Chapter 3 Suspicions on John Doyle

            Later that night, Ran pondered for some time about John’s knowledge before falling asleep. John-kun –– just like Conan-kun –– he is way advanced than his peers. I guess I’m just thinking too much as I did with Conan-kun. He is just an elementary student after all, right? With that thought, she fell asleep.

            The next morning, Conan and I got a wake up call by Ran as usual, and we got ready for school –– my second day of school. Miss Kobayashi was teaching about elementary school science, which was way too simple compared to what I have studied before. The bell rang and we headed home. “John-kun! You have a new watch!” Ayumi exclaimed, noticing my stun-gun wristwatch. “Oh yeah, Agasa made it for me ––” I trailed off, noticing jealousy in Genta and Mitsuhiko. “Not fair! Agasa only made it for you both, but not us!” Genta complained. “Yeah! Why don’t we get to have one as well?” Mitsuhiko complained next. “I-It’s a complex technology, and only Conan-kun and I completely understand the usage,” I laughed. “Come on, Conan-kun! Let’s get home before they get any more jealous,” I called out while running. Conan chuckled and ran after me. As we entered Mouri Detective Agency, I noticed that there was a young lady with curly orange hair. “Yoko-oneechan!” Conan greeted her. “Oh, Conan-kun!” Yoko greeted back. “Who’s that American boy with you?” “He’s my classmate,” smiled Conan. “Ohayo gozaimas, Yoko-oneechan,” I kindly greeted her. “My name is John Doyle.” “Nice to meet you, John-kun,” smiled Yoko. “What brings you here today?” asked Conan. “I've seen the murderer right in front of my own eyes and I was asking Detective Mouri for protection,” quavered Yoko. “Don’t worry! I’ll protect you with all my life!” beamed Kogoro. “Thank you. I think I have to go,” Yoko said softly. “Let’s follow her to make sure that she goes back safe!” Kogoro thumped his fist on his palm. We hired a cab and went towards Yoko’s residence, and we heard a piercing scream just as we arrived. We followed the source of scream and found a man in forties dead on the floor. The man wore a striped long sleeve shirt. “Save the emergency call,” I sighed. “Yeah. It’s an instant death,” agreed Conan.

            Inspector Meguire had arrived at the scene as well and noticed the two of us. “Oh, Conan-kun! And,” he paused to recall my name. “John-kun, right?” I nodded my head. “And of course, Mouri-kun,” he glared at Kogoro. We began our investigation after the corpse had been carried away for analysis. “The victim is 50 year-old Eiichi Yamagishi, Yoko-san’s manager. Cause of death: food poisoning,” came the report. “Hiro-san, you have a crush on Yoko-san and were jealous at Eiichi-san for being close to Yoko, weren’t you?” One man named Hideyoshi, who wore white shirt with blue stripes and khaki pants, demanded. “What are you talking about? You and Yoko-san were at the verge of becoming a couple, Eita-san!” Hiro shot back. He wore a brown shirt with Hawaiian shorts. Hiro and Hideyoshi continued to argue while Eita kept quiet. “Eita-san looks suspicious for being quiet,” I whispered to Conan. Just as Conan was walking over to Eita, Kogoro suddenly announced, “I know who the murderer is!” “Really, Mouri-san!” exclaimed Inspector Meguire. “The murderer is you, Eita-san!” Kogoro pointed at Eita. “But, ojisan, Eita-san doesn’t smell nice,” noted Conan, causing me to chuckle. “Of course he doesn’t smell nice! He is a human, not a food –– wait,” Kogoro suddenly paused. “AH! There are so many ants in here!” Conan pretended to be terrified out beside the trashcan. I walked towards the bowl of soup and called out, “One of the bowls here has the most ants as well.” “Yes, Eiichi-san is the only one who loves sweet foods,” commented Eita. I whispered to Conan, “One of the bowls is filled with ants. We now know how the murder is carried out, but we need to find out the identity of the culprit.” Conan smirked, “I already know who the culprit is.”

            “Mouri-san!” exclaimed Inspector Meguire. “Sorry I gave you a scare just now.” Conan spoke using Kogoro’s voice. “The culprit knows that Eiichi-san loves sweet food. So, the culprit added ethylene glycol into the bowl of soup before the soup is served and and disposed of the container. The murderer is none other than you, Hideyoshi-san!” Hideyoshi was horrified, “W-What are you talking about, Mouri-san?” quavered Hideyoshi. “Ethylene glycol does not give out any scent but it taste sweet, as John told me that there are many ants in one of the bowls.” Hideyoshi sank to his knees. “Yoko-san is the best girl I’ve ever met, and I loved her so much. She is close to her manager –– so close that I felt so jealous of him,” confessed Hideyoshi. He then gave a hysterical laugh, “With her manager is gone, I can have Yoko-san all for myself.” Hideyoshi was then brought to the police station. Kogoro gave a yawn and woke up from his sleep. Inspector Meguire shook Kogoro hard, “Mouri-san! That was an excellent deduction! I didn’t know you know chemistry!” “It was?” Kogoro paused for a while. “Of course it was! There is no crime that I can’t solve! Hahaha!” laughed Kogoro.

