Hattori Heiji and Edogawa Conan rushed back first.
Mouri Kogorou, a current detective and former police officer, was half a beat slower but also ran over behind them.
Mouri Ran and Toyama Kazuha were still standing in place, instinctively reaching out: "Wait, wait..."
Before they could finish speaking, the figures had already run out of sight.
Both girls felt a bit dejected, then turned their heads to see Usuha Izuki.
Mouri Ran: "...? Um, Usuha-nii, you're also a detective, right? Aren't you going over there?"
Toyama Kazuha also looked at Usuha Izuki curiously.
Being able to chat so enthusiastically with Hattori Heiji, he must also be a reasoning enthusiast, right? How could he stay so composed at a time like this?
Usuha Izuki smiled at the two girls: "With something like this happening, it's too dangerous for you two to be left alone. I'll stay by your side so those who ran off can have peace of mind."
"Usuha-nii..."
Mouri Ran and Toyama Kazuha were inexplicably moved.
Compared to those guys who suddenly abandoned them and ran off without a trace, Usuha-nii, who was clearly also interested in solving cases but forced himself to stay behind, seemed so mature and reliable!
Toyama Kazuha couldn't help but persuade: "It's okay, Ran and I can both fight well. Please go solve the case, Usuha-nii!"
Usuha Izuki explained: "Those few going there is enough. I'm actually not that interested in solving cases. After all, I'm several years older than you, so when a case occurs, I should still look after the kids."
Mouri Ran felt embarrassed: "We're not kids anymore..."
"Alright, didn't Heiji just tell us to find those three suspects and have them stay in their rooms without moving?" Usuha Izuki waved his hand. "Let's go."
System: [You can find so many excuses just to avoid running...]
Usuha Izuki: [Can you go on mute! You can't help with anything, just criticizing me all day!]
Actually, when Hattori Heiji invited him to this banquet, he hadn't remembered what case this was. He simply wanted to be quite late to farm some suspicion values from Hattori Heiji—even if it was just suspicion about whether he actually came or not, that was still suspicion values!
But later he looked up the banquet organizers online and discovered they were three sports stars, which reminded him that one of them was Kudo Shinichi's idol, so he knew what would happen today.
If he remembered correctly, Edogawa Conan initially wouldn't admit his idol was the culprit and tried hard to find excuses for him, even making Hattori Heiji notice something was wrong...
Usuha Izuki casually led the two girls, who could already serve as detective assistants, to explain the situation to the three suspects while waiting for the police to arrive.
Hattori Heiji and Edogawa Conan had also finished examining the body and crime scene, entering the reasoning phase.
Seeing Usuha Izuki walking over leisurely to look at the corpse, Hattori Heiji was startled, remembering that this time there weren't just two reliable detectives—him and Edogawa Conan—but Usuha-nii was also amazing.
So Hattori Heiji quietly asked Edogawa Conan: "Should we discuss this with Usuha-nii too?"
Edogawa Conan nodded.
He had cooperated with Hattori Heiji to solve cases so many times, but hadn't really cooperated with Usuha-nii... Recalling how Usuha-nii directly flipped the table on the culprit at the barbecue restaurant and even pulled out what might have been a model or toy gun to threaten someone, he felt speechless.
Hattori Heiji went over to Usuha Izuki: "How is it, Usuha-nii? Do you have any thoughts about this dying message?"
Usuha Izuki: "Mm, I already know who the culprit is."
Hattori Heiji: "..."
Usuha Izuki: "But since I haven't been to the crime scene yet, I'm not clear on the method... But knowing the culprit works too. Do you need me to tell you?"
Hattori Heiji gritted his teeth: "No need!"
At this point, police came to understand the situation, and Hattori Heiji normally described the three suspects and the victim's circumstances.
Since the victim was a reporter who had just been disrupting the banquet and liked digging up scandals, and the three sports stars here had all been made miserable by him, they were the most heavily suspected.
The police thought the same way.
But Edogawa Conan held a different opinion: "But all three of them won their lawsuits against that reporter! And among so many people, only they won. I think they have no reason to kill that reporter!"
Hattori Heiji: "..." Something's wrong! Kudo is off today!
Usuha Izuki asked with a smile: "Conan-kun, is there someone you like among these three people?"
