Conan: What alias? That's my struggle!

Lin Ye could only remain expressionless in the face of Inspector Megure's distrust.

"The deceased died of cyanide poisoning in a men's restroom stall. The time of death was between 20 and 30 minutes later, which is around 12:40 to 12:50 pm."

He pretended not to hear and began impersonating a detective.

Inspector Megure paused for a moment, then asked, "How do you know the time of death?"

"I heard what your officer said." Don't underestimate the hearing of a top-notch assassin.

"This is a leak of classified information!" Inspector Megure, of course, was unaware of this. He turned and glared at the young officer. The young officer shrank back, looking completely innocent—he had indeed been giving a normal work report; who would have thought the guest next to him would have overheard so closely?

Lin Ye continued, "Between 12:40 and 12:50 is the busiest time for a coffee shop. During this period, the men's restroom is quite crowded. To enter the men's restroom, poison the item, and then leave without attracting anyone's attention, the murderer must meet three conditions."

He held up one finger: "First, the murderer must know the victim's whereabouts and be waiting here in advance."

The second finger: "Secondly, the murderer must have a way to approach the deceased without arousing suspicion."

The third finger: "Third, the murderer must have sufficient psychological fortitude to continue sitting at the scene as if nothing had happened after committing the murder."

Inspector Megure frowned: "Many people in the coffee shop meet these requirements."

"Yes," Lin Ye did not deny it, "but there is one more crucial condition. The murderer must be a woman."

Inspector Megure frowned even more deeply: "Why?"

"Because this was the smartest step in the whole plan." Lin Ye's gaze fell on the woman at the door again. "The killer chose to strike in the men's restroom precisely because it's the safest place."

He paused, as if organizing his thoughts.

"Think about it, Inspector Megure. What would someone think if they saw a woman coming out of the men's restroom?" Lin Ye began to pretend to reason.

Inspector Megure thought for a moment.

"They'll probably think she went to the wrong place."

His brain started to stop working a little.

"Yes, that's right." Lin Ye nodded and continued, "'They'll probably think she went into the wrong room'—that's the key. When people see a woman in the men's restroom, their first reaction isn't 'she's committing murder,' but 'she went into the wrong room.' It's a preconceived notion. Even if someone actually saw the murderer come out of the men's restroom, they wouldn't connect that to the case."

He paused for a moment, then added, "To put it another way, even if someone finds it suspicious, by the time they realize what's happening and give chase, the killer will have already blended into the crowd. A lone female target is far more difficult to track than a male target—because a woman's appearance can be easily altered with makeup, while a man's cannot."

Inspector Megure nodded thoughtfully.

He found that familiar feeling, and his mind completely went blank.

"But these are all just deductions," he cautioned, uttering his classic line: "Brother Hashimoto, do you have any concrete evidence?"

I have to say, my brother is still too authoritative as the fruit holder.

Lin Ye didn't answer directly, but instead turned to the woman at the door and asked a seemingly unrelated question: "Madam, what do you do for a living?"

The woman finally raised her head.

Her expression remained calm, but a hint of scrutiny crept into her eyes. She looked at Lin Ye as if examining an interesting object.

"I'm a company employee, and I have to say, your reasoning is terrible. What's worse, these police officers actually think what you're saying makes sense?"

Her tone was helpless, and her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just right.

Which company?

Lin Ye continued to ask.

"That's not important."

"What magazine are you reading?"

The woman glanced down at the magazine in her hand; the cover was a fashion monthly. "A fashion magazine."

Do you like reading fashion magazines?

"Most women like it."

Lin Ye nodded, then suddenly changed the subject: "Your fingers are beautiful."

The woman's eyes narrowed slightly.

A few seconds of silence fell over the coffee shop. Akemi Miyano watched all this, her fingers unconsciously clenching again. She had no idea what Lin Ye was doing.

But she had a vague feeling that this was not an ordinary question.

"Thanks."

Women can only cope.

"But why do you always use your non-dominant hand to turn pages and drink things? Why don't you use your other hand?" Lin Ye asked, seemingly puzzled.

The woman's gaze tightened slightly.

"Your left hand, your dominant hand." Lin Ye looked into her eyes and asked again, word by word, "Why have you been hiding it and not using it?"

This time, the woman's pupils contracted sharply.

The contraction was so fast that ordinary people wouldn't even notice it.

But Lin Ye saw it, and Inspector Megure saw it too.

The air in the coffee shop felt frozen.

The woman did not answer.

She lowered her head and looked at her left shoulder—the hidden left hand was now hanging quietly at her side, half-hidden by the hem of her coat.

From the outside, there is nothing unusual.

But her eyes were darting around.

That flicker wasn't fear, but rather a kind of animalistic alertness stemming from being cornered and rapidly calculating various possibilities.

"We're hiding it and not using it." Lin Ye's voice remained calm, as if discussing a trivial matter. "Is it because you're afraid the cyanide on it will contaminate your food and books?"

The woman's expression changed.

It was a real, unmistakable change in color—from a fair complexion to an almost transparent paleness, as if all the blood had drained from the face in an instant.

Her lips parted slightly, then closed again.

He didn't speak.

But her reaction said it all.

"Grab her!" Inspector Megure's voice boomed like thunder in the quiet café. "Examine her fingers!"

The two officers pounced on him at the same time.

The woman's body underwent a qualitative change in that instant. Just moments before, she was a quiet, elegant, ordinary woman sitting in a coffee shop reading a magazine, but a fraction of a second after Inspector Megure shouted "Grab her!", she transformed into a wild beast driven to the brink of despair.

She slammed her right hand over the table in front of her, sending magazines and coffee cups flying toward the onrushing officers. One officer was splashed with coffee in his face and instinctively closed his eyes.

"Damn it! Aaaaaah!"

Another person bumped their knee on the table and leaned forward.

The woman used the momentum to jump up from the chair.

Her target is Lin Ye.

It wasn't because he was nearby, but because he was the instigator of this upheaval. In the instincts of a professional assassin, the source of chaos is often the weakest link—an ordinary person capable of reasoning cannot possibly be strong in close combat; anyone familiar with the common sense of this world knows this.

however.

She was wrong.