Conan, however, notices several inconsistencies that point to a setup:

Detective Conan Episode 981, titled kicks off an intriguing original mystery that ties a case of animal abuse to a cold-blooded murder. The Setup: A Cruel Discovery

The episode begins with Conan and the Detective Boys—Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta—discovering a severely injured cat in a park. The cat has been clearly abused, and they find blood and foreign fibers caught in its claws. As they search for the culprit, the story shifts to the , a local establishment themed after Natsume Soseki’s famous novel. The Incident: Two Victims A double tragedy strikes the restaurant staff:

His body is later discovered hanging from a tree in the restaurant's garden. The Initial Theory vs. Conan's Suspicion