"Bourbon!?"

The next afternoon, at Dr. Asasa's house, Conan, who had learned the news, looked at Kaedehara with a shocked expression.

There were just two of them in the living room, the doctor was busy inventing in his lab, and Ash already knew what Kaedehara was going to say to Conan, so he wasn't interested and chose to stay in the basement.

"yes," Kaedehara explained, "Belmore was on the phone on the flyover last night. Because Gray Plains' radar reacted at that time, I made a special observation and happened to see her. ”

"And then you read the lip sync and know what she said?"

"Hmm. She was talking on the phone while looking at you under the bridge, and she could guess from the content of the words that it was someone on the other side of the phone who had something to do with last night's incident... So, it's obvious. ”

"Toru Amuro..."

Conan muttered, his face a little ugly.

According to the time Kaedehara said, it seemed that Amuro was talking to someone on the phone at that time.

In fact, Sera Masumi happened to be on the phone at that time, but Kaedehara had already told Conan about Sera Masumi.

Compared to Shinsumi Sera, who was a high school student, Amuro Toru who worshipped Uncle Maori as a teacher was obviously more suspicious. Moreover, he always felt that the kind of performance that was pure last night was sincere...

"But why..."

Conan was a little puzzled, "Didn't the transmitter and bugging device that I accidentally put on Mizuno Nai's shoes be successfully recovered that time?" There's no reason why they'd be eyeing Uncle Maori, right? ”

Regardless of whether Bourbon is Toru Amuro or Masamune Sera, the frequency of the other party's appearance at the Maori detective agency is very high. Also, according to the news from Mizuno Mercy, Bourbon should have been dispatched for Shirley...

"But whether it's us or Xiaolan, we're all close to Judy," Kaedehara said, "If the organization had rarely had that kind of loss before, they might have thought that Gray Plains and the FBI had teamed up..."

As a former English teacher at Didan High School, Judy was almost inseparable from Xiaolan and the garden for a while, and Conan himself often wandered around with them.

Later, Judy also confessed her identity to the police after the Belmore incident, as did Kamel in later incidents.

Conan scratched at his hair tangled.

This means that the other party may be going to the FBI, so it makes sense that someone pretended to be Akai Shuyi before appearing...

That guy's target should be Shuichi Akai.

However, if you act rashly now, you will only expose yourself, and even if you catch Bourbon, it will attract the attention of the organization, so...

The daily routine continued.

……

A few days later, early in the morning.

"Is there anything else you forgot besides your phone?" At the doctor's house, Kaedehara stood at the entrance and asked Gray Plains.

"No, even if you forget to bring anything else, you don't have to come back to get it, right?"

Today, the Doctor plans to take everyone from the Junior Detective Group to go skiing, because the distance is long and the Doctor doesn't want to drive, so they plan to take the bus. Halfway through, Gray Yuan realized that she had forgotten to bring her mobile phone, so Feng Yuan accompanied her back to get it.

Kaedehara followed Gray Yuan out the door, and then closed the door, "Actually, you don't need to bring your phone..."

"That's not good, if you encounter any cases, it will be very inconvenient if you don't bring your mobile phone..."

"That's right," Kaedehara agreed.

Every time the Junior Detective Corps goes out, they encounter something, and they still have to be fully prepared.

"But it's seven o'clock now...", Gray Yuan looked at his watch, "Even if we get back to the station now, the bus to ski for the doctor and their skiing has already departed..."

"We can go there by train..."Kaedehara was saying when he saw Ashbara Ai, who was standing in the cold wind with his hood, exhaled into his hand, so he changed his words, "It's better to let Mr. Pleiades send us over..."

"Ah, Mr. Detective is really good at calling people," said Gray Plains, "but is it okay for him to trouble him like this?" ”

"No problem, it's a day off, the curtains of the room have been opened, he should have woken up. And we can also invite him to go skiing with us... Do you mind? ”

"Nope. I'm not a kid and don't judge by personal preference. Gray Yuan looked at Kaedehara, "But first, Kudo, I'm willing to believe him because you seem to trust him... Don't overtrust..."

"Don't worry, I didn't say anything..."

