Volume 7

Norikazu Sasai
	Author; Imatake's friend;

Satoru Imatake
	Victim (gunshot); Author/Novelist;

	Volume 7
	Information
Release date:	November 18, 1995
Chapters:
ISBN:	ISBN 4-09-123377-5
Publisher:	Shogakukan
English release date:	September 8, 2005
English ISBN:	ISBN 1-59116-978-X
English Publisher:	Viz Media
	Featured Detective & Keyhole
; Lieutenant Columbo	; Sango Yokomizo
	Aoyama's death & Conan side images

Chronology
‹ Volume 6	List of Chapters • List of Cases	Volume 8 ›

Volume 7 was released on November 18, 1995 in Japan.

Cast

Characters

Gadgets

Voice-Changing Bowtie

Stun-Gun Wristwatch

Tenkaichi Festival Case

Anime Episode 9: Tenkaichi Night Festival Murder Case

File 061 - The Photo Trap

People

Yamada
	Representative from Imatake's Publisher

Piano Sonata Case

Anime Episode 11: Moonlight Sonata Murder Case

File 062 - The Invitation To Tsukikage Island

A mysterious invitation.

Rather than take a vacation during Golden Week, Kogoro has been summoned by a strange letter and phone call from a man calling himself "Keiji Asou" to a small town on Tsukikage Island. When he, Ran, and Conan arrive, at first it seems as though Keiji Asou does not exist, until a man reacts badly to overhearing the name. He declares that Keiji was a famous pianist who committed suicide-murder ten years ago by setting his house on fire with himself, his wife, son and daughter trapped inside, and playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata until the blaze consumed him. Kogoro is dejected at the idea of an elaborate prank, but Conan suggests that since the anonymous client already paid, he likely wants them to investigate Keiji's death. Ran suggests asking the Mayor, who had been a friend of Keiji, for more information, and asks a woman (Narumi Asai) standing nearby where to find him.

During the conversation the looming mayoral election comes up, and Narumi explains the three candidates: Masato Shimizu , popular with the fisherman population of the island, Tatsuji Kuroiwa, the current mayor, and Hideo Kawashima, the island's richest inhabitant. All three should be at the community center, as the previous mayor, Isamu Kameyama, died exactly two years ago. As well as the candidates themselves, the mayors daughter, Reiko Kuroiwa, and her fiancee, Shuuichi Murasawa, are present to attend the memorial ceremony. When Kazuaki Hirata, the mayor's secretary, announces that a detective wishes to see Mayor Tatsuji, Tatsuji and Reiko both look shocked.

While Kogoro grumbles about the wait, Conan notices a piano in a nearby room that overlooks the ocean right outside. Ran notices how dirty the piano is, but Kazuaki stops her from touching it with the warning of a curse—not only is it the piano Keiji played the night of his suicide, but Kazuaki found Isamu at the piano, dead of a heart attack, just after hearing the Moonlight Sonata being played. Despite the tale, Conan plays the piano and notes how it remains in good shape. Kazuaki asks them to wait in the lobby until after the ceremony, where they find Narumi and Shimizu have just arrived. Narumi came to burn incense for Isamu because he was the first body that she inspected on Tsukikage Island. Also present at the ceremony is Ken Nishimoto, an old acquaintance of both Isamu and Kenji. Mayor Tatsuji privately accuses Hideo of hiring Kogoro to use against him, but Hideo dismisses it and steps out to the bathroom.

Still waiting, Conan wonders why someone would have been secretly tuning the "cursed" piano, and for what purpose, as well as what the mysterious letter that summoned Kogoro might mean. Suddenly, the sound of Moonlight Sonata fills the community center, and Conan rushes to the piano room only to find Hideo slumped at the piano, already dead as the song plays on.

