Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 245 Faith in Death
"Next up is a theatrical performance by Class 2-B..."

Before the performance started, Gao Mo ordered an iced cola from a stall next to the audience seats, which he could get for free by showing the work ID given to him by the organizer.

Although he was quite wealthy, it was hard to refuse something for free, especially the iced cola he had been drinking since his rebirth.

What you're drinking isn't just a beverage, it's a memory.

A tribute to those difficult years.

Huh?
Gao Mo suddenly noticed a short-haired cowgirl next to him who was queuing up for a bunch of drinks. She was dressed like a tomboy and was carrying them with her arms because she couldn't hold them all with both hands. He wondered what she was doing. After leaving the queue, she also took honey and cream balls from the toppings area.

The movements weren't very obvious, but Gao Mo's eagle eyes did see the other party open the lids of two drinks and seemingly put ice in them.

The cup was labeled iced coffee, but it was actually iced cola, just like the coffee itself.

"Sorry, there were too many people, so I just carried it for my friend." The short-haired woman turned around and saw Gao Mo, a hint of panic flashing in her eyes.

Gao Mo nodded slightly without saying anything.

He's not Conan, who randomly goes to any place and observes his surroundings with the eyes of someone looking at a suspect.

However, this person... sensed the woman's presence for a brief moment just now.

It seems like there's a strong emotional fluctuation.

"Mitani," the short-haired woman said, walking through the crowd back to the side of the stands and handing her drink to her companion. "I'm going to the restroom. Could you share it with everyone?"

"The show is about to start!"

"Go quickly and come back soon!"

A fat man passed the drink to someone else.

"Is mine oolong tea, Yume's orange juice, and Kohei and Mai's iced coffee?"

"Ah."

The bespectacled man on the far side responded and opened the cup lid, his brows immediately furrowing.

Iced Coke.

Did the students at the stall make a mistake?

The bespectacled man turned to look at the beverage stand, but before he could say anything, he saw the lights in the venue dim.

The stage play performance has begun.

Gao Mo glanced at Princess Xiao Lan, who appeared after the stage curtain was drawn back, and instead of sitting with the smug little mustache, he found the empty seat behind the bespectacled man and his companions.

He didn't see everyone as a murderer; it was just that the short-haired woman's actions were too obviously premeditated.

He was briefly surprised to find that his iced coffee had been turned into cola, but he didn't go to the booth to replace it. He even deliberately delayed and only returned to the audience when the lights were about to go out.

Some even hand their drinks to their companions to share while they rush off to the restroom.

This strong sense of déjà vu successfully attracted Gao Mo's attention.

"Strange," the man with the mustache said excitedly, waving and calling out to Ran on stage. Turning around and not seeing Gao Mo, he quickly grabbed Conan. "Where's Kido? Wasn't he here today too?"

"Maybe it's backstage?" Conan was still struggling with how to confess to Ran.

I used to worry about revealing my identity, but now that I really want to be honest, I realize it's not an easy thing to do.

Can the average person accept the fantastical event of turning into a child?

Even he found it hard to accept when he first encountered this situation.

And Xiaolan's reaction after the confession...

This is giving me a headache.

Sometimes he really envied the older man. Although he and Eri Kisaki had separated, it was clear that Attorney Kisaki still liked the older man and had expressed her desire to go home more than once.

Ignoring reasoning, the older man is truly a master of emotions, having the queen completely under his control.

……

"Wow!"

Toilet.

When no one was around, the short-haired woman threw away her frog-mouth wallet and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, her beautiful face revealing a complex mix of emotions, including excitement, apprehension, and hatred.

The moment has finally arrived.

That guy will be poisoned soon, we must kill him!
That kind of trash doesn't deserve to live!

"May Death grant us success!"

The short-haired woman muttered a few words, mimicking the gestures she'd seen online, then quickly composed herself and returned to the pitch-black audience seats.

Just like her plan, the target also discovered it wasn't iced coffee, but still inserted a straw.

Given that guy's personality, he'll definitely end up eating the ice cube laced with poison.

“Sir,” Gao Mo reached out to stop the bespectacled man, “I’m sorry, the person serving the drinks made a mistake. I’ll change it to iced coffee for you.”

"Who are you?" The bespectacled man frowned in displeasure, noticing Gao Mo's name tag in the dim light, but said nothing more. "Hurry up, that brat definitely did it on purpose!"

The short-haired woman returned to her seat blankly, staring incredulously at Gao Mo intervening: "You..."

"And yours too," Gao Mo said, taking the iced cola from the short-haired woman. "I'm really sorry."

"not me……"

The short-haired woman woke up with a start and watched Gao Mo leave. She quickly got up and followed him.

However, in the darkness, Gao Mo did not go to the stall to exchange for a drink, but instead went towards the restroom.

It’s over.

Her plans were completely ruined.

