Conan: The Man Behind the Romance

Chapter 283: The disguise technique is exposed, and Yingsheng’s true face is exposed!
After all, Megure Juzo did not fire the gun.

He didn't want to hurt Sato Miwako, who suddenly became inexplicably angry, and he didn't want to hurt the innocent girl on her shoulders.

He was not confident in his marksmanship and felt that he must practice hard when he returned.

"Brother Kudo, you just..."

Megure Juzo wanted to ask Kudo Shinichi what he had discovered was wrong, but before he could finish his words, he saw Kudo Shinichi also jump off the windowsill.

"Officer Megure, send someone to intercept them!"

Kudo Shinichi's skills were average, but he turned around on the air conditioner outdoor unit and landed safely on the ground.

He staggered for a moment and quickly chased after him.

"stop!"

Of course Toru Amuro would not stop, but he still looked back.

He felt that this high school detective was a little too reckless. Did he really not know how to write the word death?

His Mazda was just around the corner outside the alley. Toru Amuro didn't want to be seen, so he still held Vermouth on his shoulder with his right hand and ran quickly. He took out a pistol with his left hand and fired three shots from behind.

He planned to teach the reckless detective a more profound lesson, otherwise he would surely die if he encountered people from the organization with this attitude in the future.

Bang Bang Bang!
Three gunshots rang out in a series, bang!
There was a loud bang in the air.

In mid-air?

Toru Amuro glanced back again. Based on his experience, the bullet should have hit his shoulder. How could it have hit him in mid-air?
A cloud of dust exploded in the dark alley, snap!
A gray aerated brick fell to the ground.

The dust had not yet completely covered my vision. Looking back a little, I saw Kudo Shinichi just putting down his right foot and standing up straight.

Amuro Toru curled his lips slightly and fired two shots in that direction, shooting the bullets from the air police's small revolver.

A football expert? That’s amazing.

Kudo Shinichi dodged hastily, but poof! The mosquito still bit him hard on his right shoulder.

Toru Amuro continued to move away, and Kudo Shinichi gritted his teeth, guessing that Toru Amuro had no bullets left. He wanted to continue chasing him, but was quickly stopped by a big hand from behind.

"Brother Kudo, Sato doesn't want to kill you, but do you want to live too?"

Megure Jusan didn't want to say it so bluntly, but his younger brother's behavior made him feel uncomfortable. This was not the way to seek death.

If you see that the other party does not want to kill you, so you want to continue chasing without fear, that is also an outrageous behavior.

Haven’t you heard that even rabbits bite when they are anxious?

Kudo Shinichi froze. Through the light gray mist, he saw two figures in front of him rush out of the alley, turn left and disappear. After all, he did not chase after them, but just pursed his lips unwillingly.

"Officer Megure, have you sent anyone to intercept us?"

"Qianye is on the phone, I hope we can intercept it."

Megure Jusan sighed lightly and looked at the blood groove on Kudo Shinichi's right shoulder. There was a groove of flesh missing there, and it should have been sunken, but with the addition of blood, it stood out instead, inexplicably like a smooth air column in a spirit level.

"Brother Kudo, do you want to go to the hospital?"

Kudo Shinichi shook his head, took out a handkerchief and pressed it with his left hand, then told Megure Juzo what happened before.

However, now that Sato Miwako had forcibly abducted Aoyagi Chiso, he reconsidered his previous guess and said only:

"That Officer Sato might not be the real person. He might be someone else in disguise."

"ah?!!!"

Megure Jusan's pupils instantly widened: "Disguise? Disguise? Could it be Kaito Kidd?!"

"I don't know, I'm just guessing..."

Bang Dong——!
Clank, clank——!
There was a series of noises coming from under the windowsill of Aoyagi Chiso's house. Kudo Shinichi and Megure Jusan turned their heads and saw that the air conditioner outdoor unit that they had used as leverage when they jumped had fallen down and rolled to the center of the alley.

Under the external machine, Chiba Kazunobu was covering his butt, grimacing and gasping.

