Difference between revisions of "Volume 30"

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Since the Shinkansen will only stop in Osaka for a few minutes, Kogoro, Ran and Conan have no time to waste, and board quickly. Kazuha, who wants to see Ran and Shinichi together very badly, pounds the window beside Ran from outside the train and shouts that she needs to keep throwing straight balls (i.e. to keep asking Shinichi directly about whether he likes her), and Ran fakes a smile to show that she has understood (and Conan is blushing and slightly annoyed by Kazuha’s insistence).
 
Since the Shinkansen will only stop in Osaka for a few minutes, Kogoro, Ran and Conan have no time to waste, and board quickly. Kazuha, who wants to see Ran and Shinichi together very badly, pounds the window beside Ran from outside the train and shouts that she needs to keep throwing straight balls (i.e. to keep asking Shinichi directly about whether he likes her), and Ran fakes a smile to show that she has understood (and Conan is blushing and slightly annoyed by Kazuha’s insistence).
  
Just a few seconds later, Ran hears another reference to baseball; a man passing by them murmurs “no, I cannot throw straight balls, I must throw breaking balls and see her reaction to them”. It turns out that the man is no other than Takagi, and he is, with Sato, on a mission of escorting a drug dealer (named Senzo Ogura) back to Tokyo, where he will be interrogated and hopefully divulge information so that the police can round up the whole criminal syndicate. As she explains this to Conan and company, Sato looks at Ogura, who is sitting beside her, expectantly, but Ogura remains emotionless and tells her dully that he wants coffee. Sato thus sends Takagi to buy coffee, and while he checks if he has any change in the wallet, a ticket to a magic show falls out. Sato is surprised that Takagi likes such things, and the latter explains that since Yumi, who had a spare ticket, asked him to go. This is actually a lie, or more precisely a plot to test whether Sato likes Takagi: Yumi told him that when the right opportunity came, Takagi needed to mention to Sato in a casual manner that Yumi and he were going to see a magic show together. Then, by observing Sato's reaction, he would be able to know the answer to the question; for example, Sato’s facial expression changing dramatically for the worse means that she likes him (this conversation thus explains Takagi’s murmurs earlier on; “throwing a breaking ball” corresponds to him figuring out in an indirect way about Sato’s feelings (or the lack thereof) towards him).
+
Just a few seconds later, Ran hears another reference to baseball; a man passing by them murmurs “no, I cannot throw straight balls, I must throw breaking balls and see her reaction to them”. It turns out that the man is no other than Takagi, and he is, with Sato, on a mission of escorting a drug dealer (named Senzo Ogura) back to Tokyo, where he will be interrogated and hopefully divulge information so that the police can round up the whole criminal syndicate. As she explains this to Conan and company, Sato looks at Ogura, who is sitting beside her, expectantly, but Ogura remains emotionless and tells her dully that he wants coffee. Sato thus sends Takagi to buy coffee, and while he checks if he has any change in the wallet, a ticket to a magic show falls out. Sato is surprised that Takagi likes such things, and the latter explains that Yumi, who had a spare ticket, asked him to go. This is actually a lie, or more precisely a plot to test whether Sato likes Takagi: Yumi told him that when the right opportunity came, Takagi needed to mention to Sato in a casual manner that Yumi and he were going to see a magic show together. Then, by observing Sato's reaction, he would be able to know the answer to the question; for example, Sato’s facial expression changing dramatically for the worse means that she likes him (this conversation thus explains Takagi’s murmurs earlier on; “throwing a breaking ball” corresponds to him figuring out in an indirect way about Sato’s feelings (or the lack thereof) towards him).
  
 
Takagi continues to say that he did not want to go, but Yumi was persistent; Sato interjects at this moment and cheerfully encourages him to go, and adds that if Takagi learns a new trick, he needs to show it to her. Since this is everything that Sato says regarding the subject, Takagi concludes that she is not jealous at all and thus does not like him; he thus goes to the vending machine looking defeated.
 
Takagi continues to say that he did not want to go, but Yumi was persistent; Sato interjects at this moment and cheerfully encourages him to go, and adds that if Takagi learns a new trick, he needs to show it to her. Since this is everything that Sato says regarding the subject, Takagi concludes that she is not jealous at all and thus does not like him; he thus goes to the vending machine looking defeated.
  
The train is now near Mount Fuji (which is on the border of Shizuoka and Yamanashi Prefectures, which are much closer to Tokyo than to Osaka). Conan and company notice a train attendant talking with Takagi and Sato in a serious manner, and thus suspect that something is wrong. It turns out that a passenger has found an explosive in a toilet. Sato rushes there to investigate, and is relieved when she discovers that it is only a nasty prank; but this is not the end of her trouble. Now that only one police officer is with him, Ogura begins thinking of a way to escape. After noticing some sort of signal from a passer-by, Ogura  tells Takagi that he needs to go to the toilet urgently, to which Takagi reluctantly agrees. The two therefore head to a toilet nearby, and Takagi takes one of the handcuffs off Ogura and puts it on himself so that Ogura is able to urinate. Several minutes after Ogura’s entry, Takagi asks him impatiently whether he is done, and Ogura grins and tells Takagi that the police will never be able to obtain any information from him, for he will soon turn into a speechless bird. Takagi, taking this as a sign that Ogura is somehow committing suicide, opens the door and is astounded by the sight of Ogura having stabbed himself in the belly, with a huge amount of blood around the area and pain written on his face. Not knowing what to do in this sudden turn of events, he tries to communicate with Sato by phone, but the train happens to be in the middle of a long tunnel, and there is no signal. Knowing that he cannot let Ogura die like this, Takagi has no choice but to free himself, handcuff Ogura to the toilet rail instead and run to Sato to explain the situation. Conan, who is on her side, overhears Takagi’s words and rushes to the toilet with the two police officers. Upon their arrival, they find Ogura dead and a bloody knife beside his inanimate body.
+
The train is now near Mount Fuji (which is on the border of Shizuoka and Yamanashi Prefectures, which are much closer to Tokyo than to Osaka). Conan and company notice a train attendant talking to Takagi and Sato in a serious manner, and thus suspect that something is wrong. It turns out that a passenger has found an explosive in a toilet. Sato rushes there to investigate, and is relieved when she discovers that it is only a nasty prank; but this is not the end of her troubles. Now that only one police officer is with him, Ogura begins thinking of a way to escape. After noticing some sort of signal from a passer-by, Ogura  tells Takagi that he needs to go to the toilet urgently, to which Takagi reluctantly agrees. The two therefore head to a toilet nearby, and Takagi takes one of the handcuffs off Ogura and puts it on himself so that Ogura is able to urinate. Several minutes after Ogura’s entry, Takagi asks him impatiently whether he is done, and Ogura grins and tells Takagi that the police will never be able to obtain any information from him, for he will soon turn into a speechless bird. Takagi, taking this as a sign that Ogura is somehow committing suicide, opens the door and is astounded by the sight of Ogura having stabbed himself in the belly, with a huge amount of blood around the area and pain written on his face. Not knowing what to do in this sudden turn of events, he tries to communicate with Sato by phone, but the train happens to be in the middle of a long tunnel, and there is no signal. Knowing that he cannot let Ogura die like this, Takagi has no choice but to free himself, handcuff Ogura to the toilet rail instead and run to Sato to explain the situation. Conan, who is on her side, overhears Takagi’s words and rushes to the toilet with the two police officers. Upon their arrival, they find Ogura dead and a bloody knife beside his inanimate body.
  
