# E117 - The Mystery Writer Disappearance Case (Part 2)
Source: [Crunchyroll](https://www.crunchyroll.com/watch/G0DUN9PE1/the-mystery-writer-disappearance-case-part-2)
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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
**[00:01] ---**
Encounters are mysterious!
But the world is even more so!
**[00:04] ---**
I'm so glad I'm with you!
**[00:06] ---**
Today is a serious code!
If adding doesn't work, try subtracting!
**[00:10] ---**
He sees the single truth for what it is,
**[00:11] ---**
and looks like a kid
but has the mind of an adult!
**[00:13] ---**
His name? Detective Conan!
**[01:53] ---**
Kaori, the daughter of
the novelist Shinmei Nintaro,
**[01:57] ---**
asked the old guy to find
her parents who went missing.
**[02:03] ---**
They've been missing for two months,
**[02:06] ---**
but the publisher still receives
his manuscripts for his new series.
**[02:11] ---**
We went straight to
the publishing company.
**[02:15] ---**
We found several incomprehensible
things about his manuscripts,
**[02:21] ---**
and they turned out to
be a code calling for help!
**[02:25] ---**
Th-This is--!
**[02:28] ---**
Just as I thought!
**[02:29] ---**
There's a message from
Shinmei-*sensei* hidden in these lines!
**[02:34] ---**
Which makes it all fit:
that provocative dedication,
**[02:40] ---**
the author's appearance in the story,
and the odd lines of dialogue!
**[02:45] ---**
But what is the goal of the person
holding him and his wife captive?!
**[02:57] ---**
"The Mystery Writer
Disappearance Case (Part 2)."
**[03:05] ---**
What is it? Did you
realize something else?!
**[03:07] ---**
It's nothing much, but...
**[03:13] ---**
*Literature Era*, Editing Department.
**[03:17] ---**
All the first letters
of dialogue are half--
**[03:21] ---**
Huh?! You figured out the code?!
**[03:23] ---**
Who are you?!
**[03:25] ---**
Is something the matter?
**[03:27] ---**
A boy speaking Kansai
dialect said he figured out the code
**[03:30] ---**
so I should call the police here.
**[03:32] ---**
Kansai dialect?
**[03:36] ---**
Hello?
**[03:37] ---**
C'mon! Don't make me repeat myself,
idiot! Just get the cops!
**[03:42] ---**
Oh, Hattori-*kun*. This is Megure.
**[03:46] ---**
Oh, you're already there!
It's been awhile!
**[03:50] ---**
So, what's with you?
**[03:52] ---**
The code. I cracked the
code hidden in "Halves at the Top."
**[03:58] ---**
I pegged him as an angry old man
after I first read his dedication,
**[04:03] ---**
but I started to understand as I read
**[04:05] ---**
that Shinmei-*han*'s dialogue
in the story was all a code.
**[04:11] ---**
It's a code?
**[04:13] ---**
Yeah... In other words, the dedication
wasn't meant to provoke us.
**[04:20] ---**
He was asking someone to find
the real message hidden in the novel!
**[04:27] ---**
I-I assume you've deciphered
the coded message then?!
**[04:31] ---**
Yeah... the first part deciphers perfectly.
**[04:36] ---**
The key was the novel's title:
"Halves of the Top."
**[04:41] ---**
This means the letter at the
top of each line is half of a full letter.
**[04:47] ---**
Half of a full letter?
**[04:50] ---**
Reading with that in mind...
**[04:53] ---**
...you get "suke"...
**[04:55] ---**
...then "ke"...
**[04:57] ---**
...then "te"...
**[04:59] ---**
...and at the very end you get a "re."
**[05:03] ---**
The "ku" and "hoka"
(other) before it are strange,
**[05:06] ---**
but if "hoka" is meant to be
a blank placeholder, you get "ku."
**[05:12] ---**
And if you read it all together...
**[05:14] ---**
"Ta su ke te ku re"...
**[05:15] ---**
Tasukete kure (Help us)
**[05:22] ---**
Tasukete kure (Help us)
**[05:25] ---**
"Help us!" It's an SOS?!
