The Magician's Suicide

He felt that Miyano Shiho's idea was rather extreme.

But before he could express his opinion, Jiang Hang interrupted the spellcasting.

"Conan, you're one thing, but your previous attempts to hide things from Ran weren't much better than this."

"Even though they're right next to you, you keep it a secret and only contact them by phone, and you don't tell them what danger you're in, just watching them worry about you."

Jiang Hang made no merciless comments about Conan's previous behavior.

Previously, Conan seemed to have never considered that if he could never change back or if something unexpected happened in the middle, Ran would really have to worry about Shinichi Kudo for the rest of her life because of him hanging on there.

Conan was speechless and could only lower his head and pretend to be dead.

Indeed, his previous behavior was a bit too idealistic. He thought that as long as he could find evidence of the organization's crimes, he could successfully uproot the organization and then find the antidote to turn himself back from within it.

But now he has been shrunk for almost half a year, and because of Jiang Hang and Miyano Shiho, he is quite clear that this mysterious organization has only revealed a small part of what is on the surface of the sea.

The other party is hiding many things beneath the surface of the water.

There's no way he could overthrow that organization in a short time on his own.

More importantly, even though Jiang Hang has rescued the developers of Apotoxin 4869 several months ago, she still hasn't been able to develop Apotoxin 4869 antidote for it.

Although he successfully obtained temporary medication to turn himself back into Shinichi Kudo during the case of Ran's amnesia, he soon learned that continuous use of the medication would cause his body to quickly develop drug resistance, so he never used the identity of Shinichi Kudo again after that.

Although he had some complaints about this, he also knew that making medicine was an extremely time-consuming and luck-dependent process, so he could only suppress his frustration and direct all his hatred towards the Black Organization.

Fortunately, just as Jiang Hang said, after Ran's amnesia case, the two of them formed a tacit understanding. Ran would not be so persistent about Shinichi Kudo's whereabouts, and would even take the initiative to provide him with some help at the crime scene.

Although this situation still involves that final barrier, it's the best possible outcome for him right now.

It remains to be seen whether their relationship will undergo any new changes after Ran was shot and donated blood.

On the other side, Miyano Shiho looked at Conan's feigned death with some disdain.

Then she glanced at Jiang Hang again.

Compared to Conan, this guy's situation isn't much better.

From the very beginning, I was always surrounded by all sorts of beautiful girls.

But this guy's greatest pleasure is running around helping others without asking for anything in return; he's more like a partner of justice than a partner of justice himself.

God knows how the Pioneer Foundation managed to produce such a successor.

Who knows who this guy, who always likes to talk about other people's love lives but seems to have never thought about relationships with women, will end up with?

Anyway, after thinking about it seriously, she felt that no one had a chance.

Thinking of this, Miyano Shiho pursed her lips.

I don't know why, but I always feel like my blood pressure is a little high.

So, before Ran Mori and Kogoro Mouri returned, she went straight to Conan, who looked quite energetic, and plucked several strands of his hair to take back and study.

"You just woke up today, so I won't draw your blood yet. But once you're feeling better in a couple of days, I'll still need to take some blood samples back for testing."

Conan looked at Miyano Shiho with some helplessness, wondering why she had suddenly come over and started touching his hair.

"Fine, if you want to come and have your blood drawn, go ahead. As long as you can develop an antidote to make me turn back into the same person forever, I'll accept it even if you drain my blood again."

Miyano Shiho didn't offer any guarantees, but she still gave Conan a glimmer of hope.

"The most effective antidote right now will probably turn you back into Shinichi Kudo for about three days. However, I've had some discussions with Jiang Hang recently and have some new ideas. Once the new drug, formulated with these new ideas, is ready after the New Year, I can find an opportunity for you to try it."

Jiang Hang couldn't help but look at Miyano Shiho with some surprise.

Just a few days ago, Miyano Shiho was telling her that because Conan's body data is fixed, it might be impossible to create a permanent antidote.

He casually mentioned that he could try to transform Conan's body from his elementary school student form back into Shinichi Kudo, and then freeze the other person's body at that stage to satisfy Shinichi Kudo's needs.

Unexpectedly, Miyano Shiho came up with a new idea in a very short time.

"After the New Year, that's quite nice. How about we set the date for Valentine's Day on February 14th? We can give your Ran a special surprise on that day. Do you need me to book a restaurant and hotel for you?"

Jiang Hang's teasing words immediately made Conan's face turn bright red again.

