No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

After Kitahara Masaki led the First Investigation Division out of get off work quickly several times, almost everyone realized that Kitahara Masaki was the real key. After all, if there were people inside the police force who could solve cases, why bother looking for those arrogant detectives?

Moreover, Kitahara Masaki is very generous. Several times after get off work, he treated everyone to dinner or late-night snacks. Who wouldn't like a colleague who allows them to slack off and also treats them to meals?

So, Inspector Megure... who is he? Isn't the First Investigation Division only led by Inspector Kitahara? Once they arrive at the scene, any clues they find are usually shown to Kitahara Masaki first before being handed to Inspector Megure.

"Hmm! I think this incident is very likely a random poisoning! Everyone, please follow me. There's a vending machine nearby, and the drinks inside match the ones the victim drank."

Kogoro Mouri suddenly began his "famous deduction." According to the laws of Detective Conan, this case must be a premeditated murder, and the possibility of random poisoning can be absolutely ruled out.

The group followed Kogoro Mouri to a vending machine. This machine was indeed close to the crime scene, so it seemed that the murderer might have bought a drink here, then put poison in it and tried to get the victim to drink it.

“Brother Kitahara, the deceased’s drink had a sticker on it, but the vending machine doesn’t sell them.”

Well, this little helper worked tirelessly and told Kitahara Masaki all the clues he found. Where can you find such a good employee these days who doesn't charge a fee and is willing to work overtime?

Kitahara Masaki also noticed this, and directly refuted Uncle Mori's 'famous deduction' by looking at the different stickers.

"Ah! I remember who the victim was!"

Suddenly, a patrolman from the police station shouted.

"what happened?"

"It's like this, about three weeks ago, a young woman from an apartment not far from here came to the station to report that she was being harassed by a stalker. We quickly found a man who had been loitering around outside the apartment, and he was the victim in this case."

Upon hearing this, Xiaolan also said:

"That man is very likely the 'Beef Flower Wolf' we've been hearing about lately!"

Chapter 39 My Girlfriend's Unknown Age

"Yes, but after we caught the man, he said he was only following the woman because he liked her. We couldn't detain him before he did anything to her. We gave him a warning and then let him go. We didn't receive any more reports from the woman after that, so I thought he had stopped bothering her."

what--

Hearing this, Kitahara Masaki leaned against the wall and sighed.

"What's wrong, Kitahara-nii?"

"The one who died was a stalker, which means he was nothing but a pathetic bug. This should have been a cause for celebration, but it has made me have to start work early in the morning. It's a disgrace that will last forever."

If this were posted online, Kitahara Masaki would only comment, "It's like popping champagne," to describe the whole thing. But in reality, he has to find an explanation, which is extremely painful.

After hearing such an 'unfair and unjust' statement, Conan's eyes turned into beady eyes. He thought to himself that Kitahara Masaki really dared to say anything, and that only he would have the guts to criticize the dead.

"Hmm—Brother Kitahara, let's go to that young lady's residence and ask about the situation first."

Inspector Megure greeted Kitahara Masaki.

Based on the current situation, that woman will definitely be considered the prime suspect. If she's the only suspect, it's practically certain she's the murderer. However, if there's no evidence, that's a different story.

"Kitahara-nii, you'll catch the culprit, right?"

Looking at Kitahara Masaki with his 'gentle' smile, Conan felt that this guy, who was always one step ahead of him in solving cases, was probably up to something bad.

"Conan, it seems you still don't understand the key to the police bringing criminals to justice."

Kitahara Masaki suddenly turned around, and in Conan's eyes, a human face instantly magnified, almost scaring him into a photosensitive epileptic seizure.

"It's about evidence. Only enough evidence can put someone in prison. So whether a case can be solved depends not on my wishes, but on whether the criminal will leave behind evidence."

When the group arrived at the home of the woman who had been harassed by the deceased, her behavior almost made Kitahara Masaki slap himself on the forehead.

"Is this Ms. Nishitani Rinka?"