File 063 - The Piano's Curse

Kogoro orders Ran to call the police and declares that Hideo's murder was planned, because a tape recorder hidden in the piano is playing the music just as it had for the previous mayor's death. Conan silently berates himself for not having realized the letter's meaning sooner while Narumi examines the body. Narumi declares the cause of death to be suffocation by drowning, which Conan supports by pointing out what looks like Hideo's jacket in the sea outside the music room. Since evidence points to Hideo having been drowned by someone in the community center, all the ceremony attendees are suspects. Narumi mentions that she went to the toilet soon after Hideo, but didn't see anyone suspicious. The remaining mayoral candidates accuse each other of killing Hideo, but Kogoro orders them to calm down.

Conan mentions that due to Hideo's size and build, his murderer was likely a man to have drowned him and dragged him into position so quickly. Kogoro wonders why risk using the piano; Kazuaki suggests the piano's curse, since Keiji donated it fifteen years ago. Kogoro discovers a piece of sheet music on the piano that hadn't been there before, the sight of which causes Ken Nishimoto to panic an run from the room. Kazuaki explains that Ken used to be rich and popular, but for the past two years he has become reclusive and seems afraid of something. Ken is an old friend of Tatsuji, though Tatsuji seems reluctant to confirm that they were.

Ran arrives with the islands only policeman, but due to the late hour, the guests are released home to be questioned in the morning. Reiko wishes the creepy piano would burn; Shuuichi agrees with a slightly creepy smile, which garners him a dark look from Kazuaki. After everyone else leaves, Narumi compliments Conan's intelligence and persuasiveness; Conan credits Kogoro to Narumi but privately is certain Kogoro has no chance of solving the case when even Conan is confused. As he ponders the murder, the music, and the letter mentioning that 'shadows will begin to vanish', Conan realizes with horror that Hideo's death is only the start.

File 064 - Left-Behind Music

With Conan's prompting, Kogoro realizes that the letter announces a set of serial murders. They return to the community center, as all three deaths were connected to the piano there. Ran notes that the sheet music left at the scene of the crime is for Moonlight Sonata; however, when she attempts to play it, they realize the notation has been modified into what might be a code, such as a dying message left by Hideo. A sudden noise startles the group, but it turns out to have been Narumi tracking them down to bring them some dinner. While eating, Narumi explains her position as a part-time doctor who visits family on the mainland on the weekends. She mentions that when the mayor died in the piano room, one of the windows was open, and when she point out which one, they see a shadowy figure standing outside. Kogoro and Conan give chase, assuming the culprit came back after the musical score, but the figure gets away. Kogoro plans to stay up all night standing watch, but wakes in the morning to discover Megure and a mainland investigation team have arrived while he was asleep. Megure has already been briefed by Conan, Ran and Narumi, who managed to stay awake but are now sleeping.

Megure and Kogoro go to the town hall to perform questioning while officers guard the community center. After all day tracking down and questioning most of the thirty-eight attendees, all that remain are those connected to the mayoral candidates. Kogoro says they'll question Narumi last, and she goes to freshen up in the bathroom. Kogoro thinks they'll find the killer once they decode the sheet music, but Conan knows that it was too complicated for a dying message and must have been left by the killer. Since the sight of the music frightened Ken, he is likely next. While Reiko is being questioned, Conan waits with Ran and Narumi and notices that Ken's questioning has finished, but he has yet to leave. When Ken finally walks away, Conan follows him upstairs; the second movement of Moonlight Sonata begins just as Conan catches up to Ken, who collapsed just outside the broadcasting room. Inside is the body of Mayor Tatsuji, fatally stabbed.

The police medical examiners already left the island, so Megure asks Narumi to examine the corpse. Conan privately vents his frustration at the cold-blooded, premeditated serial killing. Meanwhile, Narumi puts the time of death as less than ten minutes ago, corroborated by Megure's finding of only five minutes of blank tape before the Moonlight Sonata recording starts. Megure is confident the killer remains in the building, but all conjecture is interrupted by an officer discovering musical notation drawn on the floor underneath the corpse's chair.