"..."

Megure Jusan was speechless. This seemed to have something to do with him. He was also a heavyweight, and he just noticed that the air-conditioning bracket seemed a little unstable.

"..."

Kudo Shinichi was also speechless. After Chiba Kazunobu stood up, he said helplessly: "Ms. Aoyagi was kidnapped, which means that her identity is probably problematic. Since we can't catch up with the escapee, we naturally have to go back to Aoyagi's house to investigate. Officer Chiba, what are you doing here?"

"..."

Chiba Kazunobu was speechless. He looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle with a sad face.

Why? You all looked so handsome when you came down.

Three minutes later, Kudo Shinichi and the other two returned to Aoyagi's residence through the main gate. Chiba Kazunobu searched and kept watch in front of the living room, while Kudo Shinichi and Megure Jusan went into Aoyagi Chiso's bedroom and rummaged through the drawers. Soon they found something worth paying attention to.

A small A6 coil notebook was placed under the pillow on Qingyan Chisou's bed.

Megure Juzo took it away and opened the first page. There was no writing on it, only a bunch of messy lines, tangled and twisted like a ball of wool. In this rather dark room, it inexplicably looked like an eye, which made people shudder.

pat-

Kudo Shinichi stood in front of the small desk and turned on the desk lamp, casting a dim light.

"Come and see," he said.

Megure Juzo couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and hurried over to look through the notebook with Kudo Shinichi.

This can probably be considered as Aoyagi Chiso's diary, but even if she recorded events, it was not a documentary record. Instead, it was mixed with various subjective feelings and even fantasies of her own, making the account become fanciful, or even inexplicable.

For example, one article reads:

[I saw a person die, and a person live. The frog turned into a prince, and he kissed all the princesses except me.]

【Of course not me. 】

【I am an ugly old witch. 】

The recorded date was about three weeks ago. Kudo Shinichi thought about it and it seemed to be the day when Xiaolan went to call Mizuki, who had missed a day of class for no reason, to come back to class.

Kudo Shinichi seemed to be thinking about something, his hand already turned back.

Most of the accounts were strange like this, and there was nothing particularly noteworthy about them, until the account from Wednesday night, which made Kudo Shinichi feel inexplicably moved.

[The angel has come, and I will be saved. ]

Angel.

Because of some past experiences, the first time Kudo Shinichi saw this word, he thought of Xiaolan.

But he only had to think about it briefly to realize that the person was definitely not her. Xiaolan had been with Shuiyue that day and had never shown any kindness to Qingliu Qiansu.

And, Wednesday, duty day, Kenta Nakamichi?!

Kudo Shinichi had an idea and immediately called Kenta Nakamichi to ask about what happened that afternoon.

Nakamichi Kenta hesitated for a while, then asked awkwardly, "Is this important?"

"It's very important. It concerns Aoyagi's life!" Kudo Shinichi said solemnly.

"Ah? This...this..."

Kenta Nakamichi was speechless for a long time. Anxious Kudo Shinichi asked him again, and he gritted his teeth and told him the truth he knew that day.

which is:
Hotaru secretly discovered that Chiso Aoyagi was very beautiful and wanted to get in touch with her, but he didn't want to let Xiaolan know, so he asked Kenta Michi to find the life committee member and let Chiso Aoyagi be the only one on duty that day. He would go to help and pretend to meet her by chance.

But later, Hotaru discovered that he and Aoyagi Chiso were not suitable for each other, so he pushed the matter onto Kenta Nakamichi, saying that he was just helping an embarrassed friend.

After Nakamichi Kenta finished speaking, he quickly added: "How is this matter related to Qingliu's life? Is it related to Suigetsu? If it is not related, don't tell him about this, and don't say that I said it."

Kudo Shinichi narrowed his eyes slightly: "Are you afraid of Shuiyue?"

"what?"

Kenta Nakamichi was stunned, not understanding what Kudo Shinichi meant. After a moment, he suddenly said, "You can say that, Master... No, Miss Hope was introduced to me by Mizuki because of this matter. You know, she..."

