Conan, I'm an actor

"The acquisition of Yuan Architects has run into problems. It's a family-run architectural firm," said lawyer Piper with some helplessness. "Mr. Yuan Daiko has indicated that he can sell the firm's land, but he himself will not continue to work for the firm."

“Then there’s no need to waste money. Just tell him that our investment company has business with him,” Xincheng said. “Let’s see if we can hire him as our company’s exclusive architect.”

“Mr. Shinjo, our company doesn’t have many real estate projects to develop right now. And…” Attorney Piper hesitated for a moment before saying, “Our company’s land was acquired in large quantities by Mr. Jiang Xiaobai during the bursting of the Japanese real estate bubble, and the appreciation potential and prospects are very poor. Even if we were to develop it, we could hire Mr. Daigo Madoka to work for us, and we can reimburse his airfare.”

"This is the only thing that's absolutely unacceptable!" Xincheng said immediately upon hearing the word "airplane." "He can travel by any means of transportation, a luxury cruise ship, a luxury train, anything, but not an airplane. Sorry, I got a little agitated."

"Is this the metaphysics of the East? Like astrology?" Piper said with a strange look. "I respect your personal opinion, but I think Mr. Shinjo, you should believe in science."

"Forget it, I can't explain this to you. Have you found any leads regarding the Twilight Villa incident?" Shinjo stretched.

“We were too late. Just two weeks ago, a local bank sold Twilight Villa,” Pibor said with some helplessness. “I heard that the person who bought Twilight Villa was a detective.”

"A detective? Which detective?" Koshimizu Nanatsuki's eyes lit up instantly.

“Da Shang Zhu Shan, I think that’s the name,” said lawyer Pibor somewhat uncertainly. “That’s how it should be pronounced.”

"It's that famous food detective. He's a huge foodie and has been on several food shows," Nanatsuki Koshimizu asked, somewhat puzzled. "But what does he want that house for?"

“Regarding this, I think Mr. Shinjo should know, after all, he was the one who asked me to acquire Twilight Villa.” Pibol shrugged. “I’m just a lawyer.”

Seeing Yue Shui and Pibor staring at him, Xin Cheng made a gesture of surrender. "Okay, I do know a little about that. But I only know a little. I'm investigating this case."

"Case!" Yue Shui's radar went off instantly.

For the past few weeks, she's been running around to various hospitals and schools, trying to investigate the relationship between the Matsumoto family's daughter and her boyfriend. This kind of affair investigation just doesn't interest her.

“Yes, it’s a case, and a big one at that.” As he spoke, Shinjo took a file out of his desk drawer. “A horrific tragedy once occurred in this villa. Forty years ago, on a rainy night, dozens of people were injured and eight died overnight in that villa.”

"How is this possible?" Yue Shui's face was full of disbelief. "Why have I never heard of such a big case before?"

“Because this matter has always been deliberately hidden as a scandal, and the victims at the time were all celebrities in the political and business circles.” Xincheng stretched his shoulders. “Now almost all of those people are dead, which is why this villa has appeared on the market.”

"But you still haven't said what this has to do with detectives," Yue Shui said with a dark face. "I know a little about that guy, Da Shang Zhu Shan. He's more of a businessman than a detective. Finding out the truth of this case won't benefit him. Most of the descendants of those celebrities inherited their status. The truth they deliberately concealed must be some kind of scandal, and these scandals would be fatal to their heirs. It's not in his interest."

“Indeed, but what if…” Shinjo paused before continuing, “that this villa contains a treasure that Karasuma Renya covets?”

“That’s impossible!” Pibor immediately retorted. “The Karasuma Group is so rich, how could a mere villa possibly contain wealth that would make even him envious?”

“The villa contains the treasure left to Karasuma Renya by his mother.” Shinjo stroked his chin. “Back then, there were quite a few detectives among those social elites. Karasuma Renya hired these detectives in order to find the treasure left by his mother, but it is said that none of the detectives have ever left this villa alive.”

"You mean, he's been silenced?" Pibor couldn't help but shudder. "Then what happened to Da Shang Zhu Shan...?"

“Everything that has been done leaves a trace. There will always be one or two who slip through the net and escape from the villa. I guess Da Shang Zhu Shan has someone’s notes in his possession.”

"So, you should also have a copy of the notes, right?" Yue Shui held the documents for the Twilight Villa in her hand. "So, where are the notes?"

“That’s a diary, the diary of a politician who went to the United States for political asylum.” Xincheng shrugged. “I’ve seen it in the hands of a collector. If you want to see it, you’ll have to go to the United States and get permission from his descendants.”

"Then forget it."

"But can he handle something that so many detectives couldn't crack by himself?" Attorney Piper frowned. "I got some information from my own channels: Twilight Villa isn't cheap. That wealthy man, Zhu Shanwen, borrowed a lot of money from the bank, practically mortgaging his entire fortune. If he can't repay..."

