Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 258 The Targeted Identity
the next day.

Metropolitan Police Department Martial Arts Hall.

Gao Mo gently lifted his foot and pushed Gao Mu to the ground.

Unlike Takagi, who was panting heavily, Gao Mo didn't break a sweat.

The huge gap in strength meant he didn't have to worry about being exposed.

"No, I can't take it anymore!" Takagi lay on the ground waving his hands repeatedly, feeling as if his chest was on fire.

If you can't even beat them at solving cases, and you get crushed in hand-to-hand combat, that's really discouraging.

This colleague is simply an all-rounder.

He dared not compete in the remaining shots.

"Chiba told me that a beautiful foreign woman invited you to dinner yesterday," Takagi asked, wiping his sweat as he recovered. "Did you go?"

"No."

Gao Mo shook his head.

He didn't want to cause trouble.

Although Judy is sexy and beautiful, her FBI background means she's destined to be anything but pure, leaving Conan to worry about her.

However, the opponent's fighting guide was indeed very useful. After absorbing it, the previously independent combat abilities were integrated, and the actual combat ability was greatly improved.

The only problem is that Judy's fighting style is more feminine and needs some adjustments, and he doesn't know exactly what level he's at right now.

Takagi is too weak; he's not a useful reference at all.

"What's wrong?" Takagi scratched his face, feeling that Gao Mo's gaze was a little strange. "Is there a problem?"

“It’s nothing,” Gao Mo looked away. “You should focus on winning over Officer Sato first. It’s better to take the initiative when it comes to feelings.”

Speaking of Sato, Takagi couldn't help but sigh: "If I were as outstanding as you, Matsuda, I would definitely have confessed directly... There are a lot of female officers in the station who like you now, especially in the traffic unit."

"What does this have to do with traffic class?"

"Yumi often uses your information to get free meals, so almost everyone there knows you. One senior even said she wants to settle the score with you."

"..."

Gao Mo found it strange that someone like Youmei could have a boyfriend, especially such a handsome and outstanding one.

“Don’t be silly,” Gao Mo turned to the locker room. “If being outstanding could win Officer Sato’s heart, Officer Shiratori would have already won her over.”

"Officer Matsuda!"

As Gao Mo left the martial arts arena, many police officers along the way greeted him warmly.

I wonder how much credit Yumi from the transportation class deserves.

If these people knew he was a fake policeman...

Gao Mo gave a brief, curt reply.

Fortunately, his disguise skills are now top-notch; he wouldn't have dared to act so recklessly in the past.

Logically, he should have abandoned this pseudonym after the "Sorrowful Man" incident.

"Matsuda!"

Sato was escorting a dejected long-haired man back when he saw Gao Mo and greeted him in the same way.

"The 'Wolf of Rice Flower' has been caught. He happened to be at the crime scene and was caught red-handed."

The long-haired man desperately protested, "I was just taking some photos, I really didn't kill anyone!"

"I know, I know," Sato said, giving this kind of person a cold shoulder. "You'd better confess honestly later!"

"What murder case?" Gao Mo asked curiously.

“We don’t know the specifics yet,” Sato whispered. “We’ve been told to be careful, it seems there are assassins active in Beika again.”

Killer.

Gao Mo was not unfamiliar to him.

Gin and his ilk are assassins themselves.

The rice cakes are still a mess.

Thinking of the future scenes that appeared in his mind yesterday, Gao Mo frowned slightly.

The premonition about Sonoko's death has not disappeared; on the contrary, it has become clearer and clearer, seemingly irreversible.

The best approach now is to find the cause before it becomes completely fixed in the future, and then address it in advance.

Being close to him shouldn't have caused death, otherwise there's no reason why Sonoko would be the only one affected.

Something dangerous must be going to happen in the garden.

If it's a headshot... could it be an assassin or Gin?

"Well."

In the office, Megure stroked his chin thoughtfully, staring at the medical examination report with a worried expression.

"Little Green has gained weight again recently, if this continues..."

“If Inspector Megure really wants to lose weight, I can recommend a personal trainer,” Gao Mo said casually. “I just don’t know if they’re still open.”

It had been a long time since he had seen Kageyama.

He no longer needs to go to the gym; his body improves steadily on its own.

"Workout?" Inspector Megure was taken aback. "I'm naturally overweight. If working out were effective, I would have lost weight long ago... Anyway, a lot of people gave you love letters today. How about you consider it?"

If Matsuda finds his other half here, he will probably stay.

"Love letters?" Gao Mo opened his desk drawer and sure enough, there were quite a few pink letters.

Policewomen are just ordinary people too.

There shouldn't be any weirdos who would kill someone if they couldn't have them, right?
Gao Mo shook off the strange thoughts in his mind.