Although Okiya Pleiades, aka Akai Shuichi, had already guessed that Ai Gray Hara was Shiho Miyano, neither Kaedehara nor Conan would ever admit this, as well as their own identity.

With that, Kaede rang the doorbell before going to Kudo's house.

The door was quickly opened.

Okiya was dressed neatly and looked like he was about to go out.

"Mr. Pleiades, morning, are you going to go out?"

"yes... I'm going to go out for a run," Okiya still squinted, "I feel like I've been getting a little rusty lately." ”

"Do you want to go skiing together?" Kaedehara asked, "Doctor, they're already over." Because we came back to get something, we were temporarily separated from them, and I wanted you to send us there. ”

"Going skiing with everyone? All right! ”

"Shall we drive the Doctor's car? You can take them all on when you come back... I know where the car keys are. ”

All the best. Soon, Okiya drove the Doctor's scarab car to the ski resort with Kaedehara and Ashbara.

But after a while, Kaedehara, who was sitting in the car, noticed an acquaintance on the side of the road. Sensing that Kaedehara seemed to want to say hello, Okiya slowed down and stopped beside the man.

"Officer Takagi!" Kaedehara shouted as he pressed the window.

"Huh?" Officer Takagi yawned.

"Are you spying?"

"Sort of... I just happened to change shifts with Chiba. ”

"Are you coming to the night shift so soon?" Ash Yuan sat down and stuck to Kaedehara's side, looking at Officer Takagi, "Could it be that you did something very excessive and offended the Twilight Police Department?" ”

Just a few days ago, Officer Takagi was kidnapped and taken to Hokkaido because his name was the same as that of Officer Date Air, who died in a car accident a year ago, and he almost died there due to hunger, thirst and cold, but was finally rescued with the help of the Junior Detective Corps.

It's just that he was dying when he was rescued, and he had just finished his night shift in a few days, so Gray Yuan asked so.

"Nope! I think the recovery is very good, and I applied to come back to work by myself! ”

Officer Takagi argued, "But now I still dream about that thing sometimes, and every time I wake up the moment the plank falls, and then I say to myself - it's okay, it's okay, I didn't fall!" ”

"It's falling!"

As soon as Officer Takagi's words fell, an exclamation was heard not far away. Kaedehara also heard a dull crash.

"Wow! Someone has fallen! ”

The shouts of passers-by continued, and Officer Takagi looked back in the direction from which the voice came from, "Is this road opposite?" ”

"Hurry up and get in the car," Kaedehara pulled the car door and gave way to his seat, and Ashbara sat back down, "Let's go over and have a look!" ”

"Huh?"

"Hurry up!" Okiya also urged.

When Officer Takagi got into the car, Okiya stepped on the accelerator, and in a matter of seconds, they came to the other side of the road, where there were already a lot of melon-eating people in front of an apartment building.

Officer Takagi pulled out his criminal police badge and squeezed into the crowd, Kaedehara and Ashbara following him, and Okiya a few steps behind.

"I'm a cop!"

As soon as Officer Takagi squeezed into the crowd, he saw a man lying on his back on the ground, and at a glance it was clear that he was dead and could no longer die, apparently falling from the stairs and falling to his death, "Is something wrong?" ”

"I was jogging across the road when this man suddenly fell off it," the passerby replied.

"Does anyone know who this person is?" Officer Takagi looked around, but no one responded.

"Hey, Officer Takagi..."

"Huh?"

Officer Takagi looked at Kaedehara, who spoke, and then noticed that he gestured towards the deceased's chest. Following Kaedehara's gaze, he noticed that the deceased had a mobile phone in his breast pocket.

"Ah, the phone..."

Officer Takagi, who was already wearing gloves, carefully took out the phone, "Huh? I was sending a strange email before I dropped it, and it seems to be sent to a lot of people..."

Kaedehara poked his head out and took a look.

Here's what the email reads:

[If you want to kill me, then come, I'll open the door and wait for you, you are ready to die in my hands! 】

And judging from the appearance of the deceased, it is very likely that this is a homicide.

It's strange that Conan is obviously not here...

It must be Okiya's fault...