 
==== File 297 - The Open Closed Room ====
 
==== File 297 - The Open Closed Room ====
  
Takagi informs Megure about the death of Ogura, and is blasted by his boss, who is absolutely infuriated by their grave mistake. Before hanging up, Megure orders him and Sato to not let anyone approach the toilet before the train reaches Tokyo (so that the coroners and forensic officers that Megure will take along to the train station can inspect it and examine the body within), but they are not able to accomplish this much easier task either, as Conan already has sneaked into the crime scene. He finds the knife beside the body pointing in a strange direction, and the coagulation of only some of the blood in the toilet. From these two clues, Sato deduces that Ogura has been murdered by someone else. She hypothesizes that the murderer, as prepration, planted the “explosive” in a toilet and hid a fake knife (which only has a handle and a part of the blade, and no tip) and a bag of blood with anticoagulants (without it, the blood would coagulate and become unusable by Ogura) in another one (the two toilets had to be the nearest and the second nearest to Ogura). Then, this person waited for the police to be notified of the “explosive”; this would distract one of them for some time. Now that only one police officer was with Ogura, a message to Ogura could be transmitted with much more ease, and this message, whatever form it took, told Ogura to go to the toilet with the fake knife and the bag of blood in it. Once inside, Ogura could use those two items to fake a suicide, and the police officer accompanying Ogura, unsure of what to do, would leave him alone in order to look for his (or her) partner (because there is no signal in the tunnel; Sato believes that this is a part of the murderer’s plan as well). This would then give the murderer plenty of time to enter the toilet, kill Ogura, destroy any evidence and flee.
+
Takagi informs Megure about the death of Ogura, and is blasted by him, as Megure is absolutely infuriated by their grave mistake. Before hanging up, Megure orders him and Sato to not let anyone approach the toilet before the train reaches Tokyo (so that the coroners and forensic officers that Megure will take along to the train station can inspect it and examine the body within), but they are not able to accomplish this much easier task either, as Conan already has sneaked into the crime scene. He finds the knife beside the body pointing in a strange direction, and the coagulation of only some of the blood in the toilet. From these two clues, Sato deduces that Ogura has been murdered by someone else. She hypothesizes that the murderer, as prepration, planted the “explosive” in a toilet and hid a fake knife (which only has a handle and a part of the blade, and no tip) and a bag of blood with anticoagulants (without it, the blood would coagulate and become unusable by Ogura) in another one (the two toilets had to be the nearest and the second nearest to Ogura). Then, this person waited for the police to be notified of the “explosive”; this would distract one of them for some time. Now that only one police officer would be with Ogura, a message to Ogura could be transmitted with much more ease, and this message, whatever form it took, told Ogura to go to the toilet with the fake knife and the bag of blood in it. Once inside, Ogura could use them to fake a suicide, and the police officer accompanying Ogura, unsure of what to do, would leave him alone in order to look for his (or her) partner (due to the lack of signals in the tunnel; Sato believes that this is a part of the murderer’s plan as well). This would then give the murderer plenty of time to enter the toilet, kill Ogura, destroy any evidence and flee.
  
 
Takagi agrees with Sato’s deduction, but points out that transmitting the message “go to that toilet, there are a few things that I have hidden in it, you can find them in…” is a rather cumbersome task. Sato replies that the message could have been as short as “go to the toilet” because of two reasons. The first is that between the two toilets near Ogura (one in front of him and the other behind him), one had just been searched by Sato, and thus could not be the toilet that the murderer had in mind. And the second is that the message did not have to explicitly say “look for this in there” (or anything to this effect) in order for Ogura to know that something was hidden in the toilet; instinct would suffice.
 
Takagi agrees with Sato’s deduction, but points out that transmitting the message “go to that toilet, there are a few things that I have hidden in it, you can find them in…” is a rather cumbersome task. Sato replies that the message could have been as short as “go to the toilet” because of two reasons. The first is that between the two toilets near Ogura (one in front of him and the other behind him), one had just been searched by Sato, and thus could not be the toilet that the murderer had in mind. And the second is that the message did not have to explicitly say “look for this in there” (or anything to this effect) in order for Ogura to know that something was hidden in the toilet; instinct would suffice.
  
