Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

The bold lead characters made it almost impossible for him to breathe.

Shocking! The bloody truth behind the billion-yen bidding war

A well-known screenwriter used murder to eliminate his rival and escape justice.

Although the newspaper did not directly mention his name, the subtle hints were more damaging than direct naming.

"An editor for a detective-themed TV series..."

"The mastermind behind all sorts of tricks and schemes..."

"By exploiting loopholes in the police investigation, they successfully cleared themselves of suspicion..."

“How could this be…” Takahashi muttered to himself.

How did these reports come out so quickly and so intensely?

With so many murders in Tokyo, how did he manage to become a trending topic so quickly?

These rumors and gossip can sometimes be more terrifying than being imprisoned.

Takahashi grabbed the phone abruptly, his fingers trembling so much that he dialed the wrong number several times.

The call connected, and Zheng Yi's lazy and gentle voice came from the other end.

"Hello? Mr. Takahashi? Is there something you need calling so early?"

Zhengyi's voice carried a perfectly timed hint of surprise.

"Mr. Shoichi!" Takahashi asked, "You were the one who wrote the article in the newspaper, weren't you?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a soft laugh.

Why would I do those things if I had nothing better to do?

"Why bother with those gossip stories, Mr. Takahashi? The innocent will clear themselves, that's how I got here."

“Look, now the media knows I’m innocent, and I believe they will soon know you are innocent too.”

"The innocent are innocent?" Takahashi wanted to curse.

You have power and influence, therefore you are innocent.

But I'm not.

“Mr. Takahashi,” Masakazu said, “if I really could control so much media, I wouldn’t have been smeared like that before.”

"This……"

Takahashi had nothing to say.

Because Zheng Yi was indeed smeared for a long time.

During that period, any problem that arose could be blamed on Zheng Yi.

Even things that have absolutely nothing to do with each other are pushed onto the positive side, which looks very fake.

Takahashi wanted to say something more, but Shoichi had already hung up the phone.

After that, the newspapers reported on it more and more fiercely.

'Criminal Strategist', 'The Moriarty of the Heisei Era'—these are the titles bestowed upon Takahashi.

Takahashi's head just kept thumping.

These were all titles that belonged exclusively to Zhengyi, but now they all belong to him.

But no way,

We can only endure it.

After that, Takahashi and Shoichi kept in touch, always discussing the progress of their autobiographies.

Shoichi also promised Takahashi that he would give him 1 billion yen on the spot as soon as he finished writing it.

The promise of 1 billion yen from Zheng Yi gave Takahashi some consolation.

……

The dental clinic was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant, accompanied by the hissing sound of the drill stopping.

Kogoro Mouri clutched his cheek and mumbled, "It hurts so much! I should have known better than to eat that candy."

"Alright, Mr. Mori, eat less sweets lately."

The dentist, wearing a white coat, took off his mask, revealing a gentle face.

"You should drink less alcohol," Ran complained to Kogoro, then turned to the doctor and said:
"Thank you, doctor."

"You're welcome."

Conan, who was sitting on the waiting chair reading comics, suddenly twitched his ears.

He suddenly looked up, his gaze passing through the half-open blinds of the clinic to the tightly closed curtains next door.

"Ok?"

"What's wrong, Conan?" Ran noticed his unusual behavior.

"Sister Ran, I'm going out for a bit, I'll be right back!" Conan didn't explain, and slipped out of the clinic under the pretext of going to the restroom.

He walked around to the back alley of the clinic and looked up. It was a semi-detached townhouse, separated only by a waist-high iron fence.

The window of the house next door was tightly closed, but through the dirty glass, Conan keenly spotted a dark red mark.

Those were dried bloodstains.

"Hey kid! What are you doing!"

The nurse in the clinic peeked out and saw Conan trying to climb over the wall by stepping on a trash can, so she rushed over to stop him.

"There are people injured!"

Conan didn't care about anything else and used a running start to leap over.

With a "bang," he landed on the lawn next door, quickly scrambled to his feet, and rushed toward the window.

The window wasn't locked; he opened it with a gentle push.

A strong smell of blood wafted over.

The living room was a mess, with a coffee cup upside down on the carpet.

On the sofa, a man lay on his back with his eyes wide open.

A revolver was hooked on the index finger of the man's right hand.

Conan put on gloves and approached the corpse.

