Conan, I'm an actor

“That guy is my prey.” Gin’s voice softened slightly. “You are no match for him. Send him what he wants in a couple of days, and we’ll be even.”

In the back seat of a bulletproof car speeding along a few streets away, Shinjoong pulled the bullet out of the bulletproof power strip. The bullet had pierced through the entire power strip, leaving it severely deformed.

To facilitate his movements, and considering that Gin and Vodka wouldn't be using long guns in the bar, he chose the lightest bulletproof power strip. He just hadn't expected Gin to be able to hit him in the heart under those circumstances; it seemed he had underestimated his former colleague.

"Where to next?" Director Ochiai asked calmly from the driver's seat, though his grip on the steering wheel betrayed his nervousness.

"Don't be nervous, there's no danger now. Go to this place." Xincheng handed over a business card from his card holder. "This time it was just a matter of time. Next time I'll prepare a fully bulletproof car for you."

"There will be a next time?" Director Ochiai's voice instantly rose eight octaves. "What a joke! I don't want to get involved in such dangerous things. Don't try to threaten me with the museum's affairs. I'll just turn myself in."

“If you’re willing to let those artworks lie scattered outside, with no one to take care of them, you can always turn yourself in.” Xincheng crossed his legs. “But don’t worry, the museum has already used up its bargaining chip, so it won’t use it again. Asking you for help will come at a different price.”

Director Ochiai really wanted to refuse this madman. He heard three gunshots as he passed by the bar entrance, and with the bullets on this guy's body, he could easily draw a conclusion—Tetsuo Shinjo had just participated in a yakuza shootout.

He killed Manaka simply because Manaka had crossed a line. He had no interest in Yakuza, let alone Yakuza who played with firearms.

But for some reason, he felt that Xincheng would offer him a price he couldn't refuse, so he didn't immediately say no.

“I need you to be my stand-in and do certain things for me. Don’t worry, these things won’t be life-threatening, and the tasks are very simple.” Shinjo cut Ochiai off before he could finish speaking. “As payment, I will give you a sum of money and land as the new site and renovation funds for the art museum.”

“If it were two hours ago, I might have agreed to your request.” Ochiai took a deep breath. “But now, the Manaka family has abandoned the renovation project of the art museum. The two heirs of the Manaka family have chosen to sell the art museum to pay off their gambling debts.”

"Don't rush to refuse. I'll get Mr. Manaka's two sons to change their minds," Shinjo said with a smile. "You have no reason to refuse."

A brief silence fell over the car. Ochiai's chest heaved as he looked on, never expecting Shinjo to be so shameless.

Soon, the car arrived at the entrance of an apartment building. Shinjo got out of the car and said to Ochiai in the driver's seat as he left, "If you've made up your mind, tell me the result. It's the phone number on the business card."

"I agree to your request." Ochiai's Adam's apple bobbed twice before he finally managed to utter these words.

"The smart choice is to come find me tomorrow."

In one of the branches of Silver Arches

Conan and Nanatsuki Koshimizu were struggling with the hamburgers in front of them. Because of their investigation of the art museum, they hadn't eaten all day and were starving.

"Conan, may I call you that?" Koshimizu asked tentatively. "You don't look like a child."

"But I'm just a little kid," Conan said with a silly grin.

“Children don’t have that kind of keen insight or that much professional knowledge,” said Koshimizu Nanatsuki with a smile. “If it were just me, I might have been fooled by you. Shinjo’s attitude towards you says it all. He’s very good at judging people. He once told me that you are a detective.”

"Haha, maybe Uncle Shinjo misjudged it." Conan chuckled sheepishly, brushing it off.

Seeing that Conan didn't want to talk, Nanatsuki Koshimizu stopped asking. Perhaps, as Shinjo said, this guy was born to be a detective, or perhaps it was due to his family background. Shinichi Kudo of Tokyo and Heiji Hattori of Osaka are such examples.

"By the way, Koshimizu-neechan, what kind of person is Uncle Shinjo?" Conan asked curiously. "I heard Uncle Mori say that he graduated from the police academy. He must be a person with a strong sense of justice."

Yue Shui opened her mouth as if to say something, but didn't say anything.

If Conan had asked this question yesterday, she would have told him that Shinjo is a hero with a strong sense of justice, who hates evil and saves many people. But the incident at the art museum changed her mind. Shinjo might not be a purely human being, or rather—he has his own set of values.

Seeing the complicated expression on Koshimizu's face, Conan knew that his question had stumped the detective. Looking at the little fast food left on his plate, he immediately changed the subject, "How did you and Uncle Shinjo meet? There seems to be quite a big age gap between you two."

