persuaded the group to try the back door.

They circled the building and stood in front of a closed patio door. At first the devastation inside didn't seem strange to them, after all Abukama didn't even look after the outside of his house. But it was Conan who noticed the inevitable.

"Is that ... an arm?"

Everyone stared, spellbound, through the window, and indeed! An arm hung limply to the left of the sofa, a red liquid dripped down the back of the hand to the floor.

It was Yamato who wasted no time and smashed the glass. Together with Amano, he secured the area until both were sure that the perpetrator was not in the house.

"Call the forensic doctor right away. Or ... an undertaker if you don't have one." Yamato grumbled and Conan and Heiji knew what he meant.

There was nothing left to do for Abukama Eiichiro. He was probably not dead long, his torso was covered in blood. There were several stab wounds in his chest. Conan approached the corpse and took her mouth.

"Hey, you brat, stop it!", Kogoros immediately gave a headbutt.

It was Heiji who saved his friend and justified his action. Somebody seemed to have put something in Abukama's mouth. The detective took it out slowly using a cloth so as not to leave fingerprints.

Everyone stared at the square thing in disbelief. It was a card, but not an ordinary one. It was the ace of clubs.

Then suddenly a scream. The group turned to the terrace and recognized a woman who was looking inside in complete panic. She covered her mouth in horror.
Shirokyou - Hotel Hinomoto
As soon as Ran put her right foot into the water, she felt the warmth and the pleasant feeling. Kazuha, on the other hand, literally jumped in and let the warm spring envelop her.

"Ran, it's just wonderful here.", She thought and her friend had to agree with her.

"Yeah, it's been some time since I last went to an onsen.But there must be a lot in Osaka, right? "asked this.

Kazuha nodded slowly.

"Yes, but I always don't have the time. This stupid Heiji keeps dragging me along to these cases," she complained.

Ran had to grin. It wasn't like Kazuha minded spending time with her crush.

"But tell me ... aren't you a bit dismissive of Hattori-kun?" She wanted to know.

The two moved forward a little in the water and sat down next to a rock.

"Do you know how embarrassing that was? I finally made it through to admit my feelings to Heiji and then ... then that idiot just runs away!"

Ran could understand her well.

In the end, it was Commissioner Takagi who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and mistakenly confessed her love to Kazuha. Heiji had been more interested in how Shinichi had fared in London and wanted to squeeze Conan about it. But wasn't Shinichi different? After their encounter under Big Ben, he just disappeared without waiting for Ran to formulate an answer. Had the detective told Conan anything about it? After all, the two had flown back together and there was plenty of time to talk for 12 hours. Had he caught Conan to hear what she was feeling now? No, Ran had this suspicion before, but had rejected it. Conan was intelligent, he would never let himself be used for that.

"Besides ...", it came from Kazuha, but she stopped.

Ran felt that she wanted to say something else and put a loving hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, if there's something on your mind, you can talk to me about it," she said empathetically.

Kazuha nodded gratefully to her.

"It's just ... I arranged a meeting with Okita Yunnya for Heiji," she explained.

When she noticed that Ran didn't know what to do with the name, she continued.

"He's a very well-known participant in kendo tournaments, Heiji is a big fan of his. It turns out that he and my father know each other. So I wanted to arrange a meeting. But if I'm not even important to Heiji ... why should I then give him such a chance? "

Ran looked at her friend pityingly.

"Kazuha-chan, you mustn't think like that! Shinichi is the same, when he has a case, he doesn't think about anything else. Like when he just left me in Tropical Land. Or in the restaurant where we one wanted to spend a nice evening, or ... in London. ", it came from her.

Now Kazuha was the one feeling guilty. She had depressed her friend, she definitely didn't want that.

"You are probably right. I'll just have to take Heiji as he is and Shinichi as he is!", She replied and Ran slowly nodded.

"And now we're enjoying the onsen!Should i wash your back ", Kazuha asked enthusiastically.

Ran gratefully accepted the offer.
Shirokyou - Abukama Eiichiro's apartment
Kogoro was overwhelmed with the situation and Yamato's dealings with the witness were anything but exemplary. If his deranged face hadn't already been enough, it would be the rude manner with which he yelled at the woman.

Finally, Heiji calmed the woman down and together they sat on the swing on the terrace.

