Conan, I'm an actor

The current script has been changed to—James Moriarty.

[Number of basic replacements available this month: 0/1]

“Since you’re the Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei era, then I’ll become James Moriarty and test the depths of your detective skills.” Shinjo’s lips curled into a smile. “Conan, don’t disappoint me.”

While changing his clothes, Shinjo began to think about how to handle this case.

It has to be said that Director Ochiai's design was already very good. Whether it was concealing his tracks or framing someone, it was all done perfectly. It's just a pity that there was an extra brat named Conan.

“The motive, timing, location, and chain of evidence have all been set up; there’s no room for change.” Shinjo stroked his chin. “Then let’s find a way to erase this old guy’s traces.”

Although Ochiai's plan had flaws, they were minor. Moreover, there was too little time, and Shinjo didn't intend to expose himself to him. All he could do was help him clean up the mess and interfere with Conan's judgment.

Before long, Shinjo and Koshimizu arrived at the art museum.

Yue Shui wasn't interested in these artworks. After glancing at them a few times, he headed straight for the Hell Room, which displayed medieval armor. That piece of medieval armor should be in there.

But when they arrived at the gates of hell, a sign was erected prohibiting entry.

Just then, Shinjo also saw the Mori family not far away and couldn't help but frown. Could he be so unlucky as to arrive at the art museum on the very day the project was finalized?

If it were just Conan alone, he'd be confident he could clean up Ochiai's mess, but if Koshimizu were also there...

There is no such thing as a perfect crime. The more cunning someone is, the more flaws they will reveal, and eventually, the detective will catch them red-handed. Director Ochiai's intention to frame Kubota is far too obvious, and sooner or later, his flaws will be found. Even if Conan and Kogoro Mouri don't see through it, it's hard to guarantee that Nanatsuki Koshimizu won't.

The best way to help the old man cover up his motives is to burn the crime scene down. A big fire will cover up any traces.

However, the old man would probably be the first to disagree with this approach, as these artworks are, in some ways, more important than his life.

"Yueshui, what is the most difficult case for a detective to solve?" Shinjo asked, looking at Yueshui beside him.

“There are several types. One type is the headless case, where the victim’s head cannot be found, or something that can identify the victim can not be found.” Yue Shui was clearly very interested in this topic. “Another type is the indiscriminate killing case, where someone kills without a motive, such as a mentally ill person. If the crime scene is too badly destroyed, it will also have a serious impact on the investigation. These types of cases usually happen in the wild or on rainy days.”

Chapter 16 The Summoning in the Art Museum Case

Xincheng stroked his chin, his mind racing, when just then, a greeting came from afar.

Before Shinjo and Mori could exchange more than a few words, Ran Mori and Nanatsuki Koshimizu were already chatting animatedly.

While the group was talking, Nanatsuki Koshimizu suggested going to a restaurant outside to chat, and Kogoro Mouri and Conan had no objection to this.

After glancing at the "No Entry" sign at the entrance, Shinjo excused himself to use the restroom and then entered the exhibition hall of Hell's Chamber. The corpse of Boss Manaka was pinned to the wall with a medieval longsword, and blood was everywhere.

Before him, a medieval armored man was cleaning up the scene. He was startled when someone entered.

“It’s too complicated, and the time is too short. You probably didn’t expect me to come in at this time, did you, Director Ochiai?” Shinjo said, looking at the armored man not far away.

“You…” Director Ochiai stood up, but was stopped by the person in front of him just as he was about to take off his helmet.

“A knight who has slain a demon will naturally be baptized by the demon’s blood, but knights also wear armor.” Shinjo smiled as he picked up the ballpoint pen from the ground. After turning the pen open with his gloved hand, he smeared a little of Mr. Manaka’s blood on it, pressed it on a few of his fingers, and then threw it on the ground.

"You..." Looking at the bloody fingerprints on the ballpoint pen and the spinning nib, Director Ochiai was speechless for a moment.

“A panicked victim won’t retract the pen tip. As for the ballpoint pen, we can easily find out if there are any fingerprints on it by checking. By the way, here, take this. Just throw away the ballpoint pen that won’t write.” Shinjo handed over a ballpoint pen.

"You were the guest today, why did you help me?" Director Ochiai asked, his face full of surprise.