"It'll be okay. Bye."

Without waiting for the person on the other end to finish speaking, Kudo Shinichi hung up the phone, feeling a little speechless. He was silent for a few seconds with flickering eyes.

"Inspector Megure, I think there's something wrong with Suigetsu."

Megure Jusan also knew almost everything that Kudo Shinichi knew, and he had heard the phone call just now. He was a police inspector who could search three departments, so he was definitely not an idiot. After a little thought, he nodded and spoke in a deep voice:
"Mr. Shuiyue appears too often in this series of events."

Toru Amuro, Taku Itakura, Yoshiaki Hara, Vodka, Kiyoko Cedar, Shiho Miyano, Chiso Aoyagi.

Everyone has a connection with Yingsheng, and no one would believe that he is a passerby who is completely out of the matter.

At least now Kudo Shinichi and Megure Jusan don't believe it.

But when it comes to what Yingsheng did specifically or what role he played in these events, they really can't say.

They didn't have any solid evidence or strict logical chain at the moment.

No.

Maybe there is one.

Megure Jusan looked at the word "Angel" on the notebook and said, "According to what your classmate just said, the 'angel' that Aoyagi Chiso mentioned is Mizutsuki Hotaru, right? With this evidence, we can go and question him."

Kudo Shinichi shook his head: "I still think this nickname is too strange to describe Shuiyue, and Nakamichi just said that after he made that phone call to Shuiyue, he hurried back to the classroom, only to find that the duty had been completed.

He thinks that Suigetsu is very efficient and the connection is seamless, but I think that Suigetsu has always been with Xiaolan, and it was someone else who contacted Aoyagi.

This kind of thing should be verifiable by asking other people in the karate club, and it may not be that troublesome.”

Kudo Shinichi said this and turned to the next page in his notebook.

I don’t know if it’s because of Qingliu Qiansu’s mood changes, but the description on this page is not so stream-of-consciousness, allowing him to glimpse more of the truth.

[I had been secretly watching her this morning, and it seemed like I was discovered, but she didn't say anything.]

【I'm sorry for violating the Ten Commandments.】

[At noon, the detective got into a fight over her and was beaten up and sent to the hospital. She followed him, so the afternoon party was ruined. What a pity.]

【But she kept chatting with me and was happy.】“!!!!!!”

Kudo Shinichi's pupils suddenly contracted, and these lines of words struck his mind like lightning.

A terrible thought suddenly came to my mind. My breathing became rapid and my fingers trembled slightly, but my fingertips were still tightly clasped on the paper without moving an inch.

She, the angel, refers to Kiyoko?

But on Wednesday afternoon, Qingzi was with him the whole time!!!
Kudo Shinichi's mind was in a mess, he felt the world was silent, and his heartbeat was rumbling in his ears.

In fact, after his previous speculation about Sato Miwako's identity, this kind of thing was not difficult for him to understand.

It's the art of disguise.

It's Kaito Kidd.

However, once he thought back to the days he had spent with Qingzi, he couldn't calm down.

Who is that person in his eyes? !
"Brother Kudo, brother Kudo!"

His abnormality was eventually noticed by Megure Jusan, who called out to him with concern.

"I'm fine!"

Kudo Shinichi responded hurriedly as if his tail was stepped on. He shook his head vigorously, almost shaking his brains out. Finally, he gave himself a loud slap in the face. Finally, his consciousness returned and his eyes lit up.

"With this evidence, the companionship of Suigetsu and Kiyoko is confirmed."

Megure Jusan didn't understand what he meant, but when he saw Kudo Shinichi return to normal, the worry and surprise in his eyes quickly disappeared.

As long as Brother Kudo is not crazy, that's fine.

Kudo Shinichi quickly turned to the next page, which had only one sentence on it.

【I haven't seen her for a day, I feel sad. 】

The next page is blank.

He continued to flip through the pages, but all he saw was a blank sheet of paper with no more records.

