Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 285 The Child Searching for His Mother
Izu Atami.

It was supposed to be a great time for swimming in the sea, but the weather wasn't very nice. It was overcast the whole time, and it even started to drizzle in the evening.

The man with the mustache, who had been asking questions the whole way, looked increasingly grim.

"I finally made it to Atami, thinking I could relax in the hot springs. I should have gone to watch Liuli filming instead."

The man with the mustache glanced at the child star who was with Ran and Conan behind him, and quietly pulled Gao Mo aside.

"Hey Kid Kid, are you sure he'll pay a hefty fee? What detective hires without a deposit? Besides, this kid's just as arrogant as Conan; he might be bluffing us..."

"I can't say much else, but he is indeed the popular child star that Yu Cheng Liuli mentioned." Gao Mo was in a pretty good mood.

The new short story has been sent to the editorial department. The new work is much better than the previous one, and it has been recognized by the editorial department. University Library wants to sign him to a formal serialization contract, and the royalties and revenue sharing have also been increased significantly.

However, there's no rush to sign a contract. We should at least wait until he acquires another talent and raises his writing ability to level 3.

The first two levels of the profession are actually quite easy; the real difficulty begins from level 3.

In addition, you should prepare another alias or simply find an agent.

While having your current status might grant you some preferential treatment when contacting the editorial department, it's not very meaningful; ultimately, it's the work itself that matters.

If there's a problem with the vest, you can change it.

witty.

"A popular child star must be very rich, right?" The man with the mustache perked up considerably.

Since becoming a famous detective, he has been earning more and more money, not only from commission fees but also from various side incomes, but his expenses have also been increasing.

Last month, we even ran into a deficit, and had to bite the bullet and use Xiaolan's allowance.

He was genuinely scared; every time he went out on a commission, various problems would arise, and he would never receive the final payment.

Without a deposit, I immediately panicked.

"Finding a child's mother shouldn't cause any major problems," the man with the mustache said, straightening his back.

"That detective," Kinukawa Kazuki, still wearing sunglasses, looked around, seemingly losing interest, and called out to Gao Mo, "Why isn't that girl with you coming over? Can I be friends with her?"

“She’s older than you and doesn’t like to be in the public eye.”

Gao Mo's eyelids twitched slightly.

This guy is dreaming.

If it weren't for the other firm contacting him privately and paying him a lot of money to take care of this kid, he wouldn't have even come to Atami.

Maybe the kid is rich, but whether a minor can control the money is still unknown. What if the agency asks for a refund from the minor?
"Sister," Kinukawa Kazuki said, turning his head away in disappointment, and opening his arms to Ran, "Hug me!"

"Hey, hey!" Conan, who was watching the spectacle with amusement, panicked, but still couldn't stop Ran.

The child star's coquettish behavior was incredibly cute in Ran's eyes, but Conan, the jealous man, was grinding his teeth at the sight.

"Don't go too far..."

"Let's split up and search, this is too slow."

Gao Mo stopped in front of a bookstore.

The magazines on the stall happened to include the supplements for which he had submitted articles.

The new short story has not yet been printed, but the cover features the titles of his previous serialized stories.

It wasn't very popular, only occupying a corner spot.

He wouldn't have even glanced at it before.

Only after entering the industry did I realize how difficult it is to find a position in this corner. There are countless authors who have been eliminated or had their works cut short.

I heard that things are even more brutal at the comic book magazine level.

"Hmm?" Gao Mo suddenly noticed a man with long, center-parted hair who looked like a down-on-his-luck writer out of the corner of his eye.

While seemingly flipping through a magazine like him, her gaze frequently fell on child star Kazuki Kinukawa.

With a camera bag slung around his waist, he seemed to have confirmed something, and a strange smile appeared on his face.

reporter?
They're also in the same industry.

Gao Mo reached out and pressed down on the long-haired man with a middle parting who was about to take a picture, and gently twisted and pinned his arm.

