The Partner is Santa-san

Chronology
‹ The Eyewitness Who Did Not See	List of Episodes	Murderous Intent Raining on an Outdoor Spa ›

Episode 566 (Int. Episode {{{int-episode}}})
Information
Title:	The Partner is Santa-san
Japanese title:	相棒はサンタさん (Aibō wa Santa-san)
Original airdate:	February 27, 2010
Season:	19
Manga source:	TV Original
Case
Cast:	Conan Edogawa Ran Mouri Kogoro Mouri Wataru Takagi Detective Chiba
Case solved by:	Conan Edogawa
Next Conan's Hint:	Towel
Staff
Director:	Koujin Ochi
Screenplay:	Takeo Ohno
Storyboard:	Seiki Taichuu
Episode director:	Kouichirou Kuroda
Animation director:	Michitaka Yamamoto Masashi Hasegawa
Voice Cast: Minami Takayama as Conan Edogawa Wakana Yamazaki as Ran Mouri Rikiya Koyama as Kogoro Mouri Wataru Takagi as Wataru Takagi Isshin Chiba as Detective Chiba Rie Kugimiya as Santa Ishikawa Sayaka Ohara as Shigeko Ishikawa Yōsuke Akimoto as Toshihiko Yamanaka Masaharu Satō as Riki Kurata Shinapachi Tsuji as Sweet Potatoes Courier Hiro Shimono as Minoru Morikawa
Music
Opening song:	As the Dew
Closing song:	Hello Mr. my yesterday

Cast

Characters
Conan Edogawa Ran Mouri Kogoro Mouri Wataru Takagi 100px Detective Chiba

Gadgets

Gadgets
Power-Enhancing Kick Shoes Turbo Engine Skateboard Anywhere Ball Dispensing Belt

Case

Situation

A beautiful widow named Shigeko Ishikawa is being stalked by an unknown man, who has hung around her house and tried to push her down a public stair. Kogoro is walking around the streets and sees the last incident, and Shigeko hires him to find said stalker before they actually hurts her and her two-year-old child, Santa. Since Ran is training with the team Conan is forced to watch over Santa; for his very young age, however, Santa turns out to be very hyperactive and sociable, so Conan has difficulties keeping up with such a child. In few hours he has escaped from Conan's grasp several times, nearly reached the streets to see the cars, drawn on the walls and windows of the Mouri Detective Agency...

Ishikawa is later kidnapped by the unknown man. Kogoro believes it's a stalker with a crush and talks to Chiba and Takagi about that. In the meantime, Conan and Santa go to Santa's home in order to search for clues. With the help of a neighbor, they find out about some birds - specially the white-eye bird.

Kidnapping
	Location: Toshihiko Yamanaka's pet shop Hostage: Shigeko Ishikawa Suspects: Unknown culprit

Conan finds a feather of a White-eye bird and learns that Santa has been giving away figurines to people in the neighborhood, including some shaped as birds. Conan realizes what the culprit's motive is after learning about the endangered counterpart of the White-eye, the Black-eye. At the same time, it turns out that another neighbor of the Ishikawas seems to be in shady deals...

People

Santa Ishikawa
	2 years old Shigeko Ishikawa's child

Shigeko Ishikawa
	30 years old Santa's mother

Minoru Moriwaki
	22 years old Beika University School of veterinary medicine student

Toshihiko Yamanaka
	Pet Shop Yamanaka management

Resolution

  Show spoilers »

File:EP566 Kurata.jpg

Kurata attempts to steal the bird.

Santa takes Conan to the house of the man where a White-eye figurine was placed. Conan reads a note and realizes the culprit is at an abandoned pet store, the one that he owns and where he keeps Shigeko hostage.

At the store, Conan confronts the culprit, Toshihiko Yamanaka. He reveals that Yamanaka was intending to sell a Black-eye living bird that he found, an extremely rare bird worth thousands of yens, in the black market; he kidnapped Santa's mother when he perceived the White-eye figurine to be a threat and believed that she and Santa were aware of the bird's existence.

Yamanaka says that his pet store was broke and he was so desperate that, when he found the black-eyed bird and captured it, he thought he'd be able to sell it well and clear his debts. He adds that he was sure Shigeko and Santa had realised what was going on, and Santa giving him the black-eye figurine was a warning from them. Conan clears the misunderstanding and explains Santa gave him the figurine in as a friendly gesture, since he's a fan of Santa as in Santa Claus and loves giving things to everyone. Yamanaka realizes he did a horrible thing and is driven to tears, so he releases Shigeko and prepares to turn himself in, saying that he will be a good man from then on and become worthy of little Santa's friendship.

The dealer Kurata, whom Yamanaka has organized a meeting with, doesn't share the idea. When Conan asks Yamanaka why did he push Shigeko down the stairs, he says it wasn't him... Then, Kurata attempts to steal the bird and takes little Santa as a hostage. Conan's sleeping darts are stuck in his watch after having struggled with Yamanaka earlier so he cannot 'tranquilize' Kurata, who gets ready to escape dfespite poor Shigeko's tearful pleas and Yamanaka trying to interfere... but when the baby bites his kidnapper's arm and is released, Conan takes the chance to use his Power Shoes and kick a ball into him, knocking out and apprehending the dealer. Kurata is charged and jailed, and while Yamanaka won't get scot free for his kidnapping of Shigeko, his desperate circumstances will help him get a lighter punishment and the redemption he wants.

Later that day, it is revealed that Santa's real name is Haruka Ishikawa and that she is a little girl. Ran put a hair ribbon on Haruka and says she knew it all along because the little girl hugged her at the start of the episode, and she did it in a way that's more typical of baby girls (with their whole bodies) than of baby boys (only with their arms). Conan also knows by that point... but because he had to go into the bathroom with little Haruka at some point, which gave him a shock.

See also

• Season 19