Conan, I'm an actor

After saying that, he knocked on Chikako's door to tell her it was time for dinner.

Conan followed the two downstairs, and he began to think about which one to follow.

Staying with Chikako Ikeda is the safest option, but Chikako Ikeda is a woman, and it would be inappropriate for a boy like him to be constantly by her side. Besides, it's almost nighttime, and nighttime is the best opportunity for that guy to make his move.

There shouldn't be any problem with Takahashi staying with her; Sonoko and Ran can share a room. She requested to share a room with Takahashi, given the threat of the "bandaged man" and the two-person arrangement proposed by Hiroki Kakutani earlier, so this shouldn't be a problem.

Moreover, he believed that Takahashi would agree. From the perspective of the murderer, children are easier to deal with than adults. With a child sleeping next to him, it would be more convenient to strike at night.

Inside the Supercomputing Research Center

"That woman just drugged you, she didn't say anything?" Shinjo checked his equipment.

“No, she said she was an acquaintance of yours and came to see you.” Yue Shui still felt a little dizzy. “I remember I told her to wait on the sofa for a while until you got off work, and then I went to make her some tea. It must have been around that time that she drugged me with ether.”

Upon hearing Yue Shui's description, Xin Cheng's eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown.

Curaçao had a gun, but the reason she used a knife against him was probably because she wanted to capture him alive.

But why did she let Koshimizu go? If Rum really wanted to use Koshimizu to threaten him and negotiate, Curaçao should have just tied Koshimizu up and thrown her into the trunk of the car.

He was also concerned about Vermouth's phone call. It seemed that this woman knew all along that Rum was going to attack him, and she called to inquire about the situation immediately afterward. What was her stance?

"If you can't figure it out, don't keep thinking about it. Just push through and use brute force to overcome any tricks," Karen said somewhat irritably. "Human thoughts are very complex. Even a supercomputer can't calculate what a person is thinking, let alone that madman from the Muggle organization."

Shinjo's lips twitched. He agreed with Karen's point of view, which was why he had been so assertive with Vermouth on the phone. But it seemed that when she was cursing, she had also cursed him.

“Leave this to me. Until then, you can stay at the research institute.” Shinjo picked up the briefcase beside him. “I’ll help you get leave from school.”

"The school isn't a big problem; I have enough credits. But the firm..."

“I’ve already spoken to Ochiai. There’s a villa in the port area that’s being renovated right now. You can move there once it’s finished.” Shinjo took out a map and drew a circle on a certain spot. “This is it. This will be your future office, and the firm will be located here as well.”

"Will there really be any business here?" Yue Shui's face was full of doubt.

"Business is about quality, not quantity. Businesses here might not open for three years, but when they do, they can live off the profits for three years." Xincheng took out a bunch of keys. "These are the keys to the villa and the research institute. By the way, don't go out for the next couple of days. I have some things to take care of."

After saying that, he rushed out the door.

Once we arrived at the underground parking garage, we got into the car and drove straight out of the research institute.

I originally planned to go to the agency to handle some matters and then go see Conan, but this incident happened and delayed me for so long.

"By the way, has there been any news from the Suzuki family's villa?" Shinjo asked, frowning. He didn't want to miss out on the show.

Chapter 134 The Murderer Begins His Operation

“We haven’t received any reports of emergencies yet, so the situation should still be under control.” Karen frowned and asked, “So, what’s the standard answer?”

“There’s no standard answer.” Shinjo drove. “If you have to say there is a standard answer, it’s to prevent new tragedies from happening. Obsessing over the question won’t get you an answer. What he should do now is call the police, but it seems this detective is currently engrossed in the game.”

"You said it yourself, it's a test, so he must think it's a test of his personal abilities," Karen said somewhat angrily. "Do you think he'll dare call the police?"

“Don’t wrong me. He asked me if this was a test.” Xincheng shrugged. “My answer was that I guess so, but I didn’t confirm it with him.”

