Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 145 Conan: Is Uncle really just an actor?

Chapter 145 Conan: Is Uncle really just an actor?
"The reason Mr. Shinmei does not allow the editorial department to modify the text is because he needs the text to convey a message."

Gao Mo arranged the six manuscripts side by side.

"A closer look reveals that the text requiring modification is entirely within the dialogue, and all of it consists of Mr. Shinmei's dialogue from the novel. Mr. Shinmei insists on keeping the layout unchanged because of the dialogue..."

Conan pushed up his glasses, his gaze trembling slightly.

Mr. Domoto certainly knew the answer.

Given this, it's impossible that they didn't know about the initial distress message.

Why is it said that Shinmei Nittaro is alright?
Also, how can you tell where Shinmei Nittarou is?
The riddles in the following text have also been solved?
Could there be some key information in episode 6?
Conan looked again at the photocopy he had drawn so badly, then at the latest chapter 6, sweat gradually beading on his forehead.

can't read.

The rest of the dialogue doesn't make any sense at all. Apart from the first episode, the rest of the dialogue is a mess no matter how you put them together.

"So who are you? This is just a riddle posed by Teacher Xinming..."

A quarrel at the next desk interrupted Conan's speculation.

The editorial staff member turned to the chubby editor with a helpless expression: "A young man with a Kansai accent insisted that I call the police."

"Please! How many times do I have to say it? Just call the police! That old man with the new name started asking for help in the very first episode!"

The voice on the phone was furious, and it could be heard clearly even without the speakerphone on.

"I am Hattori Heiji, the Osaka detective. Let me speak with your editor-in-chief!"

"Osaka boy?"

The man with the mustache seemed to have a fairly strong impression of Hattori Heiji, and quickly pressed the speakerphone button.

"What are you doing here, a police officer's son, getting involved in this mess?"

“Oh, it’s the old man,” Hattori Heiji’s anger subsided. “I’ve deciphered the code in the novel, though only the beginning. But this is probably no longer a mystery. The old man hid a distress message in the novel, which is why I told them to call the police quickly…”

"You solved it too?"

"also?"

"All right."

Gao Mo didn't let Osaka Black Chicken continue asking questions.

"You're mistaken, it's not what you think."

"Who are you? How could I possibly have answered incorrectly?"

Hattori Heiji frowned.

"Let me tell you, the old man with the new name has hidden a code in the dialogue of the novel. The title of the novel, 'The Half-Vertex,' is an important clue. The words at the top of the dialogue can be combined in pairs as half to form new words!"

You'll understand once you read the novel; the very first line of dialogue is a cry for help! This old man is likely being held somewhere where he's forced to write his novel. I think the prisoner is either a fanatical reader pressuring him to continue serializing, or someone after his royalties…”

"This serialization was Mr. Shinmei's own decision. If he was being forced, why would he need to ask for help in the novel?"

Gao Mo was too lazy to argue further and spoke directly to Shinmei Kaori, whose face had turned pale.

“Don’t be scared by this guy, Miss Shinmei. Your father’s message in the novel is ‘Hurry and save me,’ ‘My current location,’ ‘Beika Municipal Grand Hotel,’ ‘Room 2407’…”

"You even untied the back?"

Hattori Heiji was a little dumbfounded, but then he was furious.

"Isn't this a cry for help? Call the police right now, you idiot!"

"The 24th floor of the Beihu Municipal Grand Hotel is a honeymoon suite. How could it possibly be used to hold a well-known novelist under house arrest for an extended period?"

Gao Mo stepped forward, hung up the call, and turned to the editorial staff.

"Let's go check on him first. Although Mr. Shinmei is not in danger, he is probably not in good condition. He may be sick or injured his hand. Judging from the signature, the last few words were probably dictated and typed by someone else."

"Hey?"

Osaka.

Heiji Hattori stared blankly at the busy tone of the phone.

The call ended...

Who is it? They didn't take him seriously at all.

...Downstairs in the university building.

Gao Mo and his group got into two cars. Conan dodged Ran and nimbly slipped into the sedan, sitting next to Gao Mo.

"Uncle Domoto, didn't you say the manuscript might have been written in advance and then sent over in separate parts? How come you're saying it was typed by someone else?"

“If the signatures are the same for all three chapters, then there’s no point in signing them, right? Given Mr. Shinmei’s style, unless he can’t sign them, there’s no reason for him to do that for the next three chapters.” Gao Mo rubbed his temples to relieve the fatigue from using the Mind Palace.

"..."

Conan was a little annoyed.

That's what he said before.

"Furthermore, if the prisoner is an avid reader, it would be virtually impossible for Mr. Shinmei to leave those messages successfully. A single word out of place in the dialogue or a slight misalignment in the layout would prevent the message from being conveyed..."

Gao Mo glanced at Niina Kaori, who was clenching her fingers and keeping her head down in silence.

"This kind of manuscript needs to be revised and reviewed repeatedly. It simply won't work if there are outsiders involved. I think that's why you brought your mother along. Mr. Shinmei knew before the serialization that he couldn't finish the novel by himself..."

The reason I kept it from you is most likely because if you knew, we might not be able to continue this mystery-solving activity... How was your father's health before he disappeared?

"I...I don't know," Shinmei Kaori's face changed again, "Two months ago, Dad seemed to have gone to the hospital, but..."

"This is just my guess."

Gao Mo did not continue his analysis.

Compared to being kidnapped, having a serious or terminal illness seems even worse.

However, this is the conclusion he has drawn, unless Shinmei Niitaro is a mischievous old man who is deliberately faking illness...

While it's not impossible, it's completely pointless.

He must have pre-ordered the promised payment for this puzzle-solving activity.

“But Uncle Domoto,” Conan still didn’t quite understand, “how did you decipher those codes later on? The ‘half-vertex’ rule doesn’t apply at all!”

"That Osaka detective just happened to be the right one. The reason why the rest of the story couldn't be solved was because other rules were overlooked."

Gao Mo looked at the night view outside the car and said.

"It's not just about combining all the words in pairs; there are some words that need to be removed. For example, the initial 'h' in French is silent. Mr. Shinmei in the novel lives in France, so solving the word puzzle requires a second rule: removing words that contain the 'h' sound."

Mr. Shinmei deliberately made his first comment easy to spot.

“So that’s how it is,” Conan said, sitting back down in a daze. “There are even French rules.”

What you thought was the correct solution turned out to be a trap set by the author, making you subconsciously believe that the solution was correct.

Thank goodness he didn't act impulsively like Hattori Heiji.

but……

Even though he had the same approach to solving the problem, he racked his brains but still couldn't figure it out.

How could an actor see the outcome so quickly?

They even had the energy to deduce the whole mystery behind it...

Conan tilted his head back and quietly stared at Gao Mo as he turned to the side, feeling inexplicably awkward.

In the darkness of the night, I vaguely saw Yusaku Kudo.

The last time I felt this way was when I was with my dad.

When it comes to solving code puzzles, only his father has ever made him admit defeat.