Goodbye, Vermouth!

But no matter how hard he racked his brains, he would never have imagined that Kubota had been controlled. This was a world of science; no matter how brilliant Conan was, he could not have conceived of such a thing—or rather, it simply would not have occurred to him to think in that direction.

"Today's outing was pretty thrilling!" Shin and Ran returned to the back seat, leaving Kogoro Mouri to drive.

"I was scared to death. I wonder if I'll have nightmares tonight," Ran said softly with her head lowered.

Shin leaned close to Ran's ear and blew gently. "If you're scared, you can come sleep with me tonight."

Ran felt her ear tickle, and even her heart began to itch. She tilted her head away, then shot Shin a huge white-eyed glare.

"But... could we really be cursed?" Ran asked worriedly.

There had been far too many accidents. Ran had always been a little superstitious, and now a sudden fear rose within her.

"Don't be afraid. I'm an exorcist."

Conan, sitting in the passenger seat, turned around and fixed his gaze tightly on Shin.

"Conan, why are you staring at me?"

"Aren't you a ninja? How did you become an exorcist too? Which identity is the real you?" Conan looked at Shin seriously.

In truth, Conan's words carried another meaning, but there was no denying that he had begun to regard Shin warily.

At the murder scene, Conan had deliberately observed him. Even someone like Conan, who had seen countless corpses, had been startled by the way Manaka died. Yet when he watched Hyuga Shin, all he saw was calmness.

That was highly abnormal for a high school student.

"The me standing here now is the real me!" Shin looked at Conan, a faint smile appearing at the