Thinking like this, Kaedehara suggested to Officer Takagi, "Why don't you send it again?" ”

"Huh?"

"Hurry up! If the prisoner is nearby, if you delay any longer, they will react, right? ”

"Ah, yes, yes..."

Officer Takagi hurriedly pressed the button to send the email, and in the next moment, the sound of three mobile phone rings was heard in the crowd of onlookers.

It was two men and a woman, standing together in front of the door of the apartment, each taking out their mobile phones to check their emails.

"It seems to be for those three people," said Gray Yuan.

"So you know the person who fell?" Officer Takagi looked at the three men, "Why didn't you tell me just now?" ”

"Ah, that..."

The first to reply was the man on the left, Keisuke Ogino, a photographer, "I rushed out of the room after hearing a loud bang, and I didn't see the man's face yet." ”

"Me, me too!" The next person to talk back was Kazuhara, a magazine editor, "because I heard such a loud noise, I spilled all the coffee I was drinking!" ”

"I also came here when I heard the voice..."

The last person to reply was Kazutomo Sleevesaki, a reporter, "If this person who fell is the person who just emailed me... Could it be President Katsumoto who fell? ”

"Liar..."

"No..."

"Is it the president?" Officer Takagi asked.

"That's right, it's the president and editor-in-chief of Katsumoto Publishing House, Katsumoto's masterpiece! You know the "Weekly Great" that has been selling very well recently, right? ”

"Ah, it's the one who has a lot of artist scandals..."

"Do you live in the same apartment?" Kaedehara asked.

"It's a coincidence, it's close to the company..."

"I'm thinking about moving, I'm a freelance writer, not a member."

"However, we live on the third floor, and the president is on the twenty-sixth floor."

The three of them explained one by one, and after hearing this, Officer Takagi planned to take the three back to the Metropolitan Police Department for questioning, "Then I'm sorry, can I help you and me-huh?" Sora? ”

He was pulled by Kaedehara in the middle of his words.

"It's been less than four minutes since I heard the exclamation," Kaedehara stopped Officer Takagi from continuing, whispering to him, "Now we should go to the room of these three people..."

"Huh?" Officer Takagi was puzzled.

"That's what Brother Shinichi said... You see..."

As he spoke, Kaedehara shook his phone in front of Officer Takagi. Actually, the above are completely unrelated text messages.

However, Officer Takagi didn't read what was written on it at all, thinking that after all, it was Kudo Shinichi's words, and he was done with it, so he quickly changed his words and asked to go to the room of the three people.

The group then walked towards the apartment.

Ash Yuan followed Kaedehara's side, but Okiya glanced at the corpse on the ground and didn't move for the time being.

"Won't Mr. Pleiades go up and have a look?" Kaedehara asked.

“… All right. Okiya still followed.

"But," Gray Plains asked as he walked, "can you see what the room knows?" ”

"Judging by the degree of damage to the corpse, it must have fallen from a very high floor... It is likely to be the twenty-sixth floor where the deceased lived..."

"If this is murder, I'm afraid the culprit will have to rush downstairs as soon as he pushes the man down." Okiya took Kaedehara's words and explained, "As long as you can find traces in the room where they were just now, you can rule out the suspects." ”

"And we happened to be passing by the scene, so we decided to check the room immediately, and the prisoner couldn't have predicted the situation, so he wouldn't have gone back to his room to make arrangements after the murder."

"Oh, I see..."

Gray Yuan nodded thoughtfully, glancing at the two who had just explained.

If it weren't for the previous operation to save Conan Edogawa, it would be the first time she had seen Okiya's reasoning ability.

It's really worthy of the first Watson designated by Kudo...

Gray Yuan thought to himself, and followed upstairs.

The first to be inspected was Keisuke Ogino's room.

"So, Miss Tsukihara and Mr. Sleevesaki..."

Officer Takagi had already figured out the reason for this after being reminded by Kaedehara, and when Keisuke Ogino opened the door, he said, "Please open the door and wait here at the entrance." ”

"Okay."

Not only these two people, but Okiya and Ash Hara had no intention of following up, because Officer Takagi was just going to do a quick check, and they would know what the results were.

