Stay away from Conan.

Admittedly, Professor Agasa, as Shinichi Kudo's most trusted person and the one he must rely on for this operation, knows everything that has happened before. Besides the day the Kudo residence was invaded, now even the Mouri Detective Agency has been broken into without any scruples, and they even dared to "test" Conan under the guise of "Gin"...

All of this strongly suggests that the organization member disguised as a police officer has already suspected Conan, and may even have basically confirmed that Conan is Shinichi Kudo.

Now, Shinichi Kudo's choice is to revert to his original form, seemingly to indirectly deny the other party's speculation by having "Shinichi Kudo appear."

Therefore, in Dr. Agasa's view, this approach was far too risky, and might even backfire, putting him in danger instead.

Therefore, Professor Agasa couldn't help but say this to Shinichi Kudo with some trepidation.

At this point, Shinichi Kudo had no way out, and could only look at Professor Agasa with a reassuring expression and say:
"Don't worry, Doctor! Since they didn't take advantage of the situation to make a move inside the Metropolitan Police Department last night, they obviously still have reservations. So there should still be a chance... at least..."

As he said this, Shinichi Kudo's expression turned slightly serious. He didn't immediately utter the second half of his sentence, but what he was thinking was—

At least in this way, even if he were caught by the other party as Shinichi Kudo, he could at least temporarily extricate Ran and the others from the situation.

"and……"

Soon, Shinichi Kudo changed the subject, stating very clearly:

"Doctor, I'm on my way to investigate the truth of this incident! If I continue to act as Conan and get discovered, wouldn't that just further confirm the fact that 'Conan is Shinichi Kudo'?"

This was a somewhat comforting explanation, but Dr. Agasa remained worried and couldn't help but say:
"But... if you just show yourself like this, what if people find out and it makes even more people know you're still alive? Even if that might prevent people from suspecting 'Conan,' doesn't that directly expose the fact that you're alive?"

"Of course I know that!"

With a casual expression, Shinichi Kudo spoke calmly, and then he put on a hat and a mask:

"I won't reveal my identity casually!"

Thus, seeing that Shinichi Kudo's mind was made up, and knowing that it was impossible to persuade him further, Professor Agasa simply said:

"Well... at least tell Gao Yuan and the others..."

"No need, Doctor..."

Faced with this, Shinichi Kudo said with a serious expression:
"Since Ai gave me the antidote, it means they were prepared for everything that's happening now, and it also implies that I should do everything in my power in this situation, therefore..."

"There's no need to bother them. I believe Mr. Mingzhi and his team have other preparations in mind. I just need to do what I'm supposed to do!"

After Shinichi Kudo finished speaking, Professor Agasa had nothing more to say. Then, before leaving, Shinichi Kudo gave Professor Agasa one last reminder, saying:
"In short, Professor, all you need to do is make people believe that Conan has been playing at your house all this time, and the rest..."

"I'll handle it!" With these solemn words, Shinichi Kudo turned and began investigating the person who might hold the truth behind the case.

After all, although he now has the most crucial link in this incident through Hattori Heiji, namely the fire that occurred in Kyoto on Tanabata, and thus he can get ahead of the curve, he cannot guarantee that this information will not be discovered by others at some point, in which case he will have no advantage.

To resolve this crisis, I must take the initiative and first obtain the memory card containing the list of the organization's undercover agents!

Thinking of this, Shinichi Kudo's steps quickened slightly...

……

As Shinichi Kudo had feared, he was not the only one who knew about this. On the other hand, because Takato had revealed the matter to Vermouth, Vermouth quickly found out about the victims of the fire, "Honjo Nanako" and her boyfriend, "Mizutani Kosuke," after only a simple investigation.

Furthermore, just as Gao Yuan said, Vermouth did indeed discover that the whereabouts of the key figure "Mizutani Kosuke" were currently unknown, and it would probably be necessary to use some means to find him.

However, Vermouth's thinking wasn't limited to just focusing on "Kosuke Mizutani." After all, according to Takato's analysis, "Kosuke Mizutani" might not be the murderer, but rather the last victim—

After all, if we match the Big Dipper and Polaris together, there are a total of eight targets. If the trigger for this incident is related to that fire, the only possible last target is Mizutani Kosuke. Therefore, it is highly likely that he is the last target, and the culprit is probably someone else.

Therefore, based on this analysis, Vermouth focused her attention on Nanako Honjo, a victim of the fire. If the killer's target was based on this incident, then the killer must be inextricably linked to Nanako Honjo. Naturally, Vermouth investigated Nanako Honjo's interpersonal relationships and immediately discovered another target—

Honjou Nanako's older brother, Honjou Kazuki.

Furthermore, through her investigation, Vermouth learned that when Honjo Nanako was dating Mizutani Kosuke, Honjo Kazuki opposed it, which even led to the two eloping.

Therefore, based on her intuition, Vermouth naturally felt that it was highly likely that Honjo and Itsuki were the murderers, and in addition to her intuition, some details also revealed a lot of information.

For example, the details of how the murderer disposed of the body clearly show that the murderer is a meticulous person who pays great attention to detail.

However, judging from various details, Kosuke Mizutani is clearly not the type of person who pays attention to such details. On the contrary, the arrangement of various items in his residence suggests that he is a very casual person, thus greatly reducing the possibility that he is the murderer.

Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that Kosuke Mizutani was both the murderer and the one who planned to commit suicide to complete the final star position. However, given the current situation, Kazuki Honjo, who is a certified public accountant, is the most likely murderer.

But now, what should I do?
Faced with the clues before her, Vermouth couldn't help but fall into thought—

Should we go directly to Ben and Shu?
Just as Vermouth was pondering this, her gaze suddenly fell upon something not far away while she was sitting in the car—

The yellow Volkswagen Beetle, and the figure of Shinichi Kudo getting out of the car… (End of Chapter)