No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

Ai took a cup of hot milk, sat down, and slowly drank it. After hearing Kitahara Masaki so honestly explain his reasons for slacking off, she began to worry about the future of Japan. To be able to hype up such an unmotivated man into a famous police officer... However, the media had previously regarded the Grim Reaper as the savior of the Japanese police, so compared to that, Kitahara Masaki seemed to be doing a little better.

Hmm... Japan is doomed.

"By the way, Kitahara-kun, those idiots from yesterday probably weren't the ones actually carrying out the plan, right? Have they caught the culprit who actually attacked those two councilmen?"

"No, it's practically impossible to catch them now."

"Is the real culprit that skilled?! Are the police really unable to find any clues?"

Haha, actually, Amuro Tooru's search of Yavina yesterday was merely the limit of a police officer's capabilities, not the limit of the Public Security Bureau. It's clear his superiors were unwilling to put in too much effort on this kind of case, lest they get no credit for their efforts. Most importantly, the higher-ups in the Public Security Bureau likely want to use this case to gain more power—for example, expanded investigative authority and priority in the use of firearms. By killing two lawmakers who weren't exactly good people, they want to make other lawmakers realize that only the Public Security Bureau can protect them. Then, they'll have a higher chance of passing bills favorable to the Public Security Bureau later.

Besides the Public Security Bureau and the police, there was another force that remained completely silent during this incident: the Self-Defense Forces. Kitahara Masaki believed the reason was likely due to Vermouth's previous mission; she may have found some information at the Okinawa base that would make the Self-Defense Forces' high command hesitant to act.

In short, only mid-to-lower-level police officers like Amuro Tooru are really interested in catching the real culprit. The higher-ups are basically planning to make a big deal out of this incident and naturally don't want the real culprit to be caught so easily. If the real culprit is caught, they will have no room to maneuver.

"After all, the police force isn't always united."

After explaining the chaotic situation in Japan to Haibara, the Public Security Bureau officers arrived at Professor Agasa's house.

"Remember, make it clear to that great detective that your faces and voices cannot be made public. Also, when they ask you any questions about other things, just answer that you don't know."

The person taking their statements this time was naturally Amuro Tooru, or rather, Sasaki Wataru. It's pitiful that he had to find clues in the children's statements and then piece together the events himself.

Good luck, Amuro Tooru. After you finish this, you still need to keep tracking down Akai Shuichi!

What! You say you want to rest for ten minutes? Even the oxen in the production team don't dare to rest like that.

Just as Kitahara Masaki was smugly laughing at his ability to slack off, Inspector Megure suddenly called—"Brother Kitahara, your master has been kidnapped by a monster again!"

"Masaki, are you alright?"

Professor Agasa looked at the petrified Kitahara Masaki, patted the stiff and stunned Kitahara Masaki, and said that life must go on, and that it is not good to always slack off!

Upon arriving at the crime scene, Kitahara Masaki knocked on the door. Someone immediately opened it for him. As soon as the door opened, Kitahara Masaki saw three women dressed in what looked like tokusatsu costumes. Their appearances were like those of villainous female executives who could make Kamen Riders betray them.

"Um, is this where I report a crime?"

"Yes! One of our friends was stabbed! And are you Officer Kitahara Masaki?"

"It's me, that's right. May I ask who you are?"

The beautiful woman in front of me introduced herself:

“I am Kaoru’s friend, Yoko Okino. This is Yuki Takeno, and this is Terumi Hoshino. And the victim is my friend, Kaoru Kusano.”

So that's how it is. The woman in front of me with tear stains on her face is none other than Yoko Okino, the evergreen star of the Detective Conan world. If this case is related to Yoko Okino, then that person must be here too.

"Ahem, Inspector Kitahara, I, Kogoro Mouri, will definitely lend you a hand! The culprit can't possibly be Ms. Yoko!"

Yes, as expected—Uncle Mori is here too.

Kitahara Masaki looked at this star-struck uncle and felt a headache coming on.

Chapter 150 My Female Fan Can't Be the Murderer

"Brother Kitahara! You've arrived!"

"Can I not come?"

"Haha, Kitahara, you're always joking. There are three beautiful actresses here today!"

"Ahem, Inspector Megure, when did you become so indecent? I already have a girlfriend."