Blood splattered all over the walls and curtains behind him.

He crouched down and carefully examined the edges of the corpse's wounds.

Just then, the door was kicked open.

"Conan?!"

Ran and Kogoro rushed in.

"You brat! You've trespassed on another property!"

Kogoro punched Conan on the head.

"Ow~"

Conan clutched his head, looking like he was in a lot of pain.

"Conan! Are you alright? It's dangerous here!"

Ran pulled Conan behind her, staring in fear at the corpse on the sofa.

“It’s Takahashi…” Kogoro Mouri recognized the deceased and his expression changed.

"Isn't this Mr. Takahashi?" Ran said in surprise.

Conan nodded.

It's Takahashi, the guy who wrote Masakazu's autobiography.

He patted his head, wondering why Zheng Yi's luck was so bad.

They searched for seven writers, but they were all dead; not a single one of them could complete the work.

Zheng Yi Ge is so unlucky.

Having grown accustomed to such scenes, Xiaolan took out her phone and called the police.

"Hey, Inspector Megure, where is this...?"

Inspector Megure and his team arrived quickly.

They were all stunned when they saw the deceased.

Takahashi?

Inspector Megure frowned and said, "How could it be him?"

Just when I suspected he wasn't a simple character, he died?

A forensic doctor is examining a body.

Inspector Megure said to Nagamune, "Check him out and see if he really is Takahashi."

He even suspected that Takahashi faked his death and that he was a stand-in.

"Yes."

Changzong nodded and began to examine it carefully.

The deceased died from a revolver, and Inspector Megure asked Takagi to call the neighbors from the neighborhood.

Three people came in total.

The dentist and nurses at the dental clinic were also the housewife from the neighboring house.

Inspector Megure asked them, "Have you heard any gunshots?"

"No?" Both the dentist and the nurse shook their heads.

The housewife said, "Around two in the morning, I vaguely heard a noise. But I wasn't fully awake at the time, so I don't know what it was." Inspector Megure nodded.

So it seems he probably died around 2 a.m.

Inspector Megure, pressing down on Takahashi's hand, said, "The pistol was hanging on his finger. Could it be suicide?"

“But he had no reason to commit suicide,” Kogoro said.

He said with a serious expression, "This guy is incredibly lucky. He's about to take away Masakazu's 1 billion yen prize and has become the sole editor of 'Detective Magure.' His career is thriving, and his fortune is booming."

If he were Takahashi, he would be so happy he couldn't sleep; how could he possibly commit suicide?

Kogoro whispered, "Could it be that Shoichi didn't want to pay, so he killed him?"

"How is that possible!"

Nagamune, who was conducting the inspection, immediately stood up to refute it.

He looked at Kogoro and said, "Why would Mr. Shoichi care about a mere ten billion yen?"

Kogoro pursed his lips.

A mere billion yen?

That's quite a boast.

Kogoro was incredibly envious; when would he ever be that rich?

Choso said, "As far as I know, Mr. Seiichi treats his employees very well and is very generous with his pay."

"I was just saying it offhand," Kogoro said.

"No!"

Inspector Megure interrupted Kogoro.

He said seriously, "Brother Mori is an extremely skilled detective. Trust your intuition."

Kogoro's eyes lit up.

He burst out laughing at Inspector Megure's praise.

Conan's lips twitched slightly.

Uncle Mori is just a third-rate detective. If his intuition were useful, he wouldn't only be able to catch cats and mistresses.

"Inspector Megure, we've found this."

A police officer walked over with a hospital examination report in his hand.

"what is this?"

Inspector Megure, wearing gloves, took the report.

"cancer!"

"What? I'll take a look too."

Kogoro moved closer to Inspector Megure.

This is Takahashi's medical examination report. The report was only released yesterday, and it shows that Takahashi has cancer, and it's in its late stage.

Kogoro said in surprise, "So, it seems that Mr. Takahashi committed suicide because he couldn't accept having cancer?"

"Snapped!"

Kogoro clapped his hands and said, "That explains it. Mr. Takahashi is about to reach the pinnacle of his career and will also receive a large sum of money."

"But soon after, he was diagnosed with cancer. Overwhelmed by joy and sorrow, he tragically committed suicide."

Inspector Megure stroked his chin.

The pad of the right index finger is inside the trigger guard, and the hand gripping posture is consistent with the user's shooting habits.

