Conan, I'm an actor

Upon seeing the fire, Shiratori Ninzaburo opened the car door, preparing to rush into the building to help.

He was taken down as soon as he entered the yard. The police officer behind him was about to draw his gun when he felt something pressing against his waist. Then he convulsed and fell to the ground.

Pisco dragged the fallen White Bird to the door like a dead dog, glanced at the two policemen lying on the ground, snorted, and then got into another car with Ireland and drove off.

Chapter 95 The Robbers Who Abandoned Their Car

When Inspector Megure, who had just arrived at the scene, heard the news that his subordinate had been attacked and that Shigehiko Tobuchi's entire family had been massacred, his face turned green.

The policeman's intuition told him that the two things must be related.

The next three phone calls confirmed his suspicions: trains were stopped at the level crossing between the Tunkou family's house and the Beihua branch, and all three crossings were paralyzed, preventing the arrival of backup police forces in time.

That's not the worst part. The worst part is that traffic lights throughout Tokyo are now paralyzed, and traffic control staff have been pulled into the streets to maintain order, so they have no time to help track down vehicles.

At this moment, Conan arrived late from outside, reported the robbers' license plate number, and then began to listen in.

"What did you say! The amount stolen is over a billion!" Kogoro Mori stretched out his hands, looking at his ten fingers. Such a large number made him almost forget how to count.

"Yes, this time it was an entrepreneur who wanted to acquire shares in a certain company, and the other party demanded a partial cash settlement." Megure said with a wry smile, "Now they've all been robbed. The president of Yotsubishi Bank has already gone berserk and has called the Metropolitan Police Department's top officials, demanding that we solve the case as soon as possible."

"Do you think it could be that person?" Kogoro Mouri said, frowning. "The one who requested cash settlement is the prime suspect, since only he knew that such a large sum of cash would arrive at 4M Bank today."

“We’ve already investigated, and the requested settlement date is five days from now,” Inspector Megure said, shaking his head. “The money was withdrawn in advance. Moreover, the transaction partner is a big shot in the automotive industry, Kenzo Masuyama. He has indeed been dealing with his shares recently, and the transaction requirements are the same: bank transfers plus some cash settlement. There’s not much suspicion involved.”

"That was just a regular theft or robbery?"

“That’s not quite right. Do you remember what I told you? The aviation ban over Nagano Prefecture that night at the Twilight Villa,” Inspector Megure said, shaking his head. “The two members of the House of Representatives who were involved in that incident were murdered a week ago. Just now, Shigehiko Tomoguchi, who was also involved, was murdered, his entire family wiped out. Shiratori Ninzaburo, who was guarding their house, and another police officer were attacked.”

"Shigehiko Tobuchi, that name sounds familiar." Mori frowned in thought, but couldn't recall where he had heard of this person before.

"That's the senator who's under investigation for bribery. Didn't Inspector Megure mention this to Uncle before?" Conan reminded him.

“I remember now.” Kogoro Mouri smacked his hand. “It’s him. But I remember you told me that he was surrounded by police officers and was under tight protection by the Metropolitan Police Department. How come he still…”

"Because the bank was robbed, they must have dispatched police to support this place," Conan said, staring at Inspector Megure.

"Yes." Inspector Megure sighed. "Unfortunately, we fell for their trap. Now all the traffic lights in Tokyo are out of service, the train is stopped at the level crossing, and all the backup police are stuck in traffic."

"To paralyze the entire Tokyo transportation network, how big of a move is that?" Kogoro Mouri looked incredulous. "You must be joking with me."

“When I caught up with the train at the level crossing, it stopped right there and had to take a long detour to get back via the overpass,” Conan said immediately. “I can testify that Inspector Megure wasn’t lying. There were trains stopped at the three nearest intersections, cutting off the transportation lines.”

