Detective Conan 739

Chapter 739

01

Title: File 739 Princess
Text: The clue is "ball"!?

02

Kazuha: Ehh!?
Ran: It appeared again!?

Kazuha: The demon dog appeared again!?
Mouri: Yeah. That's 3 times tonight.
Ran: B-but why?

Mouri: Who knows...
Mouri: It came out when we were investigating the cabin Tomoaki-san said a dog's barking had come from before.

Mouri: He waited in the car on his own and he was attacked by...
Mouri: the burning demon dog!!

03

Yoshiya: Was the dog really on fire?
Takako: It wasn't just some trick?
Mouri: I had thought it had to be some kind of trick...

Mouri: But no matter how I look at it...
Miyuki: I really think it was on fire!

Miyuki: It's body was wrapped in burning flames...
Miyuki: and every place it stepped was set on fire.

Miyuki: And Tomoaki-san's sleeve caught on fire when he was attacked. I think it burned him.
Ran: A-are you okay?

Tomoaki: Yes. I applied first aid using the medical tools I had in my bag.
Tomoaki: But I still called the hospital and had them put someone else on duty for tonight.

Kazuha: Why did you get out of the car?
Tomoaki: I-it turned out I was too afraid to wait there alone...

Mouri: The real problem is...
Mouri: what we found on the ground next to Tomoaki-san after he was attacked...

04

Mouri: This onion!
[TN: The Japanese name for that kind of onion is literally "ball onion".]

Yoshiya: Another ball?
Takako: What's going on?
Ran: Hey, Kazuha-chan. Didn't you say that, when you tripped running away from the demon dog...

Ran: you smelled rotten onion?
Kazuha: Yeah...
Kazuha: Do you think there's some connection between the demon dog and onions?

Yoshiya: Well? Have the police figured out who the murderer controlling the demon dog is?
Yamamura: I intend to call in some investigators to check out that suspicious cabin in the morning...

Yamamura: but we probably won't catch the murderer.
Takako: Eh!?
Yoshiya: Why not!?

Yamamura: We're talking about a black magician who can curse dogs!
Yamamura: What are normal people like us at the police supposed to do about that!?

05

Yamamura: Seriously! I want to get out of here as soon as I can!!
Ran: A-a black magician...
Mouri: There were a lot of black magic books...
Mouri: in that cabin.

Mouri: Just to check, none of you left the mansion while we encountered the demon dog, right?
Takako: Right.

Takako: I've been calling people to arrange Saki-san's funeral this whole time.
Yoshiya: And I've been chatting on the computer with my survival game friends.

Mouri: By survival game you mean Airsoft gun battles?
Yoshiya: Yeah. I'm the instructor at a camp near here.
Yoshiya: I have a survival game match with some friends there once a month!

Mouri: Then you must know this forest pretty well.
Yoshiya: I guess I do...
Yoshiya: But Miyuki probably knows it better. She would always go get edible plants from the forest with mother.

Mouri: And your mother, Satomi-san, is still...
Takako: Yes. She's still asleep in her room.
Ran: Come to think of it, where's Hattori-kun and Conan-kun?
Kazuha: I haven't seen them...

Mouri: They underwent a pretty big shock, so they're probably off somewhere depressed or something.
Mouri: They really believed the demon dog was some kind of trick...

06

SFX: Staring blankly

Ran: Oh, there they are!
Kazuha: They really do look depressed...

Ran: C'mon, don't get so down!
Kazuha: Yeah! There are just some things in the world that you can't figure out!

Heiji: Things you can't figure out?
Conan: What are you talking about?

Ran: The demon dog!! What else!?
Kazuha: You saw it, right, Heiji? That monster surrounded in fire!!

Ran: Dad said you saw it leaving its burning footprints, too.
Heiji: Oh, the burning footprints trick...?

07

Ran: Kazuha, you said you smelled rotten onion when you tripped...
Conan: and, Sis Ran, you said after the demon dog left you heard a dry sound...
Conan: and that the flames were hopping around. We pretty much figured it out from that!

Ran: Ehh!?
Conan: The burning footprints were always for only about 20 meters.
Heiji: And there were marks on the ground looking like something had been dragged along the ground!

Heiji: What we were worrying over were the flames around the dog's body.
Conan: Yeah. How do you get enough fire on a dog to burn someone when it jumps on them...?

