Volume 5

Volume 5 was released on April 18, 1995 in Japan.

Bandaged Man Case
Anime Episode 34-35: Mountain Villa Bandaged Man Murder Case

File 040 - The Mysterious... Bandaged Man
Conan Edogawa and Ran Mouri are lost on their way to the secluded mountain villa belonging to the family of Ran's friend and classmate, Sonoko Suzuki. When they finally stumble across the bridge that leads there, they see a man in a coat and hat with his face wrapped in bandages ahead of them, but then he disappears. Sonoko greets them at the door, meeting Conan for the first time, though she complains that his presence will make it harder for her to land a date with any of the cute guys Sonoko's sister, Ayako Suzuki, invited on the trip. Ran asks if any of them had a bandaged face, which Sonoko denies before sending them up to find their room on the second floor. Without knowing which of the rooms is theirs, Ran accidentally walks in on three men in various states of undress before finding the empty room set aside for her and Conan.

The three men turn out to have been in the same film club in college as Ayako and another woman, Chikako Ikeda. Masaru Ohta was an actor, Hiroki Sumiya was cameraman and did special effects, Ryoichi Takahashi was a handyman and props technician, Ayako covered makeup and costumes, and Chikako, a now-published screenwriter, did directing and writing. As they reminisce, Ayako mentions missing a girl named Atsuko, which immediately raises tension in the room. Chikako loses her temper and snaps that they came to relax, not bring up a death from two years ago. To restore the good atmosphere, Ayako goes to cook dinner and Ryoichi goes to repair part of the roof before it rains. Still looking angry, Chikako leaves alone to take a walk.

As they wait for dinner, Sonoko admires Masaru's good looks, having dismissed Hiroki's plainer appearance and Ryoichi for being overweight. Sonoko also teases Ran for her relationship with Shinichi, before Masaru interrupts and invites Ran out to walk privately in the rain. Ran is too flustered by the invitation to reject it, to Sonoko and Conan's dismay. They follow at a distance, too far away to hear Ran explain to Masaru her feelings for Shinichi. Masaru tells her to find a new guy and offers to fill the role, but a sudden flash of lightning nearby spooks Ran and she runs off alone into the forest. Conan chases after, but she's out of sight — and as she tries to get her bearings alone, the bandaged man sneaks up behind her with an axe!

File 041 - The First Victim!
At the last second, Ran realizes her attacker is behind her and dodges, but the shock of seeing the bandaged man knocks her off her feet. She screams, and Conan and Sonoko arrive and scare the man off. Back at the mansion, Chikako, Hiroki, and Masaru all deny having seen the man in the forest, as well as Ryoichi and Ayako from around the house, though all five are without alibis. Ryoichi adds that he saw the bandaged man on his trip to the villa, and a few of the others saw a man in a cloak they'd wrongly assumed to be a neighbor, since the villa is the only one on its side of the mountain. Hiroki suggests calling the police to report the suspicious man and the attack, but the phone lines have been cut. Ryoichi panics and runs to the bridge, only to discover that the rope bridge has also been cut. Chikako thinks that the whole affair is a prank intended to frighten them. She tells Ayako that she plans to wait in the house until they can cross the mountain for help after sunrise, until Chikako discovers a mysterious letter slipped under the door to her room. She begs off dinner, saying she's tired and is going to sleep.

Later, in the kitchen, Ran and Sonoko help Ayako make dinner, and Conan asks Ayako about why everyone got tense when "Atsuko" was mentioned. Ayako explains that Atsuko was a film club member who hanged herself two years ago, and the club members have grown distant ever since. Hiroki and Masaru arrive for dinner, and Ryoichi is on his way in from the roof when he says that there's someone outside, near the window. Everyone looks, just in time to see the bandaged man rush by with Chikako in his arms. No one can see where he went in the dark and rain, but Conan grabs a nearby flashlight and jumps out the window to pursue. Masaru and Hiroki take Ryoichi and follow Conan into the forest, where the come upon dismembered body parts, and eventually, Chikako's severed body and head.

