When Hayashi Yoshiki arrived at the bottom of the apartment building where Yoko Okino lived, he saw several police cars parked downstairs.
He took the elevator directly to the 25th floor.
As soon as he stepped out, Hayashi Yoshiki saw a group of people gathered in the corridor — the body had been found in the living room of Yoko Okino's apartment, and the police were now investigating and collecting evidence, so everyone had been asked to wait outside.
"Nice to meet you, Uncle Mouri."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Hayashi Yoshiki, and I'm Aunt Eri's cousin."
"Oh! So he's Eri's nephew...!"
Kogoro Mouri, who had just looked confused, became alert at a speed visible to the naked eye. He walked up, patted Hayashi Yoshiki on the shoulder, and exclaimed, "No wonder you're so handsome."
"You flatter me."
Hayashi Yoshiki just smiled.
Mouri Ran stood off to the side in a ladylike manner and greeted him softly, "Good evening, Shu... cousin."
"Good evening."
Hayashi Yoshiki smiled kindly. Seeing that Ran seemed a little awkward, he added, "No need to be so formal. You can call me Brother Yoshiki."
"Huh?"
Ran felt a little strange calling him by combining part of his surname and first name.
But after realizing that it rolled off the tongue more naturally, she decided to go along with it.
"Who are these kids?"
Hayashi Yoshiki noticed several elementary school students.
"They're just some naughty kids who sneaked in while we weren't paying attention. Oh, and this one's Conan — he's staying at our house temporarily."
Kogoro Mouri placed a large hand on Conan's head, causing the latter to roll his eyes.
Kojima Genta and Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko were a bit offended by being called "naughty kids" and muttered quietly:
"What?"
"We just wanted to see what our idol's house looks like."
"Right, Ayumi?"
"…"
Being stared at by the two boys, Yoshida Ayumi looked at Hayashi Yoshiki in a daze and said, "What a handsome big brother!"
"…"
Ignoring the children for now, Hayashi Yoshiki turned toward Yoko Okino and her agent, Yamagishi Eiichi.
"Teacher Hayashi..."
"Well, what's the situation now?"
"I'm not sure," Yoko Okino shook her head. "I just got home and saw someone lying in a pool of blood. Then, following Mr. Mouri's instructions, I called the police and waited for them to arrive..."
"Okay, then may I ask if the deceased has any connection to you, Miss Yoko?"
"That person has absolutely nothing to do with Yoko."
Hayashi Yoshiki was speaking to Yoko Okino, but Yamagishi Ei rushed to answer, then immediately turned to Yoko and said, "Isn't that right, Yoko?"
He looked like he was afraid she might say the wrong thing.
However, Yoko Okino didn't seem to recognize the body. After carefully thinking, she frowned and shook her head, "I don't know. I don't think I know him."
"You really don't know him?"
At that moment, Inspector Megure Juzo walked out of the apartment.
Although chubby, he carried the stern presence of a police officer. He looked seriously at Yoko Okino and said, "According to your earlier statement, the door was locked when you arrived. It would be impossible to enter without a key. In other words, if the person was killed in a locked room, the prime suspect is likely the owner of the apartment!"
"That's impossible… I didn't kill anyone, officer!" Yoko Okino was shocked.
"That's what I've been saying, Inspector Megure!"
When he heard that Megure Juzo suspected Yoko, Kogoro Mouri became agitated: "There's no way someone as lovely as Miss Yoko could be the culprit!"
"…"
Black lines formed on Megure's forehead.
"It's still too early to conclude this is a locked-room mystery," Hayashi Yoshiki's clear voice cut in. "After all, it's just a door that can be opened with a key."
Yoko Okino visibly relaxed, as if she had found her support.
"Oh! Brother Hayashi!"
Inspector Megure, who remembered him from before, lit up immediately.
"Does Miss Yoko have a spare key to this apartment?"
"Yes, I gave one to Mr. Yamagishi."
"I see! Then the culprit is Mr. Yamagishi!"
Kogoro Mouri wasted no time in pointing his finger at Yamagishi Ei. As Yamagishi panicked and waved his hands to deny the accusation, Mouri rushed forward and grabbed him by the collar.
"You! You must have gotten jealous as her agent, confessed your feelings, and got rejected — so now you're trying to frame her, huh!?"
"Please don't spout nonsense! I did have a spare key, but I lost it a few days ago! I think I left it in the TV station's staff lounge."
"Where's your evidence? All we have is your word—"
"I know this, Mr. Mouri. Yamagishi isn't lying."
Yoko Okino, not wanting her agent to be falsely accused, quickly came forward to explain. Her anxious and serious expression caused Kogoro to awkwardly clear his throat.
"Well, since Miss Yoko says so..."
(Don't just take one side of the story.)
Conan, observing the double standard, twitched the corner of his mouth.
Then he looked at Hayashi Yoshiki, who was calmly watching the scene with a faint smile — as if he wasn't bothered by this ridiculous farce at all.
But let's see who's better.
A competitive flame lit in Conan's heart.
He hadn't watched the Beika TV broadcast live, but he did see the news coverage of how the case was solved... To deduce the murderer's method just by walking around the scene — that wasn't impossible for Conan, since sometimes solving a case just required the right spark to connect the clues.
Maybe that's how it was for Hayashi Yoshiki.
But just the fact that he was able to do it proved how capable he was.
To find a rival who might actually be his equal — Conan couldn't help but feel the desire to compete.
"How's the police investigation and evidence collection going?"
"It's almost finished. Would you like to come in and take a look, Brother Hayashi?"
"Sure."
Hayashi Yoshiki hadn't expected Inspector Megure to invite him personally.
It seemed that the police in this world were indeed very accustomed to solving cases with the help of detectives.
"I'll come help too, Inspector Megure."
At that moment, Kogoro Mouri chimed in enthusiastically.
Inspector Megure waved him in.