Yes, is there anything I can help you with?

"It's like this..."

While Inspector Megure was explaining the case to the woman, Kitahara Masaki immediately noticed that Ms. Nishiya was rubbing her hands together. He initially thought she was nervous because the police had suddenly come to her house, but upon closer inspection, he realized she was rubbing off something from the pads of her fingers, like bits of glue that had dried out.

When Kitahara Masaki thought about what he had just said to Conan, he could only wonder what was wrong with criminals these days? Couldn't they even wait a moment?

However, judging from the reactions of everyone present, only he and Conan noticed Ms. Nishinoya's unusual behavior, and this couldn't be considered conclusive evidence unless there was decisive evidence in her home—

hiss--

Ms. Nishiya's place was just an apartment, and you could see almost everything in the room at a glance. This time, Kitahara Masaki didn't even need to use 'Sherlock Holmes's magnifying glass' to see a large, dark blue handbag in the corner of the room. The style of the handbag was obviously men's, and the size of the handbag was not suitable for Ms. Nishiya's use.

Now you can see the thimble at a glance.

However, this time only he noticed the sports bag, while Conan stared at Ms. Nishiya's hand, seemingly unaware that Ms. Nishiya had applied adhesive to her hand to prevent leaving fingerprints when committing the crime.

"Miss Nishitani, which route do you take when you go home?"

After Ms. Nishinoya pointed it out on the map, Inspector Megure said:

"It seems you both passed by that vending machine, and the deceased may still be following you."

"What! No way, he hasn't bothered me since I asked the policeman for help."

Looking at Ms. Nishitani's tearful appearance, one can only say that this woman is a natural actress. When being questioned by the police, her voice and movements were almost indistinguishable from those of an ordinary person. Unlike those criminals with a strong desire to perform, she did not lose control and ask about the details of the case.

Although she didn't give herself away, the window bars, the multiple locks on her door, and even the pepper spray she kept by her bedside all indicated that she was still very afraid of the stalker, which is why she devised a plan to get rid of him.

After thinking about this, Kitahara Masaki couldn't help but admire her a little.

However, he still couldn't be sure if the Japanese Public Security Bureau had retrieved those troublesome eavesdropping devices, so he apologized—Ms. Nishitani, although he admired her decisive methods, he didn't want to lose his 'good cop' persona so quickly. Kitahara Masaki's name was already quite well-known in Japan, and his value wasn't worth such a risk for him.

After understanding the situation, the police naturally left. Even if the evidence proving her crime was in her house, the police could not forcibly search it without a search warrant, otherwise the evidence found might be invalidated in the future.

Just as Kitahara Masaki was thinking about whether to delay things for a few days and see if things would change, someone suddenly patted him on the shoulder.

Kitahara Masaki was stunned for a moment. In his memory, there was only one person who could get close to him without him noticing, only one person.

"Darling! I've finally found you!"

A beautiful figure bumped into Kitahara Masaki's arms, and his nostrils were immediately filled with a familiar fragrance, and his familiar long silver hair slid through his hand.

Why are you here?

"Hehe, you haven't been back for so long, so I had to come find you in person. Have you forgotten about me now that you've found someone new in Japan?"

"Well, who knows?"

At this point, Kitahara Masaki touched his tie. The woman who had suddenly appeared stepped forward and retied his tie for him.

This series of performances, reminiscent of an idol drama, left everyone around stunned. Finally, Conan, his voice strained, asked:

"Brother Kitahara, who is this older sister?"

"She's my girlfriend from the US."

What?!

The surrounding police officers immediately understood why Kitahara Maki had always lived alone and hadn't shown any interest in Officer Sato—it turned out he already had such a beautiful girlfriend.

Vermouth greeted everyone with a smile. This time, the silver-haired witch was not disguised as her current identity—Chris Vineyard—but as a gentle woman with a more reserved demeanor.

"I am Evelyn Lauder, nice to meet you."

Chapter 40 If you're out of options, you can bite a lighter.