"May we find out your name, dearest?" Kogoro had begun the interrogation.

The woman needed something to contain herself.

"My ... name is Yoshie. I'm Abukama's neighbor. I never actually get near his house, but when I saw you, I thought you might be a burglar," she revealed.

Conan made an amused face. Which burglar would steal something here?

"What can you tell us about Abukama-san?" Heiji wanted to know.

Yoshie-san swallowed, then continued.

"He was a nasty guy, I'm sure he was murdered by one of his player scoundrels," she testified.

Conan looked surprised.

"Player? Does that mean Abukama-san was gambling in his house too?" He asked.

Yoshie-san nodded slowly.

"Yes, they tell each other in the neighborhood. Every now and then people went out, always the same. I think there were three. Or no wait, four. But I haven't seen one for a long time," she revealed.

While the others continued to reassure the woman, Yamato searched the house. Conan followed at a distance. They soon found the room where Abukama appeared to be playing card games. A large table with several packs of cards and a pile of chips. A joker lay open in the middle of the table. Was that a coincidence?

An hour later, everyone was back in the police station and Yoshie-san was seated in the briefing room. Amano handed a file to Yamato and the inspector opened it to the witness.

Conan and Heiji studied their reactions carefully.

"Yes, there are the two. The butcher Mifune-san and this other guy!", She recognized the men again.

Now the connection was clear. Abukama played with Mifune and Ikeda not only in the pub but also at home and that for money. Did the men have to die because they had ripped someone off as Kogoro initially suspected? If it couldn't have been Abukama, because Abukama had just become the third victim.

And what about that third guy the woman mentioned?

"Can you describe the other man you mentioned?" Yamato wanted to know, but Yoshie-san hesitated.

"To be honest, I recognized him. But ... I don't want to cause any trouble.", She sounded very insecure now.

But instead of talking to her, Yamato clapped his hand on the table."Your sensitivities don't matter! Do you know the guy's name?" He did not give in.

Yoshie-san swallowed and answered him.

"Yes, I do. It was Takahashi Hisamichi-san. The mayor."
part 3

King of Hearts
Shirokyou - Hisamichi-san mansion
It was a stare that nobody wanted to lose. Hisamichi and Inspector Yamato met each other's eyes and waited for the other to give in.

"Hisamichi-san, you insisted on calling in reinforcements from Nagano because your people here do not have the necessary resources. Now I ask you to be honest," he insisted.

Kogoro didn't know what to think of it either.

"Hisamichi-san, you brought me here because you were worried about your citizens. But that was a lie, wasn't it? You worry about yourself all by yourself. If you were the culprit, you would not have invested as much, but I would I am sure that you are hiding a lot from us. "

Hisamichi bowed his head and admitted his guilt.

Conan and Heiji stood across from him, Ran and Kazuha had also joined them. They watched his son, Atsushi, stare down at his father from the first floor. There was something contemptuous in his look. Toshino-san and Yuuka-san were also in the room.

"It's true that I kept it from you. I knew all three dead, once a week we hold an illegally ... uhhhh, an unauthorized game of chance. When Ikeda and Mifune died, I thought nothing of it, but when Abukama was persecuting itself I felt unsure. I did everything to get the case cleared up as quickly as possible, "he revealed.

Heiji looked at him crookedly.

"You believe that the perpetrator is a person who stole a lot of money from you. Is there such a person?" He wanted to know.

Hisamichi nodded slowly.

"Yes, there really is. There were five of us, the other was Inoue Takato. He was young but we noticed immediately that he was addicted to gambling. We took advantage of that and took every yen he had from him," he confessed .

He didn't dare look anyone present in the eye, he felt so much charm.

"So this Inoue is now after all of you to get revenge.", Combined Kogoro.

Hisamichi shook his head.

"No, that's not the case. Because a month ago ... Inoue committed suicide," he reported.

Everyone present looked at him confused and frightened.

"It was a storm and Inoue was washed ashore the next day. It was assumed that he jumped into the raging river to end his life."

While Conan was still lost in his thoughts, Heiji continued the questioning.

"Maybe someone wants to take revenge on you for driving Inoue to his death. Did he have family or friends?" He asked.

Hisamichi immediately shook his head.

"No, there wasn't even anyone he got along with.He grew up in the village but was always a loner. Nobody made a stir about his death