Inspector Megure failed to find Takagi Wataru, so he called out instead, "Sato, take some people around the neighborhood and look for traces of the stalker."
Conan: "..." Wait, this probably wasn't the stalker's doing. It was someone from inside the gathering...
...Unfortunately, Vodka was right beside him, so he couldn't say it.
As he thought that, Conan suddenly grew puzzled.
—With Jiang Xia's observation skills, he must have noticed something was off too. So why wasn't Jiang Xia saying anything?
Conan: "..." Had the bathtub full of blood disrupted his mindset, or had Jiang Xia noticed something unusual about Vodka as well and was secretly on guard?
If it was the latter... Conan's eyes lit up. Even without exposing the Black Organization, perhaps he could get Jiang Xia to distance himself from that black-clad brute with ulterior motives.
Thinking this, Conan looked at Jiang Xia expectantly.
Sure enough, Jiang Xia was looking at Vodka.
But it was nothing like the "suspicion" and "vigilance" Conan had imagined.
—There was no negative emotion in Jiang Xia's gaze toward Vodka. Instead, it was kind and faintly encouraging.
When Vodka looked up and met his eyes, Jiang Xia even gave a slight nod, like a mentor gently encouraging his student to boldly offer his insights.
Conan: "..."
...Damn Vodka.
Vodka: "..."
...Damn Uzo.
Still, curses were one thing.
Combining this with the text message he had received from Jiang Xia earlier, Vodka understood what Jiang Xia meant—he was reminding him, "Mr. Yamada," to maintain the image a detective's assistant ought to have.
"..." Vodka had no desire whatsoever to make himself more conspicuous in front of the police.
But on second thought, Uzo probably wouldn't set him up so openly. Following Uzo's instructions was immensely irritating, but perhaps it was actually safer