Conan: When Shinjiu and Maolilan swap bodies

He put the cup down and placed his hand on the bar.

"What do you mean?"

His voice was very low, so low it sounded like it was being squeezed out of his throat.

Qingze put the lollipop back in his mouth. "It doesn't mean anything. I just happened to be passing by, just happened to see the corpse, just happened to know that person, and just happened to let you know."

Amuro Tooru stared at him.

"Is he a member of the organization?"

Qingze didn't speak, but just looked at him with a slight smile on his lips.

Sometimes silence is the answer.

Amuro Tooru took a deep breath and quickly connected all the information in his mind.

Rum, one-eyed.

That Wakita Kanenori came to the coffee shop several times when something happened that might require his attention.

Rum was very interested in people like Ran Mouri and Kogoro Mouri before, but he never sent any related mission orders after that.

why?

Because he came in person.

He personally hid nearby, observing Ran Mouri, Kogoro Mouri, him, and Aozawa.

"Rum".

Amuro Tooru uttered two words softly.

Bingo!

Qingze's smile grew even more delightful.

Amuro Tooru's throat tightened.

Rum. The organization's number two. The man lurking in the shadows, the man whose true face was known to few... just like that, dead?

Who did it?

What role does the person in front of you play?

Amuro Tooru stared intently at him.

His gaze traveled from Qingze's eyes to the corners of his mouth, and from the corners of his mouth to the tips of his eyebrows, trying to glean something from that face. Even the slightest flaw, the fleeting glimmer of insight, would be appreciated.

Qingze met his gaze and shrugged innocently.

"Don't look at me like that, I didn't kill him."

Amuro Tooru didn't believe a single word.

Even if he didn't do it, it must be related to him. This coincidence, this timing, this leisurely "passing by"—you're kidding me.

He lowered his eyes.

My mind raced through all the possibilities. The organization's second-in-command was dead.

What will happen when this news gets back to the organization?

A power vacuum. Internal turmoil. A purge.

Gin hates uncontrollable factors the most. To stabilize the situation, he will definitely take the safest measures:

Eliminate all factors that might take advantage of the chaos.

Undercover agent. Traitor. Restless person.

We will not let a single one escape.

He raised his head, his gaze returning to Qingze's face.

"What do you want to do by telling me this?"

Qingze changed his sitting posture.

Leaning against the edge of the bar, elbows casually resting on the counter, he glanced over indifferently.

“Just a reminder,” he said casually, “that it’s time to leave.”

Amuro Tooru stared at him.

It's definitely time to withdraw.

In this situation, continuing to lie low is pointless. The organization will enter a period of chaos, as well as a period of sensitivity. Any slight disturbance could be magnified into a pretext for a purge.

He's an undercover agent with his identity revealed; staying in this fixed location is a death sentence.

Koniak came specifically to remind him, which suggests he doesn't want to lose him as an ally for the time being.

But for Koniak, the so-called "cooperative allies" are probably not of much value.

If Koniak wanted to, he could kill all the people in the organization all by himself, without needing any help.

Who did it?

Qingze sighed softly, his tone tinged with regret.

"It must be Rum's enemy. He was so careless to let his enemy discover his identity."

Amuro Tooru didn't say anything.

Are you sure it wasn't you who did this? Are you sure you didn't intentionally reveal his identity?

But there's no point in delving into this.

Rum's death was a fact. If he wanted to know the specifics, he could simply go out now and check the alley where the person had died. Or he could retrieve the information from the Metropolitan Police Department later—the Public Security Bureau would report it sooner or later anyway.

He changed the question.

What are you planning to do next?

Currently, the number of organization members killed by Koniak is too numerous to count on one hand. The intelligence he obtained, along with the various records and documents seized from the organization's base, is more than he has amassed during his years of undercover work.

For him, Koniak was no longer just a simple informant or collaborator.

He was key to destroying the organization.

What he plans to do next is very important.

Qingze took the lollipop out of his mouth and twirled it in his hand. The sugar stains shimmered under the light.

