Slacker Assassin's Multiverse Daily

However, most of the things Miyano Akemi had hidden had either been taken by the Black Organization in advance or tampered with. Some places had even been rigged with traps.

If Jiang Hang hadn't had Eagle Eye, he probably would have exposed himself directly to the Black Organization.

In the end, the only thing Jiang Hang confirmed had neither been found nor tampered with by the Black Organization was an old cassette tape from Miyano Akemi's mother, left for her younger sister, Miyano Shiho.

According to Miyano Akemi, her mother had secretly kept that tape hidden away until her death, which was why the Black Organization knew nothing about it.

The Black Organization's caution was precisely why Jiang Hang didn't hold much hope for the memory card he had retrieved last night.

If it truly contained important intelligence about the Black Organization, that would naturally be for the best.

But he was even more worried that the card contained no intelligence at all and was instead a trap left by the Black Organization. He had therefore carefully reminded Professor Agasa to ensure his own safety before attempting to crack the password.

Now that he had gotten involved with the Black Organization, if he were given a chance to uproot it completely, he wouldn't hesitate in the slightest.

But the reality was that, although countless undercover agents had infiltrated the Black Organization over the years, it still remained hidden in the shadows. Not a single agent had figured out what purpose the organization existed for.

"The organization treats every traitor, or anyone who wants to leave it, this way. I'm already grateful that the tape was left behind."

Miyano Akemi looked somewhat melancholy, as though she had remembered her younger sister, who was still in the organization. She wondered how she was doing now.

"Peripheral members like me only know this much. My sister is a core member of the organization, so she definitely knows more than I do. But after what happened to me, I don't know how the organization will treat her..."

"You don't need to worry too much. Didn't Gin say your sister is one of the organization's favorites? The Black Organization probably won't do anything to her," Jiang Hang reassured her, while recalling why Ai Haibara had originally left the organization.

Based on his unreliable memories and a bit of guesswork, Miyano Shiho had probably refused to continue developing new drugs for the Black Organization after learning they had killed her sister. In the end, they had imprisoned her.

Afterward, Miyano Shiho took a drug she had developed herself. Unexpectedly, it shrank her body, and she escaped from the research facility. She collapsed near Professor Agasa's house and was eventually found by him. When she came clean to Professor Agasa, she changed her name to Ai Haibara.

But with Jiang Hang, this butterfly, now in the picture, many things had already changed.

The Black Organization was surely still wondering whether the "Brotherhood of Assassins" Jiang Hang had made up was real, and they couldn't confirm whether Miyano Akemi had actually been killed either.

But Jiang Hang was certain that after spending so many years taking the blame, the Black Organization had finally found someone it could pin things on. When Miyano Shiho asked about her sister, they would definitely dump the blame straight onto the "Brotherhood of Assassins."

He wondered whether the Black Organization's explanation would satisfy Miyano Shiho. What if she actually believed them? What if, instead of wanting to leave the organization, she fixated on that nonexistent "Brotherhood of Assassins"?

Although Jiang Hang felt that Miyano Shiho was too smart to be fooled so easily by the Black Organization, no one could say for sure.

Without telling Miyano Akemi any of this, Jiang Hang left the art museum and headed to Professor Agasa's house.

To his surprise, Conan was there as well.

"I heard you found a memory card that might be related to the Black Organization, so I came to Professor Agasa's to see how things were going," Conan explained why he was there, then urged Professor Agasa on.

"Professor, how much longer do you think it'll take to crack the password?"

Professor Agasa was sweating profusely as he worked at the computer. "I'm an inventor, not a hacker. I'm not very good at this sort of thing. It would be great if your father were here. He definitely knows quite a few hackers who could help."

Professor Agasa wanted to call Yusaku Kudo for help. Conan instinctively wanted to object, but after Jiang Hang's lesson, he knew full well that the Black Organization wasn't something the few of them could handle alone, so he said nothing.

But Yusaku Kudo was far abroad, and contacting him would be far too troublesome. It might not shorten the cracking time, and could even risk exposing the information. After Jiang Hang and Professor Agasa discussed it, they decided to abandon the idea.

Seeing that the memory card's password couldn't be cracked anytime soon, Conan went off to deal with the fan mail his father had received.

