Chapter 78 The Go-Kart Canvas Bag
The old man scratched his head, stuck out his tongue, and said, "Actually, I don't know who the go-kart is either."
Upon hearing this, Kogoro Mouri's arm, which was supporting him on the table, slipped, and he almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, his core was strong enough to keep him steady.
"Mr. Yamashita, this is not the time for jokes!" Kogoro Mouri leaned forward, unwilling to believe the other's words.
"I'm not joking, I really don't know." Yamashita Keito squinted, calmly sipping his tea like a cunning fox.
His calmness contrasted sharply with Kogoro Mouri's breakdown.
Feeling that the other party was toying with him, Kogoro Mouri was furious and immediately turned red.
"Damn it! If you don't know, don't waste our time, you old geezer!"
After saying that, he yelled at Gu Ze, "Let's go!"
"Mr. Mori, calm down." Gu Ze stopped Kogoro Mori, who was about to leave. "I have a plan."
Then, he looked at Yamashita Keito and said, "Haha, Mr. Yamashita, you haven't forgotten, have you? You have that bag, right? The one that carries manuscripts!"
"You...how did you know!" Yamashita Keito was instantly shocked, looking at Gu Ze as if he had seen a ghost.
"Yes, how would I know? Mr. Yamashita, you might want to think back and see who else knows."
This statement was so cryptic that both Kogoro Mouri and Conan Edogawa were completely baffled.
However, Yamashita Keito seemed to understand, pursing his lips and staring intently at Gu Ze's face, as if he was struggling with a decision.
Seeing that there was still hope, Kogoro Mouri sat back down in his seat.
"I understand! Please wait a moment!" Yamashita Keito jumped up as if he had been injected with adrenaline and strode out of the room.
[Ding! Kogoro Mouri's approval rating +5]
"Hey, what do you mean by that?" With no one else around, Kogoro Mouri leaned close to Gu Ze's ear and whispered.
“Mr. Mori, you’re a famous detective, you should be able to guess, right?” Gu Ze blinked and pretended to be clueless.
"Hahaha, of course, hahaha." To save face, Kogoro Mouri had no choice but to nod reluctantly.
At that moment, Yamashita Keito returned to the living room carrying a black canvas bag.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting." Yamashita Keito placed the canvas bag on the table and then explained.
"I found this canvas bag at the door, and it contained Mr. Karting's manuscript."
The canvas bag is as black as ink, embroidered with three lifelike colorful fish. It is exquisitely crafted and of superior quality.
"This... there's nothing special about it!" Kogoro Mouri turned the bag over and over, examining it carefully, but couldn't find anything out.
Then, the canvas bag was handed to Gu Ze, but he didn't even look at it before handing it to Conan.
"Conan, take a look inside and see what's there."
"What does a child know?" Kogoro Mouri scoffed at Gu Ze's behavior.
Under Gu Ze's trusting gaze, Conan took the bag.
The reason why the protagonist is the protagonist is that he only needs to use a little bit of his intelligence to observe things that others cannot observe in a few seconds.
"I've got it! It's here!" Conan pointed to a tiny pattern on the inside of the canvas bag.
It's the address of a shopping mall.
About thirty minutes later, Kogoro Mouri and his two companions arrived at the Miyu Department Store with the canvas bag.
Several police cars were parked around the mall, and a cordon had been set up. A group of onlookers stood outside the cordon to watch.
"A case has actually occurred here!" Kogoro Mouri exclaimed in surprise.
Then the group walked into the crime scene with practiced ease, as if they were coming home.
The police officers who were on alert didn't stop Kogoro Mouri and his group at all, because they all knew each other.
Inside the men's restroom in the mall, Date Wataru and Takagi stood at the crime scene, at a loss for what to do.
"Hello, Brother Date." Gu Ze stepped forward to greet them, which also caught the attention of Date and his companion.
"Ozawa, Conan, and Mr. Mori, it's been a long time! What are you doing here?" Date Wataru said with delight, his tall, nearly 1.8-meter frame showing his big teeth as he put his arm around Gu Ze's shoulder.
"Have you lost weight again, kid?!"
"No, not at all," Gu Ze said, turning away from Ida Hang's arm.
While Gu Ze and Date Wataru were talking, Conan had already investigated the crime scene, his efficiency was astonishing.
"Officer Takagi, what are you holding in your hand?" Conan noticed the evidence wrapped in a plastic bag in Takagi's hand.
"This canvas bag was found in a trash can outside the mall. It contained the murder weapon, and the preliminary assessment is that it was left by the murderer." Officer Takagi answered every question like an NPC.
"Oh my gosh, this bag is exactly the same as the one we found!" Conan said in a very "casual" manner.
Upon hearing Conan's words, Date Wataru immediately looked at Kogoro Mouri, "Mr. Mouri, may I take a look at the bag you found?"
“Uh… this is it.” Kogoro Mouri took out the canvas bag and explained, “We came here to find the owner of this bag.”
"The address of this shopping mall is on the inside of this bag. We came here based on this clue."
After confirming that the two canvas bags were the same product, Ida Kou's furrowed brows finally relaxed.
