) for her not to be too sad when learning the truth, something Haruna didn't.
 
Conan tranquilises Kogoro and reveals that Shugo was already dead when Haruna found the bag with the box that day, the misunderstanding was deliberately maintained by '''Shiro''', for Haruna not to discover the truth. Conan remarked Shiro was very eager to meet Haruna and knew many things she or even his family didn't know about her and about Shugo. Shiro was actually Shugo's closest confident and Shiro decided to keep on chatting with Haruna after his grandfather's death in remembrance of his grandfather and not to pain Haruna. But he decided some day to stop it and brought Haruna the bag with Shugo's messager and the music box Shugo had given Shiro (and that he expected Shiro would give to Haruna some day) for her not to be too sad when learning the truth, something Haruna didn't.
Line 162: Line 207:
 
</spoiler>
 
</spoiler>
  
=== People ===
+
==== People ====
 
{{BeginBox}}
 
{{BeginBox}}
 
{{People|Haruna Yuki|Haruna Yuki manga.jpg|
 
{{People|Haruna Yuki|Haruna Yuki manga.jpg|
Line 197: Line 242:
 
* Former first lady of Ogata family}}
 
* Former first lady of Ogata family}}
 
{{EndBox}}
 
{{EndBox}}
 +
 +
==== ''Major events'' ====
 +
Conan asks Haibara for the antidote, but she says that it still needs to be fully tested, and that he may be resistant to it.
  
 
== Cover in other countries ==
 
== Cover in other countries ==
Line 225: Line 273:
 
* [[Volume 21-30]]
 
* [[Volume 21-30]]
 
* [[Detective Conan]]
 
* [[Detective Conan]]
 +
 +
{{Volumes}}
  
 
[[Category:Volumes]]
 
[[Category:Volumes]]
  
 
[[de:Band 26]]
 
[[de:Band 26]]
 
{{Volumes}}
 

Latest revision as of 12:09, 20 October 2022

Volume 26

Volume 26.jpg

Information
Release date: February 18, 2000
Chapters: 254-263
ISBN: ISBN 4-09-125496-9
Publisher: Shogakukan
English release date: November 18, 2008
English ISBN: ISBN 1-4215-1678-0
English Publisher: Viz Media
Featured Detective & Keyhole
Detective 26.jpg
Inspector Samejima
Keyhole 26.jpg
Chris Vineyard
Aoyama's death & Conan side images
Aoyama 26.jpg
ConanSide 26.jpg
Chronology
Prev volume: « Volume 25
Next volume: Volume 27 »
List of chaptersList of cases

Volume 26 was released on February 18, 2000 in Japan.

Cast

Gadgets

Chapters

Dangerous Cave Case

File 254 - An Infatuated Heart

Conan is eventually saved thanks to Ran's blood donation. He wonders how Ran discovered the truth and what he should do. Heiji and Kazuha come to visit Conan at the hospital, and Heiji suggests Shinichi should tell Ran the whole truth, as she's waiting only for it. During the night, Haibara sneaks into Conan's room and takes aim at him with a gun.

Major events

  • The Detective Boys must learn how to survive this experience.
  • It is confirmed that Ran once again knows that Conan is really Shinichi. Heiji creates a plan to help out Kudo.

School Play Murder Case

Gadgets introduced

File 255 - The Intruder's Sudden Arrival

Haibara tells Conan she was actually spotted by the Organization after the hotel case with Pisco, and she made a deal with them : her life spared in exchange for Shinichi's and all his relatives' death. Eventually, Haibara shoots...a bunch of flowers at Conan, mocking him but telling him the possibility that there could have been another Black Organization member at the party that night. She talks about Ran's discovery but doesn't really recommend that Shinichi should tell Ran the truth. She suggests either that solution, or to remain silent, or... The day after, Conan seems back up and about, though with a little cold, and insists to attend Ran's school play in which she will headline. A strange man strongly resembling Shinichi sits in the audience, smirking, being attentively watched by Conan. Kogoro and Kazuha came as well, and a group of friends, all of them working at Beika Hospital, are having a drink, waiting for the play to begin. During the play, as Ran is on stage, dressed as a princess, Sonoko tells Dr. Araide, who is supposed to play the knight charming, to prepare to enter the stage, but is flabbergasted as the knight isn't Araide. As the unknown knight and Ran are about to kiss each other, one of the hospital employees screams out in pain and drops dead.

