Onmyoji Sherry

Chapter 19: Onmyoji Sherry

Mouri Ran's eyes widened in surprise when she unexpectedly ran into Lin Xinyi.

Beside her, the ever-present detective, Kudo Shinichi, was far more excited. "Mr. Lin Xinyi, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon!"

"Yeah, quite a coincidence," Lin Xinyi replied with a natural smile.

To him, as the newcomer, Kudo Shinichi and Mouri Ran were the only true acquaintances he had.

Meeting twice in one day, morning and evening, certainly felt like fate.

"Um..." After a brief moment of surprise, Mouri Ran seemed to recall something.

A deep, unconcealed worry quickly clouded her large eyes, and her tone became incredibly gentle:

"Mr. Lin Xinyi, are you doing alright?"

"Oh..." Lin Xinyi felt a little helpless.

Hearing Mouri Ran's cautious tone, like a nurse comforting a terminally ill patient, he knew Kudo must have told this kind-hearted girl about his failed suicide attempt.

Just look at her eyes, filled with concern now...

It was as if she feared he might run into traffic and end his life at any second.

"Don't worry, it's all in the past."

Lin Xinyi explained vaguely.

"Oh..." Mouri Ran relaxed slightly.

Then, she finally noticed Miyano Shiho, who had been quietly standing beside Lin Xinyi.

"Is this Mr. Lin Xinyi's girlfriend?"

Her eyes were full of curiosity. With such a beautiful girlfriend, why would he want to commit suicide?

Miyano Shiho's eyes also flickered with surprise. She looked at Kudo Shinichi and Mouri Ran, then at Lin Xinyi:

This Lin Xinyi guy...

He actually makes friends with ordinary students like them?

As a hound deeply entrenched in the dark organization, is he still carefully maintaining the identity of a normal person on the outside?

How unexpected. It seems I really knew too little about this outwardly lifeless guy before.

Lin Xinyi didn't notice Miyano's unusual gaze. He simply explained seriously:

"Girlfriend? No, no, no..."

"Her name is Miyano Shiho."

"I... I'm sort of her bodyguard."

"Bodyguard?" This time it was Kudo Shinichi's turn to be surprised. "Mr. Lin's job is a bodyguard? No way..."

"According to my deductions, you should be a doctor with a professional background."

"Well..." Lin Xinyi didn't know how to answer.

Miyano Shiho, however, glanced at Kudo with a hint of interest:

She knew Kudo's deduction was actually quite accurate.

When Lin Xinyi was monitoring her as a fellow student at Columbia University, his major was clinical medicine.

Although they rarely interacted during university, Miyano Shiho vaguely knew that Lin Xinyi's academic performance was actually quite good.

"I can't believe I guessed wrong..."

"That shouldn't be right. How would a bodyguard know so much medical knowledge?"

"Did he study medicine and then switch to security later?"

"But comparing income, benefits, and future prospects, being a doctor is better than a bodyguard in every way..."

Kudo Shinichi became deeply engrossed in a troubled contemplation.

"Haha, Shinichi finally guessed wrong for once."

Mouri Ran chuckled beside him.

"Uh..." Kudo Shinichi scratched his head awkwardly, finally having to accept the fact that his judgment was wrong.

Then, without missing a beat, he subconsciously shifted his gaze to Miyano Shiho, who was beside Lin Xinyi.

That focused, engrossed "detective mode" had restarted.

It seemed that having made an unexpected mistake, he wanted to regain his stride from this unfamiliar lady.

And that was exactly the case.

Observing Miyano Shiho from head to toe, in just a few seconds, a confident smile appeared on Kudo Shinichi's lips:

"Mr. Lin's profession is surprising."

"But I shouldn't be wrong about Ms. Miyano's identity this time."

"Oh," Miyano Shiho replied, neither warm nor cold.

Hearing the famous detective intentionally build suspense, she showed none of the curiosity a normal person might.

"Um…"

Kudo Shinichi felt the atmosphere grow awkward, so he spoke directly:

"I noticed faint circular marks on both of Ms. Miyano's wrists."

"If you get closer, you can also smell alcohol on her."

