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

In the dim backstage, police gathered in the prop room where the body was found, and there was almost no one else in the corridor.

Kudo Shinichi leaned against the wall and looked down at his body which belonged to a high school student. His whole body was in pain, but the pain in his heart was no less than that in his body.

What is it like to be a child?
Kudo Shinichi, who lives in the Mori Detective Agency as Edogawa Conan, has never forgotten what happened on that day and in those few minutes.

——My whole body was hot and my bones felt like they were melting. My only thought was whether I would die in the next second.

Kudo Shinichi struggled to support his body and not fall to the ground. He tried to shout again, but no clear sound came out of his mouth.

The way he felt now was very similar to the first time he turned small. Could it be that the cake was just a short-term antidote and he was going to turn back again?
But he really didn't want to be a child anymore.

He finally recovered and wanted to confess to Xiaolan everything he had experienced before in his true appearance... He didn't want to change back again without saying anything...

Pfft!
His heart trembled again, and Kudo Shinichi clenched his teeth hard to prevent himself from screaming. This time he could even clearly feel a heat seeping out from his hot bones and penetrating his skin.

No more——

Kudo Shinichi closed his eyes and felt that his knees could no longer support the strength of his body, and he fell forward.

Just when he was about to fall, a hand reached out and supported him in time.

When Kudo Shinichi opened his eyes, he saw Aoyagi Akimichi's face.

"what happened?"

Qing Liu Bingguang frowned, holding his body with his hands, his eyes quickly scanned from bottom to top, finally fixed on the face that was as pale as paper and sweating continuously, and his hands suddenly tightened: "I'm taking you to the hospital now."

"No, wait." Kudo Shinichi quickly grabbed him, "Mr. Aoyagi, I might... become smaller again. Please help me find an empty room."

He informed people he trusted of his status in a very quiet voice.

"But you..."

"please!"

Kudo Shinichi's voice was very soft but very urgent. Aoyagi Akimichi looked at him steadily for a while, then half-dragged and half-supported him in another direction.

"I've looked here before. There's an empty small room with nothing in it. The police must have looked around and left... We can go there..."

Amid Aoyagi Binkou's whispered comfort, he pushed open a door, and there was nothing inside just as he said, only a chair and a large dressing mirror.

Such a small room that will not disturb others is exactly what Kudo Shinichi needs now. He sat on the chair.

In the mirror opposite, he saw himself. His every move and even every expression could be fully presented on the other side.

This made Kudo Shinichi inexplicably feel like he was being spied on and observed.

"Mr. Aoyagi."

Kudo Shinichi threw that strange thought out of his mind. He looked up and looked at Aoyagi Akimitsu who was standing beside him. "You can go to the prop room. You don't have to stay here with me."

Aoyagi Binmitsu put his hand on his shoulder and seemed to want to say something, but Kudo Shinichi interrupted him in time.

"Please help me find out what's going on with the other Kudo Shinichi."

The heat of his body did not stop his brain from thinking, and he had already recalled something strange that had happened before.

——"In addition to Mr. Maori, have you hired other detectives? Just now when I passed the entrance of the banquet hall, I seemed to see another detective..."

Before her death, Sumire accidentally met a detective. Could the person she met at that time be Kudo Shinichi?

Who is that Kudo Shinichi?

Could he have anything to do with the case?
And Huibara... yes, and her... He might have to change back now. How is her health now, since she ate more cake than him and is still here?

What if, what if she did that in public at the banquet... Kudo Shinichi became more and more anxious the more he thought about it. While persuading Aoyagi Akimitsu, he suppressed his discomfort and reached for his cell phone, intending to send a message to Haibara and Dr. Agasa.

"Ring-ling——"

The ringing of a bell suddenly rang in the room.

Kudo Shinichi was stunned for a moment, then realized that it was not the ringtone he set.

Aoyagi Akimichi took out his cell phone. He didn't know what the FBI agent had received. Kudo Shinichi, who was sitting, had his vision blocked by the cell phone, so he couldn't see the other person's specific expression.

"Then I'm out."

Aoyagi Hiromitsu quickly put down his phone and patted his shoulder comfortingly: "Don't worry, I already have some clues about the case in the prop room and the other Kudo Shinichi."

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but Kudo Shinichi seemed to hear a hint of excitement in his tone.

But he soon confirmed that he had heard wrongly, because Aoyagi Binkou's voice was calmer than ever before, even...heavy.

……

Since this is a newly built hotel and it is the first time to host a competition, there are no decent equipment in the prop room. All the equipment used for the halftime show and the performances of the first two contestants are placed here.

Shigeo Yokomizo looked at the huge background board beside him and the spray paint can next to it, then looked at the corpse on the ground.

The deceased, Shou Meimei, whose identity has been confirmed, was found lying face up on the ground, wearing common office women's clothing, with messy hair scattered around her face and her wide-open eyes staring straight up into the sky.

He actually died with his eyes open.

Having seen so many corpses, Yokomizo Shigego was very calm: "What was the cause of death?"

"She was killed by a heavy blow to the back of the head. She died half an hour ago." The accompanying forensic doctor made a basic judgment, "The murder weapon...or the thing that killed her should be that wall."

"wall?"

Shigeo Yokomizo looked in the direction and saw only a few large cardboard boxes stacked up. He moved a few steps to the side and saw a red mark on the snow-white wall.

The prisoner should try to wipe it with a towel and spread it around, but the color will not disappear, but will expand the messy marks.

Yokomizo Shigego compared her injuries and said, "The deceased's head hit the wall... Could it be that she had an argument with someone and was pushed down by the other party?"

Looking at the messy erasure marks, it's obvious that this wasn't done by an experienced or premeditated person, but more like a crime of passion - like just pushing someone away during an argument.

This case is not difficult. Yokomizo Shigego turned to his men again and said, "Call the people who have been in and out of this room, and ask if anyone else heard the quarrel here."

"By the way, there's also that kid called Kudo Shinichi." He paused, then added a little irritably, "Bring him too."

Long before Shigeo Yokomizo came in, his men had already gone to look for the relevant personnel, and a few minutes later, some people entered the room.

Some of them were backstage staff, and the others were those that Shigego Yokomizo had seen in the venue a few minutes ago.

——One of the contestants, Osaka champion Kagami Kawada, puppeteer Shoichi Amano, and…

A pale-looking high school-age teenager walked in, and the police officer who brought him in offered him a hand to support him.

Yokomizo Shigego was very unhappy that a high school detective might enter the crime scene, but when he saw the other party's ugly face, he was still stunned for a moment: "What's wrong with you?"

Kawada Jingmei turned her head and her face turned pale when she saw his condition.

----

I’m really not good at writing detective stories (painful)…

Besides, I have to prepare for next year's exam, which is quite important... The updates will be slower, but don't worry, I won't stop. (End of this chapter)