I'm in Detective Conan, and the system has appointed Batman.

Chapter 558 Detective Shinichi Kudo
—Sawakuri Isao?

This is a completely unfamiliar name.

Sonoko Suzuki had never heard of this name before.

She suspected that Sawakuri Isao must have had dealings with Kogoro Mouri before, which was why he was coming now.

Because Kogoro Mouri's reputation is now very bad due to the public opinion brought about by the news, logically speaking, if you want to find a famous detective, you shouldn't come to Kogoro Mouri now, right?
Sonoko Suzuki sat somewhat uneasily in her chair, while Isao Sawakuri spoke at that moment.

"As I just said, the deceased is my sister."

"Her name is Miku Sawakuri, and she is a mystery novelist. The three suspects I found are all female mystery novelists."

Upon hearing this, Ran Mouri blinked.

Ah, if it's a novelist, then it's a heinous murder case caused by ghostwriting or plagiarism, right?

Although she wasn't particularly skilled at deduction, she had encountered so many cases, and the causes of death of writers were always the same few, so this idea popped into her head subconsciously.

Just as Sawakuri Isao said these words.

Hondo Eisuke's gaze fell on the faces of the three criminal suspects.

The next moment, his eyes narrowed slightly.

Because he noticed a subtle change in the expression of one of the suspects after Ze Lixun spoke, which nearly raised the suspicion against that suspect to its maximum.

Perhaps, the real culprit is that person?
While Hondo Eisuke was pondering, Sera Masumi was about to ask if there were any reports of deaths.

However, before Sera Masumi could ask a question, her phone suddenly rang. Sawakuri Isao instinctively turned to look at the pile of phones on his desk and whispered,

"Whose phone is ringing? Hang up!"

Upon hearing this, Ran Mouri went to the desk and picked up her phone.

However, just as she was about to reject the call, Sera Masumi came up behind Ran Mouri, patted Ran on the shoulder, and then said to Sawakuri Isao,
"Mr. Ze Li, wouldn't hanging up the phone directly arouse suspicion?"

"If that's the case, why not have Xiaolan answer the phone and then make up an excuse to brush it off? Otherwise, if the person on the other end gets suspicious and calls the police, you won't be able to escape, right?"

Hearing this, Ze Lixun scratched his head, forcing himself to calm down.

Then he said in a low voice,
"Okay, but I'll keep an eye on things."

"If you say anything out of line, hmph, you'll have to bear the consequences."

Ran Mouri felt somewhat heavy-hearted.

But then she saw Sera Masumi wink at her, followed by a look of confusion in her eyes. Knowing that Sera Masumi probably had ulterior motives for asking her to answer the phone, Ran Mouri pressed the answer button.

The next moment, Conan's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Sister Xiaolan, I just heard from Genta and the others that you were walking home with a male high school student. Is that true?"

Upon hearing this, Ran Mouri was taken aback.

Not only was Ran Mouri stunned, but even Isao Sawakuri was taken aback.

The hostage-taker glanced around, then his gaze lingered between Sera Masumi and Hondo Eisuke before finally settling on Sera Masumi, a look of shock on his face.

What? This guy wearing a girls' high school uniform is actually a guy?
Sera Masumi sensed the hostage-taker's somewhat rude gaze.

However, she didn't have time to dwell on that right now. Instead, she moved closer to her phone and said with a grin,

"Yes, it's me, so what?"

"Little brother, you don't actually like Xiaolan, do you? Too bad, Xiaolan is dating me right now."

"Alright, I don't have time to listen to the loser's wailing, I'm hanging up now." Before she finished speaking, Sera Masumi snatched Ran Mouri's phone away.

She simply closed the phone and placed it aside, and without any sound coming from it, Sera Masumi turned to look at Sawakuri Isao and said...
"Alright, let's continue. Did your sister leave any message about her death?"

Upon hearing this, Ze Lixun spoke earnestly.
"Have."

"Before Wei Hong died, she sent me a message that looked like this."

He took out his phone, opened the notes app, and showed it to Sera Masumi.

Sera Masumi stroked her chin and read the contents aloud, word by word.

[The first one to come was the elephant. I just took a shower, and my hair isn't even dry yet. So annoying! The next one was the fox, always causing trouble. Seriously, I'll just sign my name and then go home. Finally, there was the clueless mouse. I'll quickly sign my name and chase her away. So annoying, she's lingering here. Oh no, I'm getting sleepy. What should I do?]

Upon hearing this, Hondo Eisuke turned to look at the three suspects and said,
"In that case, please have the three suspects introduce themselves first."

“I think that since Mr. Ze Li believes that one of the three of you is the murderer, it must be because the three of you were the last three people who came into contact with Mr. Ze Li’s sister on the day she died.”

"Your identities should match those of the three people mentioned in the death message."

The three suspects exchanged glances, and finally one of them spoke.

"My name is Nihei Junka, I am 39 years old, a mystery novelist, and also a housewife."

Niping Junxia said nervously.

Since Nippu Junxia had spoken, the other two suspects followed suit.

"My name is Shinobu Yuji, I am 36 years old, a mystery novelist, and I work in a bakery."

"I am Tamami Mitsui, 41 years old, a mystery novelist, and I help out at my family's stone shop."

— Nippei Junatsu, Yuji Shishin, and Mitsui Tamami.

Housewife, baker, stone shop owner?

Hondo Eisuke touched his chin.

A hint of irritation appeared in his eyes.

No, this information alone is not enough to determine who corresponds to whom.

It wasn't just Hondo Eisuke who was annoyed by this.

Even Sera Masumi is the same.

Just hearing the three suspects' overly simplistic self-introductions, she realized that it would be impossible to uncover their identities and the news of their deaths based solely on their self-introductions.

She needs to conduct further investigations into these three people... This is going to be troublesome.

Seeing that Hondou Eisuke and Sera Masumi both fell silent.

Although Ze Lixun didn't know what was going on, he could tell that the two detectives seemed to be at a loss.

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and he shouted,
"Damn it, trusting you was a waste of my time!"

"Dead before it even became famous, I no longer care about right or wrong, all is well with you—"

At that moment, a voice came from the telephone on the table.

"I am the famous detective Shinichi Kudo. Now, I'll help you solve the case."

(End of this chapter)