No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

"Someone's been murdered downtown, in the restroom of a coffee shop! We need to get there right away; a lot of people have already gathered there!"

Inspector Megure looked distressed, as if he was troubled by something.

"What's wrong, Inspector Megure? Is there a problem at the scene?"

"Ah, it's nothing, it's just that there was an unexpected person at the scene."

"Oh, I see."

Kitahara Masaki, who was only being polite, had no desire to ask any further questions. Hearing Inspector Megure still keeping him in suspense, he left without giving him any face.

"Hey, wait a minute, Kitahara-kun, aren't you curious about who it is?"

"What's there to be curious about? You'll know when you get there."

Well, speechless, Inspector Megure could only silently follow Kitahara Masaki, urging the officers who were trying not to laugh to hurry up and investigate the scene and maintain order.

The car with its siren on sped to the scene, but the coffee shop where the incident occurred was surrounded by layers of onlookers. The police officer in charge of setting up the cordon had his hat torn off, but he didn't dare to do anything too big, afraid that if someone with ulterior motives filmed it, he would be on the news tomorrow with the headline "Beating a civilian".

Kitahara Masaki didn't want to squeeze into the crowd. Last time he went to the scene, the enthusiastic crowd blocked him outside and asked questions that had nothing to do with the case, such as "Do you have a girlfriend?", "What kind of girl do you like?", "How tall are you?", "Do you have a secret relationship with a policewoman in the Metropolitan Police Department?", and some people even asked about his sexual orientation.

"Brother Kitahara, aren't you going in yet?"

"You can't force your way in, Inspector Megure. Just wait a moment, the crowd will disperse soon."

"Hmm, do you have any ideas?"

Cough cough--

Kitahara Masaki cleared his throat and called out in a falsetto:

"Ah! It's Phantom Thief Kid, it's Kid-sama! He's on the top floor of the building across the street!"

The incident caused a huge uproar. The crowd, lacking any sense of judgment, shouted "Where is Kid? Where is Kid?" and automatically made way for the police. Taking this opportunity, both Kitahara Masaki and Inspector Megure lowered their hat brims, one because he didn't want to be recognized, and the other because it was a habit.

After finally getting into the coffee shop, I ran into Mihana Reaper again.

"You brat, why do you always get involved in cases? Get out of here now."

Conan chuckled, scratching his head, and ran out.

Knowing that the forensic investigators on the police side were unreliable, Kitahara Masaki waited for Conan's text message to learn about the case.

While waiting for the text message, he suddenly discovered that there were actually four suspects at the crime scene. One of them was a beautiful woman dressed in a smart suit, whose sharp eyes could not be hidden even by her glasses. The woman in front of Kitahara Masaki was none other than Kogoro Mouri's wife, Eri Kisaki.

So that's who Inspector Megure was talking about!

No wonder they were so nervous; even if the police were dealing with a top lawyer, it would be tough.

"Takagi, tell me about the case."

Takagi, who arrived first, began to recount the case:

"The victim, Yayoi Himeno, was 24 years old. She was found dead in the inner stall of the restroom. The murder weapon was found at the scene. Based on the injuries to her chest and the ligature marks on her neck, the murderer most likely strangled the victim first, causing her to stop breathing, and then stabbed her in the heart with a knife, which also caused her to bleed to death. The victim's wallet was also found on the ground. Her body was blocking the door of the stall, and the restroom stall in this coffee shop had a window that led out."

At this point, Takagi paused for a moment. Kitahara Maki looked into the cubicle and indeed saw a window large enough for one person to pass through.

Generally speaking, shouldn't there be an exhaust fan? Why is there a sliding window installed here?

"That's the situation, Kitahara-senpai. According to Conan's testimony, after the victim entered the restroom, a total of four people went into the restroom."

Eri Kisaki can be clearly ruled out from the four, which means it's still a classic three-way choice.

Kitahara Masaki glanced at the large pool of blood on the ground, then at the blood-stained dagger and the three suspects beside him.

