Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 318's development is a bit off.

That night.

While Gao Mo was having dinner at the firm, Xiao Ai pulled out an old newspaper from somewhere.

"The person you're going to talk to tomorrow is really something else. Look at this article, it's an interview he did after the incident."

Gao Mo put down his chopsticks and immediately found the content of Zhu Kou's conversation.

Having lived this long, I've finally come to understand the feelings of a murderer, which is an unparalleled joy for a mystery writer.

"Do you think that editor was murdered?" Ai asked curiously. "It's said that he died in a completely locked room in his own house, which caused quite a stir in the publishing industry at the time, because he had always been an editor at Moroguchi."

"Who knows?" Gao Mo's mind conjured up the image of Moroguchi Masataka's chubby face with a slightly wicked smile.

Such a person might actually kill someone based on the feelings of the so-called killer.

However, none of this concerns him.

the next day.

Gao Mo got up early after being reminded by Ai, disguised himself as Kindaichi, and had the doctor drive him to the Moroguchi family's house.

While still on the way, we unexpectedly learned that the mustachioed family had arrived the day before.

They said they needed to familiarize themselves with the meeting and also rehearse and discuss the agenda for today's symposium.

It sounded normal, after all, a mustache man always needs to be prepared, but Gao Mo had a strange feeling in his heart.

This development doesn't seem quite right.

"Ah Mo," the doctor, who hadn't slept all night and had been dragged out of bed, said with a bitter face, "didn't you say you wanted to buy a car?"

"I don't want to think about it now. I'm always worried about my car getting scratched or something."

Gao Mo casually replied, glancing at the time and urging him on.

"Hurry up, Doctor."

Professor Agasa yawned, sped into the residential area, and soon saw several police cars parked in front of a large villa: "Is that it? Are you inviting the police to your meeting today?"

"how is this possible?"

Gao Mo shook his head with an expression that said, "I knew it," and immediately crossed the police line and headed towards the Moroguchi family's house after the doctor pulled over.

When the police at the scene saw that it was Gao Mo, they did not stop him. Instead, they took the initiative to lead Gao Mo into the house.

"Officer Sato, Mr. Kindaichi has arrived!"

"Kkindaichi?"

Sato and Takagi were in charge of the investigation, and the man with the mustache naturally joined in, standing to the side. He looked at Gao Mo with a complicated expression.

He had also heard about what was happening in the mystery novel circle.

My best friend and partner have gone on to write mystery novels. Given their earning power, will they still be able to work together to solve cases in the future?

"The deceased was mystery writer Masutaka Moroguchi, 52 years old. The cause of death was asphyxiation due to ingesting potassium cyanide. Judging from the coffee on his lips, he likely drank coffee mixed with potassium cyanide, or perhaps someone forced him to drink it..."

Takagi read the police manual aloud and then questioned Gao Mo and the man with the mustache.

"You're here to speak with Mr. Moroguchi today, right?"

“Yes,” the man with the mustache said dejectedly, “we chatted until very late yesterday, but when I tried to wake him up this morning, he wasn’t responding.”

As he spoke, he stroked his chin and surveyed the scene.

"The doors and windows of this room were all locked securely; it was a completely sealed room. Mr. Moroguchi was holding the room key, supposedly because he valued his privacy and didn't have any spare keys..."

Looking at it this way, it seems the only explanation is suicide, right? There's no need for me and Kindaichi to get involved.

“That’s strange,” Takagi said, puzzled. “Mr. Mori, didn’t you just say this was a completely locked room? How did you get in?”

“It’s this brat,” the mustachioed man said, grabbing Conan, who was also stroking his chin. “Before I could say anything, this guy climbed in through the air vent next to us. I don’t know if he touched anything.”

"I didn't touch anything!" Conan was powerless to resist.

"Humph."

The man with the mustache tossed Conan aside and looked rather grimly at the corpse of Moroguchi Masutaka lying beside the bed.

"It's really ironic that such a great writer would choose to commit suicide in his room at this time, even though we discussed the process for two hours yesterday."

It is indeed ironic.

Gao Mo had also finished collecting information from the scene.

The room key was placed in Zhu Kou's palm, the coffee cup was overturned beside the bed, and coffee, which appeared to have been poisoned, was spilled all over the floor.

There's also a coffee machine in the small kitchenette next to the bedroom.

"Mouri, why would someone who commits suicide keep the key in their hand?"

Gao Mo instantly set the tone for the case.

Although the deceased was a top mystery novelist, the scene appeared to be a minor case.

The modus operandi was almost entirely devoid of any trickery.

"Moreover, cyanide poisoning causes great suffering before death, yet this great writer did not struggle much, his palm was simply open with the key in his hand... Is that really reasonable?"

Gao Mo reasoned softly.

“Even if you had the key in your hand before drinking the coffee, it would have been flung away or tightly gripped in your palm when you were poisoned. But now the key is in your palm and there are no marks of gripping it, which means that the key was placed there later.”

"Huh?" The man with the mustache's mind went into a flash of inspiration again. "But this is a locked room. If the murderer needs to lock the door from the inside and then return the key... the only air vent that can be opened is more than 4 meters away from Mr. Moroguchi. How can he put it in his hand in such a convenient way?"

