Detective Conan Portable Toilet Case
The case related to the portable toilet in Detective Conan appears in TV episodes 744 - 745 (overseas split version episodes 797 - 798) titled 'The Suspect is Kyogoku Makoto'.
Basic Case Information
When the case occurred, the Mouri group originally planned to go to Karuizawa to play tennis, but due to the rain, they went to an indoor bowling alley instead. During this time, they met two middle school teachers, Monai Michiko and Masaki Nami, and also learned that their colleague, Tanba Seiyasu, was resting in the car due to drunkenness. Later, Tanba Seiyasu was found drowned in a portable toilet in the parking lot, but there was no water at the scene, and the cause of death was drowning. This bizarre situation raised doubts among everyone.
The Criminal's Modus Operandi
The criminal used an experimental principle similar to the 'candle sucking water' experiment. The specific operation was to first block the drain outside the toilet so that the rainwater would accumulate. Then, the criminal used a stun gun to knock out the victim and put the victim into the toilet. Next, a large amount of burning kerosene was placed on the shelf above the toilet. The toilet door was closed, and the gaps were sealed with tape, leaving only a gap at the bottom. When the kerosene lamp went out, due to the air pressure difference between the inside and outside of the toilet, water would pour back into the toilet, creating the illusion that the victim had drowned.
Controversy over the Modus Operandi
However, this modus operandi has been the subject of significant controversy. From the perspective of scientific principles and actual situations, even under ideal conditions, it is difficult to fully achieve the effect of water flooding the toilet. To form a sufficient air pressure difference for a large amount of water to pour back, many strict conditions need to be met, such as the toilet having extremely good airtightness and the external environmental factors being extremely stable. In the actual environment of a portable toilet, it is very difficult to meet these ideal conditions. Therefore, many netizens believe that this method is absurd and almost impossible to carry out successfully in reality.
