Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 250 Three Detectives

midnight.

The luxury cruise ship continued to sail smoothly on the tranquil sea.

Accompanied by the crew, Gao Mo inspected the rooms of several passengers one by one.

The balding fat man and the gloomy man with a middle parting, who should have returned to their rooms, were not in the cabin, while the curly-haired woman refused Gao Mo entry.

"Officer, isn't it inappropriate to just enter a girl's room? Do you really think Ye Caisan would be hiding in my room?"

Gao Mo sensed the curly-haired woman's nervousness, glanced at her casually but didn't force his way in. Instead, he followed the crew member to the room of the bespectacled man, Ebina.

The fat man in the suit and the man with glasses were still in the restaurant.

Only the two-person room was kept tidy, especially the latter, whose suitcase was not even opened.

It's clear that neither of them had their minds on the room.

Gao Mo gently touched the locked suitcase of the bespectacled man with his fingers, tried to lift it, and found it to be unusually heavy.

Judging from the bespectacled man's attire, he doesn't seem to have a spouse. He's a typical older, reclusive man with a retro vibe, as evidenced by his old-fashioned phone and watch. He seems to be living in the past and is extremely nostalgic.

Upon closer examination of the other person's actions, it was noted that they used cash when buying things at the restaurant counter, and their finger movements when handling the money were very practiced...

Bank employee?

Gao Mo thought of the other party's request.

Is this a preparation for revenge against the robbers?

Looking at the timid and honest clerk, I never expected her to be so ruthless.

This is a suicide mission, and they don't even care about involving innocent people.

"police officer?"

Seeing that Gao Mo did not react for a long time, the crew couldn't help but remind him.

Is there a problem with the suitcase?

Gao Mo came to his senses. His bomb disposal level was already lv4, the top of the top, but bomb disposal was never 100% safe, so he didn't need to take the risk here.

"This suitcase contains dangerous items. Throw it into the sea... Find a rubber dinghy, hang it at the stern, and tether it with a rope. Let it go as far away as possible."

Although it was unlikely, he didn't want the bespectacled man to turn around and complain that he had lost his suitcase.

"Huh?" The crew member was clearly bewildered. "This..."

“Never mind, I’ll do it,” Gao Mo said, picking up his suitcase. “Get the inflatable boat ready, hurry up.”

"Good, good."

……

Two decks at the stern.

Because the statute of limitations had completely expired, Samezaki Osamu was drinking alone with his mustache friend when suddenly an explosion came from outside.

When everyone ran up to the second deck, they found that the watchtower's flag was burning.

Was that a gunshot just now?

"Could it be firecrackers?"

The flag was quickly burned to ashes in the howling sea wind.

Hattori Heiji, who had followed them, bumped into Conan, and both of them noticed the strange thing on the deck at the same time.

A 10,000 yen old banknote was nailed to a wooden board with a dagger, and strange bloody words were written on it.

"Poseidon, the god of the sea, granted me life; my shadow has been resurrected?"

The man with the mustache peeked over.

"Who on earth played this prank?"

"It's him! It must be him!" The chubby man in the suit, Sadao Kujira, staggered back in terror. "He's alive! He's back..."

"boom--!"

A loud explosion echoed from the lower deck at the stern, and Gao Mo inside the cabin could clearly hear it. The luxury cruise ship then sounded a series of alarms.

The crew shouted to each other, and the cruise ship slowed down and came to a stop.

"What happened?"

"It's at the stern! There's been an explosion at the stern!"

"The box containing the emergency escape ladder is on fire! Quick, grab a fire extinguisher!"

Gao Mo happened to be carrying his suitcase to the stern of the ship. He saw the thick smoke billowing from the stern deck and the group of people with mustaches gathered there, but he did not show himself or go out.

He had noticed the escape ladder box before, and it seemed that someone had set up a trap afterward.

"The fire extinguisher is here!"

"Who did it?"

"There's someone in the fire!"

When Gao Mo finished dealing with the suitcases on the side of the ship, the group found a charred corpse in the ashes at the stern, its face unrecognizable, with its hands raised and its legs curled up.

"Could it be Ye Caisan?"

“No,” Hattori stepped forward to examine it and said, “It looks like Mr. Kanie Korehisa. I remember he checked the time on this watch, and I can still vaguely make out that the sweater and pants were worn by Mr. Kanie today.”

Conan stood to the side without saying a word, but his expression was full of contemplation.

He felt that the charred corpse didn't look like the middle-parted man, Kanie Iku, but rather like someone deliberately impersonating Kanie Iku.

This is so strange; something's really off about this trip.

There were police officers and detectives involved, and the other passengers were also quite strange.

Especially this Osaka detective, Hattori Heiji.

Why would a cruise ship departing from Tokyo go to such lengths to hire a detective from Osaka? Especially a high school detective with only a mediocre reputation.