File 042 - Ran's in Trouble!
The men report Chikako's death and Hiroki comforts Ayako when she feels responsible for planning the gathering. With no other recourse, the group locks all the doors and windows to the house and plans to summon the police in the morning. As Ran, Sonoko and Conan check the front door, Conan notices that Chikako's house slippers aren't by the door, indicating she didn't leave the house from the front even though she left of her own accord, since the severed legs had shoes on. They find the slippers by the back door, as if she tried to sneak out unseen.



In their bedroom, Conan asks Ran why the bandaged man might have attacked Ran as well, but she denies having any enemies. After going to bed, Conan tries to figure out why the bandaged man would also have grabbed Chikako from the back of the house, only to go past the dining room window on the front of the house where he would be sure to be seen. Conan's thoughts are interrupted by Ran asking to sleep next to him, though she tries to deny that she's scared. Conan tries to go back to analysis, only to realize that Ran's close proximity completely derails his train of thought. He decides to sleep, but then the window creaks, and a shadow on the bed resolves into the bandaged man, axe raised yet again to attack Ran.

Conan kicks him Ran off the bed, which also moves him back out of the swing of the axe. Unfortunately, Ran is an incredibly deep sleeper and doesn't wake, despite the impact and movement. The man ignores Conan and goes to attack her again. Conan tackles the man, only to get thrown into the wall above the other bed and sprain his ankle when it impacts the headboard. Desperate, Conan grabs the Voice-Changing Bowtie and turns the speaker to max before yelling at Ran to wake up. Ran wakes, sees the bandaged man and screams, summoning Sonoko to investigate. The bandaged man flees out the window. Conan tries to follow, but his injured ankle prevents him. Conan wonders to himself why, with the pouring rain outside, the man didn't trail water into the room as the rest of the group decides to stay in the dining room together until morning. As they move, Conan notices Chikako's choker in Ayako's pocket; Ayako says she found it in the entranceway after they'd gone out chasing the bandaged man. However, Conan remembers that Chikako'd been wearing it when she went by the window, and they should have found the choker in the forest — not inside the house.

File 043 - Attack in the Dark!
As they ponder the bandaged man's motives, Sonoko asks why Ran didn't defend herself with karate and Ran reminds her that she's afraid of ghosts and monsters. Masaru flirtatiously comforts her until Conan grumpily interrupts him. Masaru tries to dismiss Conan, but Ran defends how Conan protected her. Conan didn't see the bandaged man's face, but by tackling him Conan learned that the man had an average waist, neither skinny or overweight. Masuru tries to dismiss him again, but Conan is distracted when he notices Hiroki's video camera, which recorded the bandaged man's flight past the window. Conan confirms that Chikako had her choker on at that point, which means one of the three men are suspicious, but appear to have alibis. Ayako asks Conan for the choker back, and he asks if Chikako had been acting oddly before. Ayako remembers that Chikako found the letter and turned pale — Conan realizes that one of the three men called her outside and then killed her.

Conan also realizes that Ran must be a suspect because she could have potentially seen something when she got the rooms mixed up when they first arrived. He asks if she saw anything suspicious; she denies having seen a cloak or bandages. She did see something odd, but now she can't recall what it was. As she thinks, lightning strikes and cuts power to the house. Ran, Conan, and Ayako go to gather candles; on the way back, they hear a noise not long before Ran senses another attack from behind. She defends herself, and they realize that it was set as a trap by someone.

In the dining room, a second floor window smashes inwards just before the power comes back; however, Conan discovers that one of the latches is undone and the murderer is still one of the three men. Out on the second floor balcony, Conan finds a pair of thin marks around the top railing, and realizes with a start who the bandaged man is, and what Ran might have seen to become a target. He plans to use the Stun-Gun Wristwatch on Ran, but accidentally misses and knocks out Sonoko instead. With no other choice, Conan hides under the table that Sonoko slumped over, and declares that he knows who the murderer is.