"mean!"

“It’s just a simple textual trap. As a smart AI, you can’t possibly not even figure this out, can you?” Shinjo glanced at the rearview mirror. “Check if anyone is following us.”

"what happened?"

“The license plates are different, but the car models are the same,” Xincheng said, frowning. “This is the third one already.”

"Let me check the license plate."

Shinjo nodded, then started speeding. The modified V12 engine roared, and the speed suddenly increased. The car behind him slowed down after realizing he couldn't catch up.

"Mr. Furuya, it seems they've spotted us. Should we continue following them?" a man in the car behind asked.

"That's enough for now. Try to find out what's in their research institute." Amuro Tooru thought for a moment and then made a decision. "But don't force your way in. I'm afraid your lives will be in danger."

After driving for a while and noticing that the tagalongs had disappeared, Shinjo began to inquire about Karen's progress.

Based on past experience, checking license plates should take only a few minutes at most, but Karen has already spent fifteen minutes and still has no results.

Since the other party can drive openly on the road, it must not be a fake license plate. Therefore, there is only one possibility—the owner of these license plates is very special.

Ten minutes later, Karen finally gave the answer: these cars belonged to the Public Security Bureau and were used by the Security Planning Division, which meant that these guys were Amuro Tooru's men.

"One or two, what's going on?" Shinjo took out his phone and dialed Pisco's number.

However, the fact that Pisco's number was out of service gave him a bad feeling.

"Could it be that your identity has been exposed, and those guys want to kill you?" Karen asked tentatively. "They kill you to protect themselves; that kind of thing happens all the time in TV dramas."

“Watch less TV dramas. I think Rum might be watching me. By the way, have any suspicious people appeared near the research institute lately?” Shinjo tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

“Yes, they’re all from that organization, but they seem to have noticed the security measures, so they haven’t come any closer,” Karen said, frowning. “You mean the same batch?”

“We can’t rule out that possibility.” Xincheng frowned. “If anyone trespasses, just take them out.”

"Didn't you tell me not to harm them? Are you going to leave it to you to handle?" Karen said somewhat resentfully. "Besides, what will happen to the bodies if they really die in the research institute?"

"We'll handle this as a special case. If we don't teach them a lesson, they'll really think I'm made of clay. As for the bodies, someone will claim them."

Inside the villa, everyone had finished dinner and were gathered in the living room, including Chikako Ikeda, who preferred quiet.

After discussion, everyone decided to prioritize ensuring the safety of the villa's interior.

Conan and Takahashi formed one team, while Ota and Kakutani formed the other. The two began checking the door and window locks in each room. The girls stayed in the living room, waiting for them to finish checking.

After half an hour, Conan and Takahashi finally returned to the living room, and not long after, Ota and Kakutani also returned.

Conan had a thoughtful expression on his face. Just now, when he was patrolling with Takahashi, he found that Takahashi was very agile and did not look like a fat man at all.

And that guy seemed to be deliberately trying to keep his stomach from touching anything...

He was certain that there was something inside Takahashi's stomach, most likely the strange bandage outfit he was wearing, but he didn't know how to force Takahashi to confess.

At this moment, he realized a very serious problem—Takahashi was not the murderer, but only a suspect.

Moreover, if he were the murderer, he might not have killed Ikeda at this class reunion.

Even if I can stop Takahashi's crime this time, what about next time?

Chikako Ikeda plagiarized Atsuko's script, which is her Achilles' heel. Using this to blackmail her might not be realistic. However, arranging a meeting with her in a secluded corner would definitely be enough.

Takahashi could have waited until after the class reunion, used this excuse to lure Chikako Ikeda out, and then murdered her.

He thought of the case Xincheng had handled last time, a case that had no lingering problems.

Things seemed to have reached a dead end at this moment. The only way to get Takahashi to give up his revenge was to find a way to satisfy him. But there was only one way to satisfy him: to avenge Atsuko, which meant killing Chikako Ikeda.

"Conan, what's wrong with you today?" Ran asked with some concern. "Was the question Mr. Shinjo gave you difficult?"

"No... Ahaha." Conan said with a silly grin, "I've already figured out the answer, but there are still some problems with the steps."

"A proof problem?" Xiaolan rested her finger on her chin. "If we can't prove it using normal methods, perhaps proof by contradiction is a good option."

"Proof by contradiction?" Conan was stunned.

What he needs to prove is that the bandaged monster is Takahashi. Using proof by contradiction, that means proving that none of them are the bandaged monster. Since Takahashi cannot prove it, then he is the bandaged monster.

But this is too much work. First, they need to prove that the bandaged man is among them. And the bandaged man has to act, and frequently at that. But it's already night; will Takahashi really make a move?

"Little brat, I rarely see you make that face. Is it alright to tell us?" Sonoko looked at Conan with ill intent. "Tell us, maybe we can help you."

"No need," Conan said, waving his hand. "Mr. Shinjo said I have to solve this problem myself..."

Just then, the power went out in the villa, plunging the entire villa into darkness.

Chapter 135 Countdown to the Murder

Conan's brain seemed to go blank for a full second, like a light bulb going out. Seriously? Even in this state, he still wants to take action?

"Everyone, please state your names!" Conan immediately shouted.

"I am Xiaolan..."

"I am Sonoko."

As names were announced one by one, only Ota, Takahashi, and Ayako Suzuki were not present.

Soon, Ayako Suzuki arrived with candles. Just at the edge of the firelight, a dark figure approached the group and raised an axe, aiming it at Chikako Ikeda.

Ikeda hadn't reacted yet when Sonoko screamed, and she realized there was something behind her. The moment she turned around, she was so startled she froze, forgetting even to dodge.

Fortunately, Kakutani reacted quickly and pulled her up, preventing her from being struck down.

At that moment, Conan grabbed an apple from the table and kicked it. The apple hit the man's hand, and the axe in his hand flew out of his grasp.

Just as Xiaolan was about to subdue the guy, he turned and walked upstairs. With the sound of shattering glass, there was silence.

When everyone arrived, they saw the broken window and the vast darkness outside. There was no sign of the bandaged monster, not even a ghost.

Just then, the doors on both sides of the room opened, and Ota and Takahashi came out of the room yawning, asking what had happened.

Conan looked at the two of them with an incredulous expression. Could there really be a third person here?

"Just now, that guy showed up, and he even attacked Chikako with an axe," Kakutani said, still shaken. The attack had really frightened him.

"Axe, the bandaged man?" Ota Teng's face showed disbelief. "Didn't we check before? All the doors and windows of the villa were tightly closed. How did he get in?"

But when he saw the broken window, he chose to keep quiet.

Conan walked to the broken window. The lock on the window had been opened. If the bandaged man had come in from the outside, the window should have been locked.

"Hey kid, why did you make us count just now?" Sonoko asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I suspect the murderer is among us, so I wanted to clear everyone of suspicion." Conan crouched in front of the window latch. "But it seems I haven't succeeded."

"Are you kidding me...?"

Just then, Conan's pendant began to vibrate.

"Hello, is this Uncle Shinjo?" Conan answered the phone directly in front of everyone.

"How is the situation now?" Xincheng asked, looking at the villa not far away.

“The bandaged man attacked us just now, but I noticed something very interesting.” Conan walked to the French windows and said, “The window lock was open. If he had come in from the outside, the window lock should have been locked. So I suspect that the murderer has already entered the villa, or is among us.”

"Conan, are you talking to Uncle Shinjo?" Ran asked incredulously. "Isn't there no signal here?"

"This is a satellite phone line, Dr. Agasa set it up for me," Conan said with a grin. "I've already asked Uncle Shinjo to call the police, and I'm sure the officers will be here soon."