Therefore, the major problem for Sato and Takagi at this point is that they do not know who communicated with Ogura and how this person did so. Conan knows the answer to the first question: he carefully made observations of the people passing by Takagi and Ogura after Sato had left. Thus, thanks to him, Sato and Takagi are able to quickly find three suspects, who are named Tatsuro Iwakuni, Norio Tokuyama and Akira Akashi respectively (all of them boarded the train in Osaka and bought the things specified below in (a shop of) Osaka’s train station). According to Conan and Iwakuni’s recollections, Akashi and Iwakuni were both holding a newspaper during their passage, and Tokuyama was holding a bottle of canned coffee when he passed and reading a newspaper on his seat. Therefore, Sako asks them to bring all four items to her; they comply, and Sato and Conan start studying them. Sato does not seem to find anything valuable, and Conan is also stuck initially; however, he eventually is able to notice something important.
+
Therefore, the major problem for Sato and Takagi at this point is that they do not know who communicated with Ogura and how this person did so. Conan knows the answer to the first question: he carefully made observations of the people passing by Takagi and Ogura after Sato had left. Thus, thanks to him, Sato and Takagi are able to quickly find three suspects, who are named Tatsuro Iwakuni, Norio Tokuyama and Akira Akashi respectively (all of them boarded the train in Osaka and bought the things specified below in (a shop of) Osaka’s train station). According to Conan and Iwakuni’s recollections, Akashi and Iwakuni were both holding a newspaper during their passage, and Tokuyama was holding a bottle of canned coffee when he passed and reading a newspaper on his seat. Sako asks them to take all four items to her; they comply, and Sato and Conan start studying them. Sato does not seem to find anything valuable, and Conan is also stuck initially; however, he eventually is able to notice something important.
Meanwhile, Takagi explains the situation to the suspects; they all conclude that the police do not have a good reason to suspect them, and all proclaim their refusal to keep cooperating once the train reaches Tokyo (this will happen in approximately ten minutes). Sato and Takagi, knowing that there is little time left, become quite dismayed, but Conan, after learning that Kogoro, in Osaka’s train station, bought canned coffee, cigarettes, a newspaper about sports (this was the one bought by Akashi) and a newspaper specializing in horse racing (this was the one bought by Iwakuni), becomes confident that he has all the information needed to solve the case.
+
 
 +
Meanwhile, Takagi explains the situation to the suspects; they all conclude that the police do not have a good reason to suspect them, and all are vehement in their refusal to keep cooperating once the train reaches Tokyo (this will happen in approximately ten minutes). Sato and Takagi, knowing that there is little time left, become quite dismayed, but Conan, after learning that Kogoro, in Osaka’s train station, bought canned coffee, cigarettes, a newspaper about sports (this was the one bought by Akashi) and a newspaper specializing in horse racing (this was the one bought by Iwakuni), becomes confident that he has all the information needed to solve the case.
  
 
==== File 298 - Time Trap ====
 
==== File 298 - Time Trap ====
  
 
<spoiler>
 
<spoiler>
Conan tranquilizes Kogoro (the train is now in Tokyo and is approaching the station) and begins the deduction. He reafirms Sato’s deductions, and says that the murderer told Ogura to head to the toilet (which is also known as the water closet, or W.C. in short) by using the newspaper that he was holding. Namely, by holding the newspaper sideways and between his arm and the side of his body, so that the contents of the articles were covered and the article titles were clearly visible to Ogura. Conan declares the problematic title to be the one saying “World Cup hero under police interrogation”, and explains that the only thing that the murderer had to do was to point at the words “World Cup” in order for Ogura to notice its initials. Therefore, the murderer is the one who bought a newspaper concerning sports in general - Akira Akashi. Sato doubts the validity of this inference by pointing out that the connection between “World Cup” and “toilet” is not that strong, and Conan agrees. He argues that precisely because of this reason, Akashi left the “explosive” in a toilet; in this way, Ogura was bound to hear this word while listening to the conversation between the train attendant and the police officers. With the in-advance exposure to the word, Ogura then would be very likely to make an association between “Word Cup” and “W.C.” when Akashi passed. Conan adds that Akashi probably saw Ogura with Sato and Takagi at the train station; knowing that Ogura would leak to the police information about the activities of the syndicate, Akashi decided to seal his mouth forever by killing him.
+
Conan tranquilizes Kogoro (the train is now in Tokyo and is approaching the station) and begins the deduction. He reaffirms Sato’s deductions, and says that the murderer told Ogura to head to the toilet (which is, of course, also known as W.C.) by using the newspaper that he was holding. Namely, by holding the newspaper sideways and between his arm and the side of his body, so that the contents of the articles were covered and the article titles were clearly visible to Ogura. Conan declares the problematic title to be the one saying “World Cup hero under police interrogation”, and explains that the only thing that the murderer had to do was to point at the words “World Cup” in order for Ogura to notice its initials. Therefore, the murderer is the one who bought a newspaper concerning sports in general - '''Akira Akashi'''. Sato doubts the validity of this inference by pointing out that the connection between “World Cup” and “toilet” is not that strong, and Conan agrees. He argues that precisely because of this reason, Akashi left the “explosive” in a toilet; in this way, Ogura was bound to hear this word while listening to the conversation between the train attendant and the police officers. With the in-advance exposure to the word, Ogura then would be very likely to make an association between “Word Cup” and “W.C.” when Akashi passed. Conan adds that Akashi probably saw Ogura with Sato and Takagi at the train station; knowing that Ogura would leak critical information to the police, Akashi decided to seal his mouth forever by killing him.
  
