He's in Detective Conan, and he's the mastermind behind everything.

As the wind stirred, an indescribable stench instantly rose up, turning the sea breeze a dark green hue.

"Yue~~!!!"

Even though Inspector Megure tried to dodge from a distance, he couldn't completely avoid the wave of biological attacks and felt a wave of nausea. Shinichi Kudo held his breath, his vision becoming blurry. He quickly glanced at the scene inside the oil drum and put the lid back on.

"Brother Kudo, that's..."

Yes, but I'm not sure who it is.

After running a few steps and taking a few breaths of fresh air to cleanse his lungs, Shinichi Kudo briefly described what he had seen:

Perhaps the cement wasn't deep enough, revealing half of its face. It was highly decomposed, making its original appearance completely unrecognizable. Two faintly visible, dark white, curved cartilages were visible on either side, and the flesh had rotted away. In front of it, in a pool of yellow bubbling liquid, was half a samurai sword hilt.

"A samurai sword?!"

Inspector Megure's eyelids twitched: "Could it be that Mr. Itahara was killed in a counterattack?"

"It cannot be determined. Let the scientific investigation department conduct the test. Mr. Itahara has a daughter. We can determine the identity of the deceased by comparing their DNA."

Shinichi Kudo sighed softly: "We came here hoping to find Mr. Itahara who is still alive, or that he left some message. But now it seems unlikely."

He was actually inclined to believe that person was Itahara.

Inspector Megure remained silent for a few moments:

"Even if we don't find anything here, Kiyoko Yukimatsu exposed the people she uses in Tsuburaya Town in order to lure us here. As long as we can catch them, that will be enough. Moreover, if the mastermind has been acting alone all along, we might be able to narrow down our suspicions by comparing surveillance footage from various places."

Shinichi Kudo nodded: "Do you have a general goal?"

“There are people who appear repeatedly in Shibuya, Ginza, Tsuburaya-cho, and here, but either the timing doesn’t match up, or there’s no trace of Kiyoko Yukimatsu in their social relationships. Without a motive, it’s basically impossible to determine the case.”

Inspector Megure paused for a moment: "Brother Kudo, one of your classmates is also among them."

"classmate?"

Shinichi Kudo paused for a moment, then immediately realized:

"It's Shuiyue, right? He shouldn't be the mastermind. On the day Xuesong Zhengren died, I was playing soccer on the playground at noon, and he was in the stands not far away. He seemed to leave for about fifteen minutes because of an upset stomach, but I talked to him when I went to the toilet."

Thinking about it carefully, it's not impossible that he left his phone number to answer me from across the cubicle, using me to create an alibi for him.

But that meant he needed to make a round trip from Teitan High School to Beika Central Park in a short time, since the crime scene was deep inside the park and he couldn't use a vehicle to get there.

Although he seems to have been learning karate from Ran recently, he still can't do it with his physical strength.

I know that the fact that Mizuki and Yukimatsu Kiyoko are neighbors is intriguing, but judging from their individual personalities...

Those who knew Kiyoko Yukimatsu were unaware that she actually frequented various nightclubs and clubs at night.

Those who knew Mizuki were unaware that he was actually quite famous in Shinjuku's Kabukicho district.

Their classmates, including myself, based on their daily behavior, all thought they were the aloof type. These kinds of people… well, perhaps due to some psychological factors, are actually quite restrained when interacting with people in their daily lives.

A sense of shame.

Rabbits don't eat the grass near their burrows.

Separate daytime and nighttime life.

By day, he's dressed in a suit and tie, presenting the new quarter's business plan to shareholders; by night, he dons latex and goes to a club to perform striptease. This kind of behavior, which at first glance seems like a split personality, is all too common in Japan's repressive society.

The state of Hotaru and Kiyoko...

That's pretty much how it seems to everyone.

Shinichi Kudo continued, "Moreover, the mastermind's methods are quite professional. Suigetsu... to be honest, I haven't had much contact with him, so I'm not sure if he can do all this, but I think the possibility is not high."

And he killed someone for his neighbor...

Kiyoko Yukimatsu has moved away now, so they're probably not neighbors anymore.

It's possible that they were just covering up, but compared to the men that Kiyoko Yukimatsu had actually had very close contact with, the possibility that Mizuki was behind all of this is extremely low.

Ultimately, everything depends on the evidence.

Shinichi Kudo's string of words left Inspector Megure rooted to the spot, and he couldn't help but scratch his head.

My younger brother really has a lot on his mind; he never even considered suspecting Shuiyue Yingsheng.

Neighbors, can this be considered a close relationship?

Residential families with full-time housewives may have some interaction on a regular basis;

But in high-end modern apartments like Ian Apartments, the residents' mindset is mostly more urbanized and atomized. Apart from the occasional gift of no more than 1,000 yen that a new resident might bring when they first move in, aren't they usually strangers to each other?

Not to mention that both of Kiyoko Yukimatsu's parents were abnormal, and Hotaru Mizuki...

hiss!

Megure suddenly remembered that the police had responded to several calls because of him.

Bipolar disorder? Or depression?