File 065 - The Hellfire Secret

Kogoro thinks the bloody notes are another dying message, but Conan points out that Tatsuji could have left to get help if he'd had the strength for such a complicated message. Conan attributes this and the sheet music to the killer. Annoyed, Kogoro cuffs Conan with enough force to knock him into the message—but luckily, it's dry enough to not smudge. Kogoro shoos Conan off, and from the sidelines Conan gets another glimpse of Ken's terrified expression. Megure summons the remaining suspects: Ken, Narumi, Kazuaki, Reiko, and Masato. Reiko protests that she has an alibi for the time of the murder, which Ran realizes also rules out Narumi. Kazuaki tries to establish an alibi, but Masato can't corroborate it; Masato tries to do the same with Shuichi, but Shuichi denies that either of them were in the same place long enough to provide alibis. Ken says that Tatsuji asked to meet him in the broadcast room, and Megure remembers Tatsuji mentioning he had an appointment. Ken denies killing Tatsuji, but Kogoro doesn't believe him. However, Reiko interrupts by accusing Masato because with no political rivals, he will become the new mayor by default.

As the argument continues, Conan studies the musical code in puzzlement. Ran explains the way sharps and flats denote the keys on the piano keyboard, which inspires Conan to crack the code: "You understand... your turn is next.". Kogoro demands to know what the second message said, and Conan translates, "The hellfire's anger has burned away." Ken reacts with hysterical laughter and declares that Keiji Asou is still alive. The old police officer contradicts him, saying that Keiji and his wife and daughter were all identified in the ashes of the house; the only thing unburned was some sheet music in a safe. Kogoro and Megure speculate on a connection between that music and the case and send the officer to fetch the key to bring the music from the community center storeroom. Conan darts out to follow the policeman before Ran can stop him, and questions the officer about the details of Keiji's death. The three dead and Ken Nishimoto are the four witnesses to Keiji's suicide, and all five were old friends from piano school. The officer also mentions that Shuuichi first arrived three years ago, and Kazuaki had some unknown association with Hideo.

By the time the officer finds the key in the mess of the office, however, all the suspects have been released until the morning with the assumption no more murders will occur. Conan knows only two of the three movement of the sonata have been played, and rushes back to the community center. Ran and the officer follow; when they try to open the storeroom, Conan hears a noise from the piano room. Rushing in, he sees a shadowed figure standing over the piano and Shuichi on the ground. The figure escapes through the window, just as elsewhere, Ran screams.

File 066 - Blood-Stained Button

Conan runs back to the storeroom at Ran's scream--she and the police officer found Ken's body hung by a noose inside. The sound of a cassette player stopping alerts Conan that Ken must have died within the past 30-60 minutes. Ran notices sheet music on the floor Ken's feet, which turns out to say Ken committed suicide from the guilt of murdering the other two men in order to keep their secret. Megure and Kogoro assume the secret is related to Keiji and the missing sheet music, since Keiji taught the others the original code. The will also mentions a mysterious "demon's powder", but Megure states that with this suicide, the case should be closed.

Licking an unknown white powder is usually unwise.

Conan questions the suicide, pointing out both the lack of a chair or stool that would have allowed Ken to hang himself, and that a last will would be unlikely to be written in code. A killer in a hurry might have made some simple mistakes, however. Conan mentions the suspicious figure he saw on the piano room; Narumi has been taking care of the unconscious Shuuichi. Reiko is there when Megure, Conan and Kogoro arrive, and she accuses Masato of using attacking Shuuichi as well as the three murders, though she can't explain why Shuuichi was in the piano room himself. Conan finds an odd tool that Reiko snatches away on Shuuichi's behalf, though she doesn't know its function or why Shuuichi always carried it. Conan recognizes it as a tuning hammer for pianos and wonders what unknown specialty school Shuuichi attended. While the police re-summon the suspects, Conan investigates the piano where the mysterious figure had been doing something underneath. He finds a secret compartment under the piano and tastes the traces of white powder on the ground: it is cocaine. Back at the town hall, Megure reviews the case and the remaining suspects are Shuuichi, Kazuaki, an Masato. Something Conan can't define bothers him. An officer arrives with pictures from the Mayor's crime scene, which Conan sneaks a peek at as they are laid out for Megure to inspect later. Conan points out an odd shimmering light by the body that is present in one picture and then gone the next. Kogoro shoos Conan away, at which point Conan notices a fresh bandage on Kazuaki's hand. He follows Kazuaki to the vending machine for cigarettes and claims to see white powder on his sleeve; Kazuaki freaks out and drops his change, which contains many foreign coins. As Kazuaki returns inside, the police officer arrives with the Keiji's old sheet music. Conan decodes that they are addressed to Keiji's son, Seiji, who was ill and hospitalized when he was young. The name sparks a realization on Conan's mind and he rushes back to the recording studio, where the light he noticed before turns out to denote something is being played in reverse. In that moment, Conan realizes who the killer must be, why Hideo was left in the piano room, the reason for the coded messages, and the significance of "Moonlight Sonata".