"Takagi, go and bring the person in charge of the mall over," Date Wataru ordered. "Since this bag belongs to Miyu Mall, there must be some clues."
A moment later, Takagi led over a middle-aged man who was about the same height as Gu Ze. This man was pot-bellied, but he gave off a refined and scholarly air.
"Do you know how many people have this canvas bag?!" Kogoro Mouri placed the bag in the person in charge's hand.
Upon seeing this, the person in charge's narrow eyes widened instantly, and he fondly stroked the canvas bag, exclaiming, "My God! I can't believe I'm seeing this bag here!"
"You recognize it?" Kogoro Mouri asked, standing with his arms crossed.
“Yes, I designed it myself, back when I wasn’t in charge…” Then, he fell into deep reminiscence.
"Three years ago, during the 10th anniversary celebration of Sanyu Shopping Mall, a lucky draw was held here, and this canvas bag was the second prize. There were only eight of them."
Eight! Conan stroked his chin, deep in thought.
There must be a criminal among these eight people, and there must be a go-kart among them!
Conan looked at the victim's wound, which was on the neck. The victim was very tall, at least 1.8 meters, so the perpetrator must be at least 1.75 meters tall.
Since the crime occurred in the men's restroom, it is highly likely that the perpetrator was male.
"Uncle, do you know how many of these eight people are men?" Conan tugged at the sleeve of the person in charge.
"Uh, I don't remember that clearly, but I can check in the archives. All the winners have their phone numbers and names listed."
After saying that, the person in charge led the group to the mall's information room.
"Conan, you should know the general modus operandi by now," Gu Ze whispered as he walked behind the group with Conan. "As expected of a high school detective!"
Conan, head down, hands in his pockets, glasses reflecting the light, said, "Brother Gu Ze, you brought us to this mall for a reason, didn't you?"
"What purpose?" Gu Ze blinked innocently. "I didn't!"
"Stop pretending. From the moment you stepped into the agency to the moment you went to Yamashita Keito's house, you have been intentionally or unintentionally guiding me and Uncle Mori."
"So, what exactly do you want?" Conan stopped and turned to stare into Gu Ze's eyes.
Faced with Conan's merciless exposure, Gu Ze was not annoyed, but just smiled and stared at him without saying a word.
[Ding! Shinichi Kudo's approval rating +5]
After a long while, Gu Ze pointed to the receding group and reminded them, "If you don't follow them, you'll miss a very important clue!"
"Hey!" Conan finally snapped out of his daze and hurriedly started chasing after him.
Watching the group walk away, Gu Ze's upturned lips immediately disappeared. He estimated the time and calculated where the plan was at.
In the archives, the person in charge displayed the list of winners for that event.
"Those eight people consisted of four men and four women."
“Based on the traces at the crime scene, the suspect is likely a man.” Date Wataru reached the same conclusion as Conan. “Therefore, the suspect is narrowed down to these four men.”
"Kiku-ga-ichi, Yama-no-Otsu-ni, Tanaka-no-Nabe-san, and Natsuki-no-Ding-si." Officer Takagi wrote down the names of the people in his notebook.
Suddenly, he jerked his wrist and shouted, "It's those three people!"
"What! Takagi, what did you find out?" Date Wataru asked, approaching Takagi.
"Among those who discovered the body were Kijou Kaichi, Yamaue Otsuji, and Tanaka Namizo."
As soon as Gu Ze entered the records room, he heard Officer Takagi's words.
The classic three-choice option, though late, has finally arrived, and Gu Ze's lips twitched.
"Looks like this is none of my business," he thought, and quietly found a corner to watch the show.
The rest of the plot follows the usual formula: Conan searches for clues, identifies the culprit, gives Kogoro Mouri a needle prick, and then the culprit cries and regrets his actions.
Uh... Gu Ze is getting a little tired of it.
"Nothing new at all~" he muttered as he walked out from the corner after the event.
“Brother Gu Ze, apart from the prisoner, Kijiro, Yamagami Otsuji and Tanaka Namizo, both said that the canvas bags they drew are still at home.”
“I’ve checked, and it’s definitely true,” Conan Edogawa told Gu Ze. “Therefore, the bag we found belongs to Natsume Ding Si!”
"Why wouldn't the go-kart be a woman, Detective? Don't underestimate the power of women," Gu Ze proposed another hypothesis.
Faced with doubts, Conan remained calm and composed.
"In a report about go-karting, he said he went undercover at Huashi Technology Company for a period of time. I checked, and that position only recruited men, and there were very strict physical examinations."
"So he must be a man."
"You've gathered a lot of information!" Gu Ze bent down and ruffled Conan's hair, praising him, "You have the potential to be a informant, Conan."
"Don't touch my hair." Conan shook his head, freeing himself from Gu Ze's hand. "You still haven't answered me. What exactly is your purpose?"
"You'll find out soon enough, great detective."
As they were talking, Date Wataru, holding his phone, came up to Kogoro Mouri, Gu Ze, and Conan.
"We've found information about Xia Mudingsi."
"He died a year ago!"
"What!"
Apart from Gu Ze, both Kogoro Mouri and Conan Edogawa were shocked.
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