Heiji: If you wrapped the dog in cloth and set it on fire, there would be the burned corpse of a dog nearby.
Conan: And if the murderer put it out with water or a fire extinguisher, there would be signs nearby that he did that.

Heiji: The murderer could have been waiting for the dog to return in a truck so as to not leave any sign of putting out the fire by doing it in the back of the truck...
Heiji: but we didn't see any tire tracks...
Heiji: and we didn't hear the sound of an engine.

Heiji: And where did the dog disappear to in the first place?
Conan: It was on fire, so we should have been able to see where it had run off to when we ran over to Tomoaki-san.
Kazuha: The dog was gone?

08

Conan: Yeah. It was like it was swallowed up by the darkness.
Ran: S-swallowed up!?
Kazuha: Are you saying it was eaten by the darkness?

Miyuki: Are you going to eat?
Ran: Eh!?
Kazuha: E-eat!?

Miyuki: I'm talking about dinner. If you want to eat, I can reheat it.
Heiji: I'd like that!
Conan: I'm starving!

Miyuki: Then I'll go do that...
Heiji: Oh, there's something I want to ask you.

Heiji: When you think about balls...
Heiji: what comes to mind?

Miyuki: Eh?
Heiji: First was a pachinko ball. Then a ping-pong ball, a pearl, and a marble. And this time an onion.
Heiji: It seems the murderer is leaving a ball behind at each crime scene.

Conan: Is there any connection between the Inubushi family and balls?
Miyuki: Hmm...
Miyuki: When I think of the word "ball"...

09

Miyuki: all that really comes to mind...
Miyuki: is my old family name "Tamaki".
Text: Tamaki
Miyuki: And my nickname as a kid was Tama-chan...
[TN: The "tama" in "Tamaki" uses the kanji for "ball" which is usually pronounced "tama".]

Kazuha: T-
Ran: Tama-chan!?
Miyuki: B-but don't say I'm the murderer because of that!
Miyuki: No once calls me that here.

Heiji: Do you know the others' family names?
Miyuki: No...
Miyuki: I was the last of the adopted children to come here.

Ran: Come to think of it, you're a lot younger than the others, aren't you?
Miyuki: Yes.
Miyuki: My father, President Tsunechika, was apparently in his mid-fifties when I was born.

Miyuki: Apparently, my given name was originally "Chikae" taking one kanji from my father's name, but my mother didn't like it and changed it.
Text: Chikae
Miyuki: My mother hated my father.
Miyuki: She said he tricked her and then abandoned her.
[TN: The "chika" in "Tsunechika" and "Chikae" uses the same kanji.]

Kazuha: Then why did you come here?
Ran: After hearing your mother's complaints, I would think you wouldn't want to.
Miyuki: I didn't really intend on coming here.
Miyuki: But I got a letter from my father a while after my mother died of sickness.
Miyuki: A letter?

10

Miyuki: It said, "I don't have long left...
Miyuki: If you will forgive me, please come to the Inubushi house and protect my princess".
Miyuki: Apparently all the other adopted children received similar letters.
Conan: Who is...
Heiji: his princess?

Kazuha: Maybe it's Miyuki-san? Her name has "Princess" in it.
Heiji: Idiot! Why would he send a letter saying to protect his princess to that very princess! Stupid!
Miyuki: I didn't know who he meant at first either...
[TN: The "ki" in "Miyuki" is spelled with the kanji for "princess".]

Miyuki: but once I came here, I realized pretty quickly it meant Mother Satomi!
Miyuki: All of the maids call her princess.

Conan: Why "princess" though?
Miyuki: The maids said it was because my father always called her that.
Miyuki: Mother always laughs and says it's too embarrassing so they should stop.

Ran: Maybe it's because this mansion is like a castle.
Kazuha: Yeah! President Tsunechika must have felt like a feudal lord!

Miyuki: Also, my name used to be spelled using just the kanji for "happiness", but I added the kanji for "princess" on mother's suggestion.
Miyuki: So I didn't have "princess" in there originally!
Heiji: You changed your name?

11

Miyuki: Yes. Mother said she wanted me to become a princess like her so we could live happily together in this castle.
Ran: Ohh...

Miyuki: Speaking of names...I heard that Shinichi-san who died in Tokyo changed his name just before his real mother gave us his birth registration.
Conan: Just before?

