Conan, I'm an actor

“I understand. You came to the monitoring room to try and get Mr. Manaka to waive or reduce your compensation amount, but he held a grudge. So you put the magnet in the video recorder, damaging the videotape recording the Hell Chamber exhibit,” Kogoro Mouri said. “Then you used some excuse, like you already had the money ready, or some other reason, to lure Mr. Manaka to the Hell Chamber exhibit and killed him.”

"No, I have no reason to kill him. I can still pay that amount of money."

"You're talking nonsense! You used all the money you got from selling artwork to gamble on horse races, and when the Takarazuka Memorial Tournament failed to achieve its third consecutive championship, all 121 billion yen in betting tickets went down the drain, and your money was in that too!" Iijima said sternly. "Now you're a penniless pauper!"

"You!" Kubota pointed at Iijima in front of him, trembling with anger.

"Dad, what's wrong? Dad, you have to pull yourself together!" Ran Mouri was momentarily stunned when she saw Kogoro Mouri faint.

"Brother Mori, what happened to you?" Inspector Megure asked anxiously when he saw Kogoro Mori collapse.

"I'm fine, it's just... I remembered some bad things." Kogoro Mouri waved his hand.

"Hey, pull yourself together! Where's 120?" Inspector Megure wasn't going to just watch his old comrade fall like that, so he immediately looked at Takagi beside him. "Takagi, what are you standing there for? Call 120!"

"Oh, okay, okay." Takagi hurriedly took out his phone.

“No need. If I’m not mistaken, Mori made a big bet in that match. Although he hasn’t gone bankrupt, he’s probably been short of money these past few months,” Shinjo said with a smile. “He’s just stressed out. He’ll be fine after a rest.”

Upon hearing Shinjo's finishing blow, Kogoro Mori completely fainted.

"Do we still need to call an ambulance?" Takagi asked tentatively, taking out his phone.

"No need, let him lie here and reflect on his actions!" Xiaolan's eyes were somewhat fierce.

She finally understood why her family had been eating out less in recent months, and why her father was eating at home more often and no longer going to izakayas.

Just then, the police officers outside pushed over a small cart with a cardboard box on it. Inside the box was a set of medieval armor stained with blood.

"These must be the clothes the suspect was wearing." Inspector Megure suddenly perked up, feeling he had found a breakthrough in the case. "Where was this found?"

Chapter 18 The Detective Alliance's Counterattack

In an instant, all eyes in the monitoring room were focused on Kubota. Although the suit of armor could not prove that Kubota was the killer, its discovery in his room meant that he was a prime suspect and would definitely be taken away.

Just then, another forensic officer walked in and handed Inspector Megure a crumpled piece of paper. "We found this in Mr. Manaka's hands."

"A death message!" Inspector Megure saw the words on the note and angrily showed it to Kubota. "Mr. Manaka left a death message when he died. You are the murderer, Kubota."

"This is impossible, this is impossible!" Kubota was completely panicked at this point, unable to think straight, and could only keep denying it.

"Take him away!" Inspector Megure waved his hand. "We'll talk at the police station."

“Officer, just because there’s a note doesn’t mean it was written by Mr. Manaka,” Conan said. “Besides, Mr. Kubota isn’t interested in art, so he probably wouldn’t have used this method to kill Mr. Manaka. Also, I saw that the bloodstains in the exhibition hall were sprayed directly on the wall. There were descriptions of the artworks on that wall, but no paintings were hanging there. It seems that the murderer must be someone who cherishes art.”

At this moment, Kubota grasped at a straw and said to Director Ochiai, "It was you, it was you! Because Mr. Manaka wanted to demolish the museum, you harbored resentment towards him and killed him."

Shinjo looked at Director Ochiai, and when he saw the corners of Ochiai's mouth slightly open, he suddenly coughed.

“Every accusation requires evidence. Mr. Kubota, do you have any evidence for your accusation? If not, then it's defamation.” Shinjo paused, then turned to Inspector Megure. “Seal off the scene. The forensic team members' examination was very unprofessional. As for the issue of the penis, we'll know once we find the pen.”

"How do you explain the removal of the artworks?" Conan asked, staring at Curator Ochiai.

“I do know some of the reasons for this,” Xincheng said with a smile. “This art museum is about to be demolished. The designer has already completed the design drawings for the grand hotel, and construction will begin soon. Artworks are all exquisite items, and it will take a long time to move them all. If I remember correctly, the demolition of the art museum will be in about ten days.”

"To be precise, it's nine days later," Iijima said with a hint of helplessness.

Inspector Megure sighed helplessly, then gave an order to Takagi, who was standing next to him, to seal off the scene.

After giving the order, Inspector Megure approached Shinjo again. "Brother Shinjo, my men are all new recruits. Could you perhaps offer them some guidance?"

