Chapter 40: Learning to Deduce for Yourself

The others turned their heads in unison to look at Mitsuhiko.

"Well..." Mitsuhiko hesitated for a moment before speaking truthfully, "When I went to the restroom, I saw that older sister crying at the entrance of the women's room! It was just a short while before that shadow appeared!"

Inspector Megure’s expression turned serious as he looked at Yuriko Yuri. "What is the meaning of this? I recall you stating that after you bought the bento, you never left the room outside the projection booth before the commotion started among the audience, did you?"

Yuriko Yuri hurriedly explained, "My contact lens slipped out, so while the water was boiling, I went to the restroom to put it back in. Since it took less than a minute, I didn't think I needed to mention it specifically..."

"Did you notice this at the time?" Inspector Megure asked Minoru Furuhashi.

"No, I was in the projection booth the whole time," Minoru Furuhashi replied. "But there is no need for you to suspect her, because when that shadow appeared, she was indeed with me."

"Then let's go check the projection booth!" Conan suggested.

"Agreed." Inspector Megure nodded and led the group toward the projection booth.

Conan followed along, lost in thought for a moment, before he couldn't help but reach out and tug on Chi Feichi's sleeve, whispering, "How many suspicious points have you found?"

Chi Feichi replied calmly, "As a precocious child, you should learn to reason for yourself."

Conan choked. Most people wouldn't leave a child to solve a murder case alone, would they? "I mean... do you have some kind of misunderstanding about children?"

"No," Chi Feichi said, looking down at Conan. "I'm just not very interested in this case."

Conan met those slightly lowered, indifferent purple eyes and suddenly recalled the reaction of Tadamasa Zhangtian earlier. Right. Being stared at by those eyes suddenly made him feel a chill down his spine, let alone the fact that Chi Feichi had spoken in such an eerily calm tone earlier about things like whether someone wanted their tongue or not. "You aren't refusing to handle this case just because of those things Mr. Zhangtian said earlier, are you?"

"A little bit," Chi Feichi admitted. "But there are other reasons."

No bounty, no rush to get home, eat, or sleep—how could he possibly be motivated?

"What other reasons?" Conan asked curiously.

"Laziness." Chi Feichi followed the main group into the projection booth.

Conan: "..."

What the hell kind of laziness is that!

...

The group took a look around the projection booth.

Conan walked out deep in thought, heading toward the restroom, and noticed Chi Feichi following him. "Do you want to check the women's restroom too?"

Chi Feichi glanced at Conan. "You'll get arrested by the police."

Conan mulled over what he had just said; it did sound a bit off. He hurriedly explained, "I just wanted to see if I could find any clues in the women's restroom. Didn't Ms. Yuri come here earlier?"

"I know. But as for going into the women's restroom, you'll be fine, while I might actually get arrested," Chi Feichi said, turning into the men's restroom. "I'm just here to use the facilities."

Fine...

It was the first time Conan realized there were benefits to being a child—at least walking into a women's restroom wouldn't be treated as harassment.

However, this guy really was planning to ignore this case...

Is it just because he's lazy? Or is he being petty and holding a grudge?

He couldn't read Chi Feichi's thoughts from that expressionless face or those eyes that rarely showed any emotional fluctuation...

No, he should focus on the case at hand first.

Inside the women's restroom, Haibara Ai stepped out of a stall. She watched quietly as Conan entered, closed the door, and walked inward with a contemplative expression. After watching for a while, she calmly reminded him, "Are you trying to see what it feels like to walk into a wall, Great Detective?"

Conan snapped back to reality, stopped, and looked at the wall inches away. He broke into a sweat, then turned toward the mirror by the entrance. "I just don't understand why Ms. Yuri had to go all the way to the restroom just to change her contact lens."

Haibara Ai followed him, sat on the edge of the sink, and turned on the faucet to wash her hands. "Wouldn't it be better to discuss these things with Chi Feichi?"

"But he doesn't seem to want to deal with this case at all..." Conan propped himself up on the edge of the sink and looked into the mirror. Fine, if he won't talk, he won't talk. He could solve this case on his own!

"Does he have any clues?" Haibara Ai asked.

"Who knows? You can't tell anything from his reactions," Conan said, looking at the mirror. "You mentioned before that the first time you met him, he had books on psychology at home. I suspect he read them to counter his doctor, but that's completely unnecessary. Just looking at that expressionless face of his is enough to make his thoughts hard to guess."

Expressionless...

Haibara Ai suddenly remembered the night they first met. Chi Feichi had smiled once, and those eyes looked beautiful when he smiled, but she hadn't seen him smile since then.

After looking at the mirror, Conan noticed Haibara Ai was distracted. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Haibara Ai said, turning off the faucet and looking at the mirror. "I was just thinking, you're quite used to it. Every morning, I feel a chill down my spine the moment I see myself in the mirror. I ask the person in the mirror, 'Who exactly are you?'..."

"Don't think too much, kid."

The restroom door was pushed open. Chi Feichi stood at the threshold without entering.