At this point, Sato squeezes Kogoro’s face, forcing Conan to say “stop it, it hurts!”. Sato joyfully explains that she has never seen the Sleeping Kogoro in person, and has always wondered whether he is really asleep. Iwakuni and Tokuyama are surprised to learn that the man before them is none other than the famous Kogoro Mouri, but Akashi says derisively that he does not care about who Kogoro is, and that the police has no evidence that can ascertain his culpability. This prompts Conan to ask Akashi why, when the three suspects were complaining about them being suspected, he demonstrated an expert understanding of the murder scene despite supposedly having never seen it (e.g. Akashi knew that Ogura had been handcuffed to the rail of the toilet). Akashi becomes quite unnerved, but eventually is able to fend off Conan’s attacks by claiming that such a thing can easily be deduced by listening to Takagi’s descriptions and by paying attention to how the police usually transport criminals. He then reiterates that there is a lack of incriminating evidence, that, for example, there is no blood on his body. Conan replies that that is natural, as, before killing Ogura, Akashi had made him read his newspaper (this could easily be done by telling Ogura that there was an article about him). In this way, the newspaper would become a barrier between Ogura and Akashi impenetrable for blood, and stabbing Ogura by first penetrating the newspaper would result in all the blood being spilled onto the newspaper instead of Akashi. The evidence of the use of this trick is that ink, forming words and sentences, could be found on Ogura’s hand.
+
At this point, Sato squeezes Kogoro’s face, forcing Conan to say “stop it, it hurts!”. Sato joyfully explains that she has never seen the Sleeping Kogoro in person, and has always wondered whether he is really asleep. Iwakuni and Tokuyama are surprised to learn that the man before them is none other than the famous Kogoro Mouri, but Akashi says derisively that he does not care about who Kogoro is, and that the police have no evidence that can ascertain his culpability. This prompts Conan to ask Akashi why, when the three suspects were complaining about them being suspected, he was able to describe the murder scene accurately despite supposedly having never seen it (e.g. Akashi knew that Ogura had been handcuffed to the rail of the toilet). Akashi becomes quite unnerved, but eventually is able to fend off Conan’s attacks by claiming that such a thing can easily be deduced by listening to Takagi’s descriptions and by paying attention to how the police usually transport criminals. He then reiterates that there is a lack of incriminating evidence, that, for example, there is no blood on his body. Conan replies that that is natural, as, before killing Ogura, Akashi had made Ogura read his newspaper (this could easily be done by telling Ogura that there was an article about him). In this way, the newspaper would become a barrier between Ogura and Akashi impenetrable for blood, and stabbing Ogura by first penetrating the newspaper would result in all the blood being spilled onto the newspaper instead of Akashi. The evidence of the use of this trick is that ink, forming words and sentences, could be found on Ogura’s hand.
  
Akashi dismisses Conan’s deduction as nonsense, and produces a sports newspaper which is free from bloodstains and holes. Conan says that Akashi still has a newspaper because he bought two (of the same name and published on the same day), one in Osaka’s train station, and another one before that (probably in some convenience shop). The evidence is that the newspaper currently in Akashi’s possession has a different headline from the one that Kogoro bought (i.e. Akashi’s has the headline “World Cup hero under police interrogation” and Kogoro’s has the headline “World Cup hero was officially under arrest”), meaning that Akashi definitely did not buy it from the station (there is a difference because Japanese newspapers are delivered to convenience shops (and households) much earlier than to train stations, meaning that if there is an important and rapidly-developing event (such as the murder case that Ray Curtis was involved in), changes will have been made before newspapers are delivered to train stations, meaning that those contain the latest news and that the ones delivered to convenience shops are slightly outdated). Sato, who is following Conan’s logic, continues the deduction and says that if Akashi only had bought one newspaper before the murder, he would have had none left after it (because that newspaper would have been stained heavily by blood and thus needed to be discarded); the police would find this change suspicious. On the other hand, by buying two newspapers and hiding one inside his bag (or some other place until) after the murder, Akashi can create the impression that he always has had one newspaper.
+
Akashi dismisses Conan’s deduction as nonsense, and produces a sports newspaper which is free from bloodstains and holes. Conan says that Akashi still has a newspaper because he bought two (of the same name and published on the same day), one in Osaka’s train station, and another one before that (probably in some convenience shop). The evidence is that the newspaper currently in Akashi’s possession has a different headline from the one that Kogoro bought (i.e. Akashi’s has the headline “World Cup hero under police interrogation” and Kogoro’s has the headline “World Cup hero officially under arrest”), meaning that Akashi definitely did not buy it from the station (there is a difference because Japanese newspapers are delivered to convenience shops (and households) much earlier than to train stations, meaning that if there is an important and rapidly-developing event, changes will have been made before newspapers are delivered to train stations, so those contain the latest news and that the ones delivered to convenience shops are slightly outdated). Sato, who is following Conan’s logic, continues the deduction and says that if Akashi only had bought one newspaper before the murder, he would have had none left after it (because that newspaper would have been stained heavily by blood and thus needed to be discarded); the police would find this change suspicious. On the other hand, by buying two newspapers and hiding one until after the murder, Akashi can create the impression that he always has had one newspaper.
  