File 067 - The Secret Of The Name!!

Kogoro had followed Conan up to the broadcast room, which gives Conan the perfect opportunity to dart Kogoro unconscious. Downstairs, Megure's pondering of the case and suspects is interrupted by Kogoro's voice coming from the broadcast speaker.

Show spoilers »

First, Conan explains that Kazuaki injured his hand escaping through the window after knocking out Shuuichi. Kazuaki has been using the piano to smuggle cocaine to Hideo, who was likely looking for the bag Kazuaki just reclaimed, when he was drowned and left at the piano. However, Kazuaki did not murder him, as he would not have wanted to risk a crime scene investigation finding the piano compartment. As for the murders:

Ken was killed and arranged via the storeroom window, but the will and the lack of an arranged step suggests the murderer left in a hurry after hearing someone else arrive. As such, Shuuichi's behavior does not match the killer either.
For Mayor Tatsuji's murder, the 5 minutes of blank space on the tape and Narumi's statement setting his time of death as minutes before he was found is contradicted by the fact that Conan did not smear the blood on the floor—human blood takes at least 15-30 minutes to dry. Playing the tape in reverse, with the blank side first, adds 30 minutes to the time of death.
The officers did not notice that reverse was pushed because the killer switched it off between the initial photo of the body and when the body was moved. The only person to approach the body, and in doing so provided a false time of death, was Narumi. Hideo's strange method of death, requiring autopsy on the mainland, was to create the chance to examine the Mayor's body herself and establish her alibi.

Last words.

Megure protests that as a woman, Narumi can't possibly have the strength to accomplish the murders. Conan ignores this to examine the motive, which stems from the fact that Keiji Asou did not commit suicide, but was murdered for trying to back out of the cocaine smuggling operation he and the other four now-dead men had been operating. They killed him and his family in an effort to keep the secret. Conan discovered this in the 12-year-old sheet music, which was a confession addressed to Keiji's son, Seiji—the true identity of Narumi Asai. As Megure processes the deception, an officer notices that Seiji is missing. Everyone runs directly to the community center, where the last link between father and son remains in the piano room, but it's too late—the entire community center is ablaze with a gasoline-fueled fire. Inside, Seiji embraces the piano and waits for the end. Despite the flames, Conan appears in the doorway and offers Keiji's last words, which ask Seiji "to live a full life". Conan tries to get Seiji to save himself in the small time remaining. Seiji confesses that if he'd learned the truth about Keiji through the will, rather than from a panicked confession from the old mayor that ended with his genuine heart attack, Seiji might not have thought of and gone through with the other three murders. Now, however, it's far too late for redemption or escape, as Seiji's hands are covered with blood. So saying, Seiji picks Conan up and throws him through the window to the safety of the grounds outside. Conan tries to run back in, but Ran restrains him just as music from the piano picks out a message in the code. Helpless, Conan can do nothing but watch and listen to the music of Seiji's farewell message. By morning the fire burns itself out; nothing remains. Shuuichi awakes and confesses he was a great admirer of Keiji, and secretly kept the piano in tune, while Kazuaki confesses to the drug smuggling and is arrested. On the boat ride home, Ran wonders why Kogoro was summoned, assuming it was a challenge after all. Conan responds that Seiji was probably trying to get someone to stop him. Ran then asks what the piano code said. Conan claims he doesn't remember, but Ran doesn't believe him; as she tries to get him to answer, he remembers: "Thank you, little detective."