Conan quickly reviewed whether they had said anything that shouldn't be overheard. Luckily, although Haibara's words were a bit strange, she hadn't mentioned anything about shrinking.

It was just that he seemed to have spoken a little ill of Chi Feichi... cough, although, in fact, it shouldn't count as speaking ill of him, right?

Haibara Ai also went over her words in her mind and was relieved she hadn't said that Chi Feichi was too stingy to even smile more. At least she didn't have to feel guilty like Conan. She asked calmly, "Do you guys like checking out the women's restroom?"

"I was coming out of the restroom and heard you say you feel a chill when looking in the mirror, so I couldn't help but check. I don't feel a chill; I just feel it's very strange to see myself in the mirror," Chi Feichi said, turning to look at the mirror. If anyone were most unaccustomed to it, it would be him. Sometimes when he woke up early and saw that face in the mirror, his brain would stall for a moment before realizing it was himself. "So, I choose not to look in the mirror."

Haibara Ai had been slightly worried that Chi Feichi might have multiple personality disorder because he found looking in the mirror problematic, but this final pivot left her... speechless.

"Don't stare at the mirror when there's nothing to do; anyone would think it's strange if they stare at it long enough," Chi Feichi continued calmly. "If you keep staring, I think I could recommend my attending physician to you."

Haibara Ai: "..."

Was she blind to have thought this guy was warm?

Conan tried hard to suppress a laugh. "Cough, let's head back first."

"Mirrors can sometimes be used to deceive." Chi Feichi recalled this plot point. It seemed Haibara Ai was supposed to provide inspiration to Conan, but it appeared he had disrupted it, so he offered a small assist.

Conan froze, a flash of insight crossing his mind... Mirrors? Deception?

Seeing the look on the great detective's face, Chi Feichi knew there was no need to offer further hints and turned to leave.

Soon, Conan followed him out, quickening his pace to catch up. "You knew the killer's method all along?"

Haibara Ai followed closely, looking at Chi Feichi with some curiosity.

"Many magic tricks use mirrors. I'm a magic enthusiast," Chi Feichi said, finding a reason for himself.

Does that mean it's not worth making a fuss about?

Conan glanced at Chi Feichi, suppressing the complex emotions in his heart, and said seriously, "Then... the only person who could use that method is him! Are you not exposing him because you lack evidence?"

Chi Feichi: "..."

He really didn't want to handle this case...

However, he truly couldn't remember what the evidence for this case was, and he hadn't intended to think about it from the start, nor had he even considered whether he could figure it out.

Conan was lost in thought. When they arrived outside the projection booth, his mouth suddenly curled upward. "I know where the evidence is!"

Chi Feichi looked down and saw the reflection in Conan's glasses, which defied the laws of optics. "Then I'll leave it to you to solve."

Conan immediately wilted. He couldn't very well say this was something he, a child, had deduced, could he?

"Cough, I'm just a child. It would be better if I tell you the evidence and you do the deducing..."

"Too much trouble," Chi Feichi refused.

Conan couldn't understand this mindset. Deducing and revealing the truth in front of others was such a pleasant thing; how could anyone find it troublesome?

And yet, this person had such strong deductive abilities. It was unfair.

"Then let us, the Detective Boys, be responsible for the deduction!"

Conan decided to pull in the Detective Boys. Appearing with a group of children could help him hide his own involvement.

With Chi Feichi on the side, others would likely assume it was actually Chi Feichi's deduction, and he had just asked the children to help.

"Whatever you like," Chi Feichi had no objections.

Finding the criminal was like solving a problem—a multiple-choice question where you only needed the answer. As long as you knew how to do it and turned your brain on, the answer would come out.

But deduction involved explaining the problem in detail to others, including: why this answer was chosen, what the steps were, why it had to be solved that way, where the key to this step was, and why the answer was correct...

He really couldn't understand why detectives never tired of it. Doing it once or twice, or once in a while, would be one thing, but Conan did it almost every day. Didn't he get tired?

In the projection hall, Conan found Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko, and they huddled together whispering.

Haibara Ai stood to the side with her arms crossed, watching. The other three children nodded heavily from time to time, then looked at Chi Feichi in unison, their eyes full of reverence and anticipation, as if to say, "We're ready, let's start!"

Chi Feichi was stunned. He realized that Conan had likely attributed the "discovery of the truth" to him. He found Inspector Megure, who was bent over examining the deceased's seat. "Inspector Megure, I already know who the killer is."

"The killer?" Inspector Megure looked up in surprise. "Does that mean this incident really wasn't a suicide?!"

Chi Feichi nodded and turned to look at the group waiting nearby. "The killer is Mr. Furuhashi. As for the method and the basis for the judgment... the Detective Boys will explain it."

"That's right, please leave it to us!" Mitsuhiko said solemnly.

Inspector Megure looked at the eager Detective Boys and felt his head throb. "A-all right..."

Compared to drawing an instruction manual for the police to reconstruct the method themselves, having a group of narrators was already pretty good. What else could he ask for?