Conan: I'm really not the mastermind behind the scenes

Kudo Shinichi temporarily separated from Miyano Shiho and went to the 20th floor. He lowered the brim of his hat, passed through the contestant passage, and sneaked into the backstage.

The backstage space was larger than he thought. The judges' room, the contestants' rest room during the competition, and the prop room were all here.

Kudo Shinji stepped aside to make way for two staff members who were carrying a large box out of the prop room. He noticed that Kogoro Mouri and Dr. Agasa were gathered at the door of the judges' room, and immediately hid behind the corner.

In fact, he could use an email to call Aoyagi Akimitsu out, but he was worried about the disappearance that Professor Agasa mentioned, and wanted to come and see what was going on.

The group was discussing something intensely, and just when Kudo Shinichi leaned his head out to hear more clearly, his eyes unexpectedly met those of two people.

Aoyagi Binkou, who was standing opposite the corner, saw him, and his female companion, Miss White, also saw him.

Kudo Shinichi saw Aoyagi Akimichi turn his head and say something to Miss White, and the lady who was said to come from an extraordinary background calmly withdrew her gaze.

"Is there no need to call the police?"

Shou Hualian fixed her long hair that was naturally loose after taking off the headband. She was still wearing the wedding dress she wore in the first game. She said impatiently, "She is not a child. She just disappeared for a while."

The short-haired girl Kawada Kagami twitched her eyebrows: "Hey, that's your biological sister. She suddenly disappeared after receiving a threatening letter at the stadium. Aren't you worried about her?"

Anpei Sumika from Nagano nodded in agreement.

There are a total of twenty contestants in the finals, and only the Osaka champion and the Nagano champion, who are familiar with Shou Hualian and appeared in the lounge before, are here.

"Why wouldn't I be worried?" Shou Hualian raised her eyebrows. "I didn't even change my clothes before I went to the lounge, bathroom, corridor, and even the toilet to look for someone. Do you want me to run to every floor before you're satisfied?"

Maori Kogoro had a subtle expression. He looked at his target Shou Hualian, and finally looked at his employer: "Mrs. Shou, did Miss Meimei say she had to leave for something?"

Mrs. Shou looked unhappy and shook her head slowly: "Before in the lounge, after Hua Lian and the others went backstage, I said a few words to her. She might be a little unhappy."

When she said this, Dr. Agasa recalled the scene at that time and said hesitantly: "Miss Meimei's face did not look very good at that time."

"That's it." Shou Hualian said, "She was scolded by her mother, and then went out to relax. Doesn't an adult have the freedom to be alone and not want to be contacted by the outside world for a while?"

"Can……"

An Pei Cheng Xiang wanted to say something else.

"Alright, alright." The person in charge, Daigo Miura, tried to smooth things over. "We can ask the hotel staff to help find Miss Meimei. You guys go prepare for the second talent show first. That's the most important thing."

Kudo Shinichi was speechless.

Bad news: The contents of the threatening letter appear to have come true.

Good news (?): The person infected is not a contestant or an important guest, but just an insignificant agent, which will not affect the continuation of the competition.

This person in charge is really...

Since Daigo Miura said this, naturally no one else had any objections - or if someone had any opinions, they were ignored by most people.

When Maori Kogoro saw Shou Hualian pulling Mrs. Shou and turning away, he hurried to follow. His first priority was to protect her. The other two girls followed reluctantly.

Dr. Agasa looked around and finally saw Kudo Shinichi not far away, who was standing on the other side of Aoyagi Akimitsu. Seeing him raise his chin at him, he immediately understood and followed them.

After they left, Miura Daigo opened the door of the judges' room behind him and turned to Ms. White: "Now it's time to score the first match, you..."

He glanced at Aoyagi Akimitsu, who was not a judge and theoretically not qualified to enter.

The latter said politely: "She has her own scoring criteria and does not need to discuss anything with you, so there is no need for me to follow up. Please do as you please."

He nodded slightly to Miss White, then strode away without any regrets.

It was extremely rude to leave his female companion behind like this, but he left with a clear conscience and his female companion didn't say anything, so naturally no one else could make any comments.

Kudo Shinichi retracted his head when Aoyagi Akimichi spoke, until the footsteps approached behind him, he raised his face, met Aoyagi Akimichi's gaze, and smiled embarrassedly.

"Mr. Qingliu..."

"There are a lot of people coming and going here, let's talk later." Qing Liu Bingguang whispered, "Let's go to the lounge outside first, there are makeup props there."

Kudo Shinichi nodded hurriedly, and followed Aoyagi Akimitsu towards the contestant passage.