"Ouch! What are you doing?" The long-haired man was shocked and before he could resist, he saw the mustachioed man and his group surrounding him.

The mustachioed detective was only a second later than Gao Mo when he spotted the long-haired man.

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding!" Looking at the unfriendly-looking mustache and Ran's karate stance, the long-haired man chuckled dryly, "I just wanted to take a picture of Kinukawa Kazuki. I'm a freelance writer..."

“I think it’s more than that,” the man with the mustache snatched the camera away. “I saw you at the station, and I don’t think it’s just about taking a few pictures.”

Kinukawa Kazuki also became nervous and put his sunglasses back on in front of the passersby.

"You're looking for Kinukawa Kazuki's heartless mother, aren't you?" The long-haired man whose collar was being grabbed by the mustachioed man stopped pretending and chuckled. "I know where she is. If I'm not mistaken, she should be at the hotel I'm staying at. By the time you get there, it will probably be dark."

"You guy!"

The man with the mustache disliked the long-haired man, but he suppressed his anger.

"Hurry and lead the way!"

Although it's a bit annoying, at least I don't have to search around like a headless fly anymore.

Gao Mo sensed that the long-haired man had ulterior motives, but he didn't say anything.

Since we have to find Kinukawa Kazuki's mother anyway, it's always good to save some time.

……

"So this is the place?"

Not long after, the man with the mustache stood in amazement in front of a hot spring hotel.

The multi-story tiled houses make it seem like you've stepped into a hidden world.

"I've heard there's a mixed-gender hot spring here, and I've been wanting to come and see it for a long time." The man with the mustache raised his eyebrows.

"Dad!" Xiaolan glared at her unreliable father.

"Haha, I was just saying."

The man with the mustache walked into the hotel somewhat awkwardly and took out the postcard again to ask someone for directions.

“Yes,” a waitress in a bathrobe replied, “These postcards are limited edition items, only available here. They come in sets of four, but because they didn’t sell, they ended up being distributed to us.”

"I see," the man with the mustache said, his face lighting up with delight. "May I ask if you have a lady here named Wenzi?"

"Wenzi? Never heard of him, probably doesn't exist..."

"How could there not be?" The long-haired man sneered, casually looking at the women walking in the hotel. "I came here specifically for the 2000 million thing, hehe. I originally just came to check things out, but I didn't expect to run into the actors gathering."

"Who are you?" The waitress looked warily at the unkempt, long-haired oddball in front of her.

"Me?" The long-haired man walked straight into the hotel as if no one else was there. "I'm a guest here, I've already booked room 205, Kamoshita, a freelance journalist."

"reporter?"

"Excuse me," the mustachioed man said, ignoring the long-haired man, "Do you have any extra rooms here?"

"One guest did cancel their reservation," the waitress said awkwardly. "With so many of you... are you going to stay together?"

“One room is enough.” The man with the mustache was overjoyed upon hearing this.

Now, besides looking for "Wenzi," all he can think about is the mixed-gender hot spring.

"Oh!" The waitress suddenly exclaimed softly, excitedly grabbing the child star who had taken off his sunglasses. "Isn't this Kinukawa Kazuki? Many of us here are your fans, especially Bessho... Saegusa! Quickly tidy up room 308, Kinukawa Kazuki is staying here!"

"Ok."

A pretty waitress with long braids walked past Gao Mo, but remained expressionless upon seeing the child star.

Gao Mo shifted his gaze from the others to the woman called Sanzhi.

Unlike the majority of people who were excitedly watching, two of the waitresses behaved strangely.

There's a trio, and a short-haired woman who seems to be avoiding the child star.

But what's on his mind now is that reporter from earlier.

It seems the 2000 million yen thing was leaked from Kazuki Kinukawa's office.

These veteran journalists really have a lot of sources.

……

Room 308.

The woman with the braids impatiently reminded the man with the mustache, "The yukata and blanket are in the closet, get them yourself!"