As a bestselling author, Yusaku Kudo naturally had many fans. If his fan mail went unattended for even a little while, it could fill an entire cardboard box.

Conan's job was to sort through the fan letters, package them up, and mail them to Yusaku Kudo, who was traveling around the world.

Looking at the hundreds of letters, Conan seemed utterly helpless.

"It's already this era. Why do so many readers still like writing letters..." he complained as he sorted through his father's fan mail.

He seemed to think of something and suddenly invited Jiang Hang, who was idly playing on his phone nearby.

"Jiang Hang, I signed up for a gathering organized by the Japan Sherlock Holmes Fan Club, and I was unexpectedly selected to attend. Are you interested in this gathering?"

"Uncle Mori and Ran probably aren't interested in a Sherlock Holmes fan event. If you're free to come along, I won't have to invite the two of them." Conan looked at Jiang Hang with complete sincerity. "You're a Sherlock Holmes fan too, right?"

"You're going to that gathering?"

Jiang Hang looked strangely at Conan, who nodded, and silently mourned for the fan club for several seconds.

Getting Conan's attention really was the greatest misfortune your fan club could suffer.

Chapter 115: Chapter 114: TV Station Murder Case

The so-called Sherlock Holmes fan gathering wasn't being held for several more days. Jiang Hang saw that he had nothing going on lately, so there was no harm in tagging along to pick up a case.

But Jiang Hang suddenly had a thought. Could it be that Conan had noticed there were especially many murder cases around him, but wasn't confident he could stop them himself, so he had simply invited Jiang Hang along to prevent a murder from happening nearby?

At this rate, it was becoming hard to tell which of them was whose tool.

Was this the legendary theory of mutual tool conversion?

Still, Conan hadn't yet realized how frequently murder cases occurred around him. He probably just wanted to bring Jiang Hang along to the fan gathering.

As Jiang Hang was thinking this, his phone suddenly rang.

He looked at the caller ID. It was actually Jirokichi Suzuki, that old man with more money than he knew what to do with.

Shouldn't the old man be at the television station recording that special program about Kaito Kid? Why was he calling now?

Could that detective show have some live call-in segment he didn't know about?

The moment Jiang Hang answered, he heard Jirokichi Suzuki's booming voice from the other end.

"Brother Jiang Hang, where are you right now? Are you watching our program?"

"I was taking care of something at a friend's house, but I had my assistant record the program so I could watch it when I got back. What's going on over there? It sounds pretty lively. Don't tell me you're still recording?"

"You don't know yet? Turn on the TV station and you'll see. While we were recording the program, the producer died. Now the host of this detective show is live-streaming a search for the murderer!"

Hearing Jirokichi Suzuki over the phone, Jiang Hang froze for a moment before hurriedly turning on the nearby television and switching to the channel where Jirokichi Suzuki's program was airing.

The moment he switched over, Jiang Hang saw the host tearfully challenging the murderer.

"If you don't like my show, come at me directly! No matter what, I'll keep investigating until I catch you, you demon who murdered Mr. Suwa!"

Not just Conan—even Professor Agasa, who was working overtime beside him, had his attention drawn to it.

"Searching for the murderer live on air... This TV station really has the guts to do something like that," Professor Agasa remarked.

"The person running this station is really some kind of marketing genius," Jiang Hang couldn't help commenting either. There had already been a murder, yet they were still thinking about creating a spectacle. "It'll be fine if they catch the killer. But if the murderer strikes again and neither the station nor the police can catch them, they'll look pretty bad."

"Uncle Jirokichi, you didn't call because you wanted me to come solve the case, did you?" he asked Jirokichi Suzuki over the phone.

"That's right!" Jirokichi Suzuki answered firmly, then started complaining about the police.

"Listen, this detective program is being broadcast live. According to the script, all I had to do was exchange a few polite words with that cop who's always chasing Kaito Kid. But that guy actually questioned our abilities during the live broadcast!" Jirokichi Suzuki seemed particularly sensitive to other people doubting him.

"Brother Jiang Hang, as long as the two of us can work together and find the murderer in front of viewers across the country this time, all the doubts about us will disappear!"

Not "us." The doubts online were basically all aimed at you...

