Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

"rest assured."

Seemingly understanding Xiaolan's thoughts, Longye instantly rushed towards the actress.

To everyone's astonishment, Longye easily caught the armor with one hand and gently placed it on the ground.

For a moment, everyone doubted their own eyes.

"Hmm? Could it be that the armor isn't heavy?" Shinichi Kudo asked疑惑地.

After a long pause, actor Keisuke finally spoke, "No... that armor was extremely heavy. Wearing it made even walking very difficult. It weighed at least 40 kilograms..."

"..."

After he finished speaking, the atmosphere at the scene became very quiet.

Actress Rose, who was nearly hit by the armor, seemed to have forgotten her fear and stared blankly at Ryuno in front of her, revealing a smug expression.

Even Sharon Vineyard, disguised as Vermouth, showed a rare look of shock.

The farce ended a few moments later.

The performance was about to begin, and the actors all set off to prepare for the opening. Sharon Vineyard also said goodbye to Yukiko and Tatsuno, citing an unexpected matter.

Before leaving, she inexplicably said, "There will probably be an unprecedented storm tonight."

Although Yukiko and Ran were puzzled, Tatsuno understood the meaning of those words.

In a moment, Vermouth will transform into a white-haired serial killer to assassinate Shuichi Akai.

The Child of the Storm, right? She is the storm, and the storm is her?

To be honest, he was a little curious about what Bayonetta would do next, but Bayonetta couldn't be bound to the system. Even if he followed her, he wouldn't see anything exciting—after all, Bayonetta started running away after being hit by Shuichi Akai.

What's the point of him following her in the rain? He might as well sit down and enjoy the performance that's about to begin.

Moreover, he seemed to have some recollection of this scene; a murder was likely to occur here soon.

Although he couldn't remember the details of the case very clearly, he had long forgotten the identities of the victim and the murderer.

But he knows the tricks well. Judging from the "golden apple" and "armor" incidents just now, the victim and the murderer must be among those actors.

……

The performance officially begins

Longye and his group sat in the front seats.

Ran and Yukiko started discussing happily.

Wow, that's spectacular!

"Right, right? You can't see such a grand dance scene where we live."

"It's a shame that these two pieces of wood seem to have no appreciation for beauty..."

At this point, Ran and Yukiko turned and rolled their eyes at Ryuno and Shinichi.

Feeling their gazes, Longye smiled helplessly and said weakly, "I can't help it, I'm really not interested in dancing, I'm almost falling asleep..."

He hadn't expected that such a grand performance would begin with a court ball, with actors dancing to soothing music. The combination of soothing music and a boring plot was perfect for inducing sleep.

Shinichi Kudo, standing nearby, chimed in, "Takeda's right. What's so interesting about this? It's just a story adapted from Greek mythology."

Under the curious gazes of Ryuno and Ran, Shinichi Kudo told them the myth of the golden apple, which they listened to with great interest.

This was also the first time that Ryūno had been curious about the stories that Shinichi Kudo told. For so many years, all he ever talked about was Sherlock Holmes.

After Shinichi Kudo finished telling his story, Yukiko suddenly gave a meaningful smile: "You're talking about Greek mythology, but this musical is quite different! You'll be surprised when you find out who the male actor is!"

After hearing Yukiko's words, the three of them watched the performance that was about to begin with great attention.

Soon after, as the plot unfolded, the male actor changed into pure white clothing, and a pair of wings appeared on his back. He proclaimed loudly, "Listen! Humans of the mortal realm! My name is Michael!"

Longye and his two companions: "???"

What the heck? Michael? The Archangel? Isn't he a figure from the Bible? What does he have to do with Greek mythology?

For a moment, Longye and his two companions were extremely curious about how the story would unfold next.

Shortly afterward, the actor playing Michael appeared behind a mirror, and large amounts of dry ice smoke began to emerge on the stage.

Just as the smoke obscured the stage, a gunshot rang out. Accompanying the gunshot was a beam of red laser light.

When the smoke cleared, what the audience saw was Michael hanging in mid-air, his chest pierced by a bullet.

The red blood flowing continuously from his chest made the audience realize that this was not acting, and the crowd immediately erupted in commotion.

Screams and running sounds instantly filled the entire space.

Upon seeing someone being murdered before her eyes, Yukiko immediately stood up and said, "We'd better leave here quickly."

But before she could finish speaking, Shinichi Kudo had already run up to the hall.

Only Longye and his two companions remained, their faces filled with helplessness.

Chapter 42 Angels and Demons' Journey to a Foreign Land (Part 6)

It didn't take long for the police to arrive at the scene.

The actors were all gathered in the dressing room waiting for their turn, and the audience had long since left.

The real Inspector Radischew stood on the stage and examined the victim's condition.

The police officer standing nearby explained, "There was only one bullet in the chest. After the bullet pierced the chest, it got stuck in the wing on the back. Judging from the angle of the bullet's entry, the killer must have shot the victim from about a 40° angle above."

"Such a sharp angle...it looks like it was fired from a high place..."