Akashi, well aware that he cannot keep insisting that the newspaper that he is currently holding was bought in the train station, concedes that he has bought two newspapers (he cannot assert that he bought only one newspaper and that he bought it outside the station; this is because both Iwakuni and Tokuyama saw him buy a newspaper in the train station). Sato therefore asks him rhetorically about the whereabouts of the other newspaper, and, before giving Akashi a chance to answer, says that it must have been shredded to pieces and flushed down the toilet. Knowing that he has been fully exposed, and noticing that the train has just arrived at the station, Akashi tries desperately to escape. Conan picks up Tokuyama’s empty coffee can and kneels down to adjust his kick shoes, but Takagi is quicker. He grabs the can from Conan and hurls it forcefully in the direction of Akashi; the can travels across the wagon and hits the back of the murderer’s head, causing him to collapse (after hitting his target, Takagi comments that “after all, throwing straight balls is better”). Soon, Megure arrives with a large number of police officers, and Akashi is apprehended and taken to the police station for questioning. He turns out to be a highly valuable source of information; not only does he candidly admit that he killed Ogura so that Ogura would not leak smuggling routes to the police, but he also details those smuggling routes to the police himself. Thanks to this, Takagi and Sato get to avoid the worst possible consequences of their blunder - demotion or firing. However, they will get a 10% deduction in their salaries for three months.
+
Akashi, well aware that he cannot keep insisting that the newspaper that he is currently holding was bought in the train station, concedes that he has bought two newspapers (he cannot assert that he bought only one newspaper and that he bought it outside the station; this is because both Iwakuni and Tokuyama saw him buy a newspaper in the train station). Sato therefore asks him rhetorically about the whereabouts of the other newspaper, and, before giving Akashi a chance to answer, says that it must have been shredded to pieces and flushed down the toilet. Knowing that he has been fully exposed, and noticing that the train has just arrived at the station, Akashi tries desperately to escape. Conan picks up Tokuyama’s empty coffee can and kneels down to adjust his kick shoes, but Takagi is quicker. He grabs the can from Conan and hurls it forcefully in the direction of Akashi; the can travels across the wagon and hits the back of the murderer’s head, causing him to collapse (after hitting his target, Takagi comments that “after all, throwing straight balls is better”). Soon, Megure arrives with a large number of police officers, and Akashi is apprehended and taken to the police station for questioning. He turns out to be a highly valuable source of information; not only does he candidly admit that he killed Ogura so that Ogura would not leak smuggling routes to the police, but he also details those smuggling routes to the police himself. Thanks to this, Takagi and Sato get to avoid the worst possible consequences of their blunder - demotion or firing. Instead, they will get a 10% salary deduction for three months.
  
 
After the punishment is announced, Sato complains to Yumi that the salary is not much even without this deduction. While Yumi comforts her, Sato abruptly asks whether she likes Takagi. Yumi is dumbfounded by this question, and replies after being pressed that she does not like Takagi at all. Sato then says that she should stop playing with and torturing the poor Takagi, who, according to her, appeared anxious and distressed even since he got from Yumi the ticket to the magic show. Sato then leaves, appearing happy and relieved. From these words, Yumi is able to deduce that Sato does like Takagi; she thus takes out her phone in order to take this good news to a depressed Takagi, but changes her mind in the last minute (because she does not like the fact that Sato advised her to “find a honest and caring man and enter a serious relationship with him” after telling her to quit messing with Takagi) and wonders why she cares so much about those two people.
 
After the punishment is announced, Sato complains to Yumi that the salary is not much even without this deduction. While Yumi comforts her, Sato abruptly asks whether she likes Takagi. Yumi is dumbfounded by this question, and replies after being pressed that she does not like Takagi at all. Sato then says that she should stop playing with and torturing the poor Takagi, who, according to her, appeared anxious and distressed even since he got from Yumi the ticket to the magic show. Sato then leaves, appearing happy and relieved. From these words, Yumi is able to deduce that Sato does like Takagi; she thus takes out her phone in order to take this good news to a depressed Takagi, but changes her mind in the last minute (because she does not like the fact that Sato advised her to “find a honest and caring man and enter a serious relationship with him” after telling her to quit messing with Takagi) and wonders why she cares so much about those two people.

Revision as of 14:06, 12 September 2022

Chronology
Volume 29 List of ChaptersList of Cases Volume 31
Volume 30

Volume 30.jpg

Information
Release date: December 18, 2000
Chapters: 296-306
ISBN: ISBN 4-09-125500-0
Publisher: Shogakukan
English release date: July 21, 2009
English ISBN: ISBN 1-4215-2198-9
English Publisher: Viz Media
Featured Detective & Keyhole
Detective 30.jpg
John Thorndyke
Keyhole 30.jpg
Saguru Hakuba
Aoyama's death & Conan side images
Aoyama 30.jpg
ConanSide 30.jpg

Volume 30 was released on December 18, 2000 in Japan.

Cast

Gadgets

Chapters

Police Escort Murder Case

File 296 - Straight Ball Match

The day after Conan and Hattori solve the case involving Ray Curtis, Kogoro, Ran and Conan leave Osaka for Tokyo, and Hattori and Kazuha accompany them to the train station. There, Ran calls Shinichi to tell him that she got a shirt signed by Curtis, and Shinichi (i.e. Conan with the voice-changing bowtie) thanks her and entrusts it to her before his return. After this exchange, Shinichi says that he has to go, as “he has other things to deal with”, but Ran asks him to wait, simultaneously recalling that Sonoko once said “Ran, do you not want to know what Shinichi feels about you?”. Kazuha, knowing what Ran is about to do, encourages her to say it; Ran hesitantly starts the question, but is unable to finish because her train (the Shinkansen) arrives at the station at that moment, and Ran is held back by its noise and sheer speed. Shinichi, seeing that Ran is no longer saying anything, bades farewell to her and hangs up, leaving a blushing Ran and an unsatisfied Kazuha, who grabs the phone from Ran and shouts “wait, she is not done yet!” into it, obviously to no avail. Hattori wonders why she is making so much noise, so Kazuha tells him about Ran’s call, which prompts Hattori to mock Shinichi by saying that maybe he hung up because he was afraid to answer the question. He proceeds to call Shinichi “weak and cowardly”, and Conan, who is listening, smiles dryly.

Since the Shinkansen will only stop in Osaka for a few minutes, Kogoro, Ran and Conan have no time to waste, and board quickly. Kazuha, who wants to see Ran and Shinichi together very badly, pounds the window beside Ran from outside the train and shouts that she needs to keep throwing straight balls (i.e. to keep asking Shinichi directly about whether he likes her), and Ran fakes a smile to show that she has understood (and Conan is blushing and slightly annoyed by Kazuha’s insistence).

