But the listening devices she knew of were almost all regulated among civilians, and even the professional equipment used by the police looked utterly inferior to the little gadget in Kurumi's hand.
Aso Narumi even felt that if this thing fell to the ground, she would not know which way it rolled, much less be able to find it.
"Of course!" Kurumi looked especially proud. "Not only is this little guy tiny, but its recording range and quality are nothing low-end products can compare to."
Kurumi did not mention that this tiny bug was actually the cheapest model she had exchanged from the system shop for a few dozen points.
Yet even such a cheap item vastly outperformed every listening device in this world.
Especially since it was completely wrapped in rubber, and ordinary sharp tools could not cut through its exterior at all.
"That good?" Aso Narumi felt that Kurumi was exaggerating.
Although she was curious where Kurumi had gotten such a thing, Aso Narumi did not tactlessly ask.
She took the soft, springy little thing from Kurumi and squeezed it, discovering that it was sticky as well.
"Sister Narumi, you just need to stick it on. It won't fall off at the slightest touch," Kurumi reminded her.
Hearing that, Aso Narumi lowered her head and looked over her clothes, deciding to stick it to her belt.
A black object stuck to a black belt was not very noticeable to begin with. With the hem of her sweater covering the belt, Aso Narumi was not worried about anyone spotting it.
"Then I'll head over first!" Just as she was about to open the door, Aso Narumi suddenly thought of something. "Right, Kurumi, aren't you worried someone might find you hiding here?"
The broken lock on the warehouse door meant anyone could simply push their way in. If someone else discovered Kurumi hiding inside, Aso Narumi could not help feeling concerned.
She was not worried about what might happen to Kurumi. She was worried whether whoever found Kurumi would be silenced by her.
"Well~ I'll go somewhere else later." Kurumi smiled and waved her hand, signaling Aso Narumi not to worry about her.
Besides, even if someone came into the warehouse, Kurumi could activate King Crimson and leave in an instant before they could react.
Hearing Kurumi's words, Aso Narumi felt much more at ease.
Although their plan had not shown the slightest flaw so far, Moon Shadow Island now had not only the police, but also Mouri Kogoro, who called himself a Great Detective. It was impossible to say she was not nervous at all.
Aso Narumi had even prepared herself for the worst.
If what she and Kurumi had done was exposed, she would turn herself in to the police immediately to ensure Kurumi's safety.
Kurumi did not know what Aso Narumi was thinking, but as a member of the Black Organization, she had naturally made preparations for the worst-case scenario as well.
In a sense, Kurumi and Aso Narumi thought alike. If things reached the worst possible point, they would both protect the other without hesitation.
A few minutes later, Aso Narumi returned to the piano room carrying the recorder, with a little dust on her clothes.
"Inspector Megure, I found the recorder."
After placing the recorder on the piano, Aso Narumi watched Mouri Kogoro remove the tape already inside and insert the tape from the case.
The play button was pressed, and amid a burst of static, Kawashima's voice came from the recorder.
"Twelve years ago, Aso Keiji's family died in a fire. But the killer was not Aso Keiji, as the reports claimed—that he went mad, killed his wife and children, then set himself on fire. It was me, the current Kuroiwa, the late Kameyama, and Nishimoto. The four of us silenced Aso Keiji to stop him from exposing us."
As the voice from the recorder rang out, everyone in the piano room was shocked.
"Th-That voice belongs to Mr. Kawashima!" As someone relatively familiar with Kawashima, Aso Narumi put on an astonished expression.
"What? You're saying that's Kawashima?"
Hearing Aso Narumi's cry, Mouri Kogoro and Inspector Megure immediately turned toward her.
"Yes, I can't be mistaken."
The recording playing from the recorder had not ended yet.
"It began when we wanted the famous pianist Aso Keiji to use his piano to sell White Powder while touring around the world."
"But he refused us."
"Although he never said he would report us to the police, to prevent word from getting out, the four of us went to his home that night. Then we killed him, his wife, and his daughter."
"As for the rumor that Aso Keiji kept playing Moonlight even as he died in the fire, that was probably the last thing he did while he still had a breath left in him."
The Thought Process of a Paradox Interactive Player Was Beyond Conan's Understanding
From Aso Narumi, everyone learned that the voice currently coming from the recorder belonged to the long-missing Mr. Kawashima.
