Ke Xue: Shinichi and I are childhood friends.

Hattori Heizo folded his arms across his chest and pondered, "Sekine and Ooka both received the karuta emails, but Mr. Yajima didn't."

At this time, Yuya said: "No, there was also a message left on karuta at the scene where Mr. Yajima was murdered."

"After killing Mr. Yajima, the murderer also left behind the karuta that Nagoro was good at as a clue, but Mr. Sekine, who arrived later, destroyed the scene and concealed this clue."

Hattori Heizo thought for a moment and understood the reasoning. "So, Mr. Sekine saw the clues left at the scene and thought it was Nagoro's doing. So, to conceal his master's crime, he destroyed the scene and attempted to fake a robbery?"

Achiha was surprised: "You mean, Sekine arrived at the scene before the police?"

Toyama Ginjiro nodded. "Yes, that possibility is very high."

What is most suspicious is that Sekine accurately stated that Yajima was beaten to death without seeing the body, rather than being hacked or stabbed to death.

There are two possibilities. One is that Yajima was killed by Sekine, and the other is that Sekine went to the scene in advance.

Yuya stood up and projected the information on his phone onto the large screen in the conference room.

"I asked someone to analyze the bloodstains at the scene to find out how the karuta cards were arranged at the time of the crime."

A whole screen of karuta appeared on the screen.

"Look carefully. The bloodstains on the right are clearly visible. They are from Mr. Yajima, who dropped the karuta on the ground. But the ones on the left are from karuta that were originally clean, but were intentionally stained with blood to blend in with the other cards."

"Finally, based on these bloodstains, we can infer that the karuta Mr. Yajima was holding before his death was this..."

Yuya tapped the screen twice and brought out the karuta card.

The mountain stream splashes and flows under the red autumn maple leaves.

There is no intention to block the flow of water, it is still like a dam.

Seeing this karuta, Achiha shouted, "Yes, this is also the karuta that Nagoro is good at!"

Yuya clicked the screen again and put all the karuta cards that appeared in several incidents on the screen.

"From the beginning, Nichimi TV, Mr. Yajima, Mr. Sekine, and the karuta that Ms. Momiji received, the common point of these karuta is that they all use the content of Momiji. As President Achiha said, these are all karuta that Nagoro excels at."

Hattori Heizo said in a deep voice: "It seems that the criminal must be Nagoro Shikao!"

Leave the police headquarters.

Achiha and Yuya were temporarily traveling together. He said with deep emotion, "I can't believe it. Were all these things really done by Nagoro?"

Yuya: "Based on the current situation analysis, it is indeed the case."

Achiha sighed deeply: "How could this be..."

At this time, Hattori Heiji said in a heavy tone: "What worries me even more is that Nagoro is good at using karuta cards, and there are a total of six of them!"

Achiha turned back in confusion: "What does this mean?"

Conan explained: "It means that there are still two of Momiji's karuta cards left that have not been used."

Hattori Heiji continued, "If he used karuta to identify himself when committing the crime, shouldn't he have left two unused?"

Achiha was stunned for a moment, then his expression changed: "Could it be that besides Sekine and Ooka, there are other people?"

Hattori Heiji said solemnly, "The question is who the remaining two karuta cards are targeting. If we don't figure this out, it will be difficult to prevent Nagoro's next crime."

Achiha was very impressed and said, "You guys are amazing! If it were you, you would probably be able to stop Nagoro's next crime before the police do."

Hattori Heiji looked at Achiha and asked seriously, "For this, we also need more information. So, what happened between you and Nagoro five years ago?"

Achiha was silent, seemingly lost in his memories. After a moment, he shook his head and said, "I've already told you everything I know. As for the rest... I'm sorry."

"Is that so?" The three were a little disappointed. The only source of information did not have any information, and the investigation suddenly had no direction.

At this time, Achiha's assistant drove over, and Achiha and Yuya said goodbye and left.

Conan watched the car leave and suddenly asked his two friends: "I don't know why, but I always feel like he's hiding something."

Hattori Heiji lowered his head: "Do you feel the same way?"

Conan nodded, "I feel like something's wrong, but I can't place it."

Yuya glanced at the time and said, "Never mind, it's getting late, let's go back and rest."

"Also, Hattori, have you forgotten something very important?"

Hattori Heiji looked at Yuya blankly: "What?"

···

In the hotel, Mao Lilan held a karuta card in her hand blankly, lost in memories.

Before returning from shopping today, Mao Lilan learned from Miyano Shiho that Ooka Momiji was caught in the explosion and went to the hospital for a physical examination.

So she thought about going over to visit and return the ID box to Ooka Momiji.

I met the person in the hospital smoothly.

When returning the things, Mao Lilan couldn't help but ask about the pinky promise photo of Xiao Heiji and Xiao Hongye.

Speaking of this photo, Ooka Momiji fell into memories with a happy and shy smile on her face.

It was during a karuta competition when they were children. Ooka Momiji cried uncontrollably because she lost the game. At that time, Koheiji comforted her and said that he would marry her the next time they met.

Although in Mao Lilan's view, this is just a children's agreement and it has no validity at all.

But that's not the case in Ooka Hongye's opinion.

"As a man, you should keep your word."

The rapids shattered the rocks, and the two were helplessly separated.

We will meet sooner or later, with deep worries and desires.

The waka sung by Ooka Momiji still echoes in Maori Ran's ears.

"I have always believed that even if he and I are not together, our hearts are connected."

Ran Mouri felt that she was wrong and that she should have stood on the side of Toyama Kazuha, but looking at the expression of firm belief on Ooka Momiji's face, Ran Mouri couldn't find any words to refute for a moment.

Is this how she has always believed in Hattori, from childhood until now? Mao Lilan was shocked.

In a trance, she seemed to see the days when she had been waiting anxiously before Shinichi disappeared.

But compared to myself who only waited for a few months and finally found that my sweetheart was always by my side, Ooka Momiji has been guarding this promise for more than ten years!

"Lan, Xiaolan!"

Suddenly, the call of Toyama and Ye brought Mao Lilan back to reality from her memories.

"What's wrong?" she asked subconsciously.

Yuanshan and Ye Xiaoxiao complained: "What, what? You've been in a daze a lot since you came back from Osaka. What happened?"

Mao Lilan forced a smile: "No, nothing. By the way, how is the karuta practice going?"