Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 249 Shadow Planner 2
dinner time.

The luxury cruise ship has left the port and sailed out onto the vast ocean. The coastline is gradually becoming blurred, with only a few small islands appearing in the view from time to time.

Where the sea meets the sky, the sunset paints the entire sky with a deep orange hue.

Ran, who went to the deck early, almost forgot the time, and Conan had to call her back to the restaurant.

After reading the "Case Files of the First Investigation Division," Gao Mo had nothing to do after putting his luggage in his room, so he took a walk around the cabin and deck. Finally, he observed the passengers during dinner time.

Surprisingly, he actually saw some interesting things.

Although the perpetrator is currently unknown, the robbers' belief that they can finally let loose tomorrow is just wishful thinking.

Whether it was revenge or infighting, the three robbers were destined to perish at the last moment.

Want to stop it?

Weird.

He's not Conan or a real policeman.

Unless someone is seeking revenge, he might try to stop them; if it's internal strife, he'd rather it be more brutal.

Because of the statute of limitations, it is difficult to punish these guys through normal channels, so this dolphin tour is actually an opportunity.

Gao Mo enjoyed his dinner discreetly, while casually observing the many passengers out of the corner of his eye.

The man with the mustache was catching up with Samezaki Shimajima over drinks, reminiscing about events from 10 years ago with a touch of melancholy.

"Yeah, I never thought I'd become a famous detective," the man with the mustache said, taking a small sip of red wine, looking rather smug. "At first, we almost went out of business, haha. It feels like a dream. So-called famous detective stories aren't that hard."

"..."

Conan, standing to the side, twitched his cheeks and gave a dry laugh.

Of course it's not difficult; I've solved very few cases on my own with a clear head.

However, he hadn't expected that the Mori Detective Agency would be able to stay with him until he moved in...

"A famous detective?" Several passengers who were having a meal turned their attention to him.

"Didn't expect that, did you?" A glint of light flashed in Samezakijima's eyes. "This man used to be a detective in the Metropolitan Police Department's First Investigative Division, and now he's the famous detective who strikes fear into the hearts of bad guys—Kogoro Mouri!"

"Is that so? I really didn't recognize your greatness."

The passengers all looked rather uneasy.

Besides Ebina, who wears glasses, the others who appeared were a balding, overweight man named Kameda Teruyoshi, a curly-haired beauty in her twenties named Isogai, and a rather gloomy and dangerous-looking man with a middle parting named Kanie Korehisa...

There was also a chubby old man who bore a resemblance to the food detective, dressed in a white suit, looking like a kind and amiable boss.

Sadao Kujirai, 50 years old.

Gao Mo observed the entire group's behavior.

Those who are here should all be relevant personnel. It is customary for everyone to act suspiciously before the incident, so Samezakijima's attempt to probe is futile.

However, he had roughly determined the identities of the two robbers.

After entering the restaurant, the man with the middle part and the balding fat man exchanged secret codes, probably because of their plastic surgery, and pretended to casually show each other tokens - a key and a seal engraved with the words "Furukawa Dai".

There was also a third robber and Ye Caisan, whose fate was unknown.

"So it was Officer Matsuda who solved both the arson case and the Shushiro case from 18 years ago!"

The topic suddenly shifted to Gao Mo, and the man with the mustache looked surprised.

"That's incredible. He's already an auxiliary police inspector at such a young age, and his case-solving skills are so amazing. He's much better than I was back then."

“Haha,” Samezakijima laughed, “You were indeed a bit lacking in investigations back then, but your reputation as a sharpshooter is known to everyone.”

"No, there are plenty of people with better marksmanship than me, I'm just..."

"Uncle?!" A dark-faced man yawned as he entered the restaurant, and upon seeing the mustachioed group, he was stunned and gaped. "You guys were invited too?"

"Hattori?" Ran and Conan looked at the newcomer in surprise.

It's Hattori Heiji.

"What invitation?" The man with the mustache looked completely bewildered. "We came here to complete our advertising tasks, didn't we?"

"An advertising mission?" Hattori Heiji asked, bewildered. "I received a strange invitation letter. A week ago, someone sent me a letter of commission containing 100,000 yen. The letter was addressed to 'Furukawa Dai,' but there was no sender's address, and the banknotes were all old bills."

They said I could board the ship by taking those banknotes to the port. I generally don't accept money when handling cases, and I was even thinking of returning the money to them...

The spoon in Gao Mo's hand bent.

Although this guy took on the case himself, he often complained about the commission fee while he was at the firm, and he failed to collect the final payment several times.

A rich young man who has never experienced hardship.

