Detective Conan: Is Miss Haibara planning to assault a police officer again today?

Although Ran Mouri and Kazuha Toyama are both considered tall among girls, they are still a head shorter than Ning Higashino.

He was already a tough, handsome guy, and now he's so dark-skinned. Kazuha Toyama involuntarily shrank closer to Ran Mouri and pointed in a direction.

"I remember it should be over there."

Ran Mouri, on the other hand, wasn't so intimidated. She looked puzzled and asked, "Why is Inspector Higashino asking this? Is there something strange about that young master Kikuto?"

Higashino Ning nodded, "Yes, Inspector Megure told them to wait in their own rooms for questioning, but he chose to leave alone at this time."

“Although this makes him seem more at peace with himself, as a police officer, I can’t help but suspect that he might be using this as an excuse to destroy some evidence.”

Higashino Ning chuckled, "Besides, he seemed a bit rushed just now, and I felt something was off."

As they were talking, he suddenly felt a pricking sensation in his back.

Looking back, he saw Hattori Heiji watching him from the balcony of the secret room.

As for his eyes... they're the classic anime-style jealous triangular eyes.

Ha, just a jealous brat from the Hattori family.

Higashino Ning thanked Toyama Kazuha and walked alone in the direction the other had pointed.

On the balcony of the enclosed room.

Seeing his best friend's expression, Conan said helplessly, "It can't be that bad, Hattori. They were just having a simple chat."

Hattori Heiji immediately retorted, "I didn't say anything. You're not trying to say I'm jealous, are you?"

He scoffed, "Please, it's Kazuha's freedom to chat with whomever she wants, it's none of my business."

"Did you find anything in this pile of broken glass?"

Conan, too lazy to argue with Heiji Hattori about love and romance, smiled confidently, picked up a piece of glass with his handkerchief, and said, "Ah, found it. There's a small hole in it. I think the locked room technique is no longer a problem."

Heiji Hattori's deductive reasoning skills are not much worse than Conan's; he immediately understood the situation after noticing the small hole in the glass.

It's still the classic fishing line technique.

Use and retrieve things like fishing line through small holes, and lock windows from the outside.

"Hey, it just so happens that this piece of glass broke, so we can narrow down the suspects a bit."

Hattori Heiji stroked his chin. "I remember the people who caused this glass to shatter were Morizono Kikuto and that agile maid, Sakuraba Yuuji, right?"

“Hmm.” Conan stood up. “He was provoked by Kikuto Morizono and punched him, and then Kikuto Morizono hit this glass.”

Blackie glanced downstairs and said, "It's irrational for a servant to attack the young master of the house, especially since he has the agility to jump directly from the balcony to the ground below."

"At present, it seems highly likely that he is the murderer."

This line of reasoning is flawless. Conan thought for a moment and continued, "However, the remaining doubts remain unanswered, and whether it's possible to jump from here to the ground floor also needs to be verified."

He looked at the dark-skinned man, "Why don't you try it first?"

Hattori Heiji was dumbfounded. "You want me to jump off from here?"

After sighing, he said helplessly, "Well, let's give it a try. Let's find a rope first."

...

the other side.

Higashino Ning has already walked a bit further along the path pointed out by Yuanshan and Yezhi.

Considering the time constraints, and the fact that Kikuto Morizono hadn't been panting heavily, he didn't set the exploration distance too far.

Then he suddenly noticed footprints further to his right.

"Did I go astray?"

Higashino Ning followed the footprints and continued exploring.

The footprints showed clear signs of going back and forth, and also circled around a tree.

"It seems like this is it."

Higashino Ning patted the tree in front of him and muttered to himself, while looking up at the same time, but he didn't see anything.

Let's go up and take a look.

Climbing trees was not difficult for him.

Higashino Ning quickly found a "cloth bag" by following the branches.

It was supposed to be a cloth bag, but it was actually a shirt, stained with blood.

Higashino Ning took off his soiled gloves and put on new ones, then untied the shirt that was tied with thin fishing line.