File 256 - Concealed Truth

The victim, Kohei Kamata, died after swallowing cyanide, probably put in his drink. His comrades from the hospital are suspected one after the other, along with Ayako, a girl from Ran's high school who was serving drinks at the refreshment. She is the hospital's president's daughter and had recently broke off her engagement with Kohei. She served him coke instead of iced coffee, hoping he would come to see her while changing drinks. Mai, Kohei's friend, had proposed to fetch drinks before the beginning of the play, and she gave all of them to her other comrades Yota and Yumemi, sitting next to Kohei.

File 257 - Revival Under the Threat of Death

Shinichi astounds everyone, Ran in first, and sheds light on the case.

People

  • Major events

    • Heiji does his best to pretend to be Shinichi, before Kazuha discovers the obvious make-up.
    • If something doesn't stop it, Ran may kiss Araide in a play! Sonoko however, has her own plans.
    • Shinichi returns! He has somehow found another way to return to his adult form. Haibara dresses as Conan, to ease Ran's suspicions. It's is also the first time that Kazuha sees Shinichi in person (as up until now she thought he might be a girl).
    • When Sonoko saw Shinichi, her plan all along then became to put Shinichi in the Black Knight costume, so that Ran and Shinichi could finally share their first kiss. However, the murder occurs before that can happen.

    Elevator Murder Case

    File 258 - Momentary Rest

    The students of Teitan High School are asked to clean up the school the day following the fair; therefore, that morning, Ran heads to Shinichi’s house (with Haibara, who is disguised as Conan so as to not raise suspicion) so that they can go to school together. When she arrives, Shinichi is still changing, and so it takes a while for him to get to the front gate. Ran keeps ringing the bell during this time, so Shinichi pretends to be annoyed when he finally shows up, although he is actually very happy to have regained his body. Haibara somehow sneaks into the house when Shinichi is still in there to remind him that if she had not impersonated Conan during the fair and Hattori had not told everyone there to keep quiet about the murder and Shinichi’s involvement in it (for “it will damage the reputation of the school”), he would have gotten into a lot of trouble. She then again advises him to keep a low profile, but Shinichi interrupts her and asks (in a very sincere and curious manner) why she is doing so much for him. Haibara is astonished by this question (but since her back is facing Shinichi, he does not notice this), but quickly regains her composure and says that if Conan’s identity were exposed (and leaked to the Black Organization), her days would be numbered as well, and that, for the sake of safety, she wants to see the effect of her drug on others before trying it herself. Shinichi seems to accept this explanation.

    Soon the three protagonists head out together, with the two highschoolers chatting avidly and Haibara appearing completely uninterested. They meet the rest of the Detective Boys on their way, and Haibara silently joins them; Shinichi greets them, but this is met with surprise and confusion, which makes him realize that he is no longer one of them. Ran, noticing that they are running out of time, tells Shinichi to hurry up, but as Shinichi is still not fully accustomed to this new reality, he says “wait, Ran-nēchan”, which makes her wonder if he has a problem (and Haibara is watching this from afar). So Shinichi has no choice but to fake a smile and say that he is just joking.

    Once at school, Ran and Shinichi are subject to incessant mocking from their classmates; they also tell Shinichi that after he was gone, they got a new English teacher (i.e. Jodie Saintemillion), who they describe as a “voluptuous foreign chick”. Shinichi is tempted by their words and wants to know more, which forces Ran to interrupt somewhat resignedly and remind Shinichi that he still has not told her about “the important thing”. Shinichi tries to answer, but since all their classmates approach to eavesdrop, he is forced to stop mid-sentence in order to disperse the crowd. He later tells Ran (after ensuring that nobody is listening in this time) that he would like to dine with her at 8 p.m. in a very classy restaurant. Ran agrees, although she is unsure of where Shinichi is going with this dinner.