"I don't know, but the murderer definitely did it."

Gao Mo bent down and approached the corpse.

"Furthermore, it seems Mr. Moroguchi's ring had been taken off, and when it was put back on, it was on backwards." "On backwards?"

“That’s right, look at the number 100 on it. I saw this ring yesterday too. Given Mr. Moroguchi’s neurotic personality, he couldn’t possibly be wearing it backwards, and besides…”

Gao Mo removed the ring while wearing gloves.

"There are still traces of cuts and bleeding on my finger. I think the murderer must have used some kind of thin thread to pass through the ring and then brought the key over from the air vent."

If you look closely, the key ring is pressed tightly against the ring, which is evidence that it has been pulled.

Then Gao Mo turned to the group with the mustache and asked, "Were there any other people here this morning?"

"Yes, yes, there are people from the editorial department too!"

The man with the mustache had slightly warm eyes.

He was still the Kindaichi he knew, the Kido boy he knew, and he didn't give up being a detective just because he was writing novels.

Very good!
"What are you doing, Dad?" Xiaolan felt that her father was a little unfamiliar.

“It’s nothing,” the mustachioed man said, his expression turning serious again. “If Kindaichi is right, the murderer most likely used a cassette tape, right? Mr. Izushima, the freelance writer who always carries cassette tapes with him? Could you show it to us? Maybe there’s blood on the tape too!”

A square-faced man stood outside the door, looking utterly terrified. He had no idea he would be found so quickly.

Gao Mo glanced at the man.

A freelance writer, and also a fellow writer.

"I found this while sorting through Akiba's belongings. Akiba's notebook recorded Mr. Moroguchi's dangerous behavior. Before each novel he wrote, he would make Akiba try out various methods and use Akiba's body as an experiment."

The square-faced man swallowed hard, sweat beading on his forehead.

"Including the last time, the notes described the exact same way Akiba died, which was also Moroguchi's request..."

I was originally supposed to replace Akiba as the editor of Moroguchi, which is why I resigned and became a freelance writer. I never expected him to choose Anabuki again...

That man is a monster! I want him to experience what it's like to be killed, hahaha…

Square's smile was forced, revealing pain and fear. He showed no relief even as the police took him away. He paused before getting into the police car, glancing back at the female editor as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"A few of us joined the publishing house together."

The female editor and the remaining photographer were not in a good mood.

"I never imagined that my resignation from the island was because of Professor Moroguchi, and now it's even more..."

"Perhaps he wanted to protect you."

Gao Mo turned his gaze back to the corpses of the Mokuchi, and faced with the projected information appearing in his field of vision, he felt that this world had become even more abstract.

Doesn't this mystery writer feel anything about bringing both his enemies and a famous detective to his home at the same time?

[Masataka Moroguchi's Guide to Mystery Novels - 4 stars]

Gao Mo shook his head and then left the Zhukou family.

Only then did Ida arrive outside, looking bewildered as the police car drove away the square-faced man: "What on earth happened? Is the conversation over? Where's Professor Moroguchi?"

“It’s definitely over.” Gao Mo’s feelings were quite complicated.

He no longer needs new mystery novels, but he can't have too many either.

The question is, can we find anyone else to promote the new book?
Don't let it become a jinx in the world of mystery novels.

"What?! Professor Moroguchi is dead?! How could he be dead?!" After learning about the situation from the scene, Ida subconsciously glanced at Gao Mo and the man with the mustache, and was greatly shocked.

I felt like something was off, but I didn't dare to ask.

"What about the publicity?" Gao Mo asked, turning around.

Although it was somewhat unethical, as a freelance journalist, he keenly felt that Moroguchi's death wasn't necessarily a bad thing; it might even help generate buzz for his novel.

"I'll ask the editors later." Ida scratched his dwindling hair.

The subsequent promotional activities were indeed a bit troublesome.

Moroguchi's death was also a huge blow to Gakudaikan.

Overall, the situation isn't too bad; Aoyama-sensei might be able to replace Moroguchi in the editorial department.

"When will that new book come out?" Conan asked curiously, tugging at Gao Mo's sleeve. "Could I take a look at it beforehand?"

He read the book "Kindaichi Case Files" and thought it was alright, but only alright.

I didn't think too much about it at first, since my dad had spoiled my taste. But Gao Mo was being very secretive, keeping the new book hidden away, and even my dad didn't know the contents.

This is uncomfortable.

He hates this feeling of the unknown the most.

"We were originally planning to release it after this promotion," Gao Mo said, ruffling Conan's hair as he did so. "Just wait, it should be in the next few days."

"..." Conan felt like ants were crawling all over his body.

Are you really not going to show it to him beforehand?

I'm so anxious.

"Don't overthink it. This time it's completely different. The main characters are a university professor and a math genius." Gao Mo ignored Conan's gaze.

"Not a high school detective anymore?" Conan was full of questions.

What kind of development is it to go from a high school student to a university professor?

He was still waiting to see how the childhood sweethearts in "Kindaichi Case Files" would end up.

(End of this chapter)