Where is the diary for yesterday, Saturday?

forgotten?
No time to write because of other things?

Kudo Shinichi kept thinking, but before he could find any clue, a scream was heard from the living room outside.

It was Chiba Kazunobu's voice. No one knew what had happened to him. The scream was shrill and piercing, just like that of a most timid woman.

Without a moment's hesitation, Kudo Shinichi and Megure Jusan rushed out, guns raised, looking for the enemy.

But the living room was empty, there was no enemy.

They scanned the room and their eyes fell on Chiba Kazunobu, who was slumped on the ground, using his hands and feet to move backwards, his face full of fear.

And right in front of him was a refrigerator with the door wide open!
The lights were on in the living room, which was much brighter than Aoyagi Chisou's bedroom. There was also a light in the refrigerator, a warm yellow color.

However, seeing the frightened look of Chiba and Shinichi, when Kudo Shinichi looked towards the refrigerator again and again, he felt that it was gloomy and cold there!

He and Megure Jusan looked at each other, both having some guesses in their minds.

Chiba Kazunobu is a serious criminal policeman, and only that kind of thing could scare him to the point of losing his composure.

"Chiba! Calm down!"

Megure Jusan stepped forward, controlling himself not to look at the refrigerator, and spoke in a low voice.

Chiba Kazushin's body trembled, his lips slightly opened, but he could not make any sound until Megure Jusan walked in front of him, blocking his sight. Only then did a huge stone in his heart fall to the ground. He gasped quickly, and his chest heaved.

Finally, he spoke with a trembling voice:
"Heads, three heads. When I opened the refrigerator, they were all looking at me!"

"!!!!!!"

"!!!!!!"

Megure Jusan and Kudo Shinichi both felt a sudden shudder in their hearts. Damn it, it must be a pervert who did such a perverted thing!
Kudo Shinichi suppressed his curiosity and didn't look at the refrigerator, but a doubt suddenly arose in his mind.

Three?

Before he could think carefully, Chiba Heshin had already tremblingly said the next sentence that contained the answer, which was why he was so scared.

"And, and... one of the faces is one we just saw."

"What?!!!"

Kudo Shinichi couldn't bear it any longer and turned his head to look. In that terrifying scene that made him lose his heart, he still saw that familiar face at the top after all.

Indeed, I just saw it.

"Qiongsu Aoyagi!!!"

An indescribable sense of chaos once again surged into his brain, and in an instant, Kudo Shinichi felt that the world was falling apart.

Who was that person they had seen earlier?

Did Qingzi really come here?
Is Qingzi real or fake?

Who is she?

A series of bizarre questions stirred Kudo Shinichi's brain. Fine beads of sweat oozed out of his forehead, and his clear vision gradually became confused...

Snapped--!
A crisp slap echoed in the living room. Kudo Shinichi trembled all over and turned his head blankly. The figure of Megure Juzo gradually came into his unfocused vision.

"Kudou brother, where is your usual calmness?"

Megure Jusan's tone was heavy, even with a hint of disappointment: "It's not like you haven't encountered beheadings before, and you were able to stay calm, right? Why can't you do it this time?

Is it because the people who died in the past were all unrelated to you, so you only wanted to solve the case, and this time it involves Xuesong Kiyoko, who you care about?
Is it because of this kind of thing that you can't keep calm?

Brother Kudo!

This is not a detective game!
No matter who you are, everyone's life is worth cherishing! Cheer up and don't let me despise you! "

puff--

Somewhere in the darkness deep in his heart, a flame seemed to be rekindled. Kudo Shinichi took a deep breath and his eyes gradually regained calm.

Although these confusing discoveries made him feel helpless for a while, he knew that he would have to face them.

Besides, what Inspector Megure said is absolutely right.

Kudo Shinichi clenched his fists tightly, allowing his nails to pierce his flesh. Combined with the injuries on his shoulders, the endless pain finally made him clearly realize a problem.

His nature seems to be really bad.

