Conan, I'm an actor

Hearing Conan's words, everyone's expressions relaxed somewhat.

"Kid, you should have said so earlier if you called the police!" Ota said, somewhat speechless.

"A satellite phone? Such a small thing?" Takahashi asked with some doubt. "It looks like a toy."

"So it's a dedicated line. You can only dial a few fixed numbers, and they'll call the police on your behalf," Conan said with a smile, observing Takahashi's expression.

Knowing the police were approaching, he wondered what the killer would do. Would he speed up before the police arrived, or would he give up altogether? The thought of having to hold out until dawn made him feel exhausted.

“If he came in from the outside, he would unlock the door if the hole he broke open wasn’t big enough for him to crawl through,” Shinjo said on the phone. “That’s not conclusive evidence.”

"This..." Conan thought for a moment, and it seemed to make sense.

"Have you figured out how to resolve this incident?" Shinjo looked at the broken bridge not far away and the villa hidden in the night, and took out the drone directly from the trunk of the car, attaching a rope and grappling hook.

"No." Conan's lips twitched.

He's good at dealing with murderers, but not good at dealing with criminal suspects.

There is a prerequisite for reasoning: there must be a murderer. If there is no murderer, then everyone is just a suspect, only one with greater suspicion.

“Then let’s hold out until dawn.” Xincheng glanced at his watch. “It’s 10:20 p.m. The police have already started their ascent from the back of the mountain. The mountain roads are difficult to navigate at night, so we might not reach the villa until late at night.”

"Understood." Conan nodded vigorously.

However, he quickly realized something: why did Xincheng call the police? What reason did he give for calling the police? But before he could ask any further questions, the call was disconnected.

"What did Uncle Xincheng say?" Xiaolan asked curiously.

"He said the police have already set off, but they're coming from the back mountain, so they might not get here until late at night." Conan breathed a sigh of relief, as if a burden had been lifted off his shoulders. "At most a few hours."

"That's good." Ota Teng plopped down on the bed. "All I want to do now is get a good night's sleep. Ayako, let's hold the class reunion in the city next time. It's not safe here at all."

"I'm so sorry," Ayako said with some guilt. "I didn't expect there to be someone like that, but what exactly is his purpose?"

“That guy’s target should be Chikako-neechan. When he failed to attack Chikako-neechan, Uncle Kakutani was right next to him, but he didn’t attack Uncle Kakutani. Instead, he continued to attack Chikako-neechan,” Conan said. “I think his target should be Chikako-neechan. It might be related to her script. Some overzealous fans will do some unexpected things.”

"Kid, there's something wrong with what you're saying." Hiroki Kakutani stood with his hands on his hips, looking down at Conan. "What do you mean by 'Uncle Kakutani'? Chikako and I are the same age. Why do you call her 'Chikako-neechan' but me 'Uncle'? Also, are you unhappy because I didn't attack you?"

"Then it's Aunt Chikako," Conan said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Why did you kick me?" Kakutani clutched his calf, looking at Chikako with a face full of grief and indignation. "It wasn't me who called you 'Auntie,' it was this brat who did."

“Little brother, don’t listen to him, just call me sister,” Chikako said with a “kind” expression.

Laughter filled the room, as the oppressive feeling emanating from the bandaged monster lessened considerably.

Chapter 136: A Solution That Does Not Exist

Just then, Xincheng had already wrapped the rope, and with a pull, the tip of the grappling hook embedded itself in the bark. After testing it and finding no problems, he found a tree and secured the rope.

He took out several more bundles of rope from the trunk, secured one end to a wooden stake on the suspension bridge, carried the rest on his back, and climbed across.

As soon as I reached the other side, Karen's voice came through my earpiece.

“I did as you said. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, more than 30 police cars and 2 police helicopters have been dispatched,” Karen said, frowning. “Isn’t that too many? How are you going to explain your presence at the scene?”

“Not much, even a little.” Shinjo shook his head. “The two daughters of the Suzuki family have been kidnapped. If this isn’t handled properly, I’ll lose my job. They won’t focus on me. If they really want to take it seriously, let them check my ID. Then it’ll be up to you.”

"By the way, you've arrived. Why did you lie to that kid and say it would take several more hours?" Karen asked, somewhat puzzled. "Couldn't you handle that murderer by yourself?"

“I could take on ten of those newbies.” Xincheng shook his head. “Knowing he’s out of time, he has two choices: give up or take action. I can’t afford to gamble, and neither can that kid. Right now, he thinks he still has a few hours left and won’t do anything stupid.”

Looking at the villa not far away, Xincheng went straight to the power distribution room. The damage to the power distribution room was not serious, and after a simple repair, the power to the villa was restored.

Inside the villa, half an hour had passed since the phone call from Xincheng, and the initially relaxed atmosphere grew increasingly anxious as they waited.

"That guy, he's not still in the villa, is he?" Xiaolan said worriedly, looking at the broken window.

"Stop talking, sis, don't you have any extra candles?" Sonoko hugged her arms, trembling slightly. "Could you light a few more candles?"

"These are all the spare candles we have. They'll last until dawn, so please bear with it," Ayako Suzuki sighed.

The corridor and the outside world were pitch black. No one dared to go out at this time, for fear that the bandaged monster would emerge from the darkness and strike them with an axe.

"What should we do? There's no light in the villa right now. What if that guy pops up again..." Takahashi said with some worry. "Why don't we go to the power distribution room first and see if we can fix it? I know the way to the power distribution room well. If we take a shortcut, it won't take more than a few minutes."

Conan stared at Takahashi, somewhat annoyed; this guy clearly wasn't going to give up.

He intended to use the opportunity of repairing the power distribution room to escape the crowd, then launch another attack and eliminate Chikako Ikeda before the police arrived.

“Takahashi makes a good point, but isn’t it too dangerous for you to go to the power distribution room alone?” Kakutani said with a frown. “How about I go with you?”

Takahashi's expression froze. He wanted to leave the crowd alone, but now he was with Kakutani...

Just then, a flash of lightning streaked across the sky, followed by a deafening rumble of thunder and a torrential downpour. The terrible weather made the atmosphere even more oppressive. The girls' lips were pale; clearly, their psychological endurance had reached its limit.

Just then, the room suddenly lit up, and it seemed as if something outside was shining on it. Along with the light came the sound of Xincheng.

"I've fixed the power distribution room, Conan. Check if there's any power."

"Hey!" Xiaolan leaned against the window railing and asked with a look of surprise as she looked at the figure in the light, "Mr. Shinjo, what are you doing here?"

"It was that brat Shinichi Kudo who asked me to come. Conan called him." Shinjo immediately pinned the blame on Shinichi. "He suspects that guy is among you, so he sent me to check. In this pouring rain, they really know how to send people around. Do you think it's easy for an old man like me?"

"But the bridge is broken, how did you get across?" Sonoko asked, somewhat puzzled.

"They built a bridge, huh?" Shinjo took shelter under the eaves. "But the rope bridge is too dangerous, and it's raining now. Let's wait until tomorrow to evacuate."

As he spoke, he shone his searchlight toward the broken bridge, where a makeshift rope bridge and an off-road vehicle came into view.

They could have evacuated now, but he was afraid that Takahashi might go mad and cut down the suspension bridge while Chika was crossing it, which would render all their efforts tonight futile.

At this moment, Sonoko came running downstairs and let him in, handing him a towel and hot tea. However, Shinjo felt a little uneasy when he saw her enthusiastic eyes.

The wait wasn't too long. Soon, sirens blared, and a dozen police officers braved the rain to set up plastic and wooden planks on the rope bridge, creating a makeshift suspension bridge, before carrying everyone across.

Throughout this process, Shinjo kept a close eye on Takahashi to prevent him from making any move to cut down the suspension bridge.

Fortunately, the guy didn't do anything reckless. Instead, he got into the police car with the others and went to the nearest police station to give his statement. Then, the Suzuki family's arranged vehicle arrived and took everyone home.

At this moment, Sonoko Suzuki's spoiled attitude kicked in. She refused the driver's offer and insisted on personally taking Ran and Conan home to apologize for the lack of hospitality.

Just then, Conan was looking into Shinjo's trunk, and the upright guitar case caught his attention.

"Stop looking. Just like you thought, that bag contains night vision goggles and a rifle," Shinjo said as he drove. "If we can't build a rope bridge, I'll take care of that guy."

"Eh!" Ran and Sonoko, who were sitting in the back row, both looked somewhat surprised.

"Don't worry, I have a gun license." Shinjo looked at Conan in the rearview mirror. "Have you thought of a way to solve this problem? Takahashi failed this time, he will definitely find a way to do it again."

"What did you say? Takahashi is the murderer? The one with the bandages?" Sonoko suddenly shouted.

"How is this possible... Aren't they on good terms in the film club?" Xiaolan's face also showed an expression of disbelief.

"If it were Uncle Xincheng, what method would you choose?"

“I don’t know either. I can’t make Takahashi let go of his hatred, nor can I make Ikeda Chikako atone for her sins on her own, so I used some external force.”

"external force?"

“Last night, evidence of Chikako Ikeda plagiarizing Atsuko’s script has been circulating on various online forums. It’s a manuscript.” Shinjo tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “At the same time, the news of Atsuko’s suicide has started to spread among their classmates. Now all we need is someone to connect these two events, whether it’s true or not. Of course, if Takahashi is willing to come forward, then she will truly be socially dead.”

"You want to use public opinion to ruin Chikako Ikeda's reputation?" Conan's face was full of astonishment. "But she's the victim..."

"Is she a victim now?" Shinjo asked with a smile. "Didn't you say that after leaving this villa, Takahashi would try to attack Ikeda Chikako again? And if Ikeda Chikako's reputation is ruined, would he still kill her?"

Chapter 137 A Different Perspective, A Different Person

“Yes, he’s a paranoid person.” Conan thought for a moment, then said with certainty, “I didn’t give him the chance to attack Ikeda Chikako, but he still wanted to kill Ikeda, even risking exposure to create an opportunity. His desire for revenge is very strong, or rather, his desire to avenge Atsuko is very strong. In his mind, he has hypnotized himself into a messenger of justice.”

"Hmm, but have you ever considered this: why did he create a bandaged monster in the first place?"

"The Bandaged Man?" Conan was stunned. Wasn't the Bandaged Man Takahashi? This problem had already been solved, so why was Shinjo bringing it up again at this time?

“Because he wanted to absolve himself, it’s that simple. He got his revenge, but he shifted all the blame for the murder onto that non-existent bandaged monster.” Shinjo shook his head, then nodded. “His desire for revenge was very strong, but he was also afraid of taking the blame, which is a common human flaw. If we were to grade him, this criminal would be unqualified.”

"Unqualified criminals?"

“He created a mystery by making up a bandaged weirdo and designed so much just to absolve himself of responsibility.” Xincheng shook his head. “He didn’t realize that the more he did, the more traces he left behind, especially by finding so many people as witnesses, which was a complete blunder.”

"This……"

“Take Chikako Ikeda to some deserted place, strangle her, then fake it as a suicide by hanging. Wait a few days, and no one will know it was him. In this weather, even if no one touches the body, it will decompose in a few days at most. The forensic examination can only determine the time and cause of death. As for whether she was strangled or committed suicide by hanging herself, no one will care.”

"Um, Uncle Shinjo, could you please not talk about such scary things?" Xiaolan said weakly.

“Yeah, what’s going on between you and this kid? How come you can talk about this kind of thing so casually?” Sonoko complained as well. “It’s like you’re acting like a police officer.”

Conan rolled his eyes. You guessed right, this guy's identity is also somewhat related to the police.

However, he quickly thought of something else: "If this doesn't work out, will Mr. Takahashi give up this pointless behavior after a period of calm?"

“Who knows? He might give up, or he might become even more ruthless.” Shinjo looked at Conan. “You should have already figured it out, right? The bandaged man’s outfit is actually hidden inside his stomach. If you’re ruthless enough, just bump into his stomach, and the thing inside will roll out, and he’ll be punished by law.”

"Actually, I'm not sure either, it's just a guess," Conan asked curiously. "But according to Mr. Shinjo, Takahashi probably won't give up his revenge, so how can you be sure the tragedy won't happen?"

"Takahashi's side is helpless, but if we change our perspective or target, might the situation be different? If you were Chikako Ikeda, and your plagiarism of your classmate's work, which drove her to suicide, was exposed, what would you do when faced with a call or invitation from a former classmate?"

"I think I'll hide," Sonoko said hesitantly.

"Pretty much." Xiaolan thought for a moment, "Or we could go somewhere else and start over."

“Takahashi used this to blackmail Ikeda, but it's worthless now; Ikeda will avoid him.” Conan's eyes lit up. “If Takahashi can't find Ikeda, then…”

There is a prerequisite for murder: the perpetrator must find the person. How can one commit murder if the person cannot be found?

"Wait, Mr. Shinjo, you mentioned the door earlier." Ran suddenly remembered something. "So, that means Takahashi should have been changing clothes at that time. If I knocked on the door..."

"You'll see Takahashi's real physique, and to make sure he doesn't get caught by the police, he'll attack you."

"But how did you know about Takahashi's plan?" Ran asked疑惑地问道, "Was it really from divination?"

"secret."

"Tell me about it, Uncle Xincheng," Xiaolan asked curiously.

"Uncle?" Sonoko's face fell immediately. "Ran, why do you call him uncle?"

"Because Uncle Xincheng is Dad's classmate, that's why I call him uncle," Xiaolan said matter-of-factly.

"But why does he look so young! He looks like he's in his early twenties at most." Sonoko looked utterly devastated. "What guy can take such good care of himself? And he doesn't have a baby face."

Conan quickly guessed what Sonoko was thinking, and a helpless expression appeared on his face. This woman was most likely just infatuated. However, the age gap was too large, so it was destined to be impossible.