Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 294 The Pure Love Novelist Incident

"Ok?"

Gao Mo had just finished cleaning up the dishes when he heard the TV in the living room and quickly turned off the tap.

Cupido Town, Karitani...

Isn't that the goal the guy with the mustache mentioned about commissioning someone to go to the hot springs?
"Meow!"

A cool breeze blew in through the open living room window, causing the curtains to flutter and startling the black cat that had been sleeping next to Ai.

In the darkness, a fleeting image of a short-haired woman covered in blood seemed to approach, accompanied by the flickering streetlights.

Ai stared wide-eyed, looking away from the television.

That's right, just like the photos of the deceased released in the news.

Appearing and disappearing in the cold wind, a vacant gaze seemed to be muttering something...

"call!"

Gao Mo returned to the living room from the kitchen and glanced out the window following Xiao Ai and the black cat's gaze, but found nothing. However, a string of text suddenly appeared in the notebook projection.

[Exposing that man] - Kagaya Banko.

Since level 3, there are some things that I understand less and less.

There were even evil spirits that came to our door on their own initiative.

How did you find me?

Gao Mo glanced at Xiao Ai and the black cat, who had breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down, then went over to close the window that had been blown open by the wind.

Kogoro Mouri, or rather Conan, has once again used his powers. Even temporarily canceling the case couldn't prevent the murder, and the victim was none other than the client himself.

But it's good news for him.

He takes on any murder case that comes his way.

"You two stay home, I'm going out to buy something."

Gao Mo picked up the toolbox stored in the entrance hall and left the office in a hurry without waiting for Sonoko's reaction.

Although it's not very friendly to Ai and the black cat, this ability to attract evil spirits is getting more and more appealing, allowing them to wait for them to come to them from the comfort of their own homes.

If there had been less luck and randomness, he would definitely have taken Ai and the black cat all over Tokyo and even the world.

I wonder if there's any way to improve it.

Gao Mo's thoughts drifted in the night. He rode his beloved little motorcycle, switched to the "Kindaichi" persona at a deserted spot, made a phone call to the mustachioed man, and headed straight to his destination—the Kariya family in Beika Town.

"Could you ask around for me if there's a novelist with the surname Kariya?" Gao Mo contacted his editor in the car. "Yes, a romance novelist. I heard it's going to be adapted into a TV series soon."

"I know that person, his name is Kagaya Shigehide. He even submitted a manuscript to us at first," the editor on the other end of the phone replied directly. "However, because his novels were too old-fashioned, still in the style of more than 10 years ago, we didn't accept them. Of course, the quality is still quite good, and he is very good at emotional rendering, which happens to be the type you're not good at..."

"Speaking of which, Aoyama, even though you're writing mystery novels, you should also consider the romance. You can't compete with those veteran writers in terms of plot design. My suggestion is to develop it into a romance mystery, and it would be best to add some kind of villainous organization..."

"Well, we'll talk about that later."

Gao Mo hung up the phone speechlessly.

He just can't write romance scenes, what can you do about it?
It's already pretty good that they didn't write about a simp or a slut.

However, the best ideas for plot design have already been exhausted by our predecessors. After all, murder is just a simple matter, and the methods are basically limited to space and time.

The mystery novel genre itself seems to be in a dead end, with murder plots becoming increasingly outrageous, and only someone of Yusaku Kudo's caliber can keep writing something new.

It's not easy for most writers to create something outstanding; he intends to make a breakthrough in terms of storytelling.

He has a great advantage in this area, and he could easily write his own experiences into a novel.

……

Cupido Town, Karitani family.

As soon as Gao Mo got out of the car, he saw the mustachioed family arriving in a police car.

"Kindaichi?" The man with the mustache glanced at Gao Mo and almost called out "Kido Kid!" "What are you doing here too?"

"When I saw that news, I wondered if it was one of your clients."

Gao Mo is becoming increasingly adept at playing different roles.

"Judging from the news, Kagaya Banko wasn't wearing any special makeup or dressing up. I wonder if she went out to meet someone she knew but didn't care about much, and then got killed by that person, so she just came here."

“Oh dear,” the mustachioed man laughed triumphantly, “we both wanted to go together. I also thought the murderer might be a family member, so I came with Inspector Megure to check the situation.”

Conan, standing to the side, pursed his lips: "You clearly didn't think that way just now, but you insisted that the murderer was the victim's lover."

Inspector Megure, with his mustache, seemed much more confident. "With me and Kindaichi on the case, we can solve this one in no time!"

"hehe."

Megure smiled stiffly and made no comment.

Kindaichi has a lot of faith in him, but Mori... that guy is either a god or a demon, he's a real headache.

Sleeping Kogoro is amazing, but sometimes it feels easier without him around.

He always deliberately led the police in circles, then turned around and solved the case himself, saying he was testing them.

So what exactly happened to this family?

“Ms. Kariya gave a brief explanation when she asked for my services,” the man with the mustache cleared his throat. “She suspects that her family has hidden her phone, which contains emails from her lover. If these emails are exposed, she could be kicked out of the house…”

As for the suspected candidates, they are her husband, her father-in-law, and Kariya Shigehide, the second son of the Kariya family who writes novels at home.