Kaede followed Officer Takagi inside, and Mr. Ogino followed him, but Mr. Ogino kicked a paper bag as soon as he entered the house, "Wow! ”

"What's wrong?" Officer Takagi looked back.

"What's this bag?" Kaedehara noticed that Mr. Ogino was crouching and took out another small bag from the bag he had just kicked into.

"I got it back when I went to the funeral." Mr. Ogino casually explained and stood up.

"And then? Is there any evidence that you were still in the room just now? ”

"Y-look, the TV is still on."

"I'm afraid this can't be proof." Officer Takagi shook his head.

"Oh! Then this should be fine, right? ”

Mr. Ogino picked up a glass of beer from the table in front of the TV, then turned 180 degrees to show them the beer.

"The beer bubble hasn't gone away yet! Because I've been drinking beer and watching TV! ”

"Yes, yes," Officer Takagi said accepting the evidence.

Because the delay would cause the alibi of the other two to disappear, Officer Takagi took a picture of the beer with Kaedehara's help, and then they went to Miss Tsukihara's room.

Miss Tsukihara's room has a cup of coffee that is still steaming.

Kaedehara noticed that there was a bag in her room that was identical to the one in Mr. Ogino's room, and after questioning, she learned that all three of them had attended the same funeral.

Next was Mr. Sleevezaki's room, and when Officer Takagi came out, he pulled him to open his room.

In his room, he found a cigarette butt in the ashtray that was still smoking. According to him, when he heard the movement downstairs, he put the cigarette he had just smoked on the ashtray and went out.

In other words, the alibi provided by these three people is foam, heat, and smoke...

Then, after the other police officers arrived, Officer Takagi went to the president's room on the 26th floor to check, and there was nothing particularly noteworthy in the room, and some clues still needed to be investigated by Officer Takagi through police channels.

After the basic investigation, after thinking for a while, Kaedehara asked Ashbara, "Ashbara, is there any way to make the beer that has been standing for a while foam again?" ”

"Re-creating bubbles? That's a lot of ways..."

"It's simple," Seeing that Gray Yuan seemed to be about to make a highly professional speech, Kaede Yuan hurriedly added, "Don't be too complicated, it's the kind that ordinary people can do at will..."

"That's a lot, salt, sugar, and whatever..."

"Ah, yes!" Kaedehara was stunned.

So, what's in that little bag is...

"I mean, you should know about such a simple thing, right?" Gray Plains looked at Kaede Yuan suspiciously, and whispered, "Could it be that you want to make me feel a little involved, so you asked me..."

"No... That's how reasoning works, sometimes you just need inspiration to wake up what you know..."

"Really?" Gray Yuan didn't dwell on this question anymore, "But you only ask this, do you already suspect that person?" ”

The person in her words was obviously referring to Mr. Ogino, who used the foam of beer as an alibi.

"Well, because he's a photographer." He had already learned the identities of these people from Officer Takagi's follow-up questioning.

"Photographer? Yes... I see..."

"You must have found out, Mr. Pleiades, right?" Kaedehara looked back at Okiya, who had been following silently.

"yes," Okiya replied, "I'm obviously a photographer, but I didn't bring the camera down when I encountered something like this..."

"He hasn't meant to shoot the scene with his phone yet... And not just because of this, but also because of that bag..."

Kaedehara took over, "Even Officer Takagi, who entered his room for the first time, didn't kick the paper bag, but he himself kicked it... Judging by the location of that bag, he was more likely to do it on purpose... And it's weird when he takes that beer..."

"What's wrong with this?" Ash Yuan asked, she had seen that scene at the entrance as well.

Kaedehara gently pressed Gray Yuan's shoulder, "Try to turn around 180 degrees on the spot, right?" ”

Now there's someone else watching...

Gray Yuan glanced at Kaedehara angrily, but he still turned down obediently, and then turned back again, looking at Kaedehara in confusion.

"Isn't it weird to show that beer to someone?" Kaedehara explained, "It's more like it's trying to block out other people's view... I guess that's when he put salt in his beer..."

"What a keen sense of observation," Okiya praised.

"It's because I doubted him before... The problem now, though, is that there is no evidence..."

(End of chapter)