Even if you really want to find Hattori Heiji, you should usually send the letter of request to Kido Detective Agency, right?
Unless the client is actually the event organizer and lives in Osaka.

correct.

Conan's eyes suddenly lit up.

I heard that Heiji Ikube was used as a tool by the prisoners several times.

Will it be the same this time?
"Hmm?" Hattori Heiji frowned, feeling that the kid next to him looked down on him.

Is it true that kids these days are so calm when they see a charred corpse?
Does nobody else care?

and many more……

Hattori Heiji was startled. Could this kid actually be from the Kido Detective Agency as well?
I have indeed heard that every time Kogoro Mouri solves a case, this kid wanders around the scene, and then suddenly disappears when the sleeping Kogoro starts to deduce the truth. Occasionally, he will jump out from next to the mustache.

The more I think about it, the more suspicious I become, but now is not the time to delve into these matters.

Heiji Hattori turned to the curly-haired beauty who had come over after hearing the commotion: "Has Ms. Isogai stayed in her room since leaving the restaurant?"

"What, do you suspect I did it?"

The curly-haired beauty lit a cigarette.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have time to do that. The police officer can testify for me.”

"Miss Isogai certainly had no opportunity to commit the crime after dinner."

Gao Mo approached, enduring the stench of the charred corpse, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

The body was in rigor mortis due to heat, and its limbs were curled up during the burning process, but it was clear that the victim had been dead for a long time.

The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.

As for the victim's identity, despite the severe damage and the fact that the body itself showed signs of plastic surgery, he was still able to match the skeleton with that of the balding, overweight man who had left early due to seasickness.

He may not have as broad a range of knowledge as Conan and others, but almost every skill he possesses is at a top-tier, professional level. Coupled with his extraordinary abilities, he can access an immense amount of information. He can even deduce why the corpse was in that position: before the thermal rigor mortis occurred, the corpse's hands were raised—the murderer hid the body there beforehand, changed the clothes, and created a timed explosion and combustion device.

"Officer Matsuda," Heiji Hattori glanced at Gao Mo with a puzzled look, "did you find anything?"

After the last black magic incident, he now sees everyone as Kindaichi in disguise.

But Kindaichi probably can't disguise himself as an active-duty detective, right?

According to the retired detective, Officer Matsuda is a rising star in the First Investigation Division and had been investigating the Ye Caisan case a week ago, before this operation took place.

“No,” Gao Mo turned to look at Samezakijima and the other man, “Didn’t you come here when you were looking for Ye Cai San?”

“We’ve looked here before,” the man with the mustache said in a deep voice, “but back then there was a plastic sheet with the words ‘emergency escape ladder’ written on it, and it was tightly tied with rope. I didn’t think anyone could be hiding inside…”

Anyway, there was definitely no one in the box at the time; Mr. Kanie was still at the restaurant then, wasn't he?

“Matsuda,” Samezakijima Osamu said, his face grim, “we just found an old banknote on the second deck with threatening writing on it. You can keep it.”

Gao Mo put on his gloves and took the old banknotes from Samezakijima.

“This old banknote must have been left by the murderer,” Hattori Heiji pondered, then turned to the still terrified fat man in the suit. “What I’m more concerned about is Mr. Kujirai. What are you afraid of? You said he’s still alive… you must be referring to Ye Caisan, the Shadow Planner from back then, right?”

"Huh? Did I say anything?"

The chubby man in the suit, Sadao Kujirai, wiped his sweat.

"You misheard me, they didn't say anything..."

"Stop pretending!" Samezaki Shima grabbed the fat man in the suit by the collar in a rage. "You clearly stated it, and I heard you! You are Ye Caisan's accomplice!"

"How...how could that be?" The fat man was sweating profusely, shaking his head violently in denial. "What accomplices? I don't understand what you're saying, I don't know anything..."

Hattori sighed and shook his head: "It seems there's no way to find a breakthrough with this guy."

"Ah."

Conan nodded in deep agreement, causing Hattori's eyebrows to twitch wildly.

"I say," Hattori called out to the dazed Ran, "shouldn't you take this brat away? You shouldn't let a child wander around here like this."

Ran realized what was happening and quickly picked up Conan, saying, "I'm sorry, this child just likes deduction."

"Really?" Hattori asked suspiciously. "Does such a young child know anything about reasoning?"

“Then, team leader,” the man with the mustache was still discussing countermeasures with the fuming Samezakijima Osamu, “I’ll go ask the crew on the ship about the situation first.”

"This case is now in Matsuda's hands... Where is Matsuda?"

It took Samezakijima a long time to regain his composure, but when he turned around, he found that Gao Mo was nowhere to be seen.