Conan has now confirmed that this matter is related to the Black Organization. Putting aside the fact that this matter is related to the Twilight Mansion case, the scale of the operation is so large that it's hard to believe that no one but the Black Organization could pull it off.

But he quickly thought of something else: why was Xincheng here? Did he receive advance notice and come to stop them, or was he also involved?

Just then, Officer Takagi walked in from outside, excitedly saying, "Inspector Megure, we've found the robber's car. It's right next to the Teifu River in TR Prefecture."

Seeing Takagi's excited expression, Inspector Megure smiled slightly. "So, the robbers have been found? And the stolen money of over a billion yen has been found too?"

"Well..." Takagi's face showed a slightly embarrassed expression. "This still needs to be confirmed. I just heard that the car was found and came to report it. I think we are confirming the situation at the scene."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Megure rushed out of the bank somewhat impatiently, opened the car door, and drove straight to the destination without waiting for Kogoro Mouri and the others.

Takagi, standing behind him, looked helpless. Just as he was about to get into the car, Kogoro Mouri, Ran, and Conan had already climbed inside.

“Mr. Mori, we’re going to the crime scene. If you come along, wouldn’t it be a bit…” Takagi said with some difficulty.

“What does it matter! Uncle Takagi and Uncle Mori often appear at crime scenes. Whenever they show up, there’s bound to be a murder or an incident.” Conan buckled his seatbelt as he spoke. “Inspector Megure is probably used to it by now.”

"You little brat, how dare you talk like that? You make me sound like a jinx!" Kogoro Mouri was clearly very dissatisfied with Conan's remarks. If it weren't for the fact that Takagi was still in the car, and that he really wanted to go to the crime scene, his iron fist would have already landed on Conan's head.

On the other side,

The Honda in the new city slowly pulled over to the side of the road, maintaining the same speed as Vermouth. The window rolled down, and looking at "himself" outside, the driver revealed the dark muzzle of a gun and said with a grim face, "Get in!"

"Oh my, is this how you get treated when you meet your first kiss? You're really not very gentlemanly." Vermouth looked at Shinjo in front of her and said in a flippant tone, "What's wrong? Who is that kid to you? You seem pretty nervous."

“That brat is nobody to me.” Xincheng snorted. “Take off your disguise. If you talk like that with my face on, I’m afraid I might just shoot you.”

Vermouth got into the passenger seat of Shinjo's car, and as she pushed the gun aside, she patted Shinjo's cheek. "What does it matter? This face is fake anyway, isn't it?"

Shinjo ignored the woman and, following Karen's directions, took the smoothest route through the crowded Tokyo and headed straight for the Kudo family's residence. Beside him, Vermouth tore off a human skin mask and sighed regretfully, "I didn't expect to run into the real deal. What a pity."

Chapter 96: The Clues End and the Lockpicking

"What exactly are you trying to do by disguising yourself as me?" Shinjo asked, frowning. "Didn't I say you wouldn't interfere in Miyano Akemi's affairs?"

"Since that guy keeps not answering his phone, I had no choice but to resort to this tactic—getting close to someone he cares about." Vermouth waved her phone. "Look, the call's already coming in."

Xincheng shook his head speechlessly, but he quickly noticed something was wrong. He kept glancing at the rearview mirror, frowned, and asked, "Your people?"

“I don’t have the habit of taking my little mouse with me when I go out.” Vermouth said, already pulling out a gun and releasing the safety.

"No, no, no, we can just shake them off." Xincheng's forehead was covered in cold sweat. "There are police officers maintaining order at every intersection. If we open fire and attract those guys, we'll be in trouble."

As he spoke, Xincheng had already floored the accelerator, and in just a few minutes, the rats following behind were left far behind.

"You've only been in Japan for a little over a year, and you've already become so timid?" Vermouth looked at Shinjo beside her, and just as she was about to continue her taunts, she saw the Kudo family not far away.