File 044 - The Identity of the Murderer!
As Sonoko, Conan reviews the evidence pointing to one of the film club members as the murderer: Masaru objects to the accusation, citing everyone's presence in the room when Chikako and the man passed by the dining room. Conan explains that a foldable mannequin-prop and piano wire can create the illusion of another person.
 * To leave no mud behind in Ran's room, the bandaged man must have come from inside the house, via Chikako's empty room.
 * The hole in the window was made directly next to the latch, indicating foreknowledge of the latch location.

Hide= |-|Show= The illusion was created by stringing the puppet on a wire between two sides of the L-shaped balcony, with both ends of the wire tied just above the dining room window, and then alerting everyone to look at the window before cutting one side of the wire to make the mannequin swing past. By hauling the mannequin back up to the balcony before the window could be opened, the "bandaged man" and Chikako appeared to have vanished. The only person who could perform that trick is Ryoichi, who had been supposedly repairing the roof and was on the balcony. Additionally, Ryoichi was a prop technician in the film club and had the knowledge to perform such a trick.

As for carrying the body, Conan argues that Ryoichi was the only person who could have done so secretly, if he only carried the head that he used for the trick. Ryoichi vehemently argues that he wasn't carrying the body, that he had no reason to attack Ran or Chikako and... hesitates, before trailing off that he couldn't be a murderer. Conan jumps on the hesitation, explaining that Ryoichi couldn't protest that he wasn't skinny enough to be the bandaged man because Ryoichi is not, in fact, as overweight as he pretends to be. After killing and dismembering Chikako, he carried her head in place of his stomach padding to the villa and pulled the doll trick, then dropped the choker as he carried it back to the forest switched back in the padding while they were searching. Ryoichi planted the idea of the bandaged man by appearing to them at the beginning of the trip, but the whole plan was at risk when Ran accidentally walked in on him changing and caught a glimpse of his true stature.

Ryoichi confesses that he killed Chikako to avenge Atsuko's death, after realizing that the script that Chikako won a prize for in school and was just turned into a released film, was in fact a script that Atsuko originally wrote. She committed suicide because the script was stolen from her and no one believed her. Ryoichi baited Chikako with revealing the secret of her script, and killed her. Ryoichi pulls out a knife and says he's going to join Atsuko as the bringer of justice who avenged her, before Conan yells that by attacking Ran, Ryoichi became nothing more than a murderer with a grudge. Ryoichi is shocked out of his suicidal intent, and soon the morning sun rises.

Lex Vocalist Murder Case
Anime Episode 42: Karaoke Box Murder Case

File 045 - The Karaoke Killer!
Ran and Sonoko discuss the aftermath of the previous case at the Suzuki family's mountain villa. Ran mentions that Sonoko solved the case, to Sonoko's surprise; Conan panics and is about to try changing the subject, but then Sonoko accepts the credit and brags about her detective expertise. Conan is nonplussed and thinks that using Sonoko as a mouthpiece was a big mistake. Sonoko brings up Shinichi's absence and tells Ran to give up on Shinichi for being so distant, but Ran still thinks Shinichi's good qualities outweigh his weaknesses. Ran switches the conversation to Sonoko's crush at the villa, but Sonoko declares she's moved on to the singer, Tatsuya Kimura. She'll get to meet him in person on Sunday through her father's connections. Ran is also a fan of Tatsuya; Sonoko invites Ran to come along to the private meeting and Ran happily accepts.