**[05:27] ---**
Yep... My guess is he's being held
somewhere and forced to write.
**[05:34] ---**
I see... and that's
why he used this method.
**[05:38] ---**
He could get a message to his
readers without his captor noticing.
**[05:42] ---**
My mom was excited because
it's the first new story in ten years,
**[05:47] ---**
so the perp is a crazed fan or
someone planning to swipe the story.
**[05:54] ---**
Have these manuscripts been paid for yet?
**[05:56] ---**
Not yet.
**[05:57] ---**
He said he'd tell where to send
the money when the story was done.
**[06:03] ---**
Alright! Check all suspicious fan letters!
**[06:06] ---**
Right!
**[06:07] ---**
Oh, but I haven't
cracked the entire code yet!
**[06:11] ---**
Hey! Inspector?! Inspector?!
**[06:13] ---**
Hey, Inspector! Hey! Where'd
you go?! Quit playing around!
**[06:20] ---**
Still, Hattori.
About Shinmei-*sensei*'s other lines...
**[06:26] ---**
Oh! If it isn't Kudo!
What're you doing there?!
**[06:29] ---**
Nothing, I just happened to be here.
**[06:32] ---**
Yeah, I bet! You and me are a lot alike!
**[06:35] ---**
We cross paths before we even know it!
**[06:38] ---**
Let's just get back to the code.
**[06:40] ---**
Hey! You should come to Osaka!
I'll treat you to some great *udon*!
**[06:45] ---**
I can't stand the
heavy flavor in Tokyo!
**[06:48] ---**
Bye.
**[06:49] ---**
Sorry! Sorry! The code, right?!
**[06:52] ---**
I managed to decipher
the first lines of dialogue,
**[06:55] ---**
but "halves at the top"
doesn't fit with the next ones.
**[07:00] ---**
Put together, you get...
**[07:02] ---**
"Watashi hoka ka i he ima i
haku re no tokoro han hito wa."
**[07:12] ---**
Even if you remove the second
"hoka," only "watashi" makes sense.
**[07:17] ---**
"He" and "ima" are iffy, but they
don't combine into anything.
**[07:21] ---**
It seems we still don't have
all the pieces to this code.
**[07:26] ---**
Yeah... there has to be a big piece
to this code hidden somewhere.
**[07:35] ---**
Hattori? What's wrong?
**[07:36] ---**
How stupid.
**[07:38] ---**
If you're there, why should
I puzzle over it from so far away?
**[07:44] ---**
So the rest's all yours, Kudo!
**[07:46] ---**
Lemme know if you
figure anything out! Good luck!
**[07:50] ---**
H-Hey! Wait!
**[07:52] ---**
Oh! That's right! Hattori-*kun
*should know the rest of the code!
**[07:55] ---**
Damn!
**[08:01] ---**
It wasn't me! He was the one who--!
**[08:07] ---**
Inspector... this is Tokyo.
**[08:10] ---**
Let's forget about the Osaka
boy and solve this ourselves!
**[08:14] ---**
Oh! Good call!
**[08:17] ---**
So, are you feeling sleepy?
**[08:19] ---**
Huh? What do you mean?
**[08:23] ---**
You know! When you always go,
"Funya!" or "Hohe!"
**[08:27] ---**
Nope, nothing yet...
**[08:29] ---**
Oh, that's a shame.
**[08:32] ---**
Help us! Help us!
**[08:36] ---**
Help us!
**[08:38] ---**
Dad... Mom...
**[08:41] ---**
Don't worry. I'm sure we'll
find your mother and father.
**[08:46] ---**
Don't give up.
**[08:49] ---**
So let's use our heads, too.
**[08:51] ---**
Okay!
**[08:52] ---**
Damn! Adding or removing
nearby letters doesn't do anything!
**[08:58] ---**
What is this code?!
**[09:00] ---**
I also don't know who abducted them!
**[09:05] ---**
It would be natural to pay close
attention to your captive's writings.
**[09:09] ---**
If the captor is a fan,
**[09:11] ---**
he'd clearly be suspicious of that
atypical dedication and character.
**[09:17] ---**
He would've at least deciphered
the first "help me" by now!