"That's so strange!" Ran exclaimed, pointing at Hattori Heiji in surprise. "Why isn't Kazuha with you?"

"Please," Hattori Heiji's face darkened, "why is Kazuha with me? She's her, and I'm me. It would be strange if we were always together, wouldn't it?"

He managed to sneak out after a lot of trouble.

Was the reaction really that strong?

It's as if he's a heartless man.

"Are we the only passengers?" Sadao Kujirai wiped the sauce from his mouth with a handkerchief, stroked his mustache, and asked the waiter, "I remember there was an old man here, but I haven't seen him come to dine."

“There is one more elderly gentleman,” the waiter said, checking the list. “He said he wants to take a nap before dinner and asked us not to disturb him…”

"Isn't it dinnertime now?" Sadao Kujirai shook his head. "By the way, who is he? He looks really strange... Could he be Dai Furukawa, the organizer of this event?"

"It shouldn't be. That old gentleman is a marine researcher named... Ye Caisan."

"what?!"

Everyone in the restaurant, including Samezaki Shimaji, stood up in shock, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Gao Mo had only taken a sip of soup when he saw Samezaki Shimaji lead the way, asking for room numbers and rushing out of the restaurant shouting.

This veteran police officer cares more about the case from 20 years ago than anyone else.

Although it's 20 years late, the robbers in that robbery are finally going to be punished.

"call!"

Gao Mo walked alone to the bow deck.

It was completely dark outside. Looking up at the sky, facing the sea breeze, I saw a crescent moon and a sky full of stars.

Sometimes he could understand Takato Yoichi's thoughts, but the other party had been extreme in the past, treating crime as art and going astray.

If it were him, his first choice would still be the law. He would only consider other options when the law could not provide sufficient punishment, and he would not add any additional factors.

"Officer, aren't you going to find that Ye Caisan?"

The curly-haired beauty, wearing a coat, walked up to Gao Mo and gazed at the pitch-black sea in the cold wind.

"The ocean is so beautiful during the day, but it becomes terrifying at night. If you fall into this vast ocean, all that awaits you is endless darkness... Life is so fragile."

Isogai Nagisa, 27 years old.

Gao Mo turned his head to observe the curly-haired beauty.

If he had any doubts before, he is now certain that the third robber is the fat man in a suit, Sadao Kujirai, who deliberately mentioned the last passenger earlier.

They also learned why the three robbers chose to meet at this time.

“Miss Isabelle,” Gomer took a necklace pendant out of his pocket, “is this yours? There’s a photo inside, it looks like a father and daughter photo, but the father’s face has been burned off.”

The curly-haired beauty was startled, and reached into her collar to find the pendant missing: "How did it end up in your hands?"

"I found it at the corner of the reception area. I was planning to ask who dropped it at dinner," Gao Mo admitted. Actually, he just picked it up casually.

Because this woman seemed to care a lot about this necklace when she boarded the ship; it looked like it had a story behind it.

"Thank you. This is a photo of my father and me; it's the only thing left." The curly-haired beauty put her necklace back on.

"Your father is Ye Caisan, right?" Gao Mo looked back at the front of the cruise ship. "That's why you didn't go looking for Ye Caisan, because there is no Ye Caisan at all."

"What are you talking about, officer?" The curly-haired woman's face stiffened for a moment, then she feigned ignorance and laughed, "My father did pass away 20 years ago, but that doesn't mean he has any connection with Ye Caisan."

After saying that, he stopped arguing with Gao Mo, wrapped his coat around himself, and hurriedly returned to his cabin.

Gao Mo didn't move, but frowned slightly when he smelled the faint smell of smoke.

He personally doesn't like smoking, and the ubiquitous subtle smoking advertisements in his life don't affect him. He also explicitly refused the production team's request to smoke when filming a movie.

The fact that this woman's perfume couldn't mask the smell of cigarettes indicates that she smokes very frequently.

Insecurity, avoidance, loneliness...

The other person may not necessarily like smoking; they just need to relieve their inner pain—most people tend to think of cigarettes and alcohol.

Perhaps he's the only one who would choose to sleep or eat?

A simple analysis of Gao Mo's inner thoughts.

No, he wouldn't have such emotions at all. Even during the most difficult period after his rebirth, he never had any thoughts of running away.

Now it's even less likely.

……

It was getting late.

With two hours left until midnight, everyone except Samezaki Shimaji, who was dragging his mustache around looking for Ye Caisan, gathered again at the restaurant.

Ran dragged Conan and Hattori and the others into playing cards. They won every time, and in the end, everyone else looked annoyed and didn't want to play with Ran anymore.

Besides the ever-elderly "Ye Caisan," who has never been seen, the balding fat man has also been missing.