Despite the significant amount of bleeding, there were no obvious bloodstains on these three people.

"Let me see the murder weapon."

The evidence bag containing the murder weapon contained a blood-stained dagger. Strangely, the area around the hilt was completely free of blood, with a clean blank space as if something had been tied around it, making this small section of the blade incongruous with the rest of the dagger.

It seems that the killer avoided getting his hands on the spurting blood by using the thread wrapped around the blade when he pulled out the dagger.

The thread strong enough to pull the dagger out is probably still in the coffee shop. In fact, according to the usual rules of the Detective Conan world, in order to allow the detective to find the evidence in time, the murderer will usually keep the irrefutable evidence close to his body.

"Since all three are men, I believe a body search would reveal the truth."

One of the three suspects unconsciously took two steps back. He had never thought Kitahara Masaki was anything special when he watched the news on TV, except that he was quite handsome.

But once you get to the scene and meet him directly, he's completely different from the other tense police officers; he exudes a relaxed and casual aura, like he's at home.

Even though the coffee shop's restroom stalls had sliding windows large enough for an adult to pass through, he completely ruled out the possibility that the perpetrator had escaped, directly concluding that the killer was still at the crime scene and possessing a terrifyingly sensitive sense for evidence.

He truly deserves the title of 'the Great Demon King who will end the world'.

Damn it! If it weren't for him, those other stupid police officers would have just let them finish their statements and sent them home, and the evidence on him could have been disposed of.

But if a body search is to be conducted now—

"Hello, Mr. Tonoyama. Would you please cooperate with our officers in conducting a body search?"

The other two of the three suspects voluntarily took off their clothes and handed over their belongings, except for the big guy who was in a daze.

"Oh, alright."

Kitahara Masaki was completely unaware that the murderer in front of him had such a vivid inner monologue and had completely accepted those nicknames that indicated a severe case of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome).

For Kitahara Masaki, it didn't matter if they couldn't find any evidence of their crimes. In cases like this, where the murder was committed on impulse, as long as someone was sent to investigate and find out the relationship between the victim and the three suspects, the real culprit could naturally be found.

Ultimately, the perpetrators in these everyday cases can't really hide their crimes. Just like this guy in front of me, whose expression has clearly changed.

"Mr. Tonoyama, are you married?"

"Uh, yes."

"The internationally accepted way to wear a ring is to wear it on the ring finger of the left hand, but why are you wearing your ring on the middle finger, and the bandage wrapped around it is a bit too thick."

The killer's ambiguous smile made him unable to look directly at him. Then, he steeled himself and decided to rush forward and grab the renowned police officer as a hostage, so that he would still have a chance to escape!

Seeing the ferocious man who had suddenly revealed himself as a werewolf, Kitahara Masaki stood still and delivered a powerful slap to the man's right cheek. The man's right cheek swelled up visibly from the blow, and his neck twisted at an odd angle due to the force of the blow. He crashed into the wall, his eyes bulging, as if his brain had been damaged.

"Sigh, I gave you a chance but you didn't do it."

Kitahara Masaki waved his hand, and Officer Takagi, who had been stunned by what he saw, finally reacted and went up to handcuff the dazed murderer.

Chapter 17 Do you feel like you've achieved a mental victory?

“Sigh, Kitahara-nii, you don’t even need my information for this case.”

Conan, who had been offline for an entire chapter, was beaming with joy. He felt that his deductive abilities were still inferior to Kitahara Masaki's, but he no longer had the capital to make a big splash.

"Ha, solving cases should be left to the police. No matter how good a detective's reasoning skills are, they are still citizens that the police should protect. The Metropolitan Police Department actually made you so active in order to solve cases quickly, while those nosy media didn't even notice the police's dereliction of duty and only made a big deal out of the police's incompetence. It's really..."

"Seriously, isn't this just outrageous?"

"No, no, no, you really disappointed me."