Edogawa Conan hesitated, then didn't deny it: "...I like Ray Curtis."
As he spoke, he unconsciously observed Usuha Izuki's expression.
He still remembered—Usuha Izuki had just said he already knew who the culprit was...
"I see." Usuha Izuki's expression didn't change, still wearing that smiling look. "It would be good if he wasn't the culprit."
Edogawa Conan's heart immediately sank.
He had already run the route once earlier. Considering that just seconds after the gunshot, all three of them stuck their heads out of their rooms to look outside, and those three rooms were all some distance from the crime scene, there wouldn't be enough time to run back and forth.
All those onlookers outside were witnesses.
But because of Usuha Izuki's subtle behavior at this moment, an ominous premonition arose in his heart, so Edogawa Conan didn't want to waste any more time and continued investigating the routes those three people took to the crime scene to see if there were any details he'd missed before.
After investigating the switches in a certain room, Edogawa Conan turned around and met a pair of light green eyes.
Edogawa Conan was so startled he almost reflexively shot out his tranquilizer needle.
Usuha Izuki was leaning against the doorway, looking at him thoughtfully: "Mm... has Conan-kun discovered anything?"
"Well, nothing much really, just helping Heiji-niisan and Uncle Mouri check things out." Edogawa Conan made dry excuses with a forced laugh.
Usuha Izuki tilted his head: "Eh? You've been a famous detective's assistant for so long, yet you don't have any thoughts of your own? When I was your age... never mind."
Edogawa Conan: "............"
If you're going to say "never mind" then don't bring it up! What's with the sudden provocation method!
But didn't he find it strange talking about these things with an elementary school student? What level did Usuha-nii think elementary students should reach?!
Hattori Heiji quickly came over to smooth things over: "Is Usuha-nii here to investigate the method?"
"No, I'm just a bit worried about Conan-kun." Usuha Izuki sighed.
Now the already bad premonition became even more obvious.
Rather, this was basically stating outright who the culprit was.
But Edogawa Conan still didn't want to admit it.
He argued internally that although Usuha-nii was amazing, he couldn't be completely error-free, right? He had only seen the crime scene and hadn't investigated anything else at all, so making mistakes would be normal!
Maybe Usuha-nii's deduction was wrong?
Usuha Izuki crouched down to be at eye level with Edogawa Conan: "I heard from Ran that Conan-kun is very smart and has always wanted to become a detective, right? It's not good to ignore problems in the reasoning process just because of personal preferences."
Edogawa Conan stepped back: "No, I..."
"I said it earlier, didn't I? When the lights were turned on just now, it was really perfect for creating an alibi."
"But..."
Hattori Heiji had actually already noticed that Edogawa Conan's behavior was very wrong, but hearing Usuha Izuki being so aggressive with an attitude of "tonight I'm going to kill a child's dreams," he couldn't help but step forward and pat Usuha Izuki's shoulder.
"Usuha-nii, he's still just a child! Don't force him! I'm the one solving the case! He's just helping."
Hearing Hattori Heiji's words of rescue, Edogawa Conan bit down hard.
No, he wasn't a child anymore.
Usuha-nii was right. If he was a qualified detective, he couldn't let personal preferences influence his reasoning!
This time it was just his favorite idol, and he was already acting like his head had been muddled. What if it were his acquaintances or friends committing crimes in the future?
He should mature a bit too.
...But he couldn't show it in front of Usuha-nii. After all, Usuha-nii didn't know he was Kudo Shinichi yet, so he had to continue acting like a child.
Edogawa Conan laughed dryly: "Haha, Usuha-nii is right. I'm really lacking in ability, unwilling to suspect my idol. I can't compare to Uncle Mouri. But I'm just a kid, so making this kind of mistake is normal."
Usuha Izuki gently patted Edogawa Conan's head and suddenly asked:
"If I were the culprit, would you treat me the same way you're treating Ray Curtis today?"
Edogawa Conan blurted out: "How could that be possible!"
Hattori Heiji: "..."
Usuha Izuki: "..."
System: [Too filial, you should reflect on this.]
Usuha Izuki: [...He says that with his mouth, but he'll still make excuses for me in his heart! Just wait and see!]
—Once the Vermouth = Sharon thing is exposed, his suspicion values will definitely come flooding in!