Just a few seconds later, Ran hears another reference to baseball; a man passing by them murmurs “no, I cannot throw straight balls, I must throw breaking balls and see her reaction to them”. It turns out that the man is no other than Takagi, and he is, with Sato, on a mission of escorting a drug dealer (named Senzo Ogura) back to Tokyo, where he will be interrogated and hopefully divulge information so that the police can round up the whole criminal syndicate. As she explains this to Conan and company, Sato looks at Ogura, who is sitting beside her, expectantly, but Ogura remains emotionless and tells her dully that he wants coffee. Sato thus sends Takagi to buy coffee, and while he checks if he has any change in the wallet, a ticket to a magic show falls out. Sato is surprised that Takagi likes such things, and the latter explains that Yumi, who had a spare ticket, asked him to go. This is actually a lie, or more precisely a plot to test whether Sato likes Takagi: Yumi told him that when the right opportunity came, Takagi needed to mention to Sato in a casual manner that Yumi and he were going to see a magic show together. Then, by observing Sato's reaction, he would be able to know the answer to the question; for example, Sato’s facial expression changing dramatically for the worse means that she likes him (this conversation thus explains Takagi’s murmurs earlier on; “throwing a breaking ball” corresponds to him figuring out in an indirect way about Sato’s feelings (or the lack thereof) towards him).

Takagi continues to say that he did not want to go, but Yumi was persistent; Sato interjects at this moment and cheerfully encourages him to go, and adds that if Takagi learns a new trick, he needs to show it to her. Since this is everything that Sato says regarding the subject, Takagi concludes that she is not jealous at all and thus does not like him; he thus goes to the vending machine looking defeated.

The train is now near Mount Fuji (which is on the border of Shizuoka and Yamanashi Prefectures, which are much closer to Tokyo than to Osaka). Conan and company notice a train attendant talking to Takagi and Sato in a serious manner, and thus suspect that something is wrong. It turns out that a passenger has found an explosive in a toilet. Sato rushes there to investigate, and is relieved when she discovers that it is only a nasty prank; but this is not the end of her troubles. Now that only one police officer is with him, Ogura begins thinking of a way to escape. After noticing some sort of signal from a passer-by, Ogura tells Takagi that he needs to go to the toilet urgently, to which Takagi reluctantly agrees. The two therefore head to a toilet nearby, and Takagi takes one of the handcuffs off Ogura and puts it on himself so that Ogura is able to urinate. Several minutes after Ogura’s entry, Takagi asks him impatiently whether he is done, and Ogura grins and tells Takagi that the police will never be able to obtain any information from him, for he will soon turn into a speechless bird. Takagi, taking this as a sign that Ogura is somehow committing suicide, opens the door and is astounded by the sight of Ogura having stabbed himself in the belly, with a huge amount of blood around the area and pain written on his face. Not knowing what to do in this sudden turn of events, he tries to communicate with Sato by phone, but the train happens to be in the middle of a long tunnel, and there is no signal. Knowing that he cannot let Ogura die like this, Takagi has no choice but to free himself, handcuff Ogura to the toilet rail instead and run to Sato to explain the situation. Conan, who is on her side, overhears Takagi’s words and rushes to the toilet with the two police officers. Upon their arrival, they find Ogura dead and a bloody knife beside his inanimate body.

File 297 - The Open Closed Room

Takagi informs Megure about the death of Ogura, and is blasted by him, as Megure is absolutely infuriated by their grave mistake. Before hanging up, Megure orders him and Sato to not let anyone approach the toilet before the train reaches Tokyo (so that the coroners and forensic officers that Megure will take along to the train station can inspect it and examine the body within), but they are not able to accomplish this much easier task either, as Conan already has sneaked into the crime scene. He finds the knife beside the body pointing in a strange direction, and the coagulation of only some of the blood in the toilet. From these two clues, Sato deduces that Ogura has been murdered by someone else. She hypothesizes that the murderer, as prepration, planted the “explosive” in a toilet and hid a fake knife (which only has a handle and a part of the blade, and no tip) and a bag of blood with anticoagulants (without it, the blood would coagulate and become unusable by Ogura) in another one (the two toilets had to be the nearest and the second nearest to Ogura). Then, this person waited for the police to be notified of the “explosive”; this would distract one of them for some time. Now that only one police officer would be with Ogura, a message to Ogura could be transmitted with much more ease, and this message, whatever form it took, told Ogura to go to the toilet with the fake knife and the bag of blood in it. Once inside, Ogura could use them to fake a suicide, and the police officer accompanying Ogura, unsure of what to do, would leave him alone in order to look for his (or her) partner (due to the lack of signals in the tunnel; Sato believes that this is a part of the murderer’s plan as well). This would then give the murderer plenty of time to enter the toilet, kill Ogura, destroy any evidence and flee.

Takagi agrees with Sato’s deduction, but points out that transmitting the message “go to that toilet, there are a few things that I have hidden in it, you can find them in…” is a rather cumbersome task. Sato replies that the message could have been as short as “go to the toilet” because of two reasons. The first is that between the two toilets near Ogura (one in front of him and the other behind him), one had just been searched by Sato, and thus could not be the toilet that the murderer had in mind. And the second is that the message did not have to explicitly say “look for this in there” (or anything to this effect) in order for Ogura to know that something was hidden in the toilet; instinct would suffice.

Therefore, the major problem for Sato and Takagi at this point is that they do not know who communicated with Ogura and how this person did so. Conan knows the answer to the first question: he carefully made observations of the people passing by Takagi and Ogura after Sato had left. Thus, thanks to him, Sato and Takagi are able to quickly find three suspects, who are named Tatsuro Iwakuni, Norio Tokuyama and Akira Akashi respectively (all of them boarded the train in Osaka and bought the things specified below in (a shop of) Osaka’s train station). According to Conan and Iwakuni’s recollections, Akashi and Iwakuni were both holding a newspaper during their passage, and Tokuyama was holding a bottle of canned coffee when he passed and reading a newspaper on his seat. Sako asks them to take all four items to her; they comply, and Sato and Conan start studying them. Sato does not seem to find anything valuable, and Conan is also stuck initially; however, he eventually is able to notice something important.