“I think he’ll send invitations to all the famous detectives.” Shinjo shrugged. “You can ask someone to ask him if he’s willing to sell, or at least sell a portion of his services.”

“If Mr. Xincheng can crack the secret of the villa and obtain the treasure, our law firm can help us take over the entire villa,” Attorney Piper suddenly said. “His cash flow is very tight. With just a little trickery, we can make him hand over the villa.”

Yue Shui looked up, somewhat bewildered. She realized she had only met this lawyer today. How could he say such things without any remorse? She had thought this lawyer, Piper, was an upright man!

“Then go ahead and make the acquisition, but leave him a way out,” Xincheng said helplessly. “If you have to blame someone, blame him for setting his sights on something he shouldn’t have.”

According to the original plot, Oushang Zhushan was supposed to die in the villa. By buying the villa, Oushang only lost money, which was much better than losing his life. In a way, he did a good deed.

Pibol nodded and then went out, clearly preparing to take some action.

Chapter 53 Church Wedding Opening Ceremony

"You shouldn't be short of money," Yue Shui said, staring at Xin Cheng. "Why did you do this to him?"

"Harm him? I'm saving him." Shinjo snorted. "Let me guess what he'll do. He'll invite a bunch of famous detectives to the villa under some pretext and ask them to unravel the villa's secrets."

"Isn't this a normal thing?"

"What will he do after he cracks the secret?"

"A reward for the detective who cracks the secret?"

“You don’t understand the evil in human nature. The most likely thing he would do is silence all the detectives and keep the treasure for himself.” Shinjo shrugged. “So, you’re still too young.”

"Of course I'm young, unlike you, who's an old man." Yue Shui snorted. She knew, of course, that Xin Cheng was talking about the most likely outcome, but she was still very unhappy with Xin Cheng's behavior.

“I’m not a woman,” Shinjo replied with a smile. “Age-based provocations don’t work on me. But someone else, who’s clearly a university student, is still wearing a high school sailor uniform, tsk tsk…”

"The secret of the Twilight Villa is so mysterious that even so many famous detectives haven't been able to crack it. Be careful not to break your teeth. Daishang Zhushan is arguably one of the most famous detectives in the world, and his net worth is considerable. Even someone as wealthy as him would have to stake his entire fortune and take out loans; the price of this villa must be astronomical. If..."

"The word 'if' doesn't exist in my dictionary."

A few days later, outside a church in the Mikasa community

"Ran, have you heard? Matsumoto-sensei is getting married!" Sonoko said excitedly.

"Matsumoto-sensei, I don't remember seeing you since graduation," Ran said with a nostalgic look.

"Maybe we'll hear her sing at the wedding," Sonoko said with a smile, but then she suddenly remembered something, "Oh right, what about that guy?"

"Which guy?" Xiaolan asked, somewhat puzzled.

"He's the kind of guy who always sings off-key during the teacher's music class, making the teacher angry," Sonoko said with a dissatisfaction. "He just disappeared on such an important day; it's really too much."

"You mean Shinichi? He said on the phone that nobody wants to go to those kinds of events," Ran said somewhat awkwardly.

"So, you brought this kid along to replace that tone-deaf person?" Sonoko Suzuki pointed disdainfully at Conan, who was standing next to Ran, mainly because Conan's face looked too much like that of a certain intelligent egomaniac.

It wasn't that she particularly disliked Shinichi Kudo, but being around him always made her feel an intellectual gap, a feeling that would annoy anyone. Plus, this guy had abandoned her best friend Ran without a word, and hadn't even heard from her since!

Multiple factors combined led to her dislike of Shinichi, which also affected Conan, who looks very much like Shinichi.

"Yeah, because he always has to come with us." Ran awkwardly patted Conan's shoulder. "Dad's been busy with cases lately and doesn't have time to take care of him."

"I'm really sorry that I'm tone-deaf!" Conan thought to himself with a dark face. "That mean teacher treated me like an idiot for all three years of junior high."

Sonoko completely ignored the grumbling of the arrogant child and pulled Ran towards the back of the church. "Let's go see how Matsumoto-sensei's wedding dress is doing. I heard that her husband this time is the adopted son of the Takasugi family, who is also the only heir of the Takasugi family."

"The Takasugi family?" Ran was taken aback. "That's..."

"The Takasugi Group, a relatively wealthy family."

Conan was also taken aback. For Sonoko Suzuki to give such a high evaluation, the Takasugi family must be incredibly wealthy.

On the other side of the church, in the VIP area

Shinjo took out the invitation that Masuyama Kenzo had given him and led Koshimizu into the church. Soon they saw Inspector Megure and Superintendent Matsumoto.

"Hey, Shinjo, bro." Inspector Megure noticed Shinjo immediately.