He's no longer the washed-up idol he once was, so he has nothing to fear from weirdos.

"Or do you like that woman named Judy?" Inspector Megure asked warily.

I can't let a foreign woman steal my capable subordinate away.

I don't know why, but I felt that woman had ulterior motives.

"How could that be? I don't want to think about relationships right now."

Gao Mo took out his ringing and vibrating backup phone and found it was an unknown number calling.

"Hey?"

"Is this Officer Matsuda?" came broken Japanese from the other end of the phone. "This is Judy. Something's happened! Someone jumped to their death from my apartment!"

"Huh?" Inspector Megure perked up his ears and stared wide-eyed. "How did you get her phone number?"

“How did she get my phone number?” Gao Mo asked for Judy’s address and then turned back helplessly. “Someone died. I’m going to the scene to check it out.”

"That woman's been involved in another murder case? They're all like they're cursed," Megure muttered, then quickly called out, "Wait, let Takagi... let Sato go with you."

……

Luxury apartment.

Room 2104.

Judy looked out the window at the crowd gradually gathering below, a smile playing on her lips as she put away her phone.

Why call Shinichi Matsuda directly?
Because in such cases, only nearby police officers would usually be dispatched, and it would easily be treated as a suicide.

Her gut feeling was that it was murder.

"This should be the beginning of getting the relationship sorted out, right?" Judy's eyes were confident.

When doing missions here, you'll inevitably have to deal with the local police. Even if you can't be colleagues with Shinichi Matsuda, you should at least have a powerful ally.

She had a feeling that this detective might become the nemesis of those guys.

"Ugh——!"

The piercing sound of police sirens swept across Mihana Street.

When Gao Mo and Sato arrived at the scene, the luxury apartment building was already surrounded by a crowd.

It's worth mentioning that Gao Mo's three-bedroom apartment is also located in this building.

This teacher, Judy, really knows how to pick a place.

Gao Mo looked around and saw the dark-skinned Jiang Gu Ling in the crowd, his eyebrows twitching repeatedly.

They all rushed over together.

"The deceased was Mr. Takai, who lived on the 21st floor. It's said he was drinking with his subordinates at home an hour ago. I think it was suicide," a crew-cut police officer at the scene explained curtly, his gaze occasionally glancing at Sato, a hint of hostility towards Gao Mo in his eyes. "How so?" Sato asked unexpectedly.

If it were an accident, she didn't think Gao Mo would make a special trip for it.

When questioned by Sato, the flat-haired officer immediately perked up: "Mr. Takai's girlfriend happened to be back when the incident occurred. According to her, the door was locked from the inside when they left, and the only key was on her. Mr. Takai was sleeping alone in the bedroom. We went to the 21st floor and the door was indeed locked from the inside. There is no other possibility except suicide."

"I don't think it was suicide."

Judy, who had been waiting for a long time, suddenly interrupted. Because of her loose clothing, her full and rounded breasts were clearly visible, and even Sato couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Could this foreign woman be the English teacher Inspector Megure mentioned?

Remembering Megure's warning before they came, Sato observed Jodie and asked, "Who are you?"

“I live next door to Mr. Takai,” Judy said thoughtfully. “Just an hour ago, I saw a few people coming out of Mr. Takai’s room. It seemed like they were celebrating Mr. Takai’s promotion to minister. They all drank a lot. No matter what, it wouldn’t be necessary for him to commit suicide at this time, right?”

"It was definitely not suicide."

Gao Mo retrieved the phone that had fallen next to the deceased.

Because it's an older feature phone, it wasn't damaged too much and can still be used normally.

"Before he fell, Mr. Takai seemed to be on the phone with someone."

“It’s Kawakami-senpai,” the woman next to her, who was wiping away tears and sobbing, explained. “It’s Kawakami-senpai from our company who’s making the call.”

"Let's call over the others who were having dinner today."

Gao Mo instructed the crew-cut police officer.

"Let's go to the 21st floor and check the situation first."

As expected of Sato, he has admirers wherever he goes.

It's hard to imagine what kind of huge wave Takagi will cause after he takes down Sato.

……

2103.
The room still reeked of alcohol.

Gao Mo went straight to the deceased's bedroom.

The window was half open, and the curtains, detached from their tracks, rustled in the strong wind.

In addition, there were obvious impact marks on the window glass.

Inside the window was a simple iron-framed bed, against the wall, with the blankets turned outwards.

Although both live in luxury apartments, Takai seems to be less wealthy, and his apartment is much smaller than Takai's.

Gao Mo did not enter the bedroom, which was easy to see at a glance, but quickly constructed the process of the crime in his mind.

The intoxicated deceased, in a daze, received the phone call, threw off the covers, and for some reason stepped out of the window. In a panic, he grabbed the curtains and then seemed to try to throw the phone into the bedroom, but crashed into the window glass and fell down the building.