The doors and windows at the scene were intact, with no signs of prying or tampering.

It really does look like suicide.

“This is definitely not suicide!” Sato stepped forward and said.

"Oh?"

Inspector Megure looked at Sato with surprise.

Inspector Megure was a little taken aback when he saw one of his own police officers step forward.

Previously, it was always the detectives who would come out, change people's minds, and then find the murderer.

Sato looked at Choso and said, "If it was suicide, the deceased's face should have gunpowder burn marks."

But Mr. Takahashi's face was clean, with blood only at the wound site, indicating that the gun muzzle was not pressed against his temple when he fired.

Chosoka nodded and said:
"There are indeed no star-shaped burn marks, but it's also possible that when he held the gun, it was far from his temple."

Inspector Megure glanced at Chosokabe, then at Sato.

He absolutely believed in Sato.

Conan, fearing the police would solve the case faster than he did, tugged at Kogoro's sleeve.

"Kid! What are you going to do now?" Kogoro, of course, rewarded him with another punch.

Conan pointed at the deceased's body with a pitiful expression and said:

"Uncle, don't you think Mr. Takahashi's body is too well-formed?"

Kogoro patted Conan's head again, as if searching for the perfect spot to land his next punch.

“Takahashi committed suicide, so of course he is upright.”

Conan looked frightened and said, "I'm scared just thinking about getting a shot, let alone dying."

“If it was suicide, the deceased should have pulled the trigger in extreme despair or impulsivity, but the body in front of us is too upright, not like someone struggling before death.”

"Could it be because he has a strong mental fortitude?" Kogoro asked.

Conan said, somewhat speechlessly, "If he had a strong mentality, he wouldn't have committed suicide."

"Ugh?"

Kogoro looked at Takahashi's corpse and nodded.

He turned to Conan and said, "You little brat, what you said makes some sense."

"Inspector Megure!" Kogoro excitedly ran up to Inspector Megure and told him his idea.

"This is definitely not suicide!"

After coaxing Kogoro to calm down, Conan began to explore the room.

Conan's gaze fell on the coffee table.

There was an ashtray with several cigarette butts and a bite pad with teeth marks on it.

There were still bloodstains on the bite pad.

While Conan was figuring things out, the police were also discussing it.

Chosokazu still maintains that the deceased committed suicide.

Sato continues to hold the opposite view.

Sato pointed at Takahashi's body and said, "The scene is strange. Look at the posture of the deceased."

"If it were suicide, the huge recoil of a gun would cause the head to tilt back sharply, but Mr. Takahashi's head was tilted slightly forward, as if... it was being forcibly held down."

The more Sato spoke, the more Inspector Megure felt that what he said made sense.

From this perspective, Takahashi really didn't commit suicide.

Chosochi wanted to say something more, but Inspector Megure stopped him directly, saying:

"Chōzō, you should just focus on your own duties and not get involved in anything else."

As a forensic pathologist, you deal with corpses, so don't try to deduce things.

"Okay." Choso nodded indifferently.

Indeed, he just needs to do his job well.

Finding the murderer through deduction is the job of a detective.

Professional tasks should be left to professionals.

There's a detective named Mori there; I can't steal his thunder.

Kogoro casually discussed things with Inspector Megure again.

But when Kogoro wasn't asleep, what he said really didn't fit the image of a famous detective.

Conan looked at the inconspicuous small round metal mirror next to the coffee cup.

He had just seen this before; it was a mouth mirror used by dentists to examine teeth.

Conan jogged out of the room.

Not long after, they rushed back.

Then, he raised his watch and secretly pointed it at Kogoro Mouri's neck.

'whoosh~'

The tranquilizer dart hit its mark precisely, and Kogoro immediately gave a ghostly expression. Then, swaying unsteadily, he sat directly on the sofa where Takahashi had died, with a little blood on his buttocks.

Conan, hiding behind Kogoro, coughed and adjusted the voice changer.

"This is not suicide, it is outright murder."

Kogoro Mouri's voice rang out, becoming the focus of the entire room.

"Has he finally arrived?" Choso smiled, pursing his lips. "The sleeping Kogoro Mouri."

He seemed to have been looking forward to this for a long time.

Inspector Megure stepped past Nagamune and asked, "Brother Mori, who is the murderer?"

"The murderer is the dentist who lives near the Takahashi family's house!" (End of Chapter)