Standing Out Only Because His Peers Were Worse

Conan sized up Jodie for a while, then frowned.

He felt that the other person was just looking at him with curiosity, like an ordinary person looking at a novel animal, and there seemed to be no malice.

He couldn't understand the logic behind the whole thing: the files were stolen, then he was monitored, and now they were trying to probe him again.

If they were really investigating him, they could have just thrown the file away; there was no need to return it... Doing it this way is like they're not even bothering to pretend anymore.

'Could it be that, like me, it's all part of a pre-designed trap?'

Conan lowered his eyes and fell into deep thought, feeling that this possibility was very high.

But judging from that organization's style, if they had really found him, they wouldn't have needed to pull this stunt. They would have simply gone to his door, knocked them all out with a single blow, and wiped out him and the entire Mori family. They might even have taken care of Fujino as well...

From doubt to astonishment, and finally to contemplation.

Fujino stood aside and observed silently.

He figured that even if the kid racked his brains, he wouldn't realize that it was his own Vermouth was behind it all.

After all, who could have imagined that a random trip to America would result in the appearance of a beautiful, long-legged, Old Auntie named Bei, who was secretly in the US but secretly in the US?

This kind of ridiculous thing is probably only Conan, the little Grim Reaper, gets to do. Anyone else would have been killed by that Old Auntie long ago.

"Inspector Megure, there was a call recorded on the deceased's phone twenty minutes ago!"

At that moment, a police officer from the Forensic Science Division pulled a phone out of Nakajo's clothes and shouted.

Juzo Megure turned around and pondered, "Isn't that the time the victim was assassinated?"

Conan snapped out of his reverie, continuing to keep an eye on the suspicious English teacher out of the corner of his eye, and suggested again, "In that case, why don't we call and take a look?"

"Well?"

"I think Little Brother Conan is right."

In response to the officer's doubts about the wiretapping, Fujino said, "Since the call log is still there, as long as we call back, we can definitely find the person who was talking to him at the time of the incident."

The officer glanced at Juzo Megure, received permission from his superior, and then made the call.

After a brief wait, a pleasant telephone ring suddenly sounded around the scene.

The owner of the phone was the middle-aged man that Fujino had noticed earlier.

Juzo Megure quickly identified his target and took him to a nearby coffee shop for questioning.

The middle-aged man's name was Norihisa Ikisho. He was the president of a company in this building, and just as Fujino had guessed, it was he who had commissioned the dead detective.

The purpose of Lai Sheng's commission was to investigate someone in his company who had embezzled public funds. After that, the detective found the target of the investigation, then threatened and blackmailed him, demanding four times the commission fee, and then he was killed.

Fujino was speechless at this behavior.

Although detectives do live in the gray area between right and wrong, and can't really be said to have any morals or qualities, they should at least have some code of conduct as detectives.

He always agrees on the temporary price for the loan in advance, or starts negotiating before the contract even begins.

He thought this kind of plot only existed in movies, which was a bit far-fetched.

I never expected that someone would actually dare to make fun of their customers after finding the item!

Ah, this is it...

No wonder he's always been so discreet in the detective world.

It turns out he wasn't that outstanding; he just stood out because of his peers!

But indeed, detectives like him, who can usually resolve cases in a day or two and collect payments quickly and efficiently, are truly rare these days.

Fortunately, he was still somewhat unscrupulous in his work.

Otherwise, I'd probably end up like this guy and get killed!

Although this detective is somewhat unscrupulous, a week ago, the other party still gave President Laisheng a list of suspects who might embezzle public funds.

"Are there really that many people?"

Juzo Megure took the list, glanced at the densely packed names, and felt a headache coming on.

"It looks like there are fifty-eight people in total."

Fujino glanced at the list and rubbed his chin. "It seems he already found the real embezzler... This is pretty much a common technique used by detectives: first, use a list to whet the client's appetite, then drag out the time to prove that the matter is more complicated, and finally ask the client for more money."

"Well?"

With a surprised look, Juzo Megure glanced at Fujino, his eye twitching slightly.

Megure was already used to Fujino's terrifying ability to observe movement.

He had met all the suspects using a speed-up of 16x.

But that's not the point.

The key point is...

So, bro!

How come you are so proficient in this business?

You don't do this kind of thing all the time, do you?

Conan shared the same thought as Megure. After a moment of silence, he looked at the list and suddenly became interested.

Find the real murderer among the fifty-eight people.

For him, who usually had to choose one out of four or three options, this suddenly presented a lot of challenges!

"Inspector Megure!"

At that moment, Takagi rushed in from outside and reported, "The Forensic Science Division investigation results are in. There is indeed a □ mark on the escalator. Although it looks a bit like a kanji and katakana, when placed with other marks, it should be a □."

At this point, he glanced at his police handbook and continued, "Furthermore, we found eyewitnesses near the scene. The eyewitnesses said that the murderer was a man wearing a coat and carrying a kitchen knife, and the victim was killed before the power outage. After the power outage, the victim sat at the bottom of the escalator, and the man in the coat took something that looked like a document from his file folder and then fled upstairs along the escalator."

"In that case, the murderer should be the person who embezzled public funds that the victim investigated."

Juzo Megure pondered for a moment, "The code was written during the power outage, which means that as long as the code is deciphered, we can find out who the murderer is."

"Based on the current situation, that should be correct."

Fujino agreed, saying, "However, the premise is that the guy's investigation list wasn't made up. After all, the list he provided might just be for filling up the numbers."

"Hmm... Chiba, go and have some people investigate the alibis of those people in the company upstairs."

Juzo Megure paused for a moment, then beckoned the inconspicuous Chiba to go to Kisei's company to investigate. He then focused intently on the code. "But I have absolutely no clue what □○ⅹ△ means."

He paused, then looked at his Imperial Brother beside him. "Brother, you..."

"□○ⅹ△? I don't know either~"

Fujino immediately transformed into a retired old man from the Strategic Deception Bureau, interrupting Megure's strange symptom of relying on his younger brother, and helplessly shrugged.

Seeing that his spellcasting had been interrupted, Juzo Megure could only helplessly purse his lips and continue to concentrate on studying the cipher.