Conan looked at Inspector Megure and Shinjo with some confusion. He didn't understand why Inspector Megure was being so polite to Shinjo, who was also a former colleague. Why did he treat Shinjo so differently?

“I won’t get involved. I’m not a police officer, and what I just said already represents my position.” Shinjo glanced at Kubota, who shut his mouth but stared intently at him. “What I’ve found out will definitely not convince Mr. Kubota.”

“Inspector Megure, if it’s possible, could I go into the scene to investigate the situation?” Koshimizu raised his hand. “If I remember correctly, Mr. Iijima just said that Mr. Kubota is almost bankrupt and he probably can’t afford a bottle of cognac. This kind of gift box cognac sells for 2 to 3 yen on the market.”

“Not only that, I just saw it, that bottle of cognac is Rémy Martin Louis XIII.” Kogoro Mori sat up from the ground. “That bottle of wine should cost between 350 million and 400 million yen, definitely not something a bankrupt person can afford.”

"So expensive?" Megure looked at Kubota with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"The minimum standard for the liquor here is 50 years." Kogoro Mouri seemed to have done his homework on this.

Shinjo glanced at Kogoro Mouri and sighed. He should have just grabbed any bottle of wine. Time was tight and the task was important. To avoid leaving a purchase record, he had no choice but to take a bottle of cognac from the trunk of his car. He never expected to run into trouble with Kogoro Mouri, this drunkard.

Kubota saw a glimmer of hope and exclaimed, "I lost all my money betting on horse races, so I can't afford such expensive wine. You can check my bank account; there's no such large expenditure on it."

But before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted. Takagi approached Megure with a plastic bag. "We found this ballpoint pen. There's blood on it. We've confirmed it's Mr. Manaka's fingerprints."

Megure took out his ballpoint pen and drew a couple of lines, but the ink flow wasn't very smooth at the moment.

"It must have hit the pen nib during its decline," Shinjo said, looking at Takagi. "Any other clues?"

“No, that’s all.” Takagi shook his head.

Conan and Nanatsuki Koshimizu, standing to one side, both frowned deeply. The suspicious points surrounding that bottle of Louis XIII were too great for them to ignore.

The site is currently sealed off, so they can't get in. And the museum will be demolished soon, so any questions will simply be buried along with the museum.

"By the way, now that Mr. Manaka is dead, does that mean this art museum won't be demolished?" Conan asked, looking up.

If the museum doesn't need to be demolished after Mr. Manaka's death, then I'm confident I can turn things around for Mr. Kubota.

“It’s impossible,” Shinjo said slowly. “The police can only lock down the site for a maximum of nine days. If the lockdown isn’t lifted within nine days, the construction company’s lawyer will go to the Metropolitan Police Department and demand compensation for the economic losses caused by the breach of contract. Moreover, according to regulations, such sites can only be preserved for a maximum of three days.”

Inspector Megure and Takagi remained silent, which was considered an admission of Shinjo's statement.

Kogoro Mouri said nonchalantly, "Now that we have all the evidence, even if he doesn't plead guilty, we can still file charges. It's just a shame about that bottle of good wine; it's such a waste to seal it away as evidence."

"Could you perform fingerprint detection on the wine packaging?" Conan immediately asked.

“We’ve already done it. The suspect was very careful and didn’t leave any fingerprints on the bottles or the wooden boxes containing the liquor,” Takagi said, holding the notebook. “We suspect the suspect wore gloves, but if it were armor, it should have been able to achieve the same effect.”

Upon hearing Takagi's words, Conan completely gave up struggling; the police's attitude was already very clear.

Chapter 19 The Detective Alliance's Counterattack

With the sound of sirens blaring, the murder at the art museum came to an end.

The next day, newspapers and media outlets published reports about the museum murder, and Kubota's photo was directly placed in the suspect's position.

"Conan, you seem very unhappy," Ran said, looking at Conan's furrowed brows.

“I just felt that yesterday, Uncle Mori and Inspector Megure’s train of thought seemed to be led by Uncle Shinjo,” Conan said. “It felt like Uncle Shinjo was guiding us to deduce this conclusion. The truth might not be…”

"You're right to have that feeling. That guy's brain is the best in our class. Back then, the police academy teachers all said he was the most likely rising star to revitalize the Japanese police force." Kogoro Mouri said with a hint of satisfaction, holding a glass of wine. "Partnering with him, you don't even need to use your brain. If he hadn't been drafted, he would definitely be in a higher position than Inspector Megure now. It's a pity, I always feel that the XO tastes a bit off. I really want to taste that bottle of Louis XIII."

Conan climbed up to Kogoro Mouri and asked, "Uncle, what kind of wine is Louis XIII?"