“Our meeting was completely accidental. My friend was involved in a case.” Yue Shui took a deep breath. “It was a case that happened on a deserted island. There was a mansion on the island, and the young lady of the mansion committed suicide in the mansion. But when the police came to investigate, they brought in a very famous high school detective. That detective devised a certain method of crime and then accused my friend of being the murderer.”

"What a nasty fellow." Conan frowned.

Detectives operate on the principle of presuming innocence, but according to Yue Shui, this detective is clearly presuming guilt. This means many suicide cases will be turned into murder cases, ultimately leading to numerous wrongful convictions.

“He was indeed a wicked guy, but his methods were very sophisticated, and I couldn’t find any evidence to refute him.” Yue Shui sighed. “Then my friend was facing charges from the police, and that’s when he came.”

"Is this Mr. Shinjo?"

“Yes, he spotted the flaw in the crime method at a glance. The nails used in the crime were problematic. Just by looking at the rust marks on the nails, you can see that the detective was completely wrong,” Yue Shui said with a wry smile. “He didn’t even go to the scene; he just looked at the case file and found the flaw in the case.”

Conan's mouth gaped slightly. Although he was known as a famous detective, he admitted he couldn't find flaws in a crime scene without investigating it firsthand. Let alone a crime meticulously crafted by a renowned detective—that was a difference in skill.

Chapter 23 Moriarty's Choice

"Doesn't that mean..." Conan suddenly realized something, "Uncle Shinjo has already figured out who the murderer is, and he's helping the murderer cover it up? He's even misled the police?"

His impression of Shinjo was that this guy wasn't a good person, but he wasn't a bad person either. But after what Yue Shui had just said, this guy was downright wicked!

"Little guy, you're quite perceptive," Yue Shui said with a wry smile. "This is his challenge to us detectives. Conan, are you confident you can win?"

"No!" Conan's answer was extremely straightforward.

After the forensic team's thorough search last night, and their search today, there are no more clues at the scene. The only way to find new leads is to have the police examine the evidence.

Nanatsukoshimizu has little influence in Tokyo, and she doesn't know anyone in the Metropolitan Police Department's First Investigation Division, so the police are unlikely to show her any evidence.

Conan is even less effective, while Shinichi Kudo can, but after the last time, drinking baijiu has no effect on him anymore, so this path is completely blocked.

“Winning is impossible now, so we can only try to draw,” Conan said. “There are two breakthroughs at the moment: one is to find Mr. Kubota’s alibi, and the other is to find a way to prove that the note in Mr. Manaka’s hand is not a death message.”

This contest has two key points—the murderer who killed Manaka and the person who framed Kubota. If each is counted as one point, then clearing Kubota's name would be a draw.

the next morning

Ochiai knocked nervously on Shinjo's door, his dark circles under his eyes revealing that he hadn't slept all night.

After a moment, Shinjo, who was wearing pajamas, opened the door and invited Ochiai in.

Upon entering the new town's house, Shichika didn't relax; instead, he became even more tense. He saw a handgun near the entrance, its safety off. If his behavior had been even slightly off, he would be a corpse by now.

"What do you need me to do?" Ochiai sat on the sofa, somewhat reserved.

"Write a letter to the TV station in your name, and send this videotape along with it." Shinjo took out a videotape directly.

"What's on the videotape?" Ochiai became even more nervous.

“The evidence that the note was written by Mr. Manaka himself is not enough to convict Kubota right now.” Shinjo said with a smile as he stood in front of the French windows. “Because there is no direct evidence to prove that he was the one who killed Mr. Manaka, we can only let the deceased Mr. Manaka identify him.”

"Since you're going to bring the video to them, why didn't you bring it to them beforehand?" Ochiai asked, looking bewildered.

“This videotape is real, but the time on the tape is fake.” Shinjo stretched his neck. “The air conditioning in that exhibition hall was kept at a low temperature of 16 degrees Celsius until midnight. The low temperature can delay the formation of livor mortis on the body, thus causing the police to misjudge the time of death of Shinjo, creating our alibi.”

“If we show them the video directly, the so-called lie will be exposed, right?” Ochiai leaned back on the sofa.

"Yes."

"Then why are you presenting this evidence now?"

“Because this evidence isn’t actually direct evidence; it can only prove two things.” Shinjo’s finger landed on the videotape. “First, the person in armor killed Manaka. Second, Manaka wrote the name Kubota on a piece of paper. Even if a difficult lawyer or detective raises objections, Kubota still cannot be convicted.”

"That……"

“But now there are people helping us, and some people are even more anxious than us, such as Mr. Manaka’s heirs. Mr. Manaka’s property cannot be inherited yet because his case is not over. If we send a letter to the TV station in a high-profile manner at this time, providing clues about the museum murder case, then guess what they will do?”