With a burst of static as its ending, the tape in the recorder wound to its end.
Even Conan, who had been busy deciphering the musical score's code, and Mouri Ran, who had leaned over to look, had their attention drawn by what was playing.
After a brief silence, Mouri Kogoro analyzed, "There is no doubt that the missing Mr. Kawashima has fallen into the criminal's hands. From the recording on this tape, I believe the criminal did this to take revenge on Kawashima and the Village Chief Kuroiwa he mentioned."
Mouri Kogoro's analysis was affirmed by Inspector Megure and Conan.
If what Kawashima said about the past was true, and the four of them had killed Aso Keiji's family to silence them, then the letter sent to the detective agency must also have come from the criminal.
"Inspector Megure, I think we should immediately take control of Kuroiwa and Nishimoto at the venue!"
At that moment, Conan, who had returned his attention to the score in his hands, also deciphered the meaning of the notes. "Uncle, I've cracked the code in this score. It says, 'You're next!'"
Conan's expression was extremely serious. The fact that the criminal had cut off Kawashima's hands showed the immense hatred they held toward those three. If they could not catch the killer in time, then given the criminal's brutality, Village Chief Kuroiwa and the silent Nishimoto Ken would definitely fall victim to them.
As a detective overflowing with justice, Conan absolutely could not allow things to continue this way.
In his heart, even if these people had truly committed such monstrous crimes, they should be punished by the law, not have their lives taken and trampled upon for revenge.
Of course, if Kurumi had been here, she would probably have scoffed at Conan's thoughts.
Not only had Kawashima and the others, who had committed murder, escaped legal punishment at the time, they had even deliberately smeared the Aso family with the stigma of a curse. Had they truly regretted what they did after living free for over a decade?
The answer was no!
From interrogating Kawashima, Kurumi had already learned that they had continued dealing White Powder in secret over the years. Everything they possessed while remaining beyond the law even now had been built upon the corpses and blood of Aso Keiji's family.
Inspector Megure did not bother wondering how Conan had cracked the score's code. When he really found a full bag of White Powder beneath the piano, just as the recording said, he was furious.
"Those bastards!"
Though he was furious at them, as a police officer, Inspector Megure naturally could not simply let the remaining two criminals be killed by the culprit.
He quickly had the officers outside bring Village Chief Kuroiwa and Nishimoto Ken over from the venue. At that moment, the two officers lying on the floor gradually began to wake up.
"Wh... where is this?"
The moment he opened his eyes, the officer saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
"My neck hurts so much!" The other officer sat up with a pained expression, rubbing the back of his neck.
Seeing that the two subordinates knocked unconscious by the criminal had finally awakened, Inspector Megure hurried over and asked, "How are you feeling?"
"W-What happened to us?" The two officers who had sat up exchanged glances, then looked in confusion at Megure, who was crouching before them.
Seeing that they truly knew nothing, Inspector Megure sighed and explained, "You were knocked unconscious earlier. We carried the two of you inside after finding you outside."
"Right, do you remember anything? For example, who knocked you out?"
"Not really. Nishiyama and I were standing with our backs against the door. If someone had really been able to knock us out from behind, we definitely would have noticed as soon as they approached."
Inspector Megure's words only left the two of them more confused.
"I only remember that we were watching outside, and then I knew nothing." The officer named Nishiyama frowned, unable to make sense of it.
The two officers' words left Megure even more puzzled. How exactly had that criminal managed to knock them unconscious from behind without either officer, whose backs were against the door, noticing anything at all?
Inside the room, the Mouri family, having heard the officers' answers, also found it unbelievable.
Mouri Kogoro and Conan walked over to the door. One large figure and one small figure began carefully examining and analyzing how the criminal had done it.
"Impossible. If the criminal had really knocked them unconscious from behind, then they would have had to open this door." He carefully tried pulling the door open. At such close range, it was completely impossible for the creaking sound it made to go unnoticed.
"This door is so old. Unless someone's deaf, they should be able to hear that sound, right?" Rubbing his chin, Mouri Kogoro could not figure out what was wrong.
No. What if the criminal didn't knock them out first, but used something like a tranquilizer gun to make them lose consciousness, then attacked the backs of their necks to make us think they were knocked out? Conan considered the possibility, only to find something wrong with it the next moment. But if that's what the criminal did, wouldn't that be completely unnecessary?