"Masaki, since you're still working, I'll wait until you get off work before I come over."

Vermouth's message was nothing more than that the matter with the police had been resolved, indicating that Vermouth had handled it personally.

The gesture of touching her tie was a secret signal known only to the two of them, and Vermouth's next action meant that the problem had been solved.

Although he knew that those annoying police officers were no longer following him, he now had to deal with his police colleagues who kept asking him questions.

"Brother Kitahara, I never expected you to have such a beautiful girlfriend, although she's not as pretty as my wife, hahaha."

"Kitahara-senpai, I didn't expect you to be an expert in the field of romance. Please teach me how to get the woman I like to notice me!"

"Kitahara-kun, your girlfriend's last name is Lauder. Could it be the Lauder family from the US? That family's wealth is even greater than the Suzuki Group's!"

Kitahara Masaki, thoroughly annoyed, then silenced everyone with his work:

"This poisoning case is still unsolved. Can you all focus on your work for now? I'll tell you about our meeting after get off work."

Oh!

The surrounding police officers cheered. These middle-aged men's daily work was extremely monotonous, and they only found some enjoyment in the amusement and gossip provided by the young people. Most importantly—if Kitahara-sama was in a good mood, he'd probably just wave his hand and settle everyone's bills.

Back on the road to solving the case, everyone's attention was drawn to Kitahara Masaki's stunningly beautiful girlfriend, and they forgot what they were supposed to do, staring at Kitahara Masaki expectantly, waiting for this expert detective to speak.

"Ahem, let's do this for now. Some of you go out and interview people in the surrounding area to see if there are any more witnesses; another group of you go and talk to the vending machine company to take out all the drinks and coins and send them back to the police station for inspection; and the last group of you go and investigate the deceased's interpersonal relationships. The key is to find his residence and see if there are any clues that we need to dig out."

Kitahara Masaki clapped his hands, and the detectives and patrolmen dispersed to search for intelligence and information, leaving him and Mori's group behind.

"Hey, Kitahara-kun, how about you answer my question first? Is Evelyn really one of that Lan Dai guy's people?"

"Eh, the Lauder family? Could it be the Lauder family that runs a cosmetics empire?"

Conan and Ran were very interested in this kind of gossip, and once the police left, they kept thinking about it.

However, Ran quickly picked up Conan, realized that Kitahara Masaki was still working, apologized, and left with Uncle Mori, who was idly smoking.

But in fact, Kitahara Masaki also found it difficult to answer their questions. Many times, Vermouth's false identity seemed to appear out of nowhere, completely without any trace.

Somewhat concerned about this, Kitahara Masaki checked the market value of that cosmetics empire. When he saw that it was worth 100 billion US dollars, he couldn't help but rub his eyes and then stared at it again with wide eyes.

Harbin people.

Thinking of diverting his attention by solving a case, Kitahara Maki discovered a convenience store near the vending machine. Nowadays, most convenience stores have security cameras installed, so he wondered if any evidence had been recorded here.

Upon entering, he found several police officers negotiating with the shop owner. Kitahara Masaki followed them. Since all that was needed was to examine the area around the time of the victim's murder, Kitahara Masaki bought an ice pop and ate it while looking at the shop.

As he expected, the static surveillance camera recorded nothing, but a phone call did come in.

"Hello, is this Inspector Kitahara? We've arrived at the victim's home and found items that resemble evidence."

"Oh, not bad."

"But this photo album can probably only serve as evidence that the victim was a stalker."

Photo album... Could it be...?

“He started taking pictures of Ms. Nishiya a long time ago, from Yokohama all the way to Beika. Even after Ms. Nishiya moved, he continued to take pictures. If we had found this photo album earlier, maybe our police could have formally detained him, and Ms. Nishiya wouldn’t have had to suffer so much.”

The dejected patrolman was the same police officer who had handled Ms. Nishitani's report. He was quite concerned about how things had turned out this way—

"Are you sure you're not mistaken about something?"