    Dinner time quickly arrives; Ran and Shinichi meet at the restaurant (which is located in a tall, panoramic building in Beika) and sit down at a table beside the window. Ran admits that she has thought for a long time that Conan is Shinichi, and that Shinichi asked Agasa to invent a drug to shrink him into a child after running into trouble. Shinichi, surprised by the accuracy of Ran’s conjecture (which she now deems rather silly), has no choice but to laugh awkwardly.

    After a while, the topic of the conversation returns to “the important thing”. Shinichi remains hesitant and is unable to summon the courage to get to the point, and at this instant someone screams loudly on the other side of the restaurant. Then, very soon, people around Ran and Shinichi start talking about things such as someone dying in the elevator and some company executive being shot in the head. Shinichi tries to ignore those conversations, but fails miserably. Ran, knowing that the murder case attracts him irresistably, tells Shinichi (in delight) that he can go investigate, and jokes that unlike him, she will not suddenly disappear and go into hiding. Shinichi is grateful for her understanding, and, after a short apology, springs up and runs towards the exit of the restaurant, promising Ran that he will come back soon.

    Translation changes

    File 259 - A Tranquil Time

    Megure and Takagi are already at the crime scene when Shinichi arrives. The deceased is Taiji Tatsumi, the CEO of a game development company, who was shot in the forehead in the elevator. Takagi reports that the company occupies from the 24th to the 36th floor of the building (the restaurant is on the 38th floor), and that the elevator in question can only be used by company employees. In addition, the company is celebrating its 20th anniversary in the restaurant that day, but Taiji said at the last minute that he was feeling unwell, and that instead of hosting the party, he would go home. Since the Taiji’s suit is slightly messed up, Takagi deduces that he met an armed robber. However, Shinichi, who now is examining Taiji’s body, begs to differ. He points out that since others could enter the elevator, no robber would rob there and risk being caught in the act; also, Taiji’s suit is messed up partially because his sleeves are unbuttoned, but no robber would bother unfastening the victim’s buttons. Megure, who is surprised to see Shinichi come out of nowhere after months missing, yells “Kudo”, and Shinichi tells him to shush and to introduce him to others as a junior police agent. Megure agrees, although he does not understand why Shinichi suddenly wants to associate himself with the police (before, he always liked pointing out that he was not affiliated with them).

    At this moment, the three company employees who saw Taiji briefly before his death, along with Taiji’s daughter Sakurako (who met the three employees right after Taiji had entered the elevator), are brought to Megure. He asks whether any of them knew the time when they saw Taiji, and Sakurako said while crying that it was 8:30 sharp, as indicated by the wristwatch of her boyfriend Satoru Ooba (he is one of the three employees mentioned above, and he stayed with Sakurako in front of the elevator while the other two headed to the party) and by the bang of the confetti cannon that signaled the commencement of the party (which was supposed to start at 8:30 sharp). Sakurako further explains that she was able to see Ooba’s wristwatch because he was touching her earrings and telling her that his present for her - a pink necklace - would combine very well with her pink earrings. Shinichi finds it suspicious that Sakurako could see the dial of the wristwatch in the dark (for Taiji ordered his subordinates to keep the lights in that part of the building off until the start of the party) and when the dial was facing outwards instead of inwards (i.e. towards the face and eyes of Sakurako). Ooba explains that his wristwatch would light up automatically in the dark, and that Shinichi has wrongfully assumed that he was touching Sakurako’s left earring with his left hand: in fact, he was touching her right earring with his left hand; in this way, the dial faces inwards and the time can be read easily. Shinichi accepts this explanation, but points out that in order to touch the right earring, it is more natural to use the right hand, unless it is occupied at that moment. This insinuation renders Ooba speechless, stunned and slightly frightened.