Speaking of this novelist, it seems he had a conflict with Ms. Kariya because he included footage of Ms. Kariya arguing with her husband that he overheard in his novel. Ms. Kariya, upon learning this, strongly demanded that he revise it.

The man with the mustache then added, somewhat puzzled, "When she called me, she suddenly said she had found her phone. It sounded like she had some good news, not like she was relieved. That's why I think she was taken out by her lover. Besides, the time between the discovery of the body and her call to me wasn't long." "Let's meet her family first."

Gao Mo had no interest in taking his time to reason things out.

With his current abilities, he could easily complete the game quickly; there's no need for him to play detective games here.

I said I was just out shopping, so I can't waste too much time.

“Mr. Kindaichi probably doesn’t know this yet,” Megure said, leading the way into the Kariya residence. “Ms. Kariya’s cause of death was brain tissue damage from a head injury, along with bleeding from a stab wound to the abdomen. This is a case of being stabbed first and then beaten to death with a blunt instrument…”

A similar incident happened 12 years ago, which I remember very clearly. The method of murder is highly improbable, unless there's more than one perpetrator. However, unlike 12 years ago, this time the victim's handbag and wallet were both stolen; it's currently uncertain whether this was the work of a single perpetrator.

"12 years ago?"

Gao Mo was gathering clues.

Because Takagi habitually uses a police handbook to record information, he shared the case information immediately, but he didn't connect it to 12 years ago.

After a brief search, the corresponding case was found.

Quite coincidentally, the case is also related to the Kariya family.

The victim was the fiancée of the third son of the Kariya family. She was first stabbed in the abdomen and bled profusely, and then beaten to death.

Copycat crime?

Or is the criminal trying to cover something up?
Was the police deliberately linked to an incident from 12 years ago?
Gao Mo moved swiftly and soon followed Megure and his group to meet three members of the Kariya family, as well as two older maids. Chiba, who had arrived earlier, was conducting routine questioning.

"Were they all in their rooms after 6:30 tonight?"

"The master played the shakuhachi flute in his room the whole time, only stopping when we brought him food at 7 o'clock."

"Are you sure you saw him?" Gao Mo pressed.

"No, the master doesn't like to be disturbed, so we left dinner at the door of the room. But the master said through the paper door, 'We're having curry rice today, how rare!' so it must be inside the room."

"Where is Mrs. Banko's husband?"

"The young master has been painting in the studio the whole time, and hasn't even eaten the dinner that was left at the door."

"So you don't have an alibi?"

"No, we smelled the pipe, so it must be in the room. It's just that the young master is too busy to pay attention to anything else."

The man with the mustache couldn't help but mutter, "His wife is dead, but he doesn't react at all. I think this guy is the most suspicious."

"There's another person, that novelist."

Gao Mo had already seen the two people in front of him.

It's extremely rare for a murder case to not involve written evidence, yet this family had two of them.

Is it because no body was found?

No, it's that this family was inherently indifferent and showed no concern for the death of their family member.

After all, the two maids who also didn't see the body also had projected text appearing—[Who killed Madam?]

If the third person doesn't respond either, he'll have to think of another way.

However, the absence of projected text is itself important information, suggesting that the two individuals are unlikely to be the murderers.

The only type of person who leaves no trace of the murderer after it's been committed is probably someone like Gin.

"me?"

In the novelist's room, a young man with a mustache and tied-up hair was writing, looking rather helpless when the police arrived.

"I got home around 6 o'clock and have been writing my novel here ever since. The maid can vouch for me, right?"

“Although we weren’t watching the whole time,” the maid nodded, “there was the second young master’s shadow on the paper door around 6:30 when it got dark, until the police came. When we brought dinner, he even raised his hand in response.”

"What happened?" Inspector Megure frowned. "None of you saw these three people with your own eyes."

"Because I told them not to come in and disturb me while I'm working. Writing novels requires a lot of concentration," the bearded young man said, tapping the blank typewriter on his desk with a sigh. "See? I can't concentrate on writing since you guys came in."

"Not writing a single word is too outrageous, isn't it?" the mustachioed man muttered to himself. "Could it be that he couldn't write it and was just making up an excuse?"

The bearded young man's expression instantly changed, and he pushed Conan, who was peeking around, away: "Please hurry up and finish your investigation and go back. Honestly, Banko was killed outside, why suspect us? I'm in a really tight time!"

Gao Mo's eyes were calm.

Unlike the previous two.

The projected text on the bearded young man's screen was particularly eye-catching: "[Send these policemen away]".

Although it wasn't very direct, he was pretty sure this person was the murderer.

but……

Being able to identify the murderer at first glance is nothing special; the important thing is the chain of evidence.

"Can I take a look at your novel?" Gao Mo's gaze fell on the bearded young man's desk. "To be honest, I can also be considered a half-fan of your novels."

"of course can."

The bearded young man's expression improved, and he pulled a novel from the bookshelf next to him.

"This novel will be adapted into a TV series this fall. It's my breakthrough work, and I should become much more famous by then. Of course, I won't be as famous as a detective like you."

Gao Mo casually flipped through the novel.

Just as the editor said, the writing style is outdated.

(End of this chapter)