Miyuki: Yes. His name used to be "Hitoshi" using the kanji for "benevolence"...
Heiji: Why did he change it?

Miyuki: Shinichi-san said father changed it because Hitoshi was too simple.
Text: Hitoshi
Heiji: It's true that Hitoshi has a low stroke count...

Miyuki: Also...I heard that, if Takako-san had been male, her name would have been "Kouki" spellid with the kanji for "think" and the kanji for "seasons".
Miyuki: And if Yoshiya-san had been female, his name would have been "Yuuka" spelled with the first kanji of "Yuutenji" and the kanji for "flower".

Miyuki: And, if Tomoaki-san had been female, he would have been named "Chiharu" with the kanji for "know" and for "spring".
Heiji: I see...
Conan: Were all of those names given by President Tsunechika?

Miyuki: Yes. The same for Keiji-san, Miwako-san, and Saki-san.
Heiji: It looks like there might be a secret in their names!
Conan: Yeah...

12

Miyuki: Is it true that one of the adopted children is the murderer using the demon dog to eradicate the Inubushi bloodline?
Heiji: I don't know about that yet...
Heiji: but someone is definitely using a trick to pull of a series of murders!

Heiji: And we've found a clue...
Heiji: to the trick behind the demon dog!

Kazuha: What's that scrap of cloth?
Conan: It was next to Tomoaki-san after he was attacked by the demon dog!
Heiji: It doesn't look burnt and it doesn't smell of oil, but it was definitely used for something.

Takako: If you found some evidence, why didn't you give it to the police?
Miyuki: T-Takako-san!
Heiji: I-I was about to...

Takako: And Miyuki-san...You left the kettle on the burner!
Miyuki: Ah, I'm sorry! I thought I would be right back...

Conan: C'mon, let's go get some dinner!
Heiji: Yeah!

Heiji: But before we eat, I want to ask everyone who stayed here what they were doing.

13

Kazuha: Hey, Ran-chan...

Kazuha: Can you get this one?
Ran: Hmm..."Try thinking about it with your glasses on" is the hint?
TV: Okay, 60 seconds until the time limit!

Heiji: What are you two doing?
Ran: Watching the night re-airing of a quiz show.
Kazuha: It's pretty fun!

Conan: How about you get some sleep? It's already 1.
Heiji: They put futons out in the guest rooms, right?
Ran: But there's a demon dog near here.
Kazuha: We're too scared to sleep!

Heiji: It's...
Kazuha: Then can you decode this?
Kazuha: I'll go to sleep if you can do it!
TV: 30 seconds left!

Ran: Conan-kun might be able to solve it! He's wearing glasses.
Conan: It means "me" is "ne"...
Heiji: The solution is replacing every "me" with "ne".
[TN: Japanese for the "glasses" is "megane" and "'me' is 'ne'" is "'me' ga 'ne'".]

14

SFX: Ding ding
Box:
Q18. Decode this:
"yameuranomeko"
(Try thinking about it with your glasses on!)

TV: A-A cat in the attic!
SFX (in bottom bubble): Dind ding diiing
TV: Correct!!
[TN: "A cat in the attic" is "yaneura no neko" i.e. the above "yameuranomeko" with "me" as "ne".]

Kazuha: I see! Glasses means...
Ran: that you switch "me" out for "ne" and read it!

Conan: So that's it...
Heiji: That's the trick behind the demon dog!

Conan: Which means there's...

Heiji: only one person who could be the murderer!

15

Miyuki: Eh? Mother did!?

Miyuki: Mother collapsed!?
Yoshiya: Yes. Apparently she was trying to get out of her futon.

Heiji: Ohh...

Heiji: So Takako-san, you heard an odd sound in the hall and, when you entered the room, you found her collapsed in front of the dresser?
Takako: Yes...
Tomoaki: Why would she do this while I was in the bathroom?

Conan: There are some things scattered on the ground.
Heiji: They're rosary beads.

Conan: A tear...

Takako: H-hey...
SFX: Lift

16

Heiji: She's holding the 8th bead.
Heiji: And only the 4th from the top is the smaller "heaven bead".
Conan: Balls...8...dog...

Conan: Th-that's it!!
Heiji: Yeah!!

Conan: In other words, Satomi-san knows...
Heiji: which one of them is the serial killer!
Box: To be continued in Issue 30

Margin: The rosary beads point to the killer!? Next Issue: The conclusion!!