**[09:22] ---**
In which case, he'd be
after the manuscript payment.
**[09:24] ---**
No, that can't be it.
**[09:27] ---**
You wouldn't hold a person
captive two whole months for that.
**[09:31] ---**
I can't figure out the
captor's identity or this code!
**[09:37] ---**
Darn it!
**[09:38] ---**
Hey! This is wrong!
**[09:42] ---**
Using French to fancy things up
is fine, but don't spell stuff wrong!
**[09:46] ---**
Sorry...
**[09:47] ---**
French?
**[09:49] ---**
"Humour" is spelled "h-u-m-o-u-r."
You're missing the "h."
**[09:56] ---**
It's not pronounced, though,
so I can understand the mistake.
**[10:04] ---**
That's it! Now I see!
**[10:11] ---**
In which case, the code is...
**[10:14] ---**
I can read it! I can read it!
**[10:16] ---**
I can read every single letter!
**[10:19] ---**
That's it! That's definitely where
Shinmei-*sensei* is being held!
**[10:26] ---**
Inspector!
**[10:26] ---**
Shinmei-*sensei* also has dialogue
in the eighth chapter we just got!
**[10:31] ---**
What?!
**[10:32] ---**
This is the scene...
**[10:41] ---**
Oh no! There's no time!
**[10:43] ---**
If we don't hurry,
he and his wife will be--!
**[10:48] ---**
Alright! I'll just do like always...
**[10:51] ---**
...and use this Tranquilizer
Wristwatch to knock the old guy out!
**[10:55] ---**
Mori-*san*. Let me introduce you.
This is our chief editor...
**[11:04] ---**
I-I missed!
**[11:11] ---**
Whoops! I guess I have no choice!
**[11:15] ---**
Chief! Chief! What's wrong?!
**[11:20] ---**
I'll just have to have him play a detective!
**[11:24] ---**
Now to set the Voice-Changing
Bowtie to use his voice...
**[11:28] ---**
Let's see...
**[11:30] ---**
Wait a minute!
I don't know what he sounds like!
**[11:33] ---**
Hey, Conan-*kun*.
**[11:35] ---**
What are you doing down there?
**[11:37] ---**
O-Oh, just playing Hide-and-Seek!
**[11:43] ---**
This is bad!
There's only one tranquilizer dart!
**[11:48] ---**
I'll have to wait for them
to crack the code themselves.
**[11:51] ---**
But...
**[11:54] ---**
If we don't hurry,
Shinmei-*sensei* will...!
**[11:58] ---**
What happened!
Please wake up, Chief! Chief!
**[12:03] ---**
He's snoring. Almost reminds
me of "Sleeping Kogoro."
**[12:07] ---**
Yes...
**[12:11] ---**
What're you laughing about?
**[12:13] ---**
The chief editor is copying how you sleep!
**[12:17] ---**
He seems like he has lots of humor!
**[12:20] ---**
Humor? As always,
you know strange words for a kid.
**[12:26] ---**
Those men were talking about it just now!
**[12:30] ---**
They were saying
stuff about "humour"! Right?
**[12:33] ---**
Yes...
**[12:34] ---**
He misspelled the word,
so I fixed it for him.
**[12:40] ---**
I forgot to add the "h."
**[12:43] ---**
What rubbish.
**[12:45] ---**
But French people sure are strange!
**[12:47] ---**
They don't read "h" at the start of words!
**[12:51] ---**
If they don't say "h,"
they should remove it from the start!
**[12:55] ---**
Remove it...
**[12:58] ---**
...from the start?
**[12:59] ---**
That reminds me, Shinmei-*sensei*'s
character lives in France, right?
**[13:05] ---**
Yeah.
**[13:06] ---**
M-Mori-*kun..*. could this be--?
**[13:09] ---**
Yes... the other key to
this code might be the fact
**[13:13] ---**
that "h" isn't pronounced
at the start of words in French.
**[13:18] ---**
Silent "h" s!
**[13:20] ---**
Characters that start with "h"?!
**[13:23] ---**
Could it mean to remove the
h from ha, hi, hu, he, and ho?!
