Chapter 24: The Laws of Conan

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“Hello, everyone. My name is Yoshimi Watanabe. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The short-haired beauty sitting beside Katsuhiko Minagawa noticed how awkward Toshihide Wakamatsu looked and smiled as she came to his rescue. Then she turned toward Haruaki Suzuki and Conan and asked curiously, “Wakamatsu, who are these two little boys?”

“My name is Haruaki Suzuki. I’m Sonoko’s little brother. This is Conan Edogawa. You could say he’s Ran’s little brother.”

Before Toshihide Wakamatsu could answer, Haruaki Suzuki slipped an arm around Conan’s shoulders and introduced himself with a grin.

“Haruaki Suzuki?” Katsuhiko Minagawa furrowed his brow. “I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before.”

“Now that you mention it, I think I’ve heard it recently too. How strange. Why can’t I remember where?” Kaori Sekiya also wore a thoughtful expression as she tried to recall.

“Brother Katsuhiko, were you just talking about Haruaki Suzuki? I thought I heard you mention Haruaki Suzuki.”

A childish voice came from inside the room. A little boy of four or five, with a bowl cut, came running out on his short legs.

“That’s it! I remember now. The author of the manga I bought for Hajime was named Haruaki Suzuki, wasn’t he?” Seeing the little boy reminded Kaori Sekiya where she had heard the name.

“Is this Mr. Minagawa’s little brother? He’s adorable!” Ran Mouri said with a smile as she gently stroked the boy’s bowl cut.

Sonoko Suzuki’s eyes shifted as though she had thought of something. The corners of her lips rose slightly as she asked the boy, “Little one, do you like reading Pokémon manga?”

“Yeah! Do you like Pokémon too, big sister? Pikachu is my favorite Pokémon.”

Sonoko Suzuki looked extremely pleased with herself. “Then you’ve asked the right person. You know, the Pokémon manga was actually drawn by my little brother.”

As long as Haruaki became friends with Mr. Minagawa’s little brother, I’d have an excuse to spend more time around Mr. Minagawa.

And then, being so close by, I might just get there first. Oh ho ho ho…

Everyone present stared in disbelief. Kaori Sekiya could not help questioning it. “Really? Miss Suzuki, your little brother is still so young. How could he possibly be the author of Pokémon?”

“That’s because Haruaki is a genius at drawing. He already displayed extraordinary artistic talent when he was four, so Father hired several art teachers especially for him. He began creating Pokémon when he was six.”

Looking at the astonished expressions on everyone’s faces, Sonoko Suzuki was especially proud of herself.

Conan raised his hand. “I can testify to that. I sit next to Haruaki in class. I’ve personally seen him draw the original illustrations for countless Pokémon entries. He really is incredibly talented.”

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Although Pokémon had become one of the most popular anime series of the moment thanks in no small part to the Suzuki Corporation’s extensive publicity and promotion, the main reason for its success was that it had the potential to become a huge hit all on its own.

It was not only elementary school children who enjoyed it. Even high school girls like Ran Mouri and the others were very fond of watching Pokémon.

After recovering from her surprise, Kaori Sekiya could not help sighing with admiration. “You really are amazing, little one. When I was your age, I was still playing house!”

Haruaki Suzuki smiled bashfully. “It’s nothing special.”

“Big brother, could you sign this for me? I really, really love Pokémon.” The bowl-cut boy had also understood who Haruaki Suzuki was and eagerly sidled up beside him.

“Of course.”

“That’s wonderful! Wait here for a moment, big brother.”

The boy ran excitedly back into the room and returned with a newly purchased Pokémon manga and a marker, which he handed to Haruaki Suzuki.

Scratch, scratch, scratch…

Haruaki Suzuki took the manga and skillfully wrote his signature on the blank page at the front.

“Thank you, big brother! I’ll treasure this manga like it’s a priceless possession.”

“Sorry to keep everyone waiting. The main course is ready!”

A gentle voice rang out, and a beautiful woman in a pale violet kimono emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray laden with food.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry to trouble you today, Auntie.”

Toshihide Wakamatsu hurried to his feet, took the tray from her, and arranged the dishes neatly on the table.

“Auntie? Then you must be Mr. Minagawa’s mother. You look so young!” Sonoko Suzuki exclaimed in surprise.

“My, aren’t you a sweet talker?” The woman in violet covered her mouth and chuckled softly before gesturing invitingly to everyone. “Please, don’t be shy. Make yourselves at home, and be sure to enjoy yourselves.”

Haruaki Suzuki rubbed his slightly rumbling stomach, tugged on Ran Mouri’s sleeve, and said, “Big sister Ran, I want some of those grilled shrimp.”

“All right. I’ll put some on your plate. Eat slowly, and be careful—it’s hot.”

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“Big sister Ran, I want some too!” Conan refused to be outdone. He moved close to Ran Mouri and began pleading in his childish voice.

“All right. I’ll get some for you too.”

“Miss Mouri is truly so gentle…”

Toshihide Wakamatsu had feelings for Ran Mouri. Seeing this, he felt that she radiated the brilliance of a perfect wife and loving mother, and his heart nearly melted.

She really was an angel.

Unfortunately for Toshihide Wakamatsu, he had no idea whether the two little brats were doing it intentionally or not, but they had surrounded Ran Mouri from either side, making it impossible for him to get close to her.

Haruaki Suzuki paid no attention to what anyone else was thinking. While eating the fragrant grilled shrimp, he desperately tried to recall the events of this part of the story.

If Haruaki Suzuki’s guess was correct, then the victim in this case should be Katsuhiko Minagawa.

Based on Haruaki Suzuki’s observations, Katsuhiko Minagawa was handsome, but his personality was rather unpleasant, and he enjoyed hurting people with his words.

In the world of Detective Conan, any character who appeared in a case and had a tendency to offend people was usually very likely to become the victim. This was also known as the “death-before-the-fact syndrome.”

Now that the victim’s identity had been established, the next task was to uncover the culprit hiding among them.

Of everyone present, the person most likely to be the culprit was probably the fat man named Naomichi. Katsuhiko Minagawa had bullied him the most severely, and he was therefore the one most likely to have killed him out of resentment.

However, according to the laws of Conan-style reasoning, the person who looked most like the culprit was usually not the true culprit in the end. More often than not, the real culprit was the person who seemed least likely to have committed the crime.

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