"I think you shouldn't overthink it. This is just a dispute caused by playing mahjong that led to murder."

Kogoro's opening remarks immediately astonished everyone present.

"These victims were probably the murderer's card-playing friends."

Manager Matsumoto listened without expression.

Inspector Megure began rubbing his chin.

"That makes sense. We can check who the deceased played cards with before."

This is certainly one line of thinking; when the police do not have sufficient leads, every detail is worth investigating.

But Inspector Shiratori raised another question.

"Then why was the mahjong tile next to the first victim a 'one of bamboo' tile, while the others all had 'seven of bamboo' tiles?"

“You don’t understand!” Kogoro said confidently. “This is the round of cards that represents the round of cards that triggered the murderer’s murderous intent.”

"He was already close to winning, waiting for the 1-bamboo and 7-bamboo tiles. The first player to lose must have been holding a single 1-bamboo tile and not playing it, and then someone else's 7-bamboo tile was intercepted..."

When it comes to mahjong, Kogoro talks on and on.

Many police officers, including Yoruichi Toyama, lowered their heads and covered their faces.

I really believed your lies...

Only a few loyal followers of the Mori clan, such as Tooru Amuro, Misao Yamamura from Gunma Prefecture, and Sango Yokomizo from Shizuoka Prefecture, are still showering their master and idol with praise.

So what is Amuro Tooru here for this time?

He shouldn't be involved in this case, right?

Thinking this through, Yamato Kansuke, who had just given everyone a shot of adrenaline, offered another idea.

The deceased, Junpei Jinno, who was found dead in Nagano Prefecture, had an argument with someone a year ago, during which the other party even stabbed Jinno with a knife.

The perpetrator, named Minoru Fukase, is still at large, and Nagano Prefecture has dispatched police to track him down.

This is also a basic procedure for police investigations.

A thorough investigation was conducted into the deceased's social relationships, from which suspects were identified.

Yuanshan Ye nodded, about to take the opportunity to express her own thoughts, but someone beat her to it again.

"Huh?!" Shinichi Kudo exclaimed, staring at the map in his hand with a hesitant expression. "This is so strange! What is this?"

A moment of silence fell over the conference room.

"Um, Kudo-kun," Inspector Megure said, wiping away cold sweat, "Conan didn't come today, and we all really miss that precocious little kid."

"But let's focus on analyzing the case, hehe, hehe."

Shinichi Kudo's face turned red instantly, and Ran quietly punched him under the table.

"Oh, hehe, that's true, that's true..." Shinichi Kudo chuckled dryly, clutching his stomach.

"Well, I just had a sudden thought and looked at the map from the perspective of a kid like Conan."

"If you connect the locations of these six murders in this way, they form a strange shape."

He held up the map he had drawn with a marker and showed it to everyone.

Yoruichi Toyama couldn't help but secretly admire her.

As expected of the protagonist of the Detective Conan world, he found the real clue so quickly.

The pattern, which was just a hair's breadth away from forming the shape of a long-handled spoon, appeared prominently on the map.

But everyone else was completely confused.

"What's this?……"

"Yes, it's not a straight line, nor a regular geometric shape, and it doesn't point in any specific direction..."

"Is it katakana?..."

"..."

It's no wonder that people couldn't see the Big Dipper.

Not to mention that there are only 6 dots now, the spoon head is missing a star position, making it look more like a small flag held by a tour guide.

Even if all seven stars are present, different people will form different patterns.

Both constellations are located in the sky near the ecliptic. Ancient China divided them into the Twenty-Eight Mansions, while ancient Babylon divided them into the Twelve Houses of the Zodiac.

"What is this? The Loch Ness Monster?" Kogoro once again demonstrated his unparalleled imagination.

Yoruichi Toyama felt that he should write novels with Yusaku Kudo, one writing mystery and the other fantasy.

"I maxed out my talent by sleeping," or something like that.

After heated discussion, it was determined that Shinichi Kudo's discovery was too advanced for its time to be of any practical significance.

Yoruichi Toyama seized the opportunity to raise her hand and suggest the clue "Tanabata, Kyoto".

“Tanabata is no problem,” Shinichi Kudo continued, “but what does 'kyo' refer to? A person’s name, or a place name?”

“It’s possible,” said Inspector Shigego Yokomizo of Kanagawa Prefecture. “According to the investigation, the deceased Ryuzaki had stopped at a service area not far from the tollbooth, and it is very likely that the car was tampered with there.”

"So there's a high chance he ran into the killer there. If it was someone he knew, he would have mentioned that person's name, or it was a place where they had a previous feud."

The case occurred within his jurisdiction, so the details are very clear.

However, just like the Big Dipper which is missing a star, it seems too early to say what the character "京" refers to.

But time was already running out.

Yoruichi Toyama quickly took over.

"Why don't we use 'Qixi Festival' as the keyword and conduct another round of surveys?"

"Should we investigate what the deceased did on Qixi Festival in previous years, where he went, and who he met?"

Yokomizo Shigeaki suddenly realized, but when he saw that it was Toyama Yoruichi who had given the reminder, he put on a stern face again.

Clearly still angry about his previous rampage in Kanagawa with Kaito Kid, Yoruichi bowed with a grin.

"We can only talk, but the officers are really working hard."

That's how the next direction of the investigation was decided.

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