Stay away from Conan.

"Sister Xiaolan!"

After a moment of contemplation, Conan suddenly spoke.

"Ok?"

Somewhat unexpectedly, Ran tilted her head and looked at Conan.

"You...you should be careful too!"

Conan stared intently into Ran's eyes:
"That bad guy might come back again!"

This is the situation that Conan is worried about, especially since he is currently inside the Metropolitan Police Department, and the other party's identity as a police officer is the most suitable time to take action.

However, Conan couldn't directly tell Ran that the other party was impersonating a police officer, so he could only remind Ran in this way.

Upon hearing this, Xiaolan paused for a moment, then laughed:

"I know. Conan needs to be careful too."

After saying that, Ran reached for a blanket, wrapped it around herself, and sat down on the sofa next to Conan.

"Go to sleep, I'm here with you."

Xiaolan's voice was soft and warm, like a ray of moonlight in the night breeze.

As Conan looked at her profile, the anxiety and fear that had been swirling in his mind seemed to be soothed by her voice.

"Ah."

Conan responded softly and closed his eyes, but the wariness in his heart could not be eliminated, so in the end, Conan could not fall asleep.

However, that night, footsteps could be heard occasionally passing through the corridors of the Metropolitan Police Department, but the door to the break room remained unopened.

The anticipated attack did not occur...

……

The next day, early morning—

Ireland realized that a whole night had passed when a ray of sunlight streamed into the office through the window.

That night, he didn't sleep at all. Instead, he went through all the case files so far. He had never read through all the contents of this case so carefully before. So, without realizing it, Ireland spent the whole night reading through the files, and he almost forgot that Conan was in the Metropolitan Police Department.

Originally, although Ireland had basically confirmed that Conan was Shinichi Kudo, as long as there was no clear evidence, even if they brought him to that person, it probably wouldn't prove anything. Therefore, considering that Conan might be on guard, it would be a good strategy to observe him further while he was in the Metropolitan Police Department, even if they didn't arrest him.

I just didn't expect...

Ha, never mind!

Ireland felt it wasn't a big deal, as long as Conan didn't take the opportunity to escape.

Thinking of this, Ireland got up, composed himself, and left the office. He went directly to the room where Conan and the others were resting, under the guise of visiting and comforting them. He wanted to first contact Kogoro Mouri and see if Conan had really taken the opportunity to run away.
Conan didn't act strangely; he simply stayed at the Metropolitan Police Department with Kogoro and the others for the night. Seeing this, and considering that he was ultimately just a kid in a body and unlikely to do anything significant, Ireland began his next move...

Back in his office, in the private restroom reserved for the administrators, Ireland briefly removed his mask, washed his face with cold water, and then put the disguise back on—

The mirror in front of him reflected Matsumoto Kiyonaga's dignified face; the mask fit him perfectly, without revealing any flaws.

At this point, Ireland straightened his collar in front of the mirror, turned and walked out of the office, leaving the Metropolitan Police Department...

……

Shiba Park, Minato Ward, Tokyo

At this moment, a thin layer of mist shrouded the park in the early morning, and the East Tower in the distance was faintly visible in the hazy mist.

Inspector Megure was dressed in disguise, looking like an ordinary person who had come for a morning run and was taking a break. He stood under a ginkgo tree at the edge of the park, hands on his hips, his face full of fatigue.

Behind him, several other plainclothes police officers, also clearly dressed for a morning run, looked equally listless; some were squatting by the roadside smoking, others were leaning against tree trunks yawning.

After all, to make the act convincing, Inspector Megure and his team, who were on surveillance duty in the area, did not find anything unusual last night. However, just to be on the safe side, after their shift ended this morning, Inspector Megure led a group of people to actually run a lap around the entire park as morning joggers.

But even so, in the end, nothing was gained...

"Megure".

Just then, a deep voice came from behind.

Inspector Megure turned around and saw "Matsumoto Kiyonaga" striding towards him with a calm expression.

