I'm in Detective Conan, and I start with the Grand Theft Auto system.

Lin Shen followed the middle-aged man into the car and sat in the back seat.

The car was a black Toyota with a clean interior and few unnecessary decorations.

The woman wearing a mask got into the passenger seat, closed the door, and then took off her mask, revealing a delicate face.

She turned to look at Lin Shen, bracing herself for his surprised expression!

After all, her face is a household name in Japan.

Lin Shen merely glanced at her indifferently, hummed in response, and then turned to look out the window.

It's like seeing a cat on the side of the road; once you see it, you see it and that's it, nothing to be surprised about.

Yoko Okino was stunned.

She waited two or three seconds, making sure Lin Shen really didn't intend to show any surprise, before finally unable to hold back and asking, "Um... do you know me?"

Lin Shen turned his head and nodded: "I know her. Yoko Okino, who doesn't know her?"

"But you... don't seem surprised at all?" Her tone was tinged with confusion, and even a little bit of frustration.

She'd seen so many reactions—screams, speechless excitement, bursts of tears, frantic phone snaps…

But this was the first time I'd ever met someone like Lin Shen who would just glance at me and then turn away.

Lin Shen leaned back in his chair and said in a serious tone, "In the middle of the night, a woman wrapped herself up so that only her eyes were showing, came to ask for help."

"You're either a celebrity or a wanted criminal. But wanted criminals usually don't have a middle-aged man as their driver, so I'm guessing you're a celebrity."

Yoko Okino blinked, paused for a moment, then her face lit up with an "I see" expression: "That's amazing! You're so observant!"

The middle-aged man in the driver's seat, who was also Yoko Okino's manager, Eiichi Yamagishi, started the car and glanced at Lin Shen in the rearview mirror, saying in a serious tone, "Mr. Lin, please keep tonight's events a secret."

Lin Shen ignored him, leaning back in his seat and looking at the street scene rushing past the window.

His thoughts were completely on a different wavelength from those of Yoko Okino and Sakae Yamagishi.

Fujie Akiyoshi is dead, that's good.

Keeping that spineless guy around was a potential problem; getting rid of him was the right thing to do.

The problem is that if Fujie Akiyoshi dies, the murder that happened at Okino Yoko's house in the original storyline will not occur.

How could he then get involved with Yoko Okino? Lin Shen quickly calculated in his mind.

He needed a starting point, a reasonable reason that would allow him to have a deeper relationship with Yoko Okino, so that he would have a reason to interact with her!

Since the murder case is closed, let's try a different approach.

He began to sketch out a new plan in his mind.

The car drove through the night and stopped in front of an old apartment building after about ten minutes.

Lin Shen pushed open the car door and got out, then looked up at the apartment building.

The exterior walls are made of old, beige tiles. The security door at the entrance is rusty, and the access control system looks like it's an old model from over ten years ago. Several mailboxes downstairs have lids that don't close properly.

Lin Shen couldn't help but mutter to himself: Yoko Okino is a popular idol, how can a popular idol live in such a run-down apartment?

There isn't even an administrator.

Those talent agencies are truly inhumane; they exploit their artists to the point that they can't even afford to rent a decent, secure apartment.

But then he thought, this might be a good thing!

The worse the security, the easier it is for him to carry out his attack.

He followed Yoko Okino and Sakae Yamagishi up to the third floor and arrived at the door of her apartment.

Yoko Okino took out her key, opened the door, and led the two inside.

She strode into the living room, her eyes scanning the room, a hint of panic in her voice, "No...no! Something's been touched again!"

"My dolls, and my cushions... I didn't put them like this when I left."

She was flustered and uneasy. Turning to look at Lin Shen, she clasped her hands together in front of her chest, her voice pleading, "Mr. Lin, please help me! I really don't know what to do!"

Lin Shen walked into the living room and glanced around the room.

Of course he knew what was going on; this so-called "intruder" was actually a good thing for Yuko Ikezawa.

He paced around the living room a few times, glancing down at the moved items, then looked up and said in a "professional detective" tone, "How about this!"

"Install a few hidden cameras in the house. Whenever that person comes in again, we can capture his face on camera."

He had barely finished speaking when Yamagishi Sakae immediately stood up and objected: "No! Absolutely not!"

"How can we film our idol's daily life? What if it gets leaked? Yoko's privacy is more important than anything!"

Lin Shen glanced at Yamagishi Sakae and mentally labeled this manager as a nuisance!

He said "that makes sense," but in his heart he was plotting how to get rid of this troublesome guy!

He thought for a moment, then changed his suggestion: "Let's not install cameras for now."

"But we should at least search the room thoroughly."

"Check if anyone is still hiding in the room, or check if the intruder left any listening devices or hidden cameras in the room."

Yoko Okino nodded: "Okay! Let's do it that way!"

Seeing this, Yamagishi Sakae volunteered to take on some of the work: "Then I'll go check Ms. Yoko's bedroom!"

Lin Shen nodded and naturally assigned tasks: "Okay, you check the bedroom, I'll check the other places."

Sakae Yamagishi nodded and followed Yoko Okino into the bedroom.

They carefully checked the wardrobe, under the bed, and behind the curtains to confirm that no one was hiding in the room.

Then, Sakae Yamagishi asked Yoko Okino to stay in the bedroom and carefully check her personal belongings to see if any hidden cameras had been installed, while he returned to the living room to continue the search.

Sakae Yamagishi squatted down next to the coffee table and began to inspect the plush toys one by one.

He picked up a brown bear plush toy, pinched its belly, and felt something was off. He pinched it again and felt like there was something hard stuffed inside.

He frowned and called out towards the living room, "Detective Lin! I've found something suspicious again!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the bear toy exploded without warning.

Boom!

The explosion came so fast and violently that it gave no one time to react.

The ball of fire instantly engulfed Yamagishi Sakae, who was crouching by the coffee table. The shockwave shattered the living room windows, and shards of fire scattered all over the floor.

A few seconds later, Lin Shen poked his head out of the bathroom, his gaze passing over the shattered vase and the tilted picture frame, and landing in the center of the living room.

Sakae Yamagishi was reduced to fragments; the living room was a mess with charred remains, and the air was thick with the acrid smell of gunpowder.

Lin Shen felt relieved.

The person who was in the way has disappeared.

"Ah—!!" Yoko Okino's scream came from the bedroom doorway.

She covered her mouth with both hands, her face drained of color, and leaned against the door frame, her legs weak, almost collapsing.

Lin Shen strode forward, grabbed Yoko Okino's arm, and pulled her into his arms without saying a word.

He gently pressed her head against his chest, blocking her view.

"Stop looking." His voice rang out above her head, calm and collected.

Yoko Okino's body was still trembling slightly. Her fingers were tightly gripping Lin Shen's coat, her knuckles turning white. She looked like a drowning person grabbing onto a piece of driftwood, shrinking herself into his arms.

Lin Shen lowered his head slightly, his gaze passing over her trembling shoulders and landing on the messy scorch marks in the living room.

His expression was as calm as if nothing had happened, and the corners of his mouth even curled up slightly, almost imperceptibly.

The first step was successful.