As soon as Radish finished speaking, Yukiko walked onto the stage and said, "Of course, because the murderer most likely fired the shot from the upper lobby."

"At the time, several of us saw a red beam of light, which now looks like the laser sight on the pistol."

After Yukiko finished speaking, the police officer who had been explaining exclaimed with delight, "Baroness!"

Inspector Radish walked towards Yukiko and said happily, "It's you, Yukiko! What are you doing here?"

After exchanging pleasantries, Yukiko explained to the police the scene that had occurred before the victim was murdered, and also briefly explained how the victim was killed from the balcony of the audience seating area.

This conclusion was unanimously agreed upon by everyone present except for Shinichi Kudo and Tatsuno.

Shinichi Kudo disagreed because he ran to the lobby immediately, but found nothing except for the cold bullet casings on the ground.

Normally, in such a short time, the temperature of the cartridge case could not possibly drop to cold; at the very least, it should retain some residual heat.

Therefore, Shinichi Kudo immediately realized that this was false evidence deliberately left behind by the perpetrator, and thus he concluded that the victim was not shot from the lobby.

As for Ryūno… although he couldn't recall the incident, he did know something about Yukiko. Since this was Yukiko's own deduction, then there must be something wrong with that deduction!

At that moment, another police officer walked up to Chief Radisio and told him some news.

After listening, Radish said to Yukiko, "Yukiko, it's just as you said. The theater said that a month ago, a suspicious person bought a seat in that lobby. However, he was wearing a scarf and hat, so the ticket seller didn't know whether he was male or female."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded, understanding that this person must be the criminal.

After Chief Radisu finished speaking, he squatted down next to the deceased and asked in confusion, "But I don't know why there are these two strange marks on the body?"

"Strange marks?" These words caught the attention of Yukiko and Shinichi Kudo, and they immediately stepped forward.

“Look, there’s a burn mark on her neck. And then there’s the blood on her right hand, with several smeared areas. But there’s no such mark on his clothes. He was hanging in mid-air, how could he have touched anything?”

"Haven't you figured out the answer yet, Baroness?" After saying that, Inspector Radish turned to look at Yukiko, seemingly hoping that she could solve the problem.

"Not yet." Yukiko smiled helplessly.

"Then go ask Yusaku, he'll definitely know."

"No, Yusaku is currently at a hotel in Los Angeles working on this issue's article..."

Upon hearing that Yusaku Kudo was rushing to finish his manuscript, Radish touched his bald head in distress: "That's a real headache! Such a famous actor has been murdered. Not only did we let the culprit escape, but if we can't find any clues, how am I supposed to explain this to the public, the chief of police, and my wife?"

Just then, Xiaolan suddenly spoke up: "Well, in that case, why don't you let Longye handle this case..."

Before she could finish speaking, Longye patted her shoulder, signaling her to stop talking.

After all, although he did solve the case on the plane, that was because he knew the outcome beforehand... and he really couldn't remember this case.

What if I say something wrong? Wouldn't that be incredibly embarrassing?

However, upon seeing the burns on the deceased's neck and the blood on his right hand, and recalling the laser beams that had just shot from the stage, he seemed to understand something.

Wait a minute, this case doesn't seem that complicated, does it? Although he doesn't yet know the specific methods used by the perpetrator, he already knows where to find the "evidence."

Could it be that I've already solved this case myself?

After all, if evidence can be found, then reasoning seems unnecessary...

He then walked over to Yukiko and whispered in her ear, "The culprit must be one of those four actresses. The lasers and the hallway are just a smokescreen. All we need is..."

Yukiko listened quietly to Ryuno's words, her eyes lighting up as she realized that what Ryuno said made some sense. So she immediately suggested to Chief Inspector Radish that they go to the actors' room to question everyone further.

The group headed towards the dressing room.

Along the way, Shinichi Kudo recounted his observations and some of his deductions, and also explained the reason for the previous incident where the armor fell off.

He also believed the culprit was among the four actresses. However, he didn't fully understand the culprit's methods and didn't know how to proceed.

Hearing that her son's reasoning was almost identical to what Tatsuno had said, Yukiko felt even more confident. Her eyes lit up, and she couldn't wait to share her own reasoning.

Soon, the group arrived at the dressing room, where all four actresses were.

Inspector Radish immediately began his routine questioning, but then his attention was drawn to the photos on the four people's dressing mirrors. The people in the photos were all dead.

This discovery alerted him, and he immediately asked, "What is the relationship between the four of you and the deceased?"

Before the question was even out of his mouth, the blonde woman, who appeared to be the oldest, smiled and said, "He and I have been married for a long time, but we haven't made it public for various reasons."

"As for the other girls, they're all probably dating Keisuke, so they're all his girlfriends."

"???"

Upon hearing the blonde woman's words, not only Longye and his group, but also the other three actresses visibly panicked.

"What? You knew I was dating him, and you still did it!"

"I've been dating him for five years..."

"Rose, could it be that you also..."

"..."