            There was a vibration in my pocket and I fished out my phone. There was no name on the screen. “Hello?” I answered. “Hi John-kun, it’s me Yoshida Ayumi. Why can’t we sleep with plants during night time?” She asked. How did she get my phone number? I narrowed my eyes. “During the night time, there is no sunlight for plants to photosynthesize, so the stomata is closed. To keep living, they need energy, which comes from ATP. Plants use oxygen during the nighttime to generate ATP. The plants break down starch into glucose, which undergoes glycolysis. Then it is further broken down into pyruvate. Third, pyruvate is then converted into acetyl-CoA and enters the Kreb Cycle. Fourth, hydrogen ions go through a series of proteins and oxygen is the final proton acceptor of conversion into water,” I explained. “Um thank you!” Ayumi quickly ended the call. Ran was staring at me. “W-What is it, R-Ran-neechan?” I stammered. “Kreb Cycle? Acetyl-CoA? Who are you, John-kun?” she demanded. “I-I’m just an elementary kid. S-Shinichi-niichan taught me those,” I continued to stammer. Oi, oi, don’t pull me into this, thought Conan. “Shinichi did? Right, I ought to check up on him on his cases,” wondered Ran. Conan was horrified, “I-I forgot something at Agasa’s. I’ll meet you at home!” With that said, Conan rushed towards Agasa’s residence as Ran began hitting the buttons on her phone to call Shinichi. Ran was on the phone with Shinichi all the way to the agency. I saw that there was a clear liquid on the office table and I was too thirsty to mind about the drink’s content. I drank a cup and the drink tasted spicy. “Ran-neechan,” I called out. “I’ll go Hakase’s to check if Conan-kun needs help.” “Alright, don’t be away for too long,” she called back. As soon as I left the second floor, I felt a sudden pain in my chest. What is this feeling? Am I going to die? I thought nervously. I hurried to Agasa’s residence as the pain in my chest kept growing.

            At last, I have arrived at Agasa’s residence and pounded at the gate, yelling and panting at the same time, “Conan-kun! – pant – Hurry! – pant – I’m going to die soon!” I felt as if my skin was tearing apart. Conan hurried out of the residence with a horror in his face, Oh no! Not now! He can’t change right now! If he does, we would be exposed! Conan quickly dragged me into the residence as I gave my piercing scream of pain. When I woke up, I saw that I am wearing a blue, long pant with a white, buttoned long sleeve shirt. “Thanks,” I began. Suddenly, my phone rang and it was from Ran. Oh no! I gasped. I adjusted the knob on my watch and gave a quick test –– it sounded just like my 7-year-old voice and I answered the call. “John-kun, how’s Conan-kun over there? Does he need help?” asked Ran. “Ah, everything’s fine here. Oh, and Conan-kun said that there is a new game and asked me to try it out. So I will be staying overnight at Hakase’s and I will go back tomorrow,” I explained. “Alright, see you tomorrow!” With that said, she hung up. I gave a huge sigh of relief. “Sorry, Shinichi-kun, I’ll be wearing your clothes for a while. I’ve got to check out from the hotel,” I reminded him. “Of course! Your hotel!” He chuckled. “If you don’t return soon enough, it will be about time they found you missing.” “Let’s go, Hakase!” I called out. “Coming!” He called back.

Agasa gave me a ride to the nearest hotel to the Tropical Land. “How can I help you?” one of the receptionists asked. She had her hair tied into a bun and wore a full blue suit with a black vest with her nametag pinned on it. “Jonathan Smith,” I told her. She punched some keys on the keyboard. “I lost my hotel card. I’ll pay the fine after I got my baggage,” I promised her. As promised, after I got my luggage, I paid for the fine, but as soon as I have finished paying my fine, there was a piercing scream, which came from the bathroom. Geez, can’t I finish a task without stumbling into murders? I groaned in frustration. “Ahahaha, sorry Hakase, there is a murder case here and I won’t be going back so soon,” I chuckled sarcastically while on the phone with Hakase. “Don’t worry. Take your time. I will be right outside when you have solved the case,” replied Agasa.