"Would they force the police to speed up the conviction process? To inherit the estate, they'd completely ignore the real killer who murdered their father?" Ochiai found it somewhat unbelievable.

“No normal person would do that, but they both have gambling debts, so it’s not necessarily true. Mr. Manaka’s death is no secret. Those casinos dared to lend them huge sums of cash even before they received their inheritance, let alone the two heirs who are about to receive their inheritance.” Shinjo smiled. “Right now, they should be having a great time losing at the casino.”

Looking at Shinjo's smiling face, Ochiai felt that he was facing a devil, but now he had no way out but to cooperate.

Two days later, a package signed "James Moriarty" appeared on a television program, and when the videotape was played, it caused a huge uproar.

Upon learning of the situation, Conan, who was investigating the case, immediately announced that he would abandon further investigation into the art museum case.

With this irrefutable evidence, and the plaintiff hiring a top lawyer, Kubota's crimes were quickly confirmed, and he faced imprisonment.

The art museum case is over, but the police matter is far from finished. James Moriarty is a notorious criminal. He sent this videotape directly to the Metropolitan Police Department, clearly a form of protest.

Moreover, this person should have been present when the museum murder occurred. He witnessed the entire crime but did not stop it. Instead, he recorded the incident and sent it to the television station afterward, rather than to the police.

A few days later, at Professor Agasa's house

"Inspector Megure, what can I do for you?" Conan asked on the phone using the voice changer invented by Dr. Agasa.

"Brother Kudo, where have you been lately?" Inspector Megure's anxious voice came over. "You'd better be careful lately, there's an extremely dangerous guy coming after you."

"An extremely dangerous guy?" Conan was taken aback, and he subconsciously thought of the Black Organization.

“Yes, do you know about the museum murder case that caused such a stir a couple of days ago?” Inspector Megure sighed. “There was another witness at the scene. Not only did he not identify the suspect, but he also sent a copy of the videotape to the TV station in a demonstrative manner.”

"A copy?" Conan immediately grasped the key point.

“It’s a copy, but he should have an original. We don’t need to investigate the authenticity of the videotape; we’ve verified it, and it’s genuine,” Inspector Megure said. “The main thing is that guy’s letters.”

"What happened to the letter?"

"The letter is signed James Moriarty," Inspector Megure said hesitantly. "Kudo, you know, when you were making a name for yourself, the media called you the Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei era."

"Holmes versus James Moriarty, sworn enemies? That's interesting." Conan chuckled. "Inspector Megure, there must be other evidence to prove he's targeting me, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't have called me."

Chapter 24 Results of Handwriting Comparison

Conan suddenly became very interested in the "James Moriarty" he had never met before, hoping that he was really someone like the professor, and not a fraud, otherwise it would be too boring.

However, he quickly realized something—he was no longer Shinichi Kudo, but a child named Conan Edogawa.

Just as he was feeling frustrated, Inspector Megure's voice came through the receiver, "I'll be waiting for Holmes at the next scene to have a drink with him. I hope he won't be late."

Conan opened his mouth, as if he had guessed who James Moriarty was.

"Only a few people knew about the bottle of wine placed at the crime scene, and it wasn't made public, so we've confirmed that the owner of that bottle is the person who wrote the letter," Inspector Megure said.

"By the way, Inspector Megure, do you have anyone here who does handwriting comparisons?" Conan asked.

"You're probably referring to notebook authentication, right? Yes, we do, but why are you asking about this, Kudo?"

"I just feel like I have a suspect, but I'm not sure if it's him. Could you take a picture of that letter for me? I'll find something to compare it to, and then I'll have Conan deliver it to you."

"That's no problem, but Brother Kudo, you've been..."

"I have something to do here, so I'll hang up now. We can talk again later." Conan immediately hung up the phone when he heard that Inspector Megure wanted to inquire about his recent situation. He hadn't figured out how to make up a story yet.

Professor Agasa looked at Conan, who had just hung up the phone, and asked with some concern, "With your current physical condition, do you still want to get involved in those things?"

"I'm really interested in this. I probably won't be able to sleep until I find the answer." Conan picked up Professor Agasa's newly developed skateboard. "I'm going out for a bit."

Be careful!

Conan immediately started his skateboard and skated towards the Koshimizu Detective Agency. He was very dissatisfied with losing to that guy last time, and this time, he was determined to get his revenge.

Koshimizu Detective Agency

The Koshimizu Detective Agency remained calm at this moment, a stagnant calm that had lasted for half a month.

For the past two weeks, Nanatsuki Koshimizu has handled all the cases herself, not letting Shinjo touch them. Shinjo doesn't care; he's currently busy organizing the materials Vodka sent him.

Gin agreed to hand over Miyano Akemi to him, but only after completing the 1 billion yen heist; he would release her once the money arrived.