Jiang Hang muttered that to himself, but since there had been a murder, his expression grew much more serious.

He glanced at Conan beside him, whose expression was equally solemn, and agreed to Jirokichi Suzuki's request over the phone.

"All right, I'll come over now. But if the police stop me when I get to the station, there's nothing I can do."

Jirokichi Suzuki knew the situation at the scene well and immediately reassured Jiang Hang. "Don't worry. The police are completely overwhelmed right now and haven't found any clues at all. With a famous detective like you helping, they definitely won't refuse!"

After hanging up, Jiang Hang looked at the host still denouncing the murderer on television, then said to Conan, "Let's go. Seeing a murder happen right in front of you and not being able to solve it—you probably won't even be able to eat dinner, will you?"

Conan nodded. Although he normally wanted to beat Jiang Hang at deduction at least once, whenever a real case arose, he never had such thoughts. All he wanted was to find the true murderer as quickly as possible.

Jiang Hang drove Conan to the TV station.

Because some genius at the station had actually come up with the idea of searching for the murderer live on air, the area around the station was packed with traffic. Jiang Hang only managed to find a parking spot nearby in such a short time thanks to Revealing Eagle Vision.

Just as Jirokichi Suzuki had said, the officers maintaining order were blocking onlookers from entering the TV station. But after seeing that the visitor was Jiang Hang and contacting Inspector Megure upstairs, they let him through.

And, of course, Conan, who was currently hiding in Jiang Hang's arms.

"I'll go ask about the situation first. Don't do anything stupid. If you run into the killer and they shoot you, you're dead," Jiang Hang warned Conan before heading toward the crime scene.

Jirokichi Suzuki was currently standing near the scene, thinking about the murderer. When he saw Jiang Hang arrive, he quickly came over and patted him on the shoulder.

"Brother Jiang Hang, I'm counting on you this time... I've been looking around here for a while, but I haven't found any clues." Jirokichi Suzuki felt no need to put on a strong front before a good "partner" like Jiang Hang, so he explained the details of the case to him.

Simply put, while they were recording the program, the producer had been shot dead by someone, and the scene bore numerous traces of bullets.

"It looks like the murderer entered this room and fired several shots at the victim. After killing him, they threw the handgun beside his feet and left the scene," Jirokichi Suzuki said quietly to Jiang Hang. "The police just investigated. This room is in a very secluded location, so there were no witnesses. The only strange thing is that the victim received an anonymous phone call shortly before he died."

"The police are investigating where that anonymous call came from now." After speaking, Jirokichi Suzuki discreetly nudged Jiang Hang with his elbow, directing his attention to another officer examining the scene. "That's the guy who questioned me on the program earlier. Brother Jiang Hang, this is being broadcast live. If he catches the murderer before us, those people online will definitely doubt us even more."

Jiang Hang didn't care about being doubted. He merely nodded to Jirokichi Suzuki and walked into the crime scene.

Since the police had yet to gather any further clues about the murderer, they were currently questioning every staff member who had been on this floor of the station during that time.

When Inspector Megure saw Jiang Hang enter the room, he came over warmly.

"Brother Jiang Hang, you're here!"

After greeting Inspector Megure, Jiang Hang activated Revealing Eagle Vision and began observing the scene.

The victim's name was Suwa Michihiko, a well-known producer at Nichuri TV. Quite a few projects at the station bore his name.

And now, his life had abruptly come to an end. His body was slumped against the wall by the window, with blood from the gunshot wounds splattered across the window behind him.

The only evidence remaining at the crime scene was the handgun used by the murderer to kill Suwa Michihiko and Suwa Michihiko's phone.

Jiang Hang surveyed the scene. Since both police officers and TV station staff had entered the room after Suwa Michihiko's death, Revealing Eagle Vision showed traces left by them all over the room.

Finding the murderer's traces amid such a chaotic room would not be easy.

For the moment, Jiang Hang withdrew Revealing Eagle Vision and asked Inspector Megure for more information.

"I heard that this room was normally unused. Why did Mr. Suwa suddenly come here, and who was the first person to discover his body?"

Inspector Megure pointed to the host currently broadcasting live outside the door.