“Because my target is also Mr. Zhenzhong,” Shinjo said with a smile. “Someone offered a large sum of money to buy his life, but now it seems there’s no need for that.”

Xincheng pulled a Glock 18 from his pocket, locked the safety, took a gift box from his backpack, and placed it in a blind spot of the camera.

“This is…” Ochiai was stunned. He didn’t understand what the young man was going to do.

"This is a message left by the assassin, and also a farewell gift for Boss Zhenzhong," Shinjo said with a smile. "I've also destroyed the videotapes in the monitoring room, so don't go to the monitoring room unless necessary."

That evening, with a scream from the security personnel, the body of Mr. Zhenzhong was discovered.

The Beika Central Art Museum was immediately sealed off. Police quickly found a card and a bottle of liquor left at the scene, concluding that they were a taunting message left by the killer. Because the liquor in the wooden box was cognac, and given the unusual nature of the murder, police designated the suspect as "Cognac."

Because of the artistic nature of the scene, coupled with the horror-movie-like atmosphere depicted in the surveillance footage, the museum murder case became the headline news of major newspapers that very evening.

The next morning, Shinjo, who was sleeping in the safe house, was awakened by a noisy telephone ringing.

As soon as he answered the phone, he heard the woman on the other end angrily questioning him.

"Oh, it's Vermouth. What's wrong?" Shinjo asked, yawning.

"What's going on with that Mr. Manaka? Look at the Japanese newspapers, Gin called me four times yesterday and today. Are you really planning to kill him?" Vermouth said irritably. "The organization requires us to keep a low profile, but you revealed your code name to the Metropolitan Police Department!"

How did you know it was me?

“Take a look at Japanese news websites. The police have confirmed that it was cognac,” Vermouth said. “And your name is on the list of people who entered the museum that day. You were both in the museum when you died.”

"Is it possible that I didn't do it?" Shinjo lit a cigarette after brushing his teeth. "You know me. If I had done it, this art museum would have been burned to the ground."

"Do you think this makes any sense?" Vermouth said helplessly. "Gin will make a move against you, and I can't stop him. If possible, it's better to leave Japan. You haven't made a move for so long. I really don't know what you're thinking."

"If he wants to make a move, then let him," Shinjo said nonchalantly. "Anyway, I have no intention of coexisting peacefully with him."

Just then, an interface popped up in front of him.

[Custom Scenario: Parking Lot Explosion - Settlement Completed]

[Script Rating: 127 points]

[Reward: Bomb Disposal Specialist]

[The host has been detected to have acquired the skill "Bomb Disposal Master". This skill can be converted into any other skill.]

[Congratulations, host, you have acquired the skill: Culinary Mastery]

Seeing the interface in front of him, Shinjo sighed helplessly. He was about to go head-to-head with Gin, but this time the system gave him a culinary specialization auxiliary skill.

Just as he was about to take another look at the progress bar of the main storyline, his phone rang again.

"This is Shinjo from the Koshimizu Detective Agency. May I ask who you are?" Shinjo asked, yawning.

"Brother Shinjo, this is Inspector Megure! I need you to come to the Metropolitan Police Department now. We have a case here that involves you." Inspector Megure's voice carried a hint of weariness.

"What's going on? What case?" Shinjo asked listlessly.

"You and Mori went to the Beika Central Art Museum yesterday, right? There was a murder there yesterday afternoon. We need everyone to be there."

"Okay, I'll be there in half an hour."

Half an hour later, when Shinjo arrived at the Mihana Central Art Museum, everyone had already arrived.

In the exhibition hall between hell

The body of Mr. Zhenzhong had been carried down and placed to one side, covered with a white sheet, while the murder weapon that killed him lay to the side.

"Who died?" Shinjo asked, yawning.

"The owner of this art museum, Manaka, was slashed in the chest and back. He was nailed to the wall and bled to death." Inspector Megure gave a brief account of the situation, including who discovered the body.

"What was the time of death?"

"The preliminary determination is that the time of death was after 6 a.m. yesterday. When we arrived at the scene, the livor mortis was still in the deposition stage," Inspector Megure said.

“There’s a security camera over there,” Shinjo said, pointing to a black camera on the wall opposite the body. “What did it capture?”

