Occurring persons:

Main: Shinichi / Conan, Kogoro, Shiho, Ran, Heiji, Kazuha, Takahashi Atsushi, Kansuke Yamato, Detective Boys (Cameo)
Organization:

Bourbon, gin, vodka
Own:

Two suspects, two cops, three murder victims
Undefined:

Subaru Okiya, Morofushi Takaaki, Takahashi Hisamichi
prolog
Omachi, Nagano Prefecture Border
He ran, he gasped his heart out. Was he still behind him? It had to be like that, the guy hadn't given the impression that he would give up easily. But damn it, where did he get into? In a cheap B-movie? A guy mist mask broke into his house and sharpened a knife? He was also wearing a silly mask, he was clearly dealing with a madman. Was he really targeting him just for fun? It had to be like that. Reiji didn't know anyone in Omachi and certainly nobody in Shirokyou. Damn it, he'd moved here because of the seclusion, but the clichés seemed to be right. Such absurd things always happened in small villages, where the truth could never leak out.

Suddenly Reiji felt how he lost his balance and began to fall. Damn it, why hadn't he noticed that tree swamp? He fell forward and rolled down a slope. He was sure to have sprained something, but he couldn't take it into account now. The madman was still after him, he had to go on. But he couldn't. No matter how many times he tried, he couldn't get up. That was his end, he knew that. Then he noticed quick steps approaching him. And soon he was above him. The man in the mask. He took something out of his pocket and Reiji feared that it was the knife. But it was not like that. The masked man dropped something on top of him, a small, flat object that landed right next to Reiji's face. He stared at him in disbelief. It was a playing card like the ones he'd seen by the dozen. But what was the point in placing it here? When the masked man drew his knife and let it sway over Reiji, he knew. It was the madman's trademark, his stamp. Or ... maybe more? In the last few seconds of his life, he wondered if there was any deeper meaning in the card. Then he realized it. Except that by then it was too late.
Part 1

The village
Conan looked to the right. A disinterested look out of the side window.

Conan looked left.

A petulant look from the other side window.

Conan looked up.

A friendly, smiling Ran. And he is right in the middle.

"So ... the landscape is really beautiful, don't you think? Heiji? Kazuha?", He tried to convey.

Her two friends from Osaka looked at him now and both nodded absently. Then a throat clearing from the driver's seat.

"Hey hey, woe are you in such a bad mood because of me."complained Kogoro.

Ran kept her polite smile.

"Yes, we really wanted to do something with you over the weekend. But then this really important client contacted Paps and you know that his work comes first," said his daughter.

Kazuha looked at her friend doubtfully.

"Yes, and of course our super detective had to jump on the bandwagon immediately, since Mr. Mori couldn't solve a case on his own, of course.", She snapped.

Conan didn't show the sneer he gave afterwards. He knew that Kogoro would most likely screw it up.

"Come on, do you think going to the cinema, eating ice cream or shopping is really more demanding?" Heiji asked defiantly.

A violent nod from Kazuha, but the Western detective ignored it.

But Conan had to agree with his best friend. Kogoro's new client had promised a complicated case, and in spite of everything, to deduce was what he liked best. But weren't they overdoing it?

Heiji had only arrived yesterday and since then they had resolved two cases. At first they just wanted to pick up Kazuha, but she reported from a restaurant and reported a murder. Of course, Conan, Heiji and their company immediately got up and ran into an old friend. FBI agent André Camel, who found the body. Of course, Conan and Heiji had to turn it into another competition and the end result was a draw. Conan was so happy to be one step ahead of his friend because the perpetrator came from the Kansai region and he wanted to show him off. In the end, however, it only mattered that the case was resolved.

Then Heiji explained the real reason for his coming. A friend of his mother's, a company president, was murdered and he wanted to investigate the case with Conan. But when they arrived at the house of the deceased, a hideous double homicide awaited them. The wife and son were poisoned and it was hard work to find evidence against the perpetrator. But finally this problem was solved and Heiji and Kazuha wanted to do something with Ran and Conan the next day.

If it hadn't been for Kogoro's client who insisted on having the private investigator with him on the same day.

"And? Who is your client?", Heiji asked eagerly.

Kogoro sighed.