"Tube……"

Inspector Megure instinctively stood at attention, but remembering he was still under surveillance, he quickly changed his words:

"Mr. Matsumoto, what are you doing here?"

Upon hearing this, Matsumoto Kiyonaga naturally understood Inspector Megure's concerns. Therefore, after approaching and glancing around, he asked in a low voice, "No news all night, I came to check... how is it?"

In Ireland's view, according to the killer's logic, if the killer really wanted to dispose of the body, he wouldn't do it during the day. Therefore, if something happened, it should have happened last night. However, since he was at the Metropolitan Police Department, he hadn't received any news. Naturally, in order to find the killer as soon as possible, Ireland decided to come to the scene to take a look.

But for Inspector Megure, it was a completely different story.

Inspector Megure looked troubled and said with a hint of helplessness:

"Well... from last night until now, our people have searched the entire five-kilometer radius around Shiba Park, but they haven't found any suspicious people or Shindo Sumire's body."

"No?"

The Irish man disguised as "Matsumoto Kiyonaga" repeated himself with a serious expression.

"No."

Inspector Megure shook his head definitively, then added:
"I contacted Yokomizo in Kanagawa a long time ago, and it's the same there. I haven't seen a single soul there."

Upon hearing this, Ireland's brow furrowed slightly.

No?

Two locations, a night of surveillance, and nothing was found.

what does this mean?
Was the detective's reasoning wrong?

Or did the murderer not intend to dispose of the body immediately?

Or perhaps...

Ireland seemed to ponder this for a moment, and then could only say:
"Keep a close watch; don't let your guard down during the day!"

That being said, Ireland knew very well that even if the murderer was bold, he probably wouldn't dare to openly dump the body in broad daylight in a place like a park.

However, at this point, I really don't have a better solution.

"Yes!"

Inspector Megure responded, but then hesitated, looking troubled:
“But Manager… if there’s still no movement today, shouldn’t we consider adjusting our deployment? We can’t keep keeping so many people here indefinitely.”

Ireland fell silent for a moment in response.

Inspector Megure is right.

Deploying a large number of police officers to stake out two uncertain locations for extended periods is too costly and impractical.

But the problem is, if the police force is withdrawn, what if the killer reappears afterward...?

"Continue the stakeout. Unless there are clearer leads, these two locations are the most likely to lead us directly to the killer!"

Ireland, referring to himself as "Kiyonaga Matsumoto," finally spoke.

"clear."

Inspector Megure nodded. After all, whether it was due to orders from his superiors or his trust in the clues provided by Takato, Inspector Megure still had confidence, but...

Such large-scale, wide-ranging surveillance operations are prone to unforeseen complications if not handled carefully, as they can easily drag on for too long.

The Irish-disguised Inspector Megure nodded in response and then turned and walked out of the park.

His pace was slow, like that of an ordinary person taking a morning stroll, but each step was heavy, foreshadowing deep thoughts.

Without a doubt, after going through all the files last night, Ireland himself couldn't find any breakthrough. Therefore, it's clear that Gao Yuan's analysis of the "Big Dipper" last night is the only reliable analysis at present.

Therefore, the current situation can be described as completely deadlocked. Even though he had planned to find the murderer before everyone else and retrieve the organization's memory card, he still couldn't find any foothold.

Therefore, stakeouts are currently the only method with the best chance of finding the killer, although the method is clumsy, given the police's capabilities...

Thinking of this, Ireland fell silent in his heart—

Undoubtedly, after these days of contact, Ireland has a deep impression of the capabilities of the Metropolitan Police Department officers. It can be said that once they deviate from the norm, these officers are basically useless.

Perhaps from the very beginning, the organization's elaborate efforts to infiltrate the police force were a mistake; they shouldn't have placed their hopes on the police.

But then...

Could it be that Gin and his group had this idea from the very beginning?

Unconsciously, after Gin approached him last night, Ireland inexplicably began to doubt Gin's motives for doing all this...

Could it be that Gin was plotting against me from the very beginning? (End of Chapter)