On Sunday evening, Ran, Sonoko and Conan enjoy a karaoke session with Tatsuya, his band mates Katsumi and Mieko, and their manager, Mari. While Conan is struck by how pretty Mari is, Ran and Sonoko work up the courage to ask Tatsuya if he's dating a popular actress. He glibly denies the accusation, to Ran and Sonoko's relief, but Conan notices that Mieko reacts by quietly clutching her drink with a pained, almost angry expression. Much later, Ran and Sonoko finish a duet and Tatsuya, heavily drunk, compliments them while insulting his band. Mari lectures him for drinking too much, and he shouts that she's ugly and should back off. As the next song starts, Tatsuya reveals he requested it as a dig at Katsumi's skinny appearance in his youth, but then the karaoke box manager arrives with snacks. Tatsuya mentions it's sad for the manager of their old band to be the owner of such a place. Conan wonders about the comment, but then "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" starts playing. Tatsuya requested it as well, and taunts Mari for believing in Santa and into singing the song. The manager, Sumii, looks unhappy as he leaves, and Conan angrily gets close to Tatsuya to try to figure out what he's thinking. To Conan surprise, Tatsuya's hidden expression is one of sorrow.

Later, as Meiko tearily sings a song of farewell, Tatsuya reveals to Ran and Sonoko that the band will break up at the end of their current tour, going on to insult all three of his colleagues. Before anyone can call him on his behavior, Tatsuya's signature song, "Bloody Venus", starts to play, and he delays their departure to a talk show in order to sing it. Mari calls the studio while Tatsuya tosses aside his band jacket and sings with a passion that surprises everyone. Afterwards he seems excited to tell Ran and Sonoko his plans for his debut solo album while he eats a rice ball Katsumi gave him, but then he suddenly starts coughing up blood. He collapses, dead, before an ambulance can even be summoned. Conan finds the scent of hydrocyanic acid on Tatsuya's hand and wonders who could have killed him like this without Conan noticing.

File 046 - Suicide or Homicide?
Mari returns from phoning the interview site at Ran’s summons, and Inspector Megure arrives with his officers to investigate. Based on how Tatsuya died, he was most likely poisoned by one of his companions. Megure counts off the suspects, concerned that Conan is inspecting evidence but already familiar with Conan’s quirks. An officer brings news that Gou used to be in a band with Tatsuya years ago and Megure accuses him of jealousy, poisoning the food. Conan disproves the theory by eating a rice ball himself, causing Megure to cast suspicion on Yamada for giving the one Tatsuya ate. Megure pauses in taking everyone to the station to ask what Conan is looking for; Conan can’t find Tatsuya’s cigarette lighter in Tatsuya’s jacket or anywhere else in the room. Megure dismisses the lighter as inconsequential and takes the police investigation to the station.

After taking all the witness testimonies, Megure narrows the time of poisoning to after Tatsuya started singing ‘Bloody Venus’, eliminating Mari from suspicion due to being on the phone and Ran, Sonoko, and Conan due to lack of motive. Acid was found on the karaoke mic, casting suspicion on Mieko because she sang just before Tatsuya. Megure accuses Mieko of killing Tatsuya for breaking up with her, but she cries that Tatsuya refused to date her at all because he loved someone else, and was waiting for her to return to him. She denies killing him for any reason, and Mari reminds Megure that Mieko sang at Tatsuya’s request, so couldn’t know she’d be singing before him. Conan remembers that Tatsuya wondered if someone requested ‘Bloody Venus’, but no one admits to having done so.

An officer arrives with new evidence from Tatsuya’s car: cream mixed with hydrocyanic acid. Megure concludes it was suicide. However, Conan remembers Tatsuya’s excitement for his solo debut, and how he only appeared sad in the few moments at the end of Mieko’s song. As Conan contemplates, the TV News reports on Tatsuya’s death, and Conan realizes Tatsuya always throws away his jacket for this song. Conan checks with Megure that acid was found on Tatsuya’s shirtsleeve by his left elbow, and realizes exactly how Tatsuya was poisoned by the one who requested ‘Bloody Venus’.

File 048 - How Lives Cross...
Hide= |-|Show= The culprit is Mari Terahara.

