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

As the second round of talent show began, the door of the banquet hall was closed again, and all guests and staff stayed in this enclosed space.

The banquet hall was dimly visible, with the spotlights mainly focused on the stage, illuminating an area nearby, while areas farther away from the stage were hidden in darkness.

At this time, Curacao had put on a new disguise. She quietly left Pisco and joined other hotel staff who were on standby in the outer circle.

The guests were concentrating on watching the performance, and most of the staff were doing nothing. They didn't notice Curacao coming over, and the few who came closer were discussing in a low voice.

"Ms. Shou Hualian scored the highest in the first round." One of them looked at the cello player on the stage, "I wonder if the others can surpass her."

"I see the difficulty."

Another staff member who was in charge of backstage prop preparation whispered to them, "Ms. Hua Lian plans to perform in a special way in this competition, hoping to further widen the gap with the others."

"What method?" the third person asked curiously.

The man began to keep her in suspense and winked at her: "You will know in a while."

Curacao's eyes swept across the wire equipment at the top of the stage, which was faintly visible between the curtains. She showed no interest, and then she looked at the camera not far away.

Several cameras from Nichimi TV were pointing towards the stage. The program director would occasionally give the cameramen a few reminders, and they would make adjustments accordingly.

She soon saw Kil, her colleague who was also a female host, communicating with people around her with a warm and friendly smile on her face.

Kiel had nothing to do with today's mission, and Curacao retracted his gaze before she noticed.

The conscientious organization members observed the venue, trying to eliminate as many uncertainties as possible, while the hotel staff around her had already jumped to the episode before the opening:
"Have you found Miss Shou?" asked the backstage staff.

When this was mentioned, one of them sighed imperceptibly: "No. After all, we still have to prepare for the on-site work, and we can't spend too much time looking for people."

"I don't think it matters if they can't find her." Another male employee said nonchalantly, "Her mother and sister aren't nervous, so outsiders like us shouldn't worry about it."

"But……"

The second person who spoke frowned slightly, revealing a worried expression: "We received a threatening letter this morning. If Shou Meimei is targeted by that criminal..."

"Alas, you think too much." The male employee chuckled, "The letter said they wanted to find the most beautiful person. Although Miss Shou is Miss Hua Lian's biological sister, she is still far from being the 'most beautiful'."

Curacao listened to their chat silently. At this moment, she felt a sense of being watched from the side!

She looked up suddenly and saw a pair of clear eyes.

A waitress with short hair and a white Greek dress was staring at her. She was startled when she suddenly turned her head.

Curacao looked into her eyes, and the creepy feeling of being closely eavesdropped on seemed to disappear completely in that instant.

"What's wrong?" Curacao asked.

"A customer over there spilled wine on his clothes. I see you work in the laundry department, so I wanted to ask if you could go over and help... Sorry, I'm so presumptuous." The other person bowed his head and apologized.

A farce was taking place not far away. A child brought by a guest was running around and bumped into a guest's leg, causing a wine glass to break. The child was now arguing with his parents, and some staff had already gone over to persuade them.

"..."

Curacao ignored the noise and continued to stare at the woman in front of her. She suddenly raised her finger and pointed at the edge of her cheek.

"You haven't applied your foundation yet."

"Eh?"

The woman was startled and quickly raised her hand to wipe her face, rubbing that area repeatedly. Her fingers were stained with unevenly applied foundation, and because she used too much force, the area that was rubbed soon turned slightly red.

It's real skin.

"Are you okay now?" The woman put down her hand and looked at Curacao.

Curacao nodded slowly, and the woman smiled relaxedly: "Oh, I really am... I can't even do such a small thing." Curacao wanted to say something, but the warm applause that broke out at the scene interrupted her next words.

The host's enthusiastic voice rang out: "Next is contestant No. 3, Ms. Shou Hualian's performance! She will dance gracefully in the air and give everyone a piano performance!"

His words attracted everyone's attention, and Curacao also looked over.

On the stage, a piano slowly appeared on a lift. Shou Hualian stood on the other side of the stage. She looked at the audience and smiled at them.

She had changed into a red dress at this time. The bright color was particularly eye-catching on the stage, and the applause from the crowd suddenly became even louder.

The stage suddenly darkened, and all the spotlights were focused on her. Her body suddenly leaped into the air with a light posture. Her red dress slowly opened up like a rose in the white light. The ropes carried her flying in the air, and she kept adjusting various postures as the ropes moved.

"Amazing!"

"So beautiful, just like a goddess in mythology..."

"It looks like a show I saw in Las Vegas before! Did you get the inspiration from there?"

The guests exclaimed in unison, as if a champion had been born.

The TV station's camera also closely followed the only female protagonist, without giving any extra shots to the passers-by in the audience.

But that's it.

"Bang bang——"

With a crisp breaking sound, under the gaze of everyone present, the wire rope hanging around Shou Hualian's waist suddenly broke!

Shou Hualian was hung at the highest point at this time. Before she could retract the confident and elegant smile on her face, her body fell down and landed heavily in the center of the stage!

Everyone looked at this scene in shock, and screams resounded throughout the venue! Almost at the same time, a gunshot with a silencer was heard, hidden in the shouting, and it was fleeting.

"Crack-!"

There was another sound of something heavy falling to the ground, and this time there was also the sound of glass breaking.

In the darkness, the strong smell of rust quickly spread.

"Something fell!"

"Turn on the lights! Hurry up and turn on the lights!!"

The continuous emergencies made the crowd extremely frightened and the scene was extremely chaotic. In the panic, someone touched the camera and the lens quietly turned to a remote corner.

After a period of chaos, the lights in the banquet hall finally came on again.

The sudden bright white light made Miyano Shiho subconsciously close her eyes. When she opened her eyes again, she noticed that behind the crowd, there was a TV station camera, shooting directly in her direction.

Miyano Shiho's face turned pale instantly.

……

at the same time.

In the Porsche on the street, Gin was looking at the laptop on his lap.

The scene that just flashed by kept flashing through his mind.

He was wearing a baseball cap and had medium-length black hair. Under the brim of the hat was a mixed-race face that looked somewhat familiar to him.

...Shirley?
Why is she there? (End of this chapter)