Stay away from Conan.

"But...is that girl really Officer Sato?"

While many in the audience found the stories Shiratori recounted romantic, Ai Haibara, standing nearby, couldn't help but feel that something was off about the story, and she said this with a questioning look on her face.

At the same time, Kogoro Mouri retorted with the same question:

Didn't you ask for their name?

"This……"

When Kogoro Mouri asked him this, Officer Shiratori could only helplessly reply:

"That's not true..."

"Oh? How could this happen? That's such a waste!"

Hearing this, Sonoko couldn't help but feel regret and said:
"Since you remembered someone for so long, why didn't you ask their name back then?"

"Hmph... perhaps this is what the feelings between young boys and girls are like..."

In response to this, Eri Kisaki, standing to the side, couldn't help but cross her arms and interject with a slightly somber tone:
"At first, I just took it for granted and treated it as normal, but as I grew older, the feelings deepened and became more and more unforgettable..."

As she said this, Eri's gaze involuntarily turned to Ran.

"From a psychological perspective, Officer Shiratori, your feelings... likely stem from subconscious emotional projections or misconnections, rather than from real reality."

As the conversation reached this point, Kyosuke Kazato, the psychologist brought by Officer Shiratori, couldn't help but chime in and share his thoughts.

However, despite the reactions from the crowd, Officer Shiratori remained steadfast, simply stating:

"You think I've mistaken someone for someone else? But that face is definitely not wrong..."

Thinking back to the little girl's appearance in my memory, in every detail, she looked exactly like Miwako Sato. There couldn't be any mistake.

But having brought this up, Ai Haibara, who initiated the topic, continued to share her thoughts:

"But would Officer Sato, who's stronger than any man, really do something so girly?"

Therefore, after Ai said that, Officer Shiratori couldn't deny it, and simply replied:
"Regarding this, I also think it's a point of doubt... but after all, so much time has passed, maybe his personality has changed..."

"This is not the attitude a police officer should have!"

And after his initial emphasis and guidance, the topic eventually came to this point, where Gao Yuan, as the instigator of everything, continued to speak:

"If Officer Shiratori, you haven't even figured out whether the person you call your destined one is Officer Sato or not, and you're just projecting your own beautiful vision of the past onto Officer Sato, wouldn't it be a huge misunderstanding if that girl is someone else?"
"As a police officer, when faced with this kind of situation, there's only one choice, isn't there?"

"As a police officer? Seeking the truth is my duty, but..."

Clearly, after Gao Yuan's words, Officer Shiratori was also somewhat shaken. After all, to be honest, he had only initially believed that Sato Miwako was that person, but...

"How do you verify something like this?"

For a moment, Officer Shiratori was at a loss for what to do. Sonoko, appearing very anxious, immediately said:

"Oh! That's easy! Just go ask Officer Sato! See if she remembers what happened back then, right? If she does, you two can rekindle your romance! If you don't want to ask, I can ask her for you!"

As she said this, Sonoko was about to set off.

However, Ran stopped her, and Officer Shiratori also advised against it:

"Well... never mind, I'll check it out when I'm ready..."

"But what if it really isn't Officer Sato? And what if she's forgotten everything from when she was that young, or doesn't remember anything at all?"

Conan then analyzed the situation so seriously before asking a question.

In response, Gao Yuan said at the opportune moment:
"Or... you could ask me to investigate... maybe I can help you find that person!"

This is what Gao Yuan really wanted to say, and everything he had done since then wasn't actually to get Officer Shiratori to ask him to investigate; it was just laying the groundwork for something to come—

After all, he really knew who the girl in Officer Shiratori's memory was, and he also knew where she was.

However, there has always been a lack of an opportunity for them to recognize each other.

Therefore, at the engagement party of Officer Shiratori's sister, Gao Yuan, who had been thinking for a while, felt that this might be a good opportunity to talk about this topic and also to put an end to this relationship.

Of course, besides doing this on a whim, Gao Yuan also had another reason: he hadn't forgotten what was truly important and needed to be dealt with at the engagement party.

After all, the culprit who wanted to kill Inspector Sato in the original work, and who dragged Ran into the incident at this engagement party, causing her to lose her memory, is currently right here—

This is the psychologist, Kyosuke Kazato.

To prevent the kind of thing that happened in the original work from happening, Gao Yuan actually took the opportunity to leave the banquet hall just now, using the excuse of going to the restroom, but he was actually making some arrangements.

Because Gao Yuan remembered very clearly that when the murderer committed the crime in the hotel where the banquet was being held, in order to prevent the gunpowder smoke from falling on the shooter himself and to avoid being detected by the gunpowder smoke reaction, the murderer had placed a transparent umbrella on the umbrella stand outside the banquet hall beforehand. In this way, the murderer used the umbrella to block the gunpowder smoke from falling on himself after firing the gun.

Therefore, knowing this, Gao Yuan would naturally focus on whether the umbrella actually existed. However, when he and Xiao Ai first arrived, they didn't see the umbrella on the umbrella stand at the entrance, so there was nothing to do.

But just now, after seeing Inspector Shiratori bring Kyosuke Kazato to greet Kogoro Mouri, Takato thought that since it was clear that Kyosuke Kazato was already present, perhaps his arrangements had already been made—

Although it's uncertain whether this will deviate from the original work, for Takato, what needs to be done must be done well.

So, taking advantage of the time just now, Gao Yuan left the banquet hall to check if the umbrella was still there.

As Gao Yuan had predicted, the umbrella was indeed there, indicating that the murderer had made basic preparations for his crime.

Therefore, since it's clear that this umbrella plays a crucial role in the murderer's plan, Gao Yuan only has one option left—

Hide that umbrella!

After finishing all this, Gao Yuan returned to the banquet hall and saw Officer Shiratori and Kyosuke Kazato still chatting with Kogoro Mouri and the others, so he joined them... (End of this chapter)