On the other side, beside the iron bridge over the Difen River

A dozen forensic investigators were taking photos and collecting evidence at the scene, which had been completely cordoned off. In the center of the area, a car with all four doors open was parked.

"You've worked hard!" Inspector Megure walked down from the riverbank with some difficulty. "How's the situation on the ground?"

His heart sank when he saw the car with all four doors open.

"Inspector Megure, we've done a quick look around. The fingerprints inside the car should have been wiped off," the officer in charge of the scene said with a hint of helplessness. "It seems like they planned to abandon the car and escape."

"Was anything left behind?" Inspector Megure asked, frowning.

“Yes, there are. The larger ones are used by banks to store money. There are ten of these Duralumin alloy boxes. The 10 billion yen banknotes that were shot were kept in these boxes, but the money is gone. We've already investigated, and we haven't found any fingerprints on them. Also…” The police officer gestured to his colleague, “Hey! Bring those things over!”

With some confusion, Megure took the items from the officer's hand and examined them, instantly recognizing them as the robber's mask and gloves.

“There’s no way to identify fingerprints with this kind of thing.” The forensic officer shook his head helplessly. “We’re going to take it back and extract its DNA. If we catch any robbers in the future, it can be used as evidence for comparison.”

"That's all we can do." Inspector Megure sighed helplessly. The trail went cold here, which made solving the case much more difficult.

Half an hour later, inside a Porsche parked on the side of the road...

Vodka hung up the phone and said to Gin excitedly, "Boss, we really succeeded! They really stole over a billion dollars."

He was genuinely happy. The funds for the activities organized this month had been delayed by half a month, and he didn't usually save money; he was almost so poor that he had to grab lunchboxes from convenience stores. Now that he had such a large sum of money, he could live a little more comfortably from now on.

“Don’t get too excited yet. It will take at least a few months to get this money out of the bank.” Gin smiled when he heard about the vodka. “But Pisco should have raised the money by now, so the organization’s funds should be more readily available. Next, we’ll see what that Cognac guy does.”

"Cognac?" Vodka was taken aback. "Boss, are you really going to hand over Akemi Miyano to cognac? But how are you going to explain it to her?"

"Then we'll have to ask Sherry to help us put on a show." Gin took a deep drag on his cigarette. "By the way, how's the investigation I asked you to do going?"

“The information has already been given to Vermouth; it includes everyone Cognac has contacted since arriving in Japan.” Vodka hesitated for a moment. “Boss, is Cognac really a traitor? Or…”

“If he’s a traitor, then let Vermouth clean house.” Gin looked out the car window and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. “If not, Vermouth is in Japan, so he might be more discreet. Lately, he’s been getting too close to Pisco.”

Over the past month, Pisco and Cognac have grown increasingly close. Although they both meet at the same hospital, no one knows what they discuss. Just two days after Pisco and Cognac's last meeting, Ireland, who was on a mission abroad, suddenly arrived in Japan to meet with Pisco—all without his knowledge.

He wouldn't even consider Pisco a threat, and even with Irish liquor, he could ignore it. But what if they teamed up with Cognac...?

Because of this incident, he had no choice but to ask Vermouth to come to Japan, where the woman extorted a lot of money from him.

Kudo family

After parking the car, Shinjo got out. The moment he stepped out, he sensed a murderous aura; it was probably an assassin Gin had placed nearby. Looking around, he spotted Chianti on a building about 600 meters away.

After Vermouth got out of the car, that feeling disappeared, and Chianti turned her attention to Vermouth instead.

"Why did you bring me here?" Vermouth pulled out a cigarette, but a barely perceptible glint of sternness flashed in her eyes.

After confirming that there were no listening devices or members of the organization inside the house, Shinjo took out a set of lock-picking tools, fiddled with them for a few moments, and opened the door to the Kudo family's house. He then walked in as if he were going home.

"Your skills at picking locks and entering have certainly improved, especially here..."