    Back in the restaurant, Ran keeps wondering what Shinichi wants to tell her, but all that appears in her head are absurd candidates. A waitress interrupts her guesses and brings desserts, but Ran tells her to come later, as she wants to have it with Shinichi. Upon learning that “her detective friend” is tackling the case now, the waitress giggles and tells Ran that 20 years ago, another murder case took place in the restaurant, and a young man, who had come with his girlfriend (who was of Ran’s age) and had sat at Shinichi and Ran’s table, rushed to the crime scene, solved the murder case quickly, came back and proposed to her. The waitress tells Ran joyfully that it might happen again, and for a moment a blushing Ran believes so as well, but soon reason tells her that she should abandon this line of thought.

    We now return to the case. Ooba finally fires back at Shinichi, and Sakurako defends her boyfriend by saying that he was with other employees before seeing Taiji and was with her (in the party venue) after their encounter. Shinichi presses her and asks whether they went anywhere else, and Sakurako concedes that they did go to the bathroom (so that she could hang Ooba’s present on the neck and put the lipstick back on) before heading to the party. However, she argues that since she was in there for only a few minutes and that he was talking to her from outside the bathroom, Ooba could not have done anything. Shinichi disputes her narrative, contending that since the police have found a pistol (with silencer) and an empty bullet shell in the garbage pipe near the bathroom, Ooba could have taken advantage of those minutes to dispose of the weapon.

    Ooba, seeing that Shinichi is suspecting him and only him (he still thinks that Shinichi is a police officer), says that the police are free to perform a gunshot residue test on him to see whether he really murdered Taiji. He is thus led away by some police officers (while confidently saying that the police will find no residue whatsoever), leaving Sakurako with the police and Shinichi. Once he is out of sight, Shinichi asks Sakurako quietly whether she and Ooba were kissing after the other two employees had gone away. She starts blushing immediately and asks, in embarrassment, whether he saw them do so. Shinichi, who does not seem to notice that he is asking very intimate questions to a stranger, explains that Yukiko once told him that only after kissing or eating would women go to the bathroom to put the lipstick back on. He proceeds to enquire how the two kissed, and learns that Sakurako’s back was facing the elevator, that Ooba’s left arm was positioned on her right shoulder and went around her neck such that his hand could reach her left ear, and that before meeting in secret at 8:30 (for they the relationship is secret) they had not seen each other that day. Shinichi finally asks whether the earrings were a present from Ooba as well, and Sakurako replies in negative, and details that she has bought them on a whim earlier during the day.

    After obtaining this piece of information, Shinichi becomes certain that Ooba was the murderer, but he remains stuck on why Taiji would remain on the same level without going down, and on how Ooba managed to keep all gunshot residue off him. The people that help him resolve these two mysteries turn out to be a few company employees, who are chatting beside him. They mention that Ooba oversaw the planning of the party, that the party featured the appearance of the new company mascot, that unexpectedly Ooba was inside the mascot costume, and that he was all the while blinking to the employees (perhaps he wanted to be friendly). Upon hearing this, Shinichi asks whether he can see the costume, and after that being shown to him, now everything seems clear.

    Despite the progress that he has made on solving the case, Shinichi is extremely worried (and frustrated with himself); he has just been hit by sudden acute pain in the chest, a clear signal that he will soon shrink back to Conan. If this happens, he will be unable to tell Ran “the important thing” and risk having Conan’s identity exposed.

    File 260 - The Memorable Place

    People

  • Major events

    • Shinichi takes Ran out on a dinner date, at the same place where his Father proposed to his Mother, promising to Ran that he has something important to tell her.
    • Unfortunately for Shinichi, time has run out, and before he can tell Ran the truth, he turns back into Conan. As Conan, he tells a heartbroken Ran, that Shinichi had told him to tell her "Wait for me." Although completely heartbroken, Ran understands, and promises in her head that she will wait for him.