Loot: Bloodstained shirt x1, murder knife x1, gloves x1, fishing line x1

"This is the crime kit?"

Higashino Ning rewrapped and tied it up, just as Inspector Megure called.

"Where have you run off to again, you little rascal?"

The officer in the hat didn't sound very fierce, because after Higashino Ning ran away and disappeared last time, he returned with the criminal.

Having experience naturally leads to a better attitude.

What if Higashino Ning gives him another surprise?

There really was a surprise.

Higashino Ning held the phone to his ear with his shoulder. "Inspector, I've found the murder weapon. I'll be right back."

Inside the villa.

Inspector Megure was overjoyed. "Really?! Higashino-kun?!"

After receiving a definite reply once again, he couldn't help but clench his fists and celebrate on the spot.

It has to be Brother Higashino!

My luck has turned around! It really has turned around!

Brother Takagi...it's better if we keep some boundaries between us in the future, I'm afraid Brother Higashino will misunderstand!

After hanging up the phone, Inspector Megure announced to everyone, "Good news! The murder weapon has been found!"

Kikuto Morizono shuddered immediately after being questioned, his eyes filled with terror.

That's how it was found?

He just checked, and it clearly didn't fall from the tree!

Hmm... don't panic, the escape room problem hasn't been solved yet.

Heiji Hattori and Conan also subconsciously glanced at Kikuto Morizono and Yuji Sakuraba.

Unfortunately, their first focus was on Yuji Sakuraba, and by the time they changed their target, Kikuto Morizono's expression had returned to normal.

"Kudo, there shouldn't be any fingerprints on the murder weapon. I think we should start from the perspective of a locked room."

"Yes, and right now there is indeed no crucial evidence to identify the murderer."

"What a pity. It looks like the murder weapon was hidden very well. If we had found it, we could have tricked the murderer, or caught him red-handed when he went to retrieve the weapon."

Conan did not respond further.

Well, it is indeed a bit of a pity, but the fact that the police found the murder weapon is hardly a mistake.

The room did not fall silent; Kogoro Mouri continued his steady chatter with Inspector Megure.

Soon, Higashino Ning returned with the crime set.

He received a commendation from Inspector Megure as soon as he entered.

Higashino Ning unfolded all the items in front of everyone and then put them into the evidence bag one by one. "Inspector, did the private questioning yield any results?"

"Sigh...no." Inspector Megure shook his head. "The secret chamber technique hasn't been solved yet, but there's a small hole in one of the shattered pieces of glass over there."

"The forensic team has already looked through it and found nothing unusual."

Higashino Ning was completely dumbfounded. "This... this can be called nothing strange?"

You must be kidding me!

To highlight the detective's abilities, are all the police officers really just idiots?

Inspector Megure blinked. "What's strange?"

Chapter 52 Higashino Begins His Deduction

Higashino Ning closed his eyes, pursed his lips, took a deep breath, and after calming his emotions, slowly got up.

He pointed to the fishing line in the evidence bag and said, "I don't think a perfectly round hole would appear on anyone's window for no reason."

"Not to mention that the glass just happened to shatter."

Higashino Ning walked to the window. "Put the fishing line on the latch, then extend the line through the small round hole to the outside balcony. This way, you can lock it from the inside and retrieve the fishing line."

"And so, a simple secret room is complete."

Upon hearing this, Inspector Megure was immediately astonished and demanded that the forensic team immediately replicate it to see if it was feasible.

That's certainly possible.

Hattori Heiji leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, chuckling, "This officer isn't bad; he figured out the locked-room mystery in no time."

Conan raised an eyebrow. "What, has your opinion changed? I told you he's not simple."

It only took about half a minute, and Higashino Ning's method was proven to be feasible.

Like an excited child, Inspector Megure praised Higashino Ning without reservation, "Brother Higashino, you're really amazing! I never knew you were so smart!"

Higashino Ning: "......"

Am I really that smart?

This is clearly because you guys are too stupid!

Of course, it might be a bit impolite to say that, but Inspector Megure is a really good policeman.