**[13:30] ---**
I see!
**[13:31] ---**
If it means you have to drop the
"h" letter when combining letters,
**[13:38] ---**
the "hoka" in the first part works.
**[13:42] ---**
Using all of this to decipher
Mr. Shinmei's second scene...
**[13:51] ---**
...you get "watashi"...
**[13:53] ---**
...then "ga"...
**[13:54] ---**
...then "ima"...
**[13:56] ---**
...then "i"...
**[13:58] ---**
...then "ru"...
**[14:00] ---**
...then "tokoro"...
**[14:02] ---**
...then "wa"...
**[14:04] ---**
All together, it's "watashi
ga ima i ru tokoro wa"...
**[14:12] ---**
"The place I'm at now"?!
**[14:15] ---**
Wow! It makes a sentence!
**[14:17] ---**
I see. He used that "wa" instead
of "ha" because of the "h" rule.
**[14:23] ---**
Alright! When you decipher
the third scene he's in, you get...
**[14:29] ---**
"Ki to shi te i ho te ru"...
**[14:36] ---**
Kido City Hotel? What hotel is that?
I've never heard of it.
**[14:40] ---**
It could be using
Hepburn romanization!
**[14:44] ---**
In which case, "hu" would be "fu."
**[14:49] ---**
And if you keep the first "fu,"
it would combine to make "hai."
**[14:54] ---**
H-Haido City Hotel?!
**[14:58] ---**
Meaning the fourth set of
lines is probably the room number.
**[15:02] ---**
Let's see...
**[15:03] ---**
"2407 go shitsu"...
**[15:10] ---**
"Room 2407"!
**[15:13] ---**
Okay! We go straight to
Haido City Hotel, Room 2407!
**[15:17] ---**
Yes, sir!
**[15:18] ---**
Inspector!
**[15:19] ---**
What is it, Takagi-*kun*?!
**[15:21] ---**
Look at this manuscript!
There's more dialogue!
**[15:26] ---**
Oh, this is the eighth chapter
that was just faxed here.
**[15:30] ---**
Let's see...
**[15:32] ---**
"Haya ku..." (hurry)
**[15:34] ---**
"Ji kan ga nai..." (there's no time)
**[15:41] ---**
"Hurry, there's no time!"
**[15:49] ---**
**[15:51] ---**
Hey! Hurry it up!
**[16:02] ---**
Haido City Hotel.
Follow those police cars.
**[16:06] ---**
Hurry!
**[16:06] ---**
R-Right!
**[16:12] ---**
Dad... Mom...
**[16:14] ---**
Dad! Mom! Please be okay!
**[16:19] ---**
They're alive.
**[16:21] ---**
"There's not much time" can also mean
**[16:24] ---**
that danger is looming but it's not too late.
**[16:27] ---**
It's been barely an hour
since that manuscript was sent,
**[16:33] ---**
and it's still the middle of the novel.
**[16:35] ---**
There's a good chance they're alive.
**[16:38] ---**
Right?
**[16:45] ---**
But I don't understand
what the captor wants.
**[16:49] ---**
Is a crazed fan anxious for the new
Det. Samonji series behind this?
**[16:55] ---**
No...
**[16:57] ---**
Was it an abduction to
get a popular writer's money?
**[17:00] ---**
No, Room 2407 is a suite.
That doesn't fit.
**[17:05] ---**
Then what is the captor after?!
**[17:10] ---**
What is the plan of the person
who's forcing Shinmei-*sensei* to write
**[17:14] ---**
even when he can't sign his own name?
**[17:17] ---**
Wait a minute!
If he can't sign his name...
**[17:21] ---**
...that means he's dictating
his story to someone!
**[17:25] ---**
Then he's having
someone else type it all out,
**[17:28] ---**
even when one misplaced
letter could ruin the code?!
**[17:33] ---**
That's crazy!
**[17:35] ---**
Adding and removing for no
reason would make anyone suspicious!
**[17:41] ---**
Even if his wife was typing,
the person watching would notice!
**[17:50] ---**
Wait! Hold on! Could
this incident actually be--?!
**[18:03] ---**
Room 2407... Alright! This is the room!