Meanwhile, Takagi explains the situation to the suspects; they all conclude that the police do not have a good reason to suspect them, and all are vehement in their refusal to keep cooperating once the train reaches Tokyo (this will happen in approximately ten minutes). Sato and Takagi, knowing that there is little time left, become quite dismayed, but Conan, after learning that Kogoro, in Osaka’s train station, bought canned coffee, cigarettes, a newspaper about sports (this was the one bought by Akashi) and a newspaper specializing in horse racing (this was the one bought by Iwakuni), becomes confident that he has all the information needed to solve the case.

File 298 - Time Trap

People

  • Sunset Mansion Case

    Characters introduced

    File 299 - The Meeting

    Kogoro has been invited to a detective meeting by an unknown assailant who sends him money. There are six detectives there excluding Conan. They are in a house where a massacre happened years ago. One of the detectives are killed and they are stranded in the mansion as the bridge has been cut and the cars have been burned. It also appears that the unknown assailant is using the name Kaitou Kid.

    File 300 - Tragedy

    Renya Karasuma

    That mansion once belonged to Renya Karasuma, the billionaire who mysteriously died forty years ago. That name seems to trigger the guests attention.

    File 301 - Murder

    File 302 - Sting

    People

  • Genta's Shadow Case

    File 303 - Genta's Misfortune

    Genta has been acting weird at school lately. He is hiding under his futon at home, and doesn't eat his lunch instead of racing to finish first which is worrying his teacher Kobayashi. When he leaves school, Genta climbs over the wall and runs, like he is trying to lose someone. When the Detective Boys confront him, he tells them someone is trying to kill him. Earlier, he had heard the sound of someone's footsteps keeping pace with him in a tunnel. Later he was pushed off a bridge, and a burning car hurtled towards him. As he was telling the Detective Boys this, they reached a place outside a store where Genta likes to play a Yaiba Game machine. A large bolt falls nearby, barely alerting the Detective Boys in time to avoid part of the store's "BAKER" sign hurtling to the ground. Conan examines the support cable, and determines it had been deliberately cut and someone was indeed after Genta's life. They go to a burger restaurant and Genta reveals the man he thinks is trying to kill him is the purse snatcher the police are after. Genta had seen the man sometime earlier, before he was a wanted burglar, but had forgotten where it was. Genta does remember a golden haired man was with him when he saw the thief. Genta also explains that he went to a crime scene where the snatcher struck five days ago and saw his golden-haired witness in the crowd. He took the witness to the police and told them the story, but the witness denied seeing the thief. Genta later gets a mysterious phone call: "If you tell anyone that you saw me, I will kill you!! You, your family, and everybody that you know!"

    Genta tries to recall where he saw the thief. He remembers the witness sitting beside him, but doesn't remember the thief sitting down. Genta was sleepy at the time. The things he remembers about the thief are that he was holding a cigarette in his left hand, meaning he is left handed. He was also wearing a tee-shirt with a skull and the numbers 202 in digital clock-like numerals. Genta notices one of the customers at the burger place has a similar tee-shirt, only with the numbers 1999 instead. Conan asks the man where he got his shirt, and the man tells him it is from the Bones clothing store. The Detective Boys run to find the place, but unfortunately the criminal had followed them into the restaurant and overheard everything.

    At the shop, the salesperson explains that they sold a variety of shirts like that with different text such as "Escape", "Help", and "1999" because of the doomsday prediction in 2000, but none that say 202. The salesperson doesn't remember anyone unusual either. Genta does remember a few more details about the thief though. The thief was reading a newspaper, the place allowed smoking, and Genta never took his eyes off of him meaning it was a place where it wouldn't be unusual to watch someone without making them uncomfortable. From those clues, Conan realizes the answer.

    File 304 - Genta's Trap

    Conan says Genta saw the murderer in a glasses’ shop. Indeed, the murderer didn’t react at all and didn’t notice Genta was looking at him, since he had taken off his glasses to have them cleaned, and couldn’t see anything without it. Genta says he’s never been in a glasses’ shop in his whole life, and Conan answers he happens to fail at deductions sometimes, though he whispers something into Genta’s ear, while the killer is observing them further back. As Genta still tells Conan he’s made a mistake again, Conan sighs powerlessly and asks Genta to warn his friends if anything ever comes back to his mind. Walking back home on their way, Mitsuhiko, Genta and Ayumi talk about the case again and Genta buys himself some ice cream. He suddenly realises something when wiping the ice on his cheek. Then Genta spots France’s three-color flag above a French restaurant, and asks Ayumi if she isn’t reminded of something when thinking about the blue, white and red colours. Ayumi thinks about Conan’s usual outfit but Genta suggests Conan can’t be the killer, and recalls those three coulours with something spinning amidst. As Mitsuhiko and Ayumi leave Genta alone to go home, the latter is being followed by the murderer, and becomes aware of the truth when looking at his reflection in the mirror of a shopwindow. He rushes to a place located at the sixth floor of a train station’s building, and hardly manages to slip into the lift.

    People

  • Pottery Class Case

    File 305 - On the Bottom...

    Ran, Sonoko, and Conan attend a pottery class. Sonoko wants to make pottery for Makoto, while Ran wants to make some for Shinichi. They meet the workshop's two apprentices, Motoo Mino and Kikuyo Kasama, along with the workshop's owner and Motoo's father-in-law, Muneyuki Mino, who is amazed at Ran and Conan having met the renowned potter Kikuemon (vol. 16). Some time after, Motoo is found strangled to death with a necktie in a closet.

    File 306 - Surrounded by Hints

    Conan knows who the culprit is, to the point of confronting the culprit when they're all alone, but still has no evidence. He tries to find evidence to prove it was him.