In fact, Gao Mo already knew who the murderer was. He asked the restaurant waiter a few questions and successfully solved all the mysteries.

Everyone seemed suspicious, but after analyzing them separately, it was easy to conclude that the murderer could only be one of the three robbers—the chubby man in a suit, Sadao Kujii, who looked quite frightened.

The murderer was very familiar with the ship and should also have been familiar with the victim.

It would be very difficult for someone else to kill and hide a body without alerting others.

Another point is that disguising the corpse as a middle-parted male character, Kanie Shiki, is something outsiders would never need to do.

As for why the man with the middle parting wasn't the murderer...

It's very simple. If the guy with the middle parting was faking his death, there's no reason for him to specifically hire an Osaka detective.

The murderer actually wanted to use the detective to create an alibi for himself, clear himself of suspicion, or frame someone else; faking his death was completely unnecessary.

Of course, the main reason is that Sadao Kujirai has already generated the projected text—

Surpass the Shadow Planner and become the ultimate winner.

The fat man in the suit acted quite well, perfectly portraying the panic and fear of a robber afraid of retaliation.

On the surface, it revealed the identity of the robber from 20 years ago, but in reality, it had no impact whatsoever.

After midnight, the statute of limitations has expired, so it doesn't matter if you admit it in person.

Gao Mo turned to look at the people on the boat.

Aside from the man with the mustache who went to the captain's cabin, the projected texts of the other people also gradually took shape.

Hattori and Conan, aside from that, have completely entered detective mode.

Ran is there to keep an eye on Conan.

Is Samezaki Shimajima dead or alive?

The bespectacled man, Ebi, is known as "Revenge for America".

Is the curly-haired woman, Nagisa Isogai, asking, "Is her father still alive?"

……

Unaware that his luggage had been disposed of, Ebina continued to check the time from time to time, a struggle occasionally flickering in his eyes.

Sometimes, it's these seemingly harmless, honest people who are the most dangerous.

Gao Mo looked away.

If he hadn't advanced to level 3 and gained the Mind Network superpower, he probably would never have guessed that this guy wanted to blow up the ship, and even if he sensed danger, he wouldn't have been able to find the source of the danger.

Although Conan is around, the chances of something going wrong are slim under normal circumstances, but who knows what will happen in the end?
“I’ve asked the other people on the ship,” the man with the mustache said as he returned to the restaurant. “After dinner, the captain and all the crew members always acted in groups of two or more, and everyone has an alibi, which means the culprit could only be among us passengers.”

"It seems the only one without an alibi is Ye Caisan, who's hiding somewhere!"

Samezaki Shimaji said he had retired and that Gao Mo was in charge of the case, but he quickly resumed his habit of taking the lead at the scene.

"And Mr. Kameda... I haven't seen him since dinner."

“I’ve already gone to look for him,” Gao Mo reminded him, “Mr. Kameda isn’t in the room.”

"What?!" Samezakijima Osamu exclaimed in shock. "Where could he be if not in his room? Mori, go find him right now!"

"Yes!"

The man with the mustache responded instinctively, only realizing later that he was no longer a detective and that Samezakijima Osamu had also resigned.

Forget it, let's look for it.

"Dad," Ran said anxiously, "Conan has disappeared again, and Hattori is gone too!"

"They probably went to find someone beforehand... Honestly, they just cause trouble."

The man with the mustache left the restaurant cursing and headed to the cabin, with Xiao Lan hurrying after him.

However, the man with the mustache guessed wrong. Conan and Hattori were actually searching for clues in different parts of the ship's cabin.

When Gao Mo said there was no one in the cabin, the two of them seemed to have a premonition, and immediately had their own suspects.

"That's right."

Conan found an empty pistol magazine and bloodstains on the floor in the computer room, as well as a note calling someone to the computer room.

"Mr. Kameda was summoned here and murdered, and his body was then hidden in a box at the stern of the ship to disguise the crime. The murderer must be Mr. Kanie, who faked his own death and then hid himself..."

At the same time, Hattori also found a note in the trash can in the men's restroom next to the restaurant entrance and returned to the charred corpse at the stern of the ship.

See you at the stern after midnight – Dai Furukawa

"This note was probably left for Mr. Kujirai, with the intention of framing him."

Hattori's eyes were bright and piercing.

He had already asked the crew, and it was confirmed that Sadao Kujirai, who claimed to be going to the toilet, did indeed pass by the stern after 12 o'clock, and only returned to his cabin after being seen by the crew.

If he hadn't returned to the restaurant early, Sadao Kujirai would definitely have been treated as a suspect.

"That's right, the murderer is Mr. Kameda, who left because he got seasick, isn't he?"

Conan in the computer room and Hattori at the stern both wore confident smiles.

Knowing who the murderer is makes solving the case much easier.

(End of this chapter)