"I'll let you know when I need you to do something. For now—let's see how the organization reacts."

Qingze's tone remained lazy, exuding a sense of composure as if everything was under control.

The coffee shop's heater hummed softly, and condensation on the windowpanes formed droplets that slowly slid down.

Amuro Tooru's gaze fell on him, and his heart sank.

Currently, this is an exceptionally reliable ally.

However, once the common enemy disappears, the person sitting in front of him will become the most dangerous enemy.

none of them.

Qingze put the lollipop back in his mouth.

He didn't notice Amuro Tooru's complex inner thoughts—or rather, he did notice them, but couldn't be bothered to care.

He doesn't really have everything under control.

I still have to pretend.

In situations like these, it's better to make allies feel confident than to let them see that he's also feeling his way in the dark.

He wasn't Zhuge Liang, who could calculate everything perfectly.

He could only predict how the people in the organization would react to Rum's death.

He could guess about 70-80% of what Gin would think, what Vermouth would do, and how those lurking in the shadows would take advantage of the situation.

But what specific decisions will that Brandy make?

he does not know.

How significant will Rum's death be, how far will it spread, and how much turmoil will it cause?

He said he couldn't be sure.

First, bait the hook.

He has already baited the hook.

Then cast your line and wait to see which way the water flows and what kind of movement occurs on the surface.

Only after he has clearly seen those things can he decide what to do next.

Qingze raised his eyes and looked out at the street through the foggy glass window. The street was desolate in the winter.

He moved the lollipop from the left to the right and took a crunchy bite.

Anyway—

Rum is dead.

The organization could not possibly calm down.

Chapter 581 The Real Protector

The alley entrance has been cordoned off with police tape.

The red and blue lights of the police car flashed intermittently in the hazy sky, casting alternating red and blue hues on the faces of the onlookers. Several uniformed officers were maintaining order and driving away the curious passersby.

Forensic investigators squatted beside the body, their white-gloved hands carefully examining the deceased.

Megure Juzo stood inside the police line, hands on his hips, his brows furrowed.

"The time of death was approximately thirty minutes ago, and the fatal wound was a sniper bullet that pierced through the left eye," an investigator reported, looking up. "Judging from the trajectory, the firing point should have been on the roof of the building across the street, about two hundred meters away."

Megure looked up at the building, then looked down at the corpse on the ground.

The one-eyed sushi chef, wearing his work clothes, lay in a pool of blood, with takeout boxes scattered all over the floor. He looked like an ordinary deliveryman who had met with misfortune.

But for some reason, he always felt that something was wrong.

"Inspector Megure."

Another forensic investigator looked up, holding a small pair of tweezers in his hand. The tip of the tweezers held an exaggerated tooth.

"The deceased's front teeth were dentures."

Megure walked over, squatted down, and took a closer look.

These are exaggerated dentures, like a groundhog's incisors, deliberately worn for disguise.

“And this too.” The forensic investigator pointed to the upper lip of the corpse with tweezers. “The beard is fake too.”

Megure reached out and touched it.

The beard was glued on very firmly, but you could feel the glue residue at the edges if you touched it carefully. He gave it a gentle tug, and a small tuft of beard came off.

He stood up and stared at that face.

False teeth. False beard. And that eye patch that's been riddled with bullet holes—

"Check his identity," Inspector Megure said in a deep voice. "His identification."

This is not an ordinary person; it is someone who deliberately concealed their identity and disguised their appearance.

A police officer pulled a wallet from the deceased's pocket and took out the identification documents inside.

"Kanezo Wakita, 56 years old, address is..." The police officer stopped midway through reading.

"what happened?"

“This address…” the officer looked up, “is empty. There are no residential buildings there at all; it’s just a wasteland waiting to be demolished.”

Megure took the documents and looked at them over and over again.

The document was made so realistically that you wouldn't have noticed anything wrong with it if you hadn't checked the address.

“So,” he said slowly, “this person is using a false identity.”