Normally, he would get excited when he heard about a case, so why did he suddenly become like this when it was only slightly related to him?
Kudo Shinichi smiled softly.

Maybe there aren't enough clues. It's a very troublesome problem.

But it's not important.

He, Kudo Shinichi, will definitely win!
Seeing that there was no more hesitation in his younger brother's eyes, Megure Jusan felt relieved. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Kudo Shinichi turned around and walked towards the refrigerator.

Megure Jusan's eyelids trembled, and he mentally prepared himself, gritted his teeth and turned to look.

"call--"

Kudo-san got very close, completely blocking the refrigerator, so he didn't see it and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Judging from the degree of blood coagulation, the people who are presumed to be Aoyagi Chisou's parents should have died a little later. And based on the testimony of the upstairs neighbor, it was probably last night. Moving forward, the time of Aoyagi Chisou's death is probably in the afternoon or evening. The exact time needs to be determined by the forensic doctor, but with the phone call that the fake Aoyagi Chisou made to Nakamichi, the time should not be too different."

After Kudo Shinichi made the preliminary confirmation, he turned around and said.

Megure Jusan quickly turned his head and pulled up Chiba Kazunobu, who had finally stopped trembling but was still a little weak, and said, "I'll call for support. Brother Kudo, are you okay now? Do you want to..."

"Don't worry about me, Officer Megure. I'm sorry for my previous behavior. It won't happen again."

Kudo Shinichi very considerately closed the refrigerator door. Megure Jusan felt relieved. Just as he was about to turn around, he heard:
"It's better not to do that yet. I still need to check the freezer."

"..."

Megure Juzo felt that his dignity as a police officer was insulted, but he still followed the advice and did not look back.

He is an experienced detective and is not afraid of dismemberment.

But not being afraid doesn't mean he likes it. If he can avoid watching it, he still tries to avoid it so that he won't have a loss of appetite when he gets home at night and eat less two bowls of food cooked by his wife.

It didn't take long for Kudo Shinichi to draw the conclusion:

"There are some here, but not all. I think the fake Aoyagi Chisou wants to deal with the bodies slowly and one by one so as not to arouse suspicion. She is very experienced and dares to live in the same room with the corpses. She is also very strong psychologically."

He looked around and carefully checked the ground, but did not find any obvious traces. After thinking for a while, he speculated:

"She probably disguised herself as Qingliu Chisou first, and then approached Qingliu and his wife as their daughter, and attacked them when they were not prepared. But this is not certain. She might be very skilled, and ordinary people would not be able to fight back against her."

This speculation made Kudo Shinichi inexplicably think of Xiaolan again. Her fighting ability is now even stronger than before.

However, Xiaolan was competing yesterday, and then she went to visit Okino Yoko with Mizuki, so of course it couldn't be her.

And speaking of disguise, Kaito Kid often dresses up as a woman. It is still unknown whether the fake Chiso Aoyagi is a man or a woman.

Megure Jusan suggested: "We can check the water consumption of this household last night. Judging from the time of the increase, we may be able to determine the exact time."

Kudo Shinichi nodded: "Please, this will indeed be useful, but since it has already happened, it is better to catch the two suspicious persons."

He couldn't help but sigh softly, "Officer Sato might be fake, and Aoyagi-san is also fake. Is the art of disguise very common?"

Kudo Shinichi inexplicably thought of his mother. Does she also know how to disguise herself?

When I was at home, I always pretended to be someone else to scare him.

The thought flashed through his mind, and Kudo Shinichi asked, "Have you noticed that Officer Sato's behavior pattern suddenly changed after a certain point in time?"

Megure Jusan and Chiba Kazunobu pondered after hearing this, and shook their heads after a moment.

Megure Jusan said: "Because of the incident between Takagi and Shiratori, Sato has been in a bad mood recently and rarely speaks. If she was secretly replaced by someone... I'm sorry, we really can't specify a time point."

Is it the same reason why Aoyagi-san was chosen as the replacement?
Kudo Shinichi couldn't help but sigh softly.

(End of this chapter)