"Well, I was just saying, after all, solving the case still depends on you."

"Alright, alright, stop praising me and hurry up and tell me about the case."

Officer Takagi, who was already prepared, began to recount the details of the case.

Besides Mr. Mori and the victim, there were five other people present: the victim's fiancé, the victim's manager, and the three actresses. The incident unfolded as follows: the three women had planned to surprise the victim by changing into outfits from their former group (Earth Ladies), so they took turns going to the restroom to change.

At that moment, the victim was taking a shower in the bathroom, while her fiancé and agent were watching a TV series with Mr. Mori in the living room.

After the three friends of the victim had changed their clothes, the victim's agent went to ask if the victim had finished showering, but received no response. Then the three friends of the victim went to call her and found the victim lying in the bathtub.

Fortunately, although the wound was on the neck, it was not deep, so the victim only fell into a coma after being sent to the hospital.

Forensic investigators then found bloodstains at the doorway, along with a bloodstained raincoat, torn gloves, a bottle of anesthetic eye drops, and a handkerchief used to cover the victim's mouth. However, they did not find the weapon used to cut the victim.

Kitahara Masaki nodded. According to the laws of Detective Conan, the culprit could only be one of the five people present at the scene.

Next, let's talk about the room's layout. The bathroom is next to the toilet, and they are separate cubicles. The living room is at the other end, and there's only one path leading from the living room to the bathroom; you'll be seen as soon as you step out of the living room.

Therefore, the prime suspects are the victim's three friends, because they all went to the restroom separately, had time to commit the crime, and while one of them was changing clothes, the others were in the living room writing blessings for the victim. So, none of the three women who went to change clothes could be certain whether they did anything else.

The victim's fiancé stayed in the living room watching TV with Uncle Mori, so he can be largely ruled out as the perpetrator. The other man was the victim's manager. He went to the bathroom door and called out to the victim, but quickly returned to the living room and asked someone else to call her, since as a man, he couldn't push the door open to see what was happening.

In reality, Kitahara Masaki also understood that thinking so much was less important than finding the murder weapon as soon as possible. Once the murder weapon was found, everything else would be easier to handle.

Just as Kitahara Masaki was about to take out Holmes' magnifying glass, Hoshino Terumi, who had been watching him closely, suddenly asked:

"Mr. Kitahara, could you please sign your name for me?"

The sudden appearance of a fan startled Kitahara Masaki for a moment, and he replied without much thought:

"no problem."

This female celebrity, who's always smoking and has a mature, sophisticated style, is actually my fan...

Kitahara Masaki was somewhat surprised. Although Hoshino Terumi had a cool and aloof appearance, her profile showed that she was only twenty-four years old, three years younger than Kitahara Masaki.

After she opened her own notebook, the first half was covered with photos of Shinichi Kudo, and the second half was covered with news articles about Maki Kitahara, all of which looked like they were cut out from newspapers and magazines.

It seems she is indeed interested in the case.

"You don't seem worried about the case at all."

“We’ve already conducted a full body search, but we didn’t find any blood-stained items on them. Doesn’t that mean there’s no murderer among us? Most importantly, Ah Xun is still alive. That’s the most important thing.”

Looking at this fan who didn't understand the laws of detective fiction, Kitahara Masaki felt a little uncomfortable, because next it might be from... wait, Okino Yoko, as a national idol in Japan, a hard-working star who will appear in thousands of episodes, couldn't possibly be the murderer, and this fan who likes me shouldn't be the murderer either, after all, she is such a discerning lady.

Haha, this time we don't even need the process of elimination; we can directly confirm that Ms. Yukino Yuki is the murderer. Who would have thought? She looks like the kind of beautiful upperclassman who would listen to the troubles of her juniors, but she has to pay the price for her crimes.

"Yes, as long as the person is alive, there's still room for maneuver. But if your friend did something like that, what would you do?"

"I will... I will persuade her to turn herself in."

Seeing the fan's conflicted expression, she finally showed an expression befitting her age.

"Actually, you don't need to be so nervous. Even if you choose to hide it from me, I won't blame you."

"Huh, why?"

"Heh, whether it's finding evidence or arresting criminals, these are our job as police officers. Police officers who only fantasize that criminals will come to surrender on their own are unqualified. In the end, I don't think any criminal can escape from my hands."

"So handsome!"