It's like someone hypnotizing you over the phone.

"Matsuda?" Sato looked around before entering the bedroom. "Did you find anything?"

"The only thing we can confirm is that it wasn't suicide."

Gao Mo turned his gaze to the other window of the bedroom, walked closer, and found that there was a balcony outside.

He took a step back, bent down, and touched the floor.

The bed and other furniture in the room appeared to have been moved.

murder.

Someone may have staged the murder scene using one of the deceased's habits, and it is very likely that it was Kawakami who made the phone call.

The victim mistakenly thought it was a balcony and stepped through the window...

"How about it?"

A faint scent of shower gel wafted towards Gao Mo.

Judy also bent down to ask Gao Mo, who was inspecting the floor, a question that almost made Gao Mo dizzy from the deep cleavage on her chest.

"Is it the kind of locked-room murder you see in movies and novels?"

"Uh-huh."

Gao Mo got up and walked away.

This woman's every move is so seductive, could she have been specially trained by the FBI?

Is this a test for retired cadres?
They even used the case as an excuse to bring him over...

If he remembered correctly, this woman was Shuichi Akai's ex-girlfriend, and she still couldn't forget him. She wouldn't fall for someone he'd met several times.

Then there must be some other purpose.

If it weren't for the need to accumulate cases and escalate them as quickly as possible, he would definitely stay far away from this guy.

"Could you please not disturb our investigation?"

Sato lowered his eyelids and pulled Judy away.

She seemed to understand why Inspector Megure reacted that way.

"Sorry, I'm just particularly interested in solving cases."

Judy left the room looking terrified, but her smile only grew wider.

It wasn't entirely fruitless.

This detective seems to be a novice—although she has no intention of sacrificing her looks, she is definitely easier to deal with than a seasoned veteran.

Moreover, she is a virgin with considerable self-control.

"Do you only enjoy solving cases?"

Judy, with her hands behind her back, pressed the button on her phone to take a picture of Gao Mo's back in the bedroom.

For an outstanding FBI agent, character analysis is an essential skill.

Despite only having a few encounters, she still felt that this detective had nothing to do with the Black Organization and could be developed into an asset to her side.

"Officer Sato! Everyone who was with the deceased today has arrived!"

The flat-headed police officer brought several suspects to the 21st floor, still not very welcoming to Gao Mo, and focused on getting closer to Sato.

Besides the deceased's girlfriend, there were two subordinates.

Michiya Nakamachi, 28 years old, a chubby man with a bowl cut.

Noboru Kawakami, 33 years old, red-nosed man with a middle parting, kept hiccuping from drinking.

"We've been drinking here since noon to celebrate Section Chief Takai's promotion to department head. We originally planned to drink until later, but after the department head got drunk..."

"Hmph, that guy starts mocking us as soon as he gets drunk," the man with the middle part sneered. "If he hadn't exploited us subordinates, how could he have gotten promoted so easily? Suicide would be too good for him!"

"Kawakami-senpai..."

"Did I say something wrong?"

The man with the middle parting said indifferently.

"Hiraya committed suicide last month because of him, so I called him and yelled at him... Of course, I didn't tell him to die, I just said some things from my heart, so it shouldn't count as murder, right?"

Who is Pingwu?

"She's also an employee of our company. She was already under a lot of pressure at work and wasn't in good condition. Then that guy Takai joked that he was going to fire her."

Gao Mo walked out of the bedroom and looked at the suspects, whose expressions varied: "Which of you went to Mr. Takai's bedroom today? Or were you alone with him?"

“Officer,” the man with the middle parting laughed, “is it really necessary to ask such a question? We’ve all been to the bathroom alone before.”

“Then let me ask more clearly,” Gao Mo said, looking directly at the man with the middle parting, “who went to the bathroom alone after Mr. Takai went to bed in the bedroom?”

"This……"

The bowl-cut haircut and the woman both looked at the middle-parted man whose face was slightly stiff.

"It's Kawakami-senpai."

"Is there a problem?" The man with the middle parting looked a little awkward. "I just need to use the restroom."

"Of course there is a problem."

Gao Mo smiled.

"Mr. Takai fell because he mistakenly thought the window led to a balcony. Someone had secretly changed the room layout today, moving the bed to another window. At the time of the incident, they probably used the excuse of a bad signal to make Mr. Takai subconsciously climb out the window to the balcony... Did Mr. Takai have this habit before?"

The last sentence is addressed to women.

"I think so?" the woman asked uncertainly. "Actually, I only started dating Takai recently. Kawakami-senpai and the others should know more about it than I do."

"What do you mean?" the middle-parted man said angrily. "Do you think my phone call caused Takai's death?"

(End of this chapter)