Takahashi Hisamichi-san. He is a politician, albeit an extremely seedy one. Still, he pays well and he won't have called me over just for a trivial matter. He is the mayor of Shirokyou, so I assume he is acting on official grounds. "he revealed.

"Shirokyou? Never heard of it.", Kazuha thought he had to say.

"It's also just a small village in Omachi. It doesn't have many residents, but there still seem to be problems."

Heiji and Kazuha nodded, then looked at each other.They stared stubbornly out the windows again.
Shirokyou - A few meters from Hisamichi-san's apartment
The property itself was not in the center of town, but on a small hill. Kogoro gasped as he climbed, but could understand that the mayor of a village also needed his rest.

Conan looked at Kazuha who had taken a few steps ahead.

"Hey, what about you? Did you have a fight?" The shrunken detective wanted to know.

Heiji just shrugged helplessly.

"I'm overwhelmed by that. She's been so cool to me since yesterday evening. I have no idea what I was supposed to have done to her," he confessed.

Conan managed a smile.

"So if you ask me ... yesterday she looked like she wanted to tell you something important," he replied.

Heiji seemed to remember something again.

"Oh right! But then I ran away because I learned something very interesting.", He said and grinned at Conan gleefully.

He sighed. It was clear to him that his friend was referring to the event in London, where he had confessed to Ran what he felt for her. Of course, she had to tell her friend Kazuha everything, as if it weren't enough for Conan that Sonoko opened his mouth over him. And why did Kazuha have to mention that to his best friend of all people? Heiji hadn't left him alone since then.

"But now that you say it ... it wasn't just like this since yesterday. When we left Osaka, she already behaved so strangely," said Heiji.

Conan raised an eyebrow.

"Strange?" He asked.

"Yes, Kazuha turned away when I spoke to her. Well, she was on the phone, but she clearly didn't want me to hear who I was with," he said.

Now it was Conan's turn to smile gleefully.

"Well ... maybe the good girl has finally seen what a useless thing you are and has caught someone else. What was the name of this student again who was so into her?"

Heiji got a bright red head.

"Stupid! That ... that could never be! Who ... who would be interested in a hollow head like Kazuha.", He justified himself in his own way.

Conan sighed and let the subject rest.

They had now arrived at the gates of the Takahashi estate. Kogoro rang the bell and waited for it to open. Less than a minute later she jumped up and a fine man in tails greeted the group.

"Hello, my name is Toshino, I'm the butler for the Takahashi family," he introduced himself.

Kogoro nodded and began to introduce the girls and then Heiji and Conan. As usual, he called the latter a parasite. Toshino let them in and the group looked around the grand house.

Then voices reached her ears and a door opened. Behind them came Takahashi Hisamichi-san, as well as a woman who was probably the same age as him."Mori-san, thank you very much for coming!" He shook hands with the private investigator. Then he referred to the woman.

"This is my wife, Yuuka-san."

It seemed to give Kogoro particular pleasure to shake hands with the woman as well. A little too long as Ran thought.

Hisamichi led the group to a table and Kogoro and the girls sat on the comfortable couch in front of it. Conan and Heiji preferred to stand.

"So Takahashi-san ... what is your concern with me?", Kogoro wanted to know.

Hisamichi and his wife looked at each other, then both became very serious.

"It's ... about murder. No, actually it's about a series of murders," he confessed.

Kogoro looked shocked, as did the rest.

"Like ... a serial killer?" Heiji asked in surprise.

The mayor nodded sadly and handed the private investigator various newspaper articles.

"But ... why are you calling a detective and not the police then?", Kazuha did not quite understand.

Hisamichi just sighed.

"We are a small village, there are only two police officers. Of course we have applied for help from neighboring Nagano and they have also sent a competent looking inspector, but he just wanted to get an overview. He arrived early today and study the evidence. But that's not enough for me, as mayor I see my duty to ensure the safety of my citizens, "he insisted.

Kogoro nodded and took a closer look at the newspapers. Heiji and Conan also glanced over his shoulder.

"Please tell me everything in detail.", Kogoro asked the mayor.

Hisamichi nodded and then started.

"It started two weeks ago. The first victim was Ikeda Reiji-san, not a local, but very popular. Especially in the village pub. Friends discovered his home had been broken into and a fight was going on. They looked for him and found him in the woods , stabbed. Nobody thought anything about the playing card that was found on him. "

"Playing card?" Conan asked