The media in the world of Detective Conan is truly pure and innocent. After arriving in this world, the only big scandals Kitahara Masaki has ever seen are celebrity infidelity. The number of entertainers and keyboard warriors he encountered in his previous life is also very small. The abstract Tower of Babel is so small that even the foundation has not been laid yet.

It's like going back to the 3G era of China Telecom; even a text message ringback tone has become a rarity.

This is so boring.

Solving cases and killing people are what excite him.

"By the way, let's not talk about me anymore. What are you doing in a coffee shop like this, kid?"

When asked this question, Conan seemed to remember something, jumped up as if his pants were on fire, and immediately ran towards the door, rattling off an explanation:

"Xiaolan is meeting someone here today. From what I've observed, that guy is a philandering bastard, a scumbag who likes to lie to girls!"

Um--

Conan truly lives up to his reputation as the "King of Jealousy"! This time, it's probably another hilarious misunderstanding between him and Ran. Conan's deductive reasoning is excellent, but he also easily gets himself caught up in his own schemes—a common flaw among detectives, I suppose. They're too easily blinded by their own reasoning, forgetting everything around them.

Kitahara Maki then said to Eri Kisaki, who had been observing from the sidelines:

"You're the one who made the appointment to meet with Ms. Mori, right, Attorney Kisaki?"

"Haha, yes. That child is indeed quite cute."

After exchanging business cards, Eri still had some questions about the case. After talking with Kitahara Masaki, she realized he didn't care about formalities, so she asked directly:

"Mr. Kitahara, how did you manage to eliminate me from the four suspects so quickly?"

Upon hearing this question, Kitahara Masaki was speechless for a moment, thinking to himself, "Am I supposed to tell you that as a top lawyer on the red side, you would never commit murder?"

However, Kitahara Masaki quickly came up with an excuse that could fool laymen:

"First of all, judging from the criminal's methods, it would require considerable strength. As a woman, and given the formal attire you are wearing, it would be difficult for you to lift an unconscious person."

"Then, I learned from Conan that Miss Mori took this date very seriously. She not only arrived at the destination early to wait, but also dressed up carefully. I believe that a mother who can make her daughter take this so seriously would not commit murder at the place where she is meeting her daughter."

This set of arguments is a bridge between the past and the future, a perfect combination of reason and emotion, but unfortunately no one bows down to it.

"I see. You truly are a brilliant detective."

As they chatted, Ran Mouri, who had originally gone to buy a cake, finally squeezed through the crowd. It seemed that quite a few people had been fooled by Masaki Kitahara disguised as 'Kaito Kid'.

Having seen that Ran still had things to discuss with Eri, Kitahara Masaki naturally took his leave.

As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Conan questioning his existence, thinking to himself that he hadn't solved the case as quickly as Kitahara Masaki, and now he had even gotten Ran's date wrong. Had he really lost on the level of deduction?

The little brat sat on the curb with a melancholy face at a 45-degree angle to Shinbo's, and became even more annoyed when he saw Kitahara Masaki's handsome face.

"What's wrong, kid? You're not feeling resentful because you lost to me in the deduction, are you?"

Although I've already achieved the goal, I've developed a habit of rubbing my head.

"That's true. In all these cases, I haven't won against Kitahara-nii even once."

Kitahara Masaki couldn't help but laugh out loud, and slowly said:

Have you received any criminal investigation training?

"Yes, I learned it from my dad in Hawaii."

Uh, Kitahara Masaki was stunned for a moment, then realized that Hawaii was a place where you could learn shooting, bomb disposal, flying planes, and even systematic criminal investigation knowledge.

Two words: outrageous!

Yusaku Kudo, the father of Shinichi Kudo, the pinnacle of the Detective Conan world, was sent to the United States by the author to retire due to his overwhelming strength. It seems that this was indeed necessary.

"How come you can learn everything in Hawaii?"

"Hehe, my dad is still the best."