No, we have to get rid of the poisonous ice blocks quickly!

"I just asked, are you all doctors from Mikasa General Hospital?"

A voice suddenly called out to the short-haired woman in the empty corridor.

"What reason is there to go so far as to kill someone? Doctors are here to save lives, aren't they?"

"who are you?"

The short-haired woman felt a chill run down her spine, sensing that Gao Mo was somewhat elusive and unpredictable.

"What murder? I..."

"It can't be a prank, can it? It doesn't look like it."

Gao Mo watched the short-haired woman under the corridor lights from the shadows.

“You pretend to add honey and cream at the stall, but in the end you add ice cubes that you prepared beforehand. The honey and cream are left out properly—because you’re worried that the gentleman won’t drink it if you add it to the cola.”

"What... what does this prove?" The short-haired woman's smile froze.

"You deliberately timed it so that the gentleman wouldn't have to go to the stall to exchange his drink, and you even used the excuse of going to the restroom to leave, avoiding handing him the drink yourself, thus preemptively averting suspicion."
Even after the incident, the police will have little reason to suspect you, especially since the drinks you bought were the same as the victim's, and you prepared the same poisoned methamphetamine. If the police didn't know the crime was committed with poisoned methamphetamine, it would be almost impossible for them to consider you the murderer.

Gao Mo shook the iced cola in his hand.

“Choosing poisoned methamphetamine has another advantage: the victim won't die immediately. If the victim has a habit of eating methamphetamine, the police might not even find any trace of poison afterward, at which point the investigation might turn to suicide…”

The short-haired woman's eyes trembled, as if she were being examined naked under a magnifying glass.

All her thoughts and plans were seen through.

"The frog-mouth wallet you threw away in the trash can outside the restroom still had some dry ice fragments left inside. It was probably used to store toxic ice, and you disposed of it while you were in the restroom."

Gao Mo calmly analyzed.

"If you've planned all this, what else could it be but murder? If you still don't admit it, I can give the ice from these two glasses of cola to the police for testing."

The short-haired woman felt dizzy and staggered back against the wall as if all her strength had left her: "I had considered the plan failing, but I never expected it to fail like this... Just who are you?"

Who in their right mind would pay such close attention to her every move, let alone analyze her motives?

The short-haired woman smiled bitterly, "That devil so easily takes lives, why is it so difficult for me to kill him? It really proves the saying, 'Good people don't live long, but evil people live a thousand years.'" "You've got it wrong. I'm not trying to save him, I just want to know your motives."

Gao Mo's eyes moved slightly.

He doesn't know if it's because of the mental network, but he can sense these guys reciting the name of the Grim Reaper when they're nearby.

So he almost personally witnessed the woman's series of actions in the toilet.

The influence of online cults is more serious than he thought.

Not only unemployed arsonists, but even doctors with relatively high social status have become believers in death.

He now believes that death only exists because of humans.

"That guy doesn't deserve to be a doctor at all!" The short-haired goddess said with disgust and hatred. "Just because there was a patient in the hospital who didn't conform to his theories, in order not to affect his promotion, he deliberately prescribed the wrong medicine to the patient, causing the patient to die so that his theories could be established!"
When I found out about this, he was actually proud of it.

The short-haired woman had a murderous look on her face.

"The student at the beverage stall who deliberately replaced iced coffee with cola was actually the dean's daughter, and also his former fiancée. Because the wedding was canceled, he came to me for drinks and poured out his grievances."

He claimed he could take lives at will, yet he was dumped by a teenage girl… If the dean's daughter really marries someone like that, then God is blind!

"He truly deserves to die."

Gao Mo couldn't tell whether the short-haired woman was lying.

However, the motive for the murder...

Well, I don't know whether to call it excessive righteousness or cynicism, but killing someone because you think they're unfit to be a doctor... is quite reasonable.

It's better than those bizarre motives.

“I advise you to stop here,” Gao Mo said as he finished dealing with the two glasses of poisoned cola and left. “Don’t underestimate the police’s investigative capabilities. It’s not worth getting yourself into trouble for someone like this. Doctors should focus on saving lives and not be fooled by those so-called Death Cults online.”

"Don't you believe in the existence of death?" The short-haired woman frowned again.

"I just don't believe in those guys who use the Grim Reaper's name to deceive people. Not just anyone can become a Grim Reaper's agent."

Gao Mo circled around and returned to the performance venue.

What exactly is the idea behind believing in Death? Is it a fear of not dying?

The stage play was already halfway through when dark clouds gathered outside the stadium and a rain shower began. The murder that should have happened did not occur.

The audience was still quite lively, and the mustachioed man cheering for his daughter Ran brought laughter from the whole audience. His performance was even more entertaining than that of the stage actors, and Conan, feeling embarrassed, could only pretend not to know him.