    People

  • Cover in other countries

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

    See also

    Volumes of the Manga
    Volume 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107
    Kaitou Kid in Detective Conan
    Main Kaitou KidKaito KurobaToichi Kuroba
    Related Jirokichi SuzukiGinzo NakamoriSamizu KichiemonSaguru HakubaKonosuke JiiAoko NakamoriChikage Kuroba
    Manga Kaitou Kid and the Black StarMagic Lovers CaseKaitou Kid and the MurderKaitou Kid and the Ocean's MiracleKaitou Kid and the Three InstrumentsKaitou Kid and the Four MasterpiecesKaitou Kid and the Purple NailKaitou Kid and the Iron TanukiKirin's Horn CaseRyoma's Gunbelt CaseMystery TrainThe Blush MermaidTwin BetsKaitou Kid and the Luna MemoriaKaitou Kid and the Fairy's LipKaitou Kid and the Queen's BangKaitou Kid and the Siren Splash
    Anime Conan vs. Kaitou KidMagic Lover's Murder CaseThe Gathering of the Detectives! Shinichi Kudo vs. Kaitou KidKaitou Kid's Miraculous Midair WalkBig Adventure in the Eccentric MansionKaitou Kid and the Four MasterpiecesKaitou Kid's Teleportation MagicKaitou Kid vs. the Strongest SafeThe Kirin's Horn That Vanished into the DarkConan & Kid's Battle For Ryoma's TreasureThe Jet-Black Mystery TrainKaitou Kid and the Blush MermaidKaitou Kid VS Makoto KyogokuKaitou Kid and the Trick BoxKid vs. Komei: The Targeted LipsKid vs. Amuro: Queen's Bang
    Movies and Specials Movie 03: The Last Wizard of the CenturyTime Travel of the Silver SkyMovie 08: Magician of the Silver SkyMovie 10: The Private Eyes' RequiemMovie 14: The Lost Ship in the SkyLupin III vs. Detective Conan: The MovieMovie 19: Sunflowers of InfernoMovie 23: The Fist of Blue SapphireMovie 27: The Million-dollar Pentagram
    Special Manga The Magically Hidden JewelThe Stolen Pirate TreasureKaitou Kid and the Mystery of the Black JewelThe Rise of the Burning CurseThe Blue Train Nightmare
    Related Articles Magic KaitoList of characters who know Kaitou Kid's identityKaitou Kid's GadgetsList of Kaitou Kid Heists Items
    Black Organization
    High ranking The BossRumGinVermouth
    Other agents VodkaKir (undercover) • ChiantiKornBourbon (undercover)
    Deceased agents Akemi MiyanoTequilaKenzo Masuyama/PiscoAtsushi MiyanoElena MiyanoCalvadosRikumichi KusudaEthan Hondou (undercover) • Hiromitsu Morofushi/Scotch (undercover)
    Former agents Shiho Miyano/Sherry (Ai Haibara) • Shuichi Akai/Dai Moroboshi/Rye (undercover) • Ki'ichiro Numabuchi
    Extended canon Yoshiaki Hara (movie only) • Irish (movie only) • Masaaki Okakura (movie only) • Arrack (special manga only) • Generic (special manga only) • Blackbeard (special manga only) • Kate Lauren (playstation only) • Curaçao (movie only) • Stout (movie only) • Aquavit (movie only) • Leona Bucholz/Riesling (movie only) • Man in bar (tv special only) • Pinga (movie only)
    Related articles Black Organization timelineAPTX 4869Nanatsu no KoScar AkaiList of Black Organization related charactersVermouth timelineSuguru ItakuraKohji Haneda caseKarasuma Group"The Criminal"Night BaronCrow
    Manga Roller Coaster Murder Case¥1,000,000,000 RobberyBullet-Train BombingGame Convention CaseMissing Older Brother CaseMurdered Professor CaseHotel Party Murder CaseBus Hijacking CaseKaitou Kid and the MurderEscalator Message CaseGolden Apple CaseFootsteps of DarknessMeeting with VodkaFour Porsches CaseBathroom Murder CaseHalloween Party CaseBlack Organization vs. FBIMysterious Job CaseKir Transport CaseForeign Suspect CaseDepartment Store Bomber CaseOnline ClientMystery TrainTennis MeetupA Shrine to RememberElementary Teacher AssaultScarlet ShowdownGirls Band Murder CaseSoul Detective Murder CaseA song named ASACAMissing Maria Higashio CaseSisters' Birthday Party Murder CaseYusaku Kudo's TV Show CaseFBI Serial Murder CaseAkemi Miyano's Time CapsuleChess Tournament Murder Case
    Anime Roller Coaster Murder CaseGame Company Murder CaseThe Black Organization: One Billion Yen Robbery CaseThe Girl from the Black Organization and the University Professor Murder CaseReunion with the Black OrganizationThe Gathering of the Detectives! Shinichi Kudo vs. Kaitou KidThe Mysterious PassengerThe Secret Rushed OmissionShinichi Kudo's New York CaseOn the Trail of a Silent WitnessContact with the Black OrganizationThe Four PorschesHidden Bathroom SecretHead-to-Head Match with the Black Organization: A Dual Mystery on a Full Moon NightBlack Impact! The Moment the Black Organization Reaches OutThe Shadow of the Black OrganizationClash of Red and BlackThe Crisis Beckoned by the Red OmenDetectives' NocturneThe Jet-Black Mystery TrainConan in a Locked RoomJodie's Memories and the Cherry Blossom Viewing TrapThe Scarlet ReturnThe Shadow Approaching Amuro (TV original) • The Unfriendly Girls BandThe Spirit Detective's MurderThe Betrayal's StageSearch for Maria-chan!The Birthday Party of Divine PunishmentYusaku Kudo's Detective ShowThe Black Organization's SchemeAkemi Miyano's Time Capsule
    Movies and Specials Countdown to HeavenTime Travel of the Silver SkyBlack HistoryThe Raven ChaserShinichi Kudo Returns! Confrontation with the Black OrganizationThe Darkest NightmareBlack Iron Submarine
    Special Manga The Wish Put on the AirshipThe Black Organization...RevealedProtect the Luxury Liner from the Virus
    Playstation Remembrance Treasure Case