Chapter 46: Reasoning That Cannot Be Understood by Each Other

"First it attacked Sonoko, then almost killed Chikako... Could this Death God's Coffin actually be a deranged killer?"

"Has anyone disturbed an ancient tomb?"

"Maybe it’s not just about people disturbing tombs—it’s attacking humans indiscriminately!"

"Exactly, otherwise, why would it have burned the suspension bridge?"

Because of the "bandages," everyone’s fear quickly focused on the idea that the Death God's Coffin was the culprit. In their eyes, the bandaged figure was probably seen as the "minion" of the Death God's Coffin.

Amu didn't bother to emphasize that "the Pokédex says it's just a legend that the Death God's Coffin turns people into mummies"—it would be like, before time travel, telling people, "There are no ghosts in the world." Even if it’s true, there’s no way to convince people, especially when there’s a real "case" right in front of them!

"Let's not sleep tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll all go to Ketada City together," Hiroki suggested.

If the suspension bridge hadn't been burned, they might have considered moving out that very night. But after that night’s chaos, it was almost midnight, and everyone was exhausted. So Ayako said, "I'll make some coffee for everyone."

Seeing this, Amu followed her. "I'll help you. It's best not to be alone right now."

Conan also quietly tagged along...

Amu had expected instant coffee, but instead found a coffee grinder he had no idea how to use, so he started washing cups instead. Taking the opportunity, he asked, "Ayako, the Miss Atsuko everyone mentioned earlier..."

Conan, who had slipped in unnoticed, silently gave Amu a thumbs up—You really know what you’re doing!

"She was another member of our film club. Two years ago, just before graduation, she tried to commit suicide by jumping into the river... Although she was rescued, the current was strong and she suffered a head injury. Even after consulting experts in psychic phenomena, she still hasn’t woken up," Ayako sighed, sounding a little downcast.

"So... when Miss Atsuko was in the film club, she was a screenwriter too, wasn’t she?" Amu asked sharply.

"Huh? Yes... How did you know?" Ayako was surprised, not understanding how Amu had guessed.

"Oh, it's nothing," Amu changed the subject.

"Ah, we’re out of milk. I’ll go to the neighboring storage room..."

"I’ll go. You two stay here," Amu added, speaking to Ivysaur and Exeggutor.

Although he had a good idea of the culprit's motive, he thought it safer to let them stay with Ayako.

Outside the door, Conan hurried after Amu as soon as he left the room. "Did you figure something out?"

"Figure out what?" Amu was still puzzled.

"How did you know Miss Atsuko was also a screenwriter?" Conan had been trying to work it out but couldn't fathom the logic.

Could it be... this guy understands deduction better than I do? So, both curious and somewhat competitive, Conan pressed him further.

Amu found the milk in a carton and answered matter-of-factly, "The victim, Chikako, was a screenwriter, wasn’t she?"

"So what?" Conan still didn’t get the logic.

"Well, among writers and screenwriters, if ten are murdered, nine are killed over plagiarism or copyright theft, and eight of those are done in by their own apprentices... Chikako didn’t have any apprentices, and the others aren’t screenwriters, so obviously Atsuko must be a screenwriter! She must have plagiarized Atsuko’s work! Isn’t your dad a writer too? You should get it..."

Amu had forgotten the details of each episode, but the causes of death for writers and screenwriters always seemed to follow this pattern.

Conan: ...

Why should writers and screenwriters always be killed over such things? And... why should my dad get it?

"Huh? Conan, is your father a writer too?"

As Amu and Conan stepped out of the storage room, they ran into Ran coming upstairs. She looked at Conan with a puzzled expression.

Conan immediately panicked. "What are you talking about! Amu, you got it wrong again... It’s Shinichi’s father who’s a writer! Ha, haha..."

Fortunately, Ran didn’t pay it much mind, just asked curiously, "What were you saying about writers and screenwriters?"

"Oh, I was just saying, if you ever run into a case where a writer or screenwriter is murdered, and there’s an apprentice or assistant at the scene, you can pretty much arrest them on the spot! You’ll hardly ever be wrong!" Amu declared confidently.

Conan: ...

Are you looking down on deduction? What kind of reasoning is that?

"Especially if it’s a mystery novelist!" Amu added.

Hearing this, Conan shot him a glare.

Seeing that Ran was still confused, Conan quickly changed the subject to avoid further questions. "Ran, why did you come upstairs?"

"I’m just grabbing a few things for Sonoko," Ran answered vaguely.

As for what things, boys shouldn’t ask.

By now, Ayako had already finished pouring the coffee. Conan’s eyes darted, and he immediately said, "Bathroom! I need to go to the bathroom... Ran, can you help Ayako carry the coffee down? Amu, come with me to the bathroom..."

"Sure... Be careful, you two." This time Ran didn’t scold him, since it really wasn’t safe to be alone right now.

Saying this, Conan pulled Amu into the room he shared with Ran...

Amu guessed Conan wanted to investigate something, so he didn’t refuse. Once inside, he asked, "Wait, you and Ran are sharing a room?"

Conan pretended not to hear. Once Ayako and Ran had left, he quietly opened the door and whispered, "Let’s check Chikako’s room."

Amu didn’t object. Chikako’s room wasn’t locked, and as soon as they opened the door, a chill swept in—the sound of breaking glass earlier had come from here.

If you followed the obvious logic, the "mummy" had broken the window to get in and abducted Chikako...

Conan examined the shattered window and said, "As I thought... It looks like it was smashed from the outside!"

Earlier, everyone had checked and confirmed the broken window was in Chikako’s room, but Conan hadn’t had a chance to investigate before Ran led him away.

Amu: ???

"What’s wrong with it being broken from the outside?" Amu didn’t get Conan’s point.

If the intruder broke in, wouldn’t smashing the window from the outside be normal?

"No, if it really was the Death God's Coffin, a Ghost-type Pokémon can just phase through walls. It wouldn’t need to break the window to get in. Only after it hypnotized and took Chikako would it need to break the window, since she couldn’t get out otherwise!" Conan reasoned logically.

Amu: ...

No wonder he’s a great detective; he thought of something I missed...

"But then, it’s odd. Why would the culprit, after abducting Chikako, pass by the main entrance? It’s as if they wanted us to see. Then, instead of doing anything special, they just ran away and threw Chikako into the ravine..." Conan muttered, puzzled.

Indeed, Chikako’s window faced south, while the villa’s main entrance was north. If they meant to escape into the mountains, there was no need to pass the main entrance.

If it was to harvest "fear," the culprit didn’t do anything special, just ran and dumped Chikako in the valley.

"It was obviously for an alibi... which means the culprit is among those three people," Amu stated matter-of-factly.

What’s there to hesitate about?

"That’s certainly one explanation, but it’s not definite... And why three people? There are four," Conan said with a look that said, "you’re being sloppy with your deductions."

"Four? Impossible, it can’t be Ayako! She’s Sonoko’s sister," Amu replied, as if it were self-evident.

Conan was thoroughly unimpressed by Amu’s blatant favoritism...