The Flow of Time: Case Closed, vol. 98 by Gosho Aoyama

Later this year, Viz is going to publish the English edition of Gosho Aoyama's Case Closed, vol. 100, but, considering the original Japanese releases currently count 108 volumes, it will be another two, three years before the English releases have fully catch up with the Japanese – presumably around the time vol. 110 or 111 gets published. Gosho Aoyama is older now and not able to produce weekly chapters for serialization, slowing down the number of volumes in recent years. So we're good here until at least 2029. There are still more volumes to go before hitting 100.

This 98th volume traditionally begins with concluding the case that closed out the previous volume, but this time, it needed two chapters instead of the customary one to tidy everything up. But for a good reason.

Previously, Doc Agasa brought a small, antique plate to an appraiser after seeing a similar plate being valued on TV for nearly a million dollars, but the appraiser received three identical plates for appraisal. So there's some counterfeiting going on. Just when Doc Agasa, Conan and the Junior Detective League arrives, the appraiser is killed right under their nose. Only suspects are the three owners of the other plates. They provide a twofold problem: who killed the appraiser and who owns the real antique plate? Answer to both questions would have been enough to make this solid entry in the series, but there's so much more going on in the background with the larger storylines and character-arcs. Sera is also there and she not so subtly needling Conan and Anita about their secret ("I need the drug that corrects the flow of time"). Fortunately, Subaru Okiya to temper her curiosity, but this gives Conan some food for thought regarding Sera and the sister she keeps locked away from the world.

The next story sees the return of Momiji Ooka, a high school heiress, who has romantic designs on Harley Hartwell, despite him only being interested in Kazuha – who's more than aware of Momiji's scheming ("...tryin' to get her claws into Harley"). Momiji's latest scheme to win Harley is staging a code cracking competition between him and Jimmy Kudo, the other famous teenage detective, but the code was devised by a woman for her four sons who grew up separated due to financial problems. Well, the code cracking cases in this series usually don't work very well in translation and the first-half of the story was carried by the characters. A friendly rivalry between brothers in deerstalker made all the more fun that Jimmy couldn't be there in person, but "communicates" through Conan over the phone.

So cracking the code leads them to an abandoned warehouse, where they also find the four long-lost brothers reunited, but one of them has been murdered with the other three becoming instant suspects. This murder is far more solvable than code. Maybe too solvable as the crystal clear clue of the broken glasses meant one of two possibilities, there weren't any clues or even vague hints for one of those possibilities. Still a good, fun and entertaining story for long time fans of the series.

The third story is not unlike the first in story-and plot structure as it weaves plot developments of the various storylines and character-arcs with a regular case. This case begins with Yumi stalking her boyfriend and shogi champion, Shukichi Haneda, who has been acting mysteriously and evaded her questions about where he was going – which turned have an innocent enough reason. He was having practice matches with three promising future shogi players. One of those three players is found dead at his condo lying next to an upturned shogi board with two of its legs removed, which is nearly identical to the recent murder of another shogi player. That victim was found near a shogi board missing only one of its legs and the pattern holds when a third victim is found next to a one-legged shogi board. Will there be a fourth victim?

Conan, as always, works it out and demolishes a cleverly constructed alibi to reveal the killer, but Shukichi beat him to it and promptly becomes a captive. So the story gets an opportunity to fold this case together with the main storylines. My only gripe is that that pistol shot was ridiculous even by comic book standards. Not even Lucky Luke could have made that shot! Other than that, the best story from this volume.

Traditionally, the last chapter sets up the story that will be concluded in the next volume. Yumi Sekizawa, a school friend of Rachel and Serena, is throwing a joint birthday party with her older sister, Remi – whose birthdays are only days apart. When the birthday cake is brought out, the lights are switched off and someone is killed in the dark. What adds interest to the story is Sera trying to get a particular item off Conan. That will all be concluded in vol. 99.

So, all in all, Case Closed, vol. 98 is as close as you can get to classic Case Closed, but with more, urgent developments in the current and main storylines. That makes me wish I could read Case Closed like C.M.B. and Q.E.D., but hey, patience has gotten me this far. So look forward to the release of volumes 99 and 100 later this year.

By the way, on a final note, years ago I remarked how much time must have passed since the first volume, but was repeatedly told not to be autistic as only about a year had passed in-universe. I don't want to nitpick details, however, the code breaking story begins on the first day of summer break ("school's out for summer!") and the last chapter takes place in mid-February. Now, I'm no mathematician or whizkid, but I'm pretty sure that's a good for seven to eighth months of in-universe time passed.