Seeing that Vermouth had no intention of coming in, Shinjo pointed to the tall building in the distance, "There are snipers arranged by Gin up there. It's neither Cohen nor Calvados up there right now. That woman has a lot of grudges against you. Are you sure you want to continue to be exposed to her fire range?"

Vermouth looked in the direction Shinjo was pointing, but at that distance, she could only see a sliver of sunlight reflected off the rooftop across the street.

"Are you sure she dares to kill me?" Vermouth looked at Shinjo with a hint of amusement.

"Then you can stand outside." Shinjo shrugged and walked towards the Kudo residence.

"Why did you bring me here? Don't tell me you don't know the relationship between Yukiko Kudo and me. Bringing me to her house at this time, and in such a way..."

"Didn't you ask me who that kid is?" Shinjo said with a smile. "Kudo Shinichi, the son of Kudo Yukiko. After Gin gave him a drug, his body shrunk, and he became the kid you see. That kid hates the organization to the core. Why don't you go and take care of him?"

Chapter 97 Jiang Xiaobai's Text Shirt

Vermouth paused for a moment, then smiled. "That's quite interesting. How about I take him over?"

“He’s not mine. If you want to play with him, just take him. But I have to warn you, that kid is very clever and has a sharp eye. Be careful not to mess things up.” Shinjo opened the refrigerator in the kitchen. “Those guys in the organization are really something. They come almost every day, and they don’t even bother to prepare any food in the kitchen.”

"From what you're saying, he's already become Conan Edogawa. Then who was that Shinichi Kudo who appeared at the Twilight Villa a while ago?"

"That's the kid. I asked Shiho Miyano to develop an antidote. After taking the antidote, he can..." Shinjo stopped mid-sentence. He felt something hard at the back of his head, as if someone had a gun pointed at his head.

"You just said it was an antidote, right?" Vermouth's voice came from behind New Town.

“That’s such a dangerous toy, I advise you to put it away.” Xincheng’s eyelids twitched. “It wouldn’t be fun if it went off accidentally.”

“I’m serious.” Vermouth’s voice had turned cold. “You just mentioned an antidote, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but it’s useless to you.” Shinjo shrugged. “All the data on the Silver Bullet was burned. APTX-4869 is another drug developed based on the remaining data of the Silver Bullet. Moreover, this antidote is not a finished product now, so it’s useless to you even if you get it.”

Upon hearing Shinjo's words, Vermouth lowered her gun and remained silent.

"What would you like to eat? There's nothing here. But if you want to eat, I know a good place." Shinjo stretched his neck. "I just don't know if Bourbon would welcome you."

"No need for a meal. What I want to know is how you plan to save Miyano Akemi?" Vermouth stared at Shinjo and said, "I heard from Gin that you plan to meet Rye here."

“That’s right.” Shinjo nodded.

“You see the situation outside better than I do. What about those snipers?” Vermouth looked at the new town in front of her and said with a half-smile, “If you bring those two in, there will only be one outcome: they will both die in this house.”

“If you can help, that would be great. If you can’t, I’ll ask that kid.” Shinjo shrugged. “This is Yusaku Kudo’s former residence. As the world’s bestselling mystery novelist, it shouldn’t be too much to ask him to hold a costume book exhibition. The organization has been too active lately. I’m sure the boss is quite unhappy about it.”

Vermouth remained silent, saying nothing, yet she said everything.

“When a sniper kills a target in full view of everyone, it’s very difficult for the sniper to escape. Besides, you know how difficult Rye is to deal with. Even if Gin is determined to trade one for one, the final result is very likely that Rye will be seriously injured and the sniper will commit suicide under police encirclement.”

“To prevent this from happening, you set the requirement for this book fair as a disguise. If I remember correctly, the Dark Baron should be wearing a mask,” Vermouth said, staring at New Town. “Even the best sniper can’t find the real Dark Baron from among a dozen others at a distance of 600 meters, right?”