"Hey, what kind of attitude is that?"

"It's so annoying! I'm already so busy, how can I have time to deal with you? Don't think you're so great just because you're a celebrity!"

"The real murderer..."

The man with the mustache watched the woman with the braid leave, puzzled.

He didn't do anything because he's a celebrity. "Huh? Hasn't Kido come up yet?"

“Kido-san went to gather information,” Ran explained. “He said he could find people by their handwriting.”

"Reliable."

The man with the mustache felt a sense of relief.

Having a partner is great.

He actually really dislikes this kind of job of finding people. He's very good at finding cats and dogs, but finding people is much more troublesome.

Mixed bathing outdoor hot spring.

Gao Mo glanced at it casually as he passed by.

Most of them were elderly men and women; there wasn't a single young woman to be seen.

I knew it would be like this. Normal people shower in their own bathrooms. Only those with ulterior motives would come to the mixed-gender bathhouse.

A bunch of grown men, it's an eyesore to look at them.

“Hey, Bie Suo,” the waitress who had spoken to her earlier, seemingly the head waitress, asked curiously, pulling the short-haired woman aside, “Aren’t you usually a huge fan of Kinukawa Kazuki? Why didn’t you even say hello when you saw him in person? I was thinking of getting an autograph…”

"No, it's nothing."

"Then it's settled, Editor-in-Chief."

The long-haired reporter, dressed in a bathrobe, passed by. Upon seeing Gao Mo, she avoided his gaze and lowered the volume of her phone call.

"Please reserve my page for me; I guarantee it will be a bestseller this time..."

Gao Mo watched the long-haired reporter go upstairs, noticing that the reporter was holding a videotape.

There were indeed many videotapes displayed in the hotel lobby, many of which were works by Kazuki Kinukawa, so it's no wonder the waitresses recognized them immediately.

Gao Mo stroked his chin.

Speaking of which, because he's been busy with his own things, Domoto Hajime's popularity has been declining lately. His manager, Yamagishi Eiichi, has made many phone calls, saying that if things continue like this, he'll soon be forgotten by the audience.

After reaching level 5 in acting, he lost interest in maintaining his online persona popularity.

I don't seem to have the energy for that right now.

Eiichi Yamagishi, who has always wanted him to stand shoulder to shoulder with Yoko, must be having a real headache.

He just didn't want most of his time to be taken up by pseudonyms, so it would be difficult for "Domoto Ichi" to continue going online.

"Is there really mixed-gender bathing?"

When I returned to room 308, the man with the mustache was drinking a little wine. As soon as he heard about mixed-gender bathing, he couldn't sit still, and the wine in his hand didn't taste so good anymore.

"Xiao Lan..."

"Hmph, you go by yourself if you want to." Xiaolan didn't want to pay attention to this lecherous old man.

Conan, standing nearby, nodded repeatedly.

He wanted to soak in the hot springs with Xiaolan, but he didn't realize there were other people there.

"Ahem," the man with the mustache finally managed to suppress his emotions and changed the subject, asking, "So? Have you found that Ms. Wenzi?"

"I did find the owner of the same handwriting, but I'm not sure if it's Wenzi, since it could be someone else's work."

Gao Mo looked at Kinukawa Kazuki, who had been very nervous ever since entering the hotel.

"Aside from the postcard, are there any other clues?"

“That’s all,” Kinukawa Kazuki pushed up his sunglasses and hesitated, looking at Ran’s chest. “But I seem to remember something. I saw her fall asleep with a black mole on her chest… and there was a thumping sound of chopping vegetables. That’s about it.”

The child continued to reach out to Xiaolan, "Can you hug me again? I think I'll remember more..."

"enough!"

Conan gritted his teeth and stopped the child.

"Kido-nii has already found the owner of the handwriting; all we need to do is confirm whether there's a mole on it!"

“Not yet,” Gao Mo shook his head. “Those waitresses are too busy to check for moles on their chests.”