"Kameda? He seems to be seasick and went back to his room first," Kujirai Sadao replied to Hattori's question.

"You two got to know each other so quickly..."

"Xiao Lan won again."

"hey-hey."

"Fine, I'm done playing." The man with the middle parting angrily threw down the playing cards.

I only joined the card game out of boredom, thinking that I must be really bad to lose to a little girl.

The result was simply bizarre.

It wasn't about skill, it was all luck.

Just incomprehensible.

"what time is it now?"

It's almost 12 o'clock.

"Has it already been two hours? That's fast."

“This is so strange,” Hattori Heiji frowned, staring at everyone present. “Isn’t anyone sleepy? Everyone seems to be very concerned about the time… Is there some special significance to this?”

“Of course,” Samezaki Shima returned to the restaurant somewhat dejectedly, sat down with a sullen face, and said, “That case happened 20 years ago tomorrow. Starting at midnight tonight, those robbers can finally say goodbye to their long life on the run.”

"Huh?" Hattori Heiji turned to look at Samezakijima Osamu and the exhausted mustachioed man. "Didn't find anyone?"

“We can’t find it anywhere,” the mustachioed man said in frustration. “We’ve even been to the captain’s cabin, and the crew said they didn’t see any old men.”

"I won't give up," Samezaki Osamu gritted his teeth. "Even if there's only one second left, I'll find him!"

Then Samezaki Shimaji called Gao Mo out of the restaurant alone: ​​"So, Matsuda, have you found out about the other robbers? If they really got on the ship, it can only be one of us. Is there anyone who seems suspicious?"

Gao Mo looked at the old policeman who had completely lost his composure and did not respond.

This senior colleague was becoming somewhat hysterical, his forehead was covered in sweat, and he was checking his watch more and more frequently.

“It’s no use. They won’t confess until the time is right,” Gao Mo shook his head. “Even if we knew their identities under these conditions, there’s nothing we could do. We can’t exactly use torture to extract a confession, can we?”

“That makes sense.” Samezakijima Osamu’s face was full of resentment.

He understood this principle, of course, but he was really unwilling to do anything about it and watch the statute of limitations expire.

Once it's past midnight, all we can do is watch the robbers go unpunished.

“But to be honest, now that I’m no longer a police officer, I’m not qualified to investigate this case,” Samezaki Shimaji glanced at his watch one last time. “Perhaps that’s just reality…”

"Matsuda, I need to ask you to find out who the robbers are, and Ye Caisan... at least find out what happened, otherwise I won't die in peace."

Gao Mo sensed the old policeman's dangerous mood.

"I try my best."

"sorry to bother you."

Samezaki Shimaji left the restaurant alone, seemingly determined to find the very last moment.

However, the old man who called himself Ye Caisan was probably a passenger on the ship in disguise, which is why he only appeared a few times before everyone boarded the ship.

"what?"

Gao Mo's brow suddenly twitched, and an image of a bomb exploding violently flashed through his mind.

No way? Is someone trying to blow up the ship? Are they crazy?
The danger prediction was too vague, and Gao Mo didn't know the specifics of the situation, so he could only turn around and examine everyone in the restaurant.

Nothing else matters, but he can't tolerate the ship being blown up.

who can that be?

Gao Mo's gaze lingered briefly on the curly-haired beauty.

If this person is Ye Caisan's daughter, it wouldn't be surprising if she did anything for revenge.

But he didn't sense any death wish from the curly-haired beauty.

Other suspicious individuals include Samezaki Osamu and the bespectacled man, Ebina.

We need to investigate these people's luggage.

The excuse is readily available.

As the only active-duty detective on the ship, searching each other's rooms shouldn't be a big problem.

"Should we continue searching?" No one in the restaurant suspected anything when they saw Gao Mo join the search.

Some people even smirked in secret, their eyes full of mockery.

[The police are all idiots. Go ahead and search. I will inherit Ye Caisan's title of Shadow Planner... no, I should say surpass Shadow Planner!]

[A seasoned veteran who hasn't solved anything in 20 years, a rookie detective fresh out of school, and a renowned master detective—they're all pawns in my game!]

"Everyone," the man with the middle parting said as he left his seat, "it's getting late, I'll go back to sleep now."

"I can't hold on any longer either."

Everyone in the restaurant said their goodbyes. Conan and the man with the mustache kept yawning, while Ran remained wide awake, and Heiji Hattori had already woken up.

"I'm going to the restroom," said Sadao Kujirai, getting up as well. "I'll be right back... I slept during the day, and now I can't sleep even if I want to.

(End of this chapter)