Hoshino Terumi, having accidentally blurted out her true feelings, immediately covered her mouth, probably very embarrassed, and continued:

"I think if you could use this line in a TV series, it would definitely be memorable!"

"Haha, thank you."

After signing his name, Kitahara Masaki, in a good mood, decided to help these four famous actresses. If there was any misunderstanding in this case, then Kitahara Masaki could help them. If not, then of course he would uphold justice. Kitahara Masaki was not a philanthropist, and he had to consider what he would give in return when helping others.

Kitahara Masaki thought for a moment and said:

"I will speak with these three ladies individually next, in the study right here, to see if I can help them recall anything."

Once he was in the study with only Kitahara Masaki and the three suspects, he finally took out Holmes' magnifying glass, and Ms. Takeno Yuki's fingernails immediately began to sparkle in Kitahara Masaki's eyes.

Upon seeing the fingernails as evidence, Kitahara Masaki immediately understood—Yuki Takeno committed the crime by sharpening her fingernails. She only needed to drug the victim and then use her fingernails as the murder weapon. After committing the crime, she would cut her nails and put on manicured nails so no one would notice anything amiss. This also explained why there was a hole in the thumb of her glove.

“I already know who the culprit is, but the culprit also knows she can’t escape, since the victim is not dead and will definitely be able to identify her later. So I hope the culprit can confess to the crime she committed.”

Although Kitahara Masaki said that, his gaze was always fixed on Yukino Takeno, the female celebrity with wavy hair. Under Kitahara Masaki's gaze, she finally couldn't withstand the pressure and admitted that she had done it.

Chapter 151 This is something a carbon-based life form could not comprehend.

"Xiaoxue! Why!"

Yoko Okino was clearly stunned by the truth, as was Terumi Hoshino, a fan of Maki Kitahara. They were both very confused because they were friends, so why would Yuki Takeno do this?

"Hehe, I guess I was blinded by jealousy. Actually, I've always liked Kenzaki (the victim Kusano Kaoru's fiancé), but when I went to congratulate Kaoru on her engagement, she actually said that it was just a publicity stunt to get the media's attention on her! That's why I did it, but in the end I couldn't bring myself to kill her."

Ah, women's jealousy is truly terrifying. Fighting over relationship issues... does this mean that so many people in the Detective Conan world kill each other because of romantic problems?

"That's not how it is!"

Yoko Okino and Terumi Hoshino immediately shouted.

"This was just a show Ah-Xun put on to provoke her manager!"

"what!"

Both Yuki Takeno and Masaki Kitahara were taken aback, but for different reasons.

"Actually, we asked Mr. Jianqi to act in this play because A-Xun has always hoped that her manager would take the initiative to confess to her, so we wanted someone else to motivate him."

What kind of excuse is that?! And Mr. Kensuke, you need to learn how to say no to people! How can you pretend to be someone's fiancé? Even if you don't want to go public with it to the media, you can't be this casual just to put on a show!

"really?"

"Of course it's true! Ah-Xun even discussed it with the two of us, but you happened to have a movie shooting plan at that time, so you didn't have a chance to tell you. I think Ah-Xun only told you this because she likes to joke."

When Yue Yexue thought about how she had made a mistake that was almost irreparable because of jealousy, she knelt down on the ground, covered her face, and cried.

hiss--

This unexpected turn of events left Kitahara Masaki gasping in shock. He hadn't anticipated things could develop this way; it was completely beyond his expectations. He wanted a man to confess his feelings to him, but instead, he had to ask another man to stage an engagement scene with him…

Are these actors obsessed with acting?

Alright, let's check on the victim's condition first. If her health has improved, then we can find out what she's thinking—if she chooses to forgive her foolish friend, Kitahara Masaki won't bother pursuing the matter any further.

But if the victim has already sent it, then don't say anything more, just come back to the station with me and we'll talk about it slowly.

"How is the victim doing now?"

"He is out of danger now, and the doctor said he can cooperate with us to give a statement tomorrow."

Kitahara Masaki explained the situation to the three actresses. Of course, this was not a discussion; Kitahara Masaki simply told them the situation and asked them to prepare for the statement to be taken the next day.

"Um... Officer Kitahara, does that mean if Kaoru doesn't intend to pursue the matter, then Yuki won't have to be arrested?"