Stay away from Conan.

With the police apprehending the suspect, and with Miwako Sato, the killer's next target in the original story, leaving the scene with the police, the crisis of the night was at least over. However, for Takato, the ultimate goal had not yet been achieved.

That is, to apprehend the real culprit in this incident.

But now that things have come to this point, it's clear that even Gao Yuan doesn't have any good solutions for the time being. Not only does he lack direct evidence to accuse Kazeto Kyosuke, but he also doesn't quite understand why things have turned out this way. Therefore, since the police have basically withdrawn their team and the suspect Kazeto Kyosuke obviously has no chance to commit further crimes, today's matter can only end here.

So, after the engagement party ended, Gao Yuan and Xiao Ai left together quite naturally.

As for the fact that the police arrested someone else, there's nothing better to do at the moment. The only thing left for them to do is investigate further to confirm that they arrested the wrong person.

After all, it's not like the police could just identify the person as the murderer who killed two police officers based on that phone alone, right?
Even if the police confirm that the phone belongs to the other party, ultimately this only proves that the phone was a device used to detonate the bomb, but it cannot directly link the bomb to the killing of the police officer. Logically, this makes sense, but it lacks crucial evidence.

Therefore, there is no need to worry for the time being that the other party will be treated as the murderer by the police. The only thing is that we need to find out the problem to break the current situation. At least we need to figure out why things have turned out this way.

With that in mind, after saying goodbye to Kogoro Mouri and the others at the hotel entrance, Takato took Ai and headed back to the Akechi residence. Just then, Kyosuke Kazato, who was also coming out of the hotel, was secretly observing Takato, looking somewhat thoughtful. He didn't linger and, after exchanging a few words with Officer Shiratori who came out to see him off, left the hotel.

However, it was clear that Gao Yuan hadn't given up on Kazato Kyosuke. Just as Kazato Kyosuke turned his back and left, Gao Yuan, who hadn't gone far, turned his gaze back and glanced at him briefly, his thoughts slightly heavy.

Clearly, Gao Yuan, who was already wary of Kazato Kyosuke, noticed that Kazato Kyosuke seemed to be looking at him earlier, and realized that Kazato Kyosuke must have at least paid some attention to him.

Gao Yuan wasn't surprised by this. After all, he had brought this psychologist, who was originally completely out of the police's sight, to their attention today, and through the fact that he had "treated the first deceased officer, Narazawa," he had somehow connected him to the incident.

The purpose of doing this was to expose him to the police. Once the police investigation makes a breakthrough and includes him in the scope of the investigation, it will inevitably hinder his actions. When he wants to carry out the next plan, he will have to consider more details, which will cause him some trouble.

Therefore, to some extent, Gao Yuan's actions were meant to send a warning.

However, this way, as the one who facilitated this matter, I will more or less attract his attention—

After all, he should be wondering if the reason he specifically singled him out at the engagement party, in front of so many police officers, was because he had discovered something but had no other choice but to do so due to a lack of evidence.

In that case, it would be problematic if he didn't pay attention to himself. Therefore, when things reached this point, Gao Yuan would also consider whether the other party would take action against him because they felt he was in their way.

Given that the police were unable to apprehend him despite the bomb clues, he had to be wary of this possibility.

So, on the way back to the Akechi residence with Ai, Takato couldn't help but wonder where the problem lay.
Why did the bomb incident alert the police, leading them to set a trap, but instead of the original culprit Kyosuke Kazato, the person who fell into it?
Was it because things really went too far astray, causing the logic of the whole thing to be completely different, or did the other party realize something and simply not fall into the trap?

Thinking this through, Gao Yuan reviewed his investigation results based on reality before today and sorted out the course of events again. He was certain that at least the clues he found were consistent with the original work. So, in theory, at least before he got involved in the investigation, the whole thing should have developed in the same way as the original work.

So, the reason for this situation is due to the latter—

Did Kyosuke Kazato know that the police were setting a trap?
Gao Yuan felt there was a problem with this. After all, he had only sent a letter to Inspector Megure explaining that if the murderer decided to carry out the third attack at the banquet, he might plant a bomb in advance. As for whether the bomb actually existed and what the police would do next, even he couldn't be 100% sure.

Furthermore, based on my observations inside the banquet hall, the police's actions did not attract the attention of anyone there at the time. Therefore, Kyosuke Kazato, who was being watched and hadn't left the banquet hall, shouldn't have had any chance of noticing anything amiss. So...

So, as Takato was pondering this, on the way back to the Akechi residence, Ai, who was also watching Takato absentmindedly thinking, kept the matter of sensing the organization's presence in the banquet hall buried in her heart, without having a chance to tell anyone else.

Seeing that Gao Yuan seemed troubled, and knowing that she should tell him about what she had noticed, hoping it might give him some insight, Ai spoke up on the way back, where no one could hear her:

"Actually, there's something I'm not sure if I'm just imagining things..."

Even now, Ai still couldn't be entirely certain when she recounted the fact that she had sensed a trace of the organization's presence at the banquet earlier.

Hearing Ai say this, Gao Yuan, who had been somewhat lost in thought, looked down at her and remained silent for a moment. What surprised Ai was that Gao Yuan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and said:
"That's it..."

This left Xiao Ai quite puzzled, somewhat confused as to what Gao Yuan was doing... (End of Chapter)