“Louis XIII is Cognac. Cognac is a distilled spirit produced in Europe. There are three famous brands: Hennessy, Martell, and Rémy Martin,” Kogoro Mori said, swirling his glass. “But if we’re talking about authenticity, it should be the French brands themselves, with Rémy Martin being the most authentic. Cognac is graded as VS (two years), VSS (four years), XO (ten years), and XXO (fourteen years). The top-grade Louis XIII is not included in this category; its spirit must be at least fifty years old.”

"Europe, distilled spirits?" Conan pondered, head bowed. "Is it possible that Cognac is someone from that organization?"

"Have you forgotten? Shinjo once said that that organization prefers to keep a low profile." Kogoro Mouri rolled his eyes. "Leaving a Louis XIII at the scene, are they trying to make themselves even more high-profile?"

Koshimizu Detective Agency

The entire detective agency fell into an eerie silence from the morning onwards. There was no communication between Yue Shui and Xin Cheng, or rather, they were avoiding each other.

Xincheng sighed. He had made his intentions too obvious in yesterday's case.

Kogoro Mouri, a third-rate detective, is alright, but it's a different story for sensitive detectives like Conan Edogawa and Nanatsuki Koshimizu, especially with that bottle of Louis XIII, which can be said to be the biggest flaw.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Yue Shui asked, staring at Xin Cheng.

"What are you saying?" Shinjo asked with a smile.

It was the same smile, but this time it felt unfamiliar to Yue Shui. She realized that it seemed like she was seeing this man for the first time.

“The real culprit in the art museum case shouldn’t be Mr. Kubota, right?” Koshimizu said. “You should have figured it out long ago, shouldn’t you! You knew who the real culprit was, but you chose to frame Kubota.”

“Evidence!” Shin-joo said slowly.

“The evidence is…” Yue Shui opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything for a long time.

"Without eyewitnesses, even if there is evidence at the scene that the police haven't found, it will be buried under the dust and smoke in a few days when the art museum is demolished." Shinjo shrugged.

"That bottle of wine..."

"Even if Kubota didn't put that bottle of wine there, it only proves that a third person was at the scene, but it doesn't prove that Kubota didn't kill the person."

"But you have no direct evidence that Kubota killed the person."

Does it matter?

"The truth is of course important."

"So, have you found the truth?"

"No, but Kubota..."

“He was never a good person. If he had money, he could have hired a good lawyer to defend him. The evidence collected this time is incomplete; there is no direct evidence that he killed the person, so he will be acquitted.”

“You said it yourself, this is based on the premise that he’s rich. He’s a penniless pauper now. He’s been wrongly convicted and will spend over a decade in prison, carrying the stigma of murder.” Koshimizu Nanatsuki slammed her hands on the table. “Shinjo Tetsuo, do you know what you’re doing? You’re committing a crime!”

“Criminal? What crime?” Shinjo looked at the girl in front of him coldly. “All the conclusions were deduced by the police. What does it have to do with me? Besides, shouldn’t this guy go to prison to sober up? A gambler, a thief, prison is the best place for him.”

"I can't communicate with you!" Yue Shui picked up her backpack. "I will find out the truth."

"Then hurry up." Xincheng picked up today's morning paper. "Just a reminder, you don't have much time left."

Two hours later

Nanatsuki Koshimizu, who was at the entrance of the Beika Central Art Museum, ran into an acquaintance, Conan Edogawa.

"Big sister? Where's Uncle Shinjo?" Conan immediately tensed up.

He felt that yesterday's results were all erroneous conclusions led by Xincheng, so he came to the site today to see if he could find any evidence to overturn Xincheng's conclusions.

However, he hadn't expected to run into Yue Shui here. Yue Shui and Xin Cheng often appeared together. If Xin Cheng was going to obstruct him, he was prepared to abandon today's operation. He was still somewhat intimidated by Xin Cheng, a former member of the black organization.

"That guy didn't come!" Yue Shui said through gritted teeth. Seemingly realizing her attitude was inappropriate, she immediately put on a smiling face. "Little brother, why did you come here?"

Hearing the term "little brother," Conan felt a little conflicted, even though he was already a high school student!

However, he quickly composed himself. "I just felt that yesterday's reasoning went too smoothly; whatever evidence I needed came up right away. Building a chain of evidence takes a long time and requires a thorough on-site investigation, he..."

"He admitted it. Yesterday's events were the result of his deliberate manipulation!" Koshimizu Nanatsuki stared at Conan and said, "Little brother, you're a detective too, right?"

"This one……"

Conan looked into Koshimizu's eyes and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

“Xincheng told me that the information about the bomb being found on the train was provided by you,” Yue Shui said with a smile. “Why don’t we join forces this time and try to defeat him?”