I ran towards the source of the scream and found a man in thirties, wearing a blue suit, sitting still on the toilet bowl. The police have arrived to the crime scene and Insepctor Meguire took a glance at me, “Have I seen you before?” He asked, puzzled. “Nope! Not at all! My name is Jonathan Smith, and I’m a detective,” I replied. I’ll deal with this young man after this case. He looks familiar, not to mention he’s here when the murder happened. Inspector Meguire pushed the thought aside. “The victim is Arata Akiyoshi, age 32. Cause of death: injection. The recent contacts with the victim are Chikara Hatsuo, Jiro Kazutaka and Keita Kosuke,” reported Takagi. Chikara, Jiro and Keita were called forward to the crime scene. “Jiro-san, I know it’s you! You’ve always envied Arata-san. You both wanted to be hotel receptionists, and there was only one slot. That’s why you killed him!” yelled Chikara, who wore braces and a purple business suit. “What are you talking about? Don’t you have a higher motive to kill him, Chikara-san? You know that he earns more than you, so you were jealous and you killed him!” Jiro shot back. He wore a grey business suit. “He is better than me in every way,” muttered Keita, who wore a blue business suit. “Because of that you killed Arata-san?” questioned Inspector Meguire. “Yes,” said Keita. “I’m sorry I have to arrest you,” said Inspector Meguire. While Inspector Meguire was taking Keita away, I hurried to stop the process, “Wait a minute, Inspector. Keita-san is just taking the blame to himself –– he is not the culprit.” “Keita-san has already confessed, Jonathan-kun,” frowned Inspector Meguire. “Why don’t we ask everyone to state their today’s events before they came here?” I suggested. “I don’t see where you’re getting, but alright,” Inspector Meguire hesitated for a while before turning to the three suspects. “Can you three please give a state your events before you came here?” While each of the three suspects was stating their events, I noticed that Chikara’s braces were rather loose. “I know who the culprit is, Inspector,” I announced. “Really, Jonathan-kun?” exclaimed Inspector Meguire. “The culprit is none other than you, Chikara-san!” I pointed at him and he became horrified. “W-what are you talking about, sir?” he stammered. “It’s about time you should visit the dentist, isn’t it?” I smirked. Chikara was shocked. “That’s right. You used the end wire from your loose braces to stab Arata-san. If we use luminol to check the end wire, we should find traces of Arata-san’s blood,” I concluded. Chikara sank to his knees, “It’s true that I envied Arata-san, but ever since my girlfriend met him, she was head over heels at Arata-san. One day, my girlfriend asked me why I couldn’t be like Arata-san for once, which was strange, because I have been myself for so long. So I killed him, so that my girlfriend won’t mention him anymore.” He laughed hysterically, “I’m smart, aren’t I?” Chikara was then brought to the police station. “Inspector, can you please don’t mention me in the news? Thanks a lot,” I informed Inspector Meguire. “Alright,” he frowned. Just like Shinichi-kun. Jonathan-kun doesn’t want to be in the news headline as well. I wonder what’s going on with teenagers nowadays. I thought they love to be in the spotlight. Inspector Meguire frowned. Oh well, may be a few does not like in the spotlight after all, he chuckled to himself.

            Exhausted, I exited the hotel with my luggage, where Agasa was waiting for me in his yellow beetle. “Alright,” I sighed. “I’m going to leave this baggage in Shinichi’s house and –– ah!” I felt a sharp pain in my chest. Oh no, not now! I was gasping for air. Agasa noticed this and accelerated the car. I felt my bones melting inside me and I clutched my chest tighter. My heart was racing and soon I gave a piercing scream of pain. Finally, everything blacked out.

My eyes fluttered open and I found myself on a big sofa. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Haibara appeared with her poker face, “Looking for your baggage? It’s at the staircase. And your body is now immune to Baijiu, so no point drinking more.” She turned and returned to the basement. I took a glance at myself. The clothes Shinichi lent me were now too big for me, so I had to waddle towards the bathroom, trying hard not to trip over. It was time consuming, but I finally managed to successfully waddle to the bathroom and changed into my shrunken-form clothes. Just as soon as I have finished shrinking back into a 7-year-old boy again, the door burst open and Ran was at the doorway. “R-Ran-neechan! Didn’t you knock before opening the door?” I chided her, with my face was red as tomato. “Gomene, John-kun, there was it was an emergency. Before that, why are you wearing clothes that too big for you?” apologized Ran. “J-Jonathan-niichan lends me his clothes. He said that the temperature changes fast in Japan,” I stammered. I’ve never heard of a person called Jonathan. Who is this boy anyway? Ran frowned. I narrowed my eyes, “Ran-neechan? I have received enough frowning today.” Ran broke into a smile, “Ah, gomene, John-kun.” With that said, she closed the door and left, but deep inside her mind, she was still wondering about the person named Jonathan.