What Conan did not know was that Kurumi really could have simply used a tranquilizer gun to put them out.
She just could not bear to spend the points to exchange one from the system shop.
No matter how hard Conan racked his brain, there was no way he could have guessed that.
After all, as a transmigrator, Kurumi's inner nature and essence were not much different from the Fourth Catastrophe. Her way of thinking was quite unlike that of the people in this world.
Especially since Kurumi was also a Paradox Interactive Player. Her thought process had always been about maximizing her own gains.
No matter how cruel, immoral, or inhumane her methods were, as long as the final result made her happy, that was enough.
That was why there was a saying online: if Paradox Interactive Players were lined up for execution, some guilty ones might slip through, but there would never be an innocent one among them.
"Inspector Megure, we've brought Kuroiwa and Nishimoto over!" At that moment, an officer who pushed open the door reported.
Watching the two men trembling behind the police officers, Megure gritted his teeth in hatred.
Beside him, seeing the furious expression on Megure's chubby face, Aso Narumi knew that her and Kurumi's plan had achieved its current goal.
To better maintain the persona she had created, Aso Narumi asked, "Um, Inspector Megure, if there's nothing else I need to do here, may I leave?"
Doctor, Do You Know Tokisaki Kurumi?
Aso Narumi knew Kurumi wanted to use the bug on her to obtain firsthand information from the scene, and she shared Kurumi's thoughts on that point.
However, her identity on Moon Shadow Island was only that of a doctor. Based on that identity alone, Aso Narumi did not think she could stay with these people the entire time.
Doing so would only make others more suspicious of her.
That was why she said she wanted to leave after Kuroiwa and Nishimoto were brought in by the police.
Even though she desperately wanted to see Kurumi kill the two murderers who had destroyed her family.
"Ah! Since the two of them are all right now, Doctor Asai, you can go get some rest." Only after Aso Narumi spoke did Inspector Megure remember that there was someone unrelated to the case here.
"Thank you for your hard work, Doctor Asai." Finally, Inspector Megure thanked Aso Narumi for helping them so much.
"No, no!" Aso Narumi waved her hands somewhat flusteredly and said modestly, "It's what I should do."
Inspector Megure, who had a favorable impression of the kind and beautiful doctor, gave her a genial smile and watched the female doctor leave the room.
Smack!
As she turned to leave, Aso Narumi bumped her shoulder into Kuroiwa, whose face was full of displeasure.
"I'm sorry, Village Chief Kuroiwa." Aso Narumi apologized for her carelessness.
Kuroiwa ignored the beautiful doctor's apology. His mind was entirely occupied with wondering why the police had specifically summoned him and Nishimoto, and he did not even glance at Aso Narumi.
Aso Narumi did not feel upset when Kuroiwa ignored her apology.
First, she had bumped into him deliberately.
As for the second reason~ Aso Narumi felt there was no need to fuss over a dead man.
Although Aso Narumi was not displeased by Kuroiwa's attitude, Inspector Megure, who thought quite highly of her, frowned. He decided he would make things difficult for that arrogant bastard later and teach him a proper lesson.
What Inspector Megure did not notice was that when Aso Narumi bumped into Kuroiwa, she had swiftly stuck the listening device to the inside of the hem at the back of his clothes.
After silently finishing the job, Aso Narumi quickly left the room.
Hmm... Next, I should go find Kurumi.
But where is she now? Could she still be in the warehouse?
Aso Narumi was not entirely sure.
After leaving the piano room, Aso Narumi went to the warehouse to see whether Kurumi was still inside.
She turned on the room's light, but amid the warehouse piled high with goods, Aso Narumi did not see Kurumi anywhere.
Just as Narumi was about to go home to see whether Kurumi had gone back there to slack off and drink coffee again, a child's voice suddenly came from behind her.
"Huh? Doctor, what are you doing here?"
"!!!"
Realizing someone had followed her, Aso Narumi's eyes widened instantly.
However, when she noticed that the voice behind her seemed to belong to the big-headed brat from the Mouri detective agency, Aso Narumi put on a gentle smile.
"Huh? Aren't you the child from Detective Mouri's agency?" Aso Narumi's perfectly timed surprise and gentle tone matched the persona she had created very well. "I only came here to get something. But why aren't you in the room, little one?"
Before you continue