Grabbing Karuta Cards in Dire Straits

Chronology
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Episode 642-643 (Int. Episode {{{int-episode}}})
Information
Title:	Grabbing Karuta Cards in Dire Straits
Japanese title:	カルタ取り危機一髪 (Karuta Tori Kiki Ippatsu)
Original airdate:	January 7, 2012 (Part 1) January 14, 2012 (Part 2)
Season:	20
Manga source:	Volume 72: Files 8-10 (759-761)
Case
Cast:	Conan Edogawa Ai Haibara Detective Boys Ran Mouri Kogoro Mouri Wataru Takagi
Case solved by:	Conan Edogawa Ai Haibara
Next Conan's Hint:	Horsehair crab (Part 1) Napkin (Part 2)
Staff
Director:	Koujin Ochi
Organizer:	Seiki Taichuu
Storyboard:	Seiki Taichuu
Episode director:	642 Shigeru Yamazaki 643 Kouichirou Kuroda
Animation director:	642 Akio Kawamura, Masanori Hashimoto 643 Michitaka Yamamoto, Katsumi Hashimoto
Music
Opening song:	Miss Mystery
Closing song:	Your Best Friend

Cast

Characters
Ai Haibara Conan Edogawa Ayumi Yoshida Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya Genta Kojima Ran Mouri Kogoro Mouri Wataru Takagi

Gadgets

Gadgets
Power-Enhancing Kick Shoes Stun-Gun Wristwatch Anywhere Ball Dispensing Belt

Case

Situation

Part 1

Waking up with a fever, Conan reluctantly stays in bed while Haibara and the Detective Boys begin to play Karuta Cards. Mitsuhiko video calls to check why Conan is not with them. Suddenly, the door bell and repetitive knocks are at the front of Ayumi's apartment. A strange boy with slanted eyes, widow's peak, and glasses stands panting and begging for help. "Naturally," his "parents" come and pick him up from the door step and tell the detective boys it was only a prank and not to worry about it. Still video chatting, Conan explains that it was not a prank and that they should call Takagi. Conan hangs up and rest in bed. The Detective Boys are debating whether to listen to Conan or not because of his cold. In the end, Haibara and the Detective Boys walk around the building and ask the neighbors about the Urafune family. But all it leads up to going to the condo itself.

Kidnapping
	Location: Condo Victims: Masao Urafune and Mrs. Urafune Suspects: Man and the woman

To come up with an excuse, Haibara says that they want to play with Masao, and push their way in to the apartment. Genta needs to use the restroom but it seems to be occupied, so Masao's "mom" tells him that he can use the back one. Slowly the Karuta game progresses, and so does the atmosphere in the room.

Part 2

By the time Masao picks his card, Genta just so happens to want the same one, nevertheless Masao is completely reluctant to give his card away. While the Detective Boys find that strange, Haibara takes notes on his behavior of their new companion. And as the game continues, the "Mother" reads the cards aloud reluctantly. With the cards gathered and in place Masao says, "Mommy, restroom!" She replies, "It cant be helped. I'll go with you." Leaving his final clue, Masao says, "Bring my towel! I can't go without it!" You know, the towel (ta o ru) with a horsehair crab (Ke ga ni) from Lake Suwa (su wa ko).

People

Masao Urafune
	Victim (kidnapped) Boy

Man
	Kidnapper

Woman
	Kidnapper

Mrs. Urafune
	Victim (kidnapped) Masao Urafune's mother

Ueno
	Witness

Otsuka
	Witness Hates Masao Urafune

Resolution

  Show spoilers »

After a while of thinking, Haibara figures it out, and announces that Conan was right. She realized that Masao had been only going for certain Karuta cards in order to spell out a message. Another clue was that he had asked his "mom" to take him to the bathroom, he said nonsensical phrase. Little do they know that there is a cell phone that is listing to their every word that the "mom" left behind. Masao's fake parents congratulate the kids for figuring most of it out, then brutally tell them that they stop there. At that moment, the post office man rings and tells them they need to bring up a package, the adults agree and tell the kids to hush. When the door opens, they hear a struggle and a fall. Masao's fake dad walks over to the door and is hit with a soccer ball. Takagi, takes orders from Conan, who had deduced the circumstances of the whole situation. Including the tax evasion status. Conan knew right away that the couple with Masao were not his biological parents because Masao had a widows peak, a triangular piece of hair in the middle of the forehead while the two did not which is not genetically possible. He found it suspicious that the couple had been acting like his biological parents when they were not.

The two kidnappers, were trying to destroy evidence pertaining to tax evasion. The sender of that registered mail was the previous resident of Masao's apartment. The one named Uemura, who was a former employee of the Isobe Corporation, now is under suspicion of tax evasion. The contents of the registered mail were probably whistleblower documents, or account books with evidence of tax evasion. The documents were sent not too long ago to the producer at Nichiuri TV, Hida. The employee planned to move and go into hiding. But Hida ended up in a coma due to a car accident, and couldn't receive the registered mail as he was hospitalized. Since the post office holds on to the mail for more or less ten days, the kidnappers calculated the time of its return and plotted to pose as Uemura who had lived here before in order to snatch away the registered mail. Uemura is either confined somewhere else, or has been murdered. They also made it look like the accident with the TV producer. In the end, Conan saves the day and ends the case with everyone else catching his cold.

See also

• Season 20