In short, the child didn't seem to be in good mental condition before, and his parents were also very indifferent to the police. They seemed to be researchers at some biological research institute, wearing a cold white coat, and they didn't look like the type who were good at interpersonal relationships.

Inspector Megure recounted all of this to Shinichi Kudo, who then compared it with what Hotaru had said the previous afternoon at the Makuba izakaya in Shibuya, and felt even more strongly that:

It's really not easy for Shuiyue to grow up to be this big.

This further convinced Shinichi Kudo that it was highly unlikely there was any connection between Suigetsu and Kiyoko Yukimatsu.

After all, Mizuki had attempted suicide before, which didn't seem like someone who cared about having someone like Kiyoko Yukimatsu in the world. And after his failed suicide attempt, his personality changed drastically; he spent a whole day and night partying in Shinjuku's Kabukicho district…

Sigh, he must be suffering a lot too.

Fortunately, his personality changed afterward; perhaps the near-death experience made him realize the preciousness of life.

Moreover, his parents happened to be away on a long business trip.

And then there's Xiaolan, who always cares about him...

Chapter 67 This is the real attack on weaknesses!

Although the last point may sound a bit strange, Shinichi Kudo actually quite admires Ran's kind concern for classmates with mental health issues.

Yesterday at noon, he gritted his teeth and didn't go to the research institute. Besides being concerned about the case, this was also a factor.

The fact that Suigetsu was actually trying to bring him and Ran together made Shinichi Kudo reflect that if it weren't for family factors, Suigetsu would definitely have become a very cheerful person.

But it's not too late now. Shuiyue has changed, and they will definitely become good friends.

What I was actually trying to say was...

Megure scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Your classmate, almost every time he appears on surveillance footage, he's with a different woman. Not a high school classmate, but... an adult woman."

He shook his head: "But you just said, Brother Kudo, that he's very famous in Shinjuku's Kabukicho. Sigh, I was hesitant to tell you something so irrelevant, but it turns out you already knew."

"..."

When this was mentioned, Shinichi Kudo's face turned strange. He hesitated for a few seconds and, unusually, showed the troubled expression of a teenager.

"I'd rather I didn't know about this."

Inspector Megure's eyes lit up. Something interesting?!

He immediately glanced over curiously. Let me make it clear beforehand that this was out of the seriousness of a veteran detective who values ​​intelligence gathering, and absolutely not gossip!

Shinichi Kudo sighed, "It's a member of the soccer club. His mother kept a picture of Suigetsu in her wallet, and his father found out and they had a huge fight. He confided in me, hoping I could find that person and help him resolve his family conflict."

I took the photo and looked at it... sigh, that's it.

"........."

Inspector Megure looked puzzled after hearing this. This kind of thing... well, it's quite a valuable piece of social experience material.

"All right."

Shinichi Kudo shook his head, shaking off these distracting thoughts. After chatting for so long, he could at least relax his mind. It was time to get down to business.

"Inspector Megure, ask Inspector Sato and the others if they've found anything. Although Kiyoko Yukimatsu was forced into a corner and used this place as bait, it's probably just a useless lump in the hole. Let's head to Tsuburaya Town to assist the people there."

Megure nodded and took out his phone, but before he could dial a number, Sato's call came in.

connected.

"Inspector, there's a Yakuza man who was pouring cement on the beach. After I found him, he threw the body into the sea. I'm chasing him now, and my target is the north exit!"

Miwako Sato's voice was hurried, and there was a whooshing sound of strong wind, indicating that she was running at high speed.

"Stop! Or I'll shoot!"

Sato Miwako shouted on the other end of the phone, but the other side was clearly unmoved, and no gunshots were fired, not even when Inspector Megure met up with her.

“He was very fast and seemed to know the area very well. After a few turns, I lost him.”

Sato Miwako said annoyed.

Megure sighed softly, "There's nothing we can do about it."

He asked about the other person's appearance, and felt even more helpless.

The man was dressed in a black suit with no distinguishing features, and wore a white fox mask. Since he came here to dispose of the body in the middle of the day, he must have been unaware of the police presence. The fact that he kept a mask on at all times suggested he was a ruthless and extremely dangerous member of the underworld, meticulously concealing his identity.

There's no way to issue a warrant for their arrest.

"I'll send someone over to retrieve the body right now. It just entered the sea, so it shouldn't be too difficult." Inspector Megure looked at Shinichi Kudo. "Brother Kudo, do you want to take a look at this person first, or do you want to go to Tsuburaya Town first?"

Shinichi Kudo pondered for a moment and said, "Do you think this could be related to the mastermind behind it all?"

"This……"

Inspector Megure and Miwako Sato exchanged a glance, both thinking that he might be overthinking things.

The fact that a gangster was so brazen as to dump a body in the middle of the day, only to run into the police, seems like an accident.

Based on past cases, Shinichi Kudo also felt that the mastermind was a wise strategist who planned ahead, rather than a mindless person who would resort to direct violence.

But he always felt that things were too much of a coincidence.

If this matter is related to a mastermind, then what is their purpose?

The scheme aimed to reinforce the police's perception that dumping bodies in this area was common and that the oil drum they had seen earlier might not necessarily contain the homeless man, Itahara.

or……