The halftime show is currently going on in the banquet hall, and there aren't many people walking around backstage.

When passing by the prop room, a man in a suit just came out. He turned his back to them and carefully closed the door. When he turned his head and saw two faces, his body suddenly shuddered.

"Mr. Amano." Aoyagi Akimitsu greeted.

Hearing the last name, Kudo Shinichi immediately remembered that this person was probably the world-class puppeteer that Mrs. Shou had mentioned before and who had harassed Miss Hua Lian.

He couldn't control his curiosity and glanced at the puppeteer's hands. He saw that he had a handsome face, but his hands were thick and strong. Looking closely, there were many marks of string wrapped around his fingers. Amano Shoichi also nodded politely to Aoyagi Akiko: "Hello, Mr. Aoyagi. This is..."

He looked at Kudo Shinichi, and when he saw the face under the brim of the hat and the clothes on his body, his eyes became strange.

"Why are you here?"

Kudo Shinichi: “……?”

What's with this tone... Did this man, the suspected harasser, recognize him?

……

Meeting Shoichi Amano on the road was just an interlude. Since he had to perform on stage, Kudo Shinichi didn't have time to ask him about his strange attitude, and went to the lounge outside the banquet hall with Aoyagi Akimitsu.

Aoyagi Binguang locked the door and walked directly to the dressing table, rummaging through drawers, opening boxes, and picking out what he wanted.

Kudo Shinichi's eyelids twitched as he watched from behind, and he couldn't help but ask again: "Um, Mr. Aoyagi, did you really get their consent…"

"It's okay. These are the spare parts provided by the tournament organizers. They are not their personal belongings." Qing Liu Bingguang pointed to the side and said, "Sit down first."

Kudo Shinichi took off his hat and sat down obediently.

He slowly told Ai about how he ate the cake and accidentally grew bigger. As for Haibara Ai, he still explained it with the reason that "children are not used to alcoholic desserts and they needed to rest because they were not feeling well."

After listening to this, Aoyagi Binguang asked, "Are you sure it's a cake?"

"I was fine when I had lunch in the morning and at noon, but I suddenly felt sick shortly after I ate the cake. This is most likely the cause."

Kudo Shinichi paused, "Mr. Aoyagi, can you taste what kind of cake that is?"

"It's just a normal mousse cake, with a lot of alcohol added to get rid of the eggy and milky smells." Aoyagi Binguang came over and threw the powder on his face. "I don't know why, they didn't use the common rum or liqueur, but used white liquor instead."

Kudo Shinichi's face was covered with powder and he subconsciously tried to hide, but Aoyagi Binmitsu reached out and grabbed his chin, pinching his jaw with his fingers to fix his face.

Aoyagi Binguang said gently: "Don't move. I don't want to do repetitive work."

"..."

Seeing that Kudo Shinichi was cooperating obediently, Aoyagi Akimichi slowed down his fingers a little, but the force was still so strong that it was impossible to resist or struggle.

At this angle, Kudo Shinichi could only face that face directly. He met that pair of light brown eyes that were the same as usual, and suddenly asked, "Mr. Aoyagi, are you in a good mood today?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because..." Kudo Shinichi was stuck, "I just felt this way suddenly."

"You have a pretty sharp sense then." Aoyagi Binguang said with a smile, "I am indeed in a good mood today."

"Why?" Kudo Shinichi asked curiously.

"You can guess." said Aoyagi Binguang.

"Could it be..."

The figure of the woman just now jumped into his mind. Just as Kudo Shinichi was about to say her name, some detailed scenes from before emerged.

He found that although Aoyagi Akimichi said he was her male partner, they did not show any intimate behavior in the lounge and at the door of the judges' room.

——Forget about holding hands normally, they always deliberately keep a distance between each other and there is no physical contact.

But at this point, Miss White seemed a little strange.

She is an American and was said to be a model before. However, her clothing style today is quite conservative. Her arms, collarbones and thighs are covered tightly, with no skin exposed. She also has a pair of low-heeled shoes on her feet...

Kudo Shinichi accidentally strayed from the topic, and when he came back to the question, his mind was in a mess, and he could only guess randomly: "Because of work?"

The happiness of a teenager is simple, and the happiness of an adult is sometimes also simple. For example, when his father finished the manuscript and the editor finally let him go, he was happier than when he had solved a case.

"Guessed it right."

Aoyagi Binguang laughed again, and then he sighed softly.

He didn't elaborate on the specific reasons. Kudo Shinichi blinked, and before he could speak again, Aoyagi Akimichi had already put down the cosmetics in his hand.

"It's almost time." He said, "The second talent show is about to start, let's go over there." (End of this chapter)