"That man—the host of Japan Detective Agency, Matsuo Takashi. He said that before Suwa Michihiko went on the program, Suwa asked him to come here after the show to discuss a new project. That's why Suwa Michihiko was waiting here."

Inspector Megure then looked toward another TV station employee. "He was the one who discovered the crime scene. According to him, Matsuo Takashi had a brief on-site event after the program ended, so Matsuo asked him to come here and notify Suwa Michihiko. But when he arrived, he saw Suwa Michihiko's body and called the police."

After saying that, he lowered his voice and continued speaking to Jiang Hang. "Based on the motive and the method, Matsuo Takashi is quite suspicious. Suwa Michihiko came to this room because he had arranged to meet with him. On top of that, Matsuo Takashi is a decent marksman, so he could have gotten hold of a gun through some illegal means. And I looked into the situation at the station—apparently, he and Suwa Michihiko didn't get along. A program he'd been running for years was about to have its host replaced by Suwa Michihiko..."

Listening to Inspector Megure, Jiang Hang looked again at the host, whose eyes were red as he continued his impassioned speech, and his expression became somewhat strange.

If that man really was the murderer, then putting on such an act for viewers across the country was simply cruel beyond measure.

But Inspector Megure sighed again. "However, according to our investigation, when Suwa Michihiko died, he was hosting the live program. Viewers nationwide and all the guests present can confirm that, so he definitely had no time to commit the crime. Now we can only see whether we can find any information from the handgun the culprit left behind."

"What about the anonymous phone call? How is your investigation into that going?"

"The technical department is still investigating, but anonymous calls are difficult to trace in the first place. All we know is that the call was made from somewhere nearby, but we can't pursue it any further," Inspector Megure said, looking troubled by the anonymous call as well. "And we can't be sure whether that call had anything to do with the killer."

"Suwa Michihiko is a well-known producer, so he often receives calls from people he doesn't know. That call may simply have happened to come in at that time. We're checking the surveillance footage from the elevators and stairwells now, hoping to find some clues... Brother Jiang Hang, did you notice anything at the scene?"

"Let me take a closer look..." As he spoke, Jiang Hang's gaze fell on Conan, who was crouched beneath the window, carefully examining the victim.

Jiang Hang's mouth twitched. Conan really was good at taking advantage of how his small size made him easy to overlook. Jiang Hang had only asked Inspector Megure a few questions, and Conan had already slipped over to the body to examine Suwa Michihiko's cause of death.

Following Jiang Hang's gaze, Inspector Megure noticed Conan nearby as well. Having dealt with Kogoro Mouri countless times that month, he had long since become familiar with the little boy. "Isn't that Conan? Why did he come along with you too?"

Perhaps it was because Conan had encountered so many murder cases without ever showing any fear. On the contrary, he had always helped Kogoro Mouri solve them from the sidelines.

And Conan was a sensible child who did not casually disturb anything at a crime scene, so Inspector Megure had become too lazy to chase him away.

"I was taking him to visit a friend's place today when this suddenly happened, so I came over to take a look. I didn't expect him to sneak into my car too, so I had no choice but to bring him along." Jiang Hang casually made up an excuse to dispel Inspector Megure's doubts. "I'll take a look around, then bring him outside."

As he spoke, he walked over to Conan and crouched beside him, asking in a voice only the two of them could hear, "So? Did you find anything?"

Conan shook his head. "The killer was an excellent shot. He hit him directly in the temple. It was an instant kill."

Hearing that, Jiang Hang instinctively felt that something was off.

Under Conan's gaze, he stood up and looked toward the bullet holes in the wall.

Two bullet holes were beneath the curtain to the victim's left, while another was beneath the clock above the window. From the looks of it, the killer had fired four shots at the victim, but only one had struck him in the head.

Perhaps the killer had merely gotten lucky and happened to hit a vital spot, killing him on the spot. But it was also possible that this was a deliberate disguise created by the killer!

With that thought in mind, Jiang Hang activated Eagle Vision and looked toward the window bearing the bullet hole.

Then, through Eagle Vision, he sensed that there was something unusual about the window.

He gently pushed the window and discovered that it was not the usual kind. It was the sort that pivoted on a central axis and could rotate 360 degrees.

Jiang Hang tried to lean his body against the window, but at that moment, the television station's camera abruptly turned toward him.