Conan Kidnapping Case
Anime Episode 43: Conan Edogawa Kidnapping Case

File 049 - An Unfamiliar Visitor


Ran wonders why Conan's parents haven't attempted to make contact or come back from overseas for him. Kogoro suggests trying to contact them through Agasa; Conan's immediate protests make Kogoro suspicious. As Conan tries to figure out a way to keep his identity hidden, Ran answers the door to a woman in black who claims to be Conan's mother, Fumiyo Edogawa. Conan freaks out, but Fumiyo placates Ran and Kogoro with explanations and takes Conan away. Once alone inu the car, Conan confronts her about not being his real mother, only for the woman to interrupt that his true mother is Yukiko Kudo, who retired as an actress to marry Yusaku Kudo and had one son — Shinichi Kudo.

Conan panics that the woman may be in league with the men in black. She threatens him with a gun to stay quiet, but he hits the gas pedal and sends the car into the busy intersection and escapes in the confusion. Alone in the snowy streets, Conan worries that the men in black discovered that he's still alive because he used his name to solve the karaoke box murder, despite asking the police to keep things quiet. Conan decides that telling Ran would only place her in more danger, and goes instead to Agasa's house. The woman takes a phone call from a man in a black suit and top hat, and follows his advice to find Conan waiting outside for Agasa to return home. She knocks Conan out with a chloroform rag before Agasa sees them, and he regains consciousness tied up in the second floor kitchen of an abandoned house. As he investigates, Conan hears raised voices arguing about killing him now or following organization orders to keep him alive and study the drug effects. He peeps through a hole in the door and sees the woman and man, but when the man turns around to look at the room, Conan is shocked to see that his face is covered by a mask with narrow eyeholes and a sharp, stylized grin.

File 050 - Escape and Pursuit
The masked man approaches the room, but Conan pretends to still be knocked out cold. He overhears them discuss the impossibility of Conan's existence and the drug, and the man suggests testing a dose of the poison on a contact they're making a deal with the next day. If the drug does indeed shrink people, the man plans to kill both the contact and Conan to protect the organization's secrets; when the woman protests she was ordered to bring Conan in alive for study, the man threatens her with a gun to cooperate. They confirm the time of the meet to be 1:00 PM the next day.

With the pair sleeping soundly in the other room, Conan carefully breaks a wine bottle left in the room and escapes his bonds. Even with the snow, it's too dangerous to jump from the second story, so he plans to hide in the refrigerator, but notices wine dripping through the floor and discovers something hidden under some rags. In the morning, the woman discovers the empty room and declares that Conan must have escaped through the window; the man looks outside and declares Conan is still there. The man trashes some of the room, planning to kill Conan, but even the fridge turns out to be empty. The pair leave, planning to find him again after the deal, and once it's safe Conan climbs up out of a trapdoor room in the floor. Conan tries to find the drug, but they took it along. When he empties out the trash can, he discovers holes in the newspaper and then in a nearby calendar, and pieces together the missing kana and calendar dates to spell "Beika Hotel 30".

At the hotel, the "30" is neither a floor or a coat check number. He overhears a woman mention a numbered parking space, and investigates the car parked there to no avail. After the car leaves, a tall man in a mask walks through the garage and inspects the stall number briefly before returning into the hotel. Conan re-examines the numbers and realizes a small chalk mark makes it "301", a viable hotel room number. Conan discreetly follows the tall man to the hotel room, where the door is answered by the masked man. As Conan watches from around the corner, the elevator at the end of the hall open to reveal the woman — he's trapped between them, and only the corner and a hall plant currently hide him from being caught.

Trivia

 * On the cover of File 45, the character on the karaoke screen is Yaiba, the titular star of an earlier Gosho manga.
 * The title for each chapter are worded as the following in Case Closed:
 * File 040 - The Man in Bandages
 * File 042 - Rachel!
 * File 043 - Assault in the Dark!
 * File 044 - The Killer's Identity!
 * File 045 - Karaoke Murder!
 * File 046 - Murder or Suicide?
 * File 047 - Hidden Meanings
 * File 048 - A Tragic Misunderstanding
 * File 049 - A Strange Visitor