Xincheng's lips twitched, then he said to Yueshui, "You stay here and don't move. I'll go say hello to them."

"What exactly are you trying to do?" Yue Shui asked, tugging at his sleeve. "At such an important occasion as a wedding, everyone else is dressed formally, but you're carrying a convenience store shopping bag. Besides, I haven't found anything about what you asked me to investigate."

"Don't worry about this. How are things going with the arrangements for Narumi and Ochiai?"

"Uncle Ochiai only told me he was ready, and Dr. Narumi said there was no problem," Koshimizu said, frowning. "What exactly are you planning? Do you think someone will commit a crime at the wedding?"

“I might not be around for a while. If anything unexpected happens, just give this to an elder in the Matsumoto family, the Superintendent Matsumoto,” Shinjo said with a smile. “You don’t need to worry about the rest.”

After saying that, Shinjo strode towards Matsumoto, but the convenience store in his hand stood out conspicuously.

Inspector Matsumoto frowned as he looked at the young man in front of him. He felt like he had seen this young man somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place him.

"This is Tetsuo Shinjo, the famous guy from the police academy. He holds the records for 50-meter target shooting and moving target shooting at the police academy," Inspector Megure introduced to Matsumoto. "You even said you wanted to recruit him into the First Investigation Division."

"Oh, it's you. Which department do you work in now?" Matsumoto's expression softened upon hearing that he was an outstanding junior colleague.

Memories of Xincheng gradually surfaced in his mind. Although his appearance had changed over the years, his facial structure remained the same, and he could still recognize him.

"Don't laugh at me, Instructor Matsumoto, but I retired early for some reason. Now I'm doing business and have made a little money. I'm here to offer my blessings on behalf of Mr. Kenzo Masuyama," Shinjo said with a smile.

Inspector Megure was taken aback. If he remembered correctly, Shinjo should have run his own detective agency. How did he end up getting involved with big shots in the automotive and financial worlds?

"Kenzo Masuyama? It seems you're doing quite well out there." Inspector Matsumoto patted Shinjo on the shoulder with a touch of emotion. "It's good that you've retired; the front lines are just too dangerous."

Hearing his superior's sigh, Inspector Megure's lips twitched. He had only met Shinjo a few times since he returned to Tokyo, and every time it was a murder case, either involving guns or drugs: the art museum murder, the Tsukikage Island shootout, and the hospital sniper murder. The latter two were major cases overseen by high-ranking officials from the Metropolitan Police Department.

In terms of bad luck, Shinjo might be slightly inferior to Mori, but when it comes to big events, Shinjo is number one.

“My daughter is inside. I’ll take you to meet her,” Matsumoto said with a smile, his tone slightly boastful.

Seeing Matsumoto walking ahead, Shinjo tugged at Inspector Megure's sleeve and pulled him behind him.

Chapter 54 Pi is very happy.

"Brother Shinjo, what's wrong?" Inspector Megure asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I've prepared a helicopter outside, equipped with emergency medical equipment. The hospital's helipad and operating room for emergency treatment are also ready," Xincheng said in a low voice.

"you……"

"I've only found out some things, and I'm not entirely sure. If nothing happens, then all is well. If something does happen, go find Yue Shui; she has what I found out."

While Shinjo and Megure were talking, the two had already reached the back of the church and, led by Superintendent Matsumoto, met the bride.

Xincheng breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the lemon tea with a straw on the table. The information from his prosthetic eye scan told him that there was no poison in the lemon tea.

A dozen minutes later, a commotion broke out in the room where the bride was, accompanied by a gasp.

Shinjo and Megure squeezed in almost immediately. At that moment, Matsumoto Sayuri was lying on the ground in a wedding dress, with Conan and the others standing beside her.

"Megure, quickly clear the area in front of the church!" Shinjo immediately ordered.

"Okay!" Megure quickly realized.

Shinjo took a strip of pills from his convenience bag, put two into Matsumoto Sayuri's mouth, and then poured orange juice down her throat.

"What did you feed her?" Although he knew Shinjo was trying to save her, Matsumoto was still worried.

“Her symptoms are likely alkalosis, but we don’t know which type of alkaloid,” Xincheng said expressionlessly. “We just gave her acetic acid tablets and orange juice, which should alleviate her symptoms.”

Just then, the roar of a helicopter sounded outside, and soon two medical staff carried in a stretcher.

“I…” Inspector Matsumoto was about to say something, but Shinjo coldly rejected him, “The helicopter is full. Inspector Megure should know the address. If you want to come, drive there. But right now, you should be catching the murderer, just like you did years ago.”

Matsumoto was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and directed the police officers at the scene to maintain order.

The case was actually not complicated. With the evidence brought by Koshimizu, the groom, Takasugi Toshihiko, readily confessed to his crime.