Case Summary: The second case and second half of the beginning of the series begins with Shinichi wandering around in the rainy streets, and discovering that he has been shrunk. He immediately heads to his house but then encounters his neighbor, Dr. Agasa. After proving he is who he claims to be (using his Holmes’ like deductions) the two go inside and put Shinichi into some of his old clothes.

Ran, worried about Shinichi’s mysterious disappearance, heads to his house and meets up with Dr. Agasa and little Shinichi (who is wearing his father’s glasses as a disguise). Shinichi quickly thinks up a false name, Conan Edogawa, based upon the names of the mystery writers Arthur Conan Doyle and Edogawa Ranpo.

Dr. Agasa comes up with the idea of Conan staying with Ran for a while. Agasa tells Ran that even though Conan is one of his relatives(supposedly), it would be too dangerous for him to be there with all the experiments and stuff. The actual reason (which he explains to Conan) is that Ran’s father is a private detective, and if Conan helps him solve cases he is bound to come across information about the mysterious “Black Organization”.

When they arrive at Ran’s, Kogoro rushes outside in an anxious flurry. He has finally gotten a case, and this one from a rich businessman. Apparently his daughter was kidnapped by a man in black. Thinking this might be his lucky day, Conan goes along for the ride and Ran comes too.

They arrive at the businessman’s house and find out that the kidnapper demanded the company be shut down for a month and 100 million in unmarked bills and the kidnapper also wants the police to stay out of the affair. After hearing the Butler’s story, Conan finds it impossible for the crime to have been committed as he said it did, because the dogs near the tree would have barked.

After thinking the case is solved, an interesting twist takes place. The kidnapper calls the businessman and tells him that he wants money (100 million in unmarked bills) for the girl, and is getting impatient. Conan ends up riding the dog like a horse and rushes to the kidnapper’s hideout, only to be pummeled by him once he got there. Luckily Ran got there and use the excellent Karate skills to stop the kidnapper.

After returning the girl home, Conan reflects on his day: getting shrunk and being beaten up by a kidnapper. Kogoro, in his arrogant glory, almost forgot about Conan. However, he agreed to letting Conan stay since he was probably “good luck”.

Critique: The second case quickly uses two common things found in mystery literature. The most obvious is the good ol “The Butler did it” scenario. Then there’s the whole thing about the dogs not barking, so it has to be someone familiar. That’s common too in mystery literature, though less known by casual watchers of the show. But, what I like about this is that once you think the case is solved, it takes a brilliant and original twist and is done excellently. This is a classic example of what a good mystery story should be. It’s told quite well in both the manga and anime, and there are no significant differences. This is another one of my favorite Detective Conan cases.

Overall Rating: 10/10

Pros: Uses two detective stereotypes right away, Brilliant twist, Exciting conclusion

Cons: Watching Conan getting beat up (Scary!!)

Mystery Recommendations: The Big Shrink (Detective Conan Case #1), Hound of the Baskervilles (Movie, 1939), The Sign of Four (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), The Five Orange Pips (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Anime Recommendations: Hamtaro, Sherlock Hound, Yu Yu Hakusho, Big O