    Music Box Case

    File 261 - Touching the Music Strings!?

    Some time after the "comeback of Shinichi", Conan asks Haibara for some more antidotes, as he would like to meet Ran again in his adult form to tell her the whole truth. Haibara refuses and says it's too late, and it could be dangerous for Conan to swallow another prototype that could kill him. Haibara and the Detective Boys seem delighted to see Conan again, though the Boys are completely ignorant of who Conan really is. Conan looks with dejection at Mouri's agency and complains about how he'll still have to play that game with Ran and Kogoro for the moment.

    In the stairs, he hears the music of "Haru Yo Koi" ("Oh Spring, Come") and when entering the agency he sees Ran, Kogoro and a client named Haruna listening carefully to a music box. Haruna Yuki, the young fine arts student, explains she had difficulties to make friends at university therefore she sent a mail at random with her messager asking if the receiver would like to befriend her. A man named Shugo then became her new messager friend and he and Haruna proposed to meet each other some day. But on d-day Haruna found none except a bag with a music box and a messager, probably Shugo's one, and thought Shugo wanted to end the relationship by offering her a present. But suddenly Haruna received some other mails on her messager, from an unknown person, calling her a liar, a thief, etc. to the point Haruna went to see Kogoro and wondered if she hadn't done a mistake when she took away the bag with the box. Conan and Ran help Kogoro to figure out the three notes that sound weird in the tune : ACA. Conan points out that this may be a message from Shugo to Haruna, as the music mechanism has got missing pieces right on these three notes' location. He suggests Kogoro calls Inspector Takagi who can easily get the identity of Shugo's messager former owner, by investigating telephone lines. Takagi tells them that the messager's mails originate from the Ogata family, whom Takagi got in touch with, and they agreed to meet Haruna to explain to her.

    Haruna and co turn up at the Ogata's and Haruna is cheerfully welcomed by Shiro, the younger son, but quite reticently by the others, Minoru first, the older son, who believes Haruna came to steal the family's treasure : four old hand-made stamps worth 200 million yens. Haruna and co are invited to stay for dinner and the night, and they learn that Shugo Ogata is actually the family's late grandfather, who was ill and felt really lonely, and accepted to chat with Haruna, whose name and character were the same as his late wife, the family's grandmother. Yet, Shugo passed away recently. Haruna still wonders who is sending her abusing mails. During the night, Ran sees a spooky shady figure looking like a bent old man with a stick, moving stealthily in front of her room, and she screams. When everybody rush over to ask what happened and check the rooms to see if an intruder really sneaked into the house, a huge noise of something heavy falling catches their attention and they hurry to the grandparents' room where it came from, to find Minoru severely injured by a koto, probably beaten in the dark by the stranger Ran saw. Haruna is terrified as she receives on her messager a mail from Shugo saying he was waiting for her.

    File 262 - The Vanishing Sound

    Minoru is actually alive and the Ogata call the police who search for the intruder but finds none. Ran believes it was Shugo but nobody seems to believe her ghost stories, Conan in first, who thinks it has to do with one of the family members, especially as it happened in the grandfather's room where the family's treasure supposedly is. After a deep investigation, Conan eventually finds out what happened.

    File 263 - Spring Has Come?

    People

  • Major events

    Conan asks Haibara for the antidote, but she says that it still needs to be fully tested, and that he may be resistant to it.

    Cover in other countries

    • China
    • Finland
    • France
    • Germany
    • Hong Kong
    • Indonesia
    • Italy
    • Korea
    • Malaysia (Chinese)
    • Malaysia (Malay)
    • Norway
    • Rep. of China (Taiwan)
    • Singapore (Chinese)
    • Spain (Spanish, Volumen 2)
    • Spain (Spanish, Volumen 2)
    • Sweden
    • Thailand
    • United States
    • Vietnam

    See also

    Volumes of the Manga
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