"The marks on her wrists suggest she might have been wearing sterile latex lab gloves until recently, and the alcohol smell indicates she's been in contact with 70% medical alcohol used to disinfect lab benches."

"So I'm guessing Ms. Miyano works in a pharmaceutical lab."

"Oh?"

"How can you be sure it's a pharmaceutical lab?"

"Gloves and alcohol can be used by doctors and forensic scientists, not just researchers."

"Even waiters might use them; they often wear gloves and use alcohol to wipe down and disinfect tables."

Lin Xinyi interjected at just the right moment, raising his doubts.

He was quite interested in the great detective's reasoning.

"That's because I also noticed Ms. Miyano's pants."

Kudo Shinichi continued methodically:

"Ms. Miyano would likely change out of her lab coat after work, but probably not her pants."

"And on the dark pants Ms. Miyano is wearing, several short white animal hairs are clearly stuck to them."

"These were likely accidentally picked up by Ms. Miyano when she came into contact with lab mice."

"I'm guessing Ms. Miyano just recently conducted an experiment involving lab mice, didn't she?"

Mid-sentence, Kudo Shinichi deliberately paused to observe Miyano Shiho's expression.

In truth, he couldn't be entirely certain the white animal hairs came from lab mice.

In situations where he wasn't absolutely sure, he would typically employ a "tactical pause" during his deduction, observing the other person's subtle micro-expressions to indirectly confirm his hypothesis.

And this little trick worked again:

When he mentioned lab mice, despite the very slight change in her expression, Miyano Shiho still subtly furrowed her brow.

Miyano Shiho knew that Kudo Shinichi had guessed correctly again, more or less.

She had indeed been in contact with lab mice recently, though it wasn't for an experiment. She had simply stroked a lab mouse's fur during a work break, with nothing else to do.

Living in the lab offered little entertainment, and those lab mice were practically her pets.

She had even secretly named a few of the cuter, more attractive lab mice.

When animal experiments were necessary, she would keep these relatively adorable ones as pets and let the ugly, unnamed mice die first.

Of course, Miyano Shiho did all of this secretly, without the other researchers knowing.

Lin Xinyi was even more oblivious to it.

Ms. Miyano would never let this guy she didn't particularly like see her childish antics of secretly playing with small animals.

This was her own little secret.

And now, a high school student who liked playing detective games was impolitely deducing her secret—and worse, he was speculating about her identity, which should remain unknown.

So, Miyano Shiho slightly furrowed her brow, appearing somewhat resistant.

But Kudo Shinichi, conversely, saw the reaction he wanted in that change of expression.

He felt confident, knowing his line of reasoning was correct, and continued to elaborate:

"Lab mice are mostly used for pharmaceutical experiments or medical teaching."

"And there aren't any universities nearby, plus Ms. Miyano's lingering glove marks indicate she just got off work not long ago."

"Therefore, I deduce she is most likely a researcher at a pharmaceutical company."

"Oh, right, I remember there's a 'Yaobai Bio-Pharmaceutical' not far from here, isn't there?"

"Ms. Miyano, do you work at that company?"

After saying all this, he habitually flashed a confident smile.

Usually, when people had their profession accurately pinpointed by him in such a way, they would instinctively exclaim in surprise and admiration.

And this was the time Kudo Shinichi enjoyed the most.

But this time, he completely failed to notice that after he casually guessed the name "Yaobai Bio-Pharmaceutical," Ms. Miyano's expression had already turned somewhat stern.

And when Kudo Shinichi finished his deduction and confidently smiled, the atmosphere in the room had already grown rather cold.

Meeting his smile, Miyano Shiho uncooperatively showed a sarcastic smirk.

"You really like playing detective games?"

"Uh…" Kudo Shinichi's smile froze on his face.

Instead of the admiration he'd expected, he heard a hint of sarcasm in her tone:

"Then you must know the famous quote written by Agatha Christie, right?"

"'Curiosity killed the cat.'"

Miyano Shiho recited the English phrase coldly, her voice conveying an icy distance that pushed people away.

"Great detective."

"Poking around in other people's business can get you killed."