An Anticlimactic Close
Whatever the two of them had said, when it was over, Inspector Megure walked back to his spot with a troubled look on his face. He glanced at Bamba Raita, let out a long sigh, and then—under the curious stares of Conan, Amuro Tooru, and everyone else gathered around—spoke up. "Mouri has just provided sufficient evidence proving that Bamba Raita never laid a hand on Miss Kado Hatsune. As the specific evidence touches on private matters, I won't be going into detail here."
He turned to Matsuda Jinpei. "Matsuda, get ready. We're heading back."
With that he started for the exit. Passing Bamba Raita, who stood frozen in place with a blank, lost expression, the inspector paused for just a moment—as if he meant to say something—but in the end he left without a word.
Matsuda Jinpei, hearing the order, tipped his sunglass-covered face toward the crowd for a glance—aimed, in particular, at the spot where a certain little detective stood—clicked his tongue, and turned to follow in Inspector Megure's footsteps.
Before long, the police had all cleared out of the scene.
"Mouri, Hatsune, she..." Bamba Raita couldn't make heads or tails of how things had unfolded. He stared blankly at Mouri Kogoro, wanting to ask.
But before he could get a word out, Mouri Kogoro pulled him aside with a grave expression and murmured something in his ear.
This time, Bamba Raita's reaction to what Mouri told him was visibly far more violent than Inspector Megure's had been.
Everyone watched as he seized Mouri Kogoro by the shoulders, shaking his head in disbelief, demanding confirmation all over again. And when the answer came, he clawed at his own hair, collapsed to his knees in utter ruin, and wept openly from both eyes. "How could this happen! Hatsune!!!"
Mouri Kogoro crouched down and clapped a hand on Bamba Raita's shoulder. "Look on the bright side—Miss Kado is safe for now. You need to pull yourself together, Bamba. Miss Kado is suffering just as much as you are. Either way, she's still in the hospital. Go have a proper talk with her once you've settled down."
In any case, anticlimactic as it was, with neither the police nor the parties involved raising any objections, the case could be considered closed.
Not that a certain little detective was willing to let it go. Tormented by his insatiable curiosity, he burned to know exactly what Mouri the Old Man had said to Inspector Megure and to Mr. Bamba at the time, and what the truth of the case really was. He schemed every way he could think of to pry the story out of the man.
But to Conan's disappointment, for some reason the Old Man's lips were sealed tighter than usual this time. No matter how Conan circled around and fished for hints, not one clue slipped out.
If he couldn't get anything out of Mouri the Old Man, he stood even less chance with Xia Yu.
Even days later, when Conan learned from the Old Man that Miss Kado had made a full recovery and left the hospital—but that her engagement to Bamba Raita had been called off—he still hadn't gotten at the truth.
He was only more convinced than ever that Miss Kado's behavior back then had a great deal to do with Mr. Bamba.
That day, the Mouri household invited Xia Yu to a meal at the Poirot Cafe below the Mouri Detective Agency—to thank her for her help with the case, and, while they were at it, to celebrate her discharge from the hospital.
It was several days late. For a while, Mouri Kogoro had been worried about how Bamba Raita was holding up, and only now that things had calmed down did they have time to spare.
"Mr. Mouri!" A familiar, richly magnetic voice rang out. Xia Yu looked up and, sure enough, there was Amuro Tooru, greeting the great detective Mouri with a bright, sunny smile.
Xia Yu couldn't help but marvel: What incredible acting. He looks like nothing so much as a cheerful, easygoing young man—not a single trace of a Black Organization member to be seen.
Mouri Kogoro leaned back in his chair and regarded Amuro Tooru with a lazy, offhand air. "So you want the great detective Mouri Kogoro to take you on as his apprentice?"
"Yes, absolutely." Amuro Tooru leaned forward with an expression of pure admiration, his voice brimming with enthusiasm. "The way you handled the last case taught me so much, Mr. Mouri. So composed, so steady, so methodical—and yet considerate of everyone's feelings.
Compared to you, I'm still far too green. There's so much about detective work I have yet to master.
So I've decided to start learning from the ground up. I'd like to work by your side, Mr. Mouri—and when you take on a case, I'd be honored if you brought me along to observe."
Conan looked up at Amuro as he listened. The way he put it, he meant...
"Amuro-san, you know the truth behind that case?" Ran asked, curiosity plain in her voice. "Dad refuses to tell us no matter how we ask."
"Mm." Amuro nodded, then smiled a little sheepishly. "I was so curious that I dug into it a bit deeper on my own afterward."
"Then what actually happened?" Conan pressed.
Amuro Tooru looked toward Mouri Kogoro.
Catching the questioning glance, Mouri rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Go ahead and tell them. With this brat's curiosity, he'll never give up otherwise. But I'm warning you—not a word about the truth to anyone once you know it."
Conan nodded eagerly, over and over, then turned his expectant gaze on Amuro.
And so Amuro Tooru laid out the truth he had uncovered.
It had to be said—the detective persona he'd built for himself was genuinely capable. He had smoothly pieced together the real relationship between Kado Hatsune and Bamba Raita.
Only, when he finished, Amuro's eyes went deep and unreadable as they settled on Xia Yu, and he asked, with a note of innocent curiosity, "What a remarkable coincidence, isn't it? If not for you, Miss Xia, something terrible would surely have happened to Miss Kado that day. Though—would you mind telling me, Miss Xia, what exactly you were going to see Miss Kado about?"