"What's that guy doing?" The bespectacled man, unaware that he had just escaped death, was furious at Gao Mo for disappearing without a trace. "He promised to change my drink, what does it mean to just vanish like that? I'm going to file a complaint!"

“Never mind, Kohei,” his companion said helplessly, “it’s just a drink.”

Gao Mo walked through the middle of the audience, heard the bespectacled man's voice, raised his eyebrows slightly, and the scene of the bespectacled man's tragic death appeared in his eyes.

Escaping one calamity is one thing, but surviving another doesn't mean you're immortal.

In this world, normal motives may not necessarily lead to death, but unconventional motives will certainly result in death.

If he hadn't intervened suddenly, the bespectacled man would have had almost no chance of survival.

Today, the school festival might end just as the bespectacled guy dies.

"Whoosh!"

As the stage play ended, enthusiastic applause erupted in the audience, and only then did the short-haired woman absentmindedly return to her companions.

"What's wrong with the costumes?" the female colleague asked, puzzled. "They look like they've seen a ghost! Where's that staff member? Didn't they change your drinks?"

"Huh?" The short-haired woman reacted slowly. "I'll go buy the drinks again later."

As she spoke, the short-haired woman looked around. The lights came on, but she couldn't find anyone who resembled the staff member from before.

Gao Mo had arrived backstage early to help the actors remove their makeup.

"Kido-kun!" Sonoko, who was taking on the role of the prince, was pounding with excitement, her face flushed. "Did you see my performance just now? Wasn't it amazing?"

"Uh-huh."

Gao Mo had a slight sweat on his forehead.

He can't very well say that he didn't watch much of the performance.

Besides the doctors, he also paid attention to the other people in the venue.

However, murder cases are not so casual; abnormal cases are ultimately a minority.

Not only the audience, but the students also got along well and didn't get caught up in the rhythm of the Kindaichi cases.

It seems like I'll have made a wasted trip.

It's his fault for not being able to control himself and getting involved.

Is it really as Ai said, that he actually enjoys helping pretty female prisoners?
"What does 'hmm' mean?" Sonoko asked disappointedly. "So I guess I'm still not good enough?"

Gao Mo laughed and said, "Nothing of the sort, as long as the audience is happy."

Sonoko was even more heartbroken: "But this stage play is a deeply moving love story, like Romeo and Juliet..."

"By the way, where is your English teacher?" Gao Mo quickly changed the subject.

He had seen the fake new release and confirmed it was Vermouth.

FBI agent Judy was nowhere to be found.

I wonder if it's because I want to avoid too much contact with Vermouth.

"Ms. Judy?" Sonoko seemed to dislike the new English teacher, frowning as she said, "It's better if Kido-kun doesn't get involved with foreign women. She always wears sexy and revealing clothes to class; she's not exactly a teacher."

Conan's lips twitched as he stood nearby.

This guy has the nerve to criticize others.

“I think Ms. Judy is quite good,” Xiaolan interjected after removing her makeup. “Her teaching is excellent, but she doesn’t like to talk much after class and seems a bit unsociable.”

"It's not that she's unsociable, she doesn't play with us at all, and she's always very serious during and after class." Sonoko suddenly felt a pang of anxiety.

Ms. Judy is sexy and mature, and she's also big and fair-skinned—she seems to be the type that Mr. Kido likes.

"Something's wrong!" a student outside cried out in alarm. "Where's Shinichi-sensei? Someone fell off the stage and got hurt!"

"Ms. Shinichi just went to the infirmary!"

"Quick! Get to the infirmary!"

“Wait,” Gao Mo noticed the student in the crowd who was breathing heavily but unable to make a sound, “Don’t touch him yet, have Dr. Shinichi bring his medical kit over.”

Pain has many levels; being unable to make a sound is more serious than crying out in pain.

Even though he only glanced at it, he could tell that the student was seriously injured and that moving around carelessly could easily cause further damage.

He couldn't handle it himself, so he had to send that fake newbie over.

It must be said that these masters of disguise are all talented, as they can even match the skills of their disguise targets.

Vermouth herself seems to be a doctor no less skilled than Tomoaki Araide.

"Should we call an ambulance?" Sonoko asked nervously.

She's in charge now, and this kind of thing just happened...

“No need,” Gao Mo examined the injuries further. “It’s just a common fracture and ligament damage. Luckily, your new doctor should be able to handle it.”

At this moment, the fake Shinichi returned backstage, and upon hearing this, his eyebrows twitched slightly: "Mr. Kido also knows about this?"

"I know a little."

Gao Mo stepped aside and watched the fake newcomer perform.

Conan visibly tensed up, trying to glean clues from the fake Shinichi, but found nothing of value.

Unless you directly grab their faces, it's very difficult to find any flaws in these big shots.

Conan didn't dare to go too far, so he turned his gaze to Gao Mo, and only felt slightly relieved when he saw that Gao Mo didn't react.

(End of this chapter)