**[18:08] ---**
The captor may have
a weapon! Everyone stay sharp!
**[18:25] ---**
Umm, can I help you?
**[18:28] ---**
Mom!
**[18:29] ---**
Kaori! Why are you here?!
**[18:32] ---**
Get back, Madam!
**[18:35] ---**
Freeze! Police!
**[18:48] ---**
Dad! Dad!
**[18:53] ---**
Dad! Dad!
**[18:55] ---**
Your father passed
away just moments ago.
**[19:00] ---**
Kaori-*san*.
**[19:01] ---**
I called your home many times,
but I couldn't get a hold of you.
**[19:10] ---**
So you're the one
who abducted Mr. Shinmei?
**[19:14] ---**
No, I'm...
**[19:16] ---**
He's my husband's personal physician.
**[19:20] ---**
Then who's the kidnapper?
**[19:22] ---**
There is no kidnapper.
If there was, it'd be Shinmei himself.
**[19:30] ---**
Does that mean the code was--?!
**[19:32] ---**
You can't mean--!
**[19:34] ---**
A fabrication put together by my husband.
**[19:37] ---**
B-But why?
**[19:41] ---**
My husband was always saying this...
**[19:45] ---**
I, of course, feel happiness
when I receive praise for my works,
**[19:52] ---**
but in my forty years of writing,
there's a happiness I've yet to have.
**[19:58] ---**
Just once, I'd like to
see with my own eyes
**[20:02] ---**
the face of a reader who solves
a mystery before I give the solution.
**[20:10] ---**
He said he wanted
to do so before he died,
**[20:15] ---**
so his physician and
I helped him write his story here.
**[20:21] ---**
Before dying?
**[20:23] ---**
He lost use of his arms two
weeks ago, due to terminal cancer.
**[20:28] ---**
So that's why his signatures were copies?
**[20:32] ---**
I'm sorry for worrying you, Kaori.
**[20:36] ---**
Your father told me not to tell you,
to give believability to his code.
**[20:42] ---**
Forgive your father, and consider
it his last selfish act, Kaori...
**[22:25] ---**
Talk about your false alarms...
**[22:29] ---**
Surely he knew a code like that
could've caused a big police panic!
**[22:35] ---**
But he always wrote at the end of his novels
**[22:40] ---**
that he wanted to see the proud
look of one of his readers.
**[22:44] ---**
He was probably waiting for a
reader who figured everything out
**[22:48] ---**
to show up and say, "I solved it!"
**[22:51] ---**
But no one ever came.
**[22:55] ---**
And now that he's gone,
the novel will stay unfinished.
**[23:00] ---**
I won't let that happen.
**[23:03] ---**
I'll write the rest of it.
**[23:05] ---**
I won't shame the name Shinmei Nintaro!
**[23:14] ---**
Two months after this incident,
**[23:17] ---**
Kaori-*san* spectacularly
completed her father's novel
**[23:21] ---**
and "Halves at the Top"
managed to become a bestseller!
**[23:26] ---**
Naturally, a TV version was
soon made and earned great reviews,
**[23:31] ---**
which led her to enter the writing world!
**[23:35] ---**
Although this was because
she was as skilled as her father,
**[23:41] ---**
the dimwitted detective, tomboy girl,
and the cheeky boy in glasses
**[23:47] ---**
who assisted Samonji in the
last half of the story also helped.
**[23:53] ---**
I won't say who they were based on...
**[23:56] ---**
...but I could do
without the "cheeky" part.
**[24:02] ---**
I'm just a regular Tokyo--
**[24:07] ---**
Sorry!
**[24:10] ---**
I get a bad feeling that
the killer is playing with us...
**[24:14] ---**
Bad feeling?
**[24:18] ---**
Kudo!
**[24:25] ---**
On the next Conan special--
**[24:28] ---**
"The Naniwa Serial Murder Case."
**[24:47] ---**
Next Conan's special hint:
**[24:49] ---**
Rearview mirror.
**[24:51] ---**
Next episode is a one-hour special.
**[24:53] ---**
Conan goes to Osaka.
**[24:55] ---**
**[24:56] ---**