"I'll go check it out later," Conan volunteered.

"Is this kid jealous?" the man with the mustache muttered, his eyebrows twitching repeatedly.

Kids these days are so cunning; I must never let Xiaolan bathe with this guy again.

As it grew late, the man with the mustache sneaked off to the open-air bath, but soon returned to his room with a sour face, staring at Gao Mo for a long while.

After dinner, the hotel finally quieted down, with guests either going out shopping or staying in their rooms to rest.

Gao Mo sat by the window flipping through a magazine; it was already completely dark outside.

The man with the mustache was fast asleep on the tatami mat, Ran was watching a videotape of Kinukawa Kazuki, and as for Conan... he said he was taking Kinukawa Kazuki to find some of the waitresses who were available.

The night view outside the window is quite nice; you can occasionally see fireworks.

People's joys and sorrows are different. Unlike him, who was enjoying life, those waitresses were still busy making a living.

For Kazuki Kinukawa, the fact that his mother was not a prostitute was probably the best news.

but……

Normally, waitresses wouldn't be rude to customers, otherwise they would have been fired long ago.

If his intuition is correct, the braided woman referred to as Sango is most likely Kinukawa Kazuki's mother.

The rest depends on whether the mustache can confirm it.

He personally felt it was better not to expose it, or rather, it was best not to expose it publicly, otherwise it would be difficult for the woman with the queue to continue working there.

And then there's the long-haired reporter and the 2000 million... which made this case much more complicated.

"Something terrible has happened! Someone's dead!!"

late at night.

Suddenly a scream shattered the hotel's tranquility, followed by a series of footsteps in the corridor, startling the little man with the mustache from his sweet dream.

Gao Mo's fingers paused slightly, and the image of the long-haired reporter subconsciously surfaced in his mind.

In his experience, this kind of character is the easiest to die; once something goes wrong, there's no escaping it.

"What's wrong?" The man with the mustache rolled over and got up, immediately opening the door to check on the situation.

The incident appears to have occurred in a guest room on the second floor, and quite a few people have gathered at the stairwell.

I could vaguely hear someone shouting to call the police.

Gao Mo's expression was subtle.

It's not a big deal if someone dies, but it's a colleague who dies.

Detectives and journalists are both dangerous professions, and it's easy for them to attract resentment.

He's a legitimate detective and journalist; his career advancement doesn't require resorting to underhanded tactics. But that long-haired journalist doesn't seem like a decent person; he's likely gotten himself into trouble.

Room 205.

Several waitresses gathered around the door, whispering amongst themselves. In the guest room bathroom, the long-haired reporter, who had been so smug, was now lying on the edge of the bathtub, his entire upper body immersed in the steaming water, with the tap beside him still gushing water.

Amidst the swirling steam, a menacing black shadow seemed to emerge, scurrying past the waitress with a belly full of resentment, startling the mustachioed man who had come to investigate.

"What the hell?"

The man with the mustache looked around, but his gaze finally settled on the corpse.

The cause of death was not drowning, but a thin ligature mark on the neck, which caused the corpse's eyes to be wide open, making it extremely disturbing to look at.

Gao Mo followed closely behind, but his attention was not on the corpse; instead, he observed the surrounding mist.

It's like something just vanished in a flash.

Evil spirit?

Based on Ai's research and her own experiences, it's estimated that only evil spirits could make her feel anything.

Wow, to become an evil spirit right after death, how unwilling must one be?

Gao Mo's attention returned to the crime scene, and he immediately gathered a wealth of information.

coming.

Everything else is a side job or part-time work; being a detective is my main job.

Although no thorough examination was conducted, the traces at the scene suggest that the perpetrator is most likely a woman.

Both the victim and the perpetrator were in the bathroom at the time of the incident and were attacked without any warning.

There was also a sealed package left in the outer room, ready to be opened.

Tsk.

(End of this chapter)