Jiang Hang originally wanted to continue to torment Conan's mentality with this matter, but after hearing Ran and Kogoro Mouri's footsteps outside the ward, he gave Miyano Shiho a look, signaling her to stop pulling Conan's hair.

Sure enough, when Ran and the others returned and saw Conan had regained consciousness, they were all pleasantly surprised.

Jiang Hang and Miyano Shiho silently stepped back a few paces, leaving space for Ran.

They originally thought that since they had already watched Detective Conan and Miyano Shiho had successfully completed the sampling work, it was about time to go back.

But unexpectedly, just as they were about to leave, they were stopped by Kogoro Mouri.

"Brother Jiang Hang, if you don't have anything else to do later, I'd like to ask you for a favor."

Seeing Kogoro Mouri's slightly embarrassed expression, Jiang Hang couldn't help but feel curious.

"Well, um, cough cough," Kogoro Mouri coughed several times before finally revealing his story.

"To put it simply, Ran had been pestering her mother, wanting her to help me find some clients."

"Then today I just received a client's request from someone introduced by Ran's mother."

"Actually, it doesn't matter. After all, I'm the famous detective Kogoro Mouri. These kinds of ordinary cases are easy for me to handle."

"But as you've seen about Conan's situation, I can't focus on handling these requests right now. However, since it was recommended by the child's mother, I can't refuse..."

I understand. You just don't have the time right now, but you don't want to disappoint Eri Kisaki, right?

Jiang Hang nodded knowingly and agreed without much hesitation.

Anyway, he doesn't have any cases on his hands right now. Since Kogoro Mouri is offering to transfer cases to him, he might as well take advantage of it.

Of course, Jiang Hang had some other thoughts about Kogoro Mouri's decision to entrust the matter to him.

In the original work, Kogoro Mouri relied almost entirely on Conan's Tranquilizer Dart to get to where he was in the early stages.

He even sometimes doubted whether he had split off another detective personality, but because of this, he was always convinced of his own abilities in the early stages.

It was probably only in the later stages of the story, after Conan became increasingly brazen at crime scenes, that the audience gradually realized Conan's problem.

However, in this world, thanks to Jiang Hang's intrusion and reminders, Conan consciously reduced the frequency with which he used Tranquilizer Dart on Kogoro Mouri, except for the first month when he was still quite dependent on them.

More often than not, he uses his discoveries to remind Kogoro Mouri, and only when Kogoro Mouri still can't understand him will he be forced to use the Tranquilizer Dart.

In addition, Conan and Ran have become increasingly well-coordinated in recent months. Sometimes, when Kogoro Mouri is still confused about the situation of a case, his daughter will take the lead and bring up an important clue.

The case was eventually solved, and Ran skillfully attributed the credit to him. But only Kogoro Mouri knew that he hadn't actually played a significant role in these cases.

Perhaps it was this uncertainty about her own abilities, coupled with Conan's current injury and need for Ran's care, that led her to proactively seek Ran's help in order to maintain her image.

Upon hearing that Jiang Hang accepted the commission without much hesitation, Kogoro Mouri repeatedly expressed his gratitude and even said he would treat him to drinks next time. He then handed over the client's phone number to Jiang Hang.

After leaving the hospital, before contacting the client, Jiang Hang first looked at Miyano Shiho beside him.

"I was thinking of taking you and your sister out for a nice meal since you rarely go out, but it looks like we'll have to wait a couple of days. Do you need me to take you home now?"

Miyano Shiho didn't seem to care much about the fancy meal.

But she seemed quite interested in this commission that had been transferred from Kogoro Mouri.

"Since I happened to run into this request just as I was going out, let's go take a look together. It'll be a good way to relax, and it shouldn't take up too much time anyway."

This reflects Miyano Shiho's trust in Jiang Hang's abilities.

Seeing the interest in Miyano Shiho's eyes, Jiang Hang didn't pay much attention.

He had previously noticed that Miyano Shiho seemed quite interested in those cases.

She even seemed a little unhappy when they encountered a case during a company trip and didn't notify Miyano Shiho.

He was originally thinking about whether to inform Shizuka or Yuno, but now that Miyano Shiho is here, they can just head straight to the client's place.

So after getting into the car, Jiang Hang called the client using the phone number given to him by Kogoro Mouri.

Chapter 496: Chapter 492: The Magician Who Committed Suicide

The client who approached Kogoro Mouri was named Kutsuku Nanae, a middle-aged woman who sounded to be around fifty years old.

After receiving Jiang Hang's call, I hesitated at first because of Jiang Hang's young voice.

But after hearing Jiang Hang introduce himself, the client on the other end of the phone seemed to have heard of Jiang Hang as well, so he briefly explained his situation and seemed to want to arrange a meeting with Jiang Hang first.

The content of the entrustment is not complicated.

A week ago, her husband Kutsuku Motoyasu, suddenly died in the basement.

However, after the police arrived at the scene and conducted an on-site investigation, they found no signs of coercion or restraint on her husband's body, nor were any traces of sleeping pills detected in his system.

In addition, there was a telephone in the basement, and the basement door was simply closed, not locked from the inside.

Finally, after questioning her and several of the deceased's disciples and confirming that they all had alibis for the time of the deceased's death, the police concluded that the deceased likely died by suicide.

Before understanding the specifics, Jiang Hang didn't notice anything wrong with what he was hearing.

"So, you still believe that your husband was not a suicide, but was murdered?"

"Yes, because tomorrow is my daughter Fumino's birthday. My husband had already prepared her birthday present a month ago and even designed a new magic trick for her. Just before we left, he seemed to be chatting and laughing. How could he suddenly choose to commit suicide?"

"But the police couldn't find any new clues or evidence, so in the end the case was closed as a suicide."

On the other end of the phone Kutsuku Nanae gave her reasons.

Jiang Hang nodded slightly. "I understand. In that case, I wonder if it's convenient for you now? I'm planning to come to your house right now to check on the crime scene."

Without much hesitation, Kutsuku Nanae quickly gave the address.

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Hang drove while making a request to Miyano Shiho: "Kutsuku Motoyasu, can you help me check his identity? According to the client, her husband seems to be a well-known figure. It seems that this case may really be hiding some secrets."

Miyano Shiho quickly provided an answer.

"There's news about this online. The person in question is one of the most famous magicians in Japan in recent years. He has also trained many well-known new magicians and is considered one of the more influential pillars of the Japan magic world. It is said that he was once called the hope of the Japan magic world when he was young."

"A magician, huh..." Jiang Hang couldn't help but think of Kaito Kid.

To be precise, it should be Kaito Kuroba and his biological father Toichi Kuroba, whose fate is unknown.

After all, he and Kaito Kuroba had quite a bit of a relationship.

However, the other party is now deliberately avoiding him when making moves, as if they no longer want to test whether Eagle Eye can see through his disguise.

But Toichi Kuroba is a genuine international magician.

Given his age of Kutsuku Motoyasu, he was probably not long after being hailed as "the hope of the Japan magic world" before being completely overshadowed by the suddenly emerging Toichi Kuroba.

Moreover, this crushing defeat lasted for more than ten years, until Toichi Kuroba disappeared eight years ago, when Kutsuku Motoyasu probably finally found a chance to turn things around.

Thinking back on my decades-long professional career, for almost half of that time there was an unshakeable genius overshadowing me, so much so that I could only ever be second.

When Toichi Kuroba disappeared, the police probably suspected Kutsuku Motoyasu.

However, Jiang Hang did not continue to think in that direction.

Ultimately, both Kaito Kid and Conan have their own main storylines and won't be so easily mixed up.

Let's thoroughly examine the scene of Kutsuku Motoyasu's death to see if there are any suspicious details that the police haven't discovered.

About twenty minutes later, Jiang Hang parked his car in front of the Ninety-Nine Houses.

Although it's not a particularly luxurious villa, this top Japan magician lives in a detached villa in an affluent neighborhood.

It's quite abrupt that Jiang Hang's beat-up 86 appeared in this place.

However, Jiang Hang didn't care at all. Unless the system rewarded him with a futuristic cyberpunk car, he could drive his 86, which had been tuned by Fujiwara Bunta, for a long time.

I got out of the car with Miyano Shiho and gently pressed the doorbell.

Before long, a middle-aged woman who looked a little haggard appeared in front of them.

It's obvious that this is the client, Kutsuku Nanae.

Upon seeing Jiang Hang and Miyano Shiho arrive, a strange expression appeared on her face.

Clearly, this is yet another person who was misled by the pretense Jiang Hang put on when he appeared on television.

Jiang Hang briefly mentioned that for some reason, he didn't like to appear on television, so he always used a different face and voice when he was on TV.

"I am indeed Jiang Hang. Because of some unexpected events in Mr. Mao Li's family, he entrusted me with handling your case."

Jiang Hang showed his call logs, which reassured his client considerably.

After confirming their identities, the group walked into the house while listening to Kutsuku Nanae talk about her husband.