Megure glanced at the security camera on the wall, his expression somewhat embarrassed. Then, with a stiff look, he turned to Takagi and said, "Takagi, you should check the footage, shouldn't you?"

"Huh? What?" Takagi looked at Megure's murderous gaze and then realized what he meant. "I'll go check right away."

Chapter 17 Guidance from the New Town

Shinjo looked at Megure with amusement, which made Megure turn his head to the other side.

On the other side, Kogoro Mouri walked up to Megure, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Don't be discouraged. You just forgot. It's not too late to go back and check now. The Metropolitan Police Department makes this kind of mistake all the time."

Hearing Kogoro Mouri's words of comfort, Conan, Nanatsuki Koshimizu, and Shinjo all looked up at the sky, while Inspector Megure's face darkened completely.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Inspector Megure suggested that everyone go and check the surveillance footage. But as soon as they entered the monitoring room, they heard Takagi's exclamation.

"What's wrong, Takagi-kun!" Megure used his physical advantage to push past the police officers at the door, and then saw Takagi looking at the videotape in front of him with a mournful face.

"The videotape from that camera seems to be malfunctioning; the footage is all static," Takagi said with a mournful face.

"Are the other videotapes all normal?" Shinjo asked.

“It’s normal…” Takagi said somewhat helplessly, “The problem is with the videotape corresponding to this camera. Since 3 pm yesterday, the videotape here hasn’t recorded anything.”

"All the other videotapes are fine, is this the only one that's wrong?" Koshimizu Nanatsuki asked directly.

"That's it."

"Could you take out this problematic videotape?" Nanatsuki Koshimizu asked. "Just tune it to the part where the video is damaged."

"This..." the security guard said hesitantly, "This might be a bit difficult, this machine..."

Director Ochiai said helplessly, "We definitely have to cooperate with the police investigation, so please take out the videotape."

The security personnel operated the machine for a few moments, then retrieved a videotape from it and handed it to Inspector Megure. Even though it was a young girl who wanted it, it was safer to hand it over to the police.

"What's this, Uncle?" Conan suddenly found something inside the machine.

"Little guy, these machines are very valuable, don't touch them. That's where the magnetic head is. Hey, this doesn't seem to be inside the machine." The staff member was about to stop Conan, but following Conan's lead, they discovered something strange.

Just as the staff member was about to reach for it, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.

"You..." The security guard looked at the man in front of him with some confusion, not understanding what he wanted to do.

"Inspector Megure, Inspector Takagi, we may have found some evidence in the video camera that we need you to retrieve," Shinjo said, glancing at the puzzled security personnel. "It may have the suspect's fingerprints on it, which is important evidence."

Upon hearing this, the security personnel recoiled as if electrocuted, immediately pulling their hands back. They then addressed Inspector Megure and Inspector Takagi, saying, "This has nothing to do with me. There are absolutely no fingerprints on it. I wasn't trying to destroy any evidence."

"Don't be afraid, if you didn't do it, you can't be wrongly accused." Xincheng patted the security guard on the shoulder.

Soon, the contents of the video recorder were removed. Takagi inspected them and put them in a plastic bag. He then said to Inspector Megure, "Inspector Megure, it's been confirmed that it's a magnet, and there's a lot of magnetic powder on it. The videotape was damaged, and this magnet was probably the cause. The suspect was using this method to destroy evidence."

"What a cunning fox," Inspector Megure snorted.

"That fox is incredibly stupid. If I remember correctly, there's a camera in the hallway outside the monitoring room. I hope the recording isn't broken." Kogoro Mouri snorted.

Soon, under the police's instructions, the footage from that camera was retrieved, showing Kubota and Boss Manaka entering the monitoring room.

Not long after, Mr. Manaka stormed out, followed shortly by Mr. Kubota, who appeared extremely angry and kicked the corridor wall.

Upon seeing this, Kubota immediately shouted, "This has nothing to do with me! I have no reason to kill Mr. Manaka!"

“How could you not have a reason to kill Mr. Manaka? You replaced the real artifacts with fakes meant for exhibitions and then sold them,” Iijima said angrily. “After Mr. Manaka found out about this, he demanded a large sum of compensation from you. With your current